The Lost Civilization
by dashboardgecko
Summary: Since beyond living memory, great and fantastic beasts have roamed the world, and mankind has fought them; some for glory, some to protect others, but always the monsters have been there. But when legions of mysterious people appear, engulfed in strange blue light, bearing deep wounds of both mind and body, strange things begin to happen, and a darkness unlike any other awakens. 3U
1. A Storyteller's Musings

Intro/A Storyteller's Musings

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. All the characters in this story are mine._

In this world there are many stories. Vast are they in number, matched only in multitude by the number of those people in the world who have the desire to tell them. For hundreds and thousands of years we have collected them, most times with no reason to do so then to entertain ourselves and anyone who we would tell them to. And for every moment that passes beyond our grasp, we create new tales, and clutch tightly to them so that we may share them and pass them on, or keep them purely to ourselves for our own comfort and peace of mind.

We have yarns and fantasies of all lengths and genres in this world. We tell legends of the past, rumors of the present, and imaginings of the future. We tell of great hunters slaying mighty beasts. We tell of depraved madmen crushing the weak underfoot. We tell of historic events come and gone from our world, occasionally hoping that such things come again. We tell of our opinions and visions of the future, of fantastic things invented and designed by our own hands and built for the sake of all.

The strange and unusual are not uncommon, and truth is often ignored in the stories we weave. A simple story can easily gain strength and elaboration as it passes from one person to another. What once may have been the small tale of a young hunter killing off an over populous herd of Jaggis and leaving with a broken arm can easily grow into a tale of a brave hunter taking on two Diablos at once and winning with naught a scratch! Foolish of us to extrapolate, perhaps, but what good is a boring tale?

All these stories and all these exaggerations we weave for as many listeners as we possibly can. And yet, despite our desire to spin a yarn, there still exist two tales that have hardly changed a bit, through countless generations of storytellers: the mysteries of the old ruins, and the terrible tale of the elder dragon Alatreon.

The consistency of our tales involving the old ruins that exist everywhere in our world can hardly be blamed on shoddy work from storytellers we hear them from. Simply put, it is complete ignorance that keeps us from creating a good story from the rubble we find out against fields and against rock outcroppings. For centuries, historians have sought truth from the remains of what came before, repeatedly returning with nothing to show for their work.

But what we see, we tell with fervor. We know that whatever kind of civilization came before the stories we tell, it was surely something great. Ruins found to the west show the remains of great structures, monumental creations towering over people and visible from distances far, made of strange and mysterious metals unfamiliar to even the most genius smith. Ruins to the east show the base stones of great buildings, vast enough to hold the populous of whole cities within. Though we know nothing of their lives, we know for certain, the people who came before us were most certainly architects of fantastic things.

And that is what confuses the world as we know it. The ability to create such magnificent structures with such mysterious materials, and yet they have left us nothing with which to show how they lived. Such advanced peoples, and they vanished. No books, no histories, not even pictures on the walls of caves.

All we have is their strange and powerful weapons, and perhaps that is the most mysterious thing of them all. Scientists today advance themselves further constantly, and recently a new understanding of the aging of things has come about. A study done in the field has shown the world that though the structures of old have lay in ruins for countless years, the weapons created have not. Rumor has it that the weapons, all of them, were created and set up at nearly the exact same moment in history, though scientists claim not to know exactly what time that was. Hundreds upon thousands of battle-ready weapons lay strewn across this world of ours, each powerful enough to heavily damage an elder dragon, unchanged and unmarred by the hands of time, and yet they all came to be at once.

But why? What terrible thing came crashing down upon the people of old to make them require such terrible and powerful things? What so surprised and terrified them that they needed to build such powerful things to stave off the threat? And most importantly, how did they fail, with such great things that they had made? Such fearsome questions keep the scientists and storytellers awake at night, both of them wondering and imagining the terror that would inspire such desperate measures, yet still fail.

As opposed to the mystery of the ruins, the Alatreon retains its unchanging tale for a different reason than the mystery of the ruins. The reason our stories of the great winged demon remain the same after so long is simply this: the horrifying power and ruthlessness of the great elder dragon, the Alatreon, is so great and notorious, that not a single altercation to the tales are required to inspire fear of its horrifying strength.

What is it, though, that makes the Alatreon so incredibly horrifying to citizens and hunters alike? Is it the beast's power, its frightening control over four elements, where any other elder dragon can only wield one or two? Is it perhaps the storms the beast allegedly creates as it flies across the world in search of prey? Or could it be the monsters near absolute fatality rate, which show that out of the hundreds of hunters that have sought the beast's blood, those that have returned alive only did so because they could not find or keep up with the beast?

No, the likely reason is most certainly the last: our fear comes from the Alatreon's immeasurable wrath against humans. While other elder dragons may remain in their normal habitats and stray towards a town or city only when aggravated, the Alatreon moves around, more often than not intentionally gravitating toward human habitations for the sake of devouring any hunter foolish enough or unfortunate enough to meet it.

And may the spirits protect us all should a hunter deliberately hunt the Alatreon with its death at the forefront of his thoughts. For its wrath against humans is boundless, and should one of our kind raise a weapon against it, its retaliation is swift and merciless. Dozens of cities and towns have vanished from this world in a blaze of fire and thunder as punishment for a team of hunters who desired the Alatreon be gone from this world.

With such proficiency does the beast tear at our people that we do not even have a certain opinion on what the creature looks like! Why do you think there is no picture posted on the notice boards at hunter pubs when Alatreon warnings are posted for certain areas? None have ever gotten close enough to the beast to describe it well enough for us to create a proper image! All we know of the beast are vague guesses that go as far back as the civilization before ours: the Alatreon flies on wings of the darkest black with steely scales that glow with the power of the lightning it controls.

In this world there are many stories.

But in the end, whether it be the mysteries of the past or the troubles of the present, sometimes all we can do to waylay the issues we have in front of us is to pass around tales we've heard or ones we've only just made up. And while the tales of the old world and the Alatreon play an excellent part in entertainment due to their mystery and intrigue, they never do seem to really become the favorite tales of the children or adults of the world. No, even the timeless stories fail to truly captivate the world as much as one other type of story, whether it is true or not. These are tales of adventure. These are tales of action. These are tales of gallant warriors. And occasionally, these are tales of romance (for those that enjoy them). These are not tales of the monsters, but of those who slay them.

These are tales of hunters.

* * *

The color white consumed the land. Snow and wind erased the world of the north from sight as a great blizzard ravaged the mountainous land. Nearly all the creatures dwelling in the area, both monstrous and miniscule, had retreated to their homes. Caves and cliff overhangs became crowded and uncomfortable as Baggi, Giggi and other creatures sought shelter from the fury of the storm. Those injured outside of the caves, those too tired to return, or those so foolish as to venture out in search of food, surely were considered doomed by the members of their packs or hives.

The blizzard had raged for days in the Tundra, and no sign of it ending was in sight. The Hunter's guild had announced a hunting ban in the Tundra after the numbers of frostbitten and hypothermia-inflicted hunters had jumped several dozen over a single week. Not to mention the cold-induced deaths had gone over twenty, the hunters' bodies returned to Loc Lac with not a scratch or bite on the body, but blood in their bodies frozen in their veins. Even those hunters traveling through the area with packs laden with drinks to protect them from the heat were soon overpowered by the sheer force and unrelenting frozen fury of the terrible weather. The threat had been deemed so great that even the transport boats specializing in travel through ice-congested waters had been decommissioned by the guild, to prevent headstrong hunters from venturing carelessly to their own deaths.

Guild members stationed just south of the Tundra watched the weather impatiently, contemplating sending an advisory to the Guild council suggesting they end the hunting season for the north early. Even without the storm, the hunting season for the northern climate was nearing its close as the days grew shorter. Once the sun began staying below the horizon for longer than eighteen hours of the day, the average daily temperature would drop far below the advised temperature protection of the Guild's specially made Hot Drinks. Even with Hot Drink sales skyrocketing as the temperatures dropped, the Guild couldn't afford to lose hunters to something as simple and easily avoided as the weather.

So it was that the simple base camp so often used by hunters still remained in the Tundra, worn and battered by the unrelenting winds with no one able to keep it maintained. The hunters' boxes, containing torches and maps rendered useless from the snow and ice, were neatly covered in snow, hiding their locations save for two lumps of white near the tents. The blankets and beds, once a soft and warm comfort from the frigid air, now had frozen and shattered away under the stress of the low temperatures. A small herd of Popos huddled together under the barely-stable tent flap, attempting to keep themselves alive in the very place they and other monsters avoided with fervor during the hunting season.

As the winds howled and roared through the valleys and crevices of the mountains, a small shape slowly emerged through the flurry of snow, weaving and curving chaotically. The Popos watched and tensed as a human form took shape from the shadow, aimlessly continuing forward. But the Popos soon relaxed. The human bore no weapon or shield, or even a pouch to carry food or other goods. No armor covered the body of the human, the garments worn by it barely a shield against the cold, much less the claw of a hungry Baggi. Legs knee deep in snow trudged on, and a thin hooded jacket covered the upper part of the human's body. Unthreatened by the human, the Popos returned their focus to keeping their young warm.

Less than thirty yards away from the tents, the human collapsed, disappearing underneath the fresh powder of snow that blanketed the ground. With effort, the human struggled to its knees, attempting to return to its feet. As it planted a foot on the ground in an attempt to stand, its strength gave way once more and it collapsed onto its side, breathing hoarsely through the rough fabric of its coat.

Hands blue from the cold reached up from its side, clawing at the collar and tearing it away, revealing the face of a young man. He gasped for breath, and then wheezed violently as the frigid wind chilled and seared his very lungs. With effort the man rolled onto his back, staring with blank eyes up into the sky of white. Shallow breathes were drowned out by the sound of the wind, and steam from the crack of the man's mouth was hurried away with each breath.

The man clenched his eyes closed suddenly, reaching up his fists to his forehead, as though trying to crush away some phantom pain dwelling deep inside. With a sudden rush of air to his lungs, the man expelled a loud and terrible cry of suffering, filled with pain and misery beyond that brought upon by the harsh and unforgiving cold. The Popos shivered with fright and worry as the horrible sound bled through the roar of the storm to their ears, chilling them despite the cold. The terrible howl of the man continued for what seemed to be far too many painful moments, and died away as the wind finally left the man's lungs. A silence hung over the area as the Popos waited and wondered about the human.

A deafening roar abruptly surged through the clearing, as if in response to the mournful cry of the man. Every living creature within one hundred yards of the base camp cringed and hid away as the fearsome and menacing sound echoed off the ice walls and cliff faces. Terror seized the Popos, and as one of the horrified young burst through the protective ring of elder Popos, the fear became too much for the herd and the group mindlessly stampeded away from the comfort of the base camps, risking the terrible storm for fear of the beast so close behind.

The man's eyes barely wavered as the roar died away. With effort, he tilted his up and stared blankly at the wall of white in the direction the sound had come from. No reaction showed as a large and fearsome shape stalked through the blizzard towards him.

After what seemed like endless hours, form took hold of the shadow, showing a tall winged beast. Rugged white fur coated the whole of the monster. Two fearsome fangs extruded from the dire maw of the beast, leading a four legged body through the snow. The terrible Barioth stood tall as it entered the base camp, its eyes flickering around in search of its prey. Finally it eyes stopped, meeting the empty eyes of the man on the ground. The man gazed back without a twitch, half dead and becoming increasingly buried as the snow raged on.

The Barioth stared at the man for several moments before growling a low guttural sound that carried over the snow, despite the howl of the wind. The man continued to show no response as the sound echoed into his ears. Uncertainty showing on its face, the Barioth barked a challenge at the man in the snow. Still no sign of recognition showed. After several moments, the Barioth slowly stepped forward, uncertain if this was a trick of the hunters. It continued forward, until it was standing over the half-snow-covered body of the man. The two's eyes remained locked, one questioning, one blank, as the Barioth leaned forward to the man's face and sniffed at him, checking if the man was still living. With an unsatisfied grunt, it flicked its claw at the man's arm, tearing the weak fabric of the jacket and letting bright red blood flow over the snow.

With the blast of sudden pain to his senses, life rushed back into the eyes of the man as he emitted as struggled cry of pain and quickly clutched his frostbitten hand to his arm to stop the flow of red. The shock of the sudden act startled the Barioth, sending the great beast sprawling backwards across the snow. With the rush of adrenalin flowing through his body, the man quickly rolled onto his front and climbed to his feet, tenaciously clutching his wound. He turned warily to the Barioth as the great wyvern regained its composure, lowering its head and baring its fangs at the man in warning.

The man stared back at the great white drake of the north as the beast emitted a guttural growl at him. Fear finally showed in the man's eyes and on the man's face as he took in the appearance of the beast before him. The pain in his arm was momentarily forgotten at the realization of the threat before him. The Barioth huffed in satisfaction as the scent of the man's rising terror reached its snout. With increased confidence in its superiority to the man, the monster began to stride forward in slow, cautious motions. Terror of the beast caused the man's feet to match the steps with those of his own, backing away fearfully from the approaching creature.

But the man's eyes suddenly hardened, the frightened look on his face vanished. The trembling legs, once carrying his body away from the threat before him, ground themselves into the packed snow below him. The shakes of terror slowed and calmed, and his fists clenched into fists, and his stance dropped into a rough and inexperienced fighting pose.

"No." The word was lost to the wind. The Barioth halted its advance, seeing the lips of the man move and the attitude change from fear to aggression. "No." The word was louder this time, as the man gritted his teeth at the beast. "No! Dammit, I won't let you kill me!"

The Barioth looked curiously at the man. The reckless defensive stance passed even further into aggression, the look of determination that vanquished the fear from the man's eyes was vanquished itself. The Barioth cocked its head, trying to decide the threat of the man, and the new emotion he displayed. Finally, the smell of the man's emotions reached the Barioth's nostrils and the creature quivered in revulsion. It had smelled such a scent before from other creatures. Baggi half dead from hunger. Popos suffering from the horrible disease that had spread across the Tundra many years ago. And most recently, a Gigginox the Barioth had watched die to the hands of a hunter. The great crawling beast had emitted this terrible scent as it wildly thrashed at anything that moved at the abject terror it felt towards dying.

Madness. Terrible madness. The man before him, so close to death and suffering wounds both mental and physical, had reached the breaking point that his mentality would allow of him. His mind had latched onto a single idea and would not release its grip until its desire was satiated.

"I can't die!" the man screamed at the monster before him. His eyes filled with fire and rage as he ranted at the beast. "I won't die! Not now, not here! I won't! Not until it's dead! Not until that damn black demon is cinders below my feet! You can't kill me! I won't let you dammit!"

The Barioth nearly pitied the creature before him. His mind nearly gone, and so physically drained, the man was doomed no matter if the madness wore off. But what to do about the man? It was no threat, but his body would make a fine meal, despite being nearly frozen. The wyvern's decision on the matter was quick. The man would not be eaten. The Popos disease from years ago spread to those monsters foolish enough to eat from the corpses. Such tainted meat from this human would endanger the Barioth's sanity.

But the man would have to die. His madness had to be snuffed out. He was a threat to the creatures to the Tundra, and though the Barioth had little care of the state of the Baggis and Giggi, his food supply of Popos could not be allowed to be tainted. With a bark of aggression, the Barioth gave the madman his fair warning before crouching to charge forward. The man responded in turn with a hoarse yell of his own.

"Screw you! I'll kill you first then! Then the demon! Then all your kind that took it all away from me! All you damn monsters are corpses!" Finally giving in to his mad rage, the man charged the Barioth, fists raised as blood flowed down from his forgotten wound. The Barioth roared its response and leapt toward the man.

Snuff the disease, it thought. Remove the malady.

* * *

Thanks for reading if you did! Please review if you would and point out any spelling/grammatical errors I may have made.

I hope to come out with the next chapter, which will have a lot of character introductions, within the next couple of weeks.


	2. Boma Village

Boma Village

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. All the characters in this story are mine._

"And that's another pot to me. Perhaps you should give up now Desig, or you might end up losing this voyages wages to me as well."

Aboard the cargo ship _Coral Wrath_, a young crew member threw his cards down in dismay before pocketing what few chips he had left as his own. "Fine then," he growled to the ships first mate, who was pulling away the young man's wages. "I know when I'm outmatched. I'll let someone else lose to you now."

"You do that," the first mate laughed. "Oh, yes, and since I'm sure you have idle hands without a losing pair of cards in them, perhaps you'd like to spend the rest of the afternoon swabbing the deck over by the helm."

Desig winced at the thought, arousing a laugh from his fellow crewmen. "But, sir! I just mopped the deck this morning before lunch!"

"Oh, I'm sure you did lad. But we wouldn't want our captain having to steer the ship standing on a dirty deck, now would we?" the first make chuckled to himself again, before grinning evilly at Desig. "Or perhaps you'd prefer we lower you down to scrape the barnacles off the hull? It's been near a month since we last had you do it, and I'm sure we've picked up quite a mess down there in that time."

Desig shuddered in revulsion, remembering the filth he'd had to clean off the bottom of the boat during his first week aboard as a crew member. The rookie's job, they'd told him, you'll only have to it once, then some other newbie will be aboard to do it instead. But out of all the stops they'd made in the last month offloading and taking in cargo, no new faces save the occasional travelers buying passage had gotten aboard, meaning he was still the "rookie" of the crew, and the first to be "volunteered" to do the less pleasant work.

"No, sir," Desig sighed in surrender. "I suppose the captain will want the deck swabbed before dinner so I'll go do that."

"I thought you might," the first mate chuckled. "Now on your way boy," he said, waving Desig off. "Perhaps if you're quick, you can be first in line for supper."

_Yeah, if you get excited for pig slop_, Desig thought sullenly as he walked across the deck. _But I suppose if I was first in line, the slop would be _warm. He continued to mutter to himself as his continued across the deck and removed the mop and bucket from their posts. After dropping the bucket into the ocean and pulling up the (relatively) clean water, he sullenly began mopping near the helm, thinking on the last few weeks of his life and how much he regretted his choices.

Sailing the open sea was not turning out to be the kind of adventure Desig was hoping it would be. Since he was a young boy, he'd always sought out a life of adventure. He supposed that, growing up near the docks of his home village, he was bound to dream of living a life on the sea sooner or later. But misfortune seemed to have become his new companion, since the day he gave up on his last dream of adventure and turned his sights towards the sea, was just about the time he was old enough to join a crew. If only he'd been a little younger! Maybe this misery could have been avoided.

But no matter what he wanted now, here he was, signed on to a year's voyage on the deck of the _Coral Wrath_, swabbing the deck day in and day out and always the last in line for meals. At least at their last stop, the first mate had gotten drunk enough for him to sneak out and explore the town.

Desig grinned at the memory. Now there had been a fun day! Their last stop had been a town called Nero. It was a small town just east of the great desert that was the domain of Loc Lac. And while the city, the country, and the people of the town were nothing great to see, the travelers and passer through was what had really caught his attention.

Hunters! While Nero was not much of a town on its own, it played a vital role as a carry-over stop for hunters traveling around the world in search of the deadliest monsters. Now there was an adventurous lifestyle for you! Journeying rugged lands, fighting vicious beasts, bringing home wondrous trophies and spoils of war!

But the thoughts of such an adventurous life only made Desig sigh in misery as he dumped his now filthy water overboard. The only reason he was aboard this ship right now was because he had failed his Hunter's Exam. Not enough strength, they'd said. Not enough stamina. Not enough guts, willpower, strategy, reflexes. Not enough anything! He'd never felt as worthless in his life as when he'd dragged his feet out of the Guild Hall that day.

"_Ah, buck up boy!" he remembered a voice behind him saying. _

_Desig remembered turning around and finding no one behind him at first, before looking down and seeing the short-statured Guild Master sitting on a stool outside the entrance, grinning up at him. Desig remembered the flare of anger that shot through him._

"_And why the hell should I!" he'd yelled at the old man. "I've imagined joining the Guild for years! And they throw me out like leftovers! Not even a better luck next time or anything, just 'you fail, out with you.'" _

"_Well, of course," the old Wyvernian had chuckled. "It's implied."_

_That had caused Desig to pause in confusion. "What? I mean… what's implied?"_

"_The 'better luck next time' part," the old man laughed. "Come on now, boy. If you truly intend to join the Guild, you're going to try again aren't you?"_

"_Well, yes," Desig had stuttered. "But I can't reapply for a year and a half!"_

"_There you go! Plenty of time to improve yourself! Work out, run some laps, practice with a sword, that kind of thing. Go get some experience out in the real world before throwing your hand in with the Hunter's Guild again."_

_Desig let out an exasperated sigh. "But for that long? That's a lot of time to waste just waiting for another test."_

"_Then go on an adventure!" the Master had said excitedly. "Do a different job for a year or something. Be a traveling merchant, learn a trade, travel the land, travel the seas! Do whatever you want, but do it for the sake of improving yourself! And who knows? Maybe once a year or so rolls around, perhaps you'll not want to be a hunter so bad and find a different job that suits you better."_

And so, like certainly so many others before him, he had taken the old crackpot's advice, and joined up on the first hint of adventure that came his way. And here he was now, miserably wiping the gunk off of the deck of a ship. At least he didn't get seasick anymore.

"The first thing I'm gonna do when I become a hunter," he grumbled, "is punch that old coot in the mouth."

"You won't be the first man aboard this ship to make that claim boy!" a jovial voice laughed behind him.

Desig jumped in fear at the voice, turning quickly to salute. "Yes, Captain!"

Captain Vin laughed again at Desig's fright, and Desig relaxed slightly. Vin was certainly a man who commandeered respect aboard the ship. Standing nearly a head taller than anyone else on the ship, and with a girth that made Desig wonder how he stayed standing on the rough seas, he was easily the largest man on the ship. And that was quite something considering the mass of muscles some of the other men were.

"Aw, calm down boy," Vin chuckled, shaking his head. "The only crewman on this ship that feels the need to make sure I'm saluted is the first mate. Now put your arm down. At ease! Or whatever it is those Guild guards bark at each other to make each other relax."

Desig gladly put his arm down and leaned against the railing. "What do you mean by that, Captain?" he asked, "That I'm not the first to say it?"

"You are not the first crew member on this ship who wanted to get off this tub and become a hunter, Desig, that's what I mean! You aren't the first dropout that jumped aboard to 'improve' himself. The last one left 'bout… oh, three months before you came aboard. Passed with flying colors too, I heard! And he was about as shrimpy as you were when he came aboard."

Desig bristled at the "shrimpy" remark, but the realization of what the Captain had said was more shocking. "You mean people have actually gotten better after sailing?" Desig asked with surprise.

"Oh yes, boy," Vin said with a grin. "Sea life makes the best hunters! The work makes you strong, the rocking of the boat gives you balance, and the emergencies make you fast on your feet and in your brain. Think about that, boy, before knocking about the life of a sailor." Vin continued to chuckle as he turned away from Desig and took a spyglass to study the horizon.

Desig was stunned. After so long aboard, he'd never even thought about the possibility that working on the _Coral Wrath_ would turn out to be beneficial to his dream of becoming a hunter. But as he thought about it, he began to realize that the captain may have been right. Thinking back over the last month of work, he had found the work progressively becoming easier. Moving cargo around while in port was less tiring and he could carry more; he rarely lost his balance when a large wave struck the ship anymore, and he was much better at handling situations when storms hit.

Desig suddenly found himself smiling. Perhaps the guild master had been onto something. He thought back once again to the ship's stop in Nero, remembering how he'd ventured into a hunter's bar. He remembered listening with rapt attention at every story and tale told by the traveling warriors. So many strange and wondrous and adventurous things they'd done. And if Desig managed to survive this hellish year at sea… he could very well be a hunter like them as well!

Suddenly, a memory sparked in Desig's head. He recalled one of the hunters mentioning something in the bar during his time in town, a strange story he'd never hear the like of before…

"Captain," Desig started quietly. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course, boy," Vin answered, turning away from the water to look at Desig.

"You go on land every time we dock, right? To get information about current events or something?"

"Of course," Vin said matter-of-factly. "In order to get the most profitable cargo, we must stay on top of things happening on land. If we want to have a profitable voyage, we must be sure to stay ahead of the latest cravings and desires of the people in all the harbors we stop at." Vin paused. "Why do you ask?"

"Because I heard this strange rumor while I was in town and was hoping you knew something about it?"

Vin shrugged. "I might. What rumor did you hear?"

"Have you heard these rumors about these people appearing? Out of nowhere? The - what are they called? - the Lost?"

Captain Vin grimaced for a second, before taking a deep breath to compose himself. "Ah, that oddity. Yes, I've heard about it."

"Can you tell me what you know about it? It seemed to be a really important issue, but no one wanted to talk about it."

"Because it's so strange," Vin began, "no one knows how to talk about it." Vin grunted, scratching his head in thought. "But from what I've heard, some time ago, maybe half a year or so, strange people just began… appearing. Out of thin air. And everywhere. I think the first few began to appear somewhere near the deserts out by Loc Lac. A stream of them just starting appearing at the gates of the city, claiming to be from some world with fantastic technology. Now normally, people would just assume it to be some big attempt at hoaxing the people of the city into something, I don't know what. But the trickle of people started to grow. Enough people to fill dozens of villages just began piling through the gates of Loc Lac, requesting help from this world of ours. Nobody knew where they were coming from, but the Loc Lac council finally agreed, upon seeing the dire conditions some of them were in, to section off a section of Loc Lac for the use of those people. Got the nickname 'the Lost' about then I think.

"But it got really bad after that. None of them knew how they got here at all, but they all starting swearing tales of fire and brimstone raining from the sky before they were brought here. Horrible sweeps of death and decay, all sorts of nasty stories. And then they just, I don't know, fell asleep or something, and woke up in the desert. Well this caused some hellish panic in Loc Lac. If these people whole city or whatever was destroyed by some unknown force, how would we know if they weren't bringing this terrible threat along with them? About then the council commissioned an expedition to be sent into the desert in search of the source of all these people, and hopefully whatever was attacking them. Well, by the time the whole thing was set to move out, the stream of people from the desert had trickled to a stop all of a sudden, and a swarm of people was wandering all terrified out of the rainforests to the south, swearing on their lives that their homes and cities had met a similar destruction. Now the Loc Lac senate was already trying to recover from providing homes and apartments, and this new swarm of people screaming tales of disaster just popped up too, begging for a place to live."

"That's… terrible…"

"Oh, it gets worse. A couple months ago, the winter season in the Tundra ended and hunters were finally able to hunt up in search of prey again. When they got there, they found bodies. Hundreds of them, the same kind of people that had come from the desert and jungle. They'd all died during the winter freeze. The cold had frozen them over, so no one had any idea how long they'd even been there, buried under the snow."

"That's horrible!"

Vin nodded solemnly. Desig looked away from the Captain, trying to process the strange story that was being told. In a small part of his mind, he realized that a small crowd of crewmen and passengers had gathered around the captain and were listening to the story as well with sullen looks on their faces. After a long moment, Desig found his voice again.

"What happened? To the people's homeland I mean."

"Who knows? Perhaps a war? Perhaps some natural disaster?"

"Could it have been a monster of some sort?" a traveler spoke up. "Maybe it was a Rathalos or something like that."

Vin shook his head. "You'd think so, but there are two problems. One, no monster known will just pick up and carry a civilization from… wherever they came from, to here. And the second… well…"

"What?"

"Apparently none of these people have ever seen a monster before. None of them. Wherever they're from, there are no Jaggis, or Aptonoth, or hell, no Felynes!"

"But that's impossible…" Desig said. "Monsters are everywhere in the world! Where could they have come from?"

"Who knows?" Vin said. "Maybe from some unknown, inaccessible section of the earth that no one's ever explored."

"But…" Desig sputtered. "What happened?"

Vin sighed. "No one knows, boy." Vin looked at his crowd, a look on his face as though he'd just noticed them. "What are you slackers doing?" he asked the crew. "Story's over! Back to work with you!"

The crew of the _Coral Wrath_ grumbled at having to go back to their jobs after such a strange story, and the passengers filtered after, not comfortable at having to stick around with all the crew walking away. Desig continued to lean against the railing as the crowd drifted away.

"Is it true?" he asked quietly. "The stories I mean. What they say."

Vin shook his head. "I don't know, boy."

"It's true. All of it."

Desig turned in surprise at the voice. Among the few remaining listeners was a young woman who stood out from the rest. She wore strange-patterned clothes made from fabrics Desig had never seen before in his life, with strange symbols and images lining the whole of the fabric. The woman herself was quite attractive in Desig's opinion. She was only an inch or two shorter than Desig and had a body that was toned well. She emitted a different feeling than the other passengers, with dark brown hair that dropped to her shoulder blades tied up at the base of her skull, and shocking green eyes that were steeled and determined as opposed to the confusion and fear reflected in the eyes of those around her. Her scowling face seemed to match her eyes and Desig would have believed it if someone had told him she had been born with such an angry face.

"You're a strange looking woman, miss. You're one of them, then?" Vin asked the woman. "One of the Lost?"

"I am," she replied without hesitation. "And as I said, all of it was true. The destruction, the chaos. And now here we all are, somewhere vastly different than where we were born."

Vin looked thoughtful for a moment before speaking again. "When you boarded, you told me you were training to be a hunter. You said you were hoping to gain an apprenticeship under a hunter in a town along my path so you could pass the exam."

"Your point?" the woman shot back.

"No offence, miss, but why would you want to hunt monsters? I've heard that there were no monsters back wherever you came from. Why would you seek to hunt and kill such dangerous beasts that you've never seen before?"

The woman glared at Captain Vin for a moment before saying simply, "I have my reasons. And you don't need to know them."

Vin sighed in defeat. "Fine then. When are you getting off then?"

"I get off at Boma Village. That's where I was told a good hunting teacher lived."

"Then you'd best be ready, girl," Vin said pointing to the horizon. "We'll be arriving there by evening."

Desig turned to follow Captain Vin's gesture. Sure enough, on the horizon, the outline of the coast was beginning to materialize, as though slowly rising up from the ocean. With a nod of acceptance, the young woman left the helm and went below deck to prepare her things for departure.

"What an odd woman," Desig whispered as the woman's head disappeared through the hatch. "I can see why people say the Lost are a strange civilization."

"Indeed they are, boy," Vin replied, nodding. "Indeed they are."

The two stood in silence for a moment before something clicked in Desig's mind.

"Wait a minute, I could have requested to become a hunter's apprentice instead of joining a ship's crew?"

Captain Vin's jolly laughter could be heard echoing around the boat for a long time after that.

* * *

Eleanor was in a bad mood now. She had been fine for the majority of the trip, but only because she was able to keep her distance from the other passengers over the course of the trip. She'd taken a chance by leaving the sleeping quarters to go above deck and look at the sea, hoping the view would calm her down a bit from the restlessness she felt. Just her luck that the Captain was telling people about the Lost and their circumstances. Those were memories she didn't want in her head, not now when they were so close to shore.

As the ship got closer to land, Eleanor carried her things up on deck, standing a bit away from the other passengers as they got nearer to land. Slowly, the rise of the hills in the distance grew larger on the horizon, and as afternoon passed, a small village appeared at the base on of the larger hills. Time passed, and eventually Eleanor was able to make out the features of the village.

The village of Boma had was mostly a shore-based village, with a medium-sized dock for trading and cargo ships jetting out from a small outcropping of land jutting out from the beach. Eleanor could see a bright ring of torches on the near end of the village, and guessed that to be the town center and market. As the village stretched onto the hill, small notches had been etched into the hill itself, no doubt a relatively safe place to grow crops and other necessities.

_It's such a small place,_ Eleanor thought to herself. _Is there really a hunter who can train me living here?_

After the _Coral Wrath_ docked at Boma Village in the early evening, Eleanor quickly hurried off the ship with her luggage in tow, not wanting to face anyone who had figured out who she was and what she was a part of. People always showed such fear when one of the Lost was present! They couldn't help what had happened!

Weaving through the lines of passengers disembarking to stretch their legs, she followed the small signs painted to the walls and made her way across the docks towards what was labeled as the marketplace, where her recommendation had said she would find the local Guild Representative. And hopefully, she would be able to find the man who was supposed to be training her as well.

After a few minutes of walking and a couple wrong turns, she finally emerged into an open circle of houses and huts. Many of the buildings had large open awnings and welcoming signs to attract customers from the village as well as travelers. Brightly painted signs told customers of discount items, from potions to herbs to home-cooked meals and more. Eleanor took a long look around, trying to memorize the shops and stalls, since she might be staying awhile.

Finally, Eleanor's eyes spotted a small and simple booth that had a Guild banner hanging proudly over the counter. An enthusiastic young woman stood behind the counter, chatting happily with a white-haired old man carrying a child Eleanor assumed to be the old man's grandchild. Eleanor glanced around the shops surrounding the Guild representative, hoping to spot the man who would be training her. Her eyes lingering on a blacksmith's shop next door, the stall window displaying a large sword as well as a spear and broad shield.

_My first stop for tomorrow, for sure,_ Eleanor thought, before striding over to the Guild booth.

"Oh, hello!" the Guild representative said excitedly as she saw Eleanor approaching the booth. The old man she was speaking to chuckled and leaned back in his seat to coddle his grandchild. Grandson, Eleanor noticed. "Can I help you with anything?"

"Yes, please," Eleanor said, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a slip of paper. "I've received permission from the Hunter's Guild to come here and request apprenticeship with a hunter in town." She quickly glanced at the sheet. "Someone named Marshall? Can you tell me where I could find him?"

"Oh, he's not far," the old man next to her interrupted the Guild rep with a grin.

"He's not?" Eleanor asked quickly. "Could you tell me where he is?"

"I'll do you one better," the old man said. "I'll take you to him." He turned to the confused looking Guild representative. "Don't worry, Miss Melanie. I'll take care of this."

As the guild rep nodded slowly, Eleanor picked up her bags. "Thank you for your help sir."

"Of course," the old man smiled. "Do you need help carrying your things?"

"No," Eleanor snapped, a little more forcefully than she would have liked. The old man raised an eyebrow at her. "I mean, you're already carrying your… grandson, I think. I wouldn't want to make you work harder."

The old man nodded in understanding and with a strong gait that Eleanor found surprising for a man his age, began walking towards the hilly area of town. Eleanor had the run a bit to catch up, but managed to match the man's strides once she had done so.

"So you're aiming to become a hunter, are you?" the man asked as they left the town center and entered a quieter section of town. He hoisted his grandson up and slowly began rocking him in an attempt to lull the child to sleep.

"Yes, I am," Eleanor replied. "A Guild councilor called Zhanin suggested I find a hunter who'd be willing to train me before I took my Hunter's Exam. He suggested this place. He told me that the hunter here, Marshall, would probably be willing to take me on as an apprentice."

"Did he now?" the old man said with a thoughtful look. "But this place is quite a distance away from the nearest Guild Examination arena. Was there nowhere closer?"

Eleanor thought for a moment. "I'm not sure," she said doubtfully. "But Zhanin seemed very enthusiastic about Boma Village. He assured me that coming here was my best bet."

The old man glanced down to his grandson to find the infant sleeping contentedly. "Is that all?" he asked suddenly, turning to look her in the eyes. Eleanor resisted the urge to shudder. The old man felt like he was looking straight through her, like he already knew everything about her and it was futile to resist his questions.

"They… they may have been trying to get rid of me, now that I think back on it," Eleanor replied nervously, suddenly feeling very self-aware. "I may have been too aggressive in my attempts to join."

The old man stared at her a moment longer, before smiling at her. Eleanor relaxed immediately, feeling as though a tremendous pressure had been taken off her. "I see," the man said simply. "Guild folks tend to be quite unkind in situations like that I guess. Just send them far away and hope they don't return, seems to be their kind of philosophy."

Eleanor found herself staring at the ground in disappointment. Had it all been a sham? Could she just been sent on a wild goose chase, simply so the Guild could be rid of her? Damn them!

"But you won't give up that easily, will you?" the old man asked. Eleanor looked up to find the old man smiling at her again. "If you're really so determined to enter the guild, I imagine you'll just go right back there when you're ready and show them what you're made of won't you?"

Eleanor could help herself from grinning. "Yeah, of course I will."

"I thought as much," the old man said. Then he looked away from her and asked in an odd tone of voice. "So why do you want to become a hunter?"

Eleanor's blood grew colder. Again this question! "I have my reasons," she said with finality.

"I see," the old man replied nonchalantly. "Then perhaps you can answer me this: what do you hope to gain as a hunter?"

This made Eleanor stop where she stood for a moment, forcing to rush when she realized the old man hadn't slowed. "What do you mean by that?" she asked, panting, as she caught up.

"What I mean is what do you want from hunting? Fame? Glory? Riches?" the old man looked at her, again with the cold and judgmental eyes that made her shiver.

Eleanor gritted her teeth against the old man's stare. "I just want to kill monsters," she said with a growl. The two of them slowly stopped walking and stood eye to eye without speaking. Eleanor glared right back at the old man's face in defiance to his cold judgmental look.

The silence was broken by the old man's grandson, who woke up from his nap and began to babble in his unintelligible infant language. The old man held Eleanor's glare for a moment longer before turning away to pay attention to his grandson. "We're almost there," he said quietly to Eleanor without looking at her, his arms rocking his grandson again. The two began walking again, and soon came to a grouping of small huts at the base of the hills that held the fields.

Looking around, Eleanor realized that the small houses all resided next to a small inlet that came in from the ocean. From the looks of it as they walked down the path, it was mostly only used for fishing, not deep enough to act as a docking bay for larger ships.

"Most of the hunters live on this side of town," the old man explained. "The Guild sanctioned boats that carry hunters to different areas of the world are small enough to get into the inlet, so we have them pull into this bay so the cargo and transport ships aren't hindered over at the main docks. We keep the hunter dwellings on this side of town so that they can get their goods from their homes before paddling out to the Guild boats."

"Why is the Guild rep in the town center then?" Eleanor asked.

"So hunters just visiting or passing through can find it easier," he replied. "Sometimes hunters that live out on the islands off the coast will pass through Boma on their way to Loc Lac. We keep the Guild rep close to the center so they don't waste time having to look."

Eleanor nodded, accepting the answer, as the old man led her up to a small hut that looked fairly new compared to the rest. "We're here," he said, shifting his grandson onto one arm and pulling apart the entry flap.

"Should we be entering without asking?" Eleanor asked.

"The owner won't mind," the old man replied reassuringly, pushing on through.

As Eleanor stepped through, she found herself in a very utilitarian room. The walls were bare and there were no carpets or other distinguishing features around. The back of the room led out onto a small deck that reached a few feet over the inlet, overhung by what appeared to be a homemade awning, with a small stool sitting on the deck near a fishing pole. A nearby shelf had a couple reference books on monsters on it as well as a greenish scale that had a thin roped looped through it to form a small necklace. The only other signs that the room was even remotely occupied were the unmade bed and an odd yellow coat hanging over the edge of a storage chest in the corner of the room. Otherwise, Eleanor might have assumed that no one lived here.

"Now where is he?" Eleanor heard the old man whisper to himself. He laid his sleeping grandchild on the bed and took a long look around before his eyes rested on the opening to the deck. "There you are," the old man said quietly.

Eleanor followed his gaze to the deck, trying to determine what the man was looking at, as the old man slowly crept over to the opening in the wall. He knelt quietly and picked up the fishing pole at his feet, holding it from the opposite end, and looked up at the awning. Looking up, Eleanor realized that the weight distribution of the awning was odd. There was a large bulge in the middle of the awning that she realized must be quite large weight considering the fabric of the awning.

With a quick thrust of the pole, the old man stabbed at the weight in the middle of the awning. With a yelp, a large object dropped from the awning, bounced off the deck, and rolled into the water with a large splash. Eleanor hurried over to the opening in the wall just as a young man surfaced from the cold water, sputtering and spitting ocean water.

"Damn it old man!" he yelled as he crawled out of the lake. "You could have been a bit gentler about it!"

The old man laughed spitefully. "And I suppose you want me to be more forgiving as well when you try and hide all day in case a hunter mission pops up and needs to be dealt with? Need I remind you what your job in this village is boy?"

"Oh, shut up," the young man spat, shaking the water out of his hair and clothes. "You could've just poked me in the back and been done with it, you know? But no! You have to go all the way and throw me in the ocean! And besides, you've spent the last few days making me do worthless work! 'Find some Kelbi horns, mine some ore, pick some goddamn weeds!' That's all I get out of you!"

"Ah, shut up boy," the old man growled. "You should be grateful this town supports your lazy ass."

The two continued glaring at other, long enough that Eleanor started feeling very much like making a dash for the exit. All of a sudden, the young man snorted in laughter, and soon the two were laughing together. Eleanor was still standing still, looking very confused as the two caught their breath.

"I win again, boy," the old man chuckled.

"I'll get you one of these days, old timer," the young man replied. "Your poker face won't hold forever."

"Ha! By that time I'll be dead. Then I'd like to see you try and get a grin out of me then."

"I'm not above digging up a grave to beat you in this game, old man."

"Probably not," the old man replied. "But I'm getting ahead of myself. I have someone I'd like to introduce you to," he said, turning to Eleanor.

"Oh, right," the young man said, following the old man. As he stood in front of Eleanor, she finally was able to get a good look at him. He was a decent looking man with a muscular body which Eleanor figured was from monster hunting. He had rugged brown hair that just grazed the base of his neck and soft brown eyes that she hadn't expected to see from someone of his profession. His smile made him look bemused, as though he was thinking of a secret joke only he knew and understood. What caught her eye the most, though, was a large three-lined scar across his left eye, like the mark of a claw.

"Who's this lovely lady?" the young man asked, with amused curiosity.

"Your new apprentice," the old man replied with a smirk.

There was a moment of silence as the news set in, before the two younger ones turned on the old man. The young man responded first.

"Hold the hell on! What the hell do you mean an apprentice?"

"Just as I said. You'll be taking her on as your apprentice, so she can pass the Hunter's Exam."

"Wait a minute," Eleanor cut in. "You mean… _this guy_ is the Marshall who's supposed to train me?"

"Wait. What the hell are _you_ talking about?" the young man sputtered, turning on Eleanor. "My name's _Levin_. I'm not even an official hunter myself! This old bastard is Marshall," he said, pointing to the old man. "And what do you mean by 'this guy?'"

"Wait," Eleanor said, ignoring Levin and turning on the old man. "YOU'RE Marshall? But… but you're…"

"Too old?" Marshall asked with a smile. "I believe Levin here said the same thing we he started as my apprentice. You shouldn't judge the value of a hunter by their age, young lady."

Eleanor was dumbfounded. "So you're the one who's going to teach me how to hunt?"

"I'm not so old that I can't hold my own against a monster or two, if that's what you asking. Besides…"

"Besides nothing, old man," Levin cut in. "What do you mean I'm going to be teach her how to be a hunter? I'm not a qualified hunter myself yet, and the Guild sent her to you, anyway."

"And I passed her on to you," Marshall said with a grin.

"Wait, hold on," Eleanor said. "Why the hell would you have him teach me? You said yourself he was your apprentice, why make me his?"

"Because it will be better that way, I think," Marshall replied.

"How the hell do you figure that?" Levin demanded.

"Will you be quiet and let me explain," Marshall shot back, an edge to his voice. Eleanor shivered. It seemed Marshall had the ability to dominate a conversation with his voice as well. She realized that she should have known who Marshall was earlier considering how strong willed he had appeared as they had walked here.

As the two rookies sat, Levin on a stool and Eleanor on the edge of the bed next to Marshall's sleeping grandson (_The boy is a really heavy sleeper_, Eleanor thought wryly), Marshall took a deep breath to calm himself, then cleared his throat. He looked back and forth between the two, as though daring them to try and argue again, but the two of them held their tongues. Marshall cocked a wry grin before beginning.

"Now, as I've said, I've decided to make Miss Eleanor here your apprentice instead of mine, Levin. I realize you are not a fully trained hunter and that I have the qualifications, but listen to my reasons. I've realized over my own many years of training the occasional rookie, that when teaching, the teacher is likely to learn as much as the student. Now, Levin, I've felt over the last couple of weeks that I haven't been able to teach you quite as much new information as I was able to give at the start of your own apprenticeship. I'm sure you've felt the same?"

Levin scratched his head with uncertainty. "Yeah a little," he admitted. "But I thought you were just waiting for something new to pop up on the hunter's board."

"Oh, most monsters follow a lot of the same rules with a few minor altercations," Marshall told him. "But when teaching someone else, you have to learn a lot more. Especially you, since you've never worked with a team on anything. As a teacher, you must gain the ability to read your apprentice's actions and know when and how to assist them. This will help a lot as you develop into an official hunter, at which point you'll need to work together with others to hunt the truly dangerous monsters. You'll also find that you'll fine tune your own abilities over the course of teaching her, since you'll have to work at properly explaining how to properly hunt, you'll find flaws in your own methods. Oh, don't worry, I'll be looking over your shoulder the whole time, since I am still your teacher, but the bulk of what she'll be learning will be up to you."

"But even so," Eleanor began, receiving a look from Marshall, "wouldn't it be better for you to teach me since you've been at it for so much longer?"

Marshall sighed. "Perhaps, but there are other issues besides the whole 'teacher-apprentice' mutual learning idea. My other issue comes from your… similar circumstances."

"What circumstances?" Eleanor asked, looking over at Levin. He turned away from her, as if embarrassed.

"You're both part of that Lost group, aren't you?" Marshall asked.

Eleanor gasped and shot a questioning glance at Levin. "You're one of the Lost?"

Levin was frowning when he turned back. "Yeah, I am," he admitted. He seemed uncomfortable admitting it though, Eleanor thought. "We weren't called the Lost back when I applied for an apprenticeship with Marshall, though. There weren't enough of us for the Loc Lac council to take us seriously at the time."

"But there were some of you that were considered enough of an annoyance to do something about, though," Marshall said matter-of-factly, causing Eleanor and Levin to both shy their eyes away in embarrassment. "And because of your similar circumstances, you both have certain character traits that will make it easier for the two of you to understand each other."

"Like what?" Eleanor asked, staring over at Levin. What could she possibly have in common with this lazy idiot?

"Stubbornness, for one," Marshall chuckled. "Far too determined to fulfill your desires to know when you're going too far."

"Got me with that one," Levin admitted. Eleanor felt embarrassed. Marshall had her with that one, too. She hadn't realized she may have been led on in her goal to becoming a hunter until she'd already gotten to Boma Village.

"Not to mention… other problems that you Lost seem to have with this world. I still remember the problems I had teaching you, Levin."

"I guess I was a bit of a problem child, huh?" Levin said with a half-hearted smile.

"I'm just saying you'll have an easier time teaching than I will. You come from the same culture, have had the same problems, at least the same big problems, and you both have a… strong desire to be a hunter. Or at least that's my opinion on the matter. It's up to you whether or not you'll trust my decision I suppose."

Levin sighed again, and looked over at Eleanor. He seemed to look at her with more searching eyes, trying to get a better hold on her. Eleanor glared back. She didn't like the thought of the two of them juggling her apprenticeship around like it was something simple. She couldn't risk her Hunter Exam on something as stupid as this. She had to become a hunter! Had to!

Levin looked back to Marshall. "You say you think I'll do better?"

"I do," the old man replied.

"Then I'll trust you about this," Levin said. "Your intuition has been right almost every time you've ever made a point of it."

"Wait, you're going along with this?" Eleanor nearly shouted.

"I trust him," Levin replied simply.

"And I think what you need to ask yourself, Miss Eleanor," Marshall said, turning to Eleanor, "is, since you've come all this way to train under me, will you trust me as well?"

Eleanor was silent for a long moment. She didn't like the thought of having to train directly under someone who wasn't fully trained themselves, but after coming so far for the sake of becoming a hunter, was she really willing to give up just because of some wild whims of the teacher?

"I'll do it," she decided. "I don't like it, but I'll do it."

"Good to hear," Marshall chuckled. "Though I'm sure you don't see it yet, I'm sure you'll find that this will be a good idea." The old man continued to laugh to himself as he walked to the bed and picked up his still-sleeping grandson. "Now Levin, I'm sure since you'll be training her, you're perfectly willing to take her to town tomorrow and buy her some decent gear for her to use out on a hunt?"

Eleanor saw Levin openly cringe at this request, before cracking a strained smile at the old hunter. "But you're the one who arranged all this, old man. Surely you have some spare cash from your hunter days."

_Good lord, he's a cheapskate and a mooch_, Eleanor realized glumly. _Fantastic_.

"Oh, I do," Marshall replied. "But I imagine it will all be going into spoiling little Theo here," he said, motioning to the little boy in his arms. "Besides, you have some extra money from that Great Jaggi you captured yesterday without telling me don't you?"

Levin had a stunned look on his face before laughing quietly. "Nothing gets past you, huh?"

"No sir," Marshall laughed with him. "You can wait on the weapon for a bit though." (Eleanor bristled a bit at this. She wanted a weapon tomorrow, dammit!) "I imagine Miss Eleanor here hasn't had too much practice with a wide range of weapons does she?" Eleanor shook her head in response. "Didn't think so. Take her to see Melanie tomorrow. The Guild always keeps a few weapons around to provide examples to prospect hunters. Give her some practice with whatever's available and we'll see what she's best with. Oh, yes, and I think Miss Eleanor here will be taking the unoccupied house next to yours, I think. More convenient that way. I'll fill out the paperwork tomorrow while you two are getting geared. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get this little one off to bed."

Once Marshall had left, the two rookies were left in silence for a minute. Eleanor looked over inquiringly at Levin. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" she asked uncertainly.

"Not at all," Levin said as he stood up and stretched. "But like I said, I trust Marshall. He's saved my ass far too many times for me to doubt his instincts."

"But I don't know him like you do, so how am I able to trust him?"

"Because he knows how to read people. I'm sure you've seen how he looks at people whose personalities he's judging."

"I suppose," Eleanor replied, thinking back on Marshall's cold and calculating stare from their walk earlier. "But I guess the better question is: how do I know I can trust you?"

Levin thought for a second before smiling. "You can't yet, and I don't expect you to without getting to know me. But since I've decided to do this whole 'training you' thing, I'm going to do my damn best to make you the best hunter that I can, and I'm going to keep you alive and safe as well. So we'll have plenty of time to get each other's trust I think."

Eleanor stared at him. How could he be so carefree after… _everything_ that had happened to the Lost? What made him so content with this sudden change in lifestyle? She somewhat envied his ability to recover from the past, but… she couldn't allow herself to get soft. Everything she'd gone through, and what she'd decided to do with her life, she couldn't afford to become so simple.

"But for now, let's get you moved in," Levin grinned at her, grabbing her bag off the floor.

"You don't…" Eleanor started, grabbing for her bag.

"But I am anyway," Levin said with a grin, moving the bag out of her reach. "Oh, and by the way," he said, looking back to grin at her as he walked toward the door, "nice to meet you, Ellie."

Eleanor nearly tripped over her feet at the nickname, before scowling at Levin. "My name's Eleanor."

"Sure it is," Levin laughed. "And I'm going to call you Ellie."

"No you're not."

"I'd like you to try and stop me, Ellie."

Eleanor growled in frustration. This was going to be a rough apprenticeship.

* * *

**Author's notes: Please review!**

**Wow this chapter turned out way longer than I thought it would! Every time I read through it, I kept thinking of more I wanted to add.**

**Eleanor (or Ellie) probably won't have the sole viewpoint through this story, but I thought she'd be a good character to start this story with.**

**Also, yes I invented a couple villages. I don't know if Boma actually is similar to any of the villages in other MH games, since I've only played MH3.**

**The whole idea for this story spawned while I was watching a friend fight the Caedaeus. He mentioned that he believed that the Monster Hunter world was actually some sort of dystopian future of our world (maybe not a dystopia, but I can't think of the right word). I didn't agree with him exactly, but the idea grew on me and soon this story unfolded in my head. After a few months of thought, I finally thought 'Screw it, I'm gonna write it.' At the very least I'm working on my writing abilities, so whatever. I've already got most of the story plotted out in my head (and a little on paper) so I've got a good idea of how it'll flow.**

**I hope anyone reading this is not too impatient with me, but it's probably still going to be at least 2 chapters before they actually get out hunting. I just feel the need to extrapolate on how I think this world would work if it was real. So next chapter is going to be about how to determine you affinity with a particular weapon, and a bit more info on how the village works. Oh, and the Guild rep Melanie gets some screen time. **


	3. Weapons Training

Weapons Training

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. All the characters in this story are mine._

_The building shook and trembled as the thunderous sound of footsteps echoed through the halls and doorways. Debris rattled across the floors and fell from the ceiling during the unending tumult of sound. The occasional roar pierced through the concrete walls and rattled the windows of the weakening building._

_Eleanor sat shivering on the ground of the crumbling structure, staring intently at her feet and quaking in fear at the symphony of terror stalking the lands outside in search of food. Food it would easily obtain if they only looked inside the structure that they hunted so dangerously close to._

_During a lull in the tumult of noise, Eleanor was able to pick up the sound of whispers around her. She braved a glance up from her feet at the people around her, hiding from the dangers outside as well. Faceless bodies leaned and swayed back and forth at all corners of the room. No mouths or ears or eyes or noses were visible, but the hoarse whispers and hisses still pierced through the silence of the shuddering room. The sound of the terrible footsteps outside the rose in volume once again, yet the whispers still echoed and ricocheted off the walls, matching the increasing sounds from the terrors that stalk so close by. _

'_Be quiet!' Eleanor wanted to say, to beg, to plead of the faceless shadows around her. 'Be quiet or we'll die! The creatures will find us! They'll kill us! Please be quiet!' But no words could escape her mouth, and the thundering steps grew even louder._

_Suddenly, silence. For a moment there was nothing. No thunder, no footsteps, no horrible voiceless whispers._

_Then, an eruption of fire and stone burst out from the wall opposite of Eleanor. She tried to scream, but once again, her voice would not come to her. Instead, all she could do was gape in soundless terror as the flame and jagged rubble tore through the faceless bodies around her. Blood flowed from the now lifeless bodies as the flames died away, smoke and ash clogging the air instead, transforming the death and gore into shadowy phantoms hanging at odd angles all around her._

_And then the thunder was back, closer, deadlier than before. A knowing guttural growl echoed in from the now wide window to the outside. The rumbling returned in sequence, in a painfully slow interval that seemed to crawl ever slower as the terrifying sound grew closer. A great and mighty shape flooded in as jagged curves and shapes as a shadow emitted against the smoke and ash. And still the rumbling grew in intensity. _

_The footsteps stopped, yet the building continued to shake and tremble as Eleanor cowered in fear from the terrible shape. A gust, a breath, blew aside the smoke and ash as an enormous appeared as if out of nowhere. A mighty red-scaled head appeared from nothingness in front of her and eyed the feast it had created for itself before spotting her. A hungry look appeared in the beast's eyes as it growled menacingly. And still the earth shook harder!_

_She wanted to scream! She wanted to run! She wanted to be anywhere, anyplace, anytime but here! And yet she couldn't speak, move, or even think! The beast had her, and she had no escape, no chance to survive, no hope at all. And still the earth shook harder!_

_With a quick inhalation of breath, the beast opened its gullet and roared its terrible deafening roar. A fiery red glow shone from the beasts maw as the destructive flame flowed from the beasts belly through its throat, intent on ending Eleanor's life in flame as it had the faceless corpses that surrounded her. And still the earth shook harder!_

_A bright blue light! And…_

"It's time to wake up, nya!"

Eleanor lungs found their use as she screamed in terror and her body found its strength as she swung at the beastly creature that clutched and shook her. With a surprisingly soft _Thwack_ against the creature, she was released and tried to roll away from the monster that threatened her.

With a sudden drop and a thump on her back that winded her in surprise, she opened her eyes, expecting sooty rubble, but finding a gently curved wooden house with soft morning light flowing in from the wide window on the wall above her head. The thundering and roars were gone, replaced by the soft sound of waves lapping against the supports underneath the house and the distant noises of workers and crewmen of ships, working early in the morning for the sake of taking off with the tide.

Although the scene around her was gentle and calm, the terrifying images from her dream still flashed vividly in the back of her mind. She forced herself to slow her ragged breathing, calming her pounding heart. The memories of the dream slowly faded away as her mind realigned itself with the real world.

It felt so real! She shivered involuntarily despite herself and pushed herself into a sitting position. Three months she'd been safe and sound, and still the nightmares haunted her nights. She just wanted to sleep without fear of nightmares again! Was that too much to ask for? But the dreams continued and would continue, always painfully real.

A thought occurred to her. She'd never actually felt anything during a dream, but striking at the monster had seemed so real this time. Had she actually hit something this time? With a wary glance, she lifted herself up off the floor and glanced over the edge of the bed.

A small white and black shape lay sprawled across the top of her shelves. A medium-sized mirror hanging on the wall had apparently been knocked askew and the oval shape was cocked at nearly the farthest angle possible, nearly falling off the nail that kept the mirror hinged to the wall. The small pile of books and hunter's manuals that Eleanor had brought with her from Loc Lac lay scattered across the floor.

The small white and black shape began to move and Eleanor shrunk back, uncertain what to expect. The shape slowly unraveled itself into a four legged creature, and Eleanor was able to determine that the creature was covered in fur. Surprisingly, the creature lifted itself up even further onto its hind legs and standing up straight. The creature groaned and stretched and finally turned around, letting Eleanor get a good look at it. It appeared to be a… cat? That was strange. Could cats stand up here in the hunter's world?

"That was a good hit, nya."

Eleanor nearly fell onto her back again in shock. It had talked! A talking cat! What the hell? Was she still dreaming?

"Ha, didn't expect me to say anything, nya?" it said, chuckling to itself. Eleanor couldn't resist the feeling of how adorable she thought the laughing cat was. "Levin had the same reaction back when he first came to the village. Didn't really click with him when I first met him, had other things on his mind I guess. But he had the same look when he finally realized it, nya."

Eleanor let the idea of talking cats settle in her mind before daring to stand up and walk around the bed to look eye to eye with the small thing on her dresser. Thinking back to her short time in Loc Lac, a spark of memory flickered through her mind. "A Felyne," she stated cautiously. "You're a Felyne aren't you?"

"That's it, nya," the small cat confirmed. "Name's Leif, Miss Eleanor."

"I've heard about your kind," Eleanor told the Felyne. "A few people mentioned them while I was in Loc Lac, but I never saw any Felynes around the whole time."

"Ah, yes," Leif said with a thoughtful look. "I heard that a lot of the Felynes in Loc Lac were pulled off of other jobs by the council to help with the work building new housing for the Lost. Lots of people coming in needing housing, nya. And nobody is a better builder than a Felyne!" he declared, a tone of pride in his voice.

"I guess that makes sense," Eleanor replied. A thought occurred to her. "Was that you I hit earlier? Oh, jeez I'm sorry! I just, well…"

"Nightmare, nya?" Leif said with an understanding smile. "Understandable. Lots of hunters have them. Normal people, too, I suppose, nya. Not the first time I've been thrown around. I've gotten tough over the years working with hunters like you, Miss Eleanor, nya."

"Still, I'm sorry," Eleanor apologized. "But why did you come to wake me up anyway? Shouldn't Levin have been the one to come and get me?"

"Would you want him in here while you were sleeping, even if it was to wake you up?" Leif grinned at Eleanor's grimace. "Didn't think so, nya. Human always seem so concerned about privacy in the sleeping room, especially between different genders. We Felynes don't really understand your wariness of each other, since you seem perfectly fine spending time with each other outside the sleeping room."

"It's… complicated, I guess," Eleanor told the Felyne.

"Maybe so, nya," Leif nodded in acceptance. "But anyway, here in Boma, Felynes are usually hired to act as assistants and aides to hunters in the village. Or hunters-in-training in your and Levin's cases, nya. We're not too skilled at heavy labor because of our size, and it cowardice comes easily for our kind, so we usually satisfy ourselves with odd jobs around and inside the villages we live in, nya."

"I think I get it," Eleanor said, grinning at Leif's enthusiasm toward his job and pride as a Felyne. "So you're just here to wake me up? Seems like a pretty simple job."

"Well, actually," Leif began, scratching his chin, "I've volunteered to be your primary aide as long as you're a hunter here in Boma Village."

"What's that mean?"

"It means I'm pretty much your permanent housekeeper, nya."

"But you don't have to…"

"Oh, yes I do, Miss Eleanor," Leif interrupted. "Well, not me specifically, nya, but one Felyne or another will have to do it. Sorry I have to be abrupt about it, but having a Felyne aide is almost mandatory for hunters. It's not an just an issue of cleanliness, though we Felynes are quite proud of our skills in sanitation, but it's a matter of safety, nya."

"How so?" Eleanor asked, genuinely curious as to why Leif was so determined to remain as her aide.

"Hunters lead a risky life, Miss Eleanor," Leif explained. "In small towns like this, with no real security measures protecting houses from intruders, loyal Felynes act a line of defense to protect your possessions from thieves while you are out of the house. And as a hunter, your work could very well keep you away for weeks at a time, increasing the importance of a Felyne defending your home."

"That makes sense I guess."

"Not only that, nya, but hunter's lives are also very dangerous! There are times when hunters may become injured, and are forced to remain at home to rest and recover from their injuries. All Felynes that are hired as hunters' aides are well trained in medicine and first-aid, in case any troubles occur during recovery, nya. You understand now?"

Eleanor shivered. She knew the life of a hunter had risks, but a mandatory requirement by the Guild for medically-trained servants on hand at all times at hunters houses seemed foreboding. Or at the very least, the idea seemed like a jinx. "I understand, Leif," she told the Felyne. "I guess I knew the risks before I got here, but I never really considered the implications of the threat monster hunting held. Thanks for saying you'll help me."

"Of course, nya!" Leif boasted proudly. "Being a hunter's aide is a proud job for a Felyne, so I vow to do my best to keep you and your home fit and ready for any mission!"

Eleanor smiled at the grinning Felyne. "Thanks Leif."

"Oh that reminds me," Leif said suddenly. "Levin said to tell you to meet him outside once you were done getting ready, nya. He said you two were going to go get your hunter's armor fitted before lunch so you could spend the afternoon testing out different weapons."

"Good to know," Eleanor said with a determined grin. Finally she would be taking the first step towards becoming a real hunter! With luck, she'd soon be out, ending the lives of monsters and making a name for herself. "Thanks for the message, Levin," she said as she gathered up her clothes from the rucksack she had tossed on the floor before passing out on the bed the previous night.

"Oh yes, and he also told me to 'make sure you don't spend too long getting ready like all the other girly hunters, he wants to be done with the armor fitting by noon.'"

Eleanor froze, and shot a cold glare at Leif. "He said what now?"

"He said…" Leif stopped in thought. "Or maybe that was just for me. I'm not too sure with humans what information to pass on or not, nya. They always seem to find the strangest things important and other things not."

Eleanor growled in anger before taking a deep breath to calm herself. She grinned wickedly in thought and dropped the clean shirt she had been carrying on the bed, pulling a towel out of the rucksack instead. Turning back to Leif, she smiled and asked with false sweetness, "Leif, could you please heat some water for me? I haven't bathed since before I sailed here and I'd like to take a nice… _long_ bath."

Leif cocked his head in confusion. "But Levin said to…"

"I heard what he said," Eleanor interrupted. "But I'm sure he can wait just a little bit. He'll understand why, I'm sure."

Leif nodded reluctantly. "I'll do it, nya, but I sure don't understand what's going on."

"You don't have to, Leif," Eleanor told him. "Just know that he's going to wait a while, and he knows why."

* * *

"Stupid cat," Levin growled to himself as he sat underneath the front overhang of Ellie's house. "Probably opened his mouth and said the wrong damn thing."

Admittedly, he had known that Leif was a very talkative cat who didn't exactly understand when to be tactful around humans and what subjects to be tactful about. Under those circumstances, Levin figured he was probably just as much at fault as Leif, probably more so for even giving the Felyne orders with such an obtuse reason. He'd said it as a joke at the time, forgetting Leif probably wouldn't get the human humor. Felynes of both genders spent a ridiculous amount of time on self-grooming, so a jab like that wouldn't make much sense to a Felyne.

"I'm a real dumbass, aren't I?" he groaned to himself, shielding his eyes from the noonday sun that blazed down brightly on the coastal town.

"I won't argue against that, _teacher_."

Levin looked up miserably at the familiar voice, chuckling weakly as his new apprentice glowered at him. He winced as she put on a fake smile and asked in a painfully cheery voice, "You didn't wait _too_ long, did you?"

Levin sighed in defeat. "No longer than I deserved to wait, it seems. I suppose an apology is in order."

"Yes one is," Ellie confirmed as Levin stood up and brushed himself off. "And you can do so… while treating me to lunch…" Levin winced. Direct hit to the pocketbook. "At a nice place…" Another impact. Structural integrity failing. "Where I can order whatever I want, no matter the price." Hull breached. Abandon ship. Every man for himself.

He saw her smiling as he withered under her demands. "You are a cruel and vengeful woman, Ellie."

She grinned wickedly back at him. "Flattery won't get you off the hook. You can keep trying, though. And my name is _Eleanor_."

He chuckled as he stepped away from the house and began walking down the street, motioning for her to follow him. "Sorry, Ellie, I may be suffering heavy casualties in my wallet as penance for my own stupidity, but I'm going to keep taking my little victories where I can get them. I've got to try and put up a teacher's image somehow, now don't I?"

"I think you're just trying to annoy me," Ellie accused, stepping forward to catch up with him.

"Maybe so," Levin admitted. "But if I'm doing it to annoy you, I'm only doing it _because_ it annoys you. I call a lot of people by nicknames anyway, so you're bound to get one eventually. Might as well just be a shortening of your own name. I call Marshall 'old man,' or other things like that, though. Maybe you'd like something more along those lines?"

"I'd like you to call me Eleanor," Ellie groaned.

"Ellie it is then," Levin smirked at her.

Eleanor sighed in frustration, making Levin chuckle. As the two wandered back through the town to town square, Levin took time to point out various landmarks and streets that they passed on the way. The little village had a far different layout than any city than any place either of them had ever been to before ending up in Loc Lac, and Levin wanted to make sure she understood how to navigate the town. Rather than North-South and East-West streets like they had both become accustomed to, Boma Village had a circular design, with the main streets in town looping around the town and reconnecting with itself rather than cutting from one side to another, and side streets and alleys cutting across them to provide shortcuts.

"It provides a certain measure of defense," Levin explained when Ellie asked. "Most monsters out in the wilds follow laid out hunting or migration paths that have been worn into the earth by their ancestors and other animals. Really useful for those monsters that don't have an internal compass to follow when going places. The whole idea of a circular town came from the idea that if a monster got into town and went on a rampage, it'd instinctually follow the path of least resistance, thinking it would lead to the 'watering hole' of our city. Instead, it'd keep going in circles until a hunter or two showed up to kill it or drive it away."

"What if there are no hunters in town?" Ellie asked.

"You'd be hard pressed for that to occur," Levin answered. "The old man doesn't leave town to hunt anymore unless by special request, and even then, won't go much further than the surrounding area. Worse comes to worse, the town guard just sounds a hunter horn they keep up on the hill and the old man'll come running to help."

"But he's kind of old," Ellie said warily. "What if something really dangerous appears? Something he can't keep up with?"

Levin laughed. "There you go on about his age again. Trust me when I say it doesn't matter for the guy. The old man's… I don't know… seventy- or eighty-something, and he's ten times tougher than anyone I've ever met. I heard that people make tell of him being a legend in some of the cities farther inland."

"Is he really that tough?"

"Well, maybe tough isn't the right word for it, but the old man's experienced for sure. If you stayed in the business as long as him, I guess you'd get experienced too. Some stories the villagers here tell about him will sound ridiculous, but more often than not they're probably true. I've got one of my own for you right now if you want to hear one."

"I guess so," Ellie said. She could hear the bustle of the town square in the distance. "We're almost there though."

"Don't worry, it's a short one," Levin said with a grin. "Anyway, me and him were out hunting one day. He's trying to teach me about positioning on a field and keeping your distance from a monster, so we're out looking for a Royal Ludroth… sort of a really big lizard or gecko that spits these globs of gunk that wear you out. The thing rolls around a lot and likes to charge with spitting at you so it's a good way to learn where to stand…"

"You're getting off track," Ellie said, raising an eyebrow at him.

Levin caught himself and grinned sheepishly. "Ah right. Sorry about that. I sorta get carried away telling stories like this. Anyway, we're marching along the beach, searching the waters, when all of a sudden this Great Jaggi bursts out of the treeline not twenty feet behind us, intend on running us down and tearing us apart."

"And a Great Jaggi is what?" Ellie asked.

"Sort of a big raptor, like a dinosaur. About twenty or thirty feet long and a bit taller than me. No toe claw though. Anyway, it's coming for us and it's gonna hit us before we get our weapons out and we know it. But Marshall just about-faces, jumps at it as it opens its mouth to bite at us, grabs it by the top and bottom of its mouth and stops it dead in its tracks."

"Bull," Ellie scoffed with disbelief.

"I kid you not," Levin swore with a grin. "And it gets better. Now the Great Jaggi's shaking his head and trying to get the old man to let go, but he just starts pulling the things mouth apart with all his strength. The Great Jaggi flips out and tries to snap at him, but the old man keeps his grip and before you know it," Levin did his best crunching sound, "tears the things face apart, killing it."

"No way," Ellie accused. "No weapon and killing something that big the way he did? I don't believe it."

"I swear it's true!" Levin laughed. "And trust me when I way it's going to be one of the more believable stories you'll hear about that old bastard if you ask around about him."

"Jeez," Ellie said, shaking her head. "I guess I sort of want him to teach me after all, if he's even half the hunter people seem to think he is."

"Guessed you missed out then," Levin told her. "He does things like this every once in a while, asks people to put up with his random whims. He almost never asks people to do things that are unreasonable though, so nobody really complains."

As the two entered the town square, Levin led Ellie over to a restaurant that specialized in cooking foreign foods, letting her take her pick from foods that had been imported from all over the reach of the Hunter's Guild. Ellie gave a confused look at the menu and picked a random order off the list, some dish called Sky King Platter. Levin laughed at the choice.

"Nice choice for a hunter," he told her.

"Why?" Ellie asked warily. "What's in it?"

"Dragon meat," Levin answered. "Rathalos I think. Maybe Rathian if the cooks are low on extra…"

"Really?" Ellie gasped in surprise. "They actually eat the meat off monsters?"

"It'd be a shame to waste it," Levin said, ordering his own meal. "They take all sorts of goods off monsters after a kill. The hunter gets a fair share of materials for their effort of course, but most of the corpse gets taken off by the Guild to be processed into trade and smithy goods. Some gets made into weapons, some into armor, some into transport boats and wagons, some into housing materials, and some…"

A large platter of steaming red meat covered in glaze was dropped in front of Ellie with a clatter by one of the Felyne waiters.

"Some get turned into food," Levin finished with a grin. "Delicious food too. Try it!"

Ellie prodded the meat uncertainly. "Dragon meat seems a little, I don't know, risky. And what's the glaze on it made of? More monster?"

"I think so," Levin said, slurping up a pile of noodles from his own plate. "Kirin butter, I think."

"What's a Kirin?"

"An elder dragon that roams lands father than we'll ever go. Heard it looks like a horse covered in lightning or something."

"So I'm supposed to eat… _horse butter_?" Ellie asked with disgust.

"It's really better if you don't think about it too hard, Ellie," Levin admitted with a shrug. "Or else you'll end up going hungry. Just trust that the chefs know what they're doing."

Levin watched as Ellie glanced over at the Felyne chefs, who were looking over at her expectantly. With reluctance, she tore off a piece of meat with her fork and bit into it. Levin choked on his food in laughter at the look of bliss on her face.

"This is… really, really good!" she said enthusiastically, to the joy of the chefs.

"I told you so," Levin said, still laughing.

After the two had finished their food, Levin paid their cooks (much to Levin's displeasure at the price) and the two of them walked towards a weapon store sitting opposite of the smith's shop.

"I thought the smith was the one who made armor," Ellie asked as the two approached the shop.

"Only the higher grade armors," Levin told her. "But you need to bring him your own materials to get him to make you a set of armor. We'll start you off with basic hunter's armor, and you can you're your way up to better armors from there. Same thing with weapons. Luckily for rookies, the Guild mass produces a few different types of sets of beginner's armor and weapons for purchase at shops like this one. You'll need to take your stuff to the smith to get it refurbished if it gets dinged up, though."

"That reminds me," Ellie suddenly said, looking at Levin, "what kind of weapon do you use, anyway? I didn't see one when I was at your house yesterday."

"Mine's at the smith's right now, actually," Levin told her. "I use a great sword myself, and I got enough materials a couple days ago for the guy who runs the place to upgrade my weapon into something better."

"You can upgrade weapons?"

"Yeah. A lot of materials you can take off of monsters are really strong or sharp or durable, so most hunters use the materials they take off the beasts to improve their weapons as well as making better armor."

"I see," Ellie nodded in understanding, as the two entered the Guild shop. The place was run by a very enthusiastic young woman named Sophie who nearly jumped on Ellie when Levin told her that she needed to be sized for her armor. Levin turned his head on instinct and walked to the other side of the store when Sophie nearly forced Ellie out of her clothes in her overenthusiastic desire to get Ellie's measurements. Once the sizing was done, Ellie bolted out of the shop while the shopkeeper gave Levin a timeframe and told him to come back later that evening for the completed set.

"Not a touchy-feely kind of person, huh?" Levin said with a grin as he caught up with Ellie outside the shop.

"I'm okay with physical contact," Ellie said with a shiver, "but sexual assault is something completely different! Someone needs to put a warning sign in the shop entrance. 'Warning: Beware of shopkeeper. Will molest on sight.'"

Levin laughed and patted her on the back. "Yeah, Sophie tends to be a little excitable about her job. Did the same thing with me if I recall correctly. But the good news is it's over, and since it's going to take them a few hours to resize the armor, that means we're up to the point I'm sure you've been waiting all day for."

Ellie smiled with a fierce grin. "Weapons, right?"

"You got it. Let's go, shall we?"

The two walked over to the Guild booth on the other side of the street and Levin walked up to the counter and smiled at the rep. She was a very pretty young woman with cropped red hair and bright green eyes. Like most Guild reps, she wore the bright red uniform of the Hunter's Guild. "Good afternoon, Mel. How's life on the other side of the counter?"

"Safer than your side, that's for sure," Melanie, the Guild rep, replied. "I heard Marshall found out about your little unofficial trip into the wilds to capture a Great Jaggi a couple days ago."

"Unfortunately," Levin said with a sign. Then a thought occurred to him and he gave Mel a interrogatory glare. "Now whose fault is that, I wonder?"

"Hey," Mel snapped at him, leaning over the counter and glaring right back. "Don't you point your finger this way. Search your memory. Who was it that got you that under-the-table quest in the first place, huh? It'd be my head too if Marshall had taken it badly. Blame that jerk Silph. He told Marshall you'd managed to get the materials for a better weapon, sending him over to me to find out. And I can't lie to Marshall, you know that!"

Levin groaned in frustration. "Dammit. That stupid smith's got a bigger mouth than Leif does. Sorry about the suspicion."

"It's fine," Mel said, waving it off. "I'd suspect me too, considering I'm the one who has to do all the paperwork for hunts in this area. Did Marshall make you do anything as punishment?"

"Yeah, he made me make up for it by buying a set of armor for Ellie here with the leftover money," he told her, motioning to Ellie.

"It's Eleanor, dammit!" Ellie growled at Levin. "Don't introduce me like that!"

"Oh, so the rumors are true then?" Mel asked excitedly. "I heard from a couple of the girls at the general goods shop that Marshall had assigned the new apprentice to you instead of taking her up himself. So what's the deal? Did he actually do that?"

"Word gets around fast," Ellie said to Levin with a frown.

"It's a small town," Levin shrugged. "You could sneeze and people on the other side of the village would know about it before you caught your breath."

"How interesting!" Mel said with a grin. "It's unorthodox to have a hunter take on more than one apprentice as it is, but for someone to apprentice under another apprentice is completely unheard of. I can't wait to hear what the examiners at the Guild will say about that when you two go to take your exam."

"I guess that's assuming they allow us to take the exam in the first place," Ellie said.

Levin raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Ellie frowned at sighed in thought. "Back while I was still in Loc Lac, a lot of locals were raising a fuss over the Lost flooding in and spreading their tales of horror. Most of the normal citizens treated the Lost with spite. Take me for example. I asked to take the hunter's exam, and they pretty much sent me as far away as they possibly could. It seems to me that they don't want the Lost taking part in the workings of life around here, so I imagine they'll make an effort to shoot us down if we apply."

"They have to let you at least apply," Mel told Ellie. She looked indignant about the accusation against the Guild. "You might not pass, but they do have to let you take the test."

"Maybe," Ellie said uncertainly. "I wasn't really thinking too hard about it back when I was in Loc Lac, but since Marshall had me think back, I've realized that the Loc Lac council and people in general really didn't like the Lost that much due to the housing problems and panics we've caused. They might just fail us during the hunter's exam out of spite."

"The Guild is an honest organization," Melanie said acidly. "They wouldn't shoot down an examinee over something like that."

Levin frowned. Had things really gotten so bad back in Loc Lac? He knew people had thought the Lost were mad when he had left town for Boma all those months ago, and they really had looked down on them back then. But had the sheer numbers of members of the Lost overwhelmed the people of Loc Lac? People got along with him well enough here in Boma Village, but then again, there was only one of him. Two, he supposed, now that Ellie was here.

Although, admittedly he had caused the village some problems back when he'd first gotten here. Marshall had slapped some sense into him in the end, though. Eventually.

"Let's deal with that when we come to it, shall we?" Levin said, trying to calm the two women down. Mel did not look happy at all with Ellie's accusations, and he couldn't let Ellie unintentionally provoke a fight. It was a bad idea for a hunter to piss off the Guild rep in their hometown. "All we have to do is make sure we're such damn good hunters by the time we take the exam, there'll be no question as to whether we're worthy of being hunters."

"I guess you're right," Ellie agreed.

"And that's actually why we're here," Levin continued, turning back to Mel. "The old man suggested we get Ellie here some practice time with some weapons, and suggested the practice ones you keep here. Would that be allowable, or is there some sort of regulations against it?"

"It's fine," Mel answered, straightening herself up. "We're actually required to keep a few weapons on hand for things like this. Gotta bring in new recruits somehow, might as do it with a weapons demonstration. Come around back," she said, motioning to an alley that cut around the back of the Guild booth.

Levin followed her around the side, with Ellie following close behind. The alley cut a narrow path between the Guild booth and the next door smith shop, making the walkway incredibly hot from the exhaust emitted by the furnace. But the alley quickly opened up in a good-sized fenced off clearing with neatly cut grass and small wooden practice dummies set up in various locations.

As Ellie began wandering around the field, poking around the wooden dummies, the door to the back of the guild opened and Mel appeared, dragging a large and heavy-looking box. Levin hurried over to the other side of the box and lifted up, receiving a grateful smile from Mel. The two toted the box over the center of the field and set it up next to a large tree stump that looked cut and dinged from years of practice. Ellie noticed them and walked back over as Mel bent down to the box and pulled out a key to unlock it. With a snap, the box flew open.

"Wow," Ellie said in amazement. Levin whistled in surprise. Inside the box was a beginner's version of every weapon he'd seen before, and some he hadn't. He hadn't known there were so many different types. Admittedly, the smith here in town was not as experienced as some in bigger town, and trade in Boma didn't usually include weapon imports, but you'd think he'd have at least heard of some of these, considering the experience Marshall had.

He reached down and pulled out an extremely weathered and worn great sword, and laughed despite himself. He'd been swinging around a great sword himself for so long that he could tell just by the weight distribution of the weapon in his hands exactly how beat up the old weapon really was. But at the same time he felt that this must have been one great weapon once upon a time, since it had been kept around, despite its age, and not melted down into scrap for another weapon.

"Am I going to try out all of these?" Ellie asked, lifting out a long metal spear and shifting it back and forth between her hands.

"We'll try out as many as we can," Levin assured her. "We'll start off by figuring out what kind of hunter you want to be, and go from there."

"What do you mean, 'what kind of hunter?'?" Ellie asked, setting down the spear on the tree trunk and lifting out a short sword.

"I mean, do you want to be a get-in-quick-and-get-out kind of hunter, running in for a few hits and backing off? A heavy hitter like me, taking hits but doing big damage? Maybe something with a shield, where you can get in and fight, a little slower but safer than otherwise? Or maybe a gunner, shooting from a distance?"

"I'm not sure," Ellie said uncertainly, slowly swinging the short sword she had back and forth.

"If I may make a suggestion?" Mel said, lifting a smaller shield out of the box. "You appear to be more nimble and, shall we say, motion oriented than Levin here. Are you quick on your feet by chance?"

"A bit," Ellie answered. "I was on a track… er, running and jumping team back before I ended up getting brought here."

"Then you'd probably be more suited to a lighter, faster striking weapon," Mel suggested, holding up the shield she was carrying to show Ellie. "The short sword you've got there with a shield like this one is a pretty good quick-hit combo for example. If I had a long sword in here, I'd let you try out that as well, but we haven't had any weapon donations in a while, so I'm afraid we can't do that."

"I haven't tried the long sword myself, actually," Levin said, turning around and swinging the sword at one of the dummies. "I think it'd be pretty cool if Silph managed to get off his butt and learn how to make some different weapons."

"Yeah, but you know him," Mel said with a sigh. "Get him going on long swords and it'll go to his head. And then that's all he'll want to make for weeks, even if all you want is some armor."

"Who's Silph?" Ellie asked, looking up as she was strapping on the shield Mel had given her.

"The head smith in town," Mel answered. "Unfortunately, just because he's the best we got in town doesn't mean he's as good as the Guild expects their smiths to be. He's pretty good at small things the village needs like making shovels and grain scythes, but he only knows the ins and outs of a few types of weapons so we have to make do with what we have or what we can buy from weapon traders."

"I see," Ellie said, shaking her left hand to see if the shield was firmly attached. She took a few sloppy swings at one of the dummies, before Levin shook his head and lay the old sword down on the stump. He walked over and took a gentle hold of Ellie's wrist.

"Like this," he said, moving her arm in a diagonal line, then across, then down. "Remember to avoid stabs or thrusts. Most monsters have really thick or plated skin so only do so if you know it's a soft spot. And you shield doesn't just defend against attacks. You can ram against a monster and stun it if you're close enough."

"Okay, I think I got it," Ellie said, practicing a few more swings before a confused look appeared on her face.

"What?" Levin asked. "I say something weird?"

"Sort of," Ellie answered. "It's just… you actually sounded like a teacher there. I'm stunned."

"Oh, shut up," Levin groaned and buried his face in his hands as Mel burst out laughing.

* * *

After a couple of hours of work on the practice field, Eleanor felt dead tired. She had proven to be pretty proficient with the sword and shield combination during her time practicing with it, but despite Mel's praises and suggestion to stick with it and make it her primary (Melanie, not Mel, Eleanor corrected herself. She was getting into Levin's mindset and that needed to stop.), she and Levin had both agreed that she at least try out every different kind of weapon Melanie had available.

After digging through the box, however, they'd found out that only four of the other weapons were in any condition to even mess with, much less legitimately practice with. Melanie apologized profusely, claiming that she hadn't had the opportunity to show off the weapons recently, but Levin and Eleanor both shrugged it off, neither of them bothered too much by the lack of options. Levin explained that a lot of the weapons in the box weren't used too often in the area of the world they lived in anyway, so finding any to buy or a smith that could make them would be a challenge anyway.

Eleanor had given the lance a shield a try first after putting the sword and shield away. She had rather liked the defensive feel that the shield had given her, but the overwhelmingly large size of the spear's shield had made her uncomfortable due to its highly restricted field of vision. That and the spear felt too bulky for her, and wasn't quite as satisfying to swing with no bladed edge. Besides, she had found she didn't like thrusting with the spear too much, since the awkward shift in balance more often than not ended her up on her ass.

She had tried the great sword after that, since Levin had told her its bulk allowed it to be used as a makeshift shield when the situation required it. However, while the great sword had indeed made a decent shield, it had proven far too heavy for her to wield comfortably. Levin had told her that some hunters preferred fast and light to slow and heavy, and flailing around with the bulky great sword certainly had driven home her desire to constantly be moving in a fight.

Finally, she had given the hammer a try, after Levin had assured her that the weapon had a lot more maneuverability than the great sword. She had found the weapon very satisfying, and enjoyed the feeling of the wooden dummies splintering under the weight of her swings. But once again, she felt very vulnerable without a shield, and had trouble keeping her balance with large swings and swipes with the hammer.

She had eventually given up on the other three bladed weapons and gone back to practicing with the sword and shield, much to Melanie's pleasure. Levin did his best to give advice, although he was clearly far more capable with the great sword and very obviously hadn't taken time to really play around with any other weapon types. Luckily, Melanie had brought out a Guild-endorsed weapon's guide which had given a quick how-to on proven methods of attacking with a sword and shield. As she practiced more and more with the sword and shield, Ellie became more and more convince that this was the weapon for her. The shield comforted her, and she liked the maneuverability it allowed.

After a long training session, the three of them sat down on the grass. Levin and Eleanor were both completely worn out from the training, and Melanie's constant barking out of orders and maneuvers had apparently worn her out as well.

"I didn't think training would be this straightforward," Eleanor admitted as she lay on the grass, staring up at the clouds.

"You're quite a lucky one," Levin told her with a grin. "You found a weapon that suits your abilities, which is a pretty good thing for a hunter to figure out as soon as they can. One afternoon of practice was all it took to find yours, which was, like I said, pretty damn lucky."

"So does that mean you're going to buy me a sword and shield set from the armory as well?" Eleanor prodded him, causing him to wince.

"Looks like it," he groaned, hanging his head in misery. "Though maybe I can get Marshall to actually put a little forward… I'm going broke really fast."

"Wait a minute, though," Melanie spoke up, catching the two's attention. "Aren't you going to give the bowgun a try before you go?"

"But I'm really good with the sword and shield," Eleanor protested. "I don't really need to…"

"Weren't you guys the ones earlier that said you should give everything a try, just in case?" Melanie shot back, eyeing the two of them.

"She's got a point," Levin said with a shrug. "Might as well have you take a few shots while we're here. If nothing else, we can say we tried."

"Great!" Melanie said enthusiastically, before turning to walk towards the Guild booth. "I'll go get the paint shots. You two wait here."

"I think she's taken a shine to you, Ellie," Levin chuckled as Melanie darted through the booth's back door.

"What makes you say that?" Eleanor asked, sitting up from the ground and stretching.

"I've heard a lot of Guild reps like to cling on to a particular hunter that they work with," Levin told her as he got to his feet. "Guess they like to find a rookie they think has talent and work with them as often as possible so they can be the ones to say that they 'took part in the raising of a fine hunter' or something like that. And she's certainly doing her best to make herself appear useful to you."

"I guess so, but how come she didn't latch onto you when you came here, then?"

Levin averted his eyes for a moment before turning back with a strained smile. "She probably thought I wouldn't last that long," he said ruefully.

"Why not?" Eleanor asked.

"Because I was…" Levin searched for the word he wanted. "Reckless, I guess."

"What do you…"

"I'm back!" Melanie cheered, reappearing before Eleanor could finish asking. She was carrying a small crate filled to almost to the top with small pellets. Looking closer at each pellet, Eleanor saw each were made of a thin transparent material sloshing with a thick, gooey, colored sap.

"These are paint shots," Melanie explained, setting the crate on the stump. "They're specially designed ammunition made for bowguns. They're intended to be used to mark large monsters with a special sap that makes them easier to hunt down, but they're completely harmless, so we're going to use them to practice with."

She reached down and picked up a large crossbow-looking object and held it up for Eleanor to see properly. "This is a common bowgun," she explained. "Particularly, a light bowgun. All bowguns are classified by weight, among other things. Light bowguns are made for high maneuverability, but lack the firepower of their counterparts. Medium bowguns don't have quite as good maneuverability, but higher strength as well. Heavy bowguns have a lot of 'oomph' but are hard to move around with. Since you seem to like moving around, let's start you off practicing with a light one, shall we?"

Eleanor took the bowgun from Melanie and hoisted it into position, putting her hands where Melanie directed. She had to admit she liked the feel of it, but felt uncomfortable wielding it without a shield to protect her.

"Now, what makes bowguns so unique compared to other firearms is their ridiculous compatibility with ammunition types," Melanie explained, grabbing some pellets from the crate and handing them to Eleanor. "A single bowgun can equip a dozen or so different types of ammo, depending on the frame you're using. But since the size of ammo varies, the number of shells of a certain type of ammo you can load is different with each type."

"So I can't load in as many heavy shells as I can weak shells, then?" Eleanor asked.

"You got it," Melanie affirmed. "Now you can load two paint shots into one of these bowguns, so give loading a go. Once it's loaded, cock it to slide both shells into the ready position. Cocking once will store up a lot of force in the bowgun, so you don't need to cock it after every shot you take, just when you reload."

"Convenient," Eleanor said. She followed Melanie's instructions on loading the shells, then cocked the bowgun and aimed at one of the dummies on the far end of the lot. She squeezed the trigger and the bowgun jumped as the shell fired out and shot across the field. Eleanor steadied herself and looked across the field to find a splatter on the bull's-eye… of the wrong dummy a few feet to the left of the one she had been aiming at.

"Oh yeah," Melanie said sheepishly. "I forgot to mention, most bowguns have a bit of deviation in one direction or another that you have to take into account. Nice shot, though."

"Gee, thanks," Eleanor replied grumpily, before aiming down the sights again. In her mind, she imagined the path the former shell had taken and overlapped it with the line of sight she had one the dummy. She aimed a little to the right of the dummy she was aiming at, so the impact line she had in her head overlapped with the bull's-eye of the dummy.

_Okay, take into account the deviation, and…_

She squeezed the trigger again and the second shell shot out. She was prepared for the recoil this time however, and caught herself in time to see the paint splatter about a foot above the bull's-eye of the dummy she had aimed at.

"Not bad," Levin said with a grin. "Load a couple more and we'll see how you do with longer distances."

Eleanor slid a couple more shell into the chamber and cocked the bowgun. She hoisted the bowgun up and aimed for a dummy placed a few yards behind the one she had just shot. Once again, she imagined the flight of the bullet in her head, a bright line stretching out from her bowgun to the target in the distance. She adjusted the imaginary line to fit the path her second shell had followed, and took the drop of the bullet into account. With a slow breath, she squeezed the trigger.

_Splat._ The shell hit the target dead center. Eleanor was stunned. Should it be this easy?

"Holy crap," Levin whistled, stretching out the words in awe. "Looks like we may have found something even better for you."

"Oh wow!" Melanie exclaimed. "You're fantastic! Aim for another one!"

Eleanor calmed herself down and aimed for another target, this one another ten yards past the second one. The imagined lines arranged themselves in her head again, creating a path to the target. She squeezed the trigger again.

_Splat._ Another bull's-eye.

"I think we have a winner," Levin laughed. "You were meant for this kind of weapon."

Eleanor frowned and set the bowgun down on the stump. "I really wanted to wield a sword and shield, though."

"You don't have to just choose one," Melanie told her. "A lot of hunters have at least two weapons they switch between depending on what they're hunting. Many hunters keep more."

"Problem is I don't think this cheapskate here will be willing to buy both of them for me," Eleanor replied, motioning to Levin. Melanie giggled at the jab.

"She's right," Levin shrugged unapologetically. "I'll buy you a weapon if I have to, but only one. You'll have to choose which one you prefer over the other."

Eleanor frowned at sat down on the stump with a frown. She really liked the feel she got from the sword and shield. There was something incredibly enjoyable in the feel she got from the cutting and slicing motions she put into each swing of the sword. But, on the other hand, there was a certain satisfaction in having a weapon that she was so good with that could hit an enemy from so far away. Would she need a shield at all if she could drop a monster before it even got close enough to attack her?

"I'll try the bowgun," she decided.

"Very good!" Melanie said gleefully. "Good bowgun users are so rare these days. And you show such promise, I'm sure you'll become a great hunter!"

"Seems that way, doesn't it?" Levin said with a grin. He sighed remorsefully. "Looks like I'll have to drop another pile of money to buy you a bowgun, then?"

Eleanor grinned evilly at him. "Looks like it."

Levin shivered. "Good lord, you are a wicked woman aren't you?"

"I try," she said, smirking at him.

Eleanor spent the rest of the afternoon listening to Melanie read information out of her handbook on the types and uses of the many kinds of ammunition, reciting common tactics and field maneuvers verbatim from the book. Between lessons, Eleanor practiced with the bowgun, practicing with varying distances and convoluted angles by standing on top and around boxes scattered on the edges of the field.

As the afternoon passed on, Levin looked up at the darkening sky. "I think it's been long enough, then," he said. "If you'd like to, Ellie, we can go pick up your armor now, and get you a rookie's light bowgun while we're there. And who knows? Maybe if we're lucky, the old man will have some work for us to do in the wilds tomorrow and you can get some practice in out there."

Eleanor's eyes lit up. Two days in Boma and she might already be out killing monsters? She may have gotten lucky listening to that bastard Zhanin and coming here after all. If she kept up at the rate she was going, she'd have her hunter's license in no time, and would be allowed to go out and kill the real monsters, the real threats that deserved to die.

"Great," she said to Levin. "The sooner the better." Levin raised an eyebrow at her eagerness, but didn't say anything as he bent down to help Melanie put away the practice weapons.

Once all the weapons were safely put in their box and the lock reattached, Levin helped Melanie carry the box back inside the booth. Then he and Eleanor cut back through the hot alley back into the town square. The two walked across the square to the armor dealer to find the Sophie waiting excitedly outside the building. She eyed Eleanor wickedly, causing her to shiver in fear and keep her distance as Levin went forward to pay for the armor as well as purchase a Guild-manufactured light bowgun and a box of assorted ammunition.

"Here you go," Levin said upon his return, handing her the bowgun. She managed to be impressed by the bowgun, despite knowing it was not a very high-powered weapon compared to what the smith could make after given the proper materials. It was a little heavier than the one she had practiced with, but it was in far better condition, and the taut of the string was tighter, allowing for a more powerful shot than what she had used before.

"With luck, there won't be any large monster sightings tomorrow," Levin told her, hoisting her bundle of hunter's armor over his shoulder and the ammunition under his arm. "Better to start small and work your way up when it comes to hunting. The whole 'run before you walk' philosophy doesn't work too well if running only ends you up next to something ten times your size when you've never even killed a rabbit before."

"And what if there is a big monster in the area tomorrow?" Eleanor asked, hopeful for something worth killing.

"Then we wait for a day when there are none," Levin said with finality. "Let's get something clear; you're not a big bad monster hunter. Not yet anyway. And when it comes to hunting monsters you're going to have to prove you're worthwhile before me or the old man even think about letting you fight something with more mettle. It took almost three weeks for a safe day to pop up back when I became the old man's apprentice, and if that's how long we have to wait before we take you out, then so be it."

Eleanor glared at him, but didn't talk back. She knew she wasn't in a position to argue with him, even if he wasn't a hunter yet either. Her bad mood didn't dwindle on the walk back to the houses either, so she kept quiet on the way back, only making small talk when Levin initiated conversation.

Once they'd gotten back to their houses and Eleanor had brought her things inside to be put away, she dropped onto her bed, weary from the day's activities. She looked over at her new, pristine bowgun as it lay propped up on her shelf. She grinned at the thought of being able to finally to go out and kill the monsters that wandered the wilds, and imagined the feeling of euphoria she would no doubt feel as she fired shells into the countless creatures that wandered the wilds.

Her last thought before drifting off to sleep was a vengeful image of her holding the bowgun to the head of the creature that haunted her dreams at night, and squeezing the trigger…

* * *

**Author's Notes: Please Review!**

**Good Lord, but do I have a gift for extrapolation! At this rate my next few chapters will end up being 12k+ words! I really need to learn where to cut these chapters off. But I'm learning my lesson. I'll try to figure out how to break the chapters apart into more manageable snippets. Better to have 40 5k word chapters than 20 10k words in my opinion. Unless you folks like the long-winded chapters... tell me if you do.**

**Anyway, so yay! Next chapter will actually have some hunting! We'll get to see if I'm worth my salt at writing at action sequences. **

**The remainder of the story is not yet set in stone, but it's fleshing itself out in my head and on paper. I don't even have any idea how long the story will be, it keeps changing so much. But just know I plan to finish this story eventually, so bear with me!**


	4. Into the Wilds

Into the Wilds

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. All the characters in this story are mine._

Levin walked out his door and looked at the sky. The sun was just breaking over the early morning horizon and the sky was completely cloudless as far as he could see. It was shaping up to be a perfect day for hunting, if he did say so himself.

"Ellie will be pleased," he muttered to himself. "She's been pretty patient."

In the end, there had been a sudden rush of Ludroth breeding on the day Levin had planned on taking Ellie out on her first hunt. Such an event usually attracted several Royal Ludroth to the area. With so many males demanding the attention of the females through means of physical dominance, the entire species group in general was riled up to the point of endangering even the most skilled of hunters. The risk was too high to take a rookie like Ellie out on her first hunt under such conditions. Even someone as skilled with a bowgun as Ellie was proving to be.

And she was proving to be an excellent gunner, that was for sure. In her frustration at not being allowed into the field, while Levin and Marshall still went out to fulfill random villager requests that were necessary to facilitate village upkeep, she had spent nearly all her time at the Guild booth's training field, practicing with her new bowgun to the point of obsession. Her apparent desire to become the perfect gunner stunned Levin. He'd rarely seen anyone with such determination. And Mel certainly wasn't against the company Ellie provided, even when Ellie spent most of her time shooting.

She had found time to train with the practice sword and shield as well, Levin had discovered, when, upon returning from the wilds late one night, he'd found her striking at one of the dummies in the practice field at a furious pace. She must have been at it awhile, because the dummy had been worn away so much he would never have guessed its original size if he hadn't already known. A small lamp Mel had provided and the dimming light of the smithy furnace was all she had, yet her onslaught continued. Levin had stood there for a long time, mesmerized by the fortitude the young woman had and the near unbelievable inner and outer strength she seemed to be calling upon. He had to admit, he was envious of her sheer perseverance.

He'd nearly panicked when all of a sudden she passed out from fatigue. Running over to her in full armor and gear, he'd checked her pulse and found her fine, but sleeping in what he figured was the closest semblance to a coma as he'd ever seen. Sighing in relief, he'd removed the gear she had equipped and had taken upon himself to carry her back to her home, despite the offers of aid he'd received from some of the Felynes he'd met on the way back. Back at the home, he'd placed her on her bed and left her in the care of Leif, who was more than glad to follow Levin's order not to let her out of the house tomorrow until she'd gotten at least twelve hours of sleep and Leif was sure she was fully rested.

Levin wondered for a moment if Ellie had known it was him that had brought her back to the house. She hadn't said anything about it the next day, so she'd probably assumed she was carried back and cared for by a group of Felynes. He didn't care too much either way, though. As long as she didn't work herself to death and kept healthy, it didn't matter.

In the end, though, it had taken just over a week for the Ludroth mating rush to end, and after an extensive study of the region, the town watch had told Levin and Marshall that no large monsters were to be expected in the area today, allowing for a safe training day for Ellie. Levin grinned. In truth, he'd been looking forward to this day for the last week as well. He knew how hard Ellie had been working and he desperately wanted to see that her work had paid off. Maybe this was the feeling of pride a teacher was supposed to feel when a student succeeded? But then again, he hadn't really done all that much as a teacher, only pointed Ellie in the right direction and let her figure things out for herself.

He walked over to Ellie's house and entered the small hall that led over to the bathroom and kitchen and rapped sharply on the door Ellie and Leif had rigged up to act as a barrier to her room. Apparently, people being able to come and go as they pleased though houses hadn't sat well with Ellie, despite the permanent guard Leif acted as. Most people were polite enough to call into the house requesting the right to enter, or simply passed a message onto any Felynes in service, but neither of these choices had apparently been good enough for Ellie. Thus, she had put an effort to create the only real door in all of Boma, separating her room from the rest of the village.

"You awake in there, Ellie?" he called out after waiting a few moments. He heard some rustling from the other side of the door, assuming it was Ellie waking up and moving around. Eventually the door opened slowly and Ellie appeared, still wearing a loose nightgown and sporting the messiest bed-head Levin had ever seen.

"I told you," Ellie growled sleepily, "to call me _Eleanor._"

Levin sniggered and smiled at her. "Just thought I'd let you know, the town guard hasn't reported any large monster sightings for today."

It took a few moments for Ellie's sleep-addled brain to comprehend the meaning of Levin's words, but her face finally lit up in recognition. "Wait, so we can finally go out hunting today?" she asked ecstatically.

"That's right," Levin affirmed. "Since I'm sure you'll want to get as much out of today as you can, I figured we'd get up early so we can spend as much time as we can in the wilds. There's a lot to learn out there, so I figure we'll be out there all day. How fast can you get ready?"

Ellie slammed the door in his face, causing Levin to jump in surprise. He heard Ellie scuttle about the room for a moment. Then the door reopened. "Sorry about that," Ellie apologized, embarrassed. "I'll be ready in fifteen minutes or so."

"Right then," Levin chuckled. "See you then."

Leaving Ellie's house, he quickly hurried over to his own house to prepare. He slipped on his own armor, the dull yellow Ludroth armor he was rather fond of, and slung his goods satchel over his back. He'd had this bag of goods prepared last week for just this day, filled with various goods he'd be using in the field and just as many that he'd be offering to Ellie for her to use. He reached instinctually toward the wall near his shelves, before remembering he'd taken his great sword in to Silph to be refurbished again after damaging it in a fight with a Quropeco. He'd have to pick it up on his way out of town, but it wouldn't be out of the way, with the smithy right next to the Guild booth.

After double- and triple-checking that he was armed and ready (well, ready at least), he left the house to meet up with Ellie. Not surprisingly, she was already fully armed, with her bowgun strapped snuggly to her back. He checked to make sure she had her own goods satchel, as well as her ammunition pouch attached firmly to her belt loop. He shouldn't have been surprised that she was prepared, though; after all she'd spent the whole week preparing for this outing.

"What took you so long?" she asked. "I thought you'd be ready before me, since you've done this before."

"I had to grab a few more things than you did," he explained. She turned and walked next to him as he walked past toward the town square. The two walked briskly, wanting to hurry since today was so important. Levin explained what they'd do as they walked. "We'll be meeting up with the old man by the Guild booth before we do anything else. Mel usually takes villager requests for goods and materials from the wilds and passes it on to us. It's always good to have a goal while hunting. After that I'll have to get my sword from Silph before we take off. Lastly, we'll grab a bite to eat. Don't want to wander around out there on an empty stomach."

"Seems like a lot of work to do before we even go hunting," Ellie grumbled.

"Maybe so," Levin agreed. "But fortune favors the prepared. And you always, _always_ want to be prepared for a hunt, and be prepared for anything."

"I guess so," Ellie said. "By the way, what the hell are you wearing? You look like a hippy Eskimo."

"Oh this?" Levin laughed, looking down at his outfit. "It's Ludroth armor. It's made out of the spongy mane Royal Ludroth have. The old man gives me grief for it sometimes, too."

"Was there no better options?" Ellie scoffed.

"Not around here there aren't," Levin told her. "Gobuls, Lagiacrus and Rathian pop up now and then. Rathalos on rare occasions. But my weapon's not good enough to pierce their armors, so I'll need to get better materials before I get anything better."

"Why that, though?" Ellie asked.

"The spongy materials actually absorb the shock of a lot of physical attacks," Levin explained. "It's a pretty good deal when you're an up-close-and-personal fighter like me."

Ellie nodded in acceptance as the two continued to the town square. As the two entered the entered the bustling town center, Levin glanced over to the Guild booth and saw that it was deserted, excluding Mel, who was poring over her Guild guide again, no doubt in search of the slightest tidbit of information she could wow Ellie with before the two of them took off for the wilds. As usual Mel greeted them enthusiastically when they approached and sat down.

"Well, good morning!" she said with a smile. "I hear today's the day you finally go out on your first hunt," she said to Ellie, bouncing with excitement.

"So I've been told," Ellie shrugged with a small grin at the Guild rep. Levin smiled. Apparently Mel's bubbly attitude had managed to get some friendliness out of his apprentice. "Hopefully nothing too dangerous will show up while we're out and cancel our trip for us."

"Not likely," Mel told her. "The guards and watches here in Boma absolutely have to make sure their reports are accurate. Any false information can result in the life threatening of travelers, traders, and hunters such as yourselves."

"Not to mention the stringent crackdown on the local monster hunting the Guild's been applying," Levin said. "Got to protect the food chain and all that. I heard some rogue hunters inland have been over-hunting some monsters and causing major environmental issues."

"I hadn't heard about that," Ellie said inquiringly.

"Ask Mel about it," he replied, pointing at the Guild rep, who looked more than eager to explain. "I have to go grab my sword from Silph before we head out. Gonna see if I can't haggle down the price from the guy. The old man should be here soon too, so we'll leave once we're all here."

"Fine by me," Ellie answered as Levin turned towards the blacksmith.

* * *

As Levin walked away towards the blacksmith, Eleanor turned back to Mel. "So what's this about overhunting?" she asked.

"Well, as you know, the Guild keep tight tabs on all hunting done by hunters both for mission and free hunting for areas like ours where we collect the materials for the sake of the village," Mel replied. "However, sometimes hunters will decide that they can make a greater profit by hunting a monster then not reporting the kill, keeping a better portion of the materials for themselves or selling them. Apparently, over in the desert, there's been this huge sweep of unreported monster kills and captures. The Guild is guessing that some group of hunters decided to try and outmaneuver the Guild's material handlers and try to make a profit by going over their heads and selling to towns for a better profit than what the Guild would buy the materials for."

"How do they know the monsters are being killed?" Ellie asked. (No, Eleanor! Dammit, she wasn't going to let Levin get that name to stick!)

"The Guild actually keeps pretty heavy tabs on monster population," Mel replied. "A lot of people are hired just to keep certain the number of monster there are in the wild."

"But wouldn't it be better if you just killed all the dangerous monsters off?" Eleanor asked tightly, clenching her fists and imagining the monster killing she would be doing soon.

"You'd think so," Mel sighed, not noticing the look on her face. Eleanor was slightly relieved, though she couldn't say why. Mel continued without pause. "But people have done studies, and apparently, while wherever you came from may have developed without monsters, this world's whole ecosystem has adjusted itself to work with the monsters. Any total destruction of the bigger species would mean a huge, maybe even dangerous, alteration to the system. Who knows what could happen? So the Guild figured, 'Why risk it?' and put laws in place to prevent that from happening."

"I see," Eleanor said, slightly disappointed. But she supposed that meant she could spend her whole life hunting and killing monsters, so long as she did it carefully. But she might be able to do more if she went behind the Guild's back…

"Now you wouldn't be thinking of doing anything illegal yourself, Miss Eleanor, now are you?" a voice behind her asked, making her jump a little. She hadn't heard anyone come up from behind! But she recognized Marshall's voice, since he'd come by every now and then to critique her gunning skills.

She turned to face him. "Come on Marshall, what do you take me…" She couldn't finish when, at the sight of him, she sputtered in surprise and nearly fell out of her seat.

Marshall seemed like a totally different man now from the old man she'd seen coddling his grandson and heckling her hunting practices. Rather than the loose, soft cotton she'd normally seen him wear, the old hunter now wore a deep azure plated armor with wide pointed shoulders and spines jutting out from the edges. Under his arm he carried a pointed helmet of the same dark color. But besides the armor, what really caught her attention was the man's form. Hidden underneath the baggy clothes he wore around the town was apparently a body that looked like it was made out of iron itself.

And to top it all off, on his back he carried an enormous hammer, which seemed to resemble the fang of a monster. Or at least Eleanor thought it was a fang. But what monster could possibly have such a gigantic tooth? And how big would the monster itself have to be to have such a great tooth.

The wizened face at the top of the solid body laughed at her dumbfounded face. "Well, Miss Melanie," Marshall chuckled to the Guild rep, "it seems I've shocked our newbie here by actually appearing to be a hunter."

"Has she never seen you in full attire?" Mel asked with a chuckle herself.

"I suppose not," Marshall answered. "But then, I suppose she's been too busy practicing with her new bowgun to notice me come and go from the wilds."

"Wh-What did you kill to get all that?" Eleanor sputtered, finally shaking off the shock of Marshall's appearance.

"It seems Miss Eleanor has finally found her voice," Marshall laughed. "But to answer your question, the armor is a parting gift from a Lagiacrus. Several actually. Sometimes they'll come up from the ocean and cause trouble for the village, so I have to go and get rid of them. A few kills of those were enough to get me this nice armor, courtesy a wandering blacksmith that was visiting Silph. Irked old Silph to no end that I'd asked someone else to do the armor, too."

"And the hammer?" Eleanor asked with awe.

"Ah, this?" Marshall said, tapping the hilt of the weapon from over his shoulder. "This is a parting gift from a creature called the Jhen Mohran. It's a nasty beast that wanders the sands near Loc Lac. The Hunter's Guild had a request for a party to scare it away from the town some years ago, so me and some old travelling friends of mine took the job. Got it to leave, too."

"Wait, you didn't kill it?" Eleanor asked incredulously.

"Couldn't," Marshall answered simply. "The beast took off running once it realized it was beaten, and nothing can catch a Mohran in the desert if it doesn't want to be caught. Managed to find this tooth of his in the sand before the Guild called us back though. Turned it into a nice little trophy if I do say so myself. Impressed are we?"

"Very," Eleanor admitted. "I admit, I didn't take you very seriously when I first got here, but… Wow. You're really something at this hunting business aren't you?"

"So they tell me," Marshall shrugged. Eleanor felt like he considered the title of hunter as something of a burden. "Personally, I'd just like to retire and leave the hunting to the young folk around here. Take care of my grandson full time, you understand. But with such a small village, it seems like I'll be hunting these part until the day one of these beasties finally gets the better of me, lest some young one decides to take up my mantle as defender of Boma."

"Don't get your hopes up, old timer."

Eleanor turned to the voice and saw Levin approaching the three of them. On his back he carried a large sword, made of what Eleanor believed to be bone, with a hilt covered in the fur of who knows what kind of monster. Across the back of the sword was a jagged collection of sharp teeth and horns, giving the weapon a far more menacing appearance.

"And what makes you say that?" Marshall asked him, raising an eyebrow.

"These people know you too well to ever become a hunter here," Levin answered. "They know better than anyone how much of a whip-cracker you can be to the people you train. Besides," Levin said with a knowing grin, "you can't expect me to believe that you don't enjoy hunting anymore, do you old man?"

Marshall laughed. "Caught me there," he admitted. "There is still something of a thrill to the hunt, even to someone as old and jaded to the game as me."

"Thought so," Levin grinned. "But now that we're all here, shall we get this show on the road, old man? I'm sure our little rookie would like to see some field time before she gets as old as you."

"I suppose we should head out," Marshall conceded, "if we're going to give Miss Eleanor a full day of experience in the field. Now, Miss Melanie," he said, turning to face the guild rep, "what sort of jobs do you have for us to complete for the village today?"

"Let's see," Mel said, pulling out a notebook and turning to the latest page. Eleanor glanced at the page and saw that every line was filled up, with most of the lines crossed out. Several lines still remained, though. Mel scanned the page as she read off the list, "Looks like Silph would like you guys to pick up some iron while you're out today. Needs some materials to make farming materials for the Felynes up on the hill, apparently. And it looks like the town council is putting up a request for small monster bones en mass, for general use around the town. There's also a request for some Ludroth sponges from the general goods store." She looked up at Marshall. "Want any more?"

"No, I think that'll be enough, thanks," Marshall smiled with a nod. "You heard her, Levin," he said, turning to Eleanor's "teacher." "What's your plan? She's your apprentice."

Levin rolled his eyes and thought for a moment. Finally he spoke, slowly so as to gauge Marshall's reactions. "I suppose we'll start with the ores. It'll take the least amount of time, and the cave's close, so we'll be able to get that out of the way quickly. Then I guess we'll head over to the ocean and work on the bone and sponge work at the same time by killing Ludroth and Epioth over near their nests. There should be enough Ludroth left around from their mating season to pick off quite a few for materials without risking a Guild reprimand. We can pick up extra bones from the Jaggi that roam around between here and there if Ludroth are scarce today."

Marshall nodded in acceptance at the plan. "Sounds like a good way to do things. And how will Miss Eleanor's training fit in with this little jaunt?"

Levin scratched his head. "Well, there's always been a hive of Bnahabra over in the caves, so she'll get a lot of practice in shooting at those annoying little bastards. A gunner will be far more efficient at getting rid of them then either of us would be anyway. Besides, getting ore will be a good way to get Ellie here used to the… _glamour_ of hunting." Eleanor frowned at this remark, unsure what he meant. Levin continued without explaining, "After that, she'll get practice working with the carnivores in the area when we deal with the Jaggi and Ludroth, and we'll get her training with water hunting out of the way at the same time in the ocean."

"Very good," Marshall approved with a smile. "Seems you've actually put some thought into this. Very well, we'll go by that scheme unless something big happens to change our plans. Have you given her the goods she'll need?"

"Got them here," Levin replied, pulling out a smaller bag of goods and handing them to Eleanor. She pulled open the bag and found it filled with several things: bottles with a strange liquid in them, a few odd collapsible metal objects, some odd looking plant-like masks, and an assortment of other goods. "These are the basic materials you'll need as a hunter," Levin explained to her. "Most of those goods are things you'll want with you at all times, but it'll vary depending on what you're hunting and where you are."

"Even though you yourself haven't been anywhere but here," Marshall said with a grin.

"That's beside the point," Levin returned. He scratched his head in thought. "I think that's everything. We should probably stop by a restaurant before we go, but I think we're ready."

"Finally," Eleanor said impatiently, though she could barely contain her excitement at the thought of heading out.

"Have a safe trip!" Mel said, waving at them as they began walking toward a restaurant. "I'll be waiting for you to return so you can tell me how it went!"

* * *

After eating, the three had finally set out, leaving the village from a gate at the base of the farming hill. As the three of them trekked out into the wilds, Eleanor was left in awe as she saw the wilderness of the area for the first time. The land surrounding Boma Village was a lush green land filled with plant life. Dozens of streams and rivers flowed through the lands, and large hills and cliffs cut into the air all around her. She saw herds of creatures milling about in grassy fields from above as she walked along rock outcroppings high above, some of them large enough to put the larger creatures from her homeland to shame. Despite having Levin giving her a "tour" of sorts to the area, she still felt overwhelmed at how much greater it felt from the lands she'd traveled through before becoming one of the Lost.

As the three of them walked along a wide cliff path overlooking a river, Levin turned towards the rocky wall on their left. Following his path, Eleanor spotted a wide cave opening in the wall surrounded by numerous lit torches and scattered mining materials. She fiddled with some pieces of chiseled rock that was left near a mine cart while Levin opened a crate near the cave entrance and dug around inside. He pulled out three wooden rods (torches, Eleanor realized) and passed one to Eleanor and Marshall.

"You'll need this inside," he explained. "It gets really dark in there and finding your way around would be nearly impossible back where the ores are. Plus these sort of hypnotize the Bnahabra that live in there, which will make them nice and easy for you to shoot."

"Got it," Eleanor said, following Marshall's example and lighting her torch on one of the burning ones around the entrance. As the three of them walked into the cave, she posed a question to Levin. "So what exactly are… Benahabera?"

"Bnahabra," Levin laughed as he corrected her. "Took me a while to get it right too. But anyway, they're these large flying bugs that live in caves like this or around cliffs. They resemble giant wasps, and fly in random patterns around their targets, so you have to keep a close eye on them. They travel in hives, too, so you'll have to watch their numbers. But what you really have to watch out for is their stinger. Hurts like hell for one, but the dangerous thing is their venom. It can cause temporary paralysis in your muscles if it hits you just right, so watch out for that."

"Keep your eye open and on their stingers, got it," Eleanor recited.

"Just be glad there aren't any Giggi in this cave," Levin told her, then shivered in revulsion, making Ellie wonder exactly what a Giggi was to make him act like that. "Ugh. Nasty little bastards they are."

The three of them continued deeper into the cave and eventually the light of the tunnel entrance faded. Every turn or two, a shaft of light seemed to cut through the stone and light their path a little bit, but they never stopped to stick around, continuing deeper into the cave.

Finally the three of them entered a large cavernous space filled with a droning humming sound. Various crystalline protrusions jutted from the walls, refracting the light of their torches and spreading it around the cave. Eleanor turned in confusion as Levin took a step back, as did Marshall, and sat down on a rock. "Here's your moment to shine," he said with a grin, pointing up toward the cave ceiling. Eleanor looked up and nearly fell back on her butt. Most of the domed cavern was filled with dozens of swarming insects, what Eleanor realized to be the Bnahabra. The majority of them were clustered around a hive attached to a stalactite that hung from the ceiling, but many had noticed the light of the torches and were flying in a zigzag pattern their direction.

"Have fun," Levin called.

_Don't need to tell me twice_, Eleanor thought with a wild grin, setting her torch on a rock to her right and pulling out her bowgun. Finally, a chance to end some monsters! She loaded her most basic ammunition and aimed up at the insects. She forced herself to relax and allowed the internal imagery of the path of the shot to appear in her mind. As the cluster of insects approached, she saw one stop zigzagging and begin flying straight. Immediately she directed her bowgun onto its path and fired. The bullet arced through the air and hit the Bnahabra right in the abdomen. With a burst, the insect exploded in a gush of green goop.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you," Levin called out to her, "they pretty much pop on death."

Eleanor frowned at this but focused on the swarm coming closer. She continued to fire, hitting almost every time, and causing the swarm to duck and weave constantly in defense. She noticed, however, that when the bugs got close enough, the torch's light did actually make the Bnahabra fly straighter in a hypnotic fashion. She decided to let the swarm get a little closer as she reloaded, to provide her with easier shots. As a group of them got close enough and slowed, she fired at all of them and watched in satisfaction as they each dropped.

"To your left!" she suddenly heard Levin cry in warning.

She twisted around to get her bowgun in position, but seized up in fear when she found herself face-to-something with an insect, which was inside the length of her bowgun, making it impossible to shoot. With a cry of pain, she was stung in the shoulder, losing her balance and falling on her back, her bowgun clattering to the ground.

She reached for the bowgun, but could seem to grasp it. Actually, now that she realized it, she could seem to be able to even move her arm! Panic seized her when she realized she couldn't move, her muscles twitching and convulsing. _The paralysis venom!_ she recalled fearfully, looking up helplessly as another group of Bnahabra slowly hovered down towards her. She was helpless to fight against this many in this state.

_I can't die like this! Someone please help me!_

Suddenly, an enormous shape swung out of the darkness, striking the closest three Bnahabra that hovered over her, causing them to explode and covering her in green insect goop. A shape appeared above her, and she recognized it to be Levin, wielding his great sword defensibly above her and swinging at Bnahabra that dived in for a hit.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you!" he told her as she lay shaking from the venom. He swatted away a couple more Bnahabra as they came in to try and sting Levin as well. "But you have to calm down!" he told her. "The venom is more efficient if you're excited. You need to relax! It'll wear off soon, so just be patient until it does!"

_Easier said than done!_ Eleanor thought angrily as Levin stood over her. But she forced herself to calm down. She closed her eyes and took the deepest breaths her body would allow her to take, slowing her heart rate. _These are just bugs_, she told herself. _They pop with the smallest hit, and are nothing without their numbers. You should not fear them. _Eventually, the spasms slowed and stopped, and she opened her eyes and tested her mobility by reaching for her bowgun. She could feel her arm move and her hand wrap around the handle of the bowgun.

As quickly as she could, she brought herself to her feet and steadied herself on a rock. Levin saw that she was recovering well and kept fighting back the Bnahabra as she brought her bowgun to bear. She reloaded her bowgun and aimed up at the remaining Bnahabra in the cavern, firing shots at the swarming insects to bring them down before they got close enough to swoop in for a sting. She continued to fire a steady stream of ammunition at them, suddenly enraged that she had been gotten the better of by such small and weak creatures.

After what felt like a long fight, the bugs' numbers had dwindled to a fraction of their original state, and the hive began to retreat away from the Eleanor and Levin, realizing their group was insufficient. The bugs out of his reach, Levin swung his great sword back over his shoulder. However, Eleanor kept firing up at them as they flew away, still enraged at her defeat, picking off stragglers until a hand settled on her shoulder to stop her. She turned with a glare and found Marshall staring at her sternly.

"That's enough," he told her.

"Why?" she yelled angrily. "Why shouldn't we just wipe them out? They're a threat! And their hive is _right_ _there_!"

"Maybe so," Marshall replied, "but they're living beings like us. They have just as much right to live in this world as we do, even if they are dangerous."

Eleanor growled, looking back up at the hive and the retreating Bnahabra trying to escape. Her grip tightened on the handle as she thought how easy it would be to just destroy the whole hive right here and now.

"Please put the bowgun away," Marshall asked, a sound of weariness in his voice. His tone caught Eleanor by surprise, and she looked up at the old hunter and found sorrow in his eyes. Taken off guard by Marshall's sudden show of emotion, she paused to think about what she was doing and realized how badly she was acting. Marshall was right. These creatures weren't a real threat, just insects protecting their territory from invaders.

"Sorry," she said quietly as she slung her bowgun over her back. "I got carried away."

Marshall smiled gently and patted her shoulder. "And that's one of the lessons I'm hoping you'll learn while you're here; how to control your emotions in a fight. Now, Miss Eleanor, there should be a vial of liquid in your pack. If you take it out and drink it, it'll help you heal. You took a pretty good hit from that stinger."

Eleanor quietly obeyed, pulling out one of the mysterious vials Levin had given her. She popped the cork a smelled it, scrunching her nose at the virulent odor. But she drank it, and good to Marshall's word, she felt better almost immediately.

"What is this?" she asked.

"It's a healing potion of some kind," Levin told her from where he was standing. "I don't know what's in it, and frankly I don't think I want to know. But from what I can tell, it's sort of like a painkiller, an herbal medicine, and a shot of adrenaline combined. Makes you feel better and makes your wounds heal a bit faster."

"But it's best not to overdo it or become too reliant on them," Marshall advised. "They may make you feel better, but they don't fix everything as well as they seem. A lot of hunters have fought a monster while drinking numerous potions, not realizing how close to death their bodies had gotten until they'd returned home. I'm sure you can imagine how bad it would be to be severely injured and not even realize it. But we should focus on your battle right now. Levin," Marshall said, turning to the great sword user, "what are your thoughts on Miss Eleanor's gunning abilities in that last fight?"

Eleanor turned to her alleged mentor, slightly embarrassed that Levin had watched her receive a talking-to earlier from Marshall, but he had an understanding look as the three of them sat down. He thought for a moment before looking at Eleanor and beginning.

"Well, first of all, you let the Bnahabra get too close. As a gunner, you should always keep your distance from attacking monsters. I realize the Bnahabra become easier to shoot when they get close to the light because of its hypnotic effect on them, but you should really try to take down as many things as possible from as far away as you can while the bowgun is still effective. Second, even if the Bnahabra are weak and can easily be shot down with a Normal shot, you do have other shells that will work better against groups."

"Like the Cluster shot," Eleanor thought, mentally berating herself for not thinking of it earlier.

"Exactly," Levin said. "It may not hit them as hard, but you can hit more of them with numbers like there were. Finally, you need to work on keeping an eye on things, especially where monsters are, at all times."

Eleanor sighed, she'd known this one was coming, but it didn't make her feel any better when he'd said it. It had been her mistake for not keeping track of the Bnahabra moving around her, and it had ended with her needing to be saved.

"Don't feel too bad about it," Levin told her with an encouraging smile. "Keeping track of that many monsters can be a pain, even for the most skilled of hunters. I hear the old man hear complaining about Jaggi packs all the time, and he's been doing this for longer than I've been alive."

"They're only a nuisance to me during Great Jaggi hunts," Marshall defended himself good-humoredly, feigning a note of irritation at Levin's accusation. "The little critters are hard to keep track of when they're jumping around to the Great Jaggi's orders."

"Excuses, excuses," Levin laughed. Eleanor smiled a little. The two of them were trying hard to cheer her up, and she couldn't say they were failing. She was already feeling better about letting the Bnahabra get the better of her.

"The one thing I'm unsure about, though," she told her two teachers, "is how that one Bnahabra snuck up on me. I thought they'd all slow down and fly levelly for a while before coming at me."

"I couldn't figure that out either," Levin admitted. "Normally, all the Bnahabra follow a specific pattern around fires and lights. I'm not sure why that one deviated from the course."

"Well, let's think about it," Marshall asked with a knowing grin. The look on his face made Eleanor think the old hunter knew what had happened, that he'd seen something the two younger ones had missed. "Now Miss Eleanor, where were you attacked from?"

"From my left side," Eleanor replied.

"Exactly," Marshall said. "Now, think on that information. Why would your left side be a weak point for you in here?"

The two younger hunters sat in thought under the firelight, trying to decipher what Marshall was referring to. The old hunter sat chuckling to himself as he watched the two muddling over the conundrum. Eleanor saw as Levin glanced over to where she'd stood, studying the area, then snapped his fingers in realization.

"Figured it out have you?" Marshall asked with a grin.

"The shadow of the fire," Levin replied, and Eleanor slapped her forehead in realization.

"Of course," she said. "It flew on the other side of me where it couldn't directly see the fire, and wasn't affected by the light, so it was able to act normally."

"And since it was in your shadow, it was also far more difficult for you to see," Marshall finished her thought. "This is a lesson both of you should learn: always pay attention to your surroundings, _especially_ how you yourself affect or don't affect them. And you must understand where your blind spots are, Miss Eleanor, and be wary of them."

"I understand," Eleanor nodded.

"Good," Marshall said, then turned to Levin and motioned to their packs. "And since all the fighting is over for now, why don't you let Miss Eleanor pick yourself up some spoils from those Bnahabra she brought down? Then you and Miss Eleanor can get started on what we originally came here to accomplish, Levin."

"All right then," Levin said, standing up and looking at Eleanor as he picked up one of the torches. "Grab your torch, Ellie, and let's see if we can't find something worth taking off these little nasties."

The two of them walked over to the pile of insect carcasses lying on the ground and picked their way through them. Finally, Levin brought her attention to an almost whole Bnahabra that had died from a shot to the head, leaving the body mostly intact. Under the light of their torches, Levin gave her a basic how-to on properly dissecting a monster, telling her the most common things to dig around for and what to do her best to keep in one piece. In the Bnahabra's case, the best parts to keep were the wings, the shell, and (much to Eleanor's disgust) the small sac of fluid that held the Bnahabra's paralysis venom.

He showed her how to store the materials in her pack as well, to avoid damaging or spoiling some of the more fragile objects. Then with a wave of his hand, he sent her off to dig around the dozens of Bnahabra remains that lay around the area to scavenge for materials. She spent the next half an hour or so peeling apart the bodies of the creatures, more often than not failing to keep what she was trying to get in one piece. However, after cutting up every last one, she still managed to get herself a decent collection of goods.

"You use a lot of those materials for forging work," Levin explained. "I think Silph might be able to make an armor out of it, but it requires some materials that are a real pain in the ass to get. All else fails, you can just sell them to traders and let them figure out what to do with them. Now let's go get some iron for the village, shall we?"

Eleanor stood up and picked up her torch, following Levin across the massive cavern. Levin scanned the far wall of the room as they approached, then seemed to focus of a clump of rock at the base. The two of them approached the protrusion and Eleanor noticed that the rock has a particular metallic sheen to it. Once they were next to it, the fire of their torches lit it well enough for her to tell that this must be the iron ore they'd been looking for.

"How are we going to get it out of the rock?" she asked as Levin reached into his pack. He pulled out the collapsible metal object and held it up for her to look at.

"With this," he said simply. "Take one of yours out as well and I'll show you how."

"Will it be tricky?" she asked, pulling one out of her pack and looking it over.

Levin chuckled wryly. "No," he said mirthlessly. "It's easy to understand as can be. But it's not going to be fun." He pushed in a pair of buttons, causing some internal mechanism to make the gadget unravel. Eleanor followed suit and watched as her little gizmo unfolded. She was amazed that the people in this world were able to make something like this. She watched in wonder as the machine unraveled to make…

"A pickaxe?" she said incredulously, staring at the thing in her hand. "All that for a collapsible pickaxe?"

"You were expecting something more, I don't know, complex?" Levin said with a grin.

"With all the work it did unfolding, I expected a jackhammer," Eleanor replied. She turned the pickaxe over in her hands, looking it over. The metal seemed very thin and the handle looked like it would break on impact. "It doesn't even look that effective. Why put the effort into making something like this if you can just make a normal pickaxe?"

"Because carrying around an actual pickaxe would be way too much extra weight to deal with, considering how much weight some hunters have to carry around already," Levin explained, motioning to the great sword on his back. "So the Guild puts together these portable pickaxes for hunters to use out in the wilds. They break easily though, so most hunters carry more than one."

"Seems like a big waste of money," Eleanor said. Then something clicked in her mind. "Wait a minute, you mean we're actually going to be mining these materials ourselves?"

Levin grinned evilly. "Did Miss Ellie think the ore was just going to fall out of the walls into our hands? Or maybe you were hoping someone was going to do it for you?"

"I just… I don't…" Eleanor sputtered. "I didn't know what to expect, but I thought there'd be more to it than 'hit the rock, get the ore.'"

Levin laughed and spread his arms dramatically. "Welcome to the life of a hunter, Ellie. Isn't it just as _wonderful_ and _glamorous_ as you imagined?"

Eleanor grumbled, hoisting her pickaxe and swinging at the nearest cluster of ore. The pickaxe struck the ore with a clang and rebounded haphazardly, dropping Eleanor onto her backside. Levin nearly fell over laughing and Eleanor glared at him. "Oh, shut up," she growled, getting back on her feet and swinging again at the ore. This time, however, she struck a good spot, knocking several large chunks of rock and ore out from the protrusion. Picking around the rubble, she found a good sized piece of ore and smiled in triumph.

"Not bad," Levin admitted, swinging his own pickaxe down onto the ore deposit in front of him and knocking off a sizable chunk. He smirked at her. "Now let's see if you can keep up the pace."

* * *

Eleanor gazed out at the open sea and sighed in relief.

"Aw, is the little rookie tired already?" she heard Levin tease her as he walked up to her.

Eleanor glared at him at let the jab slide without remark. She had to admit she was wearing out. She could feel herself growing tired, even though the adrenalin of being on her first hunt was keeping her wired and moving.

They had managed to collect quite a bit of ore during their time in the cave, at the expense of the ten pickaxes Levin had gathered for the two of them. She had also managed to find a few other ores besides iron that Levin had suggested she hold on to (Machalite, she thought it was called). She had worried that their packs would fill up too quickly for them to carry much more, but Marshall had volunteered the space in his pack for them to use, since the ore was going to the village anyway.

After they'd managed to break all of the pickaxes on the ore shelf, Marshall had suggested they gather what they'd gotten and move on to the ocean in search of Ludroth and Epioth. He'd pointed out that the Bnahabra hive was getting noisier, meaning the annoying bugs were probably preparing for their counterattack on the three hunters. Hearing this, Eleanor needed no further motivation, and stuffed the ores on the ground into her sack and hurried out of the cave with her two teachers.

And here they were, arrived at the beach. Eleanor was incredibly winded from the walk. Despite the wide flat ground that Boma Village had been built on, the surrounding wilds had a lot of elevation rises and drops, making journeying through the area a tiring thing by itself, not to mention the strain put on the body when carrying a bowgun and a bag full of iron ore. She had to admit, she had a new respect for Levin and Marshall, the two of them carrying around such large weapons with seeming ease. Despite her desire to fight monsters, she was secretly glad they hadn't run into any of the Jaggi monsters Levin and Marshall had told her about. She was ready for a break and all she was doing was walking around.

"This looks like a good enough spot," Levin announced, looking over the water. Following his gaze, Eleanor spotted several creatures breaking the surface of the water a short distance out to sea. There seemed to be two types: a herd of dull grey-colored sea creatures with a long necks, and a swarm of greenish-yellow lizard looking creatures tailing behind and picking off stragglers.

"The ones hunting are called Ludroth," Levin explained. "They're what we'll be going for primarily, since we're after the spongy materials on their backs and necks. We'll also be trying to skin them and collect any bones that are in decent enough condition to hold onto. If the Ludroth take off, and we haven't filled our packs with bones yet, we can take down a few of the Epioths, the grey ones out there."

"How are we getting out there to kill them, though?" Eleanor asked, gazing out into the ocean and watching a group of Ludroth tear apart one of their kills. She looked over at Levin to see he was wearing that evil smirk again. Which meant it was going to be something hard, tiring and time-consuming. Which meant…

Eleanor sighed. "We're swimming out there, aren't we?"

"Got it in one, Ellie," Levin laughed.

"Do we have something to help us avoid drowning, or is this going to be a lesson in 'how to properly hold your breath while fighting monsters underwater?'" Eleanor asked in frustration.

"Oh, I'm not that cruel," Levin replied. "The old guy may be, but if my apprentice is going to go fight dangerous creatures, she'll do it properly equipped."

"I'm not that bad," Marshall defended himself.

"Sure, you're not, old timer," Levin said, rolling his eyes. But he dropped the conversation and continued to talk to Eleanor. "Now, reach in your bag, and pull out one of the green masks."

Eleanor did as she was told and pulled out one of the masks. She turned it over, looking at it, while Levin pulled out one of his own.

"These are air philters," he explained. "They're special masks made from a plant called airweed. Airweed is special because it not only reverts carbon dioxide into oxygen like all plants, but it does it at such a ridiculous speed, if you cover your mouth with it underwater, it'll circulate fresh air for you at about the same speed you exhale."

"That's amazing," Eleanor said, marveling at the strange plant. Then she frowned and glared at Levin. "But what's the catch with them?" she asked. "You gave me more than one, which means if they're anything like the pickaxes you gave me, they break easily."

Levin chuckled in embarrassment and scratched the back of his head. "That's a fair assessment," he admitted. "The truth of the matter is the things are fantastic air circulators, but they are grown above ground, so their natural constitution means they grow saturated and fall apart once they stay submerged for so long."

Eleanor sighed. "How long?"

Levin shrugged. "I don't know. Ten minutes or so? It varies depending on who makes them."

"Oh, that's good," Eleanor sighed in relief. "I thought you'd have to play beat-the-clock with these things with a thirty second time limit or something."

"No no," Levin laughed. "If they were that bad, I'd never leave shore myself."

"I have a question for you, Miss Eleanor," Marshall cut in.

"What is it?"

"Did you… understand him when he spoke of carbons and oxygens and such things?" Marshall asked with a strained look.

"Um, sure," Eleanor replied, uncertain how to react. Did he think she wasn't smart or something? "Basic plant growth information, the air circulation cycle. I think I learned about it in, what, first grade or something? Eight or nine years old, something like that?"

Marshall grumbled, a look of frustration crossing his face. "I guess you weren't lying about that," he told Levin.

"Wait, you didn't believe me?" Levin asked loudly, suddenly angry. "I told you it was something people from our world learned about! Just because no one in Boma knows these things doesn't make me wrong!"

"Wait, what's going on?" Eleanor asked, looking between the two. Levin looked really angry at Marshall, and the old hunter seemed very reticent to give Levin a reply.

Levin sighed, forcing himself to calm down. He took a deep breath before responding, "The people of this world, they're not, I don't know, as scientifically focused as the people of our world. Of the Lost. So when I came here earlier this year, and started talking about the science, the biology, the other stuff the Lost learned about, the people here looked at me like it was witchcraft or something."

"It wasn't that bad," Marshall said defensibly. But his expression gave him away. Eleanor realized that the entire village might not have believed a word.

"Yes it was!" Levin shouted. "I heard you guys talking! Silph thought I was insane and wanted to hit me with his hammer to 'drive the crazy out!' Everyone looked at me funny for weeks! I had to force myself not to explain anything I said or else people would do what they'd done earlier and look at me like I grew a second head or something!"

"Levin, it's not like that," Marshall said wearily. "It's like you said, we're not as advanced in the sciences as the Lost were. If you confront people with that much new information that quickly, they're bound to get skittish about what you're saying. Besides, you're the only one of the Lost anyone in this town had ever met until Miss Eleanor showed up. People didn't know if the Lost were more advanced or if you were just…"

"You didn't trust me," Levin spat.

"We didn't know who you were yet," Marshall said, stressing the words. "Besides, when you first came to the village, you were…" he stopped, uncertain how to continue.

Eleanor looked between the two as Levin glared at Marshall, uncertain as to why they'd stopped arguing. She was glad they weren't fighting anymore, seeing as how she couldn't figure out how to stop them earlier, but now it seemed like they were stepping into another volatile subject.

Fortunately, though, Levin seemed to be calming down, making Eleanor wonder what he'd done that neither of them wanted to talk about. "Yeah, okay," he said quietly. "I guess I can see how you might not believe what I'd say after… everything I did. But Eleanor's here now, and she can support what I say, right?"

Eleanor realized the question had been directed at her. "Yeah, right," she said quickly. "I can confirm the scientific stuff he says. So long as I have the knowledge myself, I mean. He might know things that I don't."

"And vice versa," Levin said, cracking a smile, which made Eleanor sigh in relief. The tension of the conversation seemed to be dropping rapidly.

Marshall smiled slightly as well, glad to be through the rough conversation. Then he abruptly cleared his throat, trying to change the subject. "Well, now," he said awkwardly, "perhaps you'd better give Miss Eleanor proper instructions on how to effectively fight underwater. We wouldn't want her flailing about aimlessly out there would we?"

"I suppose not," Levin replied. He turned to Eleanor and smiled a tired grin. "Let's give it a go, shall we?"

* * *

Levin sat on the beach, tearing open the corpse of one of the Ludroth Ellie had killed and dragged to shore. It was still early afternoon, but Ellie had killed six Ludroth already. Despite the increased difficulty of fighting Ludroth underwater, compared to Bnahabra on land, Eleanor seemed highly efficient with her bowgun. At least with the smaller monsters.

Levin wondered absentmindedly how Ellie would fare against her first real monster. Maybe a Great Jaggi would show up in the wilds in a couple days, and they could see how she fared against that. Or maybe another Royal Ludroth would stop by to take his pick from the Ludroth that hadn't mated with the last couple that came around…

Ellie had taken to underwater fighting pretty well, though her maneuvering with the bowgun required work. She kept ending up twisted upside down underwater when she tried to keep track of a Ludroth as it swam around her, dodging shots. Well, trying to dodge shots anyway. Levin had to admit the girl could shoot. It'd taken her a few rounds of Sub shot to get the feeling of firing underwater, but she'd gotten the hang of it and was bringing up more Ludroth carcasses for him to carve every four or five minutes. It'd go even faster, but it was a pain to try and carve them underwater, so they had to drag the bodies up to shore before cutting into them.

He had to admit he was envious. He wished he'd gotten the feel of his great sword as quickly as she'd come into her own with the bowgun. He couldn't count the number of times Marshall had saved his hide when he was first starting out. But then, back then he'd been so…

He shivered, shaking off the thought. No good thinking about then. He'd gotten better at hunting since then, if nothing else. He wasn't the same as back then.

He winced slightly as he heard Marshall sit down next to him. Despite how he'd acted in front of Ellie, he still was very angry at Marshall, at the whole village in general. But he was trying to keep in held back, for Ellie's sake if anyone's. No reason to let her see him enraged. Better to save the anger for Jaggis or Ludroth, where he could vent with his great sword instead of just letting it seethe.

"I'd like to apologize."

That caught Levin's attention. He turned to Marshall in shock. The old man always put up such a tough front, but now he seemed genuinely sorrowful, if not miserable.

"I can't speak for the village as a whole," he said quietly. "I'd like to say that I apologize for their sake as well, but I can't make that decision for them. But as for me, I'm sorry for not believing you when you talked about your world. I've always been a warrior, so instinct and tactics come easily for me, but intelligence was never one of my strong suits. The people of Boma didn't mind because my instinct and skill was always enough to make me useful to the village. But I didn't believe you about your science, and I am very sorry."

Levin sat in silence, unsure how to respond. He'd never heard the old man talk like this.

"When you started talking about all you knew from your world," Marshall continued, "I admit, I was envious. You seemed to know so much despite your youth, and here I am, old and withering, not understanding a word. Maybe I was jealous or something like that. No matter the reason, for some reason, I guess it made me decide that everything you said was a lie or imaginary. It was so easy to justify my disbelief considering your… early days. But, with Miss Eleanor here, I've been confronted with my actions. And I must admit, I was, well, a complete ass. I decided to make you out to be a liar for such juvenile and foolish reasons, and you suffered because of it. I wish I could do more to fix this, but it seems all I can do is what I do now: apologize. I'm terribly sorry."

The two sat in silence for a long while. Levin wracked his mind for a response. They'd made him out to be a fool! How could he possibly let it go? He'd had to shut himself up just to feel like a guest, much less like he was a part of the village! Why should he be lenient at all?

"It's alright. I forgive you." The words slipped out before he'd realized he was saying them. "I guess I can understand how you feel. Back home, where I came from, it all seemed so simple to say, 'This is how this works. This is why.' I guess shoving what I know down people's throats wasn't too wise of me in the first place."

"It's hardly your fault for how we acted," Marshall replied.

"Maybe, but I remember back home, even though around here it seems like I know so much, there were always people smarter than me. People who made me feel lost just trying to keep up with what they were saying. I was probably just as bad."

"Maybe a little," Marshall admitted. "But how we acted was inexcusable."

"Like I said, it's alright," Levin said. "I can't say it wasn't that bad or didn't suck, but I can deal with it. I've dealt with worse issues."

"I suppose you have," Marshall said. Then he smiled a little. "I suppose we have Miss Eleanor to thank for this. If not for her arrival, this tension between you and the town may have stuck for your whole time here. Hopefully with her input, people will realize you know what you're talking about when it comes to the sciences."

Levin smiled as well. "Yeah, I guess I owe her one," he said. "But don't tell her that. She'll want me to buy her something as a reward."

Marshall laughed openly at this. "Skinflint," he accused.

"I am a cheapskate and I make no excuses," Levin announced with a grin. He chuckled slightly, then saw Ellie break the surface of the water about twenty yards out.

"I found another one for you to cut up," she called. "It's hiding behind a reef. I think it wants to ambush me, but I won't give it the satisfaction."

"Be quick about it, Ellie," he called teasingly. "My knife's getting cold!"

"Bite me!" she cried, before diving underwater again.

"Nice girl," Marshall said wryly.

"I like her," Levin admitted. "She's got attitude. Makes girls fun to mess with if they bite back."

"You Lost are so strange," Marshall said, shaking his head. Then his eyes hardened. "By the way, I believe she may have the same problem you did when you first came here, though on a lesser scale. It's not too bad right now, but I fear it may come to bear when she fights one of the larger monsters. Do you have a plan to deal with the issue?"

Levin scratched his head in thought. "I thought I'd do what you did for me."

"It's not the right season for that quite yet," Marshall told him. "Still a few months away."

"I know," Levin sighed. "But I can't think of anything else right now. The Jaggi and Ludroth are both too rough and primal to really give the effect I want, and the Quropeco season a biyearly thing, so that's a no go."

"If patience is what is required, then that may have to be our only option," Marshall said with a sigh. "Let's just hope we don't lose her before then."

"I hear you," Levin said tiredly, looking up at the sky.

Suddenly a loud and terrible roar echoed across the beach, shaking Levin from his reverie and scaring the birds from the trees. A shadow of fleeing avians took to the sky, blotting out the afternoon sun in a rush to vacate the area. Immediately the two hunters were on their feet, hands on their weapons and ready.

"Shit!" Levin cursed. "I thought the guard said there were no large monster sightings in the area!"

"It's impossible for them to predict everything," Marshall replied, hammer at the ready. "We were lucky just to get a calm day like this in the first place. But the issue is whatever's out there right now, and whatever it is, it's a big one."

"Yeah, I know," Levin growled. "I know it's not anything I've taken down. The Great Jaggi and the Royal Ludroth don't roar that loud, and I know the Quropeco's mimic doesn't have that much oomph. So that leaves…"

"A Rath of some kind," Marshall finished. "I wasn't paying well enough attention when the roar passed over us, so I missed what type it was."

"A Rath?" Levin asked incredulously. "This isn't the right time of year for one of them to show up!"

"No it's not, but it's here anyway," Marshall said. "Maybe it's just here temporarily to eat, maybe its internal clock is out of phase, maybe it's lost its hunting grounds and is here looking for a new place to live. Either way, the real issue isn't why it's here, but what type of Rath it is. A Rathian can be warded away from the area without much of a fight. Any threat to eggs would make it find a more suitable location to live. But a Rathalos, that's a different story."

The sound of splashing came up from behind them, and Levin turned to see Ellie dragging up the body of another Ludroth, with a proud look on her face. But he triumphant look vanished when she caught sight of the two hunters tensed up on the beach.

"What's going on?" she asked cautiously.

"Big monster in the area," Marshall told her. "Which means it's time for the two of you to head back to the village."

"Wait a sec old timer," Levin cut in. "You're thinking of fighting it by yourself? Are you nuts?"

"Levin, you're not ready yet, nor is Miss Eleanor," Marshall told them. "Perhaps you've got the ability, but frankly, your weapons aren't up to snuff. Against a Rath, they wouldn't even faze one. Better if the two of you went back to town to warn the villagers. I'll head out to find it, and see if I can't scare it away if it becomes necessary. It's not the first time I've had to fight a Rath by myself, boy, I know what I'm doing."

"But shouldn't we help somehow?" Ellie cut in, wild eagerness crossing her face.

"No," Marshall said sternly. "I'll rarely give the two of you direct orders, but right now is something I won't allow you to argue about: Return to the village. NOW."

Levin sighed with uncertainty. "But I don't…"

Levin's retort was cut off as another powerful roar echoed across the wilds. Levin's ears perked up at the sound. He still couldn't tell what type it was, but luckily it sounded like it was getting further away, which was good news.

"This is bad," Marshall growled, cutting off Levin's thoughts. "It's a Rathalos for sure."

"Damn," Levin mutted. "Let's gather our stuff and get out of here, Ellie, there's nothing more we can do right now."

But when he turned to Ellie, he stopped when he saw the look on her face. Her eyes were wide with terror and she was hyperventilating. Her whole body was shivering and convulsing in fear. Suddenly her legs gave out and she fell to her knee, quaking in terror.

"It's… I don't…" she gasped through her ragged breaths. "I don't want to die…" she whimpered finally, before passing out.

"Shit!" Levin swore, rushing to her side. She was completely unconscious and unresponsive though, no matter how much he tried to wake her up. "Marshall, something's wrong with Ellie!"

"Damn it!" Marshall said. "We don't have time for this! Pick her up. You'll have to carry her back to town."

Levin looked back down at his apprentice. "Yeah, I got it," he replied, reaching down and lifting Ellie up onto his back. He gave one last glance to Marshall. "Don't die old man. I won't forgive if you die before I have a chance to beat you at a game of hide and seek."

Marshall grinned. "I'm afraid that'll never happen Levin, but I'll make sure I come back and prove it to you."

"Good enough," Levin chuckled, before turning and taking off down the beach.

The sound of the Rathalos' roar echoed across the wilds again as he cut into the trees in the direction of the village. Ellie shook violently in her sleep at the sound, making Levin worried. But worrying wouldn't help Ellie right now. He had to be quick.

He hurried on, hoping to return to the village without incident and praying Marshall made it back as well.

* * *

**Author's Notes: Please review!**

**Oh my a cliffhanger! WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN? Answer: Stuff. **

**Sorry the wait was a little longer than normal. Classes have been kicking my butt these last couple weeks. Also, I bought Assassins Creed Brotherhood a couple days ago, so that sucked up some of my time (disclaimer: a lot of time). I'm still playing it obsessively, actually, but I'm trying to dedicate a certain amount of time a day to this story, so hopefully the next chapter will be out faster. **

**Unfortunately, these next few weeks are the lead in to finals week, so who knows how much time I'll have to write working around homework. But I'll see if I can't get the next chapter up in a week or so. Wishful thinking. **

**Next chapter: maybe a Great Jaggi! Maybe.**


	5. A Lull in Activity

A Lull in Activity

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. All the characters in this story are mine._

"She seems to be in shock," the village doctor said.

Levin swore for what seemed like the millionth time. He sat in a small hut just outside town square, with the local doctor, Orson, who had moved here with his family from Loc Lac. The village was proud to have him, considering his wide expertise despite the small town. Apparently he had been quite well known as a physician back in the desert. Levin was glad to have someone with so much experience around himself, especially in times like this.

The town had nearly gone into panic when Levin had returned, Ellie unconscious on his back. Upon telling them that a Rathalos had appeared unexpectedly in the area, everyone began preparing for the worst. Craftsmen began discussing Levin was shocked at how seriously they took a single monster. He'd asked Mel about it when he passed the Guild booth and she'd left her post to tag along with them.

"Rathalos are bad news," she'd explained. "They're one of the monsters that exist in the world today that genuinely seem to actively hunt humans, even outside of their territories. Rathian are more wary of humans, considering they watch over the eggs of the pair, but Rathalos are a completely different story. This town has been attacked by a rogue Rathalos before, and it never ends well or easily."

"But Rathalos come to this area for their mating season," Levin said. "Do you have to deal with them like this every time?"

"No, not during mating season," Mel replied. "When they come here to mate, they're more concerned with showing off for prospective mates than anything else, so they leave us alone, and then follow their Rathian mate when the season's over to wherever they plan to build a nest. But when they're here outside of mating season, it means they're here for one of two reasons: to hunt for food, or to claim this area as their territory. The first is never really that bad…"

"And the second?" Levin prodded.

Mel grimaced. "When a Rathalos tries to lay claim to a territory, its first goal is always to wipe out anything that might prove to be a threat to its supremacy as lord of the area. Mostly this includes exceptionally strong creatures like Lagiacrus, Diablos, etcetera. But in inhabited areas, like ours, eventually they'll decide that the humans are the next most dangerous threat, and when that happens, its goal becomes to…" Mel shivered. "Destroy the nest."

Levin frowned in frustration as they walked out of an alleyway onto one of the circular streets and the doctor's hut came into sight. He remembered seeing a Rathalos during the last mating season, but he'd never imagined the creature would be so feared. The people of the village had seemed so nonchalant about the whole thing then; this sudden surge of terror in the village over the Rathalos out in the wilds right now painted the creature in a whole different light than Levin was used to.

Once they'd gone inside the hut, Levin had been instructed to place Ellie on one of the small cots that had been set aside specifically for patients. A few of the other beds in the room were occupied, with workers injured during their jobs, sailors and other travelers healing from bar fights, some citizens that had head colds or the flu, and other injuries and sicknesses. But most of them were sleeping or resting quietly, so Orson was able to come immediately to their side and look Ellie over.

"Is it bad?" he asked impatiently after the doctor had given his diagnosis.

"Not necessarily," Orson replied. "You say this wasn't caused by physical trauma, correct?"

"That's right."

"Then the effects are most likely due to mental or psychological issues," the doctor said, prying open one of Ellie's eyes and checking for a response to the light. "Perhaps it was caused by a fear of hers or particularly bad memory that was triggered by a catalyst of some kind while you were out in the wilds. You said you encountered a Rathalos while you were on your hunt, correct?"

"I'm surprised you hadn't heard of it before we came in, the way this town gossips," Levin replied wryly. "What's that got to do with her passing out, though?"

"I'm thinking perhaps she's had a rough experience with a Rathalos or some other large monster," Orson replied, standing up from leaning over Ellie and stretching his back. "Though, since she's one of the Lost, I wonder how she could've known what a Rathalos roar was like in the first place. You said you Lost came from somewhere with no monsters, didn't you?" the doctor asked.

"There weren't any there as long as I lived in it," Levin replied.

"Then maybe it was an incident here in our world," Orson said. "Who knows? Maybe she ran into some trouble on the way into or out of Loc Lac. That's where all you Lost end up, after all, and there's a lot of land to cover between here and there. I imagine the only way to know for sure is to ask the young lady herself when she wakes up. Now if you'll excuse me," he said, looking around the room, "I have some other patients to take care of."

Levin sighed as Orson left. Mel stood up from her stool and looked down nervously at Ellie. After a moment of uncertain contemplation, she whined in misery and looked apologetically at Levin.

"I have to leave, Levin," she told him. "I'm sorry, but with a Rathalos in the area, I really have to get back to the booth. I want to stay here and wait for Ellie to wake up with you, but with Marshall out in the wilds, I need to do what I can to help the village get prepared in case…" Mel cut off her thought midsentence with an uncomfortable look before continuing. "In case the worst happens."

Levin winced uncomfortably but smiled at her. "I'm sure there's nothing to worry about," he said comfortingly. "The old man's probably killed it already and is dragging its corpse back to the village as we speak. But once Ellie's awake and back home I'll come help as well. Just in case, right?"

Mel smiled slightly in return. "Yeah, just in case."

Levin sighed as Mel left the hospital and slouched in his seat. He winced uncomfortably when one of the spines on his sword prodded his back. He shook his head is dismay. This whole ordeal had thrown him off so badly he'd forgotten he was still in full hunter attire, weapon included. He stretched as he stood up, removing his sword from its latching on his back and leaning it against the wall. He quietly sat back down, taking a look around the room as he did so.

Thinking back, he realized he'd only been in here a few times, usually only to drop of medical items to Orson. He'd never been in the medical area in back before, despite his risky occupation. He supposed he had Marshall to thank for that. Despite how much the old hunter had hounded him into working over the course of his apprenticeship, he'd actually managed to keep him in one piece the whole time.

He glanced over at Orson, who was giving a checkup to a small boy who had apparently sprained his arm. Levin smiled as Orson joked with the boy, making him laugh despite the pain. Even though they hadn't met up with each other too often in the village, Levin liked the doctor. He was probably the only person in the whole village who had seemed to take Levin seriously when he used to talk about the science of his world. Or at least he'd ask Levin to extrapolate, which meant he at least was willing to listen to what Levin said and think about it. Levin wished he'd known more about chemicals before coming to this world after talking with Orson; after mentioning morphine in passing, the doctor had pestered him constantly for weeks, wanting to know how to produce the painkiller despite Levin's protests and apologies saying he didn't know. Levin had actually had to avoid the medical hut for a while to get the guy off his back.

Looking down at Ellie again, Levin felt a sudden wave of depression. _What a great teacher I'm turning out to be,_ he thought miserably. _My first outing with an apprentice and she passes out when there's not even a monster around. There aren't enough words invented yet to describe how big a failure I am at this. _

He shook his head in frustration. He couldn't allow himself to think like that. He needed to be stronger, faster, better if he was going to be a teacher. He couldn't half-ass something like this, not with the two of their lives on the line if he couldn't teach her correctly. This outing hadn't gone well, but he swore to himself the next one and any after that would all be successful, until the two of them were hunters.

But at the moment, he was perfectly content to sit here and wait for her to recover.

However, as he leaned back against the wall, his shoulder bumped up against his sword. He grabbed for it quickly as he felt it tilt away from him, but the large weapon slid across the wall out of his reach and clattered loudly to the floor. He stood up sheepishly to the glares of several of the patients that had woken up from the noise, apologizing to the ones closest to him.

"Too loud," he heard Ellie groan behind him. He turned quickly, sighing in relief as he saw his own apprentice open her eyes and sit up. "Ouch," she grumbled, rubbing her eyes and looking around the room. "Where am I?"

"The doctor's hut in Boma," Levin replied. "You passed out on the beach, so I had to carry you back here."

"I passed out?" Ellie asked in confusion as she sat up, shaking her head to wake herself. Suddenly, her eyes snapped into focus in realization and she turned her face away from Levin quickly.

"Something wrong?" Levin asked cautiously.

"No," Ellie replied quietly. "I'm fine."

"Do you remember what happened?" Levin asked, trying to gauge her reactions.

Ellie was quiet for a moment before answering. "No, I don't. I remember coming back onto the beach and that's it."

_Liar,_ Levin thought. "Mind if I fill in some gaps?" he asked.

"I don't care," Ellie said simply.

"You passed out after we told you there was a Rathalos in the area," Levin told her. "After that, the old man told me to hightail it back here with you while he went to make sure whether or not the big nasty was here to cause the village trouble or not."

"Sorry for the trouble," Ellie said without much emotion.

"The roar seemed to affect you pretty badly," he told her, trying for a response. He waited for a moment, but Ellie didn't reply, still facing away from him. "Have you ever met a Rathalos before?"

"I don't know," she said quietly. "Maybe."

"I've only seen one once myself, but it stands out pretty well," Levin told her. "It pretty much has the appearance of your standard dragon. Scaled reptilian body, jagged spikes and horns on its face and back, spiked tail, that kind of thing. Large wings, strong legs to hold itself up."

Levin paused as Ellie brought her legs up and hugged them against her. Was he getting to her? He decided to probe further. "Breathes fire, mostly explosive fireballs" he said, causing Ellie to squeeze a little tighter. "Bright red scales."

He saw Ellie shiver. _Bingo_, he thought.

"You've seen one before, then?" he said.

"It's none of your damn business!" she yelled, suddenly turning on him. Levin jumped in surprise in her sudden mood swing. Ellie glared at Levin. "Just leave me alone," she growled at him.

"Jeez, calm down," Levin said defensively. "It's not a big deal if you're afraid of a Rathalos."

"I'm not afraid of them!" Ellie argued back.

"Are you stupid?" Levin suddenly shouted at her, angry all of a sudden. "Do you really think lying to yourself and everyone else about your fears are going to make dealing with them any easier? Everyone is afraid of a Rathalos! Everyone's afraid of all the big monsters out there!"

"Well what about you?" Ellie spat at him. "You always act all tough and knowledgeable when it comes to hunting. Fear is just an excuse to run away!"

"You think I'm not afraid of what's out there?" Levin growled. "You don't think I'm scared of _any_ of the monsters out there that I hunt? I'm absolutely terrified of them!" Ellie shrank back a little. Her eyes still burned with anger, she seemed to have deflated a little.

"I'm scared for my life every time I go out into the wilds," Levin told her. "The first time I went out there without Marshall with me, I almost had a heart attack fighting Jaggis, I was so terrified of dying! These are creatures that view you as a threat, as an intruder, as food. Why shouldn't you fear them? They're out for your blood. If you try and delude yourself into thinking you're not afraid of them, all you'll do is get yourself killed because of your own damn overinflated ego."

"No," Ellie replied. Levin glared at her. "I can't afford to die!" She said it with determination, but the conviction and force she'd had earlier were wearing away. "I can't afford to be afraid of them! I hate them all! Every damn type of monster! I have to fight them! I have to kill them!"

"Or what?" Levin asked. "You think being fearless will keep you going? What are you trying to gain from monster hunting, a pile of corpses? You can't just go around killing everything for the sake of convincing yourself that you aren't afraid of them. Fearing the monster you face is like fearing for your own life; if you don't you'll just charge headfirst into your own death."

"I… I can't," Ellie whispered. The earlier fire in her eyes had nearly vanished, replaced by… despair? Levin couldn't be sure. She pulled her knees even closer to her, curling back into a ball. "I just can't be afraid of them. I have to fight, have to kill them. I have to become a hunter! Or else I won't be able to…"

Levin suddenly felt ashamed at yelling at her, as her speech faded to a stop and she shrunk away from him. He sighed in defeat, shaking his head. In the silence that followed, he looked up and noticed that some of the other infirmed were staring at the two of them. Upon being noticed, they quickly turned away, but Levin still frowned in frustration. He turned back to Ellie and gathered his thoughts.

"I'm sorry if I brought up bad memories for you," he said softly. "I know you hate all the monsters in the world, for whatever reason, and you're trying to overcome your fears for the sake of hunting them, but you have to know that being afraid isn't as bad a thing as you make it out to be. It keeps us focused on things, it keeps us moving forward, it keeps us alive in times of trials." He smiled a little as Ellie looked up at him, some of the sorrow leaving her expression. "Being afraid of something doesn't make you weak or a coward, it just makes you human. And if you're able to overcome your fear, it only makes you that much stronger."

The two of them held each other's eyes for a moment before Ellie nodded in acceptance. Levin smiled a little wider at her, then held his head down again. "I know we don't know each other well, but I want to help you deal with this. I know it might be a little hard for you to talk about it right now, but if you ever want to get… whatever of your chest, I'll listen."

Ellie was quiet for a moment before she replied meekly. "I can't talk about it, not now. But thanks."

"Anytime," Levin said with a grin, getting a small smile from Ellie.

The two sat in silence for a moment before Ellie swung her feet of the bed. The lull of the crowd outside the hut rose and fell a couple times as they sat without talking. Some of the other infirmed got enough courage to speak to one another, realizing the two hunters-in-training weren't going to be noisy anymore. Finally Ellie broke the silence between the two of them.

"Can I ask you something?" she said nervously.

"Sure, go ahead."

"What is it that you're afraid of? I mean, not just fear of getting killed by a Jaggi, but really afraid of?"

Levin froze and stared at the floor. When Ellie had asked the question, flashes of his past flickered through his mind, but he forced down the memories, trying not to relive. He clenched his knuckled and took a breath to calm himself. He couldn't even bring himself to think about it, much less tell Ellie about it. In a thought, he created an excuse.

"Whatever gave me this," he said, pointing to the scar over his eye.

Ellie looked at the scar closely, trying to get a better look. Levin brushed his hair out of the way, giving her a clear view. "You don't know what it was?" Ellie asked.

"Not really," Levin replied. "It was right after I… woke up. Some monster attacked me when I was wandering around, trying to find people. I tried to run, but it took a piece out of me before I got away. Luckily, I ran into a traveler that helped me escape."

"Lucky you," Ellie said, as Levin lowered his hand, and allowed his hair to fall.

"Oh, good. It seems you're well," a voice said from the entrance of the medical hut. Recognizing the voice, the two twisted to face the door. There stood Marshall, still in full armor, grinning broadly at the two of them. "Surprised to see me?"

"Goddamn, old man, you had us worried" Levin sighed in exasperation. He caught himself when he saw Ellie smirk at his statement, and recovered to smile jokingly at the old hunter. "Thought you'd be dragon food by now, what with your age being what it is. When the hell did you get back?"

Ellie snickered at the line and Marshall chuckled as well, causing Levin to glare at the two of them. Marshall stopped quickly though and spoke. "I returned a while ago actually," he told them. "I had to stop by the town square to deliver my report on the Rathalos."

Ellie tensed slightly, but mustered up her courage to ask, "What did you find out about it?"

Marshall smiled at the two of them. "Good news, actually. It turns out the dragon was fortunately only stopping for a meal before continuing on to his own territory. By the time I'd found the thing, it had almost finished eating an Aptonoth it had taken down for supper. The thing had barely finished the last of the meat before it was airborne and heading away from here."

"Then people are calming down out there?" Levin asked. "People were pretty panicked when I told them about the Rathalos when I got back to the village."

"Yes, I saw that," Marshall replied, giving Levin a dirty look. "I'd give you a lecture over breaking the news to the village so poorly if I wasn't so sure it'd have the same effect either way. But I suppose considering Miss Eleanor's condition at the time, I imagine your mind was otherwise occupied." He turned his attention back to Ellie and looked the young woman over with concern. "And speaking of which, are you all right Miss Eleanor? We were both quite worried about you out there in the wilds."

"I'm fine now," Ellie replied.

"So you say," Marshall said. He glanced over at Levin. Levin nodded slightly in approval. Marshall held his gaze for a second, then accepted Levin's judgment with a nod of his own. "All right," he said to Ellie with a grin. "I hope you weren't too shaken up, Miss Eleanor. With the arrival of the Rathalos in the area, I have no doubt most of the larger monsters in the area will have gone into hiding in their burrows until they are certain the threat has moved on."

Ellie frowned in confusion. "What good does that…" Suddenly her eyes lit up in realization, and she grinned in excitement. "Wait, if all the large monsters are going to be gone, does that mean that I'll be able to go out tomorrow?"

"If you'd like to," Marshall replied with a laugh. Ellie nodded enthusiastically. "Very well then. If you really think you'll be up to it, you should head home and rest. I imagine tomorrow won't be quite as adventurous as today, but we'll try to keep you busy for as long as we can before something decides to creep out of its hiding place again to cause trouble."

The two young hunters-to-be nodded in agreement, heading towards the door. Ellie thanked Orson as they passed him on the way out, and the two of them left the medical hut and headed back home. Levin was shocked at how late it was as he looked up at the sky. The final light of sunset had long since faded. Levin realized he must have spent quite a while waiting for Ellie to recover.

As the two apprentices walked back to their homes, Levin took a good look at Ellie. She was easily surpassing his expectations as a hunter, and he imagined she would definitely become great one day. But he wondered what sort of trials she had gone through to make her desire to become a hunter.

"Can I ask you something?" she asked suddenly.

"Sure," he replied, turning his head. Had she seen him staring?

"When was the first time you saw a monster? Like the ones that travel this world?"

Levin frowned in thought. Where had this come from? "Well, I can only speak for myself, but the first monster I remember seeing was the monster that attacked me before I got to Loc Lac. After that, I transferred here, saw some more different types on the way, and have seen pretty much every type of creature that calls this area home since then." He paused. "Why?"

Ellie was quiet for a moment. The dark of night obscured her face, making it hard for Levin to determine her facial expression.

"No reason," she eventually replied. "Can I ask you something else?"

"Hit me."

"When were you… brought here? Put to sleep, whatever. How long after our world started falling apart were you taken from our world and set down here?"

Levin thought for a moment before replying. "I was one of the first, I think. I heard some of the other Lost in Loc Lac talking about some string of disasters that started happening around the same time. I don't remember hearing about anything like that before I was brought here, I just remember..." He winced as memories rose unbidden from the back of his mind. With a grunt of effort, he forced the thoughts back into the dark of his mind where he wouldn't think about them.

He noticed Ellie looking at him curiously. "Remember what?"

Levin shrugged. "I just remember waking up. I was back home, and then I was here. No in between, no feeling of being carried anywhere. The next thing I knew, I was wandering out of a cave with no idea where I was."

Ellie studied his face. "All you all right?" she asked. "You looked out of it a second ago."

"I'm fine," Levin replied, shaking his hand as though to brush off the question. Ellie frowned, doubting his answer. Then a thought occurred to Levin. "What about when were you brought here?" he asked. "How much do you remember about what happened to our world before coming here?"

Ellie turned away from him and hugged her shoulders. Levin worried for a moment that he had asked the wrong question again. She turned back to him quickly enough, however, with a sad look in her eyes. "I remember too much," she replied.

"You're holding back on me again," Levin accused.

"So are you," she replied. There was no malice in her voice. She was just stating a fact.

Levin sighed. "You caught me," he said.

"Neither of us feels like talking about… that time," Ellie said quietly, looking down at her feet. The two of them were silent for a while as they walked. Levin stared blankly ahead of him at the path they were following, unsure how to continue the conversation. The silence continued until the two of them reached their neighboring houses. Before turning to enter her house, Ellie turned to Levin.

"I have one last question for you, Levin," she said to him.

"Yeah?"

Ellie was silent for a moment before continuing in a quiet voice. "Do you think it's possible to go home? Back to our world?"

Levin stood there in silence, unsure how to respond. "I couldn't say," he replied. "I don't even know how we got here, much less how to get back. Is this place a different planet, a different universe, a different timeline? I don't know enough to even guess."

"Would you even want to go back if given the opportunity?"

"No." The answer came too easily. The question had caught him by surprise, but the answer was immediate. He didn't want to think about why that was.

Ellie looked up and studied his face for a moment before shaking her head sadly. "Yeah, me neither," she said. Then she turned and walked up the stairs leading to her hut. Before entering, she took one last look at Levin. "Good night, Levin," she said simply.

Levin smiled slightly. "Good night, Ellie." She smiled in return and entered her house, letting the flap of the building swing shut behind.

Levin scratched his head in frustration as he turned to his own house and climbed the stairs. He was going to have trouble dozing off tonight. This kind of talk was far too complicated to sleep on.

* * *

Several weeks went by without incident, or at least they didn't match up to the level of concern the Rathalos sighting had sparked in Boma. Eleanor and Levin had spent nearly every day out in the wilds fulfilling villager requests. Admittedly, Eleanor had been somewhat hesitant to venture out on the day after the Rathalos sighting, but she'd loosened up once she'd spent the day wandering around and saw the forest was virtually silent with most of the monsters still in hiding. Marshall had gone out with them the first couple of days they'd traveled out in search of goods, but his participation in their hunts had dwindled. He still came with them occasionally, but he'd apparently wholly given Levin the reins when it came to continuing Eleanor's teaching and training at becoming a hunter.

Not that that bothered Eleanor too much. As much as she wished she could say she had fully taught by a truly great monster hunter, Levin was actually proving to be a very proficient teacher. While he didn't have much to say on how to properly use the bowgun or which shells to use in which situation, his ability in battlefield tactics was surprisingly well developed.

"You have to be able to adapt to your surroundings and know when to strike in my weapon class," he'd explained when she had pointed out her astonishment. "When your sole method of damaging a monster is something that weighs almost a hundred pounds and requires you to be up-close-and-personal, you learn where and when to place your attacks. Otherwise you end up as something's snack."

And Levin certainly did know proper placement. More times than she could remember these past few weeks, before the two of them had jumped a pack of Jaggi or Ludroth, Levin had given her some very simple instructions to follow during their assault. While Eleanor had initially doubted whether or not he was actually planning anything or just plain winging it, any circumstances they'd faced in any location had been easily overcome.

Their tactics had been surprisingly straightforward when it came to larger groups: Eleanor would hang back while Levin circled whatever prey they sought. Then Levin would dive in and attack the enemies closest to him to attract attention, and with the attention of the pack in the other direction, Eleanor would pick off victims on her end of the field. With most of the pack distracted by a loud sword-swinger on one end of a field, next to none of the pack would realize that their allies were falling behind them until it was too late to counterattack. And by then, there'd be nothing for them to do but wait until either hunter got to them, by sword slash or shot.

While the attack basis was simple in and of itself, Levin always tried to ensure Eleanor's safety above all else. While it would be simpler and much easier to shoot from level ground in the fields where pack would graze or hunt, Levin nearly always insisted that Eleanor shoot from a more discreet location. From an overhang, from a rock outcropping, from a tree branch even. Eleanor wasn't too fond of hiding from the enemies, but she had to admit it was a lot more reassuring to shoot monsters from a place of relative safety. Especially after a small section of one of the packs had broken away from Levin and began circling her tree once…

Not that she wasn't getting practice in case of an unexpected face to face battle, either. Levin would occasionally send her into a smaller pack of Jaggis, bowgun blazing, just to get her used to finding herself as the center of attention. The two of them had spent several days just teaching Eleanor how to properly evade monsters in various conditions. She still had bruises in places from the training she'd done learning how to duck and roll away from incoming monsters. She realized however that a sore back was a good trade-off from a monster bite, but she still hadn't been able to stand up straight for several hours once Levin had finally decided she was good enough.

The one thing that Eleanor still couldn't understand about Levin's method of hunting though was his hoarding habit. While Marshall had supported the collecting of monster parts for use in creating and upgrading weapons and armor, as well as giving the hunter something to sell when they were short on cash, Levin seemed to take it to a whole new level. He'd collect scales fangs and bones off of nearly everything he carved, and take as many as he could without breaking Guild regulations. He'd invited Eleanor over to his hut once so she could look over the monster guides he owned, and she'd taken a peek into his storage box when he was out of the room. It had been so full of scales and bones, it had made Eleanor wonder whether Levin was actually following the "report every kill" rule. She wasn't entirely convinced you could get this many scales off of Jaggi in the forest with the Guild mandates on kill limits in effect.

However, her profound confusion over Levin's obsession with collecting had somewhat dwindled in the last few days. After speaking with the local smith Silph, she'd made a list of materials to look for out in the wilds. After spending several days carving bones from monsters to fill her list, she felt she might actually understand his enjoyment of holding onto goods when she'd finally collected enough materials of her own to make…

"The Bone Kris!" she said proudly, holding up the dull brown blade and shield for Mel to see. She and Levin had just returned from a trip into the wilds, and the materials she'd brought in to Silph had finally been melded into her first self-made weapon.

"Very nice!" Mel replied appreciatively, studying the weapon when Eleanor proudly handed it over for her to look at. "So this one actually has a title, then? The Bone Kris…"

"So Silph told me," Eleanor replied. "He said most weapons have titles, though a lot of hunters in villages like this don't learn them because the smiths in their towns don't know them. They just make them."

Mel laughed. "Odd for Silph to point that out, considering he's one of the smiths that have no idea what the name of what their making is. I imagine he felt obligated to point out that little bit of info simply because he actually knew what this weapon was called." She turned to Levin and smirked. "I wonder if your teacher here even has a clue what his weapon's title is."

Levin smirked smugly. "I'll have you know my weapon's official title is actually the Giant Jawblade."

"Really?" Eleanor asked. "Did you learn that from Silph?"

"Uh, no," Levin replied sheepishly. "Actually, I picked up the name from one of Silph's apprentices. I'm pretty sure they're the ones doing all the work in the smithy anyway."

"That wouldn't surprise me," Mel said. "The old codger's probably only referred to as the town head smith because of his age."

"Oh, there's more to him than that, but I suppose you young ones wouldn't understand." Eleanor turned when she recognized Marshall's voice. The old hunter approached the Guild booth with a grin, carrying his grandson Theo on his shoulders. "It's good to see the two of you back in town again. It seems like the only thing you two do nowadays is travel the wilds looking for trouble."

"The people of the village don't seem to be complaining," Levin replied with a smirk. "We get hunting training done, and they get the materials we collect off the corpses."

"Perhaps," Marshall replied raising an eyebrow at Levin, "but if I recall correctly, it wasn't too long ago that you were complaining about going out and collecting materials like this."

"What can I say?" Levin replied, shrugging. He motioned to Eleanor. "Maybe it's just more fun doing menial labor with a partner than running solo like you had me do the months before she showed up in Boma."

"You mean it's more fun when someone else is doing a lot of your menial labor for you," Eleanor jabbed.

"I plead the fifth," Levin laughed, raising his hands in surrender.

"Well, I'm glad you two are getting along," Marshall said to them, setting Theo down in one of the chairs near the booth. Mel quickly pulled a small toy out from under the desk and handed it to the young boy, who happily began playing with it, causing Eleanor to smile at the sight. Marshall continued, "It's a good thing too, I suppose, considering what I'm going to propose you two do tomorrow."

"What's that?" Eleanor asked curiously, as she pushed the toy back to Theo when it rolled away from him.

"Well, I've been speaking with the town guard again, and it seems as though larger packs of Jaggi and Jaggia are finally beginning to migrate back into the area from wherever their hiding place is."

"So that means more work?" Eleanor said exasperatedly. As much as she was enjoying the hunting training, even she had to admit the work was getting old fast. There was only so many times you could take on Jaggi, Ludroth, of Bnahabra without it getting old.

Levin turned and grinned eagerly at her. "Not quite," he said, and then seemed to change his mind. "Well, actually, yes, more work, but in a different sort of way."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Marshall sat down and explained. "Around here, when Jaggi packs begin to move out in large numbers, it usually means they're scouting their territory. Defending their land, if you will. That generally indicates that the alpha of the pack is preparing to descend back into the wilds to hunt with the rest of the pack."

Eleanor caught his meaning immediately and lit up excitedly. "Which means we're going out tomorrow to take it down, right?"

"Exactly," Marshall laughed at her enthusiasm. "You've been working hard these last few weeks at training, and I feel that you've earned the right to give fighting one of the bigger monsters a shot. I'm sure Levin will agree with me on that."

"I don't have any arguments," Levin replied. "She's better at hunting that I was when I fought my first large monster, at least, so I see no reason to hold her back."

"Very nice!" Mel said excitedly. "I was wondering when these two would get around to letting you fight something with a little more moxie than the little creatures."

"Come on now, Miss Melanie," Marshall said, in a jokingly hurt tone of voice. "I may have the most monster hunting experience in this village, but even I can't simply summon monsters out of nowhere for Miss Eleanor and Levin to fight."

"Aw, I'm just teasing you," Mel replied with a grin. "I'm just happy you finally are giving Eleanor the opportunity to do something more."

"Thanks, Mel," Eleanor grinned at the Guild rep. Then she turned and eyed Marshall. "So we're going tomorrow, right?"

"Seems that way," Marshall replied. "The two of you will head out tomorrow in search of a Great Jaggi. I'll leave it up to you to keep Miss Eleanor safe and to make sure she learns something from this fight, Levin."

"Wait, you're not coming?" Eleanor asked, shocked. "I thought you'd tail along with us for something big like this."

Levin scoffed and Marshall chuckled for a moment, earning them both a glare from Eleanor. Marshall smiled apologetically before replying. "I don't think I'd ever refer to a Great Jaggi as 'something big' Miss Eleanor. Even Levin doesn't really find Great Jaggi's threatening anymore, and he hasn't been hunting too much longer than you."

"You mean the Great Jaggi is weak?" Eleanor asked incredulously. "I thought I was going to be fighting one of the large monsters for once!"

Marshall shook his head. "While the beast you'll hunt tomorrow is certainly a step up from the monsters you've been fighting on a day-to-day basis this last month, any qualified hunter wouldn't consider a Great Jaggi to be anything more than a distraction from more challenging hunts. They're certainly stronger and more durable than regular Jaggi and Jaggia, and even Ludroth, but they're not exactly a big threat."

Eleanor frowned in disappointment. "So you're sending me up against the large monster equivalent to cannon fodder?"

"Don't be too disappointed, Miss Eleanor," Marshall encouraged her. "Every hunter has to go through the rigmarole of less dangerous monsters in order to fight the bigger ones. You must hone your skills in fights like this one, so that when a real challenge appears, you're more than ready to face whatever the beast throws at you. You won't be going up against anything too horribly dangerous until you pass your Hunter's exam. We can't expect rookie hunters that have only killed small carnivores to face up against beasts like Lagiacrus or Diablos now can we?"

"That doesn't make me feel any better about it," Eleanor grumbled.

"We can't always follow the easy route Ellie," Levin said. "Besides, when it comes to monster hunting, I doubt there even is an easy route in the first place. So are you going to go out hunting with me tomorrow, or will you sit around her and complain about the lack of challenging battles?"

Eleanor grumbled a few choice profanities before replying. "Alright, I'll go," she said. "But I'd like to fight something better soon. I want to become a hunter as soon as possible."

"You and me both, Ellie," Levin laughed.

"You'll get your chance, Miss Eleanor," Marshall said, picking up Theo from his chair and returning the toy to Mel. "But for now, you'll fight what you have the experience to face up against. Prove you can fight well, and we'll see about letting you take on something bigger. I can't be certain you'll even find the thing tomorrow, anyway. Great Jaggi tend to move around a lot when hunting for food. Maybe you'll get lucky though."

"I don't think we'll have too much to worry about there," Levin said smugly. "I've got a few ideas that I think will get the big boy's attention."

"You seem awfully sure of yourself," Eleanor said, eyeing him accusingly.

"I've had to kill a lot of them these last few months before you showed up," he replied, shrugging. "I've had plenty of time to figure out what works."

"Well, I wish you luck," Marshall told them. "I suggest you get a lot of sleep tonight, Miss Eleanor. Great Jaggi may not be the true challenge you're looking for, but considering you've never fought with a monster larger than a Ludroth, I imagine you'll be plenty worn out by tomorrow's fight. Get some rest, and good hunting you two." With that, he nodded to them both and walked away, Theo babbling happily to him in toddler speak.

"We'd better do what he says," Levin said, standing up to stretch. "Hunting is certainly a different experience when you're going up against big monsters than when you're smacking around Jaggi. Besides, like he said, we might need all of tomorrow to find the Great Jaggi."

"I thought you had 'a few ideas,'" Eleanor said accusingly.

"I do!" Levin said defensively. "However, getting them to work depends on luck."

"I should've thought as much," Eleanor replied, rolling her eyes.

"Hey, it's better than spending the whole day wandering around aimlessly."

"We'll see," Eleanor said, standing up as well. "But if you guys think I'll need rest, we'll head back. Besides," she said, ruffling the front of her hunter's armor, "I need to air out my armor anyway. It's starting to stink after so many days of use in a row."

"Just ask Leif to clean it," Levin said after the two of them said their goodbyes to Mel and began walking back to their houses.

"I always feel bad doing that though," Eleanor complained. "It feels like an abuse of authority over the Felynes."

"They're getting paid to do it by the village, and probably the Guild too," Levin said. "They know what their job as a hunter's assistant entails when they take it. And honestly, cleaning up seems a lot safer than our jobs."

"I guess," Eleanor replied. "But I still feel bad asking him for things like that."

"Worse comes to worse, you could just tip him," Levin advised. "I find that giving twenty zenny to a Felyne just about makes their day, no matter what job they have. That or Felvyne. I swear, they treat that stuff like it's crack or something."

"That still feels like abuse," Eleanor said. She thought for a moment then made a face at Levin. "Besides, what would you need to tip a Felyne for anyway? Your room is almost empty and your armor is a _sponge_. You clean it by throwing it in the ocean then wringing it out. I've seen you do it."

"Various things about town," Levin said evasively. Eleanor was about to probe further, but about that time, the two of them arrived back at their houses, and she was cut off as Levin walked towards his own hut. He turned back before he walked inside. "Meet me up by the crop fields tomorrow morning," he told her, pointing up towards the dug-out hill on the edge of town. "We'll be grabbing some stuff to use on the hunt there, and it'll be more fun to explain things at the source."

"The source of what?" Eleanor asked warily.

"You see," Levin said slyly. "Now go to bed. Tomorrow will be busy."

Eleanor groaned in frustration as he shot through his door before letting her ask anything else. She had wanted to question him more, but it seemed like he enjoyed being vague and giving incomplete information more than anything else. Scratching her head in annoyance, she followed his advice and walked up the stairs into her own house.

* * *

**Author's Notes: Please Review!**

**Okay, I may have lied last time when I said there was going to be a GJ hunt in this chapter. Things just got longer and longer and before I know it I was at 7000+ words. But next chapter for sure!**

**This chapter took longer than I thought it would, mostly due to the fact that I decided I needed to stop and flesh out the story a bit more before continuing (and maybe because my friend let me try out Minecraft on his laptop and I got kind of addicted). The first bit half of this chapter didn't seem like it was right to me the first time through. I knew where my story was going, but I didn't know why my characters were leading it that way, so I stopped for a while to make my characters more complete. I've got their personalities and motivations down now, so the next chapters should come out at a better speed than this one. **

**I say should, but next week is finals and I'm going to be studying for most of it. I'll probably type up a few hundred words or so during each of my breaks, but I won't be able to do much real work until Friday. At about 2 pm on Friday... I'm getting hammered. But after that comes this story, I swear! After sobering up I mean. **


	6. Hunting the Great Jaggi

Hunting the Great Jaggi

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. All the characters in this story are mine._

Eleanor was woken early the next day by Leif, who shook her awake cautiously. He'd always been a helpful and faithful help around the hut, but ever since that first night here in Boma, he'd been a bit wary about waking her up. Eleanor didn't exactly blame him either. There'd been a few nights where her nightmares had given Leif a few close calls to getting smacked across the room again.

But she was grateful that he'd put up with her, and was especially glad that he hadn't told anyone about her nightmares. Despite him being a big gossip with the other Felynes, he seemed to have sensed that these dreams of Eleanor's weren't something she wanted spread around, so he'd kept the fact to himself.

After taking a bath Eleanor returned to her room and put on her armor. She'd eventually decided she'd take Levin's advice and asked Leif to clean up her armor before she went to bed. Leif had agreed to do so easily and without complaint, but Eleanor still felt better about the whole thing after giving him some extra zenny in exchange for the work. She had been tempted to try offering him some Felvyne she'd picked up in the forest a week or so ago, since she'd never seen a Felyne in Boma using Felvyne before (_Using? Smelling? Smoking? What exactly did Felynes do with Felvyne?_ Eleanor asked herself). But she'd decided against that decision in the end, not wanting to test out what happened without at least having a guess as to the consequences beforehand.

She admitted that Leif had done a good job with the armor. All the scratches and scuffs from her carnivore encounters in the wild had been buffed out or sewn up, the dents in the metal plates had been smoothed out, and most importantly, the smell of several weeks worth of work had been cleaned out, making Eleanor no longer feel nauseous putting it on. She might have to give Leif an extra bonus for the fine work.

After filling her ammo pouch and slinging her bowgun over her shoulder, she headed out the door and began her walk over to the fields. She'd been half tempted to go on today's hunt with her new sword and shield, but she figured she'd be better off against her first big monster by sticking with the weapon she was accustomed to using in the field already. She longed to try the sword and shield out against a living, breathing creature, but it seemed like today was not the day it would happen.

As she walked around the curving road towards the large hill that held the fields, she marveled at how much effort had been put into the large hill. Instead of a sloping curve like most of the other hills in the area, the people of Boma had dug out six ledges on the hill had left the entire thing looking like a staircase instead. Eleanor realized that this was not the quick work of a handful of random farmers, but must have been the collective effort of many hundreds of people over who knows how many years. Though the village certainly wasn't as advanced as her world had been, she certainly had to have respect for them, considering how much work they did to maintain their lifestyles.

Upon reaching the base of the hill itself, she came to a large, winding stone staircase that weaved its way up the side of the hill. The stairs cut up the far right side of the fields, making it look like the last barrier between the crops and the beginning of the forest on the right. A line of low-cut logs were set up to ward monsters, but Eleanor wondered how well they really worked against any larger monsters that may decide they wanted to take a bite out of some of the crops in the fields.

As the flight rose up the side on the hill, the stairs would level out occasionally as they reached the same elevation of one of the steppes that contained fields. Eleanor groaned in misery, hoping Levin was waiting for her on one of the lower tiers. She winced in pain just _thinking_ about how much her legs would hurt climbing up all the flights of stairs to get to the top.

_No sense in just standing here, I guess, _she thought miserably, and began climbing.

She made her way up the first three tiers, stopping at each one to look around the field in search of Levin, but only seeing working Felynes each time. On the second tier, she'd asked a passing Felyne if they'd seen Levin pass by. The Felyne had replied positively, but when questioned as to which tier he was on, couldn't give a confident answer. Eleanor merely sighed in disappointment and kept climbing.

Upon reaching the forth tier, however, she managed to catch sight of Levin on the far side of the field, crouched on the ground next to a pair of Felyne farmers. The three of them seemed to be working with a medium-sized object that Eleanor couldn't make out from the distance she was at. She began walking across the level earth at a slow pace, allowing her legs to heal from the tiring hike up before meeting up with Levin.

As she got closer, she took a better look at the object the three were working on. It was a medium sized octagonal box on the ground. It was made of metal and appeared to be half submerged in the earth. Levin was holding a smaller object over it, which looked similar to a large iron stake. Every few seconds, he'd swing the metal stake down into the box and pull it back again, making Eleanor wonder if he was trying to stab at something inside.

"Can you get it to hold still?" Eleanor heard Levin asked one of the Felynes in a frustrated tone of voice.

"We try, nya, but it's too fast!" one replied. It was carrying a net in one of its paws and was making its own frustrated swings into the box. Obviously there were trying to catch whatever was in the box, not kill it.

"The electricity's not helping much either, nya," the other one said. "It's too irritated. Maybe if we got rid of the current…"

"Then it'd get away!" the first Felyne snapped at the other, thumping it in the head with the frame of its net.

"What would get away?" Eleanor asked as she got close enough to the three of them to pull their attentions away from the box.

Levin turned to her in surprise, but smiled quickly. "Good morning Miss Ellie," he said mockingly. "Sleep well?"

"Yes I did, in fact," she replied, glaring at him for using the nickname she disliked. "Were you expecting me earlier or something?"

"You're just in time, actually," Levin replied, pointing into the box. "We're trying to round up the last, ah, pieceof some equipment we'll be using during our hunt for the Great Jaggi today. Take a look."

"What do you mean by 'a piece of the equipment'?" Eleanor asked in confusion as she looked into the box, and then pulled back in stunned surprise. Levin laughed, earning him another glare from Eleanor before she leaned in for another look.

Inside the octagonal box was a large white… bug, worm, slug, Eleanor didn't know how to describe it. It had a large cylindrical body and a wide mouth spreading all the way across its conical head. It was supported by what appeared to be very fine silver hairs all over its body that wiggled and pulsed with every motion the thing made. And the thing made a lot of motions. It scurried and bounced around the box at ridiculous speeds, stopping occasionally perhaps to re-strategize and then continue its continuous assault on the walls of the box.

"Wanna touch it?" Levin teased.

"Hell no!" Eleanor gagged, pulling away from the box. "What is that thing?"

"It's a Saturnian," Levin replied, still chuckling at her reaction. "It's a very important creature we'll be needing the company of during our hunt today. What's the matter? Not too fond of it?"

"It's disgusting," Eleanor said bluntly. "Why the hell would we need one of these little nasties during our hunt today? Are Great Jaggis afraid of them of something? I wouldn't blame them if they were."

"No, nothing so easy as that," Levin said. "No, we'll be using this Saturnian here to build a trap for the Great Jaggi."

"A trap?" Eleanor asked incredulously. "How are going to make a trap with this little thing?"

"I'm so glad you asked!" Levin said with what Eleanor considered obnoxious enthusiasm. He motioned to the two Felyne farmers next to him. "In fact, I've asked these two kind fellows to give you a demonstration as to how we're going to be using the Saturnian. They've kindly agreed to do so, providing I compensate them in case of any losses."

"Losses of what?" Eleanor asked.

"Losses of Saturnian, nya," the first Felyne replied.

"I fail to see how losing one of these things could be considered a loss," Eleanor said sourly, tapping the side of the box with her foot and riling up the Saturnian inside.

"You'd be surprised," the second replied. "Saturnians are a very integral part of our farming work here in Boma, nya, so losing even one is a very heavy blow to our work."

"Really?" Eleanor said, surprised. "How do these things help with farming?"

"That's what they're planning on showing you," Levin told her. "We've set up a little area on this side of the field to give you a proper demonstration."

He motioned over to the edge of the farmland, where the tidily plowed fields tapered off into wild grasses and tree stumps, before jumping up into the section of the hill that hadn't been dug out yet. Eleanor noticed that an acre or two of land in the general direction he'd aimed at had been cordoned off by several steel rods, each with a bright blue gem shining brightly at the top. The section of land surrounded by the poles was at the very edge of the existing farmland and stretched several meters over the overgrown area.

"It's really no problem for us to do this," the first Felyne told Levin as the three of them walked over to the section. "We'd been planning on preparing that section for farming for several months, nya, but because of the surplus of food we had last year, we never really had a need to."

"I still appreciate it," he replied. "Besides, I'm borrowing one of your Saturnian for the hunt, so compensating you guys for it is hardly unreasonable."

"You bring us the dung we need to grow crops anyway, nya," the second Felyne said. "Marshall stopped doing that years ago, so we've really had a good crop this year in comparison."

"Dung?" Eleanor asked, smirking at Levin, who colored in embarrassment.

"Don't ask," he grumbled, then turned on Eleanor with a wicked grin. "Unless you'd like me to volunteer you to do that as your next job for the village."

"I didn't ask, then," Eleanor replied quickly, brushing off the subject to Levin's amusement.

Upon reaching the sectioned off area, Eleanor took a better look at the rods surrounding the area and noticed the blue gems on top of each rod were all emitting a light blue glow and silent crackling sounds were being emitted. Levin noticed her peering at the crystals and grinned.

"These are gems taken off a Lagiacrus' spinal column," he explained. He reached out slowly and carefully held his finger close to the nearest pole. Eleanor blinked in surprise as a burst of static arced and shocked Levin even though he was still half a foot away from the pole. He winced and pulled back, shaking his finger at the sting.

"Still hurts through the armor," he grumbled. "Anyway, these gems are sending a pretty good charge into the ground at the moment. The farmers here heavily watered the area earlier to keep the electricity flowing well, and the metal rods help keep the charge focused inside the circle."

"Okay, but why do this?" Eleanor asked.

"To keep the Saturnian inside, nya," the first Felyne replied. "They don't like electricity at all, so as long as they're inside this area, they can't leave. Well, at least, they're not supposed to be able to, nya, but some have gotten away before due to carelessness in setting up the rods."

"Okay, so the Saturnian can't leave. Why keep them in the area in the first place?"

"Because of what they do to the soil," the second Felyne replied.

"What's that?"

Levin grinned, and motioned to one of the Felynes. The small cat pulled out a small bottle from the pack it carried over its shoulder and held it up for Eleanor to see. She leaned in to see through the foggy glass, then winced in surprise as another Saturnian came into focus and twisted and churned its mouth at her. Levin chuckled and earned a glare from Eleanor, then reached down and popped the top of the bottle off. Eleanor nervously took a step back, and whimpered in disgust as Levin reached in and pulled the Saturnian out with his gloved hands. He grinned wickedly and held the squirming creature up to her, making her take another step back in revulsion.

"Sure you don't wanna touch it?" he asked evilly.

"Screw you!"

"Suit yourself," he said with a shrug. "This is what Saturnian do."

With a twist of his wrist, he tossed the writhing white creature into the middle of the circle of Lagiacrus crystals. The creature landed with a squishy thump, and shocked Eleanor by tearing into the earth below it with such speed she wondered for a moment if it had vanished into thin air.

Several seconds passed and nothing happened in the circle. Eleanor waited impatiently for a while before turning to question Levin. However, she was cut off when he held up a finger to prematurely silence her and pointed her attention back to the area.

"Watch closely now," he said quietly. "It's about to happen."

Eleanor was about to ask what would happen, when suddenly the whole area of ground inside the charged rods suddenly began to churn and shift. All at once, the top soil of the earth collapsed into itself just over two inches in depth, revealing the soil beneath it to be completely sifted, as though the earth had been professionally tilled by the laborers of the farm. Motion caught Eleanor's eye as the Saturnian popped out of the earth on the other side of the area. She watched in fascination as the small creature dove into a piece of unbroken earth that lay near it and seemed to tear it to pieces as its large mouth chewed through the hardened soil.

"Not a bad bit of work," Levin said, impressed. "You guys really know how to keep those Saturnian in line, don't you?"

"How did it do that?" Eleanor asked incredulously.

"It's what Saturnian do," Levin explained, as the two Felynes walked into the circle, nets at the ready to try and catch the Saturnian Levin had released. "They're high powered diggers that spend their whole lives digging through and sifting the earth. As you can see, farmers use them to till fields before planting."

"What are the poles for?" Eleanor asked, pointing at one of the rods with the Lagiacrus crystals on top.

"Like I said, they emit a current into the ground. Saturnian can't stand electricity, so as long as there's a charge down there, they won't leave the area inside the circle. They spend their lives in the top soil, so digging underneath the charges of the rods doesn't ever seem to occur to them. Also, the level of charge you emit into the ground seems to have an effect on the Saturnian's digging. A stronger charge will make them till the earth finer than a lesser charge. Professional farmers like these two Felynes have mastered the art of applying the proper charge so that the Saturnian tills the earth just right for them to plant crops."

"That makes sense, I guess," Eleanor nodded. "But how does this apply to our hunt today?"

Levin grinned. "Well, like I said, the higher the charge you apply to the earth, the finer the soil will be tilled. Should you apply a particularly high charge to the soil, the resulting soil will be akin to quicksand. And if a large monster were to step on that section of land…"

"They'd fall in and get trapped," Eleanor finished, catching his meaning.

"Exactly," Levin said. "The traps won't hold large monsters for long though. As I mentioned, the Saturnian only churns up a few feet of the topsoil, so it'll only hold monsters down for maybe thirty seconds or so at the most. The trap itself wires a net through to soil to add a bit of extra trouble for anything that falls in, tangling their feet in rope as well. If they get a foothold on the solid soil below though, they'll be able to break out of the trap and keep attacking their targets."

"Thirty seconds doesn't seem like much," Eleanor noted.

"Sometimes it's all you need," Levin replied. "While they're down, their primary concern is escaping the trap, which means that's thirty seconds for you to pound on them, provided you don't fall in the trap yourself. You probably won't have to worry too much about that, since you're a gunner and will most likely be keeping a good distance in the first place."

Eleanor smirked at him. "Falling in your own trap? Seems to me that advice is coming from someone with experience in the subject."

"Oh shut up." Levin pulled out the stake-like metal object he had been swinging at the trapped Saturnian and held it up for Eleanor to get a better look at. "This is a pitfall trap," he told her.

The pitfall trap was a lot more elaborate than Eleanor had thought it was, now that she could see it up close. The conical shape had a more spiderlike appearance, with several thin pointed rods that were jointed away from the central cone. The stake itself was spiderwebbed with thin lines, which, considering her experience with the collapsible pickaxes, Eleanor assumed were part of the unraveling mechanism. At the wide end of the cone were several thin Lagiacrus crystals, each carefully wired to one of the thin rods around the edge. The mouth of the cone gaped open from a small hinged opening, revealing nothing inside.

"The Saturnian goes in here," Levin explained, pointing to the hole at the end. "You work it by ramming the trap into the earth and turning the head to activate the crystals. Once that happens, the legs will extend the smaller rods and stick them into the earth over a wide area, and charge the earth with the power of the Lagiacrus crystals. Once that's done, the Saturnian is released into the dirt to churn the soil. Once the soil reaches a certain consistency, the trap unravels, weaving the net into the earth to hold down anything that falls in."

"Sounds complicated."

"Ain't that the truth. Just be glad you don't have to make them yourself. The old man tried to teach me how once."

"How'd that turn out?" Eleanor asked.

"It didn't," Levin frowned. "I ended up zapping myself with the crystals and spent the rest of the day unconscious and twitching." Eleanor laughed at this, earning a glare from Levin. As her laughter slowly died away, one of the farmers came back from the tilled section of the field to talk to Levin, carrying the wriggling Saturnian between his paws. Levin smirked as Eleanor took a wary step back.

"We've got it back for you, nya," the farmer replied.

"Much obliged," Levin replied with a grin, taking the Saturnian from the farmer and stuffing the squirming creature into the pitfall trap. With a snap, he locked the hatch into place, securing the Saturnian inside. Levin tapped the lid carefully, making sure the lock was secure, before pulling a handful of zenny out of his pocket and tossing it to the farmer. "Here's something for your troubles," he told the excited Felyne.

"Your generosity is appreciated, nya," the farmer said happily. But he raised an eyebrow at Levin. "And I don't need to remind you about what happens if the Saturnian escapes, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, I pay for any losses incurred," Levin replied wearily.

"Just so we understand each other, nya," the farmer said, nodding before turning back to his fields.

Levin turned back to Eleanor, who eyed him in confusion. "That's what you bribe Felynes for?" she asked incredulously. "Saturnians?"

"I don't need to ask them for much else," Levin replied simply. "Saturnians are really useful in our line of work. Just because some people don't like using them doesn't mean they're any less useful, so I put in a request for a captured Saturnian every couple weeks. I occasionally ask them to grow certain plants I find in the forest as well, but it's usually just a matter of asking them to water a pot once every couple days." He looked over at the sun and groaned in displeasure. "Looks like we're getting out of here a little later than I thought we would. Let's head to town square before it gets too late."

"Yeah, okay," Eleanor replied, walking next to him as they walked toward the stairs leading down the hill. As the pair of them hiked down the steps, she sighed in relief. "Jeez, I thought you were asking them to do something ridiculous."

"Asking who?"

"The Felynes," Eleanor responded. "When you told me yesterday that you bribe Felynes to do stuff, I thought it'd be something worse than picking bugs out of the ground."

"Like what?" Levin smirked at her. "What terrible things about me have you been concocting in your mind?"

Eleanor reddened a bit, and Levin laughed. "Shut up! I didn't know what to expect, you talking about how easy it is to bribe Felynes into doing stuff for you!"

"Do I really come off as such a terrible person to you?" Levin chuckled. Eleanor huffed in frustration and turned away from him. "Besides, it's not a bribe. It's a tip. Or a payment for extra service."

"I don't see much of a difference," Eleanor retorted.

"It's not like I'm asking them to go really far out of their way to help me," Levin said. "They just loan me one of their Saturnian for a day, I return it at night. Provided the Saturnian makes it back with me, everyone wins."

Eleanor paused in thought, remembering the last thing the Felyne farmer had mentioned before the two of them had left the farm. "That reminds me," she said, "what happens if you don't manage to return the Saturnian? If it gets lost or escapes, what happens?"

Levin scratched his head in embarrassment before replying. "I, uh, pay them back. They make me pay them what a Saturnian is worth on the market to traders."

Eleanor eyed Levin. "And how much is that?" she asked.

"Uh, well," Levin stammered. "About, I don't know… a thousand zenny?"

Eleanor missed the next step in shock, but caught herself before falling down the entire flight of stairs. She whirled on Levin in alarm. "One _thousand_?"

Levin nodded sheepishly, turning his head in embarrassment. "About."

"Good lord!" Eleanor gasped. "I thought you were supposed to be a skinflint! What the hell are you doing renting out thousand zenny _bugs_?"

"I resent that skinflint remark," Levin said, shaking off his embarrassment. "Besides, I don't have to pay them the fee as long as I return the Saturnian. And the Saturnians are useful enough to risk it."

"You better be right," Eleanor sighed as the two of them reached the bottom of the hill. Suddenly an idea popped into her head and she grinned wickedly, hiding her smile from Levin. "And I'm not going to help you pay for that if it gets lost."

"Oh, come on, I'm not that cruel," Levin groaned, shaking his head in frustration.

"You're not exactly generous, though," Eleanor said accusingly, hiding a grin.

"I'm plenty generous!" Levin protested. "I tip the Felynes, don't I?"

"Bribery doesn't count," Eleanor said.

"It's not bribery, it's…" Levin sputtered, stopping in midsentence. "I can be plenty generous with my money. I'm not afraid to shell out some zenny for someone with no care of what's profitable in it for myself."

"Oh, really?"

"Truly."

"Then you'd be willing to buy me breakfast?" Eleanor asked innocently, while grinning evilly at him.

Levin sputtered in protest for a few moments before stopping and glaring at Eleanor. "You're an evil woman, Ellie."

"I try my best. Now let's go, I'm hungry for Crimson Seabream today."

* * *

"Are you certain you know where you're going?"

Levin groaned in dismay as Ellie asked the question for what seemed like the hundredth time. "Yes I know where we're going," he assured her, as he used his hunter's knife to cleave aside several large branches that blocked off the hunting path they followed. "I've hunted Great Jaggi before. I know where they travel."

They came out of the brush and stepped out onto a rocky overhang that overlooked a rugged field nestled deep in the crevice of a wide canyon. The whole area was surrounded on almost all sides by cliff faces, with thick vines roping down from the giant willow trees that teetered on the edges. Three wide crevices acted as exits to the field, leading to paths that led to other parts of the forest. The field itself was milling with a herd of Aptonoth. Several young Kelbi bounded between the large herbivores as they grazed on the grass, thinned out from an unknown amount of days' worth of feeding. The adult Kelbi acted as guards to the field, keeping watch at the various entrances and pathways that cut through the crevices exiting the area. Levin smirked at the irony. Here they were, looking for a large carnivorous monster, and all they were finding were fields filled with the most harmless creatures in the area.

His tranquility was uprooted rather quickly as he heard Ellie grumble and she approached behind him. She looked down at the valley of herbivores, unmoved by the serenity of the sight. Levin smirked in memory. He had to admit she acted a lot like he did back when he first started off as Marshall's apprentice, always looking for a fight and never really appreciating small things like this.

Ellie frowned in uncertainty. "Haven't we been here before?" she asked. "I feel like we've been to this valley already today. Are you sure we're not going in circles?"

"I'm sure," Levin reassured her. "The last few had creeks going through them, remember? This one's a new one."

Ellie scratched her head in thought. "Oh, right. I guess so. But are we getting any closer to the Great Jaggi?"

"Maybe," Levin replied simply. Ellie shot a cold stare at him, and his raised his hands defensively. "Hey hey, I can't be absolutely sure where the damn thing will travel, and it certainly hasn't left any signs around here of its passing. Besides, we can't even be certain the thing has even left its little hidey-hole yet. Just trust me, if it had been in the area, I'd know."

"How?" Ellie asked abruptly.

Levin grunted and pointed to the grazing animals in the field below. "Well for one, if it had been through here, do you think these grass-grazers here would still be around?"

Ellie frowned in thought and scratched her head. "No I guess not," she replied. "It's just… I want to get some experience fighting a big monster, and most of the day's already gone. Are we even going to find it today?"

Levin knew she was right as he looked up at the sky. It was already mid-afternoon based on the location of the sun. Even though they'd left just after the sun had finished peaking over the horizon, they hadn't gotten a single clue as to a possible location for the Great Jaggi, despite how deep into the forest they'd traveled. Levin knew the Jaggi in general followed pretty much the same hunting path, so he'd set their course to hit all the known hotspots. But there hadn't been any sign of carnivore activity at all; every field had been occupied by herd of herbivores, a sure sign that the area was considered a safe location for grazing.

Levin sighed regretfully. "I hate to say it Ellie, but today might not be our day. If we wait too much longer, it'll be far too late to safely travel home. This area is too rocky to safely travel at night without torches. And if we get ambushed by the Great Jaggi at night of all times, it'll have the definite advantage. Jaggis have far better night visibility than any humans."

Ellie sighed and sat down dejectedly on one of the stones overlooking the field below. Levin felt bad for her. He knew how she felt, wanting to prove herself. But hunting monsters was about more than skill, it required good luck as well. Levin knew Ellie had the skill, but luck seemed to not be on their side today. He sat down next to Ellie and looked down into the valley, trying to find the right words to use to cheer Ellie up. Suddenly a change in movement caught his eye.

Down below, several of the adult Kelbi had perked up, ceasing their defensive march around the field's exits and focusing their attention in a particular direction. From his higher vantage point, Levin followed their gazes. In the distance, he could see several other open areas bubbling open further down the canyon. Over one about two or three miles away, a flock of birds hovered cautiously above the area, some slowly winging their way back down to their nests or other birdly matter of import. With a flurry of motion, a large flock of varying birds took flight, this time from one of the closer fields.

Levin quickly scanned the area around the valley they stood over. He counted three different grazing fields, including the one they were at. He knew the approaching threat was most likely a group of Jaggis, but he couldn't tell yet whether or not the herd would include the Great Jaggi in charge of the lot of them. Not only that, all three valleys were all in the line of the approaching pack, but they each branched off separately, meaning the pack could only choose one. He couldn't be sure which way the pack would go. He looked at Ellie, who still sat sulking on the rock.

_Maybe her luck is better than mine,_ Levin thought.

"Okay, decision time," Levin said, making Ellie look up in surprise. He pointed towards the circling birds on the horizon, making Ellie turn curiously. "There's good news and bad news," he told her. "The good news is, there's definitely a herd of Jaggi heading our way. Judging from the commotion, there a decent chance that the herd also includes a Great Jaggi."

"That's great!" Ellie said excitedly, leaping to her feet. Then she turned in apprehension to Levin. "But what's the bad news?"

"The bad news is there are three possible paths the herd can take on their hunt," Levin told Ellie. "All of them are separated pretty widely. So if we choose a location to prepare for our attack on the Great Jaggi, if it's wrong, we'll miss our shot for today. We only get one chance before we run out of daylight."

Ellie frowned in frustration, cursing under her breath. "What are our options?"

"Well, like I said, we can bunker down in one place, prepare for the Great Jaggi, and hit hard when it shows up. We've got this valley here, one north, and one east. I'm not sure what the terrain of the other two valleys is like though." Levin paused, uncertain about whether to continue. "There's another option, but it's fairly dangerous."

"What?" Ellie asked quietly.

Levin sighed miserably. He hadn't wanted to bring up this other option because the threat level was higher, but both he and Ellie were desperate for a big monster hunt. "The other option is to stay here and wait for the Great Jaggi to move to a certain location. We'd be able to see where it went by watching and listening to the wildlife, then run to catch it and fight it. However, doing so means we won't be able to prepare for its arrival, so we'll be fighting on terrain we're not familiar with and have no time to lay traps. The Great Jaggi will have the advantage in that situation."

Ellie grimaced in thought, looking over the field underneath them, watching as the Kelbi began calling to their young to prepare to move. She muttered to herself as she mulled over the choices.

"The option's yours, Ellie," Levin told her. "You've got just as much a chance for success in picking as I do right now. What do you want to do?"

Ellie stood in uncertain silence for a minute or two before finally turning to Levin with a decisive look in her eyes. "We'll stay in this valley," she said.

Levin raised an eyebrow at her certainty. "You sure?"

"Yes," she replied with confidence. "After all, we know the layout of this valley already. The slope of the field is low, so I can shoot my bowgun without too much worry about trouble of being tripped underfoot. And we're already here, so we'll have the most amount of time to prepare, right?"

"Right."

"And will the pitfall trap work in this field?"

Levin glanced down at the field and frowned. "It'll work alright, but the field is really grassy. Any tilling of the field the field the Saturnian does is going to leave a very obvious mark on the trap. The Great Jaggi isn't very intelligent, but even it might not fall for it."

"Should we risk even putting it up then?" Ellie asked uncertainly.

Levin frowned in thought. "No, it might be worth it. If we get it riled up enough, it might stop paying attention to its surroundings enough for us to lure it in. It's worth a shot at least."

"Then this spot works?" Ellie asked hopefully.

"It'll work," Levin said confidently. He pointed over to the thick willow vines hanging down the edges of the cliffs. "Now let's climb down there. We've got some work to do before big ugly shows up."

* * *

The two of them worked quickly preparing their plan of attack against the Great Jaggi. To begin with, the pair of hunters were forced to repel down the sides of the cliff by using the willow vines hanging over the edge. Eleanor had been mildly against the idea of trusting their lives to the durability of a string of vines, but once Levin made note of how little time they probably had, her enthusiasm for the idea increased.

Once they'd dropped to the valley, the field itself, the two of them truly set to work. The Aptonoths seemed to ignore them completely when they walked through the herd. The Kelbi were wary, and tended to prance away if either of them got too close, but none of them seemed too worried about the presence of the hunters. The adult Kelbi seemed to be much more concerned with the possibility of an approaching threat. Levin sent Eleanor off with the pitfall trap, giving her instructions on how to open it and where to place it. Levin himself set out to keep watch over the entrance into the field they were preparing, shooing away Kelbi standing watch in order to find a good vantage point to get a good view through the crevice. Eleanor moved quickly, hurrying over to one of the exits that Levin claimed was the closest to the Jaggi nest deep in the forest.

Levin's plan was that they would lure the Great Jaggi into the trap as soon as possible, in order to deal as much damage as they could right off the bat. Should the Great Jaggi manage to free itself from the trap before they could fatally wound it, it would most likely attack them in retaliation. However, once it was weakened to the point where it would try to attempt a retreat, its best exit would be blocked forcing it to fight so long as Eleanor and Levin kept their positions guarding the other exits.

Following Levin's instructions, Eleanor found a soft spot of earth near the middle of the path leading out of the fielded area. With a grunt of effort, she forced the conical trap into the dirt, wedging it in as deep as she could. Once she'd pushed the trap deep enough to satisfy herself, she replicated Levin's instructions to activate the trap, twisting the upper third of the cone counterclockwise. With a click, the Laciacrus crystals snapped into place.

Eleanor jumped back quickly as the energy emitted by the crystals powered up the small trap and the internal mechanisms made the cone unfold. With a high pitched hiss, the small rods holding the crystals extended into the air a few feet above Eleanor's head, and with a soft thump, came down simultaneously and wedged themselves into the soil, lighting up as they sent their charge into the earth. With the rods emitting their charges, the latch to the Saturnian's confines snapped open and the small white creature leapt from its captivity and immediately sunk into the earth, greedily attempting its escape.

Eleanor watched, still perplexed at the Saturnian's abilities, as the earth shifted and churned, and seemed to melt away. With a sound like a sigh, the soil collapsed into a mushy state, barely different from the surrounding soil if you neglected the darkened soil and uprooted grass. Lastly, with a hiss, the cone fragmented apart across its seams unraveling a wide net across the viscous soil, thin rods from within pulling the whole thing under. A spider web-like mark on the ground was the only sign that the net was even there.

Curious about the consistency of the soil, Eleanor tossed a small rock into the area, whistling in awe as it dropped below the surface as easily as if it had fallen into water. Well, perhaps not _that_ easily, but still it sank much faster than Eleanor expected. Eleanor had to admit the Saturnian certainly was worth the effort to capture and bring with them, and even felt a sliver of pity for the thing as she watched it break the surface occasionally, looking for a way out of its captivity.

Her admiration of the Saturnian was cut short when Levin called out to her, telling her to get a feel for the field they'd be fighting in. She'd been given this order before in the last few weeks, given the task of determining the layout of their arena so she'd know when and where all obstacles were, even if they were behind her or just out of her line of vision.

Looking around, she could see the field was very simple. No big changes in elevation, the field was mostly flat save the small inclines leading through the crevices out of the area. Walking across it, the terrain was solid, no excess moisture or small rocks to slip her up. There were several large boulders jutting from the ground in the southwest corner of the area, which could be used for cover if needed. And there were only three exits, two of them close together on the northern end of the field and the last, where Levin stood guard all by itself on the west side.

Satisfied she knew what was necessary to make use of the field, she hurried over to Levin to check up on the location of the Great Jaggi. Kelbi irately danced out of her way as she ran by and a few Aptonoth grunted at her.

"Is it coming this way?" she asked hopefully as she approached.

"Can't be certain," Levin replied, gazing down the pathway. "It's not moving from its location yet, so it must have caught something, but if you listen, you can hear quite a bit of noise still."

Eleanor perked her ears to the wind, and the faint but definite call of Jaggis echoes down the crevice. "What does that mean?" she asked.

"It means that not everyone is eating," Levin explained. "Now, Jaggi are many things, including irritating, but they do tend to their own. They won't return to their nest until all of them have eaten, and that means that whatever they caught, once it's done they'll be on their way to the next hunting ground."

"So they'll be here soon?"

"Here or one of the other two fields in their path," Levin corrected her. "Now, before we do this, let's make sure we know what's going to happen during this fight…"

"You go all out and I provide support, right?" Eleanor said irately. "That's how we always do it."

Levin grinned. "Not this time, Ellie. This time, I'll just be keeping its attention. My sword's tough enough to fend most of its attacks, so I'll just be defending, but it'll be up to you to hit it hard. If it starts looking at you ugly, though, I'll hit it a few times to keep its focus on me. But this is your show this time. Think you can handle it?"

"Easily," Eleanor replied with a grin.

"Good to hear," Levin said. "Don't get overconfident though. One mistake and this big boy will send you flying across the field. The only other issue is to thin out the Jaggis that'll be traveling in the Great Jaggi's hunting party. We'll get ourselves a couple hiding spots, and once the big boy shows up to chew on the herbivores in this field, we'll use the distraction to pick off his little helpers. Once he's only got two or three left we can focus on the man himself, got it?"

"Got it."

A high pitched roar echoed down the crevice. The herbivores in the field began getting restless, uncertain what to do. The herd of Kelbis evidently decided it was best to move on, however, and the whole of the herd took off down the northern path unblocked by the trap. The Aptonoths stayed, still chewing nervously on the grass in hopes the hunting party wouldn't come their way.

"That's our signal to get ready," Levin said nervously. He glanced at Eleanor, studying her face to determine her mood. "You ready?"

Eleanor could feel the nervousness mounting in her belly, but forced in down and nodded.

"Then let's go," Levin said. "Let's grab a spot behind those boulders and let's see whether big boy chooses door number one."

The two of them hid quickly as the honks and barks of the Jaggi hunting party echoed down the crevice. They stood in silence behind the rocks, waiting as the sounds continued, seeming to grow neither softer nor louder. Eleanor began to fidget, growing impatient. She sighed in frustration, earning a weary shrug from Levin, who seemed to be getting irritated as well. He seemed better at holding it in, though.

Suddenly, the eldest Aptonoth in the herd reared up on its hind legs, raising it head up to a height of perhaps thirty feet as best Eleanor could tell, with its gaze intently on the crevice in the direction of the hunting party's last kill. With a honk of dismay, the large creature dropped back to all fours, the reverberation of the impact nearly knocking Eleanor off her feet. The creature released a loud honk of warning to its brethren, calling them together to move out.

Levin turned excitedly to Eleanor. "Good news," he said simply, and Eleanor grinned in fierce determination. She could tell what the Aptonoth were panicking about without him telling her.

The Great Jaggi was coming their way.

Already, she could feel a small rumble beneath her feet of a large creature approaching. It wasn't as powerful as she thought it would be, but Levin and Marshall had told her it wasn't a very big or strong creature. But still, it must be quite large to shake the earth. The yips of the Jaggi hunters grew closer as well, echoing loudly out of the crevice and around the field. The Aptonoth were still circling up, preparing to leave, many of them not quick enough to gather on the first call.

With a rush, a swarm of over a dozen Jaggis burst out of the crevice, grouping together at the entrance of the field, honking at the terrified herd of Aptonoth. And then their leader came through the path, the Great Jaggi. Easily five times bigger than a regular Jaggi and several feet taller than her, Eleanor could easily tell how the monster had gained supremacy in the pack. Its frill fluttered as the creature howled, ordering his pack to attack.

Immediately the whole pack, with its leader in the center, lurched forward towards a medium-sized Aptonoth that was lagging behind, still a good fifteen yards from the circle of the herd. Several Jaggis danced between the stray and its herd, forcing it to a halt. With a panicked cry, the elder Aptonoth gave the order to run, leading the herd away and out of the field, leaving the slow Aptonoth to its fate. Several of the remaining Jaggis attempted to pull more of the herd away from the cluster, but the creatures remained defensive and the herd funneled out of the field, escaping to safer grounds.

Left to fend for itself, the lone remaining Aptonoth backed away fearfully from the encroaching pack. The Jaggis circled ecstatically at the prospect of their kill, and the Great Jaggi approached the prey slowly, allowing his followers to wear it down.

"Get ready now," Levin told Eleanor, patting her shoulder and snapping her out of her reverie. She realized she'd been shaking in… fear? Uncertainty? Anticipation? She couldn't tell why, but at Levin's touch she jerked back to reality and nodded quickly in reply. Levin studied her for a moment to be sure she was ready then nodded back in acceptance. He motioned over to the path where the Jaggi pack had come from, behind and to the right of the pack. "Head over that way and begin firing on my mark. I'll come at them from the other side."

Eleanor did as she was instructed and quietly worked her way along the edge of the field, constantly glancing over to the Jaggi pack to make sure she wouldn't be spotted. She needn't have worried though; the pack had its entire focus on the weakening Aptonoth they had pinned in a corner. Nearing the crevice, she wedged herself behind an outcrop of rock and watched the hunt of the pack unfold as she waited for Levin to move in.

The Aptonoth was nearing its breaking point, with the pack of Jaggis nipping at it and occasionally going in for an attack. The Great Jaggi stood patiently, waiting for the right moment to attack. Finally, with a frustrated honk, the Aptonoth twisted itself to swat away one of the Jaggis with its tail, sending the small creature flailing back. This was apparently the opportunity the Great Jaggi was waiting for, because it burst forward at that moment, twisting its body sideways and lunging at the Aptonoth. With a loud _smack_, the large carnivore collided with the broadside of the Aptonoth, sending the creature to its side on the ground with a heavy _thud_.

Eleanor caught a flash of motion. Levin had appeared from his hiding spot, sword at the ready, and was motioning toward the pack. Eleanor understood: with the pack totally focused on the kill, they'd be so ingrained they wouldn't notice the loss of their comrades. She swung around her bowgun and loaded it with level 2 Normal Shots, then aimed down her sights at the Jaggi that was in the back of the pack. As Levin closed in, he wrenched his sword free of its sling and brought it down on the nearest Jaggi. With that, Eleanor fired.

With a pop, the shot struck the unsuspecting Jaggi in the back of the head, dropping it to the ground with little to no sound. Levin's target found its long neck and head detached from its body rather unceremoniously, and fell as well. Eleanor glanced cautiously at the rest of the pack, but as they suspected, the thrill of the kill was too much excitement for them to notice anything else. With a feeling of satisfaction, Eleanor chose her next target and fired, dropping it as well.

The assault of the two hunters on the pack continued as the Great Jaggi sunk its teeth into the Aptonoth, shredding the struggling beast's flesh and bones. With a shake of the carnivore's head, the herbivore's neck snapped, and the large beast ceased its struggles, large limbs becoming limp and dropping motionless to the ground. The Great Jaggi shook its prey once more to be certain it was no more, then released the corpse from its mouth. It turned triumphantly to its pack to announce their victory.

Eleanor nearly laughed at the look of confusion on its face as Levin yelled, "Showtime!"

The Great Jaggi howled in fury, and the rest of the pack turned in stupefaction, giving Eleanor and Levin a little more time to drop two more of the tagalongs, reducing the number of remaining Jaggis to six. But Eleanor felt a shiver shoot down her spine as the Great Jaggi's bright red eyes pierced into her, his rage and thirst for vengeance obvious. Her courage fell apart as the large creature barked in rage at her. Flashes of memories of the Rathalos maw shot into her head at the sight of the Great Jaggi's wide mouth and sharp teeth, frill fluttering threateningly. She nearly fell over backwards as the leader of the pack took a step forward, preparing to charge at her.

But from the Great Jaggi's right came the swing of Levin's great sword, blunt end hitting the large creature square in the leg. "Wrong target, asshole!" Levin cried as the Great Jaggi stumbled. "I'm the one you want, big guy!"

The pack leader lost its footing momentarily with his leg buckled under by Levin's blade, head and body bobbing wildly at the sudden assault and loss of balance. But it recovered quickly, baring its fangs at the new and closet threat. With a bark, it called its comrades to his defense, preparing to attack.

"Now's your chance, Ellie!" Levin called, twisting his sword into a defensive stance against the oncoming Jaggis. "Hit it hard!"

Eleanor snapped out of her trance, mentally berating herself for losing focus, and loaded her bowgun with Pierce Shot. She brought the bowgun up to bear as the Great Jaggi lunged at Levin and was deflected by the thick blade. The image of the shot's path aligned itself in Eleanor's vision, zeroing in on the pack leader's center of mass, and Eleanor fired the shots off in quick succession. She watched as the long-chambered bullets opened up to reveal long thin blades that spiraled through the air until impact. The bladed shots tore into the Great Jaggi's flesh just over the legs, imbedding themselves deep in its skin and making the creature cry out in pain.

It turned its focus back to Eleanor, but Levin brought its attention back to himself with a quick thrust of his weapon that tore into the beast's other leg. Levin dodged away as the Great Jaggi attempted to bring his teeth down on him, rolling over to the pitfall trap that had so far gone unnoticed by the pack.

Eleanor continued her assault, switching over to Pellet shots and firing several rounds in quick bursts into the creatures flank. Once again, the creature turned his attention to her, and once again, Levin pulled its attention back to him, drawing the large beast ever closer to the trap. However, the Great Jaggi appeared to grow irritated, and barked an order to his pack. Immediately, four of the remaining Jaggis branched off from Levin and began circling their way over to Eleanor, allowing the Great Jaggi to focus the whole of its attention on Levin.

Eleanor cursed and rolled to her right as one of the Jaggis charged and jumped at her. She brought her bowgun around to shoot, but found another one following up in an attempt at her throat. On instinct, she brought the butt of her bowgun up and struck the Jaggi across the face, sending it sprawling and giving her time to aim down and pull the trigger. The bowgun bucked in recoil and Pellet shot tore through the Jaggis leg.

The small carnivore cried out in pain as one of the remaining Jaggis charged Eleanor from the right. She twisted towards it, but the small creature danced around her, staying out of her path of fire and jumping in for a strike. She sidestepped the attack, but tripped over the body of the dying Jaggi on the ground and fell on her back. Two of the Jaggi leapt at her triumphantly from the front, but she brought her bowgun up and fired. The shrapnel of the Pellet shot tore through the neck of one and cut up the chest of the other, causing it to cry out as its pack mate dropped.

Eleanor rolled away from the corpse and leapt to her feet as the wounded Jaggi charged wildly. However, its wound was making it weave wildly, unstable from blood loss. Eleanor sighed in pity and pulled out her hunter's knife as the creature wobbled toward her, sinking the blade into the creatures back as it bit at her blindly. The creature dropped to the ground dead, leaving one last Jaggi. The creature looked at its comrades nervously before deciding to circle around Eleanor carefully, hissing at her.

However, Eleanor lifted up her bowgun and aimed at it. "Sorry," she said to the Jaggi, knowing it couldn't understand. "I guess you guys are used to Levin and Marshall. But my weapon's a little different than theirs are." She pulled the trigger and the unsuspecting Jaggi dropped as shrapnel tore through its chest.

She turned quickly as the Jaggi dropped, returning her focus to Levin. The Great Jaggi had apparently been led successfully closer to the trap, but Levin was looking winded from staying on the defensive the whole time. Eleanor quickly swapped out the Pellet shot for more Pierce rounds and aimed, pulling the trigger. The rounds slammed into the Great Jaggi's lower neck, just above its arms, making it cry out in surprise and pain. It glanced over in rage at Eleanor, angry and shocked that she'd taken out the members of his pack.

However, by removing his attention from Levin, the great sword user had plenty of time to pull back his blade and slap the Great Jaggi across the face with the flat end of his weapon. The Great Jaggi went sprawling across the ground at the impact, howling in rage at the assault. Seeing the pack leader was completely enraged at him, Levin quickly rolled away from one of the Jaggi's attacks and placed himself immediately between the rising Great Jaggi and the pitfall trap.

Eleanor used the opportunity to reload her bowgun with more Cluster shots and close the distance between her and the remaining members of the pack. With a squeeze of the trigger, the three rounds flew out of the chamber and tore into the Great Jaggi's flank, splattering bright blood on the ground. However, the fury of the beast was unperturbed, and with the full force of its weight, it twisted to its side and flung the whole of its body at Levin. Eleanor called out to Levin in worry, since his vision was mostly blocked by his sword in its defensive position.

However, it seemed Levin knew what was coming as he braced himself and threw his body to the side as the Great Jaggi flew past him. The pack leader stomped down his foot, attempting to turn around and attack again. However, the inertia of his attack carried him over the pitfall trap, dropping him feet-first into several feet of liquefied soil.

"Now Ellie!" Levin called, pulling a potion out of his pack to heal himself with. "Hit him hard!"

"Got it!" Eleanor replied, and loaded more Pierce shots into her weapon as the Great Jaggi realized what had happened to him. The two remaining Jaggis in the pack hurried over to him, but danced around the edges, uncertain how to help their struggling leader. Eleanor unloaded her rounds, shots embedding themselves in the Great Jaggi's flesh on its back and neck.

The Great Jaggi barked an order to the Jaggis, and the two quickly turned to Eleanor as she reloaded, preparing to attack. But Levin dashed between them and her, catching them by surprise. He heaved his great sword behind him and brought it around in a wide swing, catching both of the remaining Jaggis. The blade tore through the neck of the first Jaggi, beheading it, but only partially cut through the second and sent it skidding across the field.

Eleanor continued her assault on the Great Jaggi as it struggled through the pitfall trap, switching between Pierce shot and Pellet shot, depending on how much of a clear shot she had on the Great Jaggi's body. All the while, the creature wrenched its way ever closer to the edge of the trap. Finally, the beast found a foothold underneath all the muck of the trap and began working its way up and out.

"Ellie! Finish it!" Levin called, moving into the Great Jaggi's path to block its path. The creature slammed its head into Levin's guarding sword with an enraged bark, knocking the hunter back.

Eleanor quickly popped out the remaining Cluster shots in her bowgun and loaded a Crag shot in. She quickly lined up the sights just as the Great Jaggi turned his head towards her and turned to attack. She squeezed the trigger and let fly. However, the Great Jaggi managed to duck aside, avoiding taking the shot to the head or neck; however, it was unable to dodge the shot completely, and the explosive round lodged itself it the beast's back, just behind his arms. The Great Jaggi roared in irritation at the round piercing his hide.

Then the shell erupted. With a burst of flame and heat the round detonated in the beast side. The Great Jaggi howled in agony as the muscles and bone of his side were laid bare for a moment before blood gushed from the wound onto the ground.

Eleanor grinned in victory, but froze when Levin called out in warning. Its death imminent, the beast charged blindly at Eleanor. She scrambled to load another cartridge of Crag shot into her bowgun, and managed to load the shell into the chamber, but the beast was on her before she could cock the shot into place. Eleanor ducked quickly, rolling to the side as the creature's maw snapped at her. She jumped to her feet, reaching for the handle to load the shell, when the beast twisted its body entirely around, jaws brought down at her waist.

Eleanor twisted to the best of her abilities to escape the bite. Perhaps it was her speed that saved her, or maybe blood loss had made the beast dizzy and unable to accurately attack, but Eleanor sighed inwardly in relief as the jaws of the Great Jaggi slid past her without connecting.

But suddenly her world was jerked around and she found herself flailing around next to the Great Jaggi's head, dragged along the ground. Panic began to set in and she swung around desperately, trying to determine what was happening. The Great Jaggi shook its head wildly, and Eleanor felt each fierce tug. She looked down at her waist and realized the problem: the Great Jaggi's teeth had missed her waist but had become lodged in her belt buckle. The beast head dragged near the ground alongside her, unaccustomed to the awkward weight on its head as it swung and bucked in an attempt to dislodge her.

Eleanor reached back to her hunter's knife, desperate to cut herself free of the Great Jaggi. But suddenly a flash of light and searing pain tore through her skull as her head collided with a rock on the ground, making her drop the hunter's knife. She watch hopelessly as it clattered away, and flailed her arms, trying to loosen the strap.

"Let go off her, asshole!" Levin appeared out of nowhere, great sword a swinging, and the edge of the blade tore along the creature's leg. The creature howled in rage, but with a snap of his arms, the blunt of the sword cracked against the monster's skull, stunning it. The shock held the creature still for a moment allowing Levin to pull out his own hunter's knife. With a quick cut, Eleanor dropped to the ground, and quickly crawled away fearfully from the Great Jaggi.

She looked back in time to see Levin bring his great sword over his back, preparing to strike the stunned Great Jaggi with an overhead blow. Eleanor watched, shocked, as the sword seemed to glow a deep red that seemed to grow brighter as Levin gathered his strength. Eleanor cringed, however, when she caught sight of Levin's eyes. Instead of their usual kind, bemused look, they seemed to glow with cold, unparalleled rage and hate.

With a roar of rage, the red light seemed to erupt as Levin brought the sword over his back and swung it down. But the Great Jaggi had seemed to come to its senses, and bobbed away. It didn't escape entirely though, the point of Levin's great sword cutting through the beast's neck, splattering a line of blood on the ground. The Great Jaggi seemed too close to death to notice, though, and with a powerful lunge, the creature caught Levin full on and sent the hunter sprawling across the field, his great sword clattering away.

Delirious and half-dead from the battle, the Great Jaggi charged Levin blindly. Eleanor panicked as Levin lay stunned on the ground from the hit, and quickly brought up her bowgun. She cocked the shell and lined up her sights as the Great Jaggi bore down on Levin. Her hands shook out of fear and uncertainty, but she squeezed the trigger.

The shell flew through the air and wedged itself in the creature's neck, right inside the gaping wound left by Levin's blade. The impact made the Great Jaggi stumble, and it twisted in confusion, trying to determine the location of the attack that hit it when the Crag shot detonated.

The blast completely fragmented the creature's neck, separating the head completely from the body and burning up the muscle in the surrounding area. The head dropped lifelessly to the ground and rolled a few feet before stopping. The body stood motionless for a moment, muscles twitching erratically here and there, before it tipped over as well, shaking the ground with a thud when it hit the dirt.

Levin finally snapped back into focus and lifted himself up, observing the carnage before him. The two of them sat in silence for a long minute, unsure what to say. Suddenly, Levin barked in laughter, jolting Eleanor out of her daze. Eleanor sat staring at Levin in confusion, before the relief and sense of victory bloomed inside of her, and she found herself laughing as well.

The two continued to laugh for several minutes, finally letting the chuckles die away into relieved silence. Levin pointed at Eleanor's hands. "You can put that away now, you know." She realized she was still tightly clutching the trigger of her bowgun, and released it sheepishly with a grin, slinging it back over her back. "Nice shooting, by the way," he said.

"Thanks," she replied. "Nice… sword swinging I guess. I don't know how to say it."

"Close enough."

A thought popped into Eleanor's head. "What was that thing you did back there? That glowing thing?"

Levin frowned. "Oh that? It's a… I don't know how to describe it. Sort of a release of energy from the weapon. It puts extra weight into the blade when you bring it down. I guess it's hard to explain properly. I'll tell you about it some other time."

"Not now?"

"We have other things to do," Levin said with a grin. "I need to collect the Saturnian and tally the kills. And you? You need to carve your kill." He pointed over to the headless body of the Great Jaggi.

All at once, realization seemed to set in on Eleanor as she gazed at the corpse of the Great Jaggi. "My kill," she whispered.

"That's right," Levin said. "Step one in becoming a great hunter complete."

Waves of emotion surged through Eleanor. So many different emotions. Pride, satisfaction, relief, joy. She'd finally done it, killed a big monster. She hadn't done it herself, but still. It was like Levin said; she was on the right path to becoming great.

A great hunter.

A new emotion surged forward, overpowering the rest of them. She felt stronger with this emotion. Better.

Determination.

She'd become a great hunter for sure. She'd kill these monsters that threatened people. She'd kill them by the dozens, hundreds even. She'd make sure people knew who she was, that she was a powerful and unstoppable force, that she was the undisputed best. Completely fearless of the beasts. She'd killed one big monster; she'd kill the rest too.

"My kill."

* * *

Levin frowned uncertainly as Ellie gazed at the Great Jaggi corpse. She had an unusual look in her eye, not one he'd expected. Elation he'd expected, or relief. But this was a different look, something more basic and primal.

Hate? Sort of. But this seemed more frightening than hate.

Greed? Close, but not quite. Too passionate. Then it clicked with him.

Bloodlust. Levin shivered in fear. Ellie had killed a creature and enjoyed it, or found herself a reason to pursue a path of death and destruction. For some reason, she found joy in killing the Great Jaggi and the feeling would no doubt spread, filling her mind with the urge to kill.

This needed to be fixed. Levin knew he wouldn't be able to reach her by himself. He wasn't certain of what she'd gone through to make her so hateful of monsters, but he was sure it wouldn't be fixed so easily with a sit-down to talk it out with her. He and Marshall knew of a method that might work, but the event was still a couple months away.

He'd need to be careful about how he dealt with Ellie until the right time came. They'd certainly have to avoid large monsters as often as they could. Too much of a boost in ego could result in Ellie getting stuck in an overconfident state, unable to return to a calm attitude towards hunting. Marshall had told him about hunters gone over the edge before, believing all monsters were meant to be hunted. At best, they'd end up in a prison for poaching. He couldn't allow that to happen to Ellie. She could still be saved, he was sure of it.

Levin sighed in frustration and turned away as Ellie tore her knife into the Great Jaggi corpse, and walked over to the pitfall trap, where the Saturnian still was occasionally breaking the surface, trying to escape. He'd need to talk to Marshall as soon as he could, and prepare for the worst.

* * *

**Author's Note: Please Review!**

**Okay, I didn't get quite as much of this chapter done during finals week as I hoped to, but I did get good grades, so that's a good trade off IMO. Next chapter probably will be up after Christmas, but before New Years. No promises though. I'm expecting at least two new video games for the holidays, and I expect those will sap my time fairly effectively. **

**I looked at the Monster Hunter story archive recently and realized I'm already in the top ten for length. What the hell. I've still got _at least_ 30 or so chapters planned for this story. I'm not even going to estimate the word count for how long this will be when it's finally done. If I can make it to the chapter when I introduce certain characters, I know the story will go all the way to the end. There are some scenes and characters I have in my head that I just can't wait to write! I want to get there! But I have to make the story good until I get to that point, so bear with me.**

**For those of you who celebrate it, Merry Christmas! Happy holidays for the rest of you! (I don't want to rattle off the rest of them. I'm too lazy and probably won't get them all. Apologies.)**


	7. Birds of Prey

Birds of Prey

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. All the characters in this story are mine._

Eleanor crouched impatiently in the dense foliage, bowgun at the ready. She peered through the thick branches and leaves, waiting. Cracks and smashes bounced and echoes through the trees, signaling the eminent approach of her target. The loud howl of the wounded creature pierced the relative silence of the forest, giving testament to the damage she'd inflicted on the beast to the whole of the forest.

No less than ten feet in front of her was a wide migration path. On both sides was thick and damp forest, totally obscuring any vision in either direction to any creature on the path itself. This was the reason, no doubt, that Levin had chosen this particular place to wait as their wounded prey crashed through the trees, panicking at the hunters it couldn't see, that had been hounding it and ambushing it the whole day.

The knowledge that the creature still lived made Eleanor flare up in anger. She shot an icy glare at Levin, who crouched quietly next to her. He had apparently been looking her way; he winced and shrank back at the needled look, turning away to return his focus to the migration path. She had noticed he had been doing that a lot over the last couple weeks; always looking at her, observing her actions, judging her. He was searching for something in her, she felt. But what?

She'd confronted him about it once, but he'd waved it off, claiming it was his duty as a teacher to find any faults or rough edges in her abilities and help her buff it out. But he'd never brought forward any issues he had with her skill, so there must have been something else. She'd momentarily allowed herself a sliver of ego once and imagined he was looking at her out of attraction, but she shot that idea down quickly. His eyes held worry in them, or occasionally fear, sometimes disdain. What did he see in her that was bothering him so much? What was it that was dominating his mind so much that it was going so far as to damage his performance in the wilds?

The thought made her anger flare up again. It was his fault the Great Jaggi was still alive! He'd planned out their attacks perfectly each time, of this there was no doubt. But it seemed that whenever an opportunity to lay down the killing blow had come up, somehow, someway, Levin had found his way into the line of fire. Or if it wasn't that, it was him not keeping guard of his designated spot, and allowing the Great Jaggi to escape. And it seemed like it was always when she had the perfect shot to put the damn thing down, too!

She couldn't fault his tactical abilities any, that was certain; he could still map out a plan of attack with skill that still stunned her. However, over the last few hunts, her roles seemed to be becoming increasingly minimal, with Levin taking the lead each time, despite their enemies being Great Jaggis every time, the alleged "weakest big monster out there." At first she thought he was being cautious, after that first Great Jaggi hunt had nearly landed her with critical injuries. She'd actually thought it was kind of nice, though overprotective of him, to put so much effort into keeping her safe from harm. But after seven (eight including this one) battles against the damn things, couldn't he afford to trust her a little bit and let her do her work as a bowgunner?

But today would be different. She had taken down enough Great Jaggis on her own to get a feel to how the creatures worked. They all had similar methods of attack and defend, the same general timing when it came to their charges. She had seen enough of them in a critical state that she could vaguely predict how this whole fight would end. And this time, she'd be the one to land the final hit again.

As it should be.

She tensed as the sounds grew louder, the wrenching sounds of bushes uprooted and tree limbs torn off echoing across the forest. The excited and terrified yips of the Great Jaggi's hunting party became audible over the din as the pack drew closer, their fear and worry over their leader and (more importantly) themselves apparent. The howl of their leader reverberated across the forest, overpowering the weak yips and barks of the smaller members of the pack.

Eleanor saw Levin tense and adjust his stance, leaning forward to allow himself a burst of speed. He glanced over at Eleanor and motioned to the other side of the migration path. But she didn't need his prodding. She could tell already that the creature was close.

The sounds grew sharper, and Eleanor cocked her bowgun. The Great Jaggi couldn't be more than one hundred yards off. She could almost hear the pack leader's panting and wheezing over the sounds of the Jaggis' yipping. She pulled her bowgun up and aimed down the sights, allowing the image of the trajectory to come together in her mind. The bowgun swayed as she aimed it back and forth along the tree line, guessing. Where would the Great Jaggi pop out?

A flash of movement from behind the trees, and her sights snapped to its location, instinct and habit making the bowgun move as though it had a life of its own, unconscious of its user's will. The muscles in her fingers twitched as a rugged shadow of a shape appeared underneath the canopy, and the bowgun's muzzle flashed as the projectile tore out of the barrel. The Great Jaggi burst through the wall of trees, the last three remaining members of its pack tailing close behind.

Its mind barely had time to register as the round, still airborne, flew out of Eleanor's side of the path. With a burst of heat, the round connected with one of the trailing Jaggi's legs. The shot, filled with a highly combustible material and a phosphorus coating, blossomed into flame on the Jaggi's leg, even as the metal canister tore through the flesh of the creature. The Jaggi shrieked in pain as the fire spread across its body and up its back. The Great Jaggi and remaining Jaggis turned in shock at their comrade's injury.

Eleanor swore under her breath as Levin lurched forward, rushing out into the sunlight at the distracted Great Jaggi. She quickly slid another Flaming shot cartridge into her bowgun, cursing her luck. She'd fired at the first thing she'd seen through the shadows of the trees, hoping it to be the Great Jaggi itself, but had hit one of the lackeys instead. She adjusted her aim as the bolt latched into place and fired again as the Great Jaggi turned back, in search of the source of the shot.

The second shot struck true, connecting with the rear of the pack leader's jaw. The shell burst just like the first one, flames pluming from the wound. The Great Jaggi screeched in terror as the burning flames began to catch on his frill, creating a wide fan of fire along the side of his face.

By this time, Levin was nearly on top of the pack leader. With a twist of his body, his great sword flew from its sheath and arced widely, grazing the ground and kicking up a circular cloud of dust. With a roar of effort, Levin twisted the blade from its horizontal path and brought it upwards into a diagonal path. With a sickening crunch, the blade connected with the Great Jaggi's mouth, smashing the creature's jaw to splinters. The creature gurgled and squealed in fear as its broken jaw dangled, twisted and smashed, tongue hanging loosely.

Eleanor laughed victoriously as she loaded a higher power Pierce shot into the chamber, and could nearly sense Levin's growl of frustration from her location. The cut had been too slow, too rough to cleave the Great Jaggi's skull like Levin no doubt intended it to. And with Levin's recovery time with his great sword being what it was with its size, she had plenty of time to finish the fight herself. She leapt forward, clearing the tree line, and brought her sights up, line of fire unblocked by branches or leaves.

The bowgun bucked as the Pierce shot rocketed towards the dying Great Jaggi's head. But with massive effort, the pack leader stretched itself to its full height, attempting to howl out a garbled call for help. Eleanor swore loudly as the shot tore into the Great Jaggi's arm, wounding it further but not killing it. However, the hit staggered the swaying, burning creature, and it tilted over onto its side. A Jaggi danced out of the way, avoiding getting crushed.

Eleanor's hands flew to her ammunition pouch, attempting to load another shot, but Levin had recovered already. Sword hefted behind him, he grunted in effort and swung it up and over his head. With and quick _thunk_, the heavy great sword, aided by gravity and the strength of Levin, cleanly beheading the suffering Great Jaggi, killing it instantly.

Levin pulled up his sword quickly, as the two remaining Jaggi squawked between each other over their fallen leader, uncertain whether to fight or flee. Eleanor growled, angry over losing the killing blow, and pulled the trigger twice, deciding for them. Two smaller-caliber pierce rounds tore into them, dropping them dead next to the last Jaggi. Eleanor glanced down at it, and found it dead from its burn wounds.

The two stood in silence for a moment, Levin catching his breath. Finally, he relaxed, hefting his sword back over his shoulder and re-slung his weapon over his back. Eleanor continued to hold her bowgun, looking down at the carcass of the dead Great Jaggi. Resentment swelled up inside of her at the sight of the decapitated creature.

"Damn it!" she screamed, painfully tempted to throw her precious bowgun to the ground in rage. Levin pulled back in shock at her outburst. Fuming, she slung her bowgun over her back, staving off any future desires she might have to reduce her weapon to splinters.

Levin stood cautiously back as Eleanor strode over to the Great Jaggi's head. She leaned down next to the creature's lifeless skull and lifted it up, studying its injuries. With a growl, she stood up, took a step forward, and with a swift kick, booted the head up and over the tree line, into the dense foliage.

"That seemed unnecessary," Levin said quietly.

Eleanor turned on him, anger in her eyes. Levin didn't wince back this time, steeling himself against her anger. "More necessary than you think," she growled. "It was either his skull or yours."

"Have I done something to upset you?" Levin asked, blatantly feigning ignorance while meeting her glare with unrepentant eyes.

"Of course you have!" Eleanor shouted, her rage returning in full force. "This is the eighth Great Jaggi I've fought so far in my time in Boma! _Eighth_! And I've only been able to finish off three of them!"

"The goal of the first Great Jaggi was to prove whether or not you had the ability to deal enough damage to kill one," Levin replied. "The ones after that are meant to teach you the value of working together as a team in order to bring down monsters efficiently…"

"Bullshit!" Eleanor spat, cutting Levin off. "Each time after the first one, you've been intentionally getting in my way! You've been dragging out the fights each time, trying to keep me from getting the last hit in! You've made us spend twice as long in each fight than was necessary!"

Levin groaned in frustration. "I'm trying to teach you something here, Ellie."

"Liar," Eleanor growled. "And don't call me Ellie."

"Will you just listen?" Levin yelled at her. Eleanor scoffed at him, but made no motion to say anything. With a sigh, he continued, with a quieter voice. "Fine. Yes, I've been intentionally getting in your way."

"Why you…"

"BUT, I had a reason to," Levin snapped.

"What is it?" Eleanor huffed. "What's so damn important you need to make us waste our time when we could be killing monsters more efficiently?"

"It's your goddamn attitude!" Levin yelled. "You're throwing yourself into a mindset that'll get either you or both of us killed."

Eleanor was taken aback by the accusation, and her anger faltered. But her anger flared up again momentarily. "What the hell are you talking about?" she yelled back at Levin. "Besides that first fight, I've never been injured during a Great Jaggi hunt. Maybe bumped or bruised, but never anything a day of rest wouldn't cure. What the hell makes you think I'm getting into a reckless mindset like that? I'm not going to get myself torn up like you and that damn scar of yours…"

At her words, something inside Levin seemed to unhinge itself, his eyes flaring up and smoldering with borderline murderous intent. Eleanor had to force herself to keep from shrinking back in fear from the terrible rage in Levin's eyes. With a flicker of recognition, she remembered a similar feeling of dread before, during her first Great Jaggi hunt. Levin had shown the same measure of hatred in that fight, when he'd attempted to cleave the Great Jaggi in two. In her joy at her defeat of the Great Jaggi, she'd forgotten about this different, more terrifying outlook of Levin.

She felt her knees shaking in fear under Levin's cold glare. She saw Levin's hand twitch slightly, and for a moment, she wondered if he was seriously contemplating whether or not to cut her down out here in the forest. As she thought about it, she realized he could do it, and no one would know the wiser what had happened to her… She shuddered, and felt her legs giving way underneath her.

But then Levin's eyes glazed over for a moment, and he held his head down for a moment, as though fighting back a headache. When he looked up again, the anger and hate was gone from his eyes, leaving only the tired, worried look he'd had on his face since the first Great Jaggi battle.

"I… I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I almost lost my temper for a moment there."

Eleanor stood motionless, still in fear of Levin's sudden surge of rage. She forced her heart to slow its maddening pace, and calmed her breathing. "I'm sorry too," she replied. "That was out of line of me."

Levin chuckled lightly. "Actually, it may be more on the mark than you think. This scar is a reminder to myself to always know my limits. It should act as a lesson to you as well, to show what can happen if you're not cautious in a monster fight."

Eleanor bristled slightly, still annoyed by the accusations Levin was flinging at her. Despite the rush of fear she had felt, she still could not see the fault over her actions. "What have I done wrong?" she asked, perhaps with more indignation in the tone than she'd have liked. "I still can't think of any big issues that have come up since our first fight."

Levin sighed. "Let me show you then," he said, walking over to one of the trees knocked over by the Great Jaggi's rush through the trees. He sat down abruptly and motioned to the spot next to him. "Come here."

Eleanor reluctantly did as she was told, walking over to the fallen log and sitting down. She frowned in uncertainty as Levin began unfastening the latches on his dull yellow armor.

"Do you remember the… what was it, third Great Jaggi hunt we did?" he asked as he struggled with some of the buttons. "When you first decided you'd like to try to give your Bone Kris a try in the field?"

Eleanor nodded, thinking back.

* * *

Marshall had informed her when they'd returned home from their first Great Jaggi hunt that, now that the leader of the Jaggi pack had been felled, the number of Great Jaggi in the wilds would surely increase by a vast number for the next month or so. Potential alpha males would now be able to grow and dominate the pack without the restraining fangs of a Great Jaggi looming over them. Until a new alpha could be determined by dominance and strength, the forests surrounding Boma would surely be overrun with Great Jaggi.

Eleanor of course had been excited over this fact, having been given the opportunity to hunt a nearly endless supply of big monsters for almost a month. When she thought about it, Eleanor realized that that was about the time Levin and Marshall began their scrutinizing glances.

Two days later, the first reports of Great Jaggi appearing en masse had reached Boma. With Marshall's permission, she and Levin had set out in search of any Great Jaggi causing trouble around the forests, in order to relieve the Jaggis of some of their pack leader participants. Under Levin's scrutiny, the two hunters launched a surprise attack on a Great Jaggi hunting party not an hour after they'd left Boma.

The hunting party was small, considering how fragmented the collective Jaggi pack was during their time of civil war. The Great Jaggi itself was young as well, much smaller than the first one they'd fought. The two hunters had singled out the Great Jaggi rather quickly that time, and soon the Great Jaggi was on its last legs already. Levin was the one to finish that one off however, when Eleanor had tripped over an unfortunately placed rock. The Great Jaggi might have been able to barely get to her from its distance, had Levin not used the distraction to catch the inexperienced leader off guard with a powerful overhead swing.

Eleanor hadn't thought much of Levin finishing off the Great Jaggi at that point in time. Despite it being small and inexperienced fighting as a leader against other creatures, Eleanor had accepted Levin's explanation, telling her that the younger Great Jaggis were often more aggressive in an attempt to prove themselves, and he didn't want to risk her safety just because the Great Jaggi was young.

It had been four days since the first Great Jaggi hunt when she'd finally mustered up the courage to take her new sword and shield into the field for the first time. She had been tempted to wait out the Great Jaggi infestation, and practice in a safer environment without the hassle of dealing with large monsters. But her determination to accelerate her skill further had eventually won out over her caution, deciding that if she were going to improve enough to fight even nastier creatures, she'd have to charge in headfirst.

She also hadn't bothered to inform or even consult with Levin or Marshall on her decision. She had to admit, the look on Levin's face when she appeared with her sword and shield equipped the next day was absolutely priceless. Though Levin was initially against Eleanor using her sword and shield against the Great Jaggi until she had fought it a few more times, he eventually allowed her to go out into the field, under strict warning that he'd drag her butt back to Boma if she proved to be any at all careless.

It took them longer that day to hunt down a Great Jaggi than it had previously. It wasn't until mid-afternoon that they picked up the trail of a pack, and it was late afternoon when they'd finally caught up. But when they caught up to the Great Jaggi deep inside one of the twisting paths through the forest, Eleanor was shocked at what they found.

At the center of a large glade were two Great Jaggis battling each other. Surrounding them was their combined followers, numbering over twenty. The two pack leaders circled each other warily, occasionally taking a risk and snapping at their opposition. One of the Great Jaggis was quite a bit larger than the other, but though both were damaged from their battle, it was the smaller that bore less wounds from the fight. Eleanor soon found out why when, as the larger Great Jaggi lunged towards the smaller, it dodged nimbly out of the way, countering with a snapping bite into the larger Great Jaggi's leg.

Following the tactics they'd used previously, Eleanor and Levin circled the pack until they found the largest cluster of Jaggis grouped together, yipping and barking at the fight between their leaders. Creeping up behind the group, the two hunters began their work on reducing the size of the pack.

Eleanor quickly realized just how much more… _personal_ the sword and shield felt when compared to the bowgun as her blade tore into the first Jaggi she got to. She could almost feel the texture of the Jaggi itself as she pierced through its hide, killing the creature with her blade through its heart. As much satisfaction she felt from the sight of seeing the impact of a well-aimed shot from her bowgun, she had to admit she could see why the blade was the most common type of weapon. You just felt so much _stronger_ using your own power to cut up an enemy than you did blasting holes into it from a distance.

Levin held close to her as they continued through the pack, blades cutting down the Jaggi pack slowly but surely. She knew he was watching her closely, making certain she wasn't overexerting herself as they cut a swath through the chanting Jaggis. (Thinking back, she realized he might have been tailing her in case he needed to interfere as he'd done during their later Great Jaggi hunts.)

Then a howl tore from the center of the circle. Glancing to the middle of the ring of Jaggis, Eleanor saw the larger Jaggi fall, his neck torn apart by the crushing force of the smaller one's jaw. Eleanor caught Levin motion quickly at her, silently signaling to speed up their efforts. She nodded in agreement and quickly cut down another pair of Jaggis as the victorious Great Jaggi let out a howl of triumph.

A flash of determination tore through Eleanor. This was the perfect opportunity to strike! It was injured, but wallowing in his victory it would never see her coming. In its howling position, she could take out its throat without hassle. It was so easy…

Before she knew it she was already inside the circle, sword flashing, sprinting toward the Great Jaggi standing over his kill. On the edges of her vision, she could see the shocked expressions of the circle of Jaggis, too stunned at the sudden appearance of this hunter to warn their new leader. She could hear Levin yelling at her, but she was already only a few yards away. She sure as hell wouldn't turn back now.

With a leap, Eleanor swung her blade up towards the Great Jaggi. She felt her blade connect, slicing through the leathery hide of the pack leader, and heard the victory howl of the creature sputter and die into a coughing bark. But several inches into the blow, her blade lost its momentum, catching and sticking in the Great Jaggi's thick muscles.

Eleanor stood stunned momentarily at the sudden loss of impact she had had earlier, and was shaken quite literally from her reverie as the Great Jaggi twisted around, knocking her flat on her back with the side of his head. She rolled back to her feet as quick as she could, bringing up her shield to repel any extra attacks. She risked a glance at her sword, trying to figure out how she had failed in slitting the pack leader's throat, then swore at the sight of her blade, dented and dulled from her cutting her way through the Jaggis earlier. She cursed at herself. She'd forgotten to sharpen her blade!

But looking up, she realized how lucky her strike had been. Blood poured from the wound on the Great Jaggi's neck, and it twisted in pain, pawing at the wound with its claw. It barked a garbled command, and the Jaggis surrounding him darted around in confusion, unsure what to do. Three of them, probably members of the smaller Jaggis pack before the fight between the two Great Jaggis, leapt forward towards her, batting against her shield with their tails. She fumbled her other hand toward the pack at her side, trying to grab a whetstone, while still keeping the Jaggis at bay.

"Get down!" she heard Levin yell from behind her. She dropped down immediately, and felt a rush of air as the mass of Levin's great sword passed over her head, smashing into the trio of Jaggis. He swung back around swinging his great sword to ward off the collection of Jaggis behind him. Then reached down, grabbed Eleanor by the back of pulled her to her feet.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he yelled at her. "Are you trying to get yourself beat down?"

"I can do this!" Eleanor yelled back, yanking a whetstone from her satchel and sliding it across her blade as the Jaggis danced away from Levin's swings. "I saw an opportunity and wounded it! It's dying already!"

"You're jumping in without thinking is what you're doing! You think I couldn't see your blade wasn't sharpened?"

"It worked didn't it?" she said, sliding the whetstone back into her pack as she brought it back to its former sharpness.

"Just barely, you idiot!" Levin reared back and swung again at several Jaggis that tried to get into his swing radius, cutting the head off one and severely wounding several others. He looked around the field, and Eleanor did the same.

She swallowed suddenly as she looked around. The two of them were still surrounded by at least a dozen Jaggis, all of them clamoring in confusion over the sudden assault on their leader. But they were slowly rallying back together, and beginning to focus on the source of the attack.

Eleanor glanced over at the leader of the pack, and saw him on the ground, rolling his head in the dirt. She cursed as he rolled over and stood back up. He'd managed to stop the blood flow by filling the wound with dirt! She'd underestimated the intelligence of the Great Jaggis in general, if they could think up such tactics to heal themselves.

She heard Levin curse behind her. "We're too outnumbered right now," he growled. "I hate to do this, but since I'm better at group attacks, I'll have to be the one to take down the Jaggis. You keep the Great Jaggi busy, but _don't overdo it_. Just make sure you keep defending and wear it out. I'll be there as soon as I'm done with the ankle-biters."

Grinning at the opportunity, Eleanor leapt forward towards the recovering Great Jaggi. Dark, red-tinted mud caked the Great Jaggi's neck as the beast staggered around, dizzy from its blood loss. But at Eleanor's approach, it shook its head, refocusing its attention and dropping down into an attack position. Eleanor slid to a stop a few yards short of the Great Jaggi and brought her shield up to defend.

Like she predicted, the Great Jaggi lunged, attempting to use its mass to knock Eleanor down. But she danced to the side, swinging the shield in an arc and smacking the Great Jaggi in the face. The blow dazed the Great Jaggi, and Eleanor swung her blade at the pack leader's head. The beast slid away, but Eleanor's blade caught the Great Jaggi's crest, tearing away the frill. The Great Jaggi howled in rage as the flap of hide fluttered to the ground.

Adrenaline coursed through Eleanor's veins as the Great Jaggi and her danced around each other, jumping in for a strike when each believed the other to be open. Eleanor could hear Levin tearing through the remaining Jaggis in the back of her senses, but her focus was too centered on the Great Jaggi to pay much attention to it. At one point she heard Levin cry out in… rage perhaps, maybe frustration, she wasn't sure, but she ignored it. The Great Jaggi in front of her was all she was thinking about.

Then, as the Great Jaggi lunged at her, she dodged to the side again, and with all her might, slammed her shield against the creature's skull. The connection between skull and iron made her shield ring like a gong, and the Great Jaggi stumbled back, tongue hanging slack as it wobbled, stunned. Seeing her opportunity, Eleanor dashed forward to strike, sword flashing forward towards the creature's center of mass.

Her sword pierced the beast's skin, but rebounded off the thick bone underneath. The Great Jaggi staggered away, its mind registering the pain but not able to think coherently enough to evade. Eleanor pulled back, remembering her training in the practice field behind the Guild booth, and began the combination of strikes and slashes she had been taught. Her sword flew back and forth across the creature's body, each swing unfolding a bright red crease of blood on the Great Jaggi's body.

Suddenly the Great Jaggi twisted around, slamming into her shield and sending her sprawling across the ground. She rolled back to her feet as quick as she could and brought up her shield, just as the Great Jaggi brought down its teeth on her. The creature's fangs clanged and rung as they gnawed on the edge of the shield. Eleanor winced as the Great Jaggi's fangs tore through the armor on her arms, cutting bloody wedges into her arms.

She could feel the hot breath of the Great Jaggi as it bit into her shield, trying desperately to tear through the defensive object and into Eleanor herself. The force of the beast's assault pushed Eleanor back inch by inch as the Great Jaggi's powerful rage amplified its power as it pushed against Eleanor's shield. Eleanor swung wildly in panic at the Great Jaggi's head as it shoved and shook her.

With a wet impact, she felt the sword connect with the Great Jaggi. Looking around the side of the shield cautiously, she saw her blade protruding from the creature's jaw, angled upwards and through the Great Jaggi's throat and spine. The Great Jaggi shuddered and wheezed through its impaled windpipe, still desperately trying to clamp down through Eleanor's shield and into Eleanor herself. With a rasping death rattle, the Great Jaggi slumped forward, the weight of its mass forcing Eleanor down, shield caught in the Great Jaggi's maw. The beast landed with a thud on top of Eleanor's legs, pinning her to the ground with her shield still strapped to her bleeding arm.

Wiggling her arm loose of the shields straps, Eleanor levered the Great Jaggi's head up and off her legs, allowing her to wriggle free from underneath it. With a swift kick to the creature's jaw, she ripped her sword out of the Great Jaggi's throat, and with another she removed her shield from its mouth. She gulped down a potion to dull the aching throb in her shield arm as she surveyed her kill.

Levin had walked over not long after, surveying her kill with mild distaste in his eyes. He had a bright splash of red soaked into the shoulder of his armor. When she asked, he irritably brushed it off, saying it was just a little stain a Jaggi volunteered to decorate his armor with. She could tell the jest came tough, and that he wanting to tear into her over her spontaneous assault on the Great Jaggi, but for some reason he held himself back, bluntly telling her to carve her kill so they could go back to Boma.

The walk back was silent that day. Eleanor could tell Levin was fuming at her for being so abrupt in the wilds. But she had seen her chance and taken it, and didn't regret her choice of action.

* * *

"I don't see what your point is," Eleanor said irritably as they sat next to each other on the stump. "The Great Jaggi was killed and neither of us got hurt bad. What's the big deal?"

"The big deal is you're not thinking ahead."

"I saw an opportunity and took it. How can you fault me for that?"

Levin glared at her and pulled down the shoulder of his Ludroth armor. "Because of this."

Eleanor gasped. All along the edge of Levin's shoulder was a wide semi-circular wound, patched and bandaged with gauze and medical tape. The skin surrounding the wound was bright red and splotches of blood could be seen seeping through the gauze.

"How… how did…"

Levin grimaced, sliding his armor back into place and beginning to snap the buttons back up. "It was during that hunt," he told her. "While you were off fighting the Great Jaggi, I got surrounded by the rest of the pack. Jaggis aren't much of a threat by themselves, I've told you that before, but in large numbers they can overwhelm any hunter. That day, one of the little bastards snuck up behind me and got me good."

Eleanor was silent, completely taken aback by the sight of Levin's wound. It dawned on her what Levin was getting at. "It was my fault," she whispered. "Because I charged in recklessly. We hadn't killed enough of the Jaggis yet."

Levin sighed. "I don't have the gall to tell you it wasn't your fault. I don't like saying it, but the blame falls on you about this whole issue. But you need to learn from this."

"Learn what?" Eleanor asked quietly, her earlier obstinacy gone.

"That the goal of hunting isn't to kill monsters," Levin said. Eleanor turned and raised an eyebrow at him, making him shrug. "Well, it is, but it's not the most important goal. The primary goal of monster hunting is this: to make sure that you and your teammates come back alive. I make sure to ensure you are kept safe as your teacher, but you also need to ensure you keep me safe as my student."

Eleanor stared down at her boots, not wanting to meet Levin's eyes. She felt ashamed with herself, for letting her own desires get the better of her and getting Levin hurt.

"That's why we aren't pushing you into fighting higher level monsters when you're not ready," Levin continued. "If you get too far ahead of yourself, you'll end up as monster food."

The two sat in silence for a long while. Finally Levin stood up and paced in front of Eleanor's seat. "Look, Ellie," he said, "you're a fantastic gunner, and a great sword user. I don't like to admit it, but you'll probably become a better hunter than me in the long run."

Eleanor looked up at Levin in surprise at the sudden compliment, and Levin grinned at her. "So believe me when I say I'm trying my best to keep you alive. There's more to hunting than senseless killing. You've got to work together with your team in order to succeed."

"I get it," Eleanor said.

"Do you really?"

Eleanor nodded. "Yeah."

Levin grinned. "Good to hear. Now," he said, stretching his back, "shall we head back to the village, Miss Ellie?"

Eleanor smiled slightly. "Sure," she replied. "Let's go."

* * *

"Damn it all! How are you beating me in this game?"

Levin cursed under his breath as Mel picked up yet another of his checkers, grinning with satisfaction as she tossed it into her pile, nearly three times the size of Levin's. Marshall, sitting next to him, laughed as Levin hung his head in dissatisfaction.

"How the hell are you so good at this?" Levin sighed exasperatedly. "I just taught you how to play this game three days ago!"

"What can I say?" Mel replied. "When you spend all day behind a booth taking notes and filling out paperwork for people who are out doing all the work in the wilds, you find something to bide your time with. And for me, that something was checkers. Thanks for teaching me, by the way."

"No problem," Levin groaned wryly. "Nothing quite makes my day like get my butt handed to me in a game I've been playing since I was a kid by someone who learned it a few days ago."

"Seems as though Lost ingenuity is not quite what you and Miss Eleanor make of it, is it Levin?" Marshall prodded. "Even the high and mighty members of the Lost can lose a thinking game to us normal folk, huh?"

"Oh, shove it old timer."

"Good morning, Levin."

Levin turned as Ellie walked up to the Guild booth and smiled at her. It had been almost a week since he had confronted her over her behavior in the wilds, and things were still a little tense between them. But they were both trying to get past the problem and move on.

"Oh good, you're here," Mel said enthusiastically as Mel sat down at the booth. Reaching under the table, she pulled out a sheet of paper and laid it in front of the two hunters. "This is a job request we received from the Loc Lac Aviary Society, sponsored by the Loc Lac Hunter's Guild. Mister Marshall here told me to let the two of you go for it."

Marshall grinned at the two hunters eying him suspiciously. "I figured, considering Miss Eleanor's recent attempt at becoming less… aggressive in the field, it was about time for her to give a capture mission a go."

"What's a capture mission?" Ellie asked, tilting her head trying to read the paper.

"Pretty much just what it sounds like, Miss Eleanor," Marshall replied. "You go out into the field and capture a big monster as per request by the employer."

"How in the hell do you capture a monster?" Ellie asked, confused.

"You beat it up, drop it in a trap, and tranquilize it," Levin replied. "That's the abridged version, at least. You gotta make sure the thing's weak enough so the tranqs will be effective, or it'll just shrug them off and get away. I've got some Tranq bombs at my house I can grab for this mission. You've still got the Tranq Shots I bought for you way back when, don't you?"

"I was wondering what those were for."

"And now you know. Now what's this mission all about, I wonder?" Levin took the sheet and read aloud from it. "Quest: Capture a Qurupeco. The society would like to conduct a study to determine how the resonance of the Qurupeco's song is used to heal wounds and dull pain. Such information would be used to aid in the production of hunting horns and medical supplies." He set the paper down and scratched his head in confusion. "What the hell is a hunting horn?"

"Oh, I saw one of those in Loc Lac," Ellie replied enthusiastically. "They're these big horn-looking things. Some hunters were arguing about which one they should bring on a hunt. I don't know how they work though."

"I remember seeing a few of them myself when I was still hunting in Loc Lac," Marshall said thoughtfully. "I never tried them myself. I heard about their usage rate and they broke far too easily for me to want to use them consistently."

"Let's see what the book says about them," Mel said, reaching under the table and pulling out her Guild guide book. She flipped through the pages, skimming the information, before stopping abruptly on a page. "Here we go. 'Hunting horns are musical instruments that use sound waves to induce a psychological healing or strengthening effect on any who listen to its sound. The horns approved by the Hunter's Guild are specially designed to only affect hunters that listen to their sound. Also, in some regions of the world, hunting horns are built to be sturdier for use as a melee weapon in battle.' Huh."

"That seems like an… oddly advanced bit of equipment for this world, doesn't it?" Ellie asked. Mel huffed in irritation at the jab, preparing a counterpoint, but was interrupted prematurely by Marshall.

"Now just because we may not have the same level of technology that you Lost had, Miss Eleanor, doesn't mean we're completely hopeless in terms of advancement," Marshall said, grinning exaltedly at Levin, who groaned and turned away. "While we may not have the fancy things you do, we've excelled ourselves in other places. Personally, I've heard tell of a stone they created in Loc Lac that makes you stronger or more resistant to damage just by carrying it with you."

"Sounds like hokum to me," Levin muttered, raising an eyebrow.

"Perhaps," Marshall replied. "But stranger things happen in this world of ours. Now, you two should probably head out here soon, if you want to capture the Qurupeco before nightfall. I'll let the boatmen know you two are taking off."

"Wait, what boatmen?" Ellie asked.

"The sailors that transport captured creatures to the respective locations of the quest employers," Marshall explained. "They follow close to shore while the hunter is searching for their prey. When a creature is captured, you send up a flare and the men aboard come to bind the creature so it can be transported to wherever it needs to go."

"What if the monster is really far inland?"

"There are a lot of rivers in this area," Marshall replied, "so any captured monster is never really too far from a place it can be picked up. In less watery areas, I hear they have to get pretty inventive in their transportation methods."

"Sounds like a pain in the butt."

"I imagine it is. But it's a very well-paying job if you do it working for the Guild. The boatmen here just get a percentage of the quest profits, and we pass the monster on to the next Guild ship that comes into harbor. They usually come by at the end of the week, so there's rarely difficulty in holding the creature in captivity until then."

"The ship comes by tomorrow, I think," Levin said, standing up and stretching. "So if we don't want to have to keep the Qurupeco fed and watered for a whole week, we're going to have to catch one today. Think you're up for the challenge of not killing a monster, Ellie?"

Ellie grimaced. She seemed to have become a bit overcautious in the last week, trying to keep better track of things during hunts. Levin was getting worried that his discussion with her was having more negative effects than positive. But she nodded eventually, and stood to tighten the bowgun strap over her shoulder.

Levin nodded back and slung his great sword over his back. "Let's go then."

"Come back safely!" Mel called out behind them. "I'd like to beat you at checkers one more time today!"

"Oh, shut up!"

* * *

"So how are we even going to be able to find a Qurupeco today?" Ellie asked as the two hunters trudged through the foliage of the forest.

"Shouldn't be that hard to find one," Levin replied as he hacked his way through the brush with his hunter's knife. "Qurupeco aren't far traveling creatures like the Jaggis when they search for food. They're generally fish eaters anyway, so all they really need to do is make a nest near a river or the ocean and their set."

"There are a lot of rivers and creeks through this area, though."

"I know. But they like high places for their nests, so we just need to find a high rock outcropping overlooking water, and we'll probably find a Qurupeco. Which is why we're heading over there."

Levin pointed off into the distance at a large rocky cape protruding out from a hill. The rocky overlook extended almost a thousand yards out from the mainland and was dotted with large caves and hideaways along its length up and down the sides. Water poured down the sides of the cape, flowing gently out dozens of the caves that were scattered across the high cliff walls. Thick vines hung down the side of the cape all the way from top to bottom, and thick crooked trees jutted out from the rocks beside them. Ellie whistled in awe at the size of the landmass.

"Keep your eyes on the skies as we travel," Levin told her. "If we're lucky, we'll be able to spot a Qurupeco flying to or from its nest. Then all we have to do is wait for it there or ambush it."

"What do they look like?"

"Giant, colorful birds. Trust me, that's all the description you need."

It took them the better part of an hour to reach the cape, eyes constantly searching the skies for signs of Qurupeco in the area. Following the beach, they came across a thin ledge, leading up along the side of the massive landmass and past several of the caves on the side. Levin looked out to sea and spotted Boma's transport ship sailing off in the distance. The sailors on board must have caught sight of them soon, as the boat turned and began sailing their direction, ready to pick up a haul at any time. Ellie waved at the approaching ship and received a couple replies in kind. Then the two started up the cape.

Levin led Ellie up the path carved into the side of the cape as they carefully trekked up the side of the landmass. The path was only a couple yards in width, so the two of them kept cautiously far from the edge. They continued for over a quarter mile, weaving their way up the side of the cliff continuously upwards. They passed several of the caves and alcoves, checking each for signs of it being a Qurupeco dwelling, but found nothing but some abandoned nests and a couple Bnahabra hives.

About halfway up the slope, they reached a large alcove in the side of the cape that cut about thirty yards into the side of the cliff face. A wide waterfall cascaded from and overhang above them, creating an obscuring wall of water, partially blocking their view of the ocean. The path in front of them was partially blocked by a thick tree that had managed to grow up from the rocky terrain, its roots hanging over the edge of the cliff and hanging loosely in the air below. As Levin glanced into the cave, he stopped, holding up his hand to slow Ellie down as well. Looking into the shadows of the cave, he made out a large bundle of sticks and stones, as well as countless brightly colored feathers. Levin grinned enthusiastically. Unlike the previous nests they'd come across, the feathers here were new and vibrant, not old and dull.

"Here's our spot," he told Ellie, hiking into the cavern to look around.

"I've been meaning to ask," Ellie said as she looked around the cavern, "how to Qurupeco fight? You really didn't give me all that much to work with when we fought the Great Jaggis. Admittedly, they really weren't that complicated, but I'd still like to know what to expect a little bit in advance this time."

Levin shrugged. "I guess that's a fair request. I was kind of hoping to see how well you'd fight not knowing what to expect, but I guess in such tight quarters as this, you'd be better off knowing what's coming. I guess the first thing to mention is something you're already aware of: the Qurupeco's song."

"It heals it, right?"

"Yeah, but it does more than that depending on the tune. It can strengthen the Qurupeco's attack power as well, sort of like a psychological steroid of some kind. Both songs are accompanied by a sort of dance that it uses to… ungulate, I don't know. It you see it start dancing back and forth, hit it hard before it can bolster itself."

"Got it," Ellie nodded.

"But the worst part of the Qurupeco's voice is its calling ability."

"Calling ability?"

"Yeah. It can replicate the cries for help of other creatures in the area. Normal Jaggi, Great Jaggi, Royal Ludroth, it'll even call for help from any Raths that happen to be in the area if there are any. Trust me when I say that if it starts trying to get a few friends to help, stop it. We probably won't have to worry about interference too much up here on the cliffs, but better safe than sorry."

"Okay, so just pound on it if it starts trying to sing or call out."

"Pretty much. Oh, and watch out for the explosions."

"The _what_?"

Levin blinked in confusion then scratched his head sheepishly. "Oh, I forgot to mention that, didn't I?"

"Just a bit!" Ellie yelled, glaring at him. "What the hell do you mean, 'watch out for the explosions'?"

Levin laughed in embarrassment. "Sorry, sorry. Let's see… The Qurupeco can produce and spit this highly explosive gastric juice from its mouth. It uses this coagulation of flint stone on its wings to ignite the stuff and create a big explosion. So, uh, keep your distance and stay out of in front of it."

"Thanks for the warning," Ellie growled sarcastically. "Is it possible to stop the thing from spitting the juice or whatever the stuff is?"

"No," Levin replied thoughtfully, "but you can break its beak will a well-placed hit. That'll stop it from calling for help. For the most part, at least. I'm not sure exactly how much its abilities decrease with a broken beak, though."

"So aim for the face, then?" Ellie asked.

"I'm aim for the wings, myself," Levin told her, "since you can break off the Qurupeco's flint. I'm a front-lines kind of fighter and getting rid of the explosions seems to be the more immediate issue for me. But I guess it all depends on your preference towards what to aim at. That and I guess you could wait and see what kind of attack pattern the Qurupeco decides to use during the fight and knock out the biggest threat first. But that would make him focus more on the other type of attack…"

"Aim for the head, got it," Ellie interrupted, shaking her head in frustration.

"Actually, since the request is for the Qurupeco is to study it's call, we should probably avoid breaking its beak."

"Gah! Screw it; I'll just shoot it everywhere!"

Levin laughed as he turned and walked over to the edge of the cavern opposite the nest, pulling a pitfall trap out of his satchel and flipping it over in his hands. Ellie walked over to the edge of the ledge outside the cavern and scanned the horizon. Levin walked around the cavern, kicking rocks out of the way and digging his feet into the dirt, looking for a decent place to set up the trap.

Finding an acceptably soft bit of dirt, Levin knelt to the ground and wedged the pitfall trap into the dirt, turning the handle to activate it. He stepped back, making sure the little gizmo activated properly, then turned and walked back to the cave entrance to stand next to Ellie.

"You think you got a handle on this?" he asked quietly.

Ellie was silent for a moment. "I think so," she replied.

"You just think so?"

"I can't… be certain." Ellie stood frozen, an uncertain and fearful look on her face. "It just seems like, every time I see a big monster, I just get so angry. It's like, my job is to kill the monsters I see, and when I see them and feel the adrenaline flowing in my veins, I just lose sight of everything else. All that exists is me and the monster."

Levin frowned. "You've got to get that idea out of your head. You've got to realize that you're working as a team when you're hunting. It's a collective effort."

"I know," Ellie groaned, hanging her head. "I've been trying! But I just can't get this blind zealousness to go away during a fight! I just get so overwhelmed and I have no idea why! I go into the fight knowing what I have to do and where I need to be and how it all works with what you're doing, but once I'm in the field and there's a big monster in front of me it all just… disappears."

Ellie dropped down, sitting on a rock, a thoroughly miserable look on her face. She buried her face in her hands. "I just don't know what's wrong with me."

Levin looked down at her, guilt welling up inside of him. He hadn't wanted her to feel this bad about the whole thing, and certainly hadn't wanted her putting herself down like this.

"I know you can do it," he said quietly. "I know you can get over this."

"How can you say that?" Ellie asked miserably.

Levin sighed. "I don't know. But I feel like you can get over this."

Ellie scoffed. "Wishful thinking."

"Don't put yourself down like that," Levin said, putting his hand on her shoulder. "You a strong person, Ellie, and I know you can overcome this. You traveled all the way from Loc Lac to become a great hunter, didn't you?"

"Yes…"

"Then you can certainly overcome this little overzealousness of yours. You practiced relentlessly with the bowgun and the sword and shield when you got to Boma. Your determination is a great asset for you."

"But it's also what getting you in danger during big monster battles. How is that supposed to be one of my strong points?"

"Because you are also determined to become a great hunter. And if proper teamwork is required to become a great hunter, then you'll certainly learn to keep your attention on your teammates for sure."

Ellie was silent for a moment before replying. "It took me almost two weeks of training to become so proficient in gunning, though. Getting over my mental problems will probably take longer. Think you can put up with me that long?"

Levin grinned. "You're my apprentice, Ellie. A few weeks of getting beat up in the wilds will be worth it if it improves your skills as a hunter. Besides, taking a beating for the sake of a pretty lady is one of the better ways to receive injuries, in my opinion."

Ellie laughed at this. "How chivalric," she said with a grin.

"I aim to please," Levin replied, flourishing with an overdramatic bow.

Then a loud warbling call cut through the air, echoing through the cave. The two hunters turned to see a large bird flying through the sky in their direction from the mainland.

"Time to get ready, Ellie," Levin said. "If you're going to prove you can improve your ability to work as a team, now's your chance."

"Right," Ellie said. Levin felt there was a measure of hesitation in her voice, but the concern he felt would have to be put off until they had dealt with the approaching Qurupeco.

_Assuming she doesn't space out and get me killed here, _said a wry voice in the back of his mind. Death by Qurupeco. How embarrassing, even for an apprentice hunter.

He ran back into the cave close behind Ellie. Reaching the far back, the two of them split into different directions, Ellie crouching into the shadows in the back of the cave, and Levin sliding behind the Qurupeco's large nest. He glanced over at the pitfall trap, and nodded approvingly to himself as he saw that the soil was well churned.

He looked over at Ellie, who was cocking her bowgun with some large type of ammunition, possibly a Crag shot. Maybe a couple Pierce rounds. He'd have to tread carefully when he charged the Qurupeco so as not to interfere with Ellie's shots…

* * *

Eleanor squeezed herself as tightly as she could into the thin crack in the wall where she hid. The darkness was deep here, but if the two of them were going to effectively ambush this monster, she wanted to make sure there was no chance of it spotting her. Her bowgun was loaded with a Crag shot and primed to fire. She figured if anything was going to throw off a large monster right at the start of a fight, a blast of gunpowder would.

She sat quietly, glancing back and forth between the cave entrance and Levin's hiding place. Neither of them moved as the wobbling song of the Qurupeco grew closer. Soon she heard the flapping of wings, and tensed as the creature flew towards the cave mouth. A shadow of the bird passed over the cave entrance, dipping the cave into more complete blackness for a moment, then with a thump the Qurupeco landed in the entrance to the cave.

A big, colorful bird. Ellie had to admit, Levin's description of the bird was weak and pretty vague, but it certainly described the Qurupeco well. She half pondered if there were other monsters out there that would fit the same bill, then shook off the thought, reminding herself that it didn't matter at the moment.

The Qurupeco gazed around its cave cautiously, and Eleanor wondered if the bird had a good enough nose to detect their presence in the cave. Her worry proved premature, however, when the Qurupeco strutted straight into the cave, an air of contentment about it. It didn't suspect a thing. Eleanor held up her bowgun, lining up the sights on the Qurupeco, but caught Levin holding a fist up, telling her to hold her fire as the Qurupeco walked deeper into the cave.

When the monster got about halfway into the cave, it slowed suddenly, staring intently at its nest, as though detecting something was out of the ordinary. It began to approach more cautiously, the feathers on its wings bristling nervously as it got closer. At five yards from the nest, Levin motioned to Eleanor quickly as the Qurupeco's breast suddenly began puffing up defensively.

Eleanor's muzzle flashed as she fired, and the Crag caught the Qurupeco in the side. The big bird had a moment to react to the sudden attachment now stuck to its side when the shot detonated, igniting the bird in flame and catching several of its feathers. Levin was already charging as the light from the fire plume lit up the darkened cavern, hand on his sword's hilt and ready to strike.

But the confused Qurupeco, attempting to shake off the flames, spun around, trying the blow out the flames. The thick bundle of the Qurupeco's beaver-like tail caught Levin unawares, sending him sprawling deeper into the cave. Eleanor popped out the empty Crag shell and slid in Pierce rounds as the flames died away from the Qurupeco's body.

"Avoid using Crag!" Levin shouted as the Qurupeco turned and squawked in rage at them. He rushed forward, swinging his blade forward, and the Qurupeco danced back warily. "The thing already creates its own explosions, so fire won't do as much to it!"

"Now he tells me," Eleanor grumbled. She rushed towards the tunnel entrance, twisting around to fire sideways shots at the Qurupeco's flank. The bird honked irritably at her, but kept its focus on Levin, who proved a more immediate threat. Realizing the troublesome situation it was in, it turned to rush to the entrance of its cave to escape the ambush.

But Eleanor had already taken up position at the cave entrance, and fired several rounds at the Qurupeco, fighting it back into the cave. With a roar of fury, the Qurupeco reared its head back, and with a sickening gurgling sound, spat a spray of vile green blobs at Eleanor.

Eleanor dove away from the mucus, then turned to fire again. But the Qurupeco snapped its claws together over the closest bit of mucus, and with a burst of heat, the slime on the floor erupted into a wide line of flames. Eleanor instinctively threw up her arm, shielding her face from the heat of the fire, but caught sight out of the edge of her vision of the Qurupeco digging its feet into the ground, preparing to charge.

Then Levin caught up with the Qurupeco, bringing his sword down on the bird's tail. Eleanor heard several of the Qurupeco's bones snap as the creature cried out in pain. The bird spun around, the flint of its wings knocking Levin back as he brought up his sword defensively. The Qurupeco charged at the great sword user, bringing its beak down on Levin's sword with dozens of powerful strikes. At a lull in the assault, Levin swung his sword around to attack, but was forced to dodge backwards as the Qurupeco spun around again in an attempt to knock Levin over.

Eleanor had reloaded by then, bowgun loaded with Pellet shots. She rushed around the wall of fire, closing the distance between her and the distracted Qurupeco. Once she was close enough, she brought up her bowgun, and with a squeeze of her trigger, her bowgun emptied the shots into the Qurupeco's side. The bird's leathery hide became peppered with blood as the shots connected. The beast howled in pain at the sudden damage, and turned back to Eleanor.

Eleanor slid more cartridges into the chamber of her bowgun, but as she prepared to fire, the Qurupeco swung its wings forward. The sudden gust of wind from the Qurupeco caught Eleanor unawares, making her flinch and sending her backwards a couple feet. Levin charged the bird from its side, but with a spin the creature knocked Levin back.

Then the creature seemed to expand, its throat expanding out and growing a bright red. It began bobbing its head back and forth and dancing around on one foot, and all the while its gullet continued to expand.

"Get it!" Levin cried out. "It going to call for help!"

Eleanor didn't need to be told twice. She brought her bowgun up, aiming at the creature's swelling throat and firing. However, perhaps because of her increased distance from the creature, or maybe because of the creature's leathery hide, the Pellet round didn't pierce the skin of the Qurupeco's throat. It winced in pain, but its concentration was too solid for its call to be stopped.

Rearing back its head, the Qurupeco release a powerful howl. It took Eleanor by surprise the uncharacteristic sound of the call to the bird's normal sounds. She realized she recognized the sound of the call.

"It's calling for a Great Jaggi!" she yelled out to Levin.

"I know! We have to bring it down before the reinforcements show up!"

Eleanor slid the used cartridges out of her bowgun as Levin charged the recovering Qurupeco, swinging down his sword on the bird's wing. The blade tore a deep gash into the Qurupeco's skin, but the leathery hide managed to remain whole. The Qurupeco spun and Levin rolled away, but the bird recovered by spitting another wad of mucus at the great sword user. Levin dove away again as the Qurupeco snapped its wings together, igniting the green slime and lighting up the cave with its glow.

Then the Qurupeco turned, attempting to make a break for the cave entrance, but Eleanor fired, sending her loaded Pierce rounds into the bird's legs, tripping it up and sending it sprawling across the floor. It pushed itself back to its feet as Levin caught up with it, swinging his sword at the flint on the creature's wings. With a smash, the flint on one of the wings shattered, the black stones falling to the ground.

"Ellie!" Levin called to her. "Go see if there's any trouble headed this way yet! I'll keep big bird here busy for a while."

Eleanor nodded fervently, turning to rush over to the cliff edge. She glanced over the side and gulped nervously. Nearly a dozen Jaggi where following a Great Jaggi towards the thin path that led up to the cave they were in. But as they neared the path, the Great Jaggi slowed cautiously, eyeing the rocky terrain cautiously. Eleanor grinned in joy as the Great Jaggi stepped cautiously onto the narrow path, and then quickly jumped back. The path was too narrow for it to climb up!

But her joy withered significantly as the pack leader barked an order to the Jaggis surrounding it. At once, almost the whole pack rushed forward up the slope, starting their tenuous climb up to the Great Jaggi they expected to be there.

"Trouble coming!" Eleanor called as she turned back to the cave and rushed to Levin's aid. "The Great Jaggi's not coming, but he sent his pack up this way!"

"Damn!" Levin cursed, as he brought up his sword to deflect the Qurupeco's stream of pecks raining down on him.

Eleanor raised her bowgun, unleashing another stream of Pellet shots into the Qurupeco's hide. The creature howled in pain, turning and rushing at dived in an attempt to avoid the rush, but the Qurupeco clipped her, sending her sliding across the cave floor. She rolled to her feet and attempted to reload, when she caught site of the Qurupeco dancing around and puffing up its chest again.

"Hit it before it sings!" Levin yelled, charging the Qurupeco with his hand on the hilt of his blade.

Thinking quickly, Eleanor slid Pierce rounds into the chamber of her bowgun. She raised the sights, lining up with the Qurupeco's puffing , which were inhaling to prepare for its song or call. She squeezed the trigger and the Pierce round flew through the air. With a loud tearing sound the round ripped into the Qurupeco's beak and, with the aid of the air already flowing through, tore it down the middle. The Qurupeco howled in pain as Levin closed the distance and brought his sword across, cutting into the Qurupeco's side and knocking it flat on the ground. The Qurupeco wheezed and coughed, the damage it had taken catching up with its movements.

"It's getting weak!" Levin called over. "Try and lure it into the trap!"

"Got it!" Eleanor glanced over to the Qurupeco's right, where the sifting dirt of the pitfall trap laid waiting for the beast to fall into. Eleanor grinned as she saw the Saturnian jump out of the dirt for a brief moment before diving back under, like it was waiting impatiently for the Qurupeco to fall in as well. Eleanor brought her bowgun up, fully loaded with Normal shots, and fired to the Qurupeco's left, hoping to scare it away from the gunfire.

But the Qurupeco, enraged and in pain from the fight, leapt forward instead of to the side. Eleanor leapt out of the Qurupeco's reach, vaguely noticing the strange position the Qurupeco's head was in as it leapt forward. In midair, she saw the Qurupeco head suddenly bob forward, a large blob of mucus flying from the depths of its throat. Eleanor had a moment of satisfaction, seeing the blob's course was off and wouldn't connect with her, before the Qurupeco snapped the tips of its wings together onto the still-airborne mucus.

The concussion of the explosion hit Eleanor first, knocking the wind out of her before the force and heat of the blast sent her flying backwards, across the rocky floor and into a wall. She heard Levin calling out to her in panic as she rolled to her side, head spinning and eyes glazed and unfocused. The earth rumbled underneath her and she dully felt debris land on her. She could just make out the shape of the Qurupeco in her blurry vision, and what was undoubtedly Levin charging it to get it away from her. She thought she could see the red tinted glow she'd seen Levin release in the first Great Jaggi fight, but she couldn't be sure if it was real or just a delusion of her distorted vision.

As her vision cleared, she crawled back to her feet, reaching down to pick up her bowgun on her way up. Her mind slowly refocused, allowing her to figure out what was going on. Levin had indeed assaulted the Qurupeco and Eleanor discovered that his attack had left one of the bird's wings smashed and broken. But the rage of the Qurupeco was unrelenting, and even as Levin dove away from the attacks, the bird leapt after him, setting off another eruption of fire with each jump.

The ground underneath Eleanor seemed to shake, and her wobbly legs nearly gave way underneath her. She quickly brought her bowgun up and fired a shot in front of the Qurupeco's path before it leapt, causing it to misstep and stumble before it could attempt making another explosion. She rushed forward towards the bird as it turned, confused. In the back of her mind, Eleanor felt confused though; it seemed like there were more rocks on the ground now then there had been before.

Levin looked at her in surprise as she approached, and Eleanor caught a flicker of the red glow from him. But it faded and vanished as he grinned at her. But the grin vanished as well as the sound of barking echoed through the cave.

The two hunters turned to look towards the entrance to the cave just as the first few Jaggis began swarming into the cave. There was a look of confusion on the faces of the pack as they observed the scene before them, before their hunters' instincts kicked in and they realized that they had the opportunity to bring down three injured prey.

The Qurupeco suddenly dashed, attempting to use the distraction to escape, but got cut off as Eleanor fired several rounds into his path.

"I'll deal with the ankle-biters," Levin said to her. "I'll see if I can't scare them away. Try and lead the Qurupeco into the trap."

"Got it," Eleanor replied, firing a few more rounds to the Qurupeco's side, making it leap even closer to the trap. Levin jumped behind Eleanor, and she could hear him batting away several Jaggi that had tried getting close to her.

Eleanor charged forward, loading several Pellet shells into her bowgun. The Qurupeco charged, trying to pin her down with its rapid-fire pecks, but Eleanor managed to duck past it. She turned to fire, trying to get it to dodge toward the trap. But she stopped as the Qurupeco reared back. She recognized that stance; getting blown across the room certainly was powerful motivation to remember a monster's skill set.

She jumped away from the Qurupeco's direct line of attack as the bird leapt forward. She felt the concussive force of the explosion she'd predicted would come and some of the heat, but nothing that hindered her ability to fight. The Qurupeco turned, preparing another jump in her direction, when a watermelon-sized rock dislodged from the ceiling, smashing into the bird's back. Eleanor winced as the Qurupeco's legs buckled slightly under the impact, but prepared for another rush from the bird as it straightened up, eyeing her angrily.

She was at an odd angle to the trap at the moment. She knew the quest depended on getting the Qurupeco into the trap and tranqing it without killing it or ruining its beak. That limited her firepower options. But she had to get the Qurupeco into the trap for the sake of the mission. Had to.

She felt a rush of determination and her focus began narrowing, centered between the Qurupeco and the trap to the side. A flicker of worry flashed through her mind, and she shot a glance over to Levin, relaxing slightly when she saw he was beating back the Jaggis successfully. Only five remained, and they were all glancing about nervously. They seemed uneasy on their feet, though. Eleanor vaguely felt the earth beneath her feet shaking, but shrugged it off to the unsteadiness she had felt earlier, turning her attention back to the Qurupeco. She was going to get this damn bird into the trap no matter what.

She leapt to the side as the Qurupeco charged her, placing herself between it and the trap. She was dangerously close to falling in, only a couple feet from the edge of the sifting dirt. But the placement was perfect. She slid several low powered Normal shots into the chamber as the Qurupeco turned back around. Several more rocks fell from the ceiling, clipping the Qurupeco's wings, making it look about in confusion. Eleanor fired, her shell pounding into the bird's wings, bringing its attention back to her.

The Qurupeco glared at her and brought its head back, preparing to leap at her. Eleanor braced herself, ready to leap away at the right moment. She vaguely heard Levin calling out to her, but she focused on the Qurupeco's movements.

The Qurupeco leapt at her, head bobbing back to project its mucus. Eleanor leapt away, the Qurupeco sliding past her. She felt the power of the explosion as the Qurupeco clacked its wings together, then heard its cry as its momentum carried it over the edge of the pitfall trap and into the dirt. Eleanor turned, grinning as she found it struggling in the mud, nearly face down in the trap. She quickly ejected the Normal shots in her gun and reached for the Tranq shots, ready to put the bird to sleep and finally end the mission.

Suddenly she found herself yanked back, being dragged backwards by the back of her clothes. She flailed wildly at her attacker, desperately attempting to free herself. Had Levin accidentally let one of the Jaggis through? She had to Tranq the Qurupeco! She had to finish the mission!

Then a rock from the ceiling dropped down, smashing onto her foot. Pain tore through her as she cried out, instinct making her reach down to cradle her injury. But she couldn't seem to reach her appendage while being dragged backwards. She twisted her head, trying to catch a glimpse of her capturer.

"Levin?" she cried in surprise. What was he _doing_?

"We need to run, dammit!" he yelled, still dragging her behind him. "The whole place is coming down!"

All at once the room seemed to come into better focus than before. She could hear the earth around her heaving and weakening as the cave fell apart. Rocks and debris fell from above as the ceiling's supports began to fail. Cracks and crevices tore up the walls, showing the weakening rocks.

Fear ripped into Eleanor. She turned quickly along Levin and ran alongside him, allowing the two of them to increase their speed, dashing blindly towards the cave entrance. Rocks and boulders dropped near them, many coming close as they ran, the rumble of the cave grew in magnitude as the ceiling crumbled, like a howling beast about to sink its teeth on them.

The two hunter apprentices dove as they reached the cave entrance as a resounding sound like a crack of thunder ripped through the cave. They huddled close to each other, covering their heads as the roar and rumble of the falling rocks shook the earth around them. Eleanor quivered in fear as the horrible sound continued for what seemed like an eternity, threatening to bury them under its force.

But the sound soon began to fade. The roar died away and the rumbling of the earth dimmed and died away. Soon, all that remained was silence, the sound of terrified birds flying away into the distance all they could hear. The two remained huddled, covering their heads for a minute or two. Eleanor felt Levin sit up next to her and braved opening her eyes.

The air was thick with dust and dirt, making Eleanor squint to avoid getting anything in her eyes. She gasped when she caught sight of the cave entrance. Half of the entirety of the cave had collapsed in on itself, leaving only a thin tunnel to act as a path into the side of the cape. A few pebbles and stones rattled down the side of the pile of rocks.

"Wh-What happened?" Eleanor asked in disbelief. "Why did it cave in?"

Levin turned and eyed her. "The concussions of the Qurupeco's explosions weakened the rock. You didn't hear it falling apart while we were in there?"

Eleanor sputtered, unsure how to answer. "I… I thought I was just dizzy from the explosion."

"Rocks were falling from the ceiling!" Levin cried. "I know you saw them falling! How did it not occur to you the place might be coming down? And I called out to you to run before the place came down!"

Eleanor was speechless, trying to remember. "I saw the rocks, but I thought it was just luck that they fell on the Qurupeco. I just remember thinking that I needed to capture the Qurupeco and I was so focused that I…" Suddenly, realization hit Eleanor. "Oh, god. I was so focused on the capture, I didn't realize what was going on."

Shivers shot up Eleanor's spine as the memory of the fight pieced itself together in her head. Her voice came out in a breaking tone. "I… I lost sight of my surroundings. I could only think about the mission. I couldn't think, I couldn't rationalize, I couldn't change my mind. What is going on? Why is this happening to me? What's wrong with my head?"

Levin was beside her, trying to calm her down. "Ellie. Eleanor. Get a hold of yourself. You're safe. Calm down."

"How can I calm down? My mind is making me ignore important details! I almost got killed because I didn't realize the roof was collapsing! I barely realized you were even there! I…" Eleanor suddenly gasped. "Oh god. I almost got you killed because of this thing. You got attacked by a Jaggi because of this. And this has been happening the whole time I've been hunting big monsters! Something's wrong with me and it's getting us both hurt. What's wrong with me?"

* * *

Levin looked down on Ellie as she panicked. She hadn't spoken in a while and had barely reacted to him at all in that time. He'd attempted to talk to her, but she had withdrawn into herself. He had noticed swelling in her foot not long after, and had forced to remove her boot himself, revealing a badly sprained foot. Ellie hadn't even flinched as he'd tried to treat it.

Levin sighed in frustration. Was this what Marshall had been taking about when he had said the two of them would have similar problems when learning to become hunters? Not being able to think straight? Or was the problem that Ellie was thinking _too_ straight? Getting too focused? Not exactly the same kind of problem Levin had dealt with.

He absentmindedly toyed with the hilt of his great sword. Marshall had suggested this particular weapon when he'd come to Boma. He'd said considering Levin's mentality, it would be an appropriate weapon to use in the field. Levin understood the thinking behind Marshall's reasoning after all this time. The great sword's full power depended upon the mentality of the wielder and Levin certainly fit the bill, considering his own problems.

But how was he supposed to use that kind of information to help Ellie? Was it fear that fueled this strange affliction? Anger? He couldn't guess, not yet. He sighed again, uncertain what to do. He'd have to send up a flare and get the transport ship's attention at least. Ellie was in no condition to walk back to Boma; they'd have to hitch a ride back to avoid irritating her injury.

Suddenly, he picked up a sound. A faint warbling sound echoed out of the cave. He stood up, checking Ellie quickly and determining she wouldn't be going anywhere, and stepped inside. He wandered deep into the dark confines of the collapsed cavern, prepared to run at the first sign of remaining instability, when he found the source of the sound.

There lay the Qurupeco, buried up to its wings in sifting dirt and even further in fallen stones. It honked feebly as Levin approached, too weak and beaten to do much else. Levin wasn't sure how much longer it would survive in this cave. He glanced over in the direction of where Ellie had been fighting the Qurupeco earlier, and unsurprisingly found it completely buried under rock and rubble.

He thought for a moment before pulling a flare from his pouch and hurrying back to the cave entrance. He wasn't sure how much good it would do, but maybe finishing this mission successfully would have at least some good effect on Eleanor. Reaching the bright sunlight, he scanned the water for the transport ship, and upon catching sight of the ship, ignited the flare and waved it to catch their attentions. When he saw them turning his way, he set down the flare and headed over to Ellie.

"Good news Ellie," he said quietly. He waited for a moment for her to respond, getting only a slight adjustment of her line of vision. Good enough.

"We managed to capture the Qurupeco," he told her. "It's alive and we'll be able to turn it over to the Aviary Society or whatever. It might not have survived if you hadn't lured it into the trap. I know you're not really fond of monsters, but you saved its life. That's something."

Ellie grunted softly. He wasn't sure if that was a positive or negative response, but at least it was something. "The transport ship is heading this way. We'll be heading back with them as they carry the Qurupeco back to Boma, okay?"

Another grunt.

Levin sighed softly and sat down next to Ellie to wait for the approaching crewmen. They wouldn't be happy having to drag the Qurupeco out of the cave, but at least it had been captured alive.

He looked over at Ellie. He was insanely worried for her. He wanted her to get better. He knew how she felt, and wished he could help her get over it faster.

"I'm going to help you get better, Eleanor," he said quietly to her, "no matter what it takes. You can count on that."

Ellie shifted a little where she sat, but was otherwise unperturbed. Levin sighed and lay on his back, waiting for the crewmen to arrive and thinking madly of a way to help Ellie.

* * *

**Author's Note: Please review!**

**Okay, took a little longer than predicted to write this up. I blame the Halo. Don't know how long it'll be for the next chapter. It's gonna be a long one I think.**

**On a side note, I went to a website recently called "I Write Like." Basically, you slap a paragraph, a post, a chapter, or whatever in the box, and the site analyzes your writing and gives you a famous author that has a similar writing style to you. I decided to throw chapters 4, 5, and 6 in there and see what it gave me. My results were: Leo Tolstoy for chapter 4 and 5, and H.P Lovecraft for chapter 6. I'm not sure how I feel about this.**

**I find that when I'm writing, my style has a tendency to deviate depending on what books I'm reading or games I'm playing at the moment. While writing this chapter, I was reading a Robert Ludlum book and playing Red Dead Redemption (among other things). I kind of wonder if it shows… say so if you think it does.**

**Reading – Matarese Countdown by Robert Ludlum  
Playing – Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare, Halo Reach, Bioshock  
Listening – The Album Leaf, Anberlin**


	8. Royal Ludroth Trouble

Royal Ludroth Trouble

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. All the characters in this story are mine._

The Great Jaggi lunged, clipping Levin's guard and knocking him back, despite the solid stance he'd had. A rock caught his heel, sending him tripping over himself, arms spiraling in the air to regain his balance. Sensing an opportunity, the pack leader leapt back, took a few steps to gain momentum and began twisting its body to the side.

Realizing what the Great Jaggi was doing, Levin dropped one of his feet behind him, forcing himself to stop his backwards slide. He dropped his center of mass and dove to the side, just as the wall of mass that was the Great Jaggi flew over him. A gust of wind blew the hood of his armor off the top of his head as the creature passed over him. He sighed inwardly in relief. Though the Great Jaggi was certainly not as big as some of the other creatures he'd heard about or seen, a good straight impact from a creature that size could certainly break a few things inside of him that he'd much rather keep in one piece.

As quick as he could, he jumped back to his feet, swinging his sword around to meet the creature in case it was coming around again for another hit. He was relieved when it saw it glancing around in confusion, uncertain where the prey it was sure it was going to smash to pieces had gone.

Levin turned quickly, using the lull in activity to find Ellie. In his mind, he knew he should be angry at her for not coming in from the side to attack the pack leader's flank while it had prepared to lunge at him earlier. He caught sight of her several yards away and brushed away any thought of reprimand.

At the moment, she had a pair of Jaggi within swinging range, sword at the ready in her hand, but was crouched cautiously behind her shield. Her eyes flashed nervously between the two smaller carnivores in front of her and over to the Great Jaggi, which still glanced around in confusion. Levin knew she could've been done with these two lackeys by now, but…

Taking a wary swing, she managed to cut into one of the Jaggis that danced in front of her. The creature cried out in pain, and its pack mate used the opportunity to lunge at Ellie. Lurching back defensively, Ellie brought up her shield, deflecting the blow. The Jaggi, catching its chin on the hard metal of the shield, wobbled back from Ellie, dazed from the impact between the metal and its skull. Ellie glanced cautiously around the edge of the shield, but didn't attack despite the Jaggi's defenseless state.

Levin sighed. This was what the problem was. Ever since the Qurupeco capture mission, Ellie's performance had dropped dramatically. Admittedly, during the Qurupeco she'd shown a much more control when it came to defending Levin than she had during the Great Jaggi fights. Her skill was as good as ever, her accuracy and athleticism not missing an ounce of precision. But it seemed as though she'd gone too far trying to rein in her single-minded rushes. What was missing was the fire that had burned inside her when she'd first come here to Boma, the sheer force of will she'd emitted had withered away.

Levin retracted that thought. It wasn't so much that her willpower had vanished. Occasionally, under extreme circumstances out here in the wilds, he'd caught a glimmer of her former ferocity in her attitude.

Several days ago, they'd been fighting another Qurupeco, and they'd managed to push it into a corner. Ellie had been extra cautious that day as well, spending most of her time warily behind her shield. The creature began retaliating with its explosive rushes. Levin hadn't managed to get away from one of the blasts and had found himself knocked backwards by the force. He'd been stunned for a moment before picking himself and his great sword up to defend, but had come up to a surprising sight.

Rather than continue straying behind Levin as she had developed the tendency to do during the fight, rage and the urge to keep him safe had apparently overpowered Ellie's recent meekness and she'd flung herself forward, far inside the Qurupeco's wingspan before it had time to react. Before the large bird knew what was happening, Ellie had used the bird's wings as a stepping stone to get on top of it. With maddened swings of her blade, she began tearing into the back of the Qurupeco's neck, a place on the bird's body it no doubt felt was supposed to be relatively safe from attack and therefore undefended.

Levin returned to the fight as quickly as he could, in order to help Ellie in case she required it. But at the sight of him running her way, the once explosive rush of aggressiveness flew away in an instant from Ellie, and she was quickly bucked off the wounded Qurupeco. She rolled back to her feet quick enough and brought her shield up to defend, giving Levin the impression she was unhurt, but the fire from just a moment ago was gone. The Qurupeco had died not too long after from blood loss, the wounds on its neck turning out to be fatal, but Levin couldn't seem to revive the enthusiasm Ellie had shown for that short time during the remainder of the fight.

That was the problem, Levin thought, refocusing his thoughts on the Great Jaggi as it spotted him, uncertain as to how Levin had slid past his attack, but perfectly willing to finish the job some other way. Ellie's determination and aggressiveness was in there somewhere, but she was holding herself back in fear of… whatever it was that seemed to have come over her during their first Qurupeco fight.

Levin wasn't sure where the problem originated from, Ellie losing sight of anything but her primary goal, even if it meant endangering herself or her partners. He'd never heard of anything like that. He didn't know much about psychology or any of that mental gibberish, and doctor Orson in the village couldn't give him any definitive answers. He supposed he'd have to wait until he had the opportunity to talk to a doctor in Loc or any Lost doctors he had the chance to talk to.

He brought up his blade as the Great Jaggi lunged at him, deflecting the attempted bite to the side. He supposed he'd probably better saving these kinds of thoughts for a less dangerous point of time.

He swung his blade horizontally, catching the Great Jaggi in the side before it had the opportunity to jump away and out of Levin's range. The pack leader flinched in pain as the blade sliced into its hide, allowing Levin the opportunity to pull his sword back and prepare another swing. He held the blade low to ground behind him, and swung it around horizontally again, but brought it up into swing that clipped the Great Jaggi's jaw, sending it sprawling backwards.

Levin pulled his sword back it front of him and began closing the ground between himself and the recovering Great Jaggi. But as the pack leader rolled back to its feet, it shocked Levin with a sudden rush towards him rather than the defensive jump back Levin had expected from the Great Jaggi. He tried to bring up his sword it defense, but the Great Jaggi's snout found its way past Levin's guard, knocking him back onto his backside.

Levin scooted back away from the Great Jaggi as it snapped at him on the ground. He pushed himself up, trying to get to his feet before the pack leader could get a good attack on him, but gulped in fear as the Great Jaggi lurched back and prepared to lunge at Levin before he could get back to his feet. Levin braced himself; he knew he'd survive the hit, and would certainly be able to rally back and kill the Great Jaggi in the end, but this was going to hurt like hell.

Suddenly, from the side, a blur of brown and green leather and flashing steel lunged out of nowhere, tearing into the Great Jaggi's neck. Levin blinked in surprise as the blur, which he realized was Ellie, shredded through the pack leader's leathery hide as the surprised creature leapt back defensively.

But Ellie was close behind, rushing forward to match the Great Jaggi's speed. The pack leader howled in surprise and pain when, even as he was landing from his backwards jump, Ellie was already there, bringing her edge of her shield down on the beast's head. A loud clang echoed across the field the two hunters faced the Great Jaggi in as the shield connected, and the pack leader staggered back, the impact leaving it stunned.

Ellie raised her blade, ready to tear into the Great Jaggi's side, when the remaining Jaggi ran at her from the side, intent on protecting its pack leader by killing the threat to its life. But Ellie twisted abruptly at the sound of the Jaggi's approaching feet, bashing it with the blunt of her shield. The Jaggi flipped over onto the ground, clawing at the dirt to get up and try again. But Ellie quickly brought down her blade, tearing into the creature's chest and killing it. She turned back in time to see the Great Jaggi recovering from its daze. She sidestepped quickly as the creature glanced between her and Levin, placing herself between the great sword user and the Great Jaggi.

Levin's eyes widened in surprise. Ellie was managing to keep the monsters in the area occupied while also keeping Levin safe as he recovered from his wounds. This was the perfect level of aggressive and defensive action he'd been looking for. He quickly pulled himself to his feet, bringing his sword up and stepping forward to fight next to Ellie.

As he stood next to her, he noticed she seemed to be in some sort of calm reverie; not quite so focused as he'd seen her appear during the Qurupeco fight and earlier Great Jaggi battles, but not as hesitant as during their recent fights. Balanced, he realized. Control over the obsessive violence that occasionally overcame her, but not borderline cowardice. He could work with this.

The Jaggi stepped forward, twisting its body and preparing to lunge forward in an attempt to crush the two of them. Immediately, the two hunters leapt aside, each in a different direction. The Great Jaggi flew past, turning quickly to pick out one of the divided hunters to focus on.

It was unnecessary for him to do so, since he found Ellie already charging his way, sword at the ready. Levin was approaching from the other side, a few strides behind her from the weight of his weapon. Ellie leapt forward as the Great Jaggi twisted around to protect its face, taking the flurry of Ellie's attacks into its wide body. It cried out in pain, twisting around; Ellie brought up her shield just barely in time as the Great Jaggi's tail slapped against it, forcing her back.

By then Levin had gotten within striking distance, bringing his blade across the Great Jaggi's leg and body, tearing a wide gash into it. The pack leader turned to howl at him and prepared to bite at him, but Ellie had recovered, swinging her sword around and slicing into the Great Jaggi's thigh, making its legs buckle under the pain of the injuries. It fell towards Ellie, making her dive away from the carnivore to avoid getting trapped underneath it.

"Very nice!" Levin cheered as the Great Jaggi fell. "That's what I'm looking for in a hunter!"

But at the sound of his voice, the calm look on Ellie's face flickered away, vanishing under a confused and wary look. Despite the Great Jaggi being on its last legs, she brought up her shield defensively, glancing around in search of any trouble that may be coming at them from any direction. Levin cursed inwardly. She'd been so close to finding equilibrium!

She stood her ground guardedly as the Great Jaggi attempted to climb back to its feet. Levin frowned in irritation. "Are you not going to finish it off?" he asked from the other side of the pack leader.

"I… I can't," she replied. "What if I lose control again? I could get us hurt…"

"Not much it can do to us now."

Ellie didn't reply to this remark, waving her sword hesitantly in her hand, uncertain how to proceed. Levin sighed. The irony of the situation didn't escape him; not long ago he was overly worried about Ellie's overzealous desire to fight and kill big monsters, yet now here he was worried about whether she'd be able to get over her sudden inability to attack them at all.

Realizing he probably wasn't going to be getting much of a response out of Ellie short of allowing the wounded pack leader to chew on him for a while, he lifted up his sword as the Great Jaggi struggled back onto its hind legs. With a quick swing, his blade embedded itself into the Great Jaggi's spine. The large carnivore whimpered for a moment before falling to the ground in a heap.

As Levin swung his sword back across his back, he glanced back over to Ellie, who was cautiously re-sheathing her own sword back into its scabbard.

"How come you couldn't finish it off? You were doing fantastic against it just a little while ago." he asked.

Ellie frowned and shrugged wearily. "It's just, every time I've tried hard to kill something, I've lost sight of my surroundings. If I'm not careful, I could get one of us into a bad situation again. You could get bitten, or I could get crushed. I just can't risk that again."

"But if you're too cautious, you might not be aggressive enough to take out a monster or it'll just overwhelm you."

"I… I don't think I can risk that. Not yet."

Levin sighed as they stood over the body of the Great Jaggi. "You'll get it right one day," he told her. "But for now just carve the kill. We can try again tomorrow."

* * *

"I feel like I should be laughing maniacally right now," Mel told Levin, jumping yet another of his checkers and throwing it off the board. "But I think any joy I could get from destroying you at a game you taught me is being overwhelmed by the shear sympathy I feel for your defeat to a rookie like me."

"Your pity is an appreciated comfort to this miserable soul," Levin groaned in reply, as he watched his remaining options to obtain victory slowly vanishing. "I really need to ask Silph to make those chess pieces I've told you about. Maybe I can beat you then."

Mel chuckled. "Unlikely, but I suppose I can let you hold onto your hope until then." Then her smile vanished and her expression turned somber. "By the way, I've been meaning to ask, is Eleanor getting any better out in the field?"

Levin grimaced a little. "Not really, no. Her nearly dying to that Qurupeco hit her pretty hard. She's been acting too meek to properly fight monsters these last few days, making her an easy target to monsters. Every once in a while, I'll see a spark of her old fire in her, but nothing that seems permanent."

"Does it seem like she's been getting any better about it?" Mel asked, worry eking out of her voice.

"Not quickly, if at all," Levin admitted. "Unless something big happens, it could be months, maybe years before she recovers from this whole thing. And that's not even including whatever's messing with her mind."

Mel was silent for a while, just staring at the board. Levin glanced up at her and realized her eyes were glazed over in deep thought. She reached under the desk, pulling out a big binder, which Levin recognized as the collection of mission requests for their area sent from the Guild. She flipped through the pages, skimming over the easier missions that Levin recognized as delivery missions or mining work. Finally, she stopped on a page halfway through the book. Levin tried to read the paper, but Mel tilted it up to study the page, blocking his view. She spent several moments examining the page thoughtfully.

"How big?" she asked contemplatively.

Levin blinked in confusion. "How big what?"

"You said it yourself earlier," Mel replied. "Eleanor won't recover quickly 'unless something big happens.' How big of a something are we talking?"

Levin frowned. "Oh. Um, I'm not sure. I haven't really thought about what it would take that hard."

Mel was quiet for another moment. "What about a Royal Ludroth?"

"A Royal Ludroth?" Levin asked in surprise. "That's a step up in difficulty compared to anything she's fought before. I don't really like fighting them all that much myself, even though I've fought enough of them to make a set of armor off their sponges."

"And why is that?" Mel asked abruptly. Levin realized she was leading him in to something.

He sighed, closing his eyes in thought. "Well, they're bigger and hit harder for one. That goop they spit isn't flammable like the Qurupeco's mucus but it saps your energy, and makes you tire out easy. Not to mention if you run into one inside its territory, it just comes at you…"

Levin's eyes snapped open in realization. "Aggressive as hell. The Royal Ludroth is aggressive as hell. When they're angry, they're relentless in their attacks. If you want to kill one, you have to be just as aggressive in response or they'll run you down."

Mel grinned. "Exactly."

"That's it, then," Levin said thoughtfully. "If Ellie's going to get better fast, she'll need to fight something that forces both of us to act more aggressively than we would with other things in this forest. The Royal Ludroth would be perfect. But the trick will be to keep her from going off the deep end and into that overzealous state of hers."

"That's why you'll be there," Mel said enthusiastically. "With two hunters there at the same time, you have to be aggressive, but not so much as if there was only one of you."

Levin nodded. "True enough. But are we even allowed to hunt Royal Ludroth at this time of year? The mating season's over, so there should only be one in the area, and the Guild has strict rules covering that kind of thing don't they?"

Mel grinned. "Which is why I suggested this," she said, pulling a paper out of the missions binder and handing it to Levin. Levin took the paper and looked it over as Mel continued. "Word has it there's a Royal Ludroth causing some trouble on the overland paths north of here. Apparently it keeps attacking caravans passing through the area and chasing off the merchants and destroying their goods. The Guild's decided to step in, despite the mating season being over and has put in a mission request to kill the Royal Ludroth causing trouble, or at the very least sending it packing."

"Sounds like a decent plan," Levin said. "Risky as hell, though. Great Jaggi and Qurupeco I can take on solo should worse come to worse, but Royal Ludroth are a bit of a pain in the ass to deal with if Ellie goes twitchy on me."

"Got any better ideas? Besides, if you were any indication about how to deal with the insecurities and issues the Lost have, it takes something big to knock some sense into your idiot heads."

Levin grinned wryly. "Point to you, Mel. Fine then, I'll chase down the old man later today and talk this over with him. Tomorrow I'll take Ellie out to the wilds and we'll see what kind of progress we can make with her issues with the Royal Ludroth."

* * *

Eleanor walked uncertainly behind Levin as he led them through the wilds. He seemed to be oddly focused today, unlike usual. He was generally so cautious these days, making sure the two of them weren't charging headlong into something they couldn't deal with. Eleanor realized it was most likely her presence that caused that to happen.

She knew there was something wrong with her, though, which was why she had been so reticent to attack as usual these last few hunts. She knew Levin had been trying to help her get back into a proper feeling towards hunting, but every time she had tried to be more aggressive in the field, she'd have a flashback of the falling rocks from the cave.

And she had tried to be more aggressive, she really had. Even without Levin or Marshall saying so she could tell her performance had dropped. Even with her sword and shield and not her bowgun, she used to be able to bring down monsters in half the time that she was killing them now. She'd rush in for a kill, ready to tear into the monsters in front of her, or aim at the monster's head, and suddenly she'd be in the cave again. Then the flood of doubts would come out and start haunting her thoughts: was there anything she was missing? Was she being tricked or surrounded by her prey? Was she setting herself or Levin up for a fall again?

And all this, all these issues and fears, were brought upon her because of whatever was wrong with her head. Even now, while they were simply walking through the forest, she could feel the _pull_ of whatever was sifting its way through her mind, altering her decisions and making her dive headfirst into danger. She hated it, the feeling it gave her, like she lost control of her own body every time she did it.

But sometimes, she felt as though the feeling was receding, or acclimating itself to her desires. She couldn't very well describe what it was doing or why, but somehow she got the feeling that if she were able to get a handle on the process, she'd be able to control the… madness that seeped through her mind. She'd felt like she was getting closer, every time the feeling surged through her. The Great Jaggi fight she and Levin had undergone yesterday was the closest she'd gotten to balancing her mind, but the fear of fighting that had surged back up when Levin called out to her had sent the equilibrium reeling.

The thought that was more frightening than anything, though, more frightening than even the thought of some unknown parasite forcing her mind to make decisions she shouldn't, was simply: the madness hadn't been there before she came here, to this world filled with monsters and their hunters. She had been perfectly sane and rational back where she came from. So why was it different here?

Admittedly, she was throwing herself into dangerous situations here in this world as opposed to the relatively safe life she led back home, but she was doing so willingly. People didn't start losing their mind voluntarily, as far as she knew. Was the craziness in her mind a result of the world itself, some strange virus that the Lost weren't immune to? Perhaps it just a mental issue that her brain had buried away due to some unremembered trauma from her past?

Or worst of all, the only option that made her shiver, maybe the madness was implanted somehow? The thought terrified her, but it was the easiest to brush off. What existed in the world that could force someone into a state of madness without them noticing?

At the moment, however, she was more concerned with the mission she was on at the moment. Levin had been acting oddly ever since he'd approached her yesterday to inform her of the mission they'd be going on today.

Marshall had been with him at the time, to encourage her to do well on the mission. That was odd in and of itself. Usually Marshall didn't approach her about missions; he just saw them off on their way out of the village, enforcing some strict 'learn-by-experience' method of his by letting Levin and Eleanor hunt and figure things out the hard way. But this time he'd come with Levin to tell her about the mission, which was odd.

He'd been worried about the mission, Eleanor had eventually decided. Maybe the mission was excessively challenging in comparison, or had some extra parameters that she hadn't been told about yet. All Eleanor had been given was the name of the monster and advice to bring as many potions and bowgun rounds that she could manage. No one had given her much of anything else to work with: no description, no battle tactics, not even advice or even a subtle hint. Even Mel didn't have much to say as they'd left town.

She'd fought Ludroth before, that much was true. They were irritating things to kill compared to Jaggi, especially if you were in the water. She remembered Levin mentioning a few months back that Royal Ludroth were basically the centerpieces of Ludroth harems, a single male surrounded by a whole herd of females. She wondered what kind of creature the Royal Ludroth would have to be to take control like that. Great Jaggi did it, so maybe the Royal Ludroth was similar, just like a Ludroth but a little bigger.

More than anything, she wondered if she had what it took to take down a new monster today. She knew she had the ability to take down monsters, she knew she had the strength and skill. But the thought of the cave in haunted her still. Would she reel back from an assault like she had during the Great Jaggi fight yesterday again? She didn't have a shield to guard with today.

Eleanor blinked in surprise as a burst of light blinded her, the two hunters breaking out of the dense foliage and walking into an open valley. As her eyes acclimated to the sudden change in brightness, she saw that the two of them had reached a river, which cut through the center of the valley. The river was several dozen yards wide and churned with a powerful current, tearing up the surrounding land around it and reducing the edges into a small sandy beach that stretched up and down the river, around the bends and out of Eleanor's line of vision. Eleanor was shocked at the speed of the river. Had the river been shallower than it was, Eleanor was certain it would consist entirely or rapids.

Slight motions on the edge of her vision caught her attention and she turned, spotting a wide creek bed, perhaps three feet deep, winding its way out of the forest they'd just emerged from. She noticed several objects bobbing up and down near the center of the river, breaking the surface every now and then. She realized they were Ludroth, coming up for air before diving back down in search of food or whatever they happened to be after. Levin stopped walking at the edge of the river, glancing out over the length of the water before turning and looking over at the creek. Finally, he turned back to Eleanor, a decisive look in his eye.

"This spot'll work," he told her. "It's about the best we'll get if we're planning on taking down this guy."

"What's the Royal Ludroth like?" Eleanor asked abruptly. She had been getting progressively worried about the creature they were planning on hunting the entire trip here, and now that they were here at their target's location, she could feel mild panic setting in.

Levin frowned and sighed. "It's basically a really big Ludroth. It likes to use its bulk to attack, kinda like the Great Jaggi. Also, it spits this goopy mucus that emits some sort of gas that wears you out, kinda like chloroform I guess but not as strong."

Eleanor stared at him expectantly and he shrunk back a little. She knew he was holding something back from her and was determined to find out what it was. He grinned wryly before continuing.

"Also, when I say he's like a bigger Ludroth, I mean a much bigger Ludroth. Maybe three or four times the size of a Great Jaggi, depending on the Royal Ludroth you meet."

"What?"

"Also, since its job is to protect its territory, its harem and its eggs, it's pretty much the most aggressive creature that lives in this area of the world. Minus the Raths of course, but they only come around here once a year or so."

"What!" Eleanor yelled, her rage and fear getting the better of her. "I can barely stand up to a Great Jaggi right now and you're throwing me to wolves by making me face the 'most aggressive monster in the forest'? Are you nuts?"

Levin shrugged noncommittally, earning him a glare from Eleanor. "It's for your own good," he told her.

"For my own good! Getting me mowed down is supposed to be for my own good?"

"Not if you fight it on the same terms," Levin said abruptly, stopping Eleanor cold. "You want to come out of this fight in one piece? Show it who's boss. If it roars at you, roar right back at it. Be its equal in aggression, its superior in strength."

"But I can't!"

"Yes you can! I've seen you do it! You nearly knocked that Great Jaggi into next Thursday! You have the ability to overcome these fears of yours." Levin grinned a lopsided smile at Eleanor. "I've hedged my bets that you're going to do so today, against the Royal Ludroth."

"And Marshall and Mel probably both think you're nuts," Eleanor accused.

Levin laughed. "You're wrong about that, Ellie. Mel was actually the one who gave me the idea."

Eleanor grumbled in frustration. "Have I done something to make her want me dead recently? Kicked her puppy or something?"

"She might be lonely," Levin teased. "You haven't really been visiting her all that much since the Qurupeco fight."

Eleanor glared at him. "And what does Marshall think about this little scheme of yours?"

Levin winced slightly. "He… wasn't too fond of the idea. But he agreed to go along with the whole thing, provided I send up a signal should things get dicey and run."

"You don't exactly have me feeling all that good about this whole thing you know," Eleanor told him sulkily.

"Perhaps not," Levin grinned. "But we'll make it through this. We always have, we always will."

"You make it sound so easy."

Levin smirked. "It's just like Mel told me: we Lost can get out of our slumps. All we need is a good kick in the head to get over our problems."

Eleanor sighed. "You're really pushing the envelope trying to get me over my fears, aren't you?"

"All I can."

She found herself grinning slightly. "Thanks. You're probably going to get me killed someday, but thanks all the same." A thought occurred to her as Levin nodded in response. "By the way," she said, "you said 'we' Lost need a kick in the head. What was your kick?"

Levin blinked in surprise, then grinned. "Something far better than getting beaten up by a Royal Ludroth. Maybe I'll show you what it was when the opportunity arrives."

"You like being vague, don't you?"

"Very much. It makes life so much more entertaining. Now, shall we prepare for the Royal Ludroth, or would you prefer winging it?"

"Fine, fine," Eleanor replied, stretching. "So, aside from the fact you're most likely getting me killed today, what sort of plan do we need?"

"We're not going to stray too far from our regular course of attack," Levin told her. "Our goal is to kill it, but at the very least getting it to back off from assaulting caravans is preferable. Generally, that would require death, but if beating the snot out of it works, we'll go ahead and try for that. We'll be setting up for our fight over in that creek over there, a little ways upstream."

"Why so far from the river?" Eleanor asked, looking over at the shallow running water. "Won't the Royal Ludroth be coming up from here?"

"That much is true," Levin replied. "But if we stay too close to the river itself, it gives the Royal Ludroth ample opportunity to make a break for it by diving in to escape should it feel compelled to. Now, I'm somewhat proud of my swimming abilities, but I think I'm perfectly content leaving this deluge alone. Besides, fighting a Royal on land is one thing, rough enough as it is. Fighting it in the water is a whole 'nother kind of pain in the ass."

"I see your point. So avoid letting it make a break for the river, check."

"Also, while we've normally used traps to give any monsters we find a severe beating without harm to ourselves, we're not going to be able to use them today, or at least infrequently."

Eleanor blinked in surprise. Levin usually always had a trap or two buried in his satchel somewhere and almost never hesitated to drop one down during a hunt. "Why not?" she asked, I thought you could rent Saturnians from the farmers.

"Yeah, usually," he said, grinning wryly. "But it seems that ever since they expanded that one plot of land a month or two ago, they've gotten it in their heads that maybe it's time to expand the whole farming area in general. So they've cut me off from using the Saturnians for a while so that they can work on expanding the fields."

"So, in short, we're trap-less."

Levin groaned in frustration and reached back into his satchel. "Not exactly," he said, pulling out a small object. The thing was shaped like an upside down bowl, with a little indentation protruding from the center of it. Like the pitfall trap, it looked as though it could unravel, and had several of the same thin rods protruding from the sides.

_It looks like a land mine,_ Eleanor thought.

Levin tossed the object to her, and Eleanor caught it. However, she very nearly dropped it when, upon coming in contact with it, the metal device gave her a painful blast of static electricity, stinging her fingers and making her wince. She glared at Levin, who grinned in response.

"That's a shock trap," he explained. "It runs on the same principles that the pitfall does. Inside is a small little insect called a Thunderbug."

"Let me guess," Eleanor said, flipping the trap over to examine it, "it's like a taser."

Levin grinned. "A really big damn taser. More of a temporary paralysis inducer than anything else. Once you activate the thing, it wires out a thin metal mesh along the ground in the area around it. Then it gets the Thunderbug inside to give the whole thing a jolt. It's got Lagiacrus crystals inside too for extra 'oomph' to help the little guy out. Anything that steps on the wires is going to find themselves hard-pressed to move or even control their muscles for a little while."

"A little while?" Eleanor asked, catching the phrase. "Does the effect wear off?"

Levin frowned and scratched his head. "Not really, but it pisses larger monsters off something fierce. If the monster is focused enough… or angry enough, it can force itself out of the trap and continue after the hunter that set it down. Also, the Thunderbug can only put out so much electricity before it wears itself out and has to take a break, which cuts off the electricity and lets the monster go."

"Full of flaws, isn't this thing?"

"That's not even the worst part," Levin said with a grimace, "considering the kind of fight we're going to be having today. Since we're fighting really close to water, the surrounding area is bound to be heavily saturated from the water, especially the sand. If the shock trap goes off and one of us happens to be standing on a particularly wet area of ground, we're going to get shocked just as bad the Royal will. Worse, actually, since the charge is meant to bring down creatures at _least_ three times our size."

"Then it's pretty much useless?" Eleanor asked in exasperation.

"Pretty much."

"Why bring it up in the first place then?" Eleanor asked in confusion, tossing the shock trap back to Levin.

"Mostly to warn you," Levin replied, catching the trap and shoving it into his satchel. "It's our last ditch effort contingency plan. Should the metaphorical crap hit the fan, I'll activate the trap and toss it into the Royal's path, giving us ample opportunity to escape. Provided he doesn't jump over it or go around it, at least."

"You're really bad at providing words of comfort, you know that right?"

"Perhaps," he replied. "Now," he said, looking at her seriously, "do you think you're ready to take on the man himself?"

Eleanor shivered nervously. She had known she'd have to get over this fear of monsters soon, and she also knew she'd have to overcome the strange affliction that warped her mind. However, faced with the opportunity to do so, she wondered whether or not she was ready, whether she was really up to the task. She knew Levin believed she could do it, but was that enough.

She stood in silence for a while, Levin watching her intently. Finally, she made her decision, and nodded to Levin. "I'm ready," she told him. "About as much as I'll ever be, I guess."

Levin continued to stare at her, judging how serious she was, before grinning. "I thought as much," he said to her. "You're far to determined of a hunter to walk away from something like this, even with the problems you're going through right now. Now let's head down the stream and see if we can't find a good place to set up for the Royal."

The two of them started up the slow moving stream, stepping cautiously across the sand and slick rocks that jutted up from the beach. They continued their march, slowly moving further and further away from the river, until the thundering rush of the river could just barely be heard above the sound of the wind through the trees.

Then they crested a small hill and Levin held up his hand for them to stop. Just over the hill, Eleanor spotted a larger stretch of beach, free of rock or debris. There, lying sunning themselves on the warm sand, were six content Ludroth. One of two had their heads up, scanning the area for intruders or miscreants that might enter unwanted onto their sands, but the rest lay sleeping, content on the warm sand.

"Alright," Levin whispered, pulling Eleanor behind a rock as one of the lookout Ludroth gazed their way. "Here's where we'll get the Royal's attention."

"How?" Eleanor asked.

"A Royal Ludroth's job is to protect its territory, its eggs, and its harem," Levin explained. "So all we have to do is kill a few Ludroth, and the big boss will come running in anger. We'll throw to bodies into the creek once their dead, so their scent goes downstream to the river. It'll speed up the process a bit."

"Seems like a solid idea," Eleanor commented.

"Let's hope so," Levin said. He turned and looked at Eleanor. "Last chance to back out, Ellie. Gonna take it?"

Eleanor thought for a moment, then shook her head. "No. Let's get this over with."

"Well said," Levin told her. "Hopefully you're not too afraid to take down regular Ludroth, otherwise the big boy's gonna be trouble."

"Oh shut up and let's go."

The two hunter apprentices turned and glanced over the edge of the rock, waiting patiently for the guard Ludroth to move its attention elsewhere. At the sound of a limb cracking from inside the forest, the Ludroth's head snapped in the direction of the sound, glancing around cautiously. The two took the opportunity to sneak out, closing the distance between themselves and the lounging Ludroth.

Eleanor worried about the impending battle the whole slow walk over. The sand beneath her feet was nice and warm, but at the same time, the grip she had on the loose earth was not nearly what she was accustomed to. On the bright side, the soft sand made it much easier for them to sneak up on the unsuspecting Ludroth.

Wordlessly, Levin snuck his was over to the closest dozing Ludroth. He turned and motioned to Eleanor towards the Ludroth on guard duty. Eleanor nodded in understanding, pulling out her bowgun and loading several Pierce rounds. She carefully lined up the sights as Levin edged ever closer to the sleeping Ludroth.

A wave of uncertainty flew down Eleanor's spine. Worried thoughts began flying through her head as she gazed down the sights of the bowgun, flashes on falling rocks flickering through her head. What if this wasn't the best thing to do? Was there something she was missing? Was there some trap set up in wait for them here? Was there something out there, waiting for them to strike, ready to catch them off guard?

She mentally berated herself. Now was not the time to think such thoughts! If trouble arises, you'll deal with it then! But right now the main threat is the Ludroth on guard! You've taken everything you have available into account; use the information you have and strike!

With a slight burst of flame, the Peirce round erupted from the barrel of the bowgun and spiraled through the air. With a satisfying splat, it tore into the Ludroth's skull, lodging deep inside the creature's cranium. Without a sound, the Ludroth's head swayed a moment in the breeze before flopping softly down into the soft, warm sand. A slight trickle of blood oozed out of the Ludroth's skull, the only visible sign that the Ludroth was doing anything other than sleeping.

Eleanor stood frozen in place for a moment as the echo of the shot rebounded softly around the beach, before full silence settled in. Her paranoia slowly faded away as the remaining Ludroth continued to sleep contentedly on the beach. A grin crossed her lips. There'd been nothing to worry about at all.

With the sentry now dead, Levin brought his sword up and held it carefully over the Ludroth sleeping next to him. With a quick motion, the blade dropped, cutting cleanly through the creature's neck and emitting a silent thump as it landed in the sand. He smirked at Eleanor, then continued on to the next sleeper, Eleanor following suit with her bowgun.

Not long after, the half-dozen Ludroths' corpses lay on the beach. Eleanor had to admit the scene looked almost exactly as it had when she and Levin had first arrived at the beach. You'd have to look closely to notice the pools of blood on the sand and the fact that three of the Ludroths actually had their heads detached from their bodies.

"Not bad work," Levin said, hoisting his sword back onto the sheath on his back. "If you keep that level of aggression, you shouldn't have any problems against the Royal."

"I'm pretty sure there's a difference between sleeping monsters and awake ones," Eleanor replied wryly.

"True enough," Levin admitted. He turned back to the bodies, pointing over to the stream bed at the edge of the beach. "Carve the bodies," he told her. "As soon as you're done, we're going to toss the bodies into the river and let the scent float downstream. With any luck, the Royal isn't too far away and will be here soon."

Eleanor nodded in understanding and walked over to the corpses to begin her work. After she'd collected the materials off the Ludroth, the two of them began shoving the bodies into the creek. Eleanor was surprised by the weight the Ludroth had. She knew the Ludroth were about the same size as a human, but she hadn't thought they'd be so heavy. It had taken both of them working together to push them one at a time down to the stream bed and into the water.

As they were shoving the carcass of the fourth Ludroth into the water, a loud, angry roar echoed through the trees up the creek. The two hunters froze, and heard rush, like the smashing of waves against the rocks on the shore of the ocean. Eleanor realized from the look on Levin's face that the sound was the approaching Royal Ludroth, charging its way through the water in what Eleanor had no doubt was complete blind rage.

"Time to hide," Levin said quietly, dropping the Ludroth tail he held in his hands. Eleanor followed suit, letting the head of the same creature fall to the sand, trailing behind Levin as the two of them dashed for the tree line, the sound of the raging creature growing louder as the beast approached.

They jumped into the underbrush, burrowing themselves behind the bushes that grew wild underneath the trees, turning around and eying the bend in the river impatiently as the thundering roar of water grew ever closer.

Eleanor fidgeted nervously as the two of them waited for the impending appearance of the Royal Ludroth. She could tell simply by the sound of the approaching creature that its size far surpassed that of the Great Jaggi or the Qurupeco. The sound of rage in the creature's roar as it raced towards them certainly wasn't helping her calm down either. It was pissed, that was for sure, and Eleanor was certain it would be more than willing to take out its rage on the two of them.

With a rush of sound and a wave of water, the Royal Ludroth rushed around the corner of the creek, throwing water several yards across the beach head on each side of the creek as it dashed against the flow of water. Huge waves of water rippled across the creek as the Royal Ludroth charged against the current, blindly rushing towards the beach Eleanor and Levin crouched behind.

Upon reaching the first of the bodies, one of the Ludroth which Levin had relieved of its head, the Royal Ludroth slowed down, sliding to a stop over the body of its decapitated mate. It leaned over cautiously, inspecting the body of the Ludroth beneath it, sniffing the carved body in search of signs of life. Or, Eleanor suspected, a hint of the scent of whatever killed it.

Eleanor cringed at the sight of the leader of the Ludroths as it leaned over the Ludroth's corpse, inspecting the body. She had been stunned at the size of the Royal Ludroth as it had come around the corner, but had hoped her own paranoia had added to the creature's mass in her eyes, making it seem bigger than what it actually was. But her hopes had been dashed to pieces at the comparison of size between the two creatures next to each other. Levin hadn't been exaggerating the Royal Ludroth's size as she'd hoped. The creature was huge, compared to the size of the Great Jaggis and Qurupecos she'd fought, at least.

A shiver of fear flew up her spine. Just a few minutes ago, she had set her resolve to fight this creature, forcing herself to overcome the fear that had enveloped her. But she could feel her determination waning as she watched the Royal Ludroth lift its head and roar in anger, searching furiously for a sign of whatever had killed his mates.

Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to find Levin smiling encouragingly at her. "You can do this," he told her. "I'm placing my bets on you. I know you won't let me down."

Eleanor suddenly felt a burst of shame overcome her. Here she was, a long-range bowgunner, panicking over a monster she thought… no, _knew_ in her heart she could beat, while Levin, who'd be in the monster's face, had total confidence in her. She shook herself, mentally brushing off the feeling of fear and uncertainty that was bogging her down, before turning and returning a confident grin back to Levin.

Levin laughed softly in return, covering his mouth to avoid being heard by the Royal Ludroth. He gave her a proud glance before turning back to observe the leader of the Ludroths. As he turned away, Eleanor felt a swell of warmth heat up her face from the look of pride she'd received from Levin, but shook it off, uncertain as to the reason.

The Royal Ludroth was crawling up from the creek now, its powerful front legs pulling it across the sand towards the bodies left on the beach. Eleanor tensed up as it reached the bodies, remembering the plan she and Levin had worked out as they'd tossed the bodies into the river. Her bowgun was armed and ready; she lined up the sights as the Royal Ludroth leaned over the body of the first Ludroth he came to, the closest one to her and Levin's hiding place. She could hear, could sense Levin's grip tightening on the hilt of his blade.

The Royal Ludroth's head dipped lower, its snout enlarging as it inhaled the scents around the corpse of the dead Ludroth. In its unprepared state, Eleanor pulled the trigger, the muzzle flashing a bright burst of yellow flame. At the same moment, Levin lurched forward, charging the Royal Ludroth just a fraction of a second after the firing of the round.

The Royal Ludroth barely had time to register the sound of the bowgun firing before the round collided with its bright yellow mane, digging deep into the spongy material just over a foot behind its head. It reared back in surprise at the object digging into its neck, noticing Levin approaching. Its eyes narrowed, and it prepared to roar its challenge of attack.

Then the Crag Shot exploded. The eruption of flame detonated with such force that the Royal Ludroth's head bucked back, flailing around like a ragdoll for a moment. Finally the alpha male managed to regain control, shaking his dazed head to ward off wave of dizziness. By that time, Levin had closed the distance between the two of them to a minimum, and was bringing his great sword over his back and down onto the Royal Ludroth.

Eleanor had to whistle in surprise at the dexterity the Royal Ludroth possessed, sliding its head out of the way at the last moment despite its dazed state. Levin's sword still came down on the alpha male, but only managed to shear off a large chunk of the monster's mane. The Royal Ludroth roared in fury at the pair of them, barking its intent to attack at them as Eleanor dashed out of the tree line, sliding more shots into the bowgun's chamber.

Levin slipped to the Royal Ludroth's side as Eleanor fired several Pierce Shots, catching the creature in the mane. Levin jumped forward, great sword swinging in horizontally to smash into the Royal Ludroth's front legs, but hit only air as the creature used its strength to push itself up onto its hind legs.

Levin twisted awkwardly, trying to recover his momentum and dodge away, when the Royal Ludroth flopped down, its large mass catching Levin slightly and knocking the great sword user backwards into the sand. The Royal Ludroth turned, teeth bared as it prepared to bite down on Levin.

Levin brought up his sword defensively as the Royal Ludroth lunged, the small teeth scratching and gnawing against the bone blade. Levin kicked wildly against the creature's neck, attempting to free his weapon as Eleanor fired rounds at the visible flesh behind the mane. The enraged alpha male continued to tear wildly into Levin's blade, despite the rounds tearing into its body.

The creature groaned in annoyance as it twisted its head, trying to break past the wide body of the sword. With an agitated twist, the Royal Ludroth wrenched the great sword out of its mouth, pulling Levin, who refused to release his weapon, along with it and throwing him across the beach. He leapt to his feet quickly, trying to recover in case the alpha male charged again.

As the Royal Ludroth turned to face Levin, Eleanor fired another Crag round. The blow hit the creature on the back, enveloping it temporarily in flame as the shot erupted. With fury, Royal Ludroth turned back to Eleanor. At the sight of it changing its target, Levin charged forward, intent on keeping its attention off Eleanor.

But Eleanor was suddenly caught by surprise as she loaded more Pierce rounds when the Royal Ludroth coiled back, then leapt through the air at her. She abandoned the shells in her hand, letting them fall to the ground as she dove away wildly from the airborne creature. However, she was unable to move fast enough, the Royal Ludroth's leg colliding with her side, sending her sliding across the sand.

She pushed herself back up to her feet, preparing to jump away in case of another attack, when the Royal Ludroth reared back on its hind legs again. Eleanor was confused for a moment, thinking it was preparing to body slam again, despite nothing being underneath it. But from its mouth it hocked up a large blob of light blue liquid, hurling it at her faster than she could dodge.

She winced, preparing for the impact, when Levin appeared between the two of them, bringing up his sword and blocking the orb from connecting with her. However, while most of the goop slid harmlessly off the side of the blade, some of it had splashed onto Eleanor, and to her dismay began seeping into her skin. She brushed her hand against her skin as quickly as she could, but before she could stop it, mucus had completely been absorbed.

Suddenly she felt a wave of weariness overcome her, as though she hadn't slept in days. It was strange, she didn't feel like falling asleep, she just felt… drained. She tried to get to her feet, but every time she attempted to, her legs began to buckle underneath her. She just couldn't seem to get her strength up to where it should be.

"Did you get hit by any of it?" Levin asked as the Royal Ludroth flopped to the ground, growling at them.

"I… I…" If Eleanor had had the strength, she would have been stunned at the lack of strength she had, even if just for talking. "I think so…" she managed to stammer.

"Well then get away from here!" he told her. "I'll draw its attention until the effects of the mucus wears off."

"I… yeah, ok…" Eleanor forced out, twisting around onto her knees and crawling to her feet. She stumbled forward, wobbling across the sand until she reached a rock outcropping near the tree line, and hid behind it as Levin charged the Royal Ludroth.

Eleanor fumbled numbly with the ammo in her pouch, pulling out Pierce rounds to replace the ones she'd dropped in the sand. She barely registered any feeling at all as she slid the rounds into the chamber, one after the other. She grunted in subdued anger. How did solo hunters put up with this feeling when fighting Royal Ludroths anyway?

She heard yelling and looked up at the battle on the beach, and blinked in surprise as she realized the Royal Ludroth was charging at her, Levin sprinting close behind to catch up. Her mind barely registered the need to get moving, but she managed to slide the cocking mechanism back into place and get up and moving.

Each step seemed like she was wading through quagmire as she ran across the beach. She wasn't sure exactly how fast she was going, but it felt like a crawl to her no matter the speed. Her eyes glanced back to the Royal Ludroth constantly as she ran a circular path on the beach. As it approached the tree line, Eleanor was shocked at the speed at which it turned around, flipping over and aiming at her again before charging straight at her.

Eleanor dove on instinct, trusting her reflexes to do what she knew her numbed senses wouldn't be able to pick up for her. She managed to roll out of the way of the Royal Ludroth's charge, but landed poorly on the sand as she tried to push herself back to her feet. She felt a dull pain rush up her body, and knew she'd be in a world of hurt once the effects of the mucus wore off. She pulled out a potion, drinking it quickly and throwing the used bottle into the sand as the Royal Ludroth skidded to a halt and turned around to charge her again.

Eleanor turned quickly to the side as the Royal Ludroth gained ground on her, cutting out of its path. She passed Levin as she ran as he was pulling out his sword. She glanced back and saw him bring down the blade into the path of the creature. The Royal Ludroth was unable to slow from its rush, but Levin had pulled out his weapon too late to get a solid hit on it, the great sword cutting a deep gouge into the bulk of its tail.

The Royal Ludroth growled in anger at the injury, flipping around yet again when it had gotten far enough away from Levin. Eleanor groaned in frustration as it charged again, directly at her once again.

Suddenly her world flipped over. She grunted in surprise and confusion, finding herself face down in the sand, legs working furiously to get her moving again. She looked down at her feet, and cursed at the sight of one of the dead Ludroth's tails. She had apparently tripped over it when she had her attention on the Royal.

She tried to get back up to her feet, but the effects of the mucus were still sapping her energy, making her want to lie down rather than fight the Royal Ludroth. She slid her bowgun sideways across her back as she forced herself to her knees, taking aim at the charging alpha male, the strap keeping the weapon steady. She fired off a couple rounds as the Royal Ludroth bore down on her, but the enraged creature hardly flinched as they impacted. Eleanor felt fear well up inside of her as the distance between the two of them closed, the large creature intent on running her down as she tried to stand up.

Suddenly, a rush of adrenaline tore through her veins, fiery strength nearly overwhelming her after the lull in vigor than had only moments ago held her down. Without thinking, she lurched forward, her returned strength launching her out of the Royal Ludroth's path and several yards across the beach. With a surge of enthusiasm, she slid several rounds back into her bowgun as she turned back around to face the confused Royal Ludroth, who stood stunned at the apparent vanishing of its target.

With the Royal Ludroth confused, Eleanor had time to aim as it glanced around. Her bowgun's muzzle flashed as it fired, Pierce rounds slicing through the air and stabbing into the creature's forearm and back. It howled in pain, turning to find its aggressor. It coiled back, preparing to leap at her, when Levin caught up with it, bringing down his great sword on the Royal Ludroth's wind leg.

The Royal Ludroth howled at them, completely losing its mind in rage. Levin brought his sword back around, preparing to cut into the creature's side, when it tilted its body away from him. Eleanor saw a flash of recognition light up on Levin's face, only a moment before the Royal Ludroth twisted its entire body around, rolling its entire mass across the ground, smashing into Levin and sending him flying across the sand.

Eleanor rushed forward, continuously firing rounds into the Royal Ludroth's mane, attempting to pull its attention away from Levin, who was attempting to recover himself several yards away from the enraged creature. The shots proved ineffectual, however, as the anger of the Royal Ludroth overrode its reason, allowing it to ignore the pain from the bowgun shots tearing through its spongy mane and piercing into its throat.

The Royal Ludroth turned to Levin as he returned to his feet, coiling back and preparing to lunge. Levin fumbled with his sword dragging in hastily behind him as he moved out of the way. The creature leapt forward, nearly striking Levin despite his motion to get out of the way. With the immediate danger sliding across the beach, Levin pulled out a potion, downing it quickly as the Royal Ludroth turned to lunge again.

Eleanor's hands flew as she slid a shell into the chamber. She lined up the sights and pulled the trigger, igniting a bright flame at the end of the barrel as the shell flew out. The round flew across the beach, striking and sticking on the Royal Ludroth's belly just behind the creature's forelimb. The impact hardly registered on the angered creature's face as it coiled back, preparing to jump at Levin again.

The Crag Shot detonated as the Royal Ludroth's body began to unravel, the force of the blast sending the uncoiling Royal Ludroth toppling over onto its side. The creature flailed as it hit the ground, its fury keeping it from getting back to its feet in a timely manner. Eleanor ejected the cartridge, closing the distance as she slid several Pellet rounds into her bowgun, preparing to unload them on the Royal Ludroth. She saw Levin rushing forward, no doubt planning to take advantage of the creature as it was downed as well.

But as she approached, the Royal Ludroth twisted its head, spotting her. Eleanor had only a moment of realization before it twisted its body around, forgoing its effort to get back to its feet and instead opting to roll in her direction. Eleanor attempted to twist around and dive out of the way, but the Royal Ludroth's speed was overwhelming, and in a fraction of a second the creature was on top of her.

The impact of the Royal Ludroth rolling into her side jarred her bones. A wave of pain smashed against her nerves, making her cry out in agony as the force of the Royal Ludroth slammed her back, sending her flying through the air. She felt as though she'd been hit by a boulder as the world spun around in her vision while she crashed across the beach. She could feel her bowgun poking and jabbing her body as she rolled, the little pieces and parts digging into her armor.

She felt herself slide to a stop in the sand, a dim realization over the pain coursing through her bones and the stabbing pain in the arm the Royal Ludroth had hit. She crawled to her feet as quickly as she could, turning fearfully towards the creature that had struck her, despite the piercing pain lancing up her arms.

The Royal Ludroth had brought itself back to its feet, and was only a few feet away from her, looking down on her. It roared menacingly, its injuries and burn wounds not even making it appear phased. It bore its fangs at her and reared back its head, preparing to clamp down its jaw on her.

Suddenly, it was as though she was in the Qurupeco's cave again. Fear washed over her. She couldn't win like this! The monster was too strong, too aggressive! A strong offensive wouldn't work, she'd have to defend, hide away until the danger was lessened. But the opportunity to do so was gone with the Royal Ludroth hovering over her, ready to strike. She trembled in fear as the Royal Ludroth's neck began to uncoil, its head diving toward her.

A shadow fell between the two of them, deflecting the Royal Ludroth's fangs to the side as it bit down. It shook its head in dizziness from the impact, spotting Levin pulling his sword up defensively between it and Eleanor.

"Get up!" he called to Eleanor. "It's angry, but we have to fight it back!"

"I… I can't," Eleanor stuttered, her fear overwhelming her. "It's too strong. I'll lose if I fight like that."

Levin glanced at her and cursed as the Royal Ludroth snapped at him, butting its head on the blade, trying to get around the wide edge of the great sword. When the creature reared its head back to prepare another lunge, Levin reached into his satchel, pulling out a small ball.

"Close your eyes!" he called out to Eleanor as the Royal Ludroth snapped at him. Eleanor saw him squeeze the ball and toss it at the Royal Ludroth's face. She snapped her eyes closed as the alpha male blinked in surprise.

Eleanor heard a crackling pop, and even behind sealed eyes, a flare of light flashed into her vision. She peeked open her eyes in surprise when she felt Levin grab her by the armor and drag her to her feet. She found herself next to him, the two of them making a break for the tree line. Looking back, she looked back at the Royal Ludroth and found it flailing its head around wildly, pawing its eyes and howling in rage.

"Wh-what was that?" Eleanor asked.

"Flash bomb," Levin replied. "It'll be blinded for a while. But we need to get hidden while we have the chance. If you're in that damn feared state, we definitely won't be able to win without getting badly hurt."

Eleanor suddenly felt angry with herself. Here they were, trying to take down a monster, doing fairly well (as far as she could tell), and now these damn fears of her were interfering and forcing them to run. But even as she tried to force the fears down, the images of falling rocks flashed brightly in her head, strengthening the terror she felt.

The two of them ducked into the bushes that grew thickly just beyond the end of the beach. Levin turned to watch the Royal Ludroth as it recovered, while Eleanor sat up against a tree trunk, shaking her head in frustration at the results of their hunt. She had been so close! So close to getting past the fears that haunted her mind!

"It can see again," Levin told her quietly. "It'll look for us for a while, but going through the forest really is not something it does well. If it comes our way, we can make a break for it. It won't be able to keep up with us if we cut through the forest."

"We're… giving up?" Eleanor asked dejectedly.

Levin sighed. "Seems that way," he replied. "I was hoping to scare it away at least. But the risk of one of us getting hurt during this fight with your fear hindering you is too high to risk fighting the Royal Ludroth in these terms. So we'll back off for now, and come back later when your fears have abated a little bit more."

Anger flared up again in Eleanor, furious at her fears. Why did these fears have to be swirling inside her? Why did they have to hinder her? Dammit, what right did they have to be there!

"No!" she said loudly. "We won't!"

Levin blinked and frowned in confusion. "What? What do you mean?"

Eleanor stood up shakily, forcing down the terrors that tried to bring her back down to her knees. "I won't let these damn fears get the best of me!" she told him, determination growing inside her. "If I don't beat back my fears now, when will I? A month from now? A year? I refuse to be that worthless!"

Levin studied her, even as she forced down the shivers her fears were sliding down her spine. He looked over at the Royal Ludroth, who had recovered, and was tearing across the beach searching for the two hunters. He seemed to be locked into his thoughts, uncertain how to proceed.

Then he grinned at her. "If you put it that way, it doesn't look like we have much of a choice in the matter, does it? I was going to let the Royal live to fight another day, but I suppose today's just as good a time as any to show it who's boss, huh?"

Eleanor's eyes widened in surprise. "You're going to let me fight it?"

"After that little speech of yours? How could I not?"

Eleanor paused for a moment, and then smiled in return. "Good."

"The only issue we have is the Royal's aggression," Levin said, turning to look thoughtfully at the beach. "If we're going to beat this thing, we'll need to hit it so hard it'll forget to be angry at us. It needs to fear us instead."

Eleanor frowned, looking over at the rampaging alpha male, which was tearing around the rocks on the beach, hoping to find the two of them hidden behind them. "How are we going to get it to hold still long enough to hit it that hard, though? The only thing we have that'll stop it is the trap you brought, and you said it was pretty worthless on wet ground. What other options do we have?"

Levin thought for a moment. "Check your ammo bag," he told her. "Do you have any shots on you that could poison or paralyze it?"

Eleanor rifled through her pouch, pulling out three yellow rounds. "Only a few Paralysis Shots," she replied. "I don't really use effect shots like these that often, so I only pack them if there's extra space in my pouch. Sorry."

"We'll need to change that train of thought in the future for bigger monsters like this," Levin sighed. He continued to scan the beach head, trying desperately to find some method of stopping the Royal Ludroth cold.

Then he snapped his fingers. "That'll do it!" he said enthusiastically, reaching into his pouch. "How many Crag shots do you have left?" he asked as he dug through his pack.

Eleanor glanced into her pouch. "Four," she replied. "But they don't faze the Royal Ludroth enough to really knock him senseless. He won't hold still long enough for me to get a good shot at a weak point."

"And if you could get it to hold still?" Levin asked with a grin.

"I could put all four on his face and blow his brains out," Eleanor replied. "But our issue was getting it to hold still in the first place."

"And that's what we'll use this to do," Levin replied, tossing her something from his pack. Eleanor caught it clumsily, taken by surprise, and looked at the object in her hands.

She raised an eyebrow at Levin questioningly. "The shock trap? But I thought it was a bad idea for us to use it in wet areas."

Levin scratched his head sheepishly. "Yeah, I did. That's why I'll be the one taking all the risk in this plan."

"What risk?" Eleanor asked nervously. "All you have to do is get the Royal Ludroth to step on the trap, don't you?"

Levin sighed. "Not good enough this time," he replied. "No way the Royal's gonna give us enough time to plant the thing, and it's not dumb enough to run right into a trap it sees us plant. The only way we're gonna get the Shock trap to work is to… increase its area of effect."

Eleanor frowned in confusion, looking over the beach. Then it was like the figurative light bulb had gone off over her head. "The creek. You're going to set off the trap while the Royal Ludroth is in the creek. Then it'll affect it no matter if it doesn't step over it."

"You got it."

"But how are you going to get it into… wait." Eleanor shot a terrified glance at Levin. "You can't be serious."

Levin shrugged nonchalantly, despite signs of fear and uncertainty flickering across his face. "I've told you before, Ellie. When partnered with a bowgunner, a melee fighter generally acts as an aggressor to pull a monster's attention. To put it in a less flattering light, I'm the bait and you're hook."

"Are you insane?" Eleanor yelled. She clamped a hand over her mouth when the Royal Ludroth's head snapped their direction, its ears straining to find the location of the outburst. The two of them slid behind a pair of tree trunks, obscuring the creature's view of them. Eleanor edged around the side of the trunk, peeking out as the alpha male waited for a sign of movement. Eventually it shrugged off the sound, turning back to the rocky area in front of it.

Eleanor glared at Levin, and opened her mouth to talk him down, but he just shook his head, cutting her off. "It's got to be done if we want to beat this thing, Ellie," he told her. "Besides, we're members of the Lost, remember? It's like the people in this world are saying, insanity runs in our blood."

"You're asking to get yourself killed," Eleanor hissed.

"Maybe," Levin replied. "But I'm putting my faith in the belief that'll you'll keep me alive. I'll lead the Royal into the creek, and after I get out but before it does, you activate the Shock trap and throw it in. The Royal'll get shocked, and you'll have a clear shot at its head."

The uncertainty in Eleanor began creeping back into her head, fear starting to well up inside her again. "But what if I…"

"No time for that now," Levin cut her off, pointing at the beach. The Royal Ludroth had finally noticed their footprints in the sand next to the tree line, and was making a bee line their way. "Remember, I'm counting on you!"

Before Eleanor could muster a reply, Levin turned and shot out of the trees onto the beach, catching the Royal Ludroth by surprise. The alpha male was only stunned for a moment, however, and lurched forward, intent on running the great sword user down. It growled in rage as sand flew up behind it from its claws.

Eleanor stood dumbfounded for just a moment as the hunter and monster tore across the beach, before snapping herself back into focus and breaking out of the forest to tail behind them. She tightened her grip on the trap in her hands as she ran, attempting to close the wide gap between herself and the Royal Ludroth that had opened in her moment of hesitation.

Levin hit the water of the stream at a near sprint, rapidly losing speed as he waded through the water. The Royal Ludroth, however, barely slowed as it reached the stream, kicking up an enormous splash of water on both sides as it tore through the water. In its element, it closed the distance between itself and Levin in only a few moments. It reared back to try and sink its teeth into Levin.

But Levin heard it coming, jumping to the side as the creature's jaw clamped down. The alpha male's momentum kept it going past Levin, its claws tearing against the slick rocks and sand sitting on the creek bed. It skidded for a few feet before its balance gave out and it flopped forward, legs sprawled out and head and neck lying on the ground. Eleanor couldn't be certain, but she figured the Royal Ludroth was just over halfway towards the other side of the creek.

Levin wrenched himself out of the water, his dull yellow armor soaked through with water, and with a glance back at the alpha male, began sloshing his way back to Eleanor's side of the creek. The Royal Ludroth twisted its head around at the sound, and with a growl, pushed itself upright and twisted around to begin the chase again.

Eleanor fumbled with the Shock trap, twisting the dial on top to activate it as she closed in on the creek. With a click, the dial snapped into the activated position, siphoning energy from the Lagiacrus crystals inside. The trap hummed as the energy inside built up.

Eleanor skidded to a halt a couple yards from the creek, watching desperately as Levin dragged his feet through the water. The Royal Ludroth howled in rage at the sight of both the hunters in his line of vision, and pitched forward into a charge, tearing through the water. Eleanor raised the trap, holding it awkwardly, clutching the edge like a Frisbee.

A flash of uncertainty tore through her. What if she threw it too early? Levin would be shocked, and would no doubt fall face first into the water, possibly drowning if the paralysis affected him too much. What if she threw it too late? The Royal Ludroth would charge its way out of the creek, unaffected by the shock trap in the water. What if? What if? What if?

No! Don't accept those options! There's only one course of action!

She felt a rush of adrenaline, and her vision narrowed. She could see the Royal Ludroth tearing after Levin, and Levin rushing desperately for dry land only a few feet away. Everything else in the surroundings dimmed in her vision. She felt the sand sift under her weight as she shifted her center of mass, preparing to throw. The rest of the beach was of no consequence. She knew she was acting in a risky manner, allowing herself to succumb to the strange over focused feeling. But all that mattered right now was stopping the Royal Ludroth cold.

The distance between Levin and dry land closed. When he was only a foot away from the sand, Eleanor twisted her arm, throwing the spinning trap through the air. It glided over the sand, wobbling on the breeze, before zipping past Levin and splashing into the water.

Bursts of light and pops of electricity spiderwebbed out from the point of impact, sending thousands of volts of electricity through the water. The charge caught the Royal Ludroth first, the charge tearing through its body a puling a strangled and pained cry from the creature. The once charging alpha male spasmed and tripped over itself, falling headfirst into the charged water. It howled in pain as it twitched violently in the water, unable to move.

Already Eleanor's hands were sliding the first of her remaining Crag shots into her bowgun's chamber. But even as she did it, worry overwhelmed her, and she risked a glance in Levin's direction, afraid that she'd thrown too early and paralyzed Levin as well. But a wave of relief swept over her when she spotted him panting several yards away. He glanced at her, no doubt wondering if she was firing yet, forcing her back into focus. She lined up her sights, allowing the imaginary trajectory of her shot to appear in her vision.

She squeezed the trigger, letting the shot fly across the beach and water and impacting on the Royal Ludroth's mane, half a foot from its face. Eleanor was already ejecting the used cartridge and pulling the next one out of her pack as the shot detonated, a blast of flame shredding the Royal Ludroth's mane to pieces and sending scorching head across its head. It yelped in agony as another Crag shot was locked into the chamber. The sights were lined up again as the alpha male twitched, still unable to move.

The bowgun fired again, and yet another eruption of fire detonated near the Royal Ludroth's face, making it cry out again in pain. And again Eleanor reloaded, sliding another Crag round into the chamber.

The remaining two rounds fired within only moments of each other, each of them blasting more and more of the spongy material from the Royal Ludroth's mane. As the final shot erupted, Eleanor lowered the sights on her bowgun, trying to gaze through the dark smoke that was billowing up from the Royal Ludroth's burning mane.

She cursed in exasperation when the smoke cleared, revealing the Royal Ludroth, steaming and smoking and still twitching sporadically, but certainly still alive.

"What does it take to kill this thing!" she yelled, followed closely by another string of swears.

"Not much more, I think," Levin replied. "Just keep hitting it! Try to get it down before the trap burns out!"

But as Eleanor began sliding a round of Pierce shells into the chamber, she looked up at a sudden silence in the area. With a jolt of realization, she noticed that the crackling and popping of the current through the water had suddenly stopped. Her eyes snapped over to the Royal Ludroth, and a twinge of fear flickered through her as the alpha male straightened up from its formerly crumpled position and roared at them in rage.

But it was tired, that was certain. Its breathing was heavy and its eyes were slightly unfocused, hardly able to keep its attention on either of them. She swore she saw it glancing downstream, and wondered if it was thinking about making a break for it. But Eleanor flinched back as the creature lurched forward, charging straight for Levin, apparently deciding to continue its attack on the two hunters.

"I've got this," he told her, pulling out his great sword and swinging it behind him as the Royal Ludroth headed his way. Eleanor blinked in surprise as the red glow she'd seen before began to spread from Levin's sword and across his body as his muscles tightened, preparing to swing.

But as the Royal Ludroth picked up speed, Eleanor caught a glimmer of nervousness sweep over Levin's face. She realized that if the alpha male was moving too quickly when it reached Levin, the sheer inertia of its size would barrel it into the great sword user even if he brought the sword down to kill it.

Her mind raced, trying to think of a way to slow the Royal Ludroth down. Then a thought hit her, and her hands flew into her ammo pouch, pulling out the remaining Para shots she had available and quickly sliding them into the chamber of her bowgun. She quickly took aim, not bothering to aim for the head, but rather the legs of the beast. The muzzle flashed.

The shot impacted only a couple inches behind the Royal Ludroth's foreleg. Eleanor grinned in triumph as the shot took partial effect and the alpha male stumbled, the serum inside the shot causing the nerves in its leg to tighten and spasm. But still the Royal Ludroth continued to charge, hardly phased due to its exhaustion.

She fired again and yet again, her two remaining Para shots striking the Royal Ludroth's hind leg that was in her vision. Once again, the Royal Ludroth bucked, the muscles in its leg giving way underneath it. But it was slowing down, Eleanor noted with relief. What had been a charge at first was slowing to a crawl. Admittedly, it was a very quick crawl, considering the size of the alpha male, but still a crawl nonetheless.

Levin grinned as the speed of the creature dropped, and his grip tightened as the Royal Ludroth got closer, and when the distance was at the very closest he could risk, he roared in effort, bringing the great sword over his back.

But a flash of realization seemed to flicker over the Royal Ludroth's face, and before the last gap could be closed, it twisted around as it had before, neatly pulling a complete turnaround only a couple yards away from Levin. However, it wasn't enough to completely escape Levin's swing, and the mass of metal and bone sunk into the rubbery hide of the creature's tail as it whipped around behind it.

The Royal Ludroth howled in pain as the blade tore completely through its tail. With a neat arc, the grey tip of the alpha male's tail disconnected, flying through the air and landing with a thump in the sand. Blood spurted from the wound and the sand was soon speckled with red. With a twisting glance at its latest injury, the rage vanished from the Royal Ludroth's howl and was replaced entirely by fear. With a pant of terror, it took off with a speed Eleanor thought it shouldn't have had in it, running full tilt for the creek bed and downstream.

"It's making a break for it!" Levin yelled, wrenching his great sword out of the sand as the Royal Ludroth hit the water. "Shoot it, before it gets away!"

"Got it!" Eleanor replied, sliding Pierce rounds into the chamber and opening fire. Several rounds connected with the Royal Ludroth's body, but the last couple rounds ricocheted of the trees that stood near the bank as it lurched around the bend.

"After it!" Levin called, swinging his great sword onto his back and running across the beach. Eleanor slid her bowgun onto her back and tailed after him.

Both of them were forced to run as fast as they could just to keep pace with the Royal Ludroth as it ran in terror away from the two of them. Eleanor's hands always seemed to leap towards the handle of her bowgun as the Royal Ludroth turned the corners, hoping the change in direction would slow it down enough for her to get a couple clear shots at the creature's side. But the alpha male showed tremendous dexterity, despite its mass and injuries, and took the turns at such ridiculous speeds that a wall of water would splash up against the opposite bank, uprooting any unfortunate shrubbery that had grown close to the water.

As they rounded a bend, the two hunters cursed loudly at the sight of the wide river straight ahead. The Royal Ludroth still had almost thirty yards lead on them, and at the sight of the river, it seemed to speed up even further at the thought of escape into the water. Knowing she wouldn't have another chance, Eleanor swung her bowgun around, Pierce rounds firing at the desperate creature. Several of the shots punctured the Royal Ludroth's hide, but it refused to slow.

At ten yards away from the river, the Royal Ludroth dropped, lowering its body into a slide, smoothly gliding into the churning water and disappearing under the waves in a blink of an eye.

The two hunters continued running until they reached the river bank, looking hopefully into the water for some sign of the running monster. All they received for their effort was the quick glimpse of the Royal Ludroth's mane breaking the water several dozen yards out for a brief moment, before it dipped under the water permanently.

"Damn it!" Eleanor swore. "We were so close!"

"No kidding," Levin sighed, shaking his head. "It always sucks when you get really close to finishing a mission, only to get the rug pulled out from under you."

She gazed downriver in irritation. "I suppose chasing it is out of the question."

"Afraid so," Levin replied. "On foot we stand a chance of at least keeping up, but the water is its territory. We don't stand a chance catching it down there if it doesn't want us to. If we knew the location of the Ludroth nest we could hunt it down there, but apparently no one in the village has been able to find it for the last several generations."

Eleanor sunk down, flopping weakly into the sand at the edge of the river's edge. She glared angrily at the sky, mentally berating herself for letting the Royal Ludroth escape. Only a few more shots and maybe it would've dropped. Maybe.

"Nice work, by the way."

Eleanor glanced over at Levin. "What do you mean?" she asked. "The Royal Ludroth got away."

"True, but our goal wasn't to kill it, remember? Just ward it off from the area. And I think that after that beating, it won't be returning to this part of the forest for a long time."

He grinned at her and laughed. "Besides, we took this mission to get you over your fears. And after facing down the Royal with that risky maneuver we pulled earlier, I think it's safe to say you've gotten past them for the most part."

Eleanor blinked, thinking back. She realized Levin might be right. "I wasn't the one being chased by the… Royal, though," she admitted. "Can we really say I'm doing better if I wasn't the one in danger?"

"Sure," Levin replied. "It's far easier to put yourself in danger than it is to be trusted with someone else's safety, in my opinion at least. You times that trap throw perfectly, despite the risk of messing up and missing our opportunity. And that trick slowing it down with the Para shots? Freaking genius. No hesitant hunter could've pulled that off with such little time."

Eleanor found herself grinning under the wave of praise. "Maybe you're right," she said, getting back to her feet. "With praise like that, I feel like a could take down a dozen Great Jaggis right now."

"Don't jinx us," Levin said with a smile. "We've still got the hike back to Boma. If you tempt fate like that, we're bound to run into an annoyance for sure."

"Fine, fine," Eleanor said, waving him off. "So we're just going to head back? I feel kinda bad heading back empty handed."

"We'll head back up the creek and grab the Royal's tail, then," Levin said. "That'll make something nice to hang on your wall."

"You could use it more," Eleanor replied as they began walking. "I had more in my pack when I got to the village than you do right now in that minimalist's hole you live in."

Levin laughed loudly as they continued their walk upstream.

* * *

"Is this punishment for something?" Eleanor groaned as she tore through the trees with her hunting knife. "I thought I'd done well today."

Levin hoisted the drooping Royal Ludroth tail back onto a sturdy location over his shoulder and laughed. "Just consider this bonus training for a job well done. Navigation is a useful skill for any hunter, and if you're going to be living in this area for your apprenticeship, you're going to need to learn the area sooner or later. That's why you're leading the way back and I'm just carrying our spoils of war."

"You're an ass," Eleanor growled, pulling another laugh out of Levin.

With a flash of light, the two hunters strode out of the forest into a wide clearing. Eleanor blinked as the evening sun sent glaring light into her eyes. "At least we're going the right way. If nothing else, I know Boma's west of here."

"Well that's something," Levin grinned. "Wonder what'll happen when we get to the ocean, though?"

"Oh shut up," Eleanor grumbled as they started across the field.

Eleanor didn't mention it at first, but as they walked across the field, she couldn't help but feel that there was something inherently wrong with the area they were in. When she glanced back to Levin, her unease was clarified when she spotted Levin hide a grimace with a false grin. She knew something was amiss, but for the life of her she couldn't tell what it was.

The trees were rustling like normal. There weren't any large footprints on the ground that she could make out. None of the foliage looked strange or different. There wasn't any smoke or ominous sights in the distance. She couldn't hear any large monsters approaching…

Then it hit her. She couldn't just not hear anything coming; she didn't hear anything at all. Aside from the rustling of the trees and grass, there wasn't any sounds coming from the forest at all. No sounds of Kelbi, birds, or even Aptonoth in the distance. There were no living creatures in the area at all.

In the dead silence, her ears perked up at the sound of a thumping in the distance. She stopped where she stood, just over halfway through the field, focusing on the sound to determine what it was. It was like a long-resonating drum, beating continuously in the distance. And it was growing louder.

As the sound grew, she realized it wasn't the sound of a drum, but more closely resembled the flap of wings. Her mind immediately snapped to the memory of the Qurupecos she'd helped slay, but this was a deeper resounding thump of wings. Belonging to something… bigger?

She turned to Levin to get his thoughts on the sound, and froze at the look of fear on his face. He wasn't even trying to cover it up.

"We're in trouble," he said quietly. Without a second thought, he grabbed her by the shoulder of her armor and began running towards the tree line. "Run!" he yelled as the thumping flap of wings grew louder, seeming to be honing in on them. The two hunters sprinted for the safety of the trees, trying to close the last twenty yards as the sound of wings grew ever louder.

An enormous shadow appeared in Eleanor's peripheral vision, but before she could turn to look in the direction to see what it was, a blast of heat blew her and Levin off their feet and falling gracelessly onto their backs. The two hunters rolled to their feet, only to find a wall of bright flames cutting off their path into the trees. Eleanor glanced up at the sky, catching a dark figure circle around on the horizon, its features faded by the light of the setting sun.

"This way!" Levin called, dropping the Royal Ludroth tail and pulling her towards the far edge of the flames. But as they approached, the large shape swooped over again, and a line of flame erupted in their path, blocking their escape. Eleanor glanced up to try and make out what the creature was but was blasted back by a powerful gust of wind as it flew overhead, knocking her to the ground yet again.

Black smoke billowed into the sky, blotting out the shape of the creature as it continued to circle. The only way they could determine its location was the powerful flaps of the creature's wings. A growl echoed from the wall of flames closest to them and they immediately turned toward it, prepared to dive away from any attack.

But the ground shook under them as a thunderous thump slammed behind them in the middle of the field. The two quickly turned, finding themselves face to face with the creature itself. Bright green scales glittered in the light of the fire, and giant wings spanned across at least a dozen yards as the monster pulled them in from flight. It kicked its feet back and Eleanor saw the creature's chest expand.

Eleanor's vision blurred as the monster released a powerful roar. Her hands instinctively flashed to her ears, desperate to stop the vibrations that were tearing through her head. Panic began to well up inside her at the sound, and visions of a destroyed building back in her own world appeared in her head. She began to hyperventilate as the echo of the roar died away, fear welling up.

"A Rathian," she heard Levin whisper in dread. "We're screwed."

* * *

**Author's Note: Please Review!**

**Ok wow that took a long time. I'm not going to be giving time estimates from here on in due to the obnoxious about of time I'm giving to my classes this semester. I'll keep the story going, sure, but they'll be sporadic. Apologies. Maybe I'll be able to do some writing during spring break, but no promises. **

**So a cliffhanger. My first, I think. I hope you like it!**

**Reading: The Evolutionary Void by Peter F. Hamilton; I Am Legend by Richard Matheson  
Playing: Bioshock, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance  
Listening: Beirut, Daft Punk**


	9. Season of the Valley of Flowers

Season of the Valley of Flowers

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. All the characters in this story are mine._

With a twitch of its leg and a burst of speed, the deep green dragon called the Rathian lurched forward, charging the two hunters, intent on crushing them beneath its bulk.

Levin began to lean to the side in order to dive away, but he spotted Ellie out of the corner of his eye, motionless. He twisted around, straining every muscle he had, and lunged at her, tackling her to the ground as the Rathian thundered past, leaving a line of large three-toed footprints where the two of them once stood.

Levin grabbed Ellie by the shoulders of her armor and dragged her back to her feet. He grabbed her arm and prepared to run, but a sudden flash of emotion flickered across her face, making Levin pause for a moment. He glanced over at her, trying to determine what he'd seen.

"I can't," she whispered quietly.

Levin frowned in confusion. "Can't what?" he asked, pulling her towards a break in the flames. He stumbled to a stop when Ellie suddenly ripped her arm out of Levin's grasp.

"I can't run away!" she yelled. "Not again! I won't let this damn dragon terrify me anymore!"

Levin groaned in frustration. "You can deal with it later. Now's not a good time." He reached in to grab her arm again when one of her fists snapped up from her side, clocking him in a swift hook to the jaw.

Stars dotted his eyes as he flopped backwards onto his backside, stunned for a moment by sheer surprise of being attacked by Ellie. As he shook off the dancing lights in his eyes, he saw Ellie drawing out her bowgun and sliding shots into the chamber as the Rathian turned around from where it had stopped to face them again. He jolted to his feet when he realized what was happening.

"Are you nuts?" he screamed at her. "You can't possibly fight it right now! You're not good enough yet!"

"Shut the hell up!" she yelled back. "I'm going to kill this thing! I have to!"

"You're insane! You're still tired from the Royal Ludroth battle, and you don't have nearly enough ammo to take down a Rathian right now! It'll wipe the floor with you!"

With a growl of challenge, the Rathian charged again, and the two hunters dived out of the way. Levin had to skid to a stop after nearly rolling into the wall of fire the Rathian had generously left around the edge of the field. Ellie stood up next to him, stepping forward and firing a group of Pierce rounds into the Rathian's legs.

"I don't care! I have to fight it!" she replied, ejecting the spent shells and sliding more rounds into the chamber.

"The hell you do!" Levin growled, reaching forward to grab her shoulder and pull her away.

With a spin, Ellie dodged out of his grasp, and in the same motion, brought the butt of her bowgun around, slamming it into Levin's gut. He dropped to his knees, winded and gasping as Ellie turned and fired again at the Rathian's flank.

"If you're not going to help me, then get the hell out of my way!" Ellie growled as the Rathian yowled at her in anger.

Levin glanced over at the Rathian, then gasped and dropped to the ground as the Rathian inhaled and spat out a blast of flame at the two hunters. Eleanor sidestepped out of the way of the approaching orb of fire, and Levin winced as the heat of the fireball soared over his head, singing the hairs on the back of his head.

"Damn it!" he cursed as Ellie charged forward, blasting the Rathian's tough skin with Pierce shots. Each shell, while sometimes managing to break through the skin on the Rathian's less guarded extremities, were all easily deflected by the thick scales that coated the creature's hide.

He pushed himself up off the ground as the Rathian lunged for Ellie, snapping at her with its enormous maw. Ellie ducked underneath the attack, sliding under the Rathian's legs while ejecting the Pierce cartridges and loading new ones. With a burst of rapid fire, she unloaded a group of Pellet shots into the Rathian's underbelly, earning a growl of irritated anger from the dragon.

Levin had to admit that Ellie's maneuver had been quite impressive, but he also knew that being underneath a Rathian was certainly not as safe a place as it seemed. He rushed forward yelling a battle cry to get the Rathian's attention before it could get a hold on Ellie underneath it.

As the Pellet shells where popped out of the chamber, Ellie hurried to get out from under the Rathian as it twisted its head to snap as the bowgun user. But Levin cringed in fear as the Rathian did as he expected, and with a turn of its massive frame, brought its tail around in a spin, smashing the jagged spikes at the end into Ellie's side and sending her sprawling across the field.

Levin quickly ran over to her as she tried to pick herself up off the ground, wobbling slightly from the impact. He pulled her back to her feet, and then quickly yanked her to the side as the dragon blasted another fireball at them, blowing a large hole in a tree on the other side of the wall of flame. He quickly shoved a potion into her hands, nearly forcing it down her throat as the Rathian shook away the flames that still spewed from its gullet.

"Don't just charge in!" he roared at her, keeping her behind him and holding up his sword defensively. She pulled back an arm to swing at him again, but he grabbed her arm and shoved her back. "If you're going to force us into a suicidal fight, you might as well do it right to keep yourself alive as long as possible! I'll pull its attention, you fire from a distance!"

"I thought you said this was a bad idea," Ellie accused.

"It's a terrible idea!" Levin replied sharply. "But I'm not about to run away and let you get burnt to charcoal just because you felt some foolish need for revenge, despite the poor circumstances."

"How noble of you," Ellie said sarcastically.

"Oh shut up. I plan on beating some sense into you if we survive this."

At the sight of both hunters preparing themselves to fight, the Rathian growled enthusiastically. With a stamp of its feet, it took a deep breath and released another ear-pounding roar that shook the trees around the field. Levin and Ellie both flinched, bringing up their hands to block out the roar that rattled their bones. At the end of the roar, the Rathian dropped down and charged forward, forcing the two hunters to dive away.

Jumping back to his feet, Levin quickly pulled an about-face as the Rathian slid to a stop over the waving grass. He charged forward, sword in motion, and brought his blade around to tear into the Rathian's powerful legs. But with an echoing clang, his weapon ricocheted off the Rathian's thick plated skin, sending his heavy sword angled upward and back over his head.

He flailed wildly, attempting to recover his balance as the Rathian turned in irritation at the feeling of something striking it. It swung an unbalanced kick at Levin, knocking him on backwards, then reared back its head to snap at him with its large teeth. Levin swung up his blade, holding it awkwardly between his torso and the Rathian's jaw as she snapped down on it, sending a flash of sparks onto his armor as she gnawed on the bone and metal blade. The force of the Rathian's lunge knocked Levin backwards, shoving him back foot by foot as the dragon attempted to chew its way past the hulking weapon.

Levin swore as he was abruptly pulled forwards and upwards, the Rathian apparently deciding to adjust its strategy by yanking the great sword out of his hands, effectively leaving him powerless and defenseless. But with his grip on the great sword as tight as it had been forcing back the Rathian's shoves, Levin was carried along with his sword, his feet being lifted entirely off the ground as the dragon swung around, trying to shake him off.

Then a flash of motion shot between the two of them, and a loud clang rang in Levin's ears as a shot glanced off the plates on the Rathian's snout. The creature shook its head in pain, opening its jaw to howl in anger. Levin flopped to the ground in a heap as several more shots ricocheted across the Rathian's face, forcing it to swing its wings forward, blocking the rounds with its large leathery hide. Levin quickly pushed himself to his feet, swinging his sword over his back and pulling back a distance from the dragon.

The Rathian howled at Ellie in anger as the last Pierce round was fired and the shells were ejected. It twisted to face Ellie, then fired a fireball at the bowgun user, forcing Ellie to dive away to avoid the burning projectile.

Levin charged forward, bringing his sword over his back to swing it down onto the Rathian's head. But the dragon saw it coming, and with a beat of its wings, launched itself up into the air. The blast of wind from the wings caught Levin off guard, sending him toppling backwards to the ground as the Rathian took to the air.

He heard Ellie firing as he jumped back to his feet, the loud ringing of shots hitting plates echoing in time across the field. With a speed Levin thought impossible, the hovering Rathian skimmed across the field toward Ellie, its spiked tail bobbing only a few inched over the ground. Realizing the threat, Ellie slung her bowgun back over her shoulder as the Rathian closed the distance between the two in only a moment.

The Rathian twisted in the air as Ellie ran, tailing close behind as she tried to duck and weave across the grasses. With a quick turn, however, Ellie completely turned around, diving directly underneath the Rathian as it flew over her. The Rathian halted in confusion, hovering momentarily in the same spot, attempting to twist around and see where Ellie had gone.

As it searched, Levin charged forward, while Ellie quickly loaded her bowgun. Right as the Rathian spotted her, she brought up her bowgun, rapid-firing three rounds of Pellet shot into the Rathian's underbelly. The dragon howled in anger, twisting around to get Ellie back into her sights, but the nimble bowgun user, leapt underneath the Rathian again, once again ending up behind it and out of sight.

The dragon twisted around in anger, attempting to find the little annoyance beneath her as Ellie pelted it with Pellet shots. With a bay of frustration, the Rathian increased the speed of its flapping, raising its height above the ground another yard or so before twisting around in search of the irksome bowgunner. Ellie fired again, once again behind the flying Rathian. Suddenly, Levin spotted the Rathian slowing the speed of its wings.

"Get out from under it!" he called out, but too late. With a loud slam, the Rathian dropped out of the sky, indenting the earth underneath its feet upon impact. The concussive force sent out a blast of wind all on its own, sending Ellie skidding backwards from the Rathian, shielding her face as she attempted to recover her balance. She grabbed the handle of her bowgun, attempting to fire off a couple more shots before the Rathian turned to face her.

But without a moment's hesitation from hitting the ground, the Rathian had begun twisting around, its spiked tail hurling through the air in a circle. Ellie barely had a fraction of a second to realize what was happening before the heavy hulk of bone and spikes smashed into her right side, sending her hurtling across the field towards Levin.

Levin slid to a stop, holding out his arms as Ellie's flailing body smashed into him, sprawling both of the hunters on the ground over twenty yards away from the Rathian. Levin rolled to his feet, winded, and rushed over to where Ellie lay battered and bleeding. She lay on her stomach, a small line of blood oozing across the grass next to her. Her bowgun was somehow still in one piece, the sling twisted around Ellie's left hand. Levin flipped her over, panicking, and winced as the sight of her.

Her right arm was broken. He wasn't a doctor or even slightly trained, but limbs were certainly not meant to be bent and bruised as Ellie's were. A large gash had been opened on the arm as well, allowing a steady stream of blood to drip down her arm onto the ground. Her eyes were open, pulling Levin's attention to them, but they were glazed over and unresponsive. A small gash above her left eye just below the hairline was open, letting out far more blood than Levin thought was reasonable for such a small wound.

He quickly leaned forward, fear overcoming him, placing his ear near her mouth. He sighed in relief when he heard her breathing, but feeling her throat, he found her pulse slow and weak. He pulled a potion out his pack and gingerly poured it into her mouth, being careful to slow down when she coughed weakly.

The potion dropped to the ground as a powerful roar tore across the field. Levin turned and cursed himself. He'd nearly forgotten about the Rathian. The large creature was letting loose a victory roar, judging by the prideful stance the Rathian held itself in. Rage overwhelmed Levin as the Rathian ended its roar, giving him a superior look and sauntering towards him. Sauntering!

Levin turned around, quickly removing the sling from the bowgun and tightly tying Ellie's broken arm to her side to prevent it from moving. He poured another potion down her throat for good measure, despite feeling the rumble of the ground grow stronger as the Rathian slowly approached.

Content he'd done his best to help her with what little he had to work with, he lay her down on the ground as gently as he could and got to his feet. Fury coursed through him as he turned to the Rathian. The dragon stopped, surprised by the look in Levin's eyes.

"Damn monster," he hissed under his breath. The Rathian's eyes narrowed as it stared at him, before it began walking towards him again, unfazed by the show of aggression. Levin glared at the creature, striding forward to meet it. He could've sworn the dragon grinned at him, amused by his foolish confidence.

But Levin had no confidence. Not about beating the Rathian at least. At most, he knew the best he could do would be to keep the thing away from Ellie until some help showed up. _If_ help showed up. They couldn't be too many miles from Boma, Levin figured, and the smoke from the flames had to be pretty visible from a distance by now. Not to mention that a Rath's roar could carry several miles on a good day.

He clenched his fist in rage. He may not be strong enough to kill the Rathian yet, but he was sure as hell going to give it the best beating he could before help showed up or he bit the dust. His hand slid up to the hilt of his sword as the distance between him and the Rathian closed to only a few yards. With a huff of satisfaction at an easy kill, the Rathian inhaled, preparing to spit a fireball that would no doubt roast Levin alive.

Or it would've if it had left the Rathian's mouth.

With a speed that even surprised Levin, he swung his sword around, twisting it as it swung and bringing the flat edge forward to create a wide barrier between the beast's mouth and Levin. But rather than shielding against the attack, Levin placed his left hand on the flat of the blade and leapt forward, smashing into the Rathian's nose just as the fireball left its gullet. The fireball detonated on impact with the blade, while still inside the Rathian's mouth, erupting in a burst of flame that sent Levin staggering back.

But looking up, Levin saw that the dragon he fought was certainly the worse for the wear from the detonation, the blast firing a concussive force through its skull and rattling its brainpan. The Rathian staggered, dazed and confused from the blast as Levin swung his sword behind him.

A surge of violent anger seeped through him as he called on the power of the weapon he held. He still wasn't sure how the blade was able to strengthen its downward strike during a fight. But he did know how to activate the ability: rage, anger, fury, whatever you wish to call it. And he certainly had plenty of that right now.

The power surged through him, intensifying in a mysterious red glow that seared out of the blade's hilt and through his body. He felt his anger peaking, and with a roar of anger, brought the blade down on the Rathian's head.

He caught it right between the eyes, where the slope of the scales wouldn't glance his blade off to the sides. Several scales cracked and shattered from the blow, and the force of the impact brought the Rathian's whole head down, its neck twisting as its jaw smashed into the ground. It howled in anger and pain, rearing its head up.

The sudden motion caught Levin off guard, his sword suddenly flying up and over his head and smashing into the ground behind him. He twisted to pull it back up when the Rathian let loose an ear-splitting roar from right behind him. Stars danced in his eyes as his hands flew to his ears, trying to block out the deafening sound.

The sound stopped, and Levin twisted, fearfully trying to pull his sword into a defensive position. He managed to catch a glimpse of the Rathian's backside a moment before the creature's jagged tail slammed into his blade, sending him skidding across the grass. He stamped his feet down to recover his balance, grabbing his blade and swinging it over his back as the Rathian turned to face him and spit a trio of fireballs at him.

He ducked away from the first ball, nearly got hit by the second, and felt the tips of his jacket catch fire as the third flew past. The Rathian howled in anger as Levin pulled himself up, swinging his sword forward defensively to repel any extra fireballs that might come his way.

With a growl, the dragon pawed the ground, then leapt forward, opting to charge the great sword user rather than let him dance around the fireballs. Levin leapt away, rolling across the dirt as the dragon, thundered past. He pulled up his blade, prepared for another rush. The Rathian turned and charged again and Levin dove.

He immediately regretted his decision. The Rathian skidded to a halt just short of where it would have struck Levin, and immediately twisted to face him. Levin was still getting back to his feet, and twisted to get his sword up to block. However, the dragon lifted and spread its wing, and with a powerful beat and using a level of aerial skill Levin didn't think they had, pulled a complete standing backflip.

Levin didn't even realize what it was doing until the spines of the Rathian's tail clipped his blade, pulling it up and out of Levin's line of defense. Levin had a fraction of a second to flinch before the spikes of the Rathian's tail tore into his chest and flipped him up and across the field.

Pain ripped through his body as he slammed into the ground. He clutched his chest in pain as his great sword flew over him, impaling the ground several yards behind him and sticking straight up out of the earth. He coughed, spitting up blood and grasped for his pouch, desperate to drink a potion and dull the searing pain that ached from his chest. He suddenly gasped as the feeling of pain was then accompanied by a chilling cold, making him remember that the Rathian's tail barbs had poison in them.

With a twinge of fear, he heard the Rathian drop out of the sky, landing loudly on the ground. His hands fumbled with the buttons on the pouch, desperately trying to get something to save himself with. The Rathian strode over to him, apparently no longer glorifying itself with a saunter, but rather intent on killing him as quickly as it could.

The button of the pouch slid open, and the contents of his pouch poured out, clattering onto the ground. He grasped for his potions and antidotes, a few inches away from his hands, when another wave of pain washed over him, making him seize up, knocking the bottles even farther away from him.

A twinge of despair flew through Levin as the Rathian stopped a couple yards away from him. He could feel its hot breath on him as it studied him. He looked up weakly at it; saw it glaring at his unpityingly. It snorted a conclusive huff, and Levin saw a light flare up in the back of the Rathian's throat.

"Help," he coughed weakly. "Someone help."

**Pathetic.**

Levin blinked. Was that the Rathian? Could Rathians talk? And it was adding insult to injury. Lovely. Or maybe he was going crazy…

**I expected more from you, boy. Have you forgotten me already? Remember, it was I that broke you.**

"What?" he gasped. "Who…"

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that, Miss Dragon."

Levin frowned in confusion as a boulder flew out of nowhere, smashing into the Rathian's head and splintering the scales the glittered on the creature's face. A shower of scale fragment flew into air as the dragon went toppling over onto the ground. The boulder stopped in midair and pulled back. Levin blinked in surprise and shook his head.

"Are you going to lay there all day, Levin? I'd hate to think I lost one of my little apprentices to something like a Rathian."

Levin looked up again and realized his vision was blurred, most likely from the pain. He forced himself to focus, and realized that an enormous mass of blue scales stood over him, holding not a boulder, but a giant monster fang.

Levin began to laugh weakly in realization. "Marshall. You old bastard, what took you so long? Did your back give out on you on the way here? Took a nap, perhaps?"

A grin showed under the slits of the Lagiacrus helm. "Cracking jokes at a time like this, are we, apprentice? Maybe I should let you do this by yourself after all. You were winning, I'm sure?"

"And keep you from reliving your long-gone glory days? I wouldn't dare."

Marshall laughed and leaned over, grabbing Levin by his armor's hood and dragging him to his feet. As Levin stood up, he nearly dropped back to his knees as pain lanced from his chest across his body. The hold man pulled a pair of different-colored bottles out of his own pouch, handing them to Levin after opening them for him. Marshall held onto his shoulder as he drank, keeping him balanced while he tottered. Finally, as the effects of the drinks seeped through his body, Levin managed to wave him off and stand on his own.

"Go keep Miss Eleanor safe," Marshall told him seriously, pulling Levin's great sword out of the ground and handing it to him, before turning to face the Rathian as it flipped back onto its feet. He pointed over to a thin section of the field where the flames hadn't cut them off from the forest. "There are some rocks on the far side of the clearing you can hide behind until it's over. I'll convince this brute that it's better off pestering someone else."

"Got it," Levin said, turning and running over toward Ellie as the Rathian howled in rage at the intrusion. He heard the dragon's thunderous footsteps as the creature charged, followed by a resounding thud and a whimper of pain from the Rathian.

He slid to a stop as he reached Ellie, checking her over for any sign of change or extra damage. He sighed in relief when he saw that some color had come back to her face and her breathing seemed stronger than it had before. His eyes glanced across the field to where the fire was thinner, spotting the rocks Marshall had told him about.

He reached over and slung Ellie's bowgun over his shoulders before he leaned over Ellie, gingerly sliding his hands underneath her and lifting her up as the battle between Marshall and the Rathian raged behind him. He paused cautiously when Ellie winced as his hands brushed against her broken arm, but he couldn't afford to dally, even with Marshall holding off the Rathian. He turned and jogged across the field towards the large rocks on the far end of the fires.

* * *

Eleanor nearly screamed in pain as she jerked back into consciousness. Red-hot needles of pain were lancing up her arm, and a powerful aching throb was thumping in her brain. She could feel the rest of her body beaten and battered as well, but the searing pain in her arm was overwhelming the feeling of everything else.

She opened her eyes and was temporarily blinded by the bright light of flames that danced not too far away from her. She realized she was still in the forest, leaned up against a rock in a large outcropping with large boulders jutting from the ground like giant spines off a monster's pack. Another blast of pain seared up her arm, making her glance down. She cringed at the sight, making the pain seem even worse now that she knew it looked so bad. The arm was definitely broken; she could tell even with the bulk of it covered in several layers of a makeshift splint.

She caught sight of Levin out of the corner of her eye, standing on top of one of the shorter rocks and surveying the area on the other side. Eleanor pushed up against the rock, attempting to force herself up to her feet, but another burst of pain shot up her arm and she dropped back down onto her backside, letting out a loud groan of agony. Levin turned at the sound, and after noticing she was awake was soon jumping her way across the rocks.

"Careful now, Ellie," he said as he landed next to her. "You feeling alright?"

Eleanor's eyes lingered on his chest. His armor had been torn up pretty badly and the skin underneath was cut and bruised. Several bandages were tied poorly around his torso, the gauze speckled with bright red splotches. She realized he'd been wincing at every jump. Even so, the pain in her arm made her respond irritably. "My arm's broken, so I'm going to have to go with no, I'm not alright."

"Consider yourself lucky," Levin replied with a look of mild disdain. "I'm fairly certain there aren't that many rookie hunters that can say they survived a Rathian fight with only a broken arm."

Then the memories flashed back into Eleanor's head. "The Rathian!" she cried, trying to get back to her feet. "It hit me, I… what happened to it? I have to…"

"You have to do absolutely nothing," Levin said sternly, grabbing her good shoulder and forcing her back down. "You do any more, and you'll certainly die. Can't fight any monsters after that."

"But I can't just…"

"You can and you will. Marshall's dealing with the Rathian right now. He knows what he's doing and we're going to let him do it."

"He's fighting it right now?" Eleanor asked. "Where?"

Levin paused at the sudden change in mood, then motioned over the pile of rocks he'd been looking over. "That way. They've been going at it for maybe ten minutes or so."

Eleanor winced as she forced herself to push against the rock and get to her feet. Levin reached forward to push her back down again, but she smacked his hand away and glared at him. "Let me see it," she said. "Let me have at least that much."

Levin studied her for a moment as sounds of the battle echoed across the rocks, making Eleanor twitch in anticipation. Finally he sighed, reaching into his pouch and pulling out a potion and handing it to her.

"This first," he ordered, popping the cork out for her. "And we're only going to watch. Any hint that you're planning on jumping into the fight, and I'll shove a Tranq bomb down your throat and drag you back to Boma by your ankles."

"Fine," Eleanor huffed, quickly drinking the potion before jumping past Levin and up the rocks.

Jumping up the rocks to view the field was by itself not that hard, but with pain lancing up her arm with every step she took, Eleanor felt nearly ready to pass out as she climbed. But she forced herself forward, determined to overcome the pain and witness the battle. Levin tailed close behind, making certain she wouldn't fall or collapse on the way up. Finally, the two hunters reached the overlook and Eleanor gasped at the sight of the battlefield.

The once flat and calm field that held grass now looked as though a war had been fought in it. Large holes and blast craters were scattered across the field, results from the Rathian's explosive fireballs or Marshall's enormous hammer. Flames danced around the entire field, only to be snuffed out as other patches of flame ate up the grass and anything that could catch fire.

At the far other end of the field, Marshall fought against the now battle-damaged Rathian. And it certainly looked the worse for the wear between the two of them. The large glittering scales and spikes that once coated the dragon's face and wings were now mostly broken off or shattered. Its tail was slightly mangled, a nasty welt a few feet from the tip turning a deep purple that Eleanor could make out even from her distance.

The Rathian was also plenty furious at this interloper that had gotten between it and its meal, and was simply not letting it kill him. As the blue-armored hunter charged, the Rathian twisted its head back, summoning forth all the flames it had at its disposal. It lurched forward, intent on igniting the hunter in flames as he neared.

But as the flames flew up the Rathian's throat, Marshall dived forward, ducking underneath the Rathian's maw as the flames ripped out its mouth. An explosion of flames erupted in front of the Rathian, creating a wave of heat that rippled across the field, blasting a wave of hot air even into the faces of Eleanor and Levin on the opposite side of the field. A blanket of black smoke plumed up from the blast point, blotting out the light of the dimming sky.

Even before the last of the flames had left the Rathian's gullet, Marshall was already swinging around, bringing his hammer crashing into the dragon's head, sending a spray of shattered scales and plates everywhere. The Rathian rocked backwards, twisting around to clamp its jaw down onto the hunter, but Marshall had already ducked away, diving underneath the Rathian's underbelly.

Marshall swung his hammer back, and with a spin, smashed the blunt of his hammer into the dragon's underbelly. The dragon coughed and sputtered in pain, bringing its wings down in a powerful beat that lifted it up and off the ground. It swooped a distance away from Marshall, and began circling around the blue-armored hunter. Marshall watched the dragon closely as it circled, holding his hammer ready to retaliate from any attack.

With a powerful surge of its wings, the Rathian lurched through the air, swinging its claws forward to clamp them down on Marshall as he stood at the ready. But the old hunter dived backwards away from the attack, making the dragon miss him by several yards, and putting its head right over the old hunter as he rolled back to his feet and swung his hammer around.

The dragon howled in pain as the massive hammer connected with the Rathian's head, shattering the scales. The force of the impact sent the dragon flailing backwards, tripping over its own feet and back onto its side. Without missing a beat, Marshall leapt forward, swinging his hammer around and smashing it against the Rathian's flailing body. Holes were punctured and torn open on the Rathian's wings under the force of the old hunter's blows, nearly crippling the great dragon. The Rathian let out a whimpering cry as its wings were battered.

Eleanor clenched her fists. Marshall was completely destroying the Rathian! His armor wasn't even scratched from the battle! He made it look so easy, so simple, yet she'd been so easily knocked aside earlier. Why? Why couldn't she do that as well?

Then Marshall stopped his attack. Eleanor frowned in confusion as Marshall, who seemed so unstoppable right now, slipped his hammer onto his back and stepped away from the Rathian as it whined in pain.

"What's he doing?" Eleanor hissed. "Why isn't he killing it?"

Levin gave her a look, like he was disappointed. "Just watch," he said.

As Marshall slowly stepped back, the Rathian realized it wasn't being assaulted anymore, and with a weak push of its wings, it brought itself back to its feet. Eleanor could see it limping weakly as it turned fearfully to Marshall, standing confidently several yards away. She picked up Marshall's voice on the wind, loud and strong even from this distance.

"Leave this area, dragon," he said to the Rathian. "You're not here to die. Not right now. This is my territory right now, not yours, but I'll let you live. Stay away from the village until the season is over." Eleanor was stunned as the dragon seemed to nod in understanding; or at least it seemed to know that Marshall was letting it live.

With a beat of its wings, the beaten and damaged Rathian took to the air, swooping over the trees and tearing away from the field as fast as it could. Marshall watched the Rathian fly away until it soared over a hill and vanished from sight, before turning towards the rocks the two younger hunters were hiding behind.

As the blue-armored hunter strode their way, Eleanor felt her legs giving way, and turned around to slide down the side of the rock. Levin leaned over to see if she was alright as she sat, but she waved him off.

"He's so strong," she said quietly.

"Yeah," Levin replied, sitting next to her. "Kinda puts your own strength into perspective, doesn't it?"

"He was strong enough to kill it, but he let it go. Why? Why let something like that live? Why let monsters live when it'll just try to kill again later? They don't deserve to live."

Levin sighed. "Ellie, you can't just…"

"They don't!" Eleanor shouted, making Levin lurch in surprise. "They shouldn't exist! They shouldn't be allowed to roam free, killing whenever they feel like it! They're just bloodthirsty monsters, out to kill us all! They should all just be hunted down and slaughtered."

"That's not something you should decide, Ellie," Levin said, giving her a strained look.

"And why not?" Eleanor cried, turning on him. "Why shouldn't I have a say? It's because of those damn dragons that I… that I…"

Images of the past flickered into her mind; a vision of a terrible red-scaled monster tearing through a wall and preparing to eat her overcame her senses. She recalled how incredibly similar the two dragons were to each other. And she'd been totally overpowered! One swing of the tail, and here she was, racked with pain and a broken arm.

"I can't lose to them," Eleanor whispered. "Not to those damn monsters. Mindless bloodthirsty bastards…"

Levin sighed next to her as she curled up her knees, staring blankly into the distance. Images of the dragons haunted her mind as she sat there. Levin seemed to have some foolish empathy for the monsters that wandered the world. Why? What was there to feel drawn to in the creatures? What did these murderous monsters have that made them worth feeling mercy towards?

Marshall arrived shortly, and Eleanor heard him and Levin have a quick discussion, but didn't pay attention. After a few minutes, Marshall rapped her on the shoulder, telling her the three of them were heading back to the village. Eleanor nodded numbly, wobbling to her feet and trekking between the two as the trio made their way back to Boma.

And all the time, all Eleanor could wonder was why Levin and Marshall were so foolishly compassionate to monsters.

* * *

"Okay, this isn't even fair," Levin muttered as his second knight was successfully captured by Mel's remaining rook. "I taught you this game yesterday and you're wiping the floor with me. You're cheating somehow, but for the life of me I can't tell how."

"Maybe you just suck," Mel grinned, tossing his knight into her ever-growing pile of captured pieces. "Ever considered that by chance?"

"Once or twice," Levin admitted. "But still, this is insane. I can't even get into check. How in nine hells were you born with such an affinity to board games?"

"You find ways to pass the time when you don't do much work during your job," Mel replied as Levin feebly marched a pawn up the board. "I'm sure you've figured that out by now, what with Doctor Orson forcing you and Eleanor into permanent bed rest until you both recover. Speaking of which, how're the ribs coming along?"

Levin scratched absentmindedly at the bandages wrapped around his chest. "Well enough, I suppose," he admitted. "They don't ache anymore, but still sting a bit if I put pressure on them. But I guess I wasn't really expecting a full recovery after two weeks."

"And Eleanor?" Mel asked hesitantly as she knocked over one of Levin's bishops, earning a despairing frown from Levin.

"She's… recovering," Levin sighed. "Physically at least. Orson's a miracle worker to get her arm set and recovering so quickly. He told me she'll be able to go out into the field again in only a few days. But the Rathian attack really shook her up."

"Is it really that bad?"

"I've been talking with her as much as I can, trying to get her to open up, but she's really reluctant to give me anything. If I had to guess, whatever incident she had with a Rath before she came here to Boma really left her feeling powerless. After getting beat, she's got this irrational desire to butcher any and all monsters out in the wilds; Aptonoth, Kelbi, you name it. Anything generally referred to as a 'monster.'"

"That covers quite a few creatures out there," Mel said with a frown.

"Tell me about it," Levin sighed as he brought a pawn forward to take one of Mel's knights. "Few days ago, she tried to get her bowgun out to fire at a squad of Epioth that swam close to shore. I had to hide her ammo after that. She's even been eyeing the Felynes that work in town recently. I… _suggested_ that Leif take a temporary vacation for a few days until she recovers her senses."

"Ouch," Mel said, wincing. "How do you plan to 'recover her senses,' anyway?"

"Same way Marshall knocked some sense into me, I suppose."

Mel blinked in surprise and glanced at a calendar on the wall of the Guild booth. "I guess it is that time of year, isn't it? Well, I suppose if it worked for you, it'll work for Eleanor."

Levin frowned. "Was I really so bad back then?"

Mel scoffed. "You would've made Eleanor look she's attained inner peace by comparison. But that's not an issue anymore. When you planning on heading up to the valley?"

"Just as soon as Eleanor's arm is good enough to hold a bowgun properly," Levin replied. He frowned as he realized what he'd said. Ever since Eleanor's beating from the Rathian, she'd glared at him in anger every time he tried to call her Ellie. Even he felt pained from seeing her seething like that, so he'd started calling her by Eleanor since the first time in a long time.

"You're letting her go armed?" Mel asked skeptically. "That might not be a good idea, if her condition's as bad as you let on."

"I'm aware. But convincing her to go traipsing through the forest without a weapon would be pretty much impossible."

"Point taken."

Levin stood up and stretched. "On that note, I figure now's as good a time as any to inform Miss Eleanor of the little trip we'll be taking here soon. I hate to leave you hanging, but I'd really like it done as soon as possible."

"Oh, no worries," Mel said with a grin. She reached forward, and with a flick of her queen, knocked over the last of Levin's bishops and smiled triumphantly. "Checkmate."

Levin stared incredulously at the board, eyes flickering over his king and its possible moves, before drooping his head in defeat. "You're a cruel woman, Mel," he grumbled.

"Have a nice chat with Eleanor, Levin," she said, waving him off.

Several minutes later, Levin arrived at Eleanor's hut and leapt up the stairs. Shuffling through the thin flap of fabric that separated the interior and exterior, he turned and faced the brightly painted door that separated Eleanor's little room from the rest of the world.

Levin rapped lightly on the door. "You in there, Eleanor?" he called out, knowing the answer already. Eleanor hadn't willingly left her room since she'd been allowed to leave the medical hut with a cast on her arm. She'd been bouncing between bouts of hate-induced rage and manic depression since the Rathian fight, seemingly unable to decide whether or not to hunt all monsters in a mission of revenge, or sink into a pit of despair for not being strong enough to fight the dragon at her current level.

A grunt on the other side of the door signaled that she certainly was inside the room, and Levin took it as permission to enter as well. Not that she really had given him permission, but it was easier to reinterpret sounds than silence. Although, bad translations of Eleanor's minimal sounds had led to Levin getting things thrown at him for entering at less than decent moments… But he couldn't very well let her wallow there forever, could he?

As he entered the room, he noticed it had slowly been accumulating filth since he'd last been there. No doubt the absence of Leif had left its mark in a stronger manner than Levin had thought. He spotted Eleanor rather quickly, sitting on the dock in the back of her room, staring out into the bay. As a precaution, Levin scanned the room to make sure none of her weapons were within immediate range as he wandered her way. Safe in the knowledge her bowgun and sword were both stored away, he proceeded to sit next to her on the dock.

"How's the arm?" he asked, attempting to strike up a conversation.

"Fixed," Eleanor replied nonchalantly, holding up her arm and revealing the cast to be gone.

Levin whistled. "Not bad. Wish my ribs would finish healing that fast. Can't rush these thing, though, you know?"

"Why do you do it?" Eleanor suddenly asked.

Levin paused in confusion. "What do you mean? Why do I do what?"

"Show sympathy to monsters. You let them go if you feel like it. You don't kill them if they get in your way if you don't have to. You take the long way around if a monster's in your path rather than killing to get through faster. Why?"

"Ah, that," Levin replied. "I guess it's because they've got their own ecosystem, their own lives to live with. Why get in the way of that? There's nothing to gain by going out of my way to kill them if I don't have to."

"But they kill people," Eleanor said sharply, turning to face Levin with a heated look. "They attack caravans, they hunt travelers, they invade farms and villages. Why let them live if they'll just attack you or someone else later?"

Levin scratched his head in thought. "Not all monsters are content with attacking humans. Some would rather go out of their way to avoid humans altogether. Why hunt anything and everything if only a few of them cause any problems?"

"But they all cause problems!" Eleanor growled. "Our world didn't have problems like this! Why couldn't this world be just as good as ours was if all the monsters were just gone? They're just bloodthirsty monsters, anyway."

"You can't just decide that the world would be better off without the monsters," Levin told her. "Besides, who says the monsters are only a source of strife?"

"You just don't get it!" Eleanor cried, leaping to her feet and striding across her room. She sat down on her bed and glared at Levin. "You got off easy getting pulled to this world earlier than the rest of us. You don't know what went down after the initial problems."

Before Levin could stop himself, he had crossed the room and grabbed Eleanor by the collar, yanking to up to face him eye to eye. "Don't you ever, _ever_ say that I got off easy in the initial attack," he growled. "I may not have been around as long as you were after the start of it all, but don't you ever think that you're the only one who suffered, got it?"

Eleanor's eyes widened a bit in surprise at Levin's sudden aggression, but she met his glare in return. "Got it."

Levin released her, allowing her to sink back into her soft mattress. "Now, what do you mean when you say that things went down after I left?"

Eleanor turned away from him, hiding her face. "At first there were the disasters. You were a part of those, I'm sure. Just random catastrophes. Explosions big enough to wipe out towns, storms that leveled huge areas of land, thunderstorms that completely tore up anything they touched. People thought it was the end of the world."

"Good lord…" Levin gasped. "There was an explosion before I got brought to this world, but I didn't know there were so many things after that."

"It was hellish," Eleanor whispered. "People didn't know what to do, where to go. Anywhere people settled in, tried to weather it out, got completely destroyed by some freak force of nature. It was like we were being exterminated."

Levin was silent for a moment, taking in the news of what had happened to his world. Then a thought hit him and he focused back on Eleanor. "But that's not what's got you so hell-bent on killing monsters, is it?" he asked.

"No," she replied. "After the storms died down and the disasters lessened, we thought the worst was over, that we could start to rebuild."

"What happened?" Levin asked nervously, terrified that Eleanor would confirm his fears.

Eleanor looked at him miserably. "Monsters appeared," she told him. "Like we'd only heard about in fairy tales. Dinosaurs risen from their graves, sea monsters from the old mythologies, and… well…"

"Dragons," Levin finished.

"Yeah," Eleanor muttered. "Dragons. Like the Raths. Exactly like them."

Levin tilted back, stunned. He grasped clumsily for a chair, slumping into the seat and leaning back in shocked silence. "All this time, I thought this place was someplace different," he murmured. "I thought, I was brought here and one day I'll find a way to go back. But it's impossible to go back isn't it? We weren't brought here, we were… preserved. Kept unaltered until the world was something completely different, something we couldn't recognize. There's nothing to go back to."

The two hunters sat in silence for a long time. Finally Levin leaned forward and looked at Eleanor. "What happened to you that made you so hateful to monsters?"

Eleanor sighed and leaned back to recall the painful memories. "During the rush of monsters that followed the disaster, I was taken in with a group of wanderers that were trekking aimlessly between destroyed cities in search of food. One night, we took shelter in an abandoned building to escape a hunting party of… Jaggis, I guess. They looked similar. Anyway, late at night, we thought we were safe, and started talking freely, trying to lose the edge of being hunted. I guess we were making too much noise, because we were heard by… by a Rathalos."

Eleanor stopped for a moment, shaking from the memory. She quietly swallowed her fears and continued. "It wasn't even a massacre. Too quick to be one. It was just one explosion, one blast of flame, and the whole building was gone. Everyone dead. Except me. I escaped the fire and rubble somehow. Then the Rathalos sticks his head into the destroyed building and sees me. It just gave me this look, like I was nothing to it, just a snack to gobble up until it could get a better meal."

She curled up, pulling her knees close to her chest as she shivered. "I've never felt so weak and worthless in my life. I couldn't do anything but cower. I thought that was it. I was going to die so pathetically, and no one would know or care.

"But I lived. Before it could get me, there was a bright blue light, and next thing I know, I'm waking up in a rain forest, no clue where I am. After that, I wandered to Loc Lac, and, well…"

"Hitched a ride here, to get revenge," Levin finished. "You want to show you're better than the monster that tried to kill you."

"Yes," Eleanor replied weakly.

Levin sighed, staring at his shoes. "You're too much like me, you know that?" he said quietly.

Eleanor looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I mean… I don't know," Levin said, scratching his head as he searched for the words. "Look, I understand you want to get revenge on the Raths, but you're going about it the wrong way. As much as it hurts to say it, I still can't condone your hunting monsters ruthlessly."

"What do you mean?" Eleanor shouted, suddenly enraged. "They destroyed our world! They ruined our lives! They're all bastard monsters that deserve to be slaughtered! They…"

"Wait wait wait," Levin said, holding up his hands. "I realize all that. But it's just… I want you to hold off your decision to 'kill them all' until I've given you the whole picture."

"What whole picture?" Eleanor growled. "What else is there to see?"

"There's more to the monsters than killing people or attacking caravans. You've got to know both sides of their lives before you…"

"You just don't get it, do you? You were gone before they appeared, so you don't know what was lost! You don't understand what…"

"My entire family was taken from me!" Levin roared. Eleanor froze, stunned. Levin seethed, trying to force down the anger that had built up inside of him.

"My family disappeared in the destruction of our town," Levin admitted. Broken and incomplete memories flickered through his mind. "I barely remember anything about the explosion. I just remember I was with my family, trying to run from the destruction. It was so quick. There was a flash of light, and then they were gone. Nowhere to be found."

Levin slumped back into his seat. "And now I hear that this whole thing may have been caused by the monsters. It's like being offered the proof you need to order an execution. Part of me wants to do like you, take up arms and kill everything. Make certain that there's no sign of them left. Bring our world back to its original state. But I can't."

"Why not?" Eleanor asked, shaken.

"Because, I've seen that not all monsters deserve to die, not by my own judgment. Back when I first came here, I had the same thoughts you do. After I got the scar on my face, I hated any and all monsters in the world, thought they deserved to meet their fates. If the monsters are problems, why not kill them all? But Marshall forced me to see that not everything involving monsters was despicable or terrible. He showed me something I thought was impossible in the monster world… our world."

"What was it?"

Levin looked over at Eleanor and cocked a half-hearted grin. "You really want to know?"

Eleanor frowned at the sudden change in emotion in Levin. "Yes, I do."

"Then I'll show you," Levin said softly. "Tonight. After dinner, we'll head out into the wilds, and I'll show you something the Guild guides and quests never mention."

"But what is it?" Eleanor asked in frustration. "And how the hell do you think it'll make me not hate the Raths?"

"You'll see," Levin replied, standing and walking to the door. "You won't need much ammo, we're just going to see something, then we'll return to the village."

"But you're not telling me…"

"Just get ready," Levin ordered as he opened the door. "Hopefully, tonight's a night that'll change your outlook on the monster world, like it did with me."

And with that he shut the door behind him, leaving a thoroughly bewildered Eleanor sitting confusedly on her bed.

* * *

The forest around Boma certainly seemed like a different world than it did during the day time, Levin noticed as the two hunters walked through the dense foliage. The sun was just beginning to drop over the horizon as they traveled down a less-used path. A whole different collection of wildlife seemed to come out to play when all the primary predators where hiding away in their nests, devouring the meals they'd succeeded in hunting during the day.

Eleanor trekked not too far behind Levin, obviously very confused and irritated by Levin's unwillingness to divulge what they were doing traveling so deep into the heart of the forest so late in the day. She'd been incredibly quiet, considering how badly she seemed to want to know what was going on.

Normally, Levin would've had no small amount of fun teasing her on the way, but his own head was filled with his own confused thoughts about what he'd learned. The knowledge this world filled with monsters was the ravaged result of his world being ravaged and overwhelmed by the creatures he hunted now bothered him far less than he had thought it would. Knowing that he was so at ease with his world being long gone was far more disconcerting than the knowledge itself. He wished he knew why.

The two of them crested a large hill just as the last of the sun's rays flickered and faded on the horizon. Levin scanned the distance and spotted the landmark he had been searching for: a large bowl-shaped valley that seemed to glow with color even at this distance. He pointed it out to Eleanor and she gave him and confused look.

"What's the light coming from?" she asked as they began hiking down the side of the hill in the direction of the valley.

"It's emitted by the plants that grow in the valley," Levin explained. "Some sort of luminescent process of sorts makes them light up at night. It's pretty cool to see."

"Is that what you're taking me to see?" Eleanor asked incredulously. "The plants? Those are supposed to change my outlook on monsters?"

"Not quite," Levin replied. "They're part of it, but they're not the main thing we're going to go see. You'll see when we get there." Eleanor frowned at the remark, unhappy with not knowing what was going on, but tagged along behind Levin dutifully as they trekked through the forest.

It took them the better part of an hour to cover the remaining distance to the valley, and the sun was a long time set by the time they arrived at the tip of the bowl. But as the sun had dropped further under the horizon, the glowing plants in the distance seemed to grow ever brighter, emitting an eerie multi-colored light that lit their path with the help of the moon overhead.

As they crested the lip of the valley, Eleanor gasped at the sight before them. The deep valley, several hundreds of yards across, had every inch filled with thick vines, coated in bright flower buds in full bloom. Each flower was its own color, glowing brightly in the night and sending rays of shining color everywhere. Swirling arrays of thousands of colors were splashed everywhere, filling the entirety of the valley.

The only darkened place in the whole valley was a dark circle surrounding the center of the valley, from which a short twisted tree bloomed with the light of dozens of different colors. From the base of the tree was a thirty yard gap of a deep relative darkness of land that completely lacked any sign of the bright flowers that bloomed everywhere else in the crater.

"How is this possible?" Eleanor asked breathlessly, stunned by the beauty of the location.

"No one's really sure," Levin replied. "A few people have tried to study the plants, but they only really bloom during this time of year, so getting to the area at the right time is tricky. Not to mention the flowers only bloom one day a year, so you have to get really lucky."

"Wait, then how did you know we'd get to see it today?" Eleanor asked.

Levin grinned. "You couldn't see it when I first pointed the area out to you, but there are actually several other valleys like this one around the area. The trick is to get to a high point a distance away and look for the glow as the sun goes down."

"So the other valleys haven't lit up yet?"

"Not tonight from what I saw. They're either not ready yet or they've already been burned up. If you really like them though, they'll have grown back by next year, so we can see it again if we feel like it."

"I see," Eleanor said, and then turned as she realized something. "Wait, they grow back? What do you mean by that? I thought they just lost their glow."

Levin shrugged. "When a valley lights up, the same night it burns to the ground. The plants spend the entire rest of the year re-growing itself so it can light up again the next year."

"But what makes them catch fire? Do they overheat?"

"Not quite," Levin said with a wry gin. He turned to the west and saw the light of the sun quickly fading. "You'll see in a bit, once the light of the sun is completely gone. For now, let's go find us a seat."

Eleanor sighed, accepting Levin's vague explanation, and followed him up a ledge to a higher point on the edge of the valley. As they hiked, she probed Levin with a question. "How come we didn't see any monsters on the way here?" she asked. "I mean, we saw some Kelbi over near the village, but other than that, there was nothing in the wilds. I thought there'd be some Jaggi doing some late night hunting or something, but I didn't see a thing, not even any Bnahabra."

"They're all in hiding these days," Levin replied. "For the most part, the herbivores spend their time hiding at their nests, and the carnivores only venture out to collect meals for the day. Otherwise, they're all hidden away."

"Why?" Eleanor prodded. "What's so special about this time of the year? Does it have something to do with the flowers in the valley?"

"It does."

"Then you're not going to explain it to me?"

"Nope."

Eleanor groaned, earning a chuckle from Levin. The two continued hiking circling the edge of the valley until they reached a particularly tall ridge that gave a clear view of the whole place. Levin motioned to Eleanor, and the two of them sat down on the rocks, setting aside their weapons as they overlooked the shining display that stretched out before them.

As the final rays of sunlight began to fade under the horizon, the last of the flowers in the valley began to bloom, increasing the blend of colors to the full magnitude the valley could offer. Levin watched Eleanor as she stared amazed into the center of the vast palette spread before them. He noticed her bowgun sat unwatched and unhooked next to her. With a quick glance to make sure she wasn't noticing him, Levin slipped a hand through the sling of Eleanor's bowgun, quietly dragging the weapon away from her and sliding it behind a rock next to him.

As Eleanor gazed in awe into the depths of the valley, Levin leaned over to her. "Something else, isn't it?"

"Yeah," she replied in wonder, before turning to give Levin a cold look. "But I don't see how this is supposed to make me think of monsters as less than murderers."

"You will," Levin assured her. Just then, he picked up a sound on the wind, a familiar perpetual thumping. "I just want you to promise me something tonight, Eleanor."

"What's that?" she asked cautiously.

"I want you to remain calm," Levin told her sternly, "no matter what, and I want you to promise not to interfere at all with what you see."

"Why not?" Eleanor asked, confused. "What am I going to see?"

"Promise me, please," Levin begged. "I can assure you that you'll be perfectly safe as long as you promise not to do anything dangerous. Please promise me that."

Eleanor frowned, uncertain and slightly afraid, but finally nodded in consent. "Fine, I won't do anything. But you've got to tell me what's going to happen."

The two hunters froze as the sound of thumping suddenly increased in sound, and was soon immediately accompanied by what was almost an echo as the sound was multiplied. The sounds of an unknown amount of creatures approaching filled the air in the sky, howls of aggression and urgency echoing through the valley.

A powerful roar tore through the skies, and Levin winced as Eleanor seized up in fear and recognition. He leapt to his feet as he saw her eyes dart to where her bowgun once sat. A moment of confusion flickered across her face before she threw a full-blown look of rage at Levin and leapt towards him.

"Give it back!" she screamed as she jumped at him, swinging her fist around at him. "You've got to give it back! I have to fight back!"

"No!" Levin shouted as he batted aside Eleanor's fist, trying to avoid getting hit. "You promised you wouldn't do this!"

"I can't let them live!" Eleanor shouted, batting at Levin with all her might. "They'll kill people! They'll kill us if they see us! I won't let that happen!"

"No they won't!" Levin shouted back. He paused and looked away for a moment as a dark shape soared over the two of them, then buckled over in pain as Eleanor's fist connected with his stomach, sending a burst of pain from his still-aching ribs.

Eleanor stood over him triumphantly for a moment, before she spotted the butt of her bowgun sticking out from the edge of the nearby rock. She leapt towards it, intent on using it to blast down the dark shaped soaring through the sky above them.

Levin twisted around and dove after her, tackling her a few feet short of her bowgun. He winced as another lance of pain ripped out from his chest, but forced himself to ignore the feeling, fighting against Eleanor as she struggled against his grip on her.

"Let me go!" she screeched, pounding on his back with her loose hand, desperately trying to break free.

"No!" he replied as she struggled. "You have to see this!"

She leaned back and attempted to kick him off her, but Levin struggled forward, grabbling both of her wrists and holding tightly as she fought against him, dragging her away from the poorly-hidden bowgun and towards the edge into the valley.

"You're going to get us killed!" she yelled in fear. "You have to let me fight! They'll kill us if they see us! I have to kill them! I have to…"

Eleanor was cut short as an exceptionally large shape swooped over their heads, and a moment later, let out an ear-splitting roar that seemed to shake the very earth below them. Levin's vision swam as his instincts told him to cover his ears, but his self-control forced him to keep his grip on Eleanor's wrists. He nearly passed out as the sound shook his brain in his skull, and almost let go as the sound faded and the dark shape began to descent into the center of the valley.

With an impact that sent an echoing thump through the valley, an enormous Rathalos, bigger than any Levin had ever laid eyes on, landing inside the plant-free ring at the center of the valley. Both hunters paused at the sight of the giant among dragons, and Levin felt Eleanor shaking in terror as the creature howled into the sky.

For the first time, Eleanor looked up, taking real notice of the shapes in the sky. Above them soared dozens of dragons, both Rathian and Rathalos. They tore through the sky, nipping and biting at each other as they circled. Levin noticed that the Rathalos in the area were beginning to reduce in number, the apparent strongest and best of them taking the center stage. However, the Rathians still fought amongst each other for the right to enter the bright and glowing valley.

Ellie began to sink to her knees, terror welling up at the sight of so many of her feared beasts circling above her. Levin quickly spun her around and held her around the shoulders, keeping her upright as they stood on the crevice of the valley.

"This is their mating season," he whispered, explaining the events occurring. "They come here every year to find mates. Only the strongest and largest are allowed to mate with each other, so they fight to determine who is superior. Their mating takes up the whole of their focus, so unless we interfere, they will not even notice us. Please, trust me when I say that we will not be hurt as long as we don't do anything to disrupt them."

Eleanor didn't respond, still shaking in fear as the females of the species battled over their heads. Levin carefully lowered her down, letting her sit on the ground rather than stand. Above them the numbers of Rathian slowly began to dwindle as weaker females admitted defeat to the stronger, escaping the area to tend to their wounds.

After an unknown amount of time, the number finally dropped to only a few. With a howl of superiority, one of the Rathian began its descent into the valley, the remaining Rathian leaving in defeat. With a resounding impact of its own, it landed in the center of the valley as well, on the opposite side of the glowing tree that grew in the center of the valley.

Eleanor still shook in fear under Levin's firm grip. Despite his attempts to calm her, she was still terrified.

Then the howling began. Like the eerie song of the sirens, the two dragons in the center of the valley began calling out in warbling cries that filled the valley. The two dragons in the center of the valley craned their necks to their extents, calling out into the sky as they released their undulations, announcing to the world and the retreating dragons in the sky their intent. The deep resonating honking and baying echoed through the valley, shaking the flowers on their vines.

Eleanor's shaking stopped as the last of the echoes died down and the forest fell back into silence. She gazed down at the two dragons in the center of the as they drew back away from the center of the valley and pulled in their wings. They flexed and strained their muscles, pulling their wings in to their bodies, like wide leathery capes that fluttered in the light breeze that fluttered through the valley.

The two dragons stood tall on opposing sides of the short tree in the center of the valley, eyeing each other carefully. They pawed the ground in a slow rhythm, slowly meeting each other's tempo, before cautiously speeding up. They stomped and pounded the ground at an increasing speed, thumping a powerful rhythm that shook the earth. Then, in a flash of motion, the two dragons twisted, simultaneously beginning to spin, while at the same time, leaping into the air and spiraling around the tree in the center.

As they spun, the clubs of their tails clacked and rebounded off each other, each collision sending a wave of sparked down onto the tree that grew below them. As several showers of sparks, a lick of flame picked up at the base of the tree, slowly working its way up the side of the trunk as the Rathian and Rathalos spun and twisted in their spiraling dance around it.

The flames chewed their way up the tree, finally reaching the height of the lowest-hanging flowers on the trunk, which all were colored a deep aquamarine hue. Levin saw Ellie twitch back in surprise as the brightly glowing flower erupted in a blast of flame the same color as the flowers the flames touched. The fire continued to devour its way up the tree at an ever increasing pace as the flowers burst in a symphony of color and light. Rainbows of color sent an aurora of light around the valley, thousands of shades and hues blending together as the light of the flames merged with the light of the glowing flowers.

Slowly but surely, the flames that lit up the valley from the tree began to wither and die as the collection of flowers burned out and died away. As the final flower emitted its light, a bright and vibrant green, the two dragons slowed their spinning and once again turned to face each other in the center of the valley. The two creatures twisted their heads back, and with a blast of fire, each dragon released three fireball bursts that roared through the air towards their partner in the valley.

Eleanor leaned forward in shock as the blazing orbs tore across the valley towards each of the opposing dragons. Licks of flames leapt out in showers of sparks as the fireballs grazed each other, spitting small licks of flames in skewed directions as the fireballs continued towards the dragons on each side of the burnt tree.

The dragons stood unflinching as the fireballs roared past their leathery hides, skimming past without touching a single scale, while barely missing by even a centimeter. The fireballs continued their flight, eventually erupting in explosions as they connected with the earth further up the sides of the valley. Six sprouts of multicolored flame erupted into the sky as the flames began to spread, consuming the flowers on the vines around them.

The pair of dragons began leaping and dancing around the valley center again as the brightly colored flames shot into the sky, continuing their stream of blazing fireballs, shot daringly and precisely to slide harmlessly past their counterpart. Soon, dozens of pillars of flames, constantly changing color and hue, were shining up from every corner of the valley as the Raths bounded and spun in the center.

With a burst of wind, the two dragons simultaneously took to the skies, continuing their dance by sliding and dipping through the air around each other. They gracefully dipped and dived over the pillars of colored flame that rose into the sky over the valley, occasionally turning to charge each other at the center of the valley, only to slide away at the last possible moment and continue their aerial acrobatics.

As the pillars of light spread and the fires grew wider and brighter, the pair of dragons spiraled around each other, increasing the distance between each other until they pair of them flew at the very edges of the valley. Every few seconds, one of the Raths would soar over the heads of the two hunters that sat in wonder, watching the show. Levin noticed that Eleanor didn't even shudder as the great beasts flew over them, a look of pure amazement shining on her face as the pair of dragons soared over head and the light of the fires shone up from the valley.

With a wave of heat, the dragons unleashed a steady stream of fire down into the edges of the valley, making the two hunters flinch back as a wall of fire leapt up only a few yards from their seats. The bright yellow flames soon caught the flowers, changing the wall into a great ring of multicolored light that encircled the whole valley. The two dragons continued to soar high overhead as the flames licked the sky, an aurora of color lighting the entire forest as far as the eye could see.

The Rathian and Rathalos then began to spiral in towards the center of the valley again, slowly spinning closer to the ground. With a thud, the two beasts dropped to the ground, shaking the earth beneath them as the flames in the center of the valley began to die away as the remainder of the flowers burned away. The two approached each other from opposite sides, until their heads were only a few yards away from each other.

The Rathalos reared back, and with all the power and strength it could muster, unleashed a mighty roar that shook the rocks and stones beneath the two hunters as they sat on the ledge. The force of the roar shook the very flames that danced into the sky as they shivered under the blast of wind that streamed from the Rathalos' gullet.

The roar soon died away, and the Rathalos stared intently at the Rathian. There was a moment of silence between the two, until the Rathian let loose a powerful roar of her own, nearly as powerful as the Rathalos' own.

As the Rathian's roar died away, the two dragons, satisfied that they're mate was surely the greatest and most skilled of dragons the whole world had to offer, took to the skies together. Each was content with the other and they soared away over the cleft of the valley and towards the ocean, just as the last of the fires were dimming and dying away from sight.

* * *

The two hunters sat in silence as the flames died away, staring into the valley in thoughtful quiet. Levin realized he was still tightly clutching Eleanor's shoulders, and gently released her, slightly relieved that she didn't immediately thy and knock a few of his teeth out immediately after.

He continued to watch in silence as, across the valley, the last of the flowers, colored a deep pinkish hue, burnt away before snapping the valley into darkness. All that remained as proof of the magnificent show was the smoking husks of the buds under the light of the waning moon.

Levin heard Eleanor try to speak several times, trying to decide what to say before she finally spoke. "This is how the Raths choose their mate?" she finally asked. Levin felt that this wasn't she had wanted to say.

"It is," he replied. "Mel explained it to me when I saw it last year. The dance is the method they use to find the suitability of their potential mates. They must be strong, agile, and accurate if they wish to be accepted by their counterpart. A single mistake will make the other dragon consider them to be unworthy of being their mate. Most Raths spend their entire lives practicing for this one night."

Eleanor was quiet for a moment. "But you said the flowers only bloom once a year. If they make a mistake, the flowers still burn, don't they?"

"Afraid so," Levin replied. "That's part of the risk, Eleanor. You have to be stronger than the other suitors just to get the opportunity to take part in the dance. If one of the dragons messes up, they not only lost the opportunity for themselves to mate, they took away another dragon's chance by burning down one of the flower valleys for that year."

"How harsh," Eleanor said softly.

"Very harsh," Levin agreed.

Eleanor was silent for another moment. "I, I thought… I didn't…" Levin was silent as she collected her thoughts. "I didn't know. That they had such a complex way of living, I mean. I thought they were just like other animals, just find a mate and… you know. Are all their life processes like this?"

Levin sat back in thought. "I know their methods of raising their young are fairly complex. Also, if they get old enough to die of age, they have a tendency to fly off to some unknown place. It's speculated that there's some dragon burial ground somewhere hidden away on a mountain or in a volcano or something. I've got a Rath reference book that I bought from a trader if you'd like to look at it when we return to the village."

"Yeah, I'd like that," Ellie replied. She was silent for a few moments before speaking again. "I'm sorry, Levin."

"Don't worry about it."

"But I should! I mean, I've hit you, threatened you, been just generally pissed off at you just because I thought you didn't understand what I've gone through. But you always just took it. Why?"

Levin sighed and reached under his armor. Eleanor stared as he pulled out a glittering Rathian scale tied to a string in a necklace. He held it up for Eleanor to see.

"See this, Eleanor? This is a memento I made for myself last year, when the old man dragged my ass up here to see the same thing I showed you tonight. I found this in the valley afterwards and held onto it in order to remind myself that I couldn't decide whether monsters were good or evil, not by my own right. The reason I put up with your anger is because, just like you, I just wanted to kill all the monsters in the world before I saw the Rath mating dance. I knew you were like me. I wanted to help you, to take care of you."

Levin grinned as he slid the scale back under his armor. "So, I've got to ask, do you understand now? Why we shouldn't just kill monsters mindlessly?"

"Yeah," Eleanor said. "I thought they were just senseless killing machines. But all this time, they've had their own customs and ways of living. I can't just kill something that has such a complex way of life. Even if they… even if some of them hunt and kill humans, we can't just go out of our way to kill any and all of them."

"That's what I decided when I saw this," Levin told her. He then turned and gave her a serious look.

"What?" she asked, leaning away a little.

"While it's great that you understand why it's not a great plan to go on murderous rampages, I've got another issue to discuss with you."

"What's that?"

"What are you going to do now?"

Eleanor blinked in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Why did you decide to become a monster hunter?"

"Because I wanted to get revenge on the monsters that… oh," Eleanor said, frowning.

"Yeah, there's the issue," Levin said. "You applied to this apprenticeship based on a desire for vengeance, Eleanor. You can keep going as a hunter, but the old reason for doing so won't cut it, not anymore. If you're going to keep hunting, you've got to decide on a reason why you want to do so."

The two sat in silence for several minutes as Eleanor mulled over the problem of finding a reason to hunt monsters. Levin sat back and stared at the stars patiently, allowing her proper time to think.

"I just remembered something," Eleanor said suddenly.

"What's that?" Levin asked.

"Back when I was in Loc Lac, I visited a hunter's bar while I was recuperating from wandering through the forests. While I was there, this hunter walked in, some highly decorated guy that had slain countless extremely dangerous monsters. Everyone in the bar immediately knew who he was, just by looking at him. Of course, being one of the Lost, I have no clue who this guy is, so I ask the waitress who he is. She looks at me like I'm crazy before she realizes I'm Lost, right?"

"You want to be famous?" Levin asked, deflating slightly. He was hoping for more.

"No, not that," Eleanor said quickly. "Well, not exactly. It's just, the waitress tells me this guy is well known in loads of towns and hunter villages all over the place as far as the known world, as far as she can tell. And I think to myself… I think…"

"What?"

"I think to myself, maybe if I can get that famous, maybe my family will be able to find me."

Levin blinked in surprise. "Your family?"

"Yeah," Eleanor said sheepishly. "Back when the disasters had just started, I lost contact with my family on the other side of the country. I tried to travel their way to see if I could find them, but I was… preserved before I got there. When I heard about this hunter's big reputation and how well he was known, I thought maybe if I got that famous, my family would hear about me and come to me instead of all of us wandering aimlessly. If they were preserved in the first place, I mean."

Eleanor scratched her head in thought. "Does that make sense? It made a lot more sense in my head than I think it did out loud."

Levin laughed. "No, I get it. The more people that know you, the more likely it is your family will find you. Fame for noble reasons; monster hunter legend Eleanor. I like it!"

Eleanor smiled at the praise. "Maybe that'll work for you too. If you become well-known, maybe your own family is out there looking for you as well, and they'll come to Loc Lac or wherever to find you."

"Maybe so," Levin replied. A flicker of a painful memory flashed through his head for just a moment, but before he could get a grasp on it, it disappeared as quickly as it came. "Sounds like a plan to me."

Eleanor grinned at him, and then gazed out into the burnt-out valley. "So what do we do now?" she asked.

"Well," Levin said, hopping to his feet and offering Eleanor his hand, "I think it's just about the time we start heading back. The Rath mating season will be going on for at least another few days or so, so hunting will be slow for awhile. So sleep in tomorrow. We'll go see if we can't reduce the Jaggi population in a couple days, okay?"

"Sounds like a fair plan to me," Eleanor replied as she accepted Levin's hand and got to her feet as well.

Levin reached into his pocket as Eleanor stretched, and pulled out a torch he'd brought, and with a quick clack of his hunter's knife against the rocks, a bright flame lit the area around them. As Eleanor hopped over to him, he saw her stumble, and quickly swung an arm around her shoulders to support her.

"Sorry," she apologized. "Guess my legs are still asleep."

"Take your time, Eleanor" Levin told her.

"Thanks," Eleanor replied. She looked up and grinned up at him, and Levin's eyes widened in surprise as she leaned her head against his shoulder. Levin felt his heart rate increase dramatically as she sighed contentedly. He suddenly seemed very aware how warm and… soft she seemed.

"Call me Ellie," she said.

"Excuse me?" Levin stuttered, caught off guard.

Eleanor (or Ellie) chuckled quietly. "After all this time, it just sounds so weird when you call me Eleanor. So just call me Ellie. It just seems more comfortable that way, don't you think?"

Levin stared blankly at her for a moment before laughing loudly. "If you say so, Ellie," he said with a smile. He held out the torch to light the way, and the two of them began slowly walking side-by-side back to Boma.

* * *

**Author's Note: Please Review!**

**This chapter certainly followed a more serious note, didn't it? Don't worry, next chapter will be more upbeat! I think. I'm not sure if it shows too much in this chapter, but Raths are easily and by far my favorite monsters to fight in this game. Especially with my switch axe and some armor with earplugs. And me and my homeboy Bobby going 2 on 2 with a Rathian and Rathalos in the arena? So much fun!**

**Also, in other news, I've been going on a nostalgia trip ever since a friend of mine transferred a GameBoy emulator to my computer. I've been playing old GB games on and off ever since, like the Pokemon games. Fun stuff. **

**I was dicking around on FF recently, and decided to see what kind of fics there were for various games. As a joke, I went and searched for Minecraft, and what the hell did I find, but 30+ stories. That many for Minecraft! WTF, mate?**

**Reading: Ishmael by Daniel Quinn, Seafire by John Gardner  
Playing: Minecraft, Pokemon Gold Version  
Listening: Explosions in the Sky, Five Iron Frenzy, Hot Hot Heat, Gorillaz, Eiffel 65**


	10. The Nest in the Rapids

The Nest in the Rapids

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. All the characters in this story are mine._

The sun was setting over the forest, leaving long shadows spread out across the ground from the tall trees that grew around the village of Boma. Ellie looked up at the canopy, searching the darkening sky that filtered through the trees for any sign of the prey she and Levin were hunting. The darkening sky made it hard for her to discern the difference between the sky and anything overhead, however. Only the leaves swaying to and fro allowed the hunters any sign of motion in the skies.

"See anything, Ellie?" Levin asked quietly as he absentmindedly sharpened the edge of his sword with a whetstone.

"Not really," Ellie replied. "A whole lot of sky, but not much else. You really think the Qurupeco's nest is in this part of the forest?"

"Seems like the right place for it to be," Levin replied, sliding a finger along the blade to test its sharpness. "The mission outline said that the thing's been harassing caravans for a few weeks now, so it's probably defending what it thinks is its territory. That means its nest must be close enough to the road to make it feel threatened."

"Pretty smart of it to not head straight to its nest after the beating we gave it, though," Ellie commented.

"No kidding," Levin grumbled. "I thought the damn thing was ego-tripping to have such an obnoxious area, leading us all the way to the ocean from the roadside. That's a good seven or eight miles to run after something. But it's got to come back this way sometime."

Levin slung his great sword back over his shoulder, apparently content with his weapon's sharpness. He offered the whetstone up to Ellie. "Want to use it?"

"Yeah, sure," Ellie replied, unsheathing her short sword from its scabbard and taking the whetstone. "He got your armor pretty good, by the way," she said, pointing to a section of Levin's armor that had a fairly big hole burnt in it.

"Yeah, I saw that," Levin replied irritably. "Silph's gonna charge me out the ass to fix it."

"Oh, suck it up and quit being a stickler," Ellie chuckled as she sharpened her weapon.

"Never," Levin huffed dramatically, pulling a laugh from Ellie.

* * *

It had been three weeks since the two hunters had visited the valley of flowers. She had spent the whole day after the dance pouring over any and all monster books Levin and Mel had at their disposals. She didn't even know how many hours in the last few weeks she'd spent reading and re-reading the book Levin had offered her dealing solely on the habits and rituals on dragonkind in general.

She knew it was a foolish fantasy, but she almost felt as though she knew enough about Rath battle tactics from the Guild books she'd gotten from Mel that she could fight and kill the next dragon she came across blindfolded. The books all seemed more like exaggerated stories told by braggart hunters than a reliable source of information, though, so Ellie wasn't above suspecting that she'd get knocked out as fast as she had the first time, provided the opportunity arose.

Ellie had to admit that she was in a far better mood these days then she recalled ever being, ever since witnessing the dance of the dragons. She felt calmer, more at peace with the way things were now that she had a better understanding of the Raths and their ways of life. Though to be honest, she still felt a creeping disgust and hatred whenever she saw a picture or imagined the visage of the dragons that to this day still managed to haunt her nightmares on bad nights.

She was especially surprised at how easily she'd accepted being called Ellie. She even thought of herself as such on occasion, rather than her full name. Apparently her shift into a better mood had been noted by the people of the village, and several of the people she had gotten to know better than the others had started calling her Ellie along with Levin. The great sword user himself seemed to encourage this behavior, much to Ellie's frustration, but somehow she'd grown accustomed to it, accepting the nickname as something to represent her new view of the monsters she hunted.

As for Levin, he had, as promised, taken her out a few days afterwards to go hunting for Great Jaggis. She knew he acted like the hunt was just an average romp through the forest in search of threats to the safety of the village and travelers, but she could tell that the trip was more of a test to see if Ellie was prepared to deal with monsters without becoming thirsty for their blood. She didn't need him looking over her shoulder as she fought, however. She was determined to control herself under any circumstance.

With the Rath mating season winding down, the other monsters in the forest had started to come out of the safety of their nests and venturing out into the forest in search of a heartier meal then they'd been able to risk going after with the dragons around. After hiking for just an hour, they'd already seen at four fields where a pack of Jaggis had found themselves a meal from a pack of herbivores.

Not long after passing by the carcass of a pair of young Aptonoth, the sounds of Jaggis yipping just over the next hill brought the two hunters to a crawl. As they silently crested the hill, they came across the perfect setup for a surprise attack. At the base of a small outcropping, a pack of a half-dozen Jaggis led by a medium-sized Great Jaggi sat contentedly in the sunlight, bathing themselves in the warmth of the day as they rested, napping away their recent meal.

The two hunters had grinned excitedly at each other as they'd cautiously made their way down the hill towards their prey, ready to thin the pack. Ellie had her bowgun with her at the time, being told by Doc Orson to continue taking it easy for a little, so no sword and shield for her until she'd gotten his okay. Nonetheless, she still had her hunter's knife, so stabbing the sleeping Jaggis in their chests was still an option.

Levin had watched her closely as she killed her half of the Jaggis. She had been surprised at her feelings when she'd done it. While formerly she had felt a sense of superiority or strength as she'd killed monsters, when she'd stabbed into the heart of the Jaggis, she'd felt a slight twang of regret by doing so. Were these monsters really deserving of death, she'd thought to herself? The feeling had faded somewhat when she remembered that the Jaggi packs would start attacking travelers if they grew too large, but the feeling was still there.

Levin had seemed to approve of the facial expression she'd given, satisfied she wasn't feeling a burst of bloodlust or satisfying a urge for revenge. With his own knife, the two of them killed off the remaining Jaggis as they dozed, before approaching the Great Jaggi itself.

Levin motioned to Ellie, and the bowgun user nodded in response, loading her bowgun with Pellet shots and approaching the monster. However, as she'd gotten closer to the Great Jaggi's head, she couldn't help but shiver as the image of the Rathalos appeared in her mind, mocking her weakness.

She felt a flicker of anger and hate trickle through her as she stared down at the sleeping alpha male, but she forced down the feeling. She knew there was more to the monsters now than bloodthirsty beasts. She was going to kill this Great Jaggi, that was for certain, but she was doing it to keep Boma safe, not for her own desires of vengeance. She calmed herself as she hefted the barrel and aimed.

A staccato of noise had echoed across the field as the bowgun blasted three shotgun rounds in rapid-fire succession, sending three rounds of Pellet into the Great Jaggi's noggin. The Great Jaggi snapped awake with a howl of pain, twisting wildly at the sudden attack on its head. Ellie was taken by surprise by the alpha male's sudden flailing, and before she could roll away, received a painful kick to the chest from the Great Jaggi's powerful legs, sending her backwards as the creature rolled to its feet.

The rest of the battle went as expected from there, despite Ellie taking a surprise hit early in the fight. The Great Jaggi fought hard, despite the loss of its comrades, but the experience Ellie and Levin had acquired during their time as hunters-in-training quickly overpowered it, and the alpha male was soon making motions to run away into the hills to escape its impending fate.

However, since her battle with the Royal Ludroth, Ellie had decided to start carrying several rounds of status-effect inducing shots in her ammunition pouch. She quickly slid several rounds of Para shot into her bowgun and with several quick bursts, emptied the chamber into the Great Jaggi's leg.

The alpha male howled in frustration as the venom in the rounds began to take effect, seizing up the muscles in the creatures legs and cutting of its ability to run. Soon the poison, extracted from the sacs of Bnahabra, began to spread to the rest of its body, the effects quickening due to the Great Jaggi's quickly-beating heart. In less than a minute, the once fleeing alpha male stood twitching violently at the edge of the clearing, unable to move from the venom in its bloodstream.

With a couple blasts of Crag shot from Ellie's bowgun and several powerful blows from Levin's great sword, the Great Jaggi soon fell, damage and blood loss overwhelming it.

At the end of the battle, Levin praised Ellie for a job well done, especially for her foresight to carry status shots with her into battle. He didn't say as much, but Ellie seemed to get the impression that he'd given his approval to her new attitude towards hunting in general. She certainly felt better about hunting now that she didn't feel that she had to prove anything; not in such a small amount of time, at least.

But every few days, the dream of the Rathalos would return, mocking her lack of strength and still-lingering fear. She knew that one day she'd have to confront one of the monsters head on. She'd find herself a Rathalos and prove to herself, to Levin, to the world, that she wasn't the same girl that sat cowering in a destroyed building, but a hunter worthy of respect.

All she needed was time, and she'd get there for sure.

* * *

The two hunters suddenly perked up as the sound of feathery flapping suddenly echoed through the forest. The two got to their feet, searching the darkening sky for some sign of a dark shape flying overhead. A warbling squawk followed the sound of flapping, and the two hunters turned towards the sound as a dim shape passed overhead, flying its way west.

Ellie took the lead as the two of them tailed after it, ducking and diving through the foliage as they took chase. A couple times they lost sight of their prey, but managed to catch up to it when it cawed out. After just over a mile, Levin hissed at Ellie to stop. The two of them screeched to a halt, just short of a small clearing overshadowed by a rocky overhang that led back to a dimly lit cave in the back.

Out of the sky, their prey, a colorful Qurupeco bearing its share of battle damage, floated carefully to the ground. Ellie took note that the bird was favoring its right wing over its left, recalling Levin catching it with a glancing blow as they'd fought it near the caravan road to the east of Boma. Its leathery tail was burnt and charred from the Crag shot Ellie had managed to detonate near the creature's rear, and it had a slight hobble as it hopped its way over to the assumed safety of its cave.

As the Qurupeco disappeared into the darkness of the cave, Levin motioned the two of them forward, allowing Ellie to take the lead with her shield cautiously in front of her. As they crossed the grassy area, they could hear the bird's heavy breathing echoing out of the cave entrance. The breathing began to slow, letting them know that the bird was trying to doze off in order to recover during a good night's sleep.

When they reached the entrance, Levin looked into the cave, allowing his eyes to adjust to the darkness as the sun continued to lower in the sky. He growled in frustration at the vague shape that was softly breathing in the back, and pulled out a torch, passing it to Ellie.

With a snap of his flint, Levin lit the torch, sending a bright yellow light across the grass and into the cave. The two hunter apprentices froze as the Qurupeco snorted in irritation at the sudden light and turned, sighing in relief as the bird shifted its face away from the light in order to sleep.

"Think you can hit it with your great sword's heavy blow?" Ellie asked quietly as the Qurupeco began snoring again. Several days ago, she'd finally gotten around to asking Levin about the red glow that occasionally surrounded him during a battle. She'd been stunned when Levin told her that the power was activated by fury or anger in general. She'd never taken Levin to be an angry enough person to use such an ability, and told him so. He'd just grinned and told her that everyone had their own demons. This made Ellie somewhat uneasy, but she tried to ignore the feeling.

"Don't think so," Levin said with a shrug. "Not in a bad enough mood right now."

"What if I told you Silph was planning on charging you double for sword and armor repairs from here on in?" Ellie asked jokingly.

"I'd probably get depressed, not angry," Levin groaned. "Please don't joke about something like that. The guy's already robbing me blind."

"Just trying to get you miffed," Ellie grinned. "So we really can't hit it with a heavy attack. What do we do?"

Levin shrugged. "We'll try to kill it with one hit first. Try and slit its throat or something along those lines. If that doesn't work, we'll just need to fight it like we normally do."

Ellie huffed in irritation. "I need to start carrying bombs with me when I go hunting with my sword and shield. I kinda miss my Crag shots when I don't have them with me."

"Good luck with that," Levin grinned. "Have fun rolling a barrel around the forest. Or maybe you can just strap it to your back."

"Ugh," Ellie groaned. "Scratch that idea, then."

"Shall we go, then, Miss Ellie?"

"Sure thing, Mister Levin."

The two of them cautiously entered the cave, Ellie in the lead with the torch held out by her shield hand, lighting the dim cave as the two of them tiptoed over towards the Qurupeco's nest. The large bird ruffled in irritation as the light made the dim cave brighter and brighter as they neared the nest. Ellie unsheathed her sword as she got within striking distance of the Qurupeco, preparing to sink the blade into the bird's skinny throat.

But as she pulled her sword pack, the Qurupeco twisted its head around, squinting open a tired eye at the source of light. There was a fraction of a second of silence in the cave. Then the Qurupeco's vocal sac expanded, lighting up a bright red and lifting the Qurupeco's head up off the ground. With a blast of air, the bird let loose an enraged honking squawk into Ellie's face, taking her by surprise making her trip and fall backwards.

With a twist of its body, the Qurupeco hopped to its feet, then leapt toward Ellie as she pushed herself back to her feet. It charged forward, attempting to use its bulk to smash into Ellie, but before it could hit her, Levin leapt forward, sword in hand. He swung low, catching the Qurupeco under its legs and knocking it away. The bird teetered, its balance lost from the force of the great sword's impact, and fell over onto its side.

By this point, Ellie had recovered, and she dived forward at the opportunity to strike. Her blade flashed in the light of the torch she carried as she swung the blade into the bird's leathery hide, tearing through the skin on the bird's belly and wing. She focused her aim on the Qurupeco's left side, attempting to compound the damage the bird had taken in their earlier battle.

The Qurupeco warbled in pain as the sword tore into its flesh. It reared its legs forward, kicking at Ellie's sword hand as she swung down, knocking the blade out of her hand and sending it clattering across the cave. Ellie flinched in surprise as the Qurupeco pulled its legs back. She pulled up her shield defensively as the bird brought both feet forward in a powerful kick that smashed against her shield and sent her tumbling back.

Ellie caught herself as quickly as she could as the Qurupeco brought itself back to its feet. She glanced over to where her sword lay and dived for it as the bird tilted its head back and lobbed a blob of mucus in her direction. But she wasn't quick enough, and a splotch of the green goop caught her leg, seeping through her armor and sticking tightly to the leathery material. The force of the impact tripped her up, sending her to the ground, her torch clattering out of her hand and across the rocky ground.

The Qurupeco wobbled her way, flint stones clicking together menacingly as it prepared to spit more of its mucus and light it on the hunter. As the creature reared its head back, preparing to spit, Levin dashed appeared between them, swinging his great sword sideways and smacking the Qurupeco across the face with the blunt edge. The blow twisted the surprised Qurupeco's head sideways, sending the spray of goop away from Ellie and splattered across the floor.

The Qurupeco turned towards Levin in a flurry, lunging forward and smacking into him with its chest. Levin floundered backwards from the impact, but managed to stay on his feet and bring his great sword up to block as the Qurupeco immediately spun around, smacking into the bone of Levin's blade with a resounding _thwap_.

As the bird's momentum kept it spinning around, Levin swung his sword from its defensive position and sent it smashing into the Qurupeco's wing, sending the bird sliding backwards from the impact. But as he brought his sword back to strike again, the bird coughed a large glob of mucus at him, snapping its flints together just behind it. The mucus erupted in a burst of flame, searing flames burning into Levin's armor and sending him flying backwards. He hit the ground roughly, instinct forcing him to push himself to his feet.

By the time Levin had rolled to his feet, Ellie had been given enough time to recover her sword. She had attempted swatting at the clingy mucus that still latched to her leg like a particularly sticky leech, but any attempt to remove the gunk only transferred the substance onto another place on her armor or weapon.

Ellie flinched as the Qurupeco leapt towards Levin as he tried to beat away the flames that still clung to his armor. The bird lobbed another ball of mucus as it landed, forcing Levin to ignore the flames on his clothes and dive away as the Qurupeco clacked its flints together to produce another explosion. Ellie cursed under her breath as the bird suddenly remembered her, turning her way and firing a stream of mucus across the cavern at her.

She managed to duck out of the way and avoid most of the mucus, but a wide blob of the stuff managed to hit her shield and stuck tight. She tried to shake it off, but the substance refused to come unstuck. She cursed in spite, knowing any sparks at all would make the mucus go off like a bomb on her arm.

Suddenly, a flash of an idea lit up in her mind. She whipped her sword out of its sheath and slid it across her shield, gathering up all the goop onto the thin blade. As the goop on the shield thinned, she began working on the mucus on her legs, and soon her sword had gathered enough of the stuff that it appeared to be a mace rather than a sword.

She glanced towards the Qurupeco and saw that it was targeting Levin again. As quickly as she could, she sprinted over to the torch that lay burning on the ground several yards away. An explosion rocked the cave as the Qurupeco ignited another mucus orb, causing Ellie to stumble, but she managed to stay on her feet and grab the torch off the ground.

She turned back to the Qurupeco as it was pecking at Levin, who held up his great sword defensively as the sharp beak clanged and bounced off the blade. Ellie charge forward, sword in one hand and torch in the other as the bird smashed its flints against the blade in an attempt to shatter the weapon.

"Hey ugly!" Ellie called out, pulling back her arm and throwing her sword.

The Qurupeco turned to the sound, just as Ellie had hoped, and the blade, completely coated in the bird's own mucus, connected with a sickening squish. The bird flinched as the blob stuck against its head, covering up one of its eyes. It waved its wings frantically, attempting to dislodge the substance that was latched to its head.

As it flailed, Levin looked up, realized what Ellie was planning, and dove away just as she reared back and tossed the torch at the panicking Qurupeco. The torch soared through the air, and the Qurupeco turned, curious where the light was coming from, just as the flame struck the mucus.

The Qurupeco's head erupted in flame as the mucus caught and detonated, making the bird release a pained cry as fire enveloped its head. The plume of fire expanded, creating a ball of fire that spread all the way down to the Qurupeco's body.

Ellie flinched and ducked as her sword suddenly flew out of the explosion, spiraling through the air over her head. The blade clattered across the floor, still smoking from the blast as it came to a stop several yards away.

Ellie held up her shield cautiously as the smoke slowly cleared, revealing the Qurupeco, well singed from the base of its neck and up. The torch clattered down to the ground next to it, it somehow managing to avoid being turning to charcoal in the explosion. It lit the Qurupeco's singed body, allowing Ellie and Levin to watch as the Qurupeco teetered for just a moment, before warbling weakly and falling to the ground. It twitched its leg once or twice, then was still.

The two hunters stood in silence for a moment, then Ellie laughed nervously. "I can't believe that worked," she said with a stutter.

"Good lord," Levin sighed, swinging his sword onto his back. "With psycho plans like that, you're going to get me killed long before a monster cuts me down. Try to warn me before the next time you try something like that, please?"

"I'll try, but no promises," Ellie replied, walking over to her sword and picking it up gingerly. "Ouch, still hot. Anyway, aren't you the one who normally comes up with plans for situations like this?"

Levin shrugged as he kicked the Qurupeco's charred head, making sure it was dead. "Normally, I suppose. But I normally don't take into account surprises. Like the thing waking up for example: after the beating and chase we gave it this afternoon, I expected the thing to be dead to the world once it fell asleep."

"Why do you enjoy making tactics for fights, anyway?" Ellie asked as she strode over, unsheathing her hunter's knife to cut into the bird. "You always like to plan ahead when fighting monsters. When I was in Loc Lac, a lot of the hunters I saw in the bars were always talking like 'I saw the monster from half a mile away and totally charged straight at it, screaming at the top of my lungs.' Kind of took me off guard when I got here and you always wanted to go in all carefully and cautious."

"How old were they?" Levin asked with a grin. "The hunters talking like that, I mean."

"I don't know," Ellie admitted. "Maybe our age. Twenties, early thirties, somewhere around there."

"You see any older hunters while you were there? Maybe in their forties or even the old man's age?"

"Yeah, a few. Not many though."

"What kind of strategies did _they_ talk about?"

Ellie frowned in thought. "I don't know. Migration paths, good stakeout locations, setting poisoned bait, that kind of thing. Why?"

"Think about it."

Ellie thought for a moment before smacking her own forehead. "Ah, I get it. Be smart, live longer. Got it."

"There you go," Levin laughed. "As to why I choose to act strategically, I just kind of like that feeling you get when a plan comes together, you know? I just really like the sense of accomplishment you get when you take the time to set out a plan, and it all just falls together successfully. Nothing quite like it in my opinion."

The great sword user chuckled as he gave the dead Qurupeco another kick. "So do you need anything else from this big guy or are we going to spend the rest of what little we have of the day discussing tactics?"

"Just a few feathers and a couple of its bones," Ellie replied, kneeling down to tear into the Qurupeco's leathery hide. "Silph told me he could make me some decent armor out of Qurupeco parts, provided I get them for him."

"Ah, I see. Finally going to become a real hunter and wear some armor that you collected the materials yourself for, huh?"

"I suppose so," Ellie replied, plucking several of the larger feathers that were still intact and a few of the Qurupeco's bones. "I'm just hoping for something a little more resistant to damage, personally. This hunter's armor is nice, but it takes a beating."

"That's the way it is with rookie armor," Levin told her. "Just a carry-over until you make or buy something better. I'm kind of surprised you haven't gotten any new armor before now, actually."

"After the beating I took during the Royal fight, I've been meaning to. That much weight behind a tackle hurts, you know?"

"Yeah, I hear you," Levin laughed.

As Ellie wrenched one of the Qurupeco's large wing bones out, she grinned with satisfaction, stuffing the goods into her pouch. "That ought to do it," she said with a smile, getting to her feet and stretching. "All I gotta do now is get the stuff to Silph and I'll be getting me some new armor."

"Nicely done," Levin applauded. "Now shall we be off? I'd like to get back to Boma before it gets _too_ dark. I'd like to get my armor into Silph's shop before it closes."

"Alright, then," Ellie said, picking up the torch from off the ground and holding it up as the two of them walked out of the cave. She looked slyly over to Levin. "So… what are the odds of you covering my dinner for me when we get back to Boma?"

"Snowball in hell, Ellie," Levin replied simply, getting a laugh from Ellie.

* * *

"Damn it all to a fiery death!"

Levin blinked in surprise as the shout echoed across the shopping center of Boma. He turned to the yelling echoing out of Silph's smithy, recognizing Ellie's enraged voice. He was sitting all the way on the other side of the square, eating at the Felyne-owned restaurant he'd taken Ellie to on her first day hunting, a good forty or fifty yards away. He had to admit Ellie had a strong pair of lungs to get her voice to carry this far in the middle of rush hour in the village.

The bickering continued for well over a minute before Levin finally decided to ignore it and return to his meal. Whatever hassle Ellie had run up against in Silph's shop would reach him eventually, he was sure. If the local gossip didn't figure out what was wrong and get to him first… but that would have to wait. He had a plate of Heaven Bread and Big Meat to keep his mind busy at the moment.

As he finished his meal and was picking the bones, absentmindedly wondering exactly what creature the Big Meat came from, he heard a few bouts of harried whispers and chuckling coming from across the square behind him. He could also hear Silph still arguing, probably standing outside his shop by the sound of his voice. Levin was tempted to turn and see what the whole commotion had been about, but he decided it would most likely be better to let trouble hunt him down rather than inviting it over.

It didn't take that long either for trouble to arrive, either, an angry stomping approaching from behind him, no doubt Ellie prepared to tell Levin exactly what Silph did to irk her. He hid a grin as he pretended not to hear Ellie's approach as she closed the distance between him. He acted like he was looking away as he heard his "apprentice" thump roughly into the seat next to him.

"I'm going to kill Silph," she grumbled after ordering a plate. "No wait… I'm going to kill Sophie. No wait, I'm going to kill both of them."

Levin turned in surprise. "Sophie the armory owner? What did she…"

He sputtered to a stop in surprise as he got a look at Ellie. He'd seen ads for the Qurupeco armor several times on the walls of Sophie's shop and in the book Silph kept on hand of things he was capable of making. The women's armor in the pictures had the appearance of a brightly colored green and purple dress, with a matching headdress, bracers, and leggings to go along with it. Levin had always wondered why any hunter would want to go around fighting monsters in a dress, but he supposed the benefits of the Qurupeco materials would pay off somehow. He'd been somewhat interested in the idea of seeing Ellie in a dress rather than her Hunter Armor…

But that was not what she was wearing right now, oh no. This outfit, while certainly brightly colored with the Qurupeco's notable green and purple plumage, had half or less material covering her body than the armor in the ads was pictured showing.

The vest and bracers the ads had shown had been altered, material from the bottom half of the vest seemingly cut away to add long, frilled sleeves to the arms of the armor. The resulting appearance of the armor now gave Levin (and everyone else, he supposed) a good view of skin from Ellie's waist to the top of her stomach. The leggings were still there, unaltered, he noticed, but the material of the dress had been completely shaved away, leaving Ellie with nothing but a short, no, very short skirt that gave Levin a nice view of her athletic legs.

He stared dumbly for a long moment, before snapping out of it as Ellie socked him in the chest, nearly knocking him out of his chair. As he righted himself, he grinned sheepishly as Ellie turned away from him, her face coloring in embarrassment.

"What in the hell is with your armor?" Levin asked, poorly hiding his glances at her midsection and legs. Ellie glared at him, still fidgeting bashfully under Levin's eyes. "I'm pretty sure that's not the standard design."

Ellie sighed, trying to pull her skirt and vest lower to cover her legs as she twisted in her seat. "Apparently, after I gave Silph the materials to make this armor, Sophie got wind of it. I guess she decided that she would take it on herself to… _improve_ the design of the armor for the sake of fashion. Her words, not mine, mind you."

"Of course," Levin said, risking another glance at Ellie's midriff. Ellie turned to smack him again, making Levin quickly raise his hands in surrender. "Sorry! I'll stop!"

"You better," Ellie growled, stopping herself from hitting him and returning to her meal. "Anyway, the results are what you've been ogling since I got here. She decided I'd be better off showing off my figure than surviving monster battles. I mean, come on. I got this armor so I'd have a bit more defense in the field, and what do I get? A whole lot of extra skin showing that'll just be a target for fire or goop or whatever the hell a monster throws at me."

"It's not that bad," Levin said with half-assed conviction.

"Oh, yeah it is," Ellie grumbled. "Everyone and their mother was staring at me the whole walk over here. And the worst part is Silph won't change the armor back to the way it should be. Says it'll damage the integrity of the armor or some crap like that, and that if I want the armor the way it should be, I'll need to collect the materials all over again."

"Ouch. Yeah, that definitely sucks, all right."

"Tell me about it," Ellie groaned.

"So what are you gonna do?" Levin asked. "Are you going to get yourself another set of Qurupeco armor, done right? Or do you want to just keep using your Hunter's Armor?"

Ellie sighed as she picked at her meal, unconsciously tugging on her skirt again. "I don't know. I mean, I spent so long collecting this stuff, it'd feel like a waste to not wear it. But still, it's just so… you know."

"Right, right."

"But I guess I can try wearing it once, see if it works at all, right? I mean, even though Silph and Sophie both suck, I'd hate to think I wasted all that effort just to throw it into my trunk and never wear it. So maybe just once."

"That's the spirit," Levin grinned, then frowned. "I think. If you'd like, we can take on something simple today. Maybe just a Jaggi pack or something."

"That sounds fair," Ellie said as she dropped her fork, her meal done. "I'll see if the armor's effective against something small first and we'll see about it from there." She stretched before getting up, and Levin eyes leapt down to her stomach again as the vest rose higher on her stomach. He flinched back as Ellie slouched forward suddenly, realizing what she was doing and throwing another glare at Levin.

Levin chuckled guiltily. "Well, on the bright side, at least I'll have something nice to look at while we're hunting." He laughed loudly as he swung his arms up defensively when Ellie turned, throwing punches at him in embarrassed irritation.

After the two of them paid, they left the shop and walked over to the Guild booth, where Ellie sat in bored contemplation of one of her guidebooks. Marshall sat next to her, keeping watch over his grandson as he played with a pile of blocks Mel kept behind the counter for such occasions.

Levin had to force himself to focus on their location while they walked, however. Any negligence on his part in keeping his concentration and his eyes would wander to Ellie's legs as the skirt she wore swished while she walked. He noticed Ellie fidgeting under the wandering eyes of some of the villagers and gave the ones he made eye contact with a cold glare, silently encouraging them to find something else to look at.

When they finally reached the booth, Marshall looked up at then and grinned, then blinked in surprise at the sight of Ellie's new armor. "Goodness, Miss Eleanor. I realize you're quite the natural at hunting, but I think you might be bolstering your ego a bit much in something like that."

Mel looked up from her guidebook at Marshall's words and winced back in surprise. "Oh wow, I thought Sophie was kidding when she said she was going to do that."

"You knew about this?" Ellie growled.

"I thought she was joking!" Mel defended herself. "She told me she saw a drawing of some new Loc Lac fashion that's gotten really popular in the cities. She was going to try and get you to make your armor like that the next time you got some. Or at least I _thought_ she was going to try. I didn't think she'd go over your head on this! Honest!"

"Yeah yeah, I get it," Ellie grumbled, slumping into one of the seats in front of the booth.

"Anything good on the list today, Mel?" Levin asked, sliding onto the seat next to Ellie's. He reached over and helped Theo with his tower of blocks as he did so, getting a happy smile from the child.

"I think she'd got one that's right up your alley, Levin," Marshall said with a grin.

"Oh, really?"

"Oh, right!" Mel said excitedly, pulling out the packet of Guild missions and thumping it down in front of the two hunters. She opened it roughly and skimmed through the pages, before resting on one near the front of the book.

"This one's not too hard," she told them, pulling out the mission slip and setting it down between the two of them to look at. "All you really have to do it kill some Epioths and collect their guts. Get as many as you can back to the village and you're done."

"Why bother?" Ellie asked, and Levin nodded in agreement. "We've killed Epoith before and I've brought their guts back now and then, but the village never does anything with them. Most of them just get tossed into the ocean and used as fish chum. I've seen them do it."

"That's because we ourselves don't use them too much, Miss Eleanor," Marshall answered her. "But the, ah, wealthy and bored of Loc Lac and other cities seem to have the idea that Epioth guts are some sort of delicacy of the finest kind, for who knows what reason. Not many here in Boma really have the taste for the stuff, so we don't really hold onto them unless a trader is in town that is willing to buy them. Or, as you can see, unless a noble or merchant goes through the Hunter's Guild to request the stuff themselves."

"So this stuff is valuable?" Levin said, grinning slightly. He saw Marshall smirk at him and was sure his eyes were lighting up at the prospect of doing this mission.

"Valuable enough that the Guild is paying by the handful rather than a just a flat amount for a box of it," Mel replied. "In short, the more you get, the more you get paid."

"I like it," Levin grinned. "How come we don't get missions like this more often?"

"Probably because people like you would abuse the hell out of them constantly," Ellie joked. "You would probably kill off the entire Epioth population given the option to profit off of their guts."

"Hey, I'm not that bad," Levin griped. "…Most of the time at least."

"Whatever," Ellie said. "I suppose Epioths are just as good as practice in this damn armor as Jaggi are, so I'm in if this is our mission today."

"Looks like it," Levin said, passing back the paper to Mel to file. "Maybe if we fill up our pouches quickly, we can look for a pack or two on our way back, huh?"

"Sounds like a fair deal to me," Ellie said, standing up from her seat.

"Try not to kill off too many of them," Marshall said jokingly. "I'm sure you're going to want to do this mission again sometime in the future when another noble gets peckish. Can't do that if you've wiped them all out."

"Oh shut up old man," Levin muttered, getting to his feet as well.

"Good luck!" Mel called out as the two hunter apprentices walked towards the village gates.

* * *

"Pull harder!" Ellie heard Levin call out from the other side of the Epioth corpse in front of her. Her hands nearly slipped off the rubbery hide of the creatures neck as she tugged, dragging the heavy body up out of the water and onto the beach. With a final push of energy, she dragged the carcass the last few feet out of the water and onto dry land.

"Okay, we're good," Levin said, dropping the Epioth's tail and sloshing out of the water, before dropping to the sand to rest. "Good lord, it's been too long since I've done underwater hunting. I forgot how much of a pain in the butt it is to beach these things."

"Is it really necessary to pull them up to shore?" Ellie asked tiredly. "Can't you just float them to the surface and carve them there?"

"Not with the guts, apparently," Levin replied, flopping onto his back and staring into the sky. "With a lot of the _delicacies_ or whatever we have to pull out of things for the nobles, you've got to maintain the _freshness _and _original quality_ and etcetera for them to still want what you're offering. The salt water in the ocean is apparently a big no-no when it comes to food."

"Where the hell did you pick that up?" Ellie asked. "It didn't say anything like that on the mission paper."

"I had to hunt catfish a bit before you showed up here in Boma. Apparently their guts and hides sell pretty well inland too. Anyway, I just gutted them while I was out in the water. But when I gave them to the trader that was passing through, he told me the saltwater made them all worthless."

"Ouch."

"No kidding. I didn't really want my work to go to waste, so I ended up living off the stuff for a couple days before getting sick of the stuff and tossing it all into the inlet behind our houses."

"That sucks," Ellie said.

"Yep," Levin replied, getting back to his feet and stretching. He scanned the horizon as Ellie hopped to her feet as well, then pointed off into the distance. "There's a river over there. Let's see if we can't find any sunbathers out on the water there instead. I'm pretty sure the blood in the water's scared away any Epioth in this area."

"Sounds like a good idea to me," Ellie said, pulling out her hunter's knife. "Let me get this one here and then we can go."

"Alright," Levin replied. "You want to kill the ones we find on the river? I've been doing a lot of the ocean work."

"Only if you promise to turn your head," Ellie said, glaring pointedly at Levin. "Fighting Jaggis in this armor may be one thing, but swimming after monsters in a skirt and cut-off vest is something completely different. Or was that your evil plan all along?"

"Huh. Tough question," Levin admitted with a smirk. "I guess it all comes down to whether I prefer to listen to my wallet or my libido more."

"Well?"

"I'm going to have to go with libido, since it probably irritates you more."

"Jerk!" Ellie laughed, smacking Levin in the shoulder. "Fine. I'll see if this armor works underwater. But if I even detect a _hint_ of ogling, you get a sword to the… libido, got it?"

Levin winced. "Yeah, I got it."

"Let's go then."

The two of them hiked for the better part of an hour to the river and a couple miles upstream. Luckily for them, the occasional flooding of the river had left the two of them a wide grassy path to walk along as they journeyed upriver. The river began to grow fiercer and swifter as they continued upstream, but Levin said they should continue on, claiming the river calmed further inland. However, as they continued, Ellie began to wonder exactly how much further inland he meant, since the river continued to thrash and churn despite the distance they walked.

Walls of rock began to grow taller on the other side of the river as they searched for signs of Epioth. The rock wall continued to rise, and large caverns began appearing on the walls where the river had dug out caves from the constant flow of water tearing at the walls. A few Bnahabra flew in and out of some, but the caves were otherwise quiet, without cries of monsters echoing out.

As Levin had promised, the river eventually evened out, smoothing out from white rapids to a wider but still fairly quickly moving mass of water. The edge of the river rose in elevation as the width of the river increased, until the river was bordered on both sides by grassy ledges several yards high. Ellie glanced over the edge cautiously as they walked, checking for signs of Epioth in the water.

"Found some," she told Levin shortly, as the long necks of the creatures they hunted bobbed out of the water, warming themselves under the hot noontime sun. "So how are we supposed to beach them with these ledges?"

"I suppose we could go back kill them here and let the corpses float downstream," Levin replied. "We could follow after them and drag them out of the water somewhere where the riverside is a little better."

"Any other ideas? That sounds like it'll take a lot of running. Couldn't we gut them in the water? This stuff is fresh water, so it should be fine, right?"

Levin paused in thought. "I guess that's a good point. I guess we can give it a go. We'll just keep the guts we get here separate just in case."

Suddenly, a pained howling tore out from the river. The two hunters turned, only to spot one of the Epioths get dragged under the water by something underneath the cloudy water. The creature tore back to the surface a moment later, large ovular bite marks oozing red blood down its neck and flippers. The water behind it sprayed a blast of water into the air as a yellow-green blur shot into the air and smashed into the Epioth, dragging it back under.

"Crap! Ludroth!" Levin cursed. "They're going to scare off the Epioth! We've got to kill them before they run all the Epioth off!"

"Wait!" Ellie said, pointing to the river. As a group of adult Epioth turned to defend their squad member, a swarm of dark green shapes surged through the water from downstream. The two hunters gasped in surprise as a pack of over two dozen Ludroth tore into the squad of Epioth, going into a feeding frenzy the likes of which they'd never seen before. In less than a minute, the once pristine river was polluted with blood and gore as half of the Epioth squad was torn apart.

"Holy crap," Levin said quietly. "I've never seen anything like this before."

"I thought Ludroth only hunted in small groups," Ellie asked. "I've never seen more than six or so at one time before, so… look out!"

Ellie grabbed the lining of Levin's coat, pulling him away from the edge of the ledge as one of the Ludroth in the river rocketed out of the water, soaring through the air and landing where Levin once stood. The two hunters pulled out their weapons defensively as another three Ludroth launched out of the water after the first, landing next to it and snarling menacingly at the two hunters.

"I don't think this was how I planned to break in my new armor, Levin," Ellie said nervously, holding out her shield as the pair of Ludroth charged forward, snapping at the hunters.

"You're gonna have to get used to surprises in this line of work," Levin replied, swinging his sword around as a Ludroth jumped at him. The heavy weapon smashed down, smacking the creature out of the air and sending it flopping to the ground as another swerved around it, heading Levin's way.

Ellie ducked out of the way as one of the Ludroth nipping at her twisted its neck, trying to smash its way around Ellie's shield. As it lunged, trying to knock Ellie backwards, its snout rebounded against the shield, sliding past it and to the side. Ellie twisted her sword hand around, sending her sword cutting into the Ludroth's rubbery hide and leaving a large gash along the creature's neck.

The Ludroth reared back in pain, and the other leapt forward, its bulk smashing into Ellie's shield and knocking her back a few feet. She caught herself quickly, but the Ludroth had lunged forward and brought its teeth down on Ellie's arm. Ellie cried out in pain as the creature's sharp teeth punctured the skin, and brought her sword around in a flailing arc, stabbing it into the Ludroth's neck until it released her, honking in agony.

As the injured Ludroth reared back in pain, Ellie charged forward, swinging her sword down into the creature's back, stabbing again and again. The Ludroth attempted to swat at her with its tail, but the pain in its neck made it dizzy and tired, unable to strike properly. Finally, with a gurgling death rattle, the Ludroth flopped over onto its side, the blood loss and pain sending it fading into unconsciousness and death.

Ellie turned as a honk of rage echoed from the mouth of the other Ludroth, and brought up her shield just in time to block the Ludroth's snapping bites. Needles of pain lanced up her arm as the Ludroth struck, aching pain from the other Ludroth's bite. Ellie swung her sword out around her shield, and the Ludroth shirked back away from the weapon, attempting not to get hit again.

Then the Ludroth leapt at her, catching her by surprise as it smashed into Ellie's shield and sending her skidding back. As she regained her balance, she gasped in surprise when she realized she was only a couple feet away from the ledge overhanging the riverside. The Ludroth twisted its head to the sides attempting to get around Ellie shield or knock her off the ledge into the teeth of the Ludroth below.

Ellie sidestepped as the Ludroth lunged, swinging her sword down on the creature's neck and slicing once again into its neck. The Ludroth yelped in pain, twisting its neck around in an attempt to clamp on to Ellie's leg, but the motion only cut the knife even deeper into its neck, spilling blood all over the grass.

With a final effort, the Ludroth surged forward and snapped at Ellie, managing to chomp down on the feathery armor skirt she wore around her waist. However, the thick feathers of the Qurupeco, made solid and fireproof, didn't allow the Ludroth any grasp on the material, and the creature's momentum and weariness from battle carried it past Ellie and into the water with only a couple feathers in its mouth. Ellie watched, relieved, as the Ludroth kicked its flippers for a moment before going still and getting swept away by the current.

As she watched the body float away, a stab of pain slid up her arm, and she reached into her pouch to grab a potion as she pulled up her sleeve. She stopped in surprise as she uncovered her arm, nearly dropping the bottle. Her arm had barely been hurt at all! Admittedly there were several small puncture wounds in a semi-circle on her arm, but nothing a couple hours under a bandage wouldn't fix. It probably wouldn't even scar over, either.

"Okay, maybe this armor isn't so bad after all," she muttered to herself, downing the potion just in case and covering her arm back up.

She turned back to Levin then, seeing him standing over his own Ludroth carcasses with his sword bloodied. He grinned at her when he saw she was done and walked over, swinging his sword onto his back. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Ellie replied. "I got both of them, though one fell into the water before it bit it."

Levin frowned. "That might not be good," he said, turning and rushing over to the ledge. Ellie winced in realization. She'd almost forgotten about the rest of the Ludroth in the water! With their comrades dying, the other Ludroth would no doubt be preparing to attack.

The two of them reached the ledge, looking into the water and expecting the worst, but were surprised at what they saw. The Ludroth were swimming in the shallows near the ledge the two apprentice hunters stood on, but none of them were making a move to jump the pair of them. Every once in a while, one of them would stick their head out of the water and bark at them threateningly, but otherwise the whole group idled in the water, circling menacingly.

"What are they doing?" Ellie asked quietly. "They're just… sitting there."

"I honestly have no idea," Levin replied in confusion. "I've never seen them do this."

"Are they afraid of us?" Ellie asked, cautiously waving her sword over the water. Several of the closer Ludroth darted away from the ledge, but otherwise there was no reaction.

"I don't think so," Levin said. "It's more like they're… waiting for something or… wait… maybe they're waiting for…"

A loud crash interrupted Levin's thought. The pair turned as a large shape tore out of the water downstream. The giant green and yellow body of a Royal Ludroth ripped through the trees howling in rage at the loss of its mates. The giant creature froze the moment it caught sight of them, allowing the two hunters to get a good look at it.

Ellie tilted her head in surprise as she looked at the Royal Ludroth standing before them. This had to be the most battle-damaged monster she had ever met wandering around out in the wilds. It had massive cuts and injuries all over its body, and large chunks of its pale and pasty yellow mane were missing from its neck. Some parts were badly burned, making it so that the spongy material that would normally re-grow stayed charred and burnt. An exceptionally large burn mark covered one side of the Royal Ludroth's face, giving it a rather nasty scar.

But the strangest part of this damaged Royal Ludroth was its tail, or lack thereof. It almost looked like… Ellie gasped in shock when she realized it. "That's the same Royal Ludroth we fought before!"

Levin blinked in surprise, studying the Royal Ludroth more intently. "Jeez, you're right. I thought this guy looked a little more messed up that Royals are supposed to."

The Royal Ludroth snapped to its senses suddenly, after being frozen in recognition. It reared back, letting loose a powerful, furious howl, then rushed forward, tearing across the grass towards the pair of hunters. Ellie and Levin each dove away in different directions as the Royal Ludroth slid by, before turning, weapons drawn and ready to fight.

The Royal Ludroth flipped around sharply just after it passed them, however, and Levin was forced to dive away again as the creature tore straight at him immediately. Levin rolled to his feet, preparing to fight, but before it had passed him completely, the Royal Ludroth had screeched to a stop. Levin only had a moment to react as the creature shook its head and then twisted its whole body around, rolling its whole body in Levin's direction.

Levin tried to jump away, but the Royal Ludroth's speed was frightening as it rolled his way. The full weight of the massive creature slammed into Levin, sending the great sword user sprawling backwards across the grass. The Royal Ludroth slid to a stop as Levin tumbled back, twisting forward and chasing after him.

Ellie chased after the Royal Ludroth as it charged Levin, snapping tenaciously at the great sword user while he recovered. Ellie swung forward while its attention was centered on Levin, taking her sword and cutting repeatedly into the creature's leg and belly. The Royal Ludroth yelped in pain, twisting its head around to snap at Ellie, forcing her to raise her shield defensively. The impact from the creature's snot knocked her back, and the Royal Ludroth used the moment of respite to turn her direction and push itself away from her.

Ellie glanced over her shield just in time to see the Royal Ludroth curl itself up, before leaping through the air at her. Ellie attempted to side-step the lunge, but the creature's leg glanced off her arm as it crashed into the dirt, knocking her back and sending a wave of pain up her arm. The impact spun her around and knocked her to the ground, rolling her away towards the river's edge.

She jerked to a stop suddenly, and looked up to find Levin holding tightly to the sleeve of her vest. She glanced over at the river, and winced when she realized she'd been stopped only a few feet short of the ledge. The Ludroth below honked in irritation, irked that they'd missed an opportunity at another meal. She accepted Levin's hand and climbed to her feet.

"Thanks for the save," she said, brushing herself off as the Royal Ludroth turned and honked in anger at them.

"We're gonna have to confuse it if we want to beat it this time," Levin told her. "It looks like it's figured us out since our last fight with it. It's moving faster and more efficiently than it did the first time, so it must've learned something from our other fight with it."

"Oh, that's great," Ellie groaned. "This guy was rough enough the first time we fought it, and now it's learned how to fight better against us?"

"Monsters aren't idiots, Ellie. If you don't manage to kill one of them, it will remember what you did and fight appropriately the next time you come across it."

"Fantastic," Ellie grumbled, as the Royal Ludroth charged again.

The two hunters dove out of the way, and the Royal Ludroth screeched to a stop just short of the ledge, twisting its whole body around towards Levin. The great sword user pulled his sword back, ready to strike out at the monster, when the Royal Ludroth reared its head back and hocked an orb of mucus at the hunter. Levin managed to pull his sword up to block it, but a lot of the splatter from the glob landed on his armor, trying to seep its way through and into Levin's skin.

However, Levin chose to try and ignore the weariness that idly began to settle in as the mucus took effect. As the Royal Ludroth gazed down at him, apparently content with its successful attack, Levin swung his sword around wildly, striking the creature at the base of the neck. The Royal Ludroth's neck bent awkwardly under the force of the impact, and the creature yelped in pain as it staggered back from the blow.

Ellie used the opportunity to rush forward, sword flashing, as she tore into the Royal Ludroth's exposed hide. Lines of red opened up on the alpha male's body as the blade cut into the rubbery hide. But the Royal Ludroth bowed its hind legs sideways, smacking its body into Ellie and knocking her backwards.

The Royal Ludroth turned around, preparing to lunge at Ellie, when Levin rushed forward, swinging his sword down onto the Royal Ludroth's back, creating a loud cracking sound as some of the creature's ribs cracked under the blow. The alpha male turned in rage, bringing its fangs down on Levin, who brought his sword up to block the impacts.

But the Royal Ludroth had learned enough from the previous battle. As the sword raised defensively, the Royal Ludroth pushed itself up onto its hind legs with a powerful shove from its front, and came crashing down onto Levin with its whole weight before he had a chance to dive away. The blow smashed Levin into the dirt and knocked his backwards several yards. As the great sword user skidded to a halt, Ellie gasped in shock as Levin coughed, spitting up a splatter of blood into the grass under him.

A burst of rage flared up in Ellie as the Royal Ludroth clawed its way over to Levin as he recovered. With a rush of energy she dashed forward and leapt off the ground, hurtling herself onto the creature's back. The Royal Ludroth froze in surprise and attempted to tilt its head back to see what had suddenly added weight to its back. Ellie didn't wait for it to catch sight of her; grasping the hilt of her blade with both hands, she plunged the blade into the Royal Ludroth's back.

The alpha male howled in pain, its head bobbing in pain and drooping to the ground for a moment. With a twist, Ellie wrenched the blade free, then swung it down again. The cries of the Royal Ludroth grew louder as the blade pierced its skin.

Ellie abruptly was dragged to the side as the alpha male shook its body wildly, desperately attempting to wrench loose the aggressor on its back. Ellie's footing dropped out from underneath her, and she slid wildly back and forth across the Royal Ludroth's back, hanging on for dear life as it bucked and shook. Ellie felt her blade begin to wiggle and loosen from its hold on the creature's back.

But before the blade was completely shaken free, the Royal Ludroth suddenly twisted its body, completely rolling over. The force of the sudden spin swung Ellie away from the monster, still clutching tightly to the blade. With a wet sound, the blade tore free and Ellie was thrown across the grass. A burst of pain tore through Ellie's arm as her shoulder crashed against the ground and she rolled awkwardly to her feet.

The Royal Ludroth turned to face her as it rolled back onto its belly, but before it could strike, Levin appeared in front of it again, smashing his great sword into the alpha male's forelimbs, making the creature trip and its head fall to the ground. Levin swung his sword back, channeling the energy from his sword into the red glow.

But before he could strike, the Royal Ludroth curled its head to the side, twisting its whole body into a spiral. Before Levin could act, the alpha male snapped its whole body around, the remaining bulk of its tail slapping Levin across his whole body and knocking him back. The great sword user tumbled toward Ellie, who braced herself as she reached forward and grabbed a hold of him as he rolled into her.

The two quickly got to their feet. Ellie jumped in surprise when she noticed that the two of them were once again at the ledge over the water. She stepped forward to get away, but Levin stopped her.

"Wait," he said quietly. "If he charges us while we're here, he'll fall into the water if we dodge. That'll give us some time to recover before he gets out." Ellie nodded in understanding, facing the Royal Ludroth again as it prepared to charge, holding up her shield defensively.

The Royal Ludroth rushed forward, its speed impressive despite its injuries. The two hunters waited patiently as the creature closed the distance between them, charging recklessly at them. Levin held out his hand nervously, holding back Ellie until the very last second possible. Ellie felt the soft earth shaking underneath her as the alpha male bounded towards them.

But just as Levin began to raise his hand to tell her to jump, the Royal Ludroth suddenly slowed down. The two hunters froze in confusion, unsure what it was doing, when it twisted sideways. Ellie and Levin both realized what it was doing a moment too late as it used its momentum from the charge to twist sideways and throw its whole bulk at them, giving them little to no room to dodge.

Levin turned and tried to push Ellie out of the way, but the Royal Ludroth's speed was far too high for either of them to escape the impact. With a crushing blow, the alpha male smashed sideways into the pair of hunters, knocking them back and sending them over the ledge and out into the river.

The blast of cold water made Ellie seize up for a moment as she hit the water, shock and pain making her gulp down water as she struggled to the surface. Pain seared through her lungs as she flailed in the water, dragging herself closer to the light above her.

As she broke the surface, she gulped down a rush of cold air, still frantically swinging her arms, trying to stay afloat. She blinked the water out of her eyes, trying to catch sight of Levin or the shore. She suddenly realized she was being carried along with the current, the rush of water dragging her along the river and away from the Royal Ludroth which still stood over the ledge with a dominant look in its eyes.

Ellie swung her arms around, trying to paddle her way to shore when a blast of pain tore up her leg. She cried out it pain, instinctively kicking out at the pain. Her foot smashed against a solid object near her leg, and she looked down in surprise, catching sight of a Ludroth as it released her leg, swimming away. Ellie attempted to swim backwards away from the shape slithering away under the water, only to bump into another object which slithered away before she could turn to see it.

Then she remembered the group of Ludroth that had been waiting impatiently under the ledge in the water. She turned to the right and left, realizing the water was filled with circling cloudy shapes all around her. A few pairs of heads popped out of the water, and the Ludroth began to honk menacingly at her. And then they began to circle in…

"Ellie!" Ellie turned to voice, spotting Levin bobbing in and out of the water further out into the river. A Ludroth lunged at him, and the great sword user swung out at the creature with his hunting knife, cutting a shallow gash into the Ludroth's face.

"Swim downstream!" he called out once he was free of threats. "We'll try and find a place to get back on land!"

Ellie nodded in response, turning and swimming away from the Royal Ludroth as it watched them from the ledge. She pulled out her hunter's knife as she neared the Ludroth that were downstream of her. A pair of them swam forward, snapping at her. She swung her shield into one of them, and jabbed the other in the neck with the knife. The wound was superficial, but the Ludroth reeled back in pain, retreating to join the rest of the group.

As the blood from the injured Ludroth spread through the water, the others in the group began to act more cautiously, keeping a safe distance from Ellie as she tried to break out of the circle of them. Every attempt she made to break through, however, was blocked by a group of Ludroth that would rush ahead of her and snap at her, forcing her back.

Ellie looked longingly at the shore as it passed by, as she desperately tried to break out of the circle. However, the glance was only momentary, since the circle of monsters forced her to keep spinning in the water just to keep track of them all. She glanced over at Levin, who was further out than her, trying to determine how he was faring. She gasped out loud, gulping down a swallow of water, when a Ludroth suddenly leapt out of the water and came crashing down on the great sword user's head.

"Levin!" she cried out, swimming frantically his direction. However, before she could go far, she felt a line of teeth clamp down on her waist, and a powerful tug pulled her underwater.

She twisted frantically as she clamped her mouth shut, trying to preserve air as the Ludroth dragged her under. She swung her knife wildly against the creature tightly latched to her waist, releasing lines of blood, both the Ludroth's and hers, into the flowing river. But the Ludroth refused to release her, willing to take a beating in favor of its meal.

In a fit of rage, Ellie clamped both hands onto her knife and dropped it down onto the Ludroth's head. She felt a sickening crunch as the thin blade tore through skin and broke through bone, sending a jet of Ludroth blood into the water as the weapon lobotomized the creature. The Ludroth seized up for a moment, sending waves of pain into Ellie as it twitched, before its jaw slackened at released her.

Ellie clawed desperately for the surface, time slowing down as she tried to break the water. After what seemed like a lifetime, the water made way for cool air and the shining sun. Ellie gulped down fresh air, wincing as pain flared from her waist. Her hand shot down to the injury, putting pressure on the wound as blood oozed into the water.

Then she remembered Levin, twisting around in search of him. But nothing bobbed above the water except a few Ludroth heads, all of them facing her. She twisted frantically, trying to find any sign of him. She called out his name a few times, but never got a response.

She realized something was wrong then, besides Levin being gone. She turned back to the Ludroth, and saw that they were getting further away. The entire group had stopped chasing her! But why? She was injured, shouldn't they be using this as their opportunity?

Then the sound caught her ears. It had been a white noise in her head earlier, but now it seemed to be getting louder and louder. She turned around in the water, awkwardly with her hand clutching her wound. Her face fell as she caught sight of the river ahead of her, descending into rapids. She turned and swum frantically for the shore, but the Ludroth had dragged her too far out in the river to recover herself. With a rush, she fell down the first drop, her world vanishing into a haze of white bubbles and constant noise.

She struggled for the surface, trying to escape the water. She broke the water for only a moment before the powerful current dragged her back under again, holding her down. She tumbled against the rocks and ground as she swam, trying to stay alive.

Her sense of time vanished under constant roar and rush of the rapids. Somehow she managed to get to the surface every once in a while, but it seemed like it only happened after hours and hours of painful jolting against the rocks and boulders that lined the waters of the rapids. Whenever she came up for air she tried to look around, attempting to figure out where she was in the river.

After what seemed like hours of tumbling and near-drowning, the river seemed to grow dark, the sun dying away from the surface of the water. When Ellie managed to come up for air, she noticed that she'd been dragged all the way to the cliffs she'd seen earlier while she and Levin had walked upstream.

She also noticed that it was suddenly easier to keep her head above water. Looking around, she realized that her area of the river was slowing, or at least smoothing out a little, allowing her a bit for control of her actions. After the torment of riding down the rapids, however, even this seemed like a godsend. Her head was getting light from the lack of oxygen and most likely from blood loss as well.

But then another, different roaring noise filled her ears. She looked downstream and saw that the river branched off ahead, pouring into and through several caves and caverns. Ellie gasped as the current suddenly jerked her to the side, dragging her deep into one of the caves. Darkness surrounded her as the cave entrance disappeared around a corner, the only light available coming from cracks and crevices that sent light from the very top of the cliffs. The roar continued to grow and Ellie looked ahead, seeing that the current through the cave was reaching its end, a large rock wall looming ahead.

Then she realized that the river wasn't ending, it was dropping, the water surging over a ledge into darkness. She turned in a panic, desperately trying to swim away from the waterfall ahead, but it was no use. There were no ledges or footholds to catch hold of, no way to fight against the current.

She released a short helpless cry as she approached the fall, and then toppled over into darkness.

* * *

"Shit, shit, shit, shit. Come on Ellie, wake up, please."

An aching pain greeted Ellie as she regained consciousness. A dull throbbing pain in her leg and side thrummed constantly, accompanied by countless dull pains brought about by bruises and cuts from the rapids. Her eyes felt a dull ache as well, with a bright, piercing light searing through her eyelids.

She realized numbly that she was being held, arms cradled under her and the rise and fall of a cautious and slow stride. She opened her eyes cautiously, blinking a few times as she caught sight of the torch. Once her eyes adjusted, she glanced up at the carrier.

"Levin," she said softly.

"Oh, good lord," he sighed with relief in his voice. He quickly stopped and set her down against a wall, then reached forward and hugged her tightly. "I thought you were a goner."

Ellie felt a moment of surprise before she returned the hug, her own worry and fears overcoming her. The two of them stayed there for a long moment, venting their worries and relief.

"I saw you get jumped," Ellie said. "You got attacked by one of the Ludroth."

"Yeah, so did you, I see," Levin said, finally releasing the hug and nodding to her injuries. Ellie looked down, noticing that the wounds on her leg and side had both been patched, though roughly. Wet gauze and tape tightly bound the injuries, sporting speckles of red on the soggy white.

"Can't say I came out of it unscathed, though," Levin told her, pulling back one of his sleeves and revealing a large white circle on his left forearm. It had been patched up just as sloppily as the bandages on Ellie, making her shake her head in dismay.

"How did you find me?" Ellie asked.

"I managed to spot you when we got out of the rapids," Levin explained. "You were ahead, and I tried to catch up with you, but we both got caught up in the current that dragged us in here."

Ellie looked around for the first time, noticing where they were. The two of them were in a wide, dank cave system filled with puddles and streams, the whole cavern tilted into a mild hill that stretched across the whole area. A thick waterfall, most likely the one the pair of them had fallen down, crashed noisily into a dark underground lake on the other side of the cave. The pool continued into a lazy stream that poured down the rocks that filled the cave, splashing away down several tunnels. At the top of the cave, several cave mouths opened up, flickers of light showing some sort of sunlight far in the distance. At the bottom of the cave's incline sat several piles of round stones, surrounded by moss and several vine plants that grew up towards a bright shaft of light that shone down from a crack in the ceiling.

"Can we get out of here?" Ellie asked.

"We should be able to," Levin replied. "There's a couple of caves at the top of the cavern. One of them should lead us out of this cave one way or another."

Ellie nodded, putting her hands down and trying to push herself to her feet. A spike of pain lanced up from her leg, making her wince and drop down a little. Levin took a hold of her shoulder and helped her up, keeping her balanced as she got back to her feet. He passed her one of his potions, which she took and drank willingly.

She sighed in relief as the pain dulled and dwindled. Levin let go of her, allowing her to test her weight on her leg, and she nodded, satisfied that she could keep herself moving. For a while, at least. Long enough to get back to Boma, hopefully.

Levin gave her a look of confusion as Ellie groaned. "I just realized," Ellie said, "this is the second time we've failed to kill the same damn Royal Ludroth."

Levin laughed. "True enough. It's proving to be quite the tenacious little guy to kill, isn't he?"

"Not so little," Ellie replied. She turned and looked down to the bottom of the cavern and tilted her head in curiosity. "What's with the stones?" she asked as she carefully made her way down the incline.

"Don't know," Levin replied, following her down. "I was a little too preoccupied earlier to think about it."

"Yeah, I get it," Ellie said, hopping cautiously over the slick rocks. "They're kind of odd to look at. All the same shape… you think someone left them down here?"

"Maybe. Or _something_ did. Some monsters collect things for whatever reason. I know Qurupecos that live near cities have a tendency to collect shiny things and keep them around their nests."

"That's odd," Ellie replied. She stared intently at the rocks at the bottom of the cavern. "You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that those were actually…"

A thunderous splash suddenly roared through the cavern, filling the area with noise. The two hunters turned in surprise, hands flying to the hilts of their weapons. They turned to face the top of the cavern just in time to watch a column of water fall apart and send a wave of rain across the cavern floor. With another eruption of water, a large shape burst out of the lake under the waterfall, crashing onto the slick floor.

With a howl of fury, the Royal Ludroth from before glared menacingly at the pair of hunters. As the creature's roar echoes around the cave, a swarm of dark shapes slid down the waterfall, splashing quietly into the lake. The Royal Ludroth glanced to its left and right as over a dozen Ludroth leapt out of the water, flanking the alpha male. With a final snarl of challenge, the Royal Ludroth tore across the ground toward the two hunters.

"Damn it!" Levin cursed. "What are they doing here?"

"I don't know!" Ellie replied. "Just move!"

The two hunters dived away from each other as the Royal Ludroth dashed between the two of them, the pack of Ludroth tailing close behind. Ellie leapt up the slick rocks to a higher position, before sliding her sword out of its sheath and turning to face the cluster of monsters that had rushed the pair of them.

But she froze at the sight in front of her. Rather than turning to assault the hunters in the same method that it had before, the Royal Ludroth stood howling at them menacingly, but unmoving from its current position. The Ludroth were following the same method as well, lining up to form a wall of Ludroth around the bottom of the cavern. She glanced over to Levin, who stood as she did, defensively holding up his great sword and looking confused as the Ludroth pack barked and yowled at the two of them.

"What are they doing?" Levin asked aloud. Several of the Ludroth that were focused on Ellie turned as Levin spoke, focusing on him and barking threats his way.

"I'm not sure…" Ellie replied. "Shouldn't they be attacking us right now?"

"That's what I thought they'd do," Levin said. "But they seem really intent on staying right where they are."

"I know," Ellie said. "It's like they're just trying to get us to go away. Like they're trying to…" Then Ellie's eyes glanced to the circles of stones and realization hit her. "That's it!" she cried. "They're protecting their eggs!"

"Their what?" Levin asked, looking down the cavern towards the Ludroths, then his face lit up in realization. "Ah, I get it!"

The band of Ludroth continued their symphony of howls while the two hunters glanced back and forward between each other, uncertain how to continue.

"We should back off, Ellie," Levin said. "If we leave slowly, we should be able to get out of the cave without them following us. They'll stay behind to protect the eggs before they do anything else, I think."

Ellie nodded, but a flicker of uncertainty flashed through her mind. If she killed the Royal Ludroth and its mates, she and Levin would be able to destroy the Ludroth eggs, wiping out the species from the forest. She'd be doing the village, no, the world a favor, by wiping out one of the monsters that wandered the earth! Why shouldn't she just take out the whole group?

But as Levin looked at her, a look of confusion at her hesitation on his face, she remembered the beautiful dance of the Rathian and Rathalos that she'd watched only a few weeks previously. The dragons had a ritual of their own that had shown her that there was more to them then rampaging monsters; why couldn't the Ludroth have one of their own as well? Who was to say they didn't have some habit of their own that would've changed her perspective on monsters as well?

"Yeah," she said quietly with a nod. "Let's get out of here."

She had only a single moment of hesitation as the pair of hunters began backing away from the circle of howling Ludroth. She considered once again charging down into the line of them and tearing through to smash the eggs, but pulled back on that train of thought, turning her focus to keeping her footing as she and Levin backed away.

As the two hunters increased their distance from the rings of eggs, the howls and barks of the Ludroth began to dwindle, confusion spreading across the line. The monsters cocked their heads in confusion as Ellie and Levin made their way towards the caves at the top of the cavern, away from the eggs they thought the two of them were after. Eventually, the barking of the creatures dropped in number until the only remaining sound in the cavern was the threatening howl of the Royal Ludroth itself, continuing its barking until the pair of hunters neared the caves.

"You okay?" Levin asked as they sheathed their weapons, watching the Ludroth below in case of an attack. "You seemed kind of out of it there for a second."

"Yeah, I'm fine," Ellie replied as the two of them looked into the depths of the cave that they hoped led up to the surface. "I kinda had one of those… homicidal moments for a second there. For a second there I wanted nothing more than to go down there and wipe out the whole lot of them. Take out the eggs too."

"But you didn't though," Levin stated.

"I remembered the Raths," Ellie said. "I decided that if the dragons have something that makes them worth sparing, then maybe every monster does."

"Nicely said," Levin told her with a grin. "I'm proud of you."

"Well I'm rather disappointed, myself."

The two hunters turned in surprise as a deep, rumbling voice echoed out of the darkness of the cave they stood at the mouth of. Their hands leapt to the hilts of their weapons as a flicker of light latched to a large dark shape shot out of the black, tearing directly towards them. They dodged to the side as the thing flew between the two of them and rumbled down the cavern towards the bottom where the Ludroth stood defensively. Several more shapes bolted out of the shadows, sliding between the two hunters in a rush after the first object.

"Barrel bombs!" Levin yelled in shock.

Ellie watched in horror as the cluster of explosives rolled down the incline towards the Ludroth. The creatures began howling again as the barrels smashed down the rocks, tumbling toward the cluster of monsters as they tightened their line to protect the eggs.

The first barrel smashed into the right side of the line and detonated instantly, engulfing three of the Ludroth in flames and sending sponge and blood splattering against the cave in the blink of an eye. The Royal Ludroth roared in rage and misery as the second bomb smashed just to the left, taking another two of the Ludroth with it. A cry of misery and fear echoed along the line as the eruption echoed across the cavern. The Royal Ludroth turned in rage and stamped its feet, preparing to charge at the attackers of its mates. But by that time the rest of the bombs had rolled to the line, and with a thunderous wave of eruptions, the bombs detonated one by one across the line of Ludroths.

Ellie stood frozen, quaking in fear as the billows of flame spread across the line of monsters, enveloping them like a tidal wave of fiery heat. For a moment, she saw the Royal Ludroth's head above the fire, screaming in pain and misery as the flames burned away its mane and flesh and mates. Then the last of the barrels smashed into its chest, erupting into a mushroom burst that enveloped his head and face, hiding them from view.

As the last echoes of the explosions quieted in the cavern, the smoke began to clear. Ellie gasped in shock as the bodies of the monsters began appearing in the haze, ripped and burned by the mass of explosions, still smoking from the heat of the flames. The Royal Ludroth was nearly burned black, its thick rubbery hide cooked away by the bombs and fire, its mane completely gone from its long and strong neck.

A wave of fury suddenly seared through Ellie, a fire of hatred and anger unlike anything she'd ever felt before. She turned to the darkness of the cave and screamed. "Show yourself you sick bastard! I'll tear your goddamn heart out!" With a nod of silent assent at her anger, Levin swung his sword around and took an aggressive stance next to her, searing red light already pouring down the length of the hilt and into his arms. He had his own look of unmatched fury on his face that would've made Ellie shiver with fear in any other circumstance.

Two shapes appeared in the depths of the black, obscured from view. Both were human, Ellie could see. Once of the shapes was about the same height as Ellie and Levin. But the other was something that made Ellie wonder slightly if it was human. It easily towered over the smaller shape, standing at least seven feet tall with enormously wide shoulders and a massive frame.

A rumbling laughter echoed from the cave, no doubt from the larger of the two. "Well now," the voice said in amusement, "where was this aggression earlier, I wonder? Perhaps you two are worth playing with after all."

The smaller of the two growled at the remark. "Just get them out of the way. We're not here to cause trouble. Not this kind at least."

"Don't get ahead of yourself!" Ellie hissed. "I'm not going to let you get away with this you bastards!"

"Watch us," the smaller man said, and Ellie saw his arm snap forward. All of a sudden there was a blast of light, forcing Ellie and Levin to shield their eyes.

Ellie heard a clang and a grunt of pain. She turned to the sound and saw Levin through the glare, wrestling back the smaller man, who spun and smashed against Levin's great sword with sword of his own. However, his sword was quite a bit thinner and a foot or two longer than Levin's, allowing him to strike much faster than Levin could keep up with, his great sword too slow.

Ellie tried to catch sight of the face of the man fighting Levin, but it was obscured by a bright crimson hood. The man wore a bright red armor that matched the hood, made of some alloy or material that Ellie had never seen before. A strange symbol was drawn on the back of the armor, but the man was moving too quickly for Ellie to determine the details.

Then with two nimble lunges, the blade the smaller man held cut two gashes into Levin's legs, making Levin grunt in pain and drop to his knees. The smaller man reached into his pocket and pulled out a small round orb. Ellie tried to call out in warning but the man's hand shot out, smashing the thing into Levin's face.

The orb exploded in a plume of colored smoke, blanketing Levin's face with a thick powdery substance. The great sword user coughed and sputtered for a moment, trying to wipe of his face. However, his movements suddenly became increasingly wobbly and hectic, and with a sigh of exhaustion, he slumped forward flat on his face.

"Levin!" Ellie cried, turning to run to his aid.

"Now's not the time to be worrying about anyone but yourself, stupid girl."

Suddenly the larger man shot forward with a speed Ellie thought impossible for a man his size, and a massive fist slammed into her shield with such force it knocked her into to the air and backwards across the cavern. She hit the ground hard, feeling pain spike up from her former injuries as she slid across the ground. Then the rock underneath her gave out as she slid into the water of the underground lake.

She struggled to the surface as the cold water bit into her skin, gasping for air as she broke the surface. She attempted to regain her bearings and caught sight of the water's edge, and swum awkwardly to the shore, sword still in hand.

But only a foot short of reaching the rocky ground, the large man from before stepped into her path. Ellie looked up at the man and saw he wore the same crimson armor and hood as the other, obscuring his face and features. However, she managed to catch sight of a massive hammer on the man's back, a lumpy rock-like shape covered in chained, colored pitch black and deep purple, with jagged spikes speckling the mallet. She also caught sight of a vaguely familiar object in the man's hands, a circular disk that shone metallic silver in the dim light of the cave…

"I suppose you should feel some pride in your partner over there girl," the man said to her in his rumbling voice as he fiddled with the object. "I stole this idea from him, after all. Not many people left in the world that have an idea worth taking."

Ellie tried to say something as she recognized the object, but the large man immediately flicked his wrist and tossed the disk into the water of the lake. Searing pain lanced through her body as the voltage of Lagiacrus stones tore out of the Shock Trap and through her body, forcing her muscles to contract and tighten, making her twitch uncontrollably in the knee-deep water which she stood in. She wanted to scream in pain, but her throat was as tormented as the rest of her muscles, leaving unable to utter a word as her body tilted over.

With a thump, Ellie fell over onto the rocky shore, her body twitching sporadically and completely immobile. She felt only a few moments of pain before she blacked out.

* * *

Irritated voices stirred Ellie back into wakefulness. A dim numbness washed over Ellie as consciousness tugged her semi-awake. She was vaguely aware of her situation, but lacked the ability to think hard enough to focus on them. All she could seem to focus on was the throbbing in her side.

A soft thumping sound started to grow louder, echoing over the rumbling waterfall that thundered down next to her. As the sound grew louder, she began to recognize the sound as footsteps, accompanied by labored breathing and occasional cursing. A shiver of fear flew up her spine as the footsteps grew closer, a deep thumping sound that seemed like an imminent drum roll.

She heard the creak of leather and the sound of metal scratching against metal as the footsteps stopped right next to her. A deep, throaty breathing filled her ears as whoever was there breathed heavy right over her.

"I don't see why we don't take them with us," the person said. Ellie recognized it as the deep rumbling voice of the large man. "Or better yet, maybe we should just kill them. They've seen us, after all."

"Is that always your first solution to every problem?" the smaller man asked in irritation. Ellie could tell he was a good distance away due to the echo. "You always seem to want to kill your problems. That won't work in this situation. Remember, we're not here to make a ruckus, just to collect the eggs. We don't need the attention, not yet at least. Anyway, so long as you had your hood up, they couldn't have seen a thing."

"Yeah, yeah," the big man grumbled. "I don't know why that old bastard is making such a fuss about 'keeping discreet' or whatever. I mean, hunters die in the field every day. What's two little apprentices worth noticing in the grand scheme of things, huh?"

"Don't you dare," the small said in a threatening tone. "Boss told us to keep exposure minimal until the project is finished. Two hunters killed by rouge hunters will call far too much attention to us. Besides, why waste your time on these two in the first place? They're no threat to us if they didn't see our faces."

"I'd do it to just send a message to that bastard of a master of theirs, you brat," Ellie heard the big man mutter under his breath as he stood up. He spoke louder as he began to walk away. "Anyway, why bother with these eggs in the first place? There isn't any value for them on the market, black or otherwise. Believe me, I've looked. What do we gain by collecting them?"

"The boss knows what he's doing," the small man said with conviction. "Just trust him. He's never led us wrong before. Besides, he wouldn't have hired you in the first place if he didn't think you'd appreciate the project."

"You better pray you're right about that, boy," the big man growled. "I'm not going to be very appreciative about lugging a bunch of barrels through the forest through the forest if there's no decent reward for me in the end. Where's the old man wanting us taking these, anyway?"

Ellie tried to hear the rest of the conversation, but she could feel her body weakening and falling back into unconsciousness. The words dulled and blurred into a humming white noise as she fell back into darkness. Eventually, she found the hum soothing and fell back to sleep.

* * *

"Eleanor. Miss Eleanor. Are you alright?"

The fog began to clear once again at the sound of a voice, but rather than being gruff and irritated, this voice was soft and comforting, worried and caring. Light filtered into Ellie's eyes, making her blink uncontrollably as she tried to open them. As her eyes accustomed themselves to the light, she saw a face grinning at her in relief.

"Marshall," she muttered tiredly.

"Ah, thank goodness you're alright, Miss Eleanor," the old hunter sighed in relief. "I thought the worst had happened."

Ellie sat up, feeling the ache of her injuries. Her feet twitched a bit as she tried to get to her feet, still somewhat affected by the jolt she'd received from the Shock Trap. She tried to stand, but her legs gave out from underneath her, forcing Marshall to catch her and help her stay upright. She muttered a word of thanks.

"Wait, where's Levin?" she asked worriedly, turning her head to look around. She sighed in relief when she spotted him propped up against a wall not too far away, sleeping. "Is he alright?"

"He should be fine," Marshall assured her, helping her hobble over to the great sword user. "The powder on his face is the stuff they use in tranquilizers. I suppose he was a little too tired and injured to resist the effects of the bomb."

"How did you find us down here?" Ellie asked, wobbling over to Levin and checking him over for wounds. Marshall had patched him up, however, putting on a fresh layer of Levin's poor wrapping job.

Marshall motioned to the bodies of the Ludroths. The corpses were still smoking and burning here and there, sending out a blanket of black smoke into the air, which curled and twisted to the ceiling and out the crevices to the surface.

"The sound of the explosions echoed all the way to Boma," Marshall told her. "After that, all I needed to do was follow the smoke here. Which brings me to the most important question: what happened here?"

Ellie sighed, dropping down to sit next to Levin and looked up tiredly at Marshall, who studied her face curiously. "Another pair of hunters showed up," Ellie said, receiving a restrained look of shock from Marshall.

"We got dropped into this cave during a fight with a Royal Ludroth," Ellie continued. "I guess this place was their nesting grounds or something. There were a whole bunch of eggs at the bottom of the cavern, and a whole group of Ludroth showed up to defend them. Me and Levin, we decided it would be best to leave the place alone and get out of there."

"A wise decision," Marshall said. "Please continue."

"Anyway, before we could leave, these two other hunters showed up and rolled a bunch of barrel bombs down the cavern and killed all the Ludroth." Ellie stopped for a moment, getting choked up from the memory. Finally she calmed down enough to continue. "We tried to fight them back and stop them, but we didn't stand a chance. They knocked out Levin then hit me with a Shock Trap before we could do anything at all."

"Did you see their faces?" Marshall asked intently. "Any pattern or noticeable features on their armor or something like that?"

"No, nothing. They were wearing red armor with hoods obscuring their faces. They were both men, I think. But one of them was really big. The other was about the same size as Levin. Um, the big one used a hammer like you do, except it was black and all spikey. The smaller one used a sword, but it was long and thin. I've never seen one like it before."

"Anything else?" Marshall asked gently. "Anything at all?"

"I don't think so… oh, right. They were here to steal the Ludroths' eggs. And… and the bigger one wanted to kill us, but the smaller one stopped him. The smaller one talked about a project of some kind and referred to someone they called their boss. That's all I remember."

Marshall stared at her for a moment before nodding in acceptance of her story. "This is grave news, Miss Eleanor," he told her. "Rogue hunters are a serious problem no matter where you go in the world, and from the way you tell it, these two are a pain with a plan and little regard for life. You're lucky to still be alive, I think, if these men were just as cruel as you say."

"What do we do?" Ellie asked.

"You and Levin are going to do nothing until you recover," Marshall said sternly. "You're both badly wounded and need to heal. In the meantime, I'll ask Miss Melanie to send a report to the Guild about poachers in the area. They're sure to send some manner of investigatory squad to look into the mess. I imagine they'll be asking you questions, so I suggest you spend your time until then trying to remember some more details."

"Alright," Ellie replied.

"In the meantime, we need to get you back. The tranq bomb was meant for monsters many times his size, so I imagine Levin will be out for a while. Can you walk yet?"

Ellie struggled to her feet, forcing back the shaking in her legs, and found she had recovered enough to walk. Marshall nodded at her, and reached over to Levin, tossing the great sword user over his shoulder, weapon and all.

"Come on now, Ellie," Marshall said gently. "We've got a long way to go before nightfall. Best be off as quickly as we can."

Ellie nodded in reply and took one last look at the bodies of the Ludroth before turning to follow Marshall out of the cave and back to the surface. No creature should ever die like that, she decided. She clenched her fist tightly and swore to herself she'd find a way to get revenge for the Ludroth, one way or another.

* * *

**Author's Note: Please Review!**

**Holy crap is that an antagonist in my story? Took me long enough to get to this point, didn't it? And this was a long one too!  
**

**I've been thinking recently about why it is that I wanted to do a MH story so much more than anything else. Finally it occurred to me: the fanfic possibilities allowed by the MH game is absolutely made for original characters. Anything goes in a MH story, with the only constant being the monsters themselves (and possibly the cities). Makes writing more fun when you don't have to worry about keeping official characters in character, not when all the characters are yours. **

**I've recently realized how tricky it is for me to keep a monster battle balanced with even just two characters, trying to let the reader know exactly what Ellie and Levin are up to at any point in the fight. I also realized that it's going to be a colossal pain in the butt to write for four hunters once I get to that point in the story. Hopefully, I'll be a better writer by that time. Hopefully. **

**Reading: SeaFire by John Gardner  
Playing: Minecraft, Bioshock 2 (hell yeah, I got it)  
Listening: Flaming Lips, Iron and Wine, Sufjan Stevens **


	11. Traveling and Trickery

Traveling and Trickeries

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. All the characters in this story are mine._

"Wake up, kid. You're in the way."

Levin jolted awake as a gloved hand grabbed him by the shoulder and shook his awake. He blinked in confusion for a moment as he collected his bearings. He was in one of the seats at the Guild booth, apparently having fallen asleep there in the warm sunlight of midday in Boma. He saw Mel rolling her eyes at him and Marshall sitting next to him with a smirk on his face.

"You hear me or what, kid? Move it."

Levin turned in irritation to the voice, finding himself face-to-face with a lanky man in the bright red outfit commonly worn by members of the Hunter's Guild (more specifically, worn by the _non_-hunters of the Guild). The man had a thin face and a waxy complexion under slicked back black hair, topped off with a look of supposed superiority that Levin suspected never left the man's face, even while he slept.

"Yeah, yeah," Levin grumbled, sliding out of his seat and letting the man take it. "You don't have to bite my head off, Johnny."

"It's _Jonathan_, not Johnny, you damn fool," the Guild man growled. "Try and show some intelligence and get it right, kid."

"Whatever," Levin shrugged. "I'm going to go see Ellie, old man. Call for me if anything comes up you need me off doing, okay?"

"Probably won't be anything today, Levin," Marshall replied. "The investigatory squad is nearly done, though, so tomorrow will probably be spent catching up on work."

"Got it," Levin said. "Later, old man. Bye Mel."

"Give my regards to Ellie!" Mel called out.

"Will do. Toodles, Johnny!"

"It's Jonathan!" the Guild man shouted as Levin took off laughing.

Levin turned the next corner sharply, slowing down and still chuckling to himself while he listened to Johnny continue griping to Marshall and Mel in the distance. He didn't envy the two the man's company, not at all. As far as Levin was concerned, if he could spend the rest of the time Johnny was in Boma on the other side of town, he'd be perfectly content.

It had been over two weeks since he and Ellie had run afoul with the two rogue hunters in the Ludroth nest. As the old man had promised, Mel had almost immediately written up and sent a request to the Guild in Loc Lac to investigate the attack on the nest. Levin had to admit, the Guild had responded far faster than he would have ever anticipated, a team of investigators arriving in Boma only a few days later. They had set to work immediately as well, accompanying Marshall to the nest to study the remains in hopes of finding some sort of clue as to the identity of the poachers or their whereabouts.

However, as impressed as Levin was at the speed in which the men arrived, as well as the skill they showed in their study of the nest, he cared little for the attitude and personality of the leader of the investigatory squad. As soon as he'd been introduced to Jonathan (or Johnny, as he called him, since the man found it aggravating), the two of them both had known right off the bat that they'd never get along with each other. There really was no reason for the two of them to dislike each other, truth be told, but for one reason or another their personalities just did not mesh well.

As a better portion of the investigation squad spent time at the nest and the surrounding areas in search of clues, a couple of the others got a hold of Ellie and Levin as they were recuperating in their respective huts back in Boma village, in order to get a proper account from the two of them as to what they recalled from the occurrences in the cavern. Levin felt that he hadn't been much help in that manner, but still had done his best to recall even the minutest details that came to mind in regards to the battle.

He was also rather impressed that Ellie was able to remember so many details. Where he'd only been able to pick up so much about the poachers and their abilities, Ellie seemed to be able to pull every little detail he'd missed right out of the air. Even when half-conscious from the effects of the Shock Trap, she'd been able to catch and retain much more information than he had been able to.

But even then, with all the information the two of them gave the questioners, the Guild men did not seem pleased with the amount of detail that they had available. When Levin had asked one of the nicer, more open ones about the whole investigation later, he'd been told that whoever they were, the rogue hunters were good. The types of bombs that the poachers had used were homemade, not bought from a store, making them impossible to track. Also the generic red armor didn't seem to be made of monster materials, making it just as challenging to trace.

But on the bright side, the investigator had told Levin, Ellie had gotten a good look at the big hunter's weapon. Judging by the description, they'd determined the weapon was most likely made from Deviljho materials, which was far and few between. The hunters that used such a hammer were rare, and the smiths that worked with the materials were all on record, so there was a chance of finding something by asking around. It wasn't much, but it might be enough.

As Levin rounded the last turn, he spotted Ellie coming out of her house. She had her bowgun slung over her shoulder, but was wearing casual clothes as opposed to her Qurupeco armor. She smiled at him as he walked up to her.

"Off to the training field?" he asked. "Getting some practice in before the next time we go out into the wilds? I thought you knew that bowgun inside and out."

"Not exactly," she replied. "I am going to the training fields, but not to practice with this," she said, patting her bowgun.

"Not with that? What then?" Levin asked, tagging along next to her as she began walking to where he came from.

"You'll see," Ellie said, grinning slyly at him.

"You're being vague, Miss Ellie. That's my shtick and I'll ask you to let me keep it to myself."

"I think I'm enjoying it too much, so I'll be holding onto it for a while, thank you very much," Ellie laughed.

"Fine, then, but I'll be wanting it back eventually," Levin grinned. Then he groaned, realizing where they were heading.

"What's up?" Ellie asked.

"Johnny's at the Guild booth right now," Levin replied. "Honestly, I'd be perfectly content if I never had to see his mug for the rest of my natural-born life. And maybe half of the next one too, if you believe in that kind of thing."

"I don't know why you don't get along with the guy," Ellie said with a shrug. "He seems nice enough to me, if not a little too serious about his work. You can't fault a guy for trying to act professional when he's on the job."

"I know I really can't," Levin groaned. "But it's just his attitude, or his face, or the way he looks down his nose at anyone and everyone. The only person who he doesn't act like he's three steps higher than is Marshall, and that's only because the old man's head hunter in the area. He irks me to no end, and that's the nicest way I can think of to say it."

"I suppose I can see where you're coming from," Ellie admitted. "A lot of the Guild officials I met while I was in Loc Lac really did seem to have a holier-than-thou sort of feel about them. Not to mention that dirt bag Zhanin who tricked me into coming all the way out here to the boonies to do my hunter apprenticeship."

"What, you don't like it here?" Levin asked, putting on a obviously fake insulted expression. "You don't care for Boma? The landscape? The atmosphere? The… acquaintances you've made?"

Ellie grinned. "Well the landscape and the atmosphere are certainly nice. But the acquaintances are a bit lacking. Especially a certain great sword user that's always getting on my nerves. A real skinflint, that one…"

"You cut me deep, Ellie, you cut me deep," Levin said, putting on a hurt expression for a moment before bursting out laughing. "But you really are glad you came to Boma, aren't you?"

"Of course," Ellie replied. "It's a lot of fun here. There's a lot of good people, a lot to do and see. I've made some friends. If I think about it long enough, I guess I'm even glad I met you, oh great teacher of mine."

"How kind of you," Levin chuckled.

"Always," Ellie smirked. Then she sighed. "Well, I guess I am glad that Zhanin sent me here after all. But the intentions behind the act, the fact that he was just trying to get rid of me? That pisses me off to no end. If I ever see him again, I'll cold clock him so hard his mother will feel it."

"Sounds like a decent plan to me," Levin laughed.

As the two of them entered town square, Levin's gaze shot over to the Guild booth, and he let out an audible sigh of relief when he saw that Johnny was no longer there. Ellie grinned and rolled her eyes at him, though that didn't stop him from scanning the rest of the square to make sure the Guild man still wasn't in the area. Satisfied that the man was no longer around, he grinned and took off after Ellie, who hadn't decided to stop and wait for him. Levin glanced at Ellie in surprise as she led him over to Silph's smithy.

"Here?" he asked. "Did you actually get a new set of Qurupeco armor like you wanted to? I kinda liked the one Sophie made for you."

Ellie shot him a glare, her face coloring a little in embarrassment and making Levin smirk. "No, I didn't get a new set of armor, you perv. I haven't had the opportunity to go out into the wilds to collect any materials for it, remember? I'm here for something else."

"What?"

"I told you, you'll see."

"You're being vague again, Miss Ellie," Levin chided, though he was secretly enjoying the suspense.

Silph was dozing outside the shop on an old rocking chair that had to have been there as long as Silph himself had been (which was saying something, Levin thought, considering Wyvernians were rumored to live several times longer than the average human). The wrinkled little man snapped awake as Ellie cleared her throat in front of him, shaking his head and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"Wut're the two 'o ya doin' her'?" Silph muttered in his garbled accent. Levin always kept trying to compare the Wyvernian's accent to something from his world… time, but he could never seem to match it to anything he knew.

"I'm here for the thing you made me," Ellie said loosely. She grinned wickedly as Levin glared at her, still curious as to what she'd made.

"The wha? Oh ri', tha' thing," the Wyvernian said, hopping to his feet. Even standing tall, Silph stood no higher than Levin's waist. Honestly, he was impressed that Silph was able to swing such a massive hammer with such a miniscule frame behind it. He often wondered what kind of beasts the Wyvernians would be if they were the same size as humans, with equivalent muscles to their current size.

"Lemme git it fer ya'," the old Wyvernian muttered, hobbling into the back of his shop.

The two hunters waited patiently as the sounds of shifting metal and rattling materials echoed out the entryway of the building. Both of them winced as an enormous crash boomed out the door, making the two of them look at each other in worry. They were assuaged quickly however, when Silph's voice came shouting from the back, yelling at no one in particular in irritation and frustration rather than pain.

After hearing the sound of sifting metal and shrapnel for another minute or two, the pair of hunters sighed in relief as the old Wyvernian came wobbling back to the front of the shop, carrying a bulky metal object in his arms. Levin tried to make it out as he came their way, but it was hard to see from the dim light of the forge.

"Her' ya go," Silph muttered, dropping the object onto the counter at the front of his shop. Without another word, the Wyvernian turned around and grabbed his chair, dragging it back into the shop, no doubt to doze off in a place where no one could find him. Levin whistled, impressed at the thing in front of them.

On the counter sat a bowgun, new and shining. At first glance, Levin had thought it no more than a toy, due to the bright and colorful design it had, with a bright speckled yellow stock and barrel. However, upon further examination of the frame, he saw that the weapon had finely tuned parts and a tightly wound bow, certainly allowing it far more power than any child's toy. Or even for that matter, Ellie's own bowgun…

"You got a new bowgun?" Levin asked incredulously.

"Yep," Ellie grinned, picking up the bowgun and staring down the sights and testing the weight of the weapon. "I was hoping you wouldn't see it until the next time we went out into the wilds. I wanted to see the look on your face when I just appeared with a new gun, but I suppose now is as good a time as any."

Levin stared stunned at Ellie for a moment before bursting out laughing. "I think I've had too much effect on your personality Ellie. You're starting to get as twisted a sense of humor as I do."

"Heaven forbid it ever gets that bad," Ellie replied.

"Where'd you even get the materials for it?" Levin asked, looking the thing over. "It doesn't look much like something you'd get from Great Jaggi or Qurupeco materials."

Ellie was silent for a moment before replying. "Actually, it's neither of those. This stuff's actually made out of Ludroth materials. Including Royal Ludroth."

Levin took a moment to register this information. "Wait, what? How? We've never successfully taken down a Royal Ludroth before. The most we've been able to scavenge off the one is the tail. How in the hell did you get the materials to make a bowgun out of them?"

Ellie turned away, trying not to look at Levin, with a slightly embarrassed look on her face. "I… may have asked one of the guys in the investigatory squad to bring me back some of the materials from the nest when they were done looking the place over for clues about the poachers."

Levin frowned in confusion. "Hold on, how did you convince him to do that? They're supposed to just leave the bodies where they lay, the old man told me. A hunter's not supposed to carve a monster unless they were the one that killed it or part of the team that did so."

"I… may have flirted with him a little to convince him," Ellie replied, her voice squeaking in mortification.

Levin stood stunned for a long time in silence, as Ellie fidgeted next to him. For a moment, he felt a twinge of anger, or perhaps it was something else. Irritation, perhaps? Sadness? Frustration? Loss? He couldn't be sure. The feeling was something he'd never felt before, not one he could really explain? Why was he feeling it now, he wondered?

"I wasn't really all that interested in him, actually," Ellie sputtered, trying to explain. "It's just that he was eyeing me the day before they finished the examination of the caves, and I wanted to get something from the cave as a reminder, and ever since he gave me the stuff I've been avoiding the entire squad just so I don't have to confront him about it, and… and I don't know, it just seemed like a good idea at the time, I don't know…"

A wave of relief washed over Levin as Ellie blurted out her explanation, and he sighed inwardly at what she said. Once again, he couldn't explain why he was so glad about it, he just… was.

And then the humor of the situation hit him. He grinned a moment, making Ellie pause in surprise, before snorting in laughter. "You sly girl! That's the most conniving thing I've ever heard in my whole life. You devious woman, seducing a man to get a few nice materials!"

"It wasn't like that!" Ellie moaned, turning bright red. "I was just… I was… I don't know! Don't laugh about it! I feel really bad about doing it!"

"Oh, I'm going to be remembering this one for a good long while," Levin told her with a smirk. Then he paused in thought. "Wait, what did you mean, 'you wanted a reminder'?"

Ellie's eyes turned downcast. "It's just… right before we tried to leave the cave, there was a moment where I wanted nothing more than to do what those poachers did, and just wipe out the whole Ludroth pack right then and there. Not the way they did it, mind you, but I still wanted to do it. After seeing the way they just wiped out the entire pack without batting an eye, it just made me hate myself for even considering such a thing."

"You shouldn't beat yourself up over that Ellie," Levin said. "The fact that you didn't do anything like that puts you above those guys. You shouldn't feel guilty over your urges, not if you don't follow through with them."

"I know, I know," Ellie sighed. "But it still feels like I'm not much better than them. That's why I made this bowgun. I wanted something to remind myself not to be so cruel or vicious like them. So I asked for some of the materials from the Royal Ludroth so I could make something that would mean something to me."

Levin thought about it for a moment, and then grinned. "I get it," he said. "I guess a weapon is as good a reminder as anything to keep a cool head. I keep a Rathian scale on a necklace, myself, but to each their own. I guess a weapon is something you'd use more often as opposed to a scale. And don't worry about comparing yourself to those poachers; the fact that you're even trying to avoid becoming like them puts you far above their levels."

Ellie smiled. "Thanks Levin. I kinda needed to hear that I guess."

"No problem," Levin replied. Then he smirked wickedly and pointed behind her. "Hey, isn't that the guy you hit on to get the Ludroth stuff?"

A look of terror flicked over Ellie's face as she turned in panic, scanning the crowd of people. "Crap! I thought he wouldn't be here today!"

There was a moment of silence as Ellie eyed the cluster of Boma natives behind her, Levin holding back laughter. Then she turned and eyed Levin with a cold glare that could've seared the bark off a tree. "You're an asshole, you know that right?"

Levin keeled over laughing, hardly noticing when Ellie reared back and socked him in the shoulder. "I'm sorry," he gasped through the chuckles as the laughter began to die down. "I couldn't resist. It was just too easy."

"You're a jerk," Ellie growled, then grinned evilly as she hefted her bowgun up and aimed it at Levin. "And I'm armed," she reminded him.

Levin's laughter stopped abruptly, and he gulped, holding up his hands in surrender. "I give, Miss Ellie, you win!"

"You better remember that," Ellie smirked, swinging the bowgun over her shoulder. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to get to the training field and get some practice with this in before we go out hunting… and so my aim isn't off if you mess with me like that again."

"Mind if I tag along?" Levin asked. "I promise no more jokes. Cross my heart."

"I guess I can live with that," Ellie replied with a smile of her own.

"So what sort of things does this new bowgun provide that the other didn't?" Levin asked as they rounded the corner of the smithy and walked back to the practice field.

"Well, it shoots some kind of round I've never used before called Cluster shots," Ellie replied. "But it's a trade-off. The barrel's not shaped for shooting Crag shots anymore."

Levin blinked in confusion. "I thought you like the Crag shots."

"I do!" Ellie replied. "I didn't know the bowgun wouldn't be able to use them until after I'd already put in the order for it! I tried to change the order but… you know how Silph is with changing orders."

"Like the whole Qurupeco armor issue. Not that you'll ever hear me complain about that little issue…" he winced away, laughing, as Ellie pulled back her fist. "Sorry! Don't hit!"

Ellie huffed, turning away from him. "It's exactly like the Qurupeco armor. Anyway, I know it loses the Crag shot, but I'm hoping the Cluster shot and tighter bow are something worth overlooking that little issue for."

The two of them rounded the corner and entered the grassy training field. Ellie set her old bowgun against the wall of the Guild booth, treating it gently as though it was an ancient relic. Levin had to shake his head at the motion. The gun was less than a year old and yet Ellie was treating it as though it was her oldest, most prized possession. Well, maybe the 'most prized possession' part was accurate, but the weapon was certainly not fragile enough to treat like a porcelain vase.

Walking over to the firing range, Ellie slid a few paint rounds into the chamber of her new bowgun, tilting it over in her hands to make sure nothing was out of place. Satisfied that her weapon had been properly built and put together, she hoisted it up and aimed down the sights towards the targets at the far end of the field. There were a few moments of silence as Ellie calmed her breathing, then pulled the trigger.

The paint shot tore across the field, cutting across the right side of the target dummy and leaving a bright smear across where the cheek of the dummy would be. Ellie lowered the bowgun and frowned, wiggling the sights at the top of the barrel slightly. Levin watched in amazement at the dedication and care she put into her bowgun as she carefully fiddled with the aim of the weapon.

Finally, she raised the bowgun again and aimed down the sights downrange. There was a pause as she calmed herself once again, and then the muzzle flashed, firing the paint shot. With a loud _splat_, the goopy substance sprayed across the head of the target dummy, right in the center of the head.

With a satisfied grin, Ellie ejected the spent cartridges, loading a pair of new ones into the chamber. "It pulls a bit to the right," she told Levin absentmindedly, lining up the barrel again and firing the next two shots, splattering the dummy in the chest with both rounds.

"Trying to line up the sights for better accuracy?" Levin asked.

"Not really," Ellie replied. "The sights are bolted on; no moving them at all. Besides, even if I could move the sights, it really wouldn't help all that much. I think Silph messed up the barrel or something. The shot has some weird trajectory, it curves during the flight to the right."

Levin scoffed. "Impossible. Physics says 'no' to that."

"Oh, really?" Ellie asked, raising an eyebrow. "Stand behind me and watch then."

Levin shrugged and did as he was told, walking behind Ellie as she lined up the sights on the bowgun, allowing Levin to get a view of her shot's trajectory. Levin watched carefully as she pulled the trigger and the shot flew out of the barrel. His eyes widened in shock as the shell did indeed curve to the right, splattering the dummy a foot right of where he'd thought it would.

"Okay," he muttered. "It seems Silph has somehow managed to break physics. Things aren't supposed to do that. The paint shots don't have anything that would make them curve like that, do they?"

"Nope," Ellie replied, tossing him a shell. Levin flipped it over in his hands. It looked like a regular bullet to him. Larger than anything from his world, but the same shape, no extra additions to the design.

"The barrel's rifled too, before you ask," Ellie told him, holding up the bowgun. "Wanna check it yourself?"

"No, I believe you," Levin replied. "But how in the hell does that work? I'm pretty sure that violates one or two of the laws of motion. It doesn't make any sense at all."

"Says the hunter who pulls a mysterious power out of his sword when he's angry."

"…Point taken. One of these days, I'm going to have to see if any Lost scientists managed to get pulled here with us and see if they can figure out how all this stuff works like it does."

"Good luck with that," Ellie said. "In the meantime, I'll see if I can't get used to this new bowgun. Maybe if I imagine it's you ogling me in my armor it'll be incentive for me to shoot better."

Levin grinned wickedly. "Do what you want, Miss Ellie. But I don't see how you imagining such a thing is going to…"

The paint shots fired twice, splattering a pair of targets farther down the range in the… libido. Levin gulped and felt his face pale as Ellie lowered her bowgun and shot him an evil smirk.

"Clearly I may need to… readjust the focus of my attentions while we're out in the field," Levin chuckled nervously.

"Clearly," Ellie agreed, sliding another pair of rounds into the chamber.

The two stayed on the practice field for the better part of an hour, Ellie burning through dozens upon dozens of paint rounds as she tested her new bowgun. Mel had come out to watch and chat with them about thirty minutes in or so, in an effort to escape the hassle of filing the paperwork behind the investigatory squad's findings. Levin didn't envy her the work, and wasn't begrudging of her trying to get away from it for a while. He knew he liked to escape the hassle of hunting every now and then when there was only tedious mining or fishing jobs that needed doing.

"So when are Johnny and the rest of them taking off?" Levin asked Mel as Ellie continued practice a few moving targets rigged up in the line of targets.

"Tomorrow, I think," Mel replied, flitting through a pile of papers. Rather than slack off or do all her work inside the Guild booth, Levin had convinced Mel to bring her papers out into the training field. "I heard from one of the other members of the squad that they had all they needed, and Johnny was requesting a list of Guild transport ships passing through the area in the next few days. The earliest one's tomorrow, so they'll probably be taking off then, since the next one's passing through a week from now."

"Good to hear," Levin muttered with a smirk. As far as he was concerned, the sooner Johnny and his ilk were out of Boma and away from him, the better.

Mel paused for a moment in contemplation, then turned to Levin. "That reminds me," she said. "Marshall signed the three of you up for a mission."

"The three of us?" Levin asked, surprised. "That's unusual. He hasn't done that in a long time. Is it something big?"

"Apparently it's a mission at the request of a village to the south of here, called Cobi," Mel replied. "Marshall's an old friend of one of the fishermen that live there, so when the request came through, Marshall pretty much volunteered the lot of you to go immediately."

"What kind of request was it?" Levin asked.

"It's a request to hunt a Gobul." Levin turned to look at the entryway to the training field as Marshall rounded the corner.

"A Gobul?" Levin asked. "I think I've read about those in the hunting books I've got. Aren't those the giant angler fishes?"

"Something like that," Marshall nodded, sitting on a barrel next to Mel. "Much bigger, though. Apparently this one's been causing the village some problems by dragging fishing boats underwater and chomping up the fish they catch, as well as at least one of the fishermen."

"It's an ocean creature, though, isn't it?" Levin asked. "Neither me or Ellie have really done any underwater fighting. We've fought water creatures on land, but not in their natural habitat."

"That's why I'm going with you," Marshall said. "Under normal circumstances, I'd consider the two of you not quite at the level needed to take on a Gobul. The Gobul is a nasty little beast that can bring down even the most experienced hunter. Underwater battling is something not all hunters can excell at."

"But you're still trusting us to help in this battle?" Levin asked. "If you're so sure the Gobul's as rough as you say it is, why ask us to fight with you?"

Marshall smiled at him. "You two have proven quite adept at working together to take down monsters, despite a few incidents of bad luck, but every hunter has those days. From what I've heard of your battles, you've proven quite adept at acting to balance each other out on the battlefield. That is a useful ability when fighting monsters that outmatch things you may have fought before. Knowing how to mesh your abilities to keep a monster on its toes can be far more valuable than any powerful weapon or armor. _That's_ why you're coming."

"Will that be enough?" Levin asked skeptically.

Marshall shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. But we're not just going in there with our weapons and our wits, however. The villagers of Cobi want this Gobul gone far more than we know. They've gone so far as to start collecting materials for us to use in the battle."

"What kind of materials?" Levin asked, a glimmer of greed flickering into his head.

"Gunpowder, among other such things," Marshall smirked.

Levin reeled back in surprise. "Are they planning on blowing it out of the water or something?" he asked, shocked.

"Something like that," Marshall laughed. "I imagine they'll be wanting to light the fuses when they see the Gobul and toss bombs at the thing, but once we get there, we'll see if there isn't some better method, won't we? You're the one that likes creating battle tactics aren't you?"

"I suppose," Levin smirked. "How in the hell does a little village like that have the ability to collect gunpowder in the first place, anyway?"

"Cobi is fairly well known in merchant circles," Mel suddenly explained, looking up from her papers. "The village has all the right substances in the surrounding area to make gunpowder and other such explosives. Fire herbs, nitroshrooms, those kinds of things. Such a valuable trading good makes the village a healthy profit, but most of the villagers prefer fishing instead."

"Wouldn't it be more profitable to just make gunpowder?"

"You have to do what you enjoy, Levin, even if it doesn't make you as much money. The villagers far prefer fishing to any other thing. They only really make gunpowder if it's been a tough fishing month and they need some extra supplies from trade to get by." Marshall laughed. "I've heard it irritates merchants to no end knowing that such a profit is being lost simply because the villagers 'don't feel like doing it.'"

Levin grinned. "I'd like to see that guy's face! Not that I don't feel their pain, but it's too funny not to laugh at."

"Besides, now is a perfect time to take on such a mission, since Miss Eleanor now has a stronger bowgun to use against the Gobul," Marshall said. "And if I'm not mistaken, the bowgun she has should have the capability to fire rounds suited to underwater battles. That will be especially useful under these circumstances, of that I have little doubt."

"I heard my name," Ellie said, striding over from the firing range, bowgun strapped across her back. "You guys talking about me behind my back or something?"

"Actually, yes," Marshall said with a wicked grin. "Levin was regaling us about how much he… appreciated your new armor design. I don't know how he can stand to say such things in the presence of Miss Melanie. Such a vulgar fellow, isn't he?"

Levin paled, hearing Mel hold back a snort of laughter as a look of embarrassed rage flew across Ellie's face. He turned on Marshall in irritation. "You lying son of a…" he started, but was cut off as Ellie socked him in the head, knocking him off the stump he sat on and sending him sprawling across the grass. Marshall laughed loudly as Levin held up his hands defensively, sputtering proclamations of innocence as Ellie made motions to slide a few choice rounds into the chamber of her bowgun.

"Forgive me, Miss Eleanor, but I must admit that that little line was a lie," Marshall told her as his chuckling died away. Ellie blinked in confusion at the remark, apparently still torn between whether or not to load the gun anyway. "I just felt like messing with the young man."

Ellie grumbled in annoyance for a moment, before sliding the bowgun back over her shoulder. "I wouldn't have been so irritated if I didn't think he'd actually talk like that though, the big perv."

"Hey, what kinda guy do you take me for?" Levin growled, pushing himself back up to his feet.

"Pretty much the kind of guy you really are," Ellie shrugged.

"You know something, Ellie?" Mel grinned. "You really reacted a lot more differently than I thought you would when Marshall told you that. I mean, I expected some a slug in the shoulder, and maybe a swear or two, but truth be told, you seem more embarrassed about the whole thing than anything else."

"Of course I'm embarrassed," Ellie sighed. "Wouldn't you be if you heard someone talking about you like that behind your back?"

"I would, yes," Mel admitted, "but that's not how you reacted earlier."

Ellie frowned in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Remember a week or so ago when you were here playing board games with me? A couple of the villagers started telling a couple guys on the investigatory squad about you armor's design when they thought we were out of earshot."

"Yeah, I remember," Ellie said with a shrug. "I was tempted to walk over there and knock some sense into them. What about it?"

"Well, when you overheard them talking," Mel smirked, "you got angry and irritated, that's for sure, and looked like you wanted to beat them senseless. However, you certainly didn't get as embarrassed as you did when you thought Levin was making the same sort of comments about you behind your back. Why is that?"

"Wait, what do you mean?" Ellie asked nervously.

"She means you turned red as a Qurupeco's vocal sac, Miss Eleanor," Marshall jabbed. "I imagine she didn't quite react that way the other day, did she, Miss Melanie?"

"Not a bit," Mel laughed. "I wonder what that means, Marshall?"

"I couldn't imagine, Miss Melanie," Marshall chuckled.

Levin glanced in confusion between the two of them as Ellie began turning red again. He was losing track of the direction of the conversation, and fast. He would've loved to join in and poke fun at Ellie for the joy of it, but for the life of him he couldn't figure out what Mel and Marshall were hassling her about. Was he missing something?

"In all seriousness, Miss Eleanor," Marshall said with a smile, getting back on subject, "we were discussing how I signed the two of you up to go with me on a mission to kill a creature called the Gobul in a village to the south of here."

Ellie shook her head, allowing the last bit of color to fade away from her face. She stood in silent thougth for a moment. "The giant fish thing?" she finally asked.

"That's the one," Marshall replied, "though 'giant fish thing' doesn't really do the Gobul justice. I'm sure you'll see that for yourself once we've traveled to Cobi village. I suggest you spend the evening stocking up on supplies and ammunition and looking over those information books of yours. Be sure to pick up some Underwater rounds, Miss Eleanor, they'll come in handy, I'm sure. We leave first thing in the morning on the next ship headed that way."

"Alright," Ellie nodded, an enthusiastic grin lighting her face. "I'm all for fighting something new."

"Good to hear," Marshall said, getting back to his feet. "Get some rest, both of you. You'll be needing it."

As Marshall began walking towards the path out of the training field, a thought suddenly popped into Levin's head. "Hold up Marshall. You said we were leaving tomorrow. What ship are we riding on?"

Marshall looked at Levin at shrugged. "The Guild ship of course," he replied. "This is an official mission, so we'll obviously be using Guild-sponsored transportation. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go see my grandson. I'll be out of town for a few days, so I'd like as much time with him as I can get."

As Marshall turned the corner and left the field, Levin sighed and slumped over in irritation. Ellie glanced at him in confusion.

"What's the matter? I thought you'd be just as excited as I am to fight something big and new like the Gobul."

"Normally, yes," Levin admitted, "but if we're taking the first ship that takes off tomorrow, that means we've gotta take the only Guild ship that leaves this week."

"So?"

"It means that we've got to ride the whole way to Cobi village with Johnny," Levin groaned.

Ellie snorted in laughter. "Sounds like you're going to have a fun trip, Levin. Gonna stay in your quarters the entire time, or something like that? Such a waste of a boat ride."

Levin glowered at Ellie for a moment before a thought hit him and his face lit up in an evil grin. "And what about the nice young man who was so kind as to retrieve all those Ludroth materials for you, eh, Miss Ellie? Are you planning on spending some quality time with the fellow while we're traveling that way?"

Ellie's face sank in dismay, making Levin laugh loudly. She chuckled weakly, giving Levin a defeated grin. "Looks like you're going to have company hiding away, Levin."

"I'm looking forward to it," Levin laughed.

* * *

The ship took off the next day as planned, with Marshall, Levin and Ellie on board, as well as the entirety of the investigatory squad. And also as planned, Levin and Ellie spent the better part of the trip hidden away in the interior of the ship, safely in their cabins and away from the individuals they were hiding from.

However, as time progressed, despite having Ellie to keep him company, the rocking of the ship and a growing case of cabin fever dragged Levin out and away from the relative safety of the ship's living quarter. While he'd never truly been a great fan of sea travel, he had to admit there was something vastly relaxing about being on deck and watching the shoreline in the distance pass them by.

He still hadn't gained his sea legs, however, and often found himself lurching to the side of the ship, his meals threatening to vacate the premises. Marshall had laughed about the whole thing, hassling Levin and joking that he wondered if Levin would get seasick while they tangled with the Gobul. As many times as Levin had wanted to snap back with a retort, he'd usually found that his stomach simply wouldn't let him do such a thing without a few minutes of protest. He didn't understand why he got seasick; he enjoyed swimming just fine, but the buck and sway of the ship just didn't agree with his stomach.

In between sleeping away his turning stomach and his time retching up his meals, though, he also managed to become introduced to the young man who Ellie remained in the sleeping quarters to avoid. His name was Ludo, and he seemed a nice enough guy for a man who worked for the Guild, of all things. He seemed to always have a hopeful expression on his face, like he was constantly expecting something good to come his way, which might have been why Ellie had picked him out of the group. Honestly, Levin kind of liked the guy.

On second thought, maybe not so much anymore. Perhaps 'introduced' was the wrong word for how he'd met the man. Since Levin had escaped the monotony and recurring turning of the stomach that he'd suffered while below deck, the young man spent perhaps every waking moment he had available stalking Levin in an attempt to pull out any information the great sword user had about Ellie, as well as whether or not Ellie had come out of her cabin yet.

It was the last day of the journey to Cobi and Levin was fighting another bout of sea sickness over the edge of the ship. He groaned in irritation as the sound of rapid footsteps he'd come to associate with Ludo's approach grew louder behind him. Levin quickly stepped away from the railing, prepared to tell the man that he needed to go below deck to prepare his things for disembarking, when another wave of nausea swept over him, making him groan and lean over the railing again.

"Hey, I was wondering if..." Ludo started, before realizing Levin's current state. "Wait, are you okay?"

"Not especially," Levin grumbled, holding onto the wooden handles for balance. "Honestly, I've had better days. I'd stand back if I were you, though. Don't want to get vomit all over that pretty Guild uniform, now do you?"

"Right, right," Ludo said, taking a cautious step away from Levin as the great sword user teetered around to the buck and sway of the ship's crash against the waves. He stood silent for a moment before blurting out, "I was wondering if Eleanor was feeling any better."

Levin groaned mentally. The guy really had no sense of tact on things like this, did he? Here Levin was, praying to whatever deities came to mind that he could finish this little voyage with his stomach still inside his body, and Ludo wanted nothing more than to pull information from him about a girl who wasn't even interested in him.

"Not today, I'm afraid," Levin said, hiding a smirk. "It's like I told you, if you think I look bad right now, Ellie's a thousand times worse on the sea. I'm surprised she even agreed to take this voyage rather than just caravanning it with the next inland merchant that passed through. Can't even get out of bed, the poor girl."

"The poor girl indeed," Ludo admitted quietly.

Levin forced down a laugh as a look of frustration flickered across the man's face. He'd somewhat enjoyed crafting the story he'd made depicting Ellie as violently opposed to sea travel when Ludo had asked him why the poor Miss Eleanor had yet to leave her room the entirety of the voyage. Warding off the young man from personally going in to wish Ellie good health was also proving to be an amusing pastime, giving him tales of violent fits of anger and delirium followed close after by no doubt terrible retching.

He'd made no effort to hide what he said to Ludo from Ellie either, for that matter. She'd been outraged at first, until Levin had mentioned just how passionately the young man was putting in efforts to seek her attention. After that, she'd decided to put up with the whole thing, despite the terrible rumors that Levin was passing on to the Guild men.

Levin groaned inwardly as a thoughtful look flickered cross Ludo's face, signaling that the young man wanted to make a request of Levin, perhaps to pass on his good wished, or to ask how much she liked a certain flower or some other nonsense of the sort.

"Ludo!" a snide voice called across the deck. Levin winced and groaned audibly, turning to look as Johnny strode their way from his own quarters. The man glanced at him, smirking slightly at Levin's discomfort, before turning back to his subordinate.

"Didn't I tell you that I wanted a survey of the damage in the Ludroth cave prepared by yesterday?" he asked with a glare.

"Ah, yes you did, sir," Ludo replied, paling visibly.

"And where is it?"

"In-Incomplete, sir," Ludo replied. Levin was mildly surprised at the admittance; he'd expected a lie or at least hesitation in answering. Blunt honesty was the last thing he'd thought to hear from the young man. Perhaps the Guild men were better folks than he'd formerly thought. That or Ludo was a really dull-witted fellow.

"And what are you planning on doing to remedy that?" Johnny growled.

"I'll get on it right away sir!" Ludo replied, saluting quickly and dashing for the living quarters the Guild members were staying in. Levin chuckled lightly. That had worked far better than anything he'd told Ludo the whole ride here. He might have to owe Johnny for that one.

"Something funny, kid?" Johnny asked irately.

"Not a thing, Johnny," Levin grinned, turning back to face the shoreline.

"It's Jonathan, dammit!" the Guild man shouted.

"And I'm Levin, not 'kid,' but that doesn't seem to matter to you, now does it? A nickname for a nickname, that's fair don't you think?"

Johnny opened his mouth to reply, then closed it again, rubbing his temples in irritation. "You know what, I don't even care anymore. Call me what you will, kid. It's not like we'll be seeing each other again."

"Music to my ears," Levin replied.

"However, I must request something of you before you, Marshall and that other girl disembark."

"What's that?"

"When… _If_ you manage to become a licensed hunter, try to avoid attempting to sucker Guild employees into passing out free monster materials to you. It's illegal, and for good reason. If it was anything bigger or badder than a Royal Ludroth, I would've had to report it."

Levin paled and gulped. "I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about."

"Of course you don't," Johnny sighed. "But for… whatever reason in the future you feel the need to break the law, please at least be smart enough to find a sucker that won't blab about the whole thing to his whole squad. Someone who's smart enough to know that he'd be fired too if it was found out, for example. That would make the Guild look bad, both the hunters and the employees."

"I'll… remember that," Levin said with a frown. "Not that it'll ever come up, though."

"I'm sure it won't," Johnny replied.

As he turned away, Levin heard the captain of the ship calling out that Cobi was in sight. He looked towards the shore, and sure enough, several large wooden cabins began to come into view around the bend in the shoreline. The whole village was bordered by a large bay similar to the one that sat outside Levin and Ellie's house, with the main difference of it having an enormous wooden arch overhanging it.

Levin sighed, irritated that Ellie had been found out and turned back to the cabins, heading under to get prepared to go to shore.

* * *

"So he knew all along?" Ellie asked with a sigh.

"Afraid so," Levin replied, dragging his bag of luggage down the gangplank. "Seems Ludo wasn't the best choice to make your requests of."

"Yeah, I get that now," Ellie grumbled.

"Such indiscretion isn't very sightly of a hunter anyway, Miss Eleanor," Marshall told her, lugging his own luggage down behind the two of them.

"It was only that once," Ellie replied. "I just wanted something to remember the incident by."

"Which is probably the only reason he let you and that young man off so easily," Marshall said. "But we can discuss Miss Eleanor's little indiscretions later, I think. For now, I'd like us to hurry up and find out where my old friend Willard is."

"He's the one that put in the request for the mission, isn't he?" Levin asked.

"He is. He's also a former hunting partner of mine. He was an archer before he retired to the life of a fisherman."

"Seems like a bit of a step down in my opinion," Levin said. "Going from hunting giant beasts to hunting normal fish? Not as exciting."

"When some people retire, they often feel that they want nothing more than to spend the rest of their lives _avoiding_ the hustle and bustle life of the hunter," Marshall told them. "Besides, not everyone can walk away from hunting with all their limbs intact. More often than not, when a hunter is retired, it's because they're crippled to the point where they can't hunt anymore without serious risk to their lives."

"Is that Willard's story?" Ellie asked.

"No, not at all," Marshall replied. "He just got worn out living his life as a hunter, and decided to retire in a nice and quiet village."

"Quiet until a monster shows up and sinks your ships, you mean," Levin said.

"Yes, exactly," Marshall agreed. "But I suppose a former hunter wouldn't retire to a place that's _too_ peaceful, now would they?"

Levin and Ellie followed Marshall through winding roads of Cobi village, glancing around and taking in the sights. The layout of the village was similar to that of Boma, with circular main streets looping around the city and thinner alleyways cutting between them.

Their path to wherever Marshall was leading them was taking them around the side of the bay, where several crews of fishermen were rolling their boats out of the water over logs, pulling them away from the danger in the water. Every few buildings or so, the trio of hunters would pass a group of people, earning glances of curiosity (and occasionally relief) from them. Levin frowned, troubled. The Gobul must have been causing more problems than he suspected if the people of the village were this worried about the whole thing.

"Marshall, you old bastard!" a loud voice called out.

The three hunters turned to look, spotting a small man heading their way. He was a good four or five inches shorter than Levin, but had a physique that was as solid, if not more so, than Marshall's. Levin had little doubt that even if he'd met the man without Marshall telling him about him, Levin would've been able to guess that the man had been a hunter, a great one at that. He had grayed hair like Marshall's but, it hung in a shaggy mane across his face. He was clean shaven, though, and had sharp, piercing eyes.

Eye, Levin corrected himself. The man had a cloth wrapped around his head in a makeshift eyepatch, covering his left eye. The edges of a large, messy scar peeked out of the edges of the cloth, giving Levin the impression that the injury that had taken the man's eye had no doubt been from quite a battle.

"Willard, you old dog," Marshall said back with a grin, clasping the man's hand in a firm handshake. "It's been too long, my friend. Not getting any taller I see."

"Ah, hitting me right where it hurts from the get go, huh, Marshall?" Willard growled, smirking back at him. "Took you right long to get here, didn't it? Did you walk the whole way or something?"

"Just the Guild's incredible speed of travel," Marshall replied. "They were slow as molasses going uphill when we were young and they've only gotten slower since."

"I hear ya," Willard nodded. Then he turned to Levin and Ellie, as if noticing them for the first time, and grinned. "These little children your apprentices, Marshall?"

Marshall smiled. "Sure looks that way, doesn't it, Willard? They not yet wet behind the ears, but they're getting better."

"I certainly hope so, if they're planning on taking down that Gobul," Willard said. "The name's Willard, kids."

"I'm Levin," Levin said, grinning. He liked this guy.

"Elllie," his partner said. The smile on her face gave Levin the indication that she liked the older guy, too.

"Nice to meet the two of you," the man said with a grin, shaking the two of their hands. "It's nice to see Marshall finally taking on a pair of apprentices again. What's it been, what, fifteen, sixteen years since the last one?"

"Something like that," Marshall replied. Levin noticed Marshall's expression change for a moment to something he didn't recognize, but before he could figure out what it was, his expression changed back to normal. "These two are proving to be quite the good team. I think they'll prove to be quite effective against the Gobul, if I do say so myself."

"That's good to hear," Willard said. "Don't need any more lives lost to that overgrown fillet. I'd have taken it down a peg or two myself, but I'm just not cut out for hunting anymore. Don't have the strength or ambition that I used to."

"The ambition I just might be able to believe," Marshall said with a grin. "But I'm sure you've still got the strength to strangle any monster into an early grave. You were never one to let yourself be anything less than the best."

"Maybe so, maybe so," Willard agreed. Then he motioned toward the area further down the road. "Anyway, let's get you settled in. We've got… a few spare rooms set aside for the lot of you not too far from here, where the three of you can stay until you've taken the beastie out. And in case you ain't heard, the villagers have been preparing a few things for you to use during the battle."

"So we've heard," Marshall replied. "Enough barrels of gunpowder to conquer a city. Aren't you going a little overboard about this whole Gobul business?"

"We don't like Gobuls," Willard said with a serious tone. "Sinking ships, eating fishermen, and just generally causing trouble for the people of Cobi. Ain't nothing to like about them as far as we're concerned."

"Fair enough, I guess," Marshall replied.

The four of them came to a larger, well-built house that sat near the edge of the water of the bay. The house was vastly different than any of the other houses in the village, sporting carved stone walls and ornate glass windows, as opposed to the simple wooden huts that filled the rest of the village. Willard motioned to it dramatically and smirked. "Here's the humble abode we've prepared for the lot of you."

"Holy crap, those are nice digs," Levin whistled.

"This is a nicer house than anything I've ever lived in my whole life," Ellie said.

"This is… very generous," Marshall said with a frown. "Far more generous than anything a hunter is generally accustomed to. What is this house doing in your village and why are you offering it to us?"

Willard laughed. "One of the nobles who funds and profits off of our little explosives hobby built a house here, hoping his _glamorous and prestigious _presence would… encourage us to work harder in making all those barrel bombs that you active hunters seem to enjoy using every now and then. Imagine his surprise when his first day in town, the entire fishing fleet took off in search of a catch. You could hear the man ranting and raving from a mile out!

"Anyway, the house is his. When he realized none of us were going to go and get the materials for the explosives just because he was here, he took off to further his investments in other locations. So we use the house he left behind for guests to the village. It's still technically the noble's house, but some of the older folks and Felynes in the village are paid to upkeep the house, so we figure we might as well put the place to use."

"Sneaky, underhanded, and a blatant abuse of someone else's poorly spent money." Ellie grinned. "These are your type of people, Levin. I like it."

"So do we," Willard laughed. "Now go get inside and get yourselves some rest. By the looks of it, boy, you're not too big a fan of sea travel."

"You caught me," Levin nodded, suddenly feeling the weight of the trip coming back to bite him. He realized he really could use a rest.

"I'll see the two of you later," Marshall told the two younger hunters. "I'm going to spend some time catching up with Willard here. In the meantime, you two can put your heads together and try to figure out something to do with all those explosive barrels the villagers have put together."

"Will do, Marshall," Ellie nodded, and Levin grinned as well.

"See you later, old timer," Levin grinned as the old hunter took off with his old friend. Then he turned to Ellie. "Don't suppose you have any plans for how to use an obnoxious amount of bombs to wipe out an underwater monster, do you?"

"I thought you were the tactician here," Ellie grinned.

"Normally, yes," Levin shrugged, "but I don't really often work with things that have the capability of doing as much damage to me as it does to the monster. You're the one who uses… used Crag shots all the time. If anyone has any knowledge on explosives, it'd be you, I think."

Ellie smirked. "Maybe you're right. Shall we get to work then, apprentice Levin?"

"You're a wicked one, Miss Ellie," Levin laughed, turning to walk up the stairs into the stone house. "Let's do it. We'll give Marshall the best we've got this time."

* * *

**Author's Note: Please Review!**

**Yeah… so no hunting this chapter. Apologies. This chapter just kept growing longer and longer the more and more in depth I got, and before I knew it, it capped 10k words! I decided I'd better cut it off early and just put the next part in the next chapter so I don't leave you guys hanging. But there will be hunting in the next chapter! I swear it!**

**I've been tempted to request a Beta reader, but I'm not sure about it. I saw there were only four volunteers for MH beta readers anyway. I'd like to have someone look over my chapters for me, but considering how few readers I have (lol), I'd feel bad giving one of them a peek ahead of time before everyone else. Any ideas on how to deal with this issue out there?**

**Reading: The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King, The Waste Lands by Stephen King  
Playing: Battlefield: Bad Company 2  
Listening: The OK Go, Jimmy Eat World**


	12. Bombs and Mortars

Bombs and Mortars

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. All the characters in this story are mine._

A gleam of early morning light woke Ellie the next day, shining through the thinnest of cracks in the wide blinds that covered the ornate windows of the house. She sat up sleepily, the moment of drowsy fogginess in her mind making her wonder where she was and how she got there. Her memories came back quickly, informing her that she was, in fact, currently in Cobi Village, there to hunt the Gobul.

The sound of restless breathing caught her attention, and she followed the noise, spotting Levin sleeping sprawled across a nearby couch. A few thin sheets were draped over him as he dozed, thrown around as he had tossed and turned in his sleep, no doubt unaccustomed to the new and unfamiliar place. A few scattered papers littered the floor under him, scribbles and ideas the two of them had come up with on how to fight the Gobul etched onto each page.

Marshall was nowhere to be seen, as far as Ellie could tell. She vaguely recalled the older hunter popping in late at night, the noise waking her for only a moment as he'd entered the building, but as to where he was now, Ellie had no clue.

She lazily rolled out of bed, stretching herself out and feeling tired bones pop and weary muscles ache as she forced herself to wake up. She wandered over to her bag, thrown into an unnecessarily large closet. She'd hung up her armor just inside the entrance to the massive closet, as opposed to Levin, who'd only gone so far as to toss his own armor over the back of the very couch he slept on. She looked at the green and purple thing wearily. She'd only had the opportunity to wear it once, during their exploit hunting for monster guts and their run-in with the poachers, and still wasn't sure about whether she wanted to keep it or not.

"Feel like taking a bath, nya?"

Ellie shrieked in fright at the voice that suddenly appeared behind her. She twisted around quickly, getting her feet tangled together and falling to the floor. Winded, she groaned in pain, rubbing her back as she sat up from the floor, blinking in surprise at the sight of an orange colored Felyne, chuckling at her from a few feet outside the closet's entryway. She could also she Levin flailing around inside his blankets on the floor, no doubt after having fallen off the couch when he heard Ellie scream.

"What happened?" he shouted, finally throwing off the sheets and leaping to his feet, a look of sleepy alertness (if you can believe it) plastered across his face. His eyes finally landed on Ellie on the floor, and nearby Felyne, and he blinked in confusion. "Uh, what's going on?" he asked.

"It would appear that I've scared the lady hunter here, nya," the Felyne chuckled. It turned back to Ellie. "I do apologize. I truly didn't mean to frighten you."

"It's alright," Ellie said, climbing back to her feet. "Just give me a little warning next time, if you plan on sneaking up on me."

"Oh, I wasn't sneaking at all," the Felyne replied. Ellie noticed that the Felyne had a higher pitched voice than that of Leif or the chef Felynes in Boma village, and wondered if this Felyne was female. She couldn't really tell for sure. The Felyne continued speaking, "We Felynes prefer to simply walk naturally. However, I suppose we can't help it if our 'naturally' is naturally quiet, now can we, nya?"

"I suppose not," Ellie replied, grinning slightly.

"By the way, my name is Eir," the Felyne introduced itself (herself?). "You are… Miss Eleanor, I believe? And he is Mister Levin, if I am not mistaken. I am not too good with human names, nya."

"Nice to meet you Eir," Ellie said. "How'd you know our names?"

"That elder hunter, Master Marshall, told me about the two of you earlier this morning," Eir replied.

"I see," Ellie replied. "You know, you're a lot more polite than most of the Felynes back in Boma."

"That's because they're probably male, Miss Eleanor," Eir replied, a tone of mild distaste in her voice. "Male Felynes tend to be more… clumsy and rambunctious than us of the fairer sex, nya."

"The same could be said for humans, I think," Ellie said, smirking at Levin, who rolled his eyes. "And you can call me Ellie. I get enough of the whole 'Miss' thing from Levin and Marshall as it is."

"Very well, Ellie," Eir replied. "Now, as I mentioned, I prepared a bath, so whenever either of you are ready to bathe, you may do so, nya."

"You can go first, Ellie," Levin yawned, stretching. "I think I'll spend a couple extra minutes waking up before I head in there."

"Sounds good to me," Ellie replied.

"If that is all, I think I will take my leave, nya," Eir said. "I have other business to attend to around the village, anyway."

As the Felyne began to leave, she turned suddenly. "Oh, yes, and before I forget, Master Willard asked me to tell the two of you that the fish in the area are abnormally sparse today. Is this area, such an occurrence generally implies that a sea monster of some sort is nearby, so the two of you are to prepare yourselves to battle the Gobul, nya."

"Thanks for the warning," Levin said, turning to pick his armor off the floor.

"Good luck to the both of you, nya," Eir said as she walked out the door. Ellie heard the Felyne mutter when she thought she was out of earshot: "You're going to need it."

As Levin knelt to the ground, he shuffled through the papers he and Ellie had made the previous night as they'd planned their fight with the Gobul. "Hey, Ellie?"

"What's up?" Ellie asked.

"You really think any of these plans will work? They seem just as likely to kill us as they do the Gobul."

"Who knows?" Ellie shrugged. "They're about as likely to work as any other plan either of us come up with."

Levin grinned. "_Your_ plans maybe. My plans work like a charm."

"Oh, mine aren't that bad."

"Says the girl who tried to blow up a Qurupeco with its own mucus."

"Hey it worked, didn't it?" Ellie huffed. "Besides, all your plans seem to fall apart when even the smallest thing throws a stick into the spokes."

"Yeah, I guess," Levin admitted sheepishly. "If that's the case, then this plan should work. Provided your aim isn't off, that is."

"Have some faith in me," Ellie replied. "This plan will work. I'm sure of it."

"Whatever you say," Levin said, rolling his eyes.

But as Ellie thought about the plans they'd created, a tremor of nausea flooded over her. Levin must have caught a change in her expression, because he gave her a confused and concerned look.

"Something the matter?" he asked. "You look a little out of it."

"It's nothing, really," Ellie said, shaking her head. "It's just, it feels kind of… _wrong_ to use barrel bombs to take out the Gobul."

Levin stood in thought for a moment before realization kicked in. "Ah. Because of the poachers you mean."

Ellie sighed. "Yeah. After what happened in the Ludroth nest, I just feel dirty using the same weapons that those guys used to kill off all the Ludroth. It just seems… wrong somehow."

"I know what you mean," Levin told her. "But don't get yourself down about it. I'm not sure what the old adage is, but you can't label something as evil just because someone evil uses it as well. I'm sure a lot of nobler hunters use barrel bombs, too."

"I know that," Ellie said, "but it still just doesn't feel right."

Levin sighed, then shrugged. "Well, you can do whatever you want, I guess. Honestly, the thought of carrying around a bunch of bombs just to blow up a monster seemed really dangerous to me, not to mention way too much effort, so I never really used them. While we're here fighting the Gobul, I don't think we're going to get away with fighting it that easily without using bombs, but from here on, we can try to fight monsters without them, alright?"

"Sounds like a plan to me," Ellie said, grinning slightly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to shower. That ride here was way, _way _too long to go without bathing. I feel like I'm covered in a layer of gunk."

* * *

Once the two of them had cleaned up, they put on their armor and headed out into the village in search of Marshall. The journey in search of the old hunter itself took the two of them on a tour around the village, following the instructions of passerby who pointed them in the direction that they'd last seen Marshall and Willard together. Finally, the two hunter apprentices spotted the older hunter standing next to Willard and several dozen barrels of explosives at the head of the bay, near the base of the archway that spanned the mouth of the bay.

"Hey old timer!" Levin called out, catching Marshall's attention.

"Good morning, both of you," Marshall said. "Judging by the fact that the two of you are fully armored, I assume the two of you've heard that the Gobul is most likely in the area?"

"Eir told us about it this morning," Ellie replied.

"I saw the results of your planning on the floor of the house earlier," Marshall said. "Any good ideas pop up while the two of you were brainstorming yesterday?"

Levin shrugged. "Only one decent one, but its incomplete."

"How so?" Willard asked.

"Well, we planned to drop a few dozen barrels onto the bottom of the bay. Then, while we fight the Gobul, if it gets close to any of the barrels, Ellie can fire rounds at the explosives, detonating them. That way, we'll be able to use the bombs without risking damage to ourselves. The bombs should be plenty damaging to the Gobul, even though the bombs might lose their effect while their underwater."

Willard laughed. "I like this kid! You were right Marshall, the boy makes pretty good little plans."

Levin shrugged and pointed to Ellie. "Actually, this plan is one of Ellie's brain-childs."

"Two decent plan-makers, then," Willard replied. "Not bad at all. But I don't get one thing; what makes this plan of yours incomplete?"

Ellie sighed. "As much damage as all of us do against the Gobul, the fact is it is a sea creature and has superiority under the water. The one thing that's always caused me and Levin problems is when a monster decides to run away and escape. Most of the time, they're far faster than us. If the Gobul decides it wants to get gone, how are we supposed to stop it from doing so?"

Willard and Marshall shared a quick glance, before Willard burst out laughing. Ellie looked between the two of them in confusion as they chuckled between themselves. She glanced over to Levin, but he shook his head at her, uncertain as to what was so funny.

"Oh, trust me, kiddies," Willard grinned, "the Gobul getting out of the bay is the last thing you need to worry about."

"How do you figure?" Levin asked, confused.

"Let me show you," Willard said, turning and walking over to the archway. As he neared the base, Ellie noticed a large wheel latched to the bottom of the arch, connected on the inside to a cluster of ropes and cogs.

"Help me out with this, boy," Willard said, motioning to Levin, who nodded reluctantly. The two of them began turning the wheel, and the gears creaked and groaned inside the archway's pillar. Ellie noticed that while Levin was struggling to get the wheel to turn, Willard hardly seemed to be trying at all and was still making the wheel turn quickly.

As the gears inside the pillar turned, Ellie spotted a disturbance in the water along the mouth of the bay. She gasped in surprise as a wide line of water suddenly broke apart, a thick and powerful mesh fishing line rising up out of the water and up the sides of the arch. The net continued to rise up the side of the pillar until it was at least twenty feet in the air.

Finally, Willard reached over, snapping a latch into place on the wheel and locking the gears in place. As the lock clicked shut, Levin bent over, gasping for air, and shaking off his weary arms.

"Not used to regular hard work, are you, boy?" Willard laughed as Levin wobbled over to one of the barrels and sat down. "You could use a little bit of honest struggling like that to make you stronger, I think."

"This net is amazing!" Ellie exclaimed. "I thought the arch was a decoration."

"Oh, we fishermen wouldn't put up something so gaudy without a good reason to do so," Willard said. "We keep this net around to capture some of the larger sea creatures that would otherwise damage the nets our boats use. Things like Epioth or other such things. Lure them into the bay, then raise the net before they can escape. It wasn't really intended for creatures like the Gobul, but it should keep the thing in the bay for you. Won't stop it from coming on land and just going around, though, so you'll have to keep it from doing so."

"Fair enough," Levin said, hopping back up to his feet. "All we need to do now is to put the bombs in their places and lure the Gobul into the bay. Not sure how we're going to do that last part, though."

"It won't be that hard," Marshall said to them. "All you need to do is set the right bait, and any monster you want will come for you on its own."

"Okay," Ellie said. "So what bait do we need to lure in a Gobul?"

"Epioth work particularly well, in this village's experience," Willard said. "We have a few salted slabs of Epioth meat over in the village cantina that we can use. Just toss them all into a big ol' bag and dangle them in the water. If that doesn't get a Gobul into the bay in an hour, then there just aren't any in the area."

"Sounds like we have everything we need then," Marshall said, looking between Ellie and Levin. "Anything else the two of you can think of that we should prepare before the fight?"

"That's all we've got, I think," Levin said. "All we need to do is set everything up, I guess."

"That and survive the fight itself," Ellie muttered.

"Yeah, that too."

"Well, we'll never find out how it'll all turn out until we do it," Marshall grinned. "So let's get to work, shall we?"

* * *

With a grunt of effort and a twist of their wrists, the pair of apprentice hunters wrenched the last of the barrel bombs they'd collected from the villagers into the fine sand at the bottom of the bay. On the other side of the barrel, Levin cautiously shook the barrel, making sure it wouldn't shake free of its base, before nodding in acceptance and motioning towards the surface. Ellie nodded in response, mentally stopping herself from speaking out loud, reminding herself that the air philter she wore over her mouth blocked out any words and only released a swarm of bubbles into the water.

She glanced around the clear bay water, checking their work. The bay was littered with dozens of explosive barrels of various shapes and sizes, all of them wedged into the sand of the bay. Some were weighed down with rocks or tied down with ropes in places where the sand was thin or not sticky enough to hold down the buoyancy of the barrels. A couple of barrels floated on the water's surface near the shoreline as well, bobbing up and down in the water, just in case the Gobul made a break for land. The only area of the bay that didn't have a bomb nearby was the area close to the pillars of the archway.

Satisfied with their work, Ellie swam towards the surface, following Levin as he made his way up himself. She involuntarily gasped for breath as she broke the surface of the water, despite the air philter covering her mouth and providing her with oxygen. She peeled the small plant off of her face, taking a deep breath of fresh air before swimming towards shore.

"Not a fan of the philters, huh?" Levin laughed as they pushed their way onto the dock.

"They work really well," Ellie admitted, "but the oxygen it makes it just really… thick. Moist, I mean. I'm not sure how to describe it. It's better than holding your breath, but it just feels so forced breathing through those things."

"I know what you mean," Levin said. "Not exactly up to par with snorkeling gear, probably, but it's still the best option for hunters, considering we may have to stay underwater for quite a long time in order to fight monsters like the Gobul. Just imagine how rough it would be to fight something bigger underwater, like a Lagiacrus."

"I'd rather not have to think about something like that right now," Ellie groaned. "If we manage to survive this fight, maybe I'll think about it."

"Hey, where's your confidence?" Levin asked. "Ususally, you're all into the whole idea of a hunt."

Ellie grinned. "Sorry, I'm just a little worried. After all, we didn't do that well against the Royal Ludroth, so now I'm worried about how well we'll do against something that's supposed to be bigger and tougher than that."

"I'm sure we'll be just fine," Levin grinned. "The Royal Ludroth just took us by surprise that one time. Under different circumstances, I'm sure we would've kicked its butt across the river. Besides, if worse comes to worse during this fight, we've got Marshall around to pull our hides out of the fire."

"I don't want to keep relying on Marshall though."

"I know," Levin replied. "That's why we're going to have to do the best damn job we can doing as much damage as we can to kill the damn thing."

"I guess so," Ellie grinned.

"Are the two of you finally done?" the two of them heard Marshall call out to them. They turned, spotting the older hunter carrying a large bloody satchel over his shoulder.

"Got the meat all ready, then?" Levin asked.

"So it would seem," Marshall replied, patting the side of the large bag. "All that's left now is to lure the creature here, I think. Are the two of you ready to begin?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," Ellie replied.

"Same here," Levin replied.

"Then let's get started."

Marshall walked over to a small rowboat that the village had donated to the cause along with the barrels of gunpowder. Using a line of rope, the older hunter tied the massive sack to the side of the small boat, then hoisted the sack over the side into the water, where a fog of bloody red began to spread out from the core of the meat inside. The older hunter slid on his bright blue Lagiacrus helmet, then kicked off from the shore, allowing the boat to drift its way into the center of the bay.

The villagers, who were initially interested in watching the impending battle, began getting shooed away by Willard as he ran up and down the dock, forcing people to evacuate the area. Only a group of tough-looking fishermen, including Willard himself, were allowed to stay in the area. They stood near the pillar of the archway, ready to raise the net and trap the Gobul inside the bay once it was inside.

Ellie and Levin watched carefully and quietly as Marshall drifted in the water, scanning the water for any signs of the Gobul or anything else that might be wanting to cause them trouble. Silence filled the area as the noises of the village began to die away. Ellie noticed that the villagers had begun climbing onto the roofs of their houses, a distance from the bay. Ellie supposed that if they were wanting to watch a monster hunter battle that was occurring just outside their village, they were going to see it one way or another.

Several minutes passed as Ellie and Levin stood intently waiting on the shoreline. Ellie began to fidget impatiently. She knew that waiting for a monster to jump at a line of bait was an act of patience, but she still wished that she could move around a little more. She much preferred a chase through the forests around Boma Village than setting a trap and waiting for a monster to arrive. At the very least if she knew where the Gobul was and when it would show up, she would be a little more content with the situation.

She glanced over at Levin, who was leaning idly against a crate and staring out to the mouth of the bay. He was tapping his feet against the wooden dock under him, giving Ellie the impression that he enjoyed the act of waiting on the Gobul to arrive as little as she did. He rolled a whetstone between his fingers as his eyes began to glaze over, his thoughts obviously moving to something other than the waiting.

Suddenly, Ellie's eyes snapped to the mouth of the bay under the giant archway. Something was off. Ellie couldn't tell what exactly, but something seemed wrong. She glanced over at Levin, but he didn't seem to have noticed anything at all and continued to stare blankly out to sea.

Ellie glanced back to the water, sure that she must have noticed one thing or another, but was uncertain what. Marshall was gazing intently at the water (or at least Ellie thought he was; it was hard to tell with Marshall wearing that helmet). Maybe he'd noticed something as well.

But the water was crystal clear inside the bay, and just as clear for at least a hundred yards out to sea. If something… _anything_ had managed to get into the bay, she'd notice it… right?

"Hey, Levin."

"What's up?"

"Can the Gobul… hide itself in any way?" she asked. "I know it has some sort of stealth ability, but I can't remember what it was."

"It's a digger," Levin replied. Ellie gave him a look of confusion, at which he continued. "Provided the soil at the bottom of the water it's in is soft enough, it can bury itself underneath and pop out to surprise attack enemies."

Ellie froze. "And the sand at the bottom of the bay?"

Levin thought for a moment. "It was really soft, actually. It was a lot easier to wedge those barrels into the dirt than I thought it would… oh, crap."

Ellie's eyes shot back to the water, grazing over the surface fanatically, until her eyes rested on what must have tipped her off earlier that something was wrong: not ten feet from Marshall's bobbing boat, a steady stream of bubbles trickled up from the bottom of the bay. Glancing through the water to the source, Ellie spotted a large bulge in the sand that she was absolutely certain hadn't been there when she and Levin had been setting up the bombs.

"Marshall! Look out!" she called, catching the older hunter's attention.

Just as Marshall looked up at her in surprise, an enormous dark object ripped out of the sand at the bottom of the bay, opening an equally massive maw. With a thunderous rumble, the Gobul began to inhale, and an unbelievable amount of water began spiraling down towards the creature's gaping mouth.

The boat Marshall sat in twisted violently as the water began churning and spinning downward, pulling the rickety wooden raft down into the clear water of the bay. The older hunter was caught off guard, and dropped into the vortex as well, soon finding himself getting pulled down with the rowboat.

"What do we do?" Ellie cried out.

"This!" Levin said, pulling something out of his pack. Ellie saw him pull a pin, realizing it was a Sonic bomb just as he tossed the object into the water. With an sound far louder than Ellie suspected would occur, the Sonic bomb went off under the water, sending a shockwave a sound across the bay with such a force that it caused a ripple in the water.

The Gobul cried out in pain as the sound tore through the water, shaking it to its very core. It spasmed violently, ripping itself out of the sand and flipping over upside down in a loss of self control, exposing its lighter colored belly. Marshall, still spiraling down towards the creature, twisted his body around and swung out his hammer, smashing it into the large creature's belly.

"Willard!" Ellie called out, motioning to the fishermen standing near the archway.

"On it!" Willard replied, motioning to the other fishermen. The group of them immediately grabbed a hold of the crank and began spinning it furiously. The net practically shot out of the water at the speed the lot of them were spinning it at, spreading the wide block across the mouth of the bay in only a few moments.

"Let's go!" Levin yelled, charging towards the edge of the dock. Ellie tailed close behind, the two of them sliding their air philters over their mouths and leaping into the water of the bay. A burst of cold slid up Ellie's spine as the chill of the water spread over her.

Ellie was glad she was wearing the philter a moment later as her eyes acclimated to the water, or she had no doubt Levin and Marshall both would have heard an audible gasp come from her. The Gobul that floundered in the water ahead of her was massive, far bigger and more fearsome looking than anything she'd been able to imagine of it, even with the pictures drawn on the pages of the hunter's manuals. The notes on average length really didn't give an accurate impression of size until you saw it up close and personal.

She slid her bowgun around her shoulder as Levin swam forward to aid Marshall as the older hunter swam away from the Gobul as it flipped right-side up. Her bowgun was already primed with Sub shots, and as the giant fish turned to Marshall, preparing to attack the old hunter as he pulled out his own air philter, she fired a staccato burst of rounds at the creature, peppering it across its broad back.

The Gobul grumbled in irritation and anger as the bullets punctured its rubbery hide, thin trails of blood trickling out of the wounds for a moment before they clotted. It turned abruptly to the two new assailants, lunging threw the water with fluid ease. Ellie was caught off guard while she was reloading, the giant fish surging towards her.

But Levin turned as he swam, spiraling towards the creature's path. With a grunt of effort and a blast of bubbles from his mouth, he swung around his great sword. The blade caught the Gobul's forelegs with a shallow gash, but the hit caught the creature unawares, and it twisted its head around to find its attacker. The new angle of its head altered its course, making it graze past Ellie as she ducked away from the monster, rather than smashing into her headfirst.

Ellie swam away as the Gobul twisted around, rumbling out a guttural growl that reverberated through the whole bay. Out of the corner of her eye she spotting Marshall swimming their direction, motioning Levin towards the Gobul's left side. The great sword user nodded in understanding, sliding his great sword back into its sheath and joining the older hunter in a flanking maneuver.

The Gobul twisted its head between the two of them, uncertain which it should focus on, before deciding on Levin, who was closer by a few yards. It pressed of from the soft sand below it, opening its wide mouth and rushing through the water toward the hunter.

Ellie cringed; she would feel absolutely horrified if such a massive maw was rushing in her direction at such speeds. She whipped her bowgun around, nearly failing to stop in time as she spun in the water, but managed to fire several rounds at the Gobul's gaping mouth. The rounds peppered the inside of the creature's mouth, making it shiver in irritation, but hardly slowing it down or changing its path at all.

Levin kicked his feet, pushing himself up towards the surface as the monster rushed his way. He managed to avoid the bulk of the creature's charge, but the thick lantern orb that was perched above the creature's eyes snagged Levin's coat of armor as it passed. The great sword user was sent tumbling and spinning through the water as the giant fish whooshed to a halt curled itself around to face him again, and began another charge.

However, Marshall had caught up by this time, grabbing Levin by the hood of his armor and tossing him out of the way of the charge, then dodging away himself as the Gobul tore past the two of them. The Gobul grumbled in frustration as it spun around and slowed to a stop.

Ellie glanced under it, and caught sight of one of the explosive barrels sticking out of the muddy bay bottom. Before the Gobul could charge again, she lined up her sight and fired a round at the barrel. The shot flew true, sliding underneath the giant fish towards the explosive. The Gobul looked down, following the trajectory of the bullet as in shot past, a confused look crossing its face as the shot struck its wooden target.

The wooden barrel ripped apart at the seams as the shot ignited the gunpowder within, creating a blast that tore through up the tail and underbelly of the Gobul, blasting it upwards towards the surface with a howl of pain. A mushroom of smoke and bubbles swarmed up from the detonation point blotting out the shape of the Gobul as it writhed in pain from the blast. Elli grinned victoriously at the sight, and glanced over to Marshall and Levin, seeing them grinning as well.

Then the shockwave hit her, the water carrying the force of the blast across the entire bay and knocking her backwards as the sound and pressure waves drummed into her body and head, nearly making her black out from the shock of the impact. She was sent flailing backwards by the force of the blast, and her eyes filled with stars. For a few seconds, she was completely lost, unable to tell where she was or which way was up.

Then a hand grabbed onto her shoulder, spinning her around in the water and bringing her right side up. She found herself face-to-face with Levin, who was looking at her worryingly. Then she noticed his injuries. He looked pale, and his breathing seemed somewhat ragged, judging by the awkwardly timed bubbles that slid from the cracks of the air philter. Apparently both he and Marshall had been hit as hard by the blast of the bomb as she had; maybe harder, since they'd been a bit closer.

Ellie looked helplessly at the bombs littering the floor of the bay. The shockwave from just one of them had almost been enough to knock her out, and their whole plan had revolved around using them by the dozen to take down the massive Gobul. But how were they supposed to fight such a monster when any of the bombs they set off were just as likely to hurt them as they were to hurt the Gobul ?

Levin caught sight of her expression. After a moment of thought, he flashed her a grin (or at least she thought it was a grin, it was hard to tell with the air philter covering his mouth). He pointed to one of the other barrel bombs near the Gobul, who was still writhing in pain and confusion. With an exaggerated motion, he pointed his finger like a gun and fired at the barrel, then gave her a thumbs up.

Ellie looked at him with an expression that she hoped let him know that she thought he'd lost it. Was he _insane_? Was he really willing to risk their own health and safety to take down this monster? They both had just learned the dangers with setting off any of the underwater bombs, and yet Levin wanted her to continue blowing them up?

_Ah, of course he'd be willing to risk it_, she thought glumly, thinking back to their first Royal Ludroth fight, when he'd risked his own health trying to get the monster stunned by a Shock trap.

She was about to glare at him, when she saw him glance cautiously over to Marshall, before he turned back to her and giving her a pleading look. And suddenly she understood: Levin felt the same as she did. They both wanted to get out from underneath Marshall's shadow and prove they were perfectly capable of becoming great hunters without his aid. And if they wanted to prove that now, they'd have to show they were willing to do what they needed to take down a monster and still come out on top.

Then Levin eyes suddenly lit up, and he turned and dived down, dragging Ellie along with him. As the pair of them reached the bottom of the bay, Levin reached down, grabbing a handful of seaweed. Ellie watched in shock as he took the slimy brambles and wedged a clump of them into his ear canal. He pointed at the stuff, holding out a line of the stuff to Ellie.

Ellie nearly laughed in realization. _Earplugs!_ she thought. _Why didn't I think of that? _She gingerly took the stuff out of Levin's hands, cringing slightly at the texture of the stuff. But she still ripped away a few strands, shoving the vile stuff into her ears.

Looking around, it was as though all sound had simply ceased to exist. She glanced over to the Gobul, who had rolled back into a right side up position and was growling at them menacingly. The sound came through the thick seaweed as something just barely heard above the sound of Ellie's own heartbeat. Ellie grinned in surprise satisfaction, nodding to Levin as he smirked back at her.

As Ellie began reloading her gun, she glanced over at Marshall, who had been watching them closely since the explosion. He nodded in acceptance of their plan, then motioned back to the Gobul. Ellie glanced at the creature, and nearly reeled back at what she saw.

The Gobul had sprouted spikes seemingly out of nowhere, and was inhaling water at an alarming rate. That wasn't what scared Ellie, but the fact that the Gobul was increasing in girth by several times was. The thick rubbery skin of its back was inflating with the water the monster was inhaling, making it balloon out to several times its original size.

In only a few short moments, the Gobul was nearly as tall as it was long. Ellie might have found the sight of the creature humorous, if it weren't for the fact that the creature's entire inflated back was coated with hundreds and hundreds of spikes, most likely filled with the paralytic substance that she'd read filled up the spines on the creature's tail.

The Gobul grumbled another thunderous snarl, before pushing off from the bottom of the bay floor and curling up into a ball, charging their way like a wrecking ball. Ellie and Levin dived out of the way in a panicked rush, managing to avoid the bulk of the oversized creature, but getting completely blown back by just the force of the Gobul passing close to them. A surge of water pushed them back, making them struggle just to keep control of themselves.

Marshall rushed forward as the Gobul swooped to a halt several yards away from the pair of younger hunters. The older hunter brought around his hammer, smashing it into the side of the Gobul's front fin and knocking it back with a yelp of pain. But the Gobul twisted around in the water, smashing Marshall backwards away from it.

Levin swam forward to Marshall's aid as Ellie fired several rounds of Sub shot, making it wince and growl in pain at her. The great sword user rushed forward as the Gobul turned, however, swinging his sword down onto the giant fish's tail. The Gobul howled in pain as the giant bone blade smashed into it, crumbling and shattering the thinner bones in its tail.

The Gobul twisted its head around, spotting Levin behind it. With a wrench of its body, it sent its body curling around, its tail curling around and twirling towards Levin. Levin saw the spiked tail coming and tried to bring up his sword defensively, but the thick mass of muscle cracked him across the chest and sent him swimming through the water.

Ellie rushed forward, ready to grab onto Levin and pull him away, in case he was paralyzed. But the great sword user rolled himself right side up, swinging his great sword back into its sheath and swimming away as the Gobul twisted around and snapped at his coattails. As Levin swam away, the Gobul rushed after him, half swimming and half clawing its way across the muddy bottom, snapping its teeth furiously at the young hunter.

Marshall and Ellie chased after the Gobul as it chased Levin, gnashing its teeth, deflating and inflating in and out in its rage. Suddenly the massive creature actually tripped, catching the older hunter and bowgun user by surprise. Even the Gobul looked shocked, shacking its head and turning around to look under it. Ellie grinned in glee: it had tripped over one of the explosive barrels.

There was a fraction of a second while she raised her bowgun in which she wondered whether or not it was a good idea to fire upon the explosives again, despite the damage it did to the Gobul. But a look from Levin as he turned around gave her the guts to fire. The Gobul seemed to freeze in fear, realizing what was about to happen as the Sub shot flew out of the barrel and smashed into the side of the barrel.

Another eruption roared through the water as the explosion ripped through the water and burned across the back of the Gobul. Ellie braced herself as the shockwave flew through the water, and a fraction of a second later the blast hit, smashing against her like an invisible wall. She gasped in shock, winded, but found that she could recover far faster than before, without the sound waves rattling their way around the inside of her head.

Levin practically laughed at joy from their plan working on the other side of the Gobul, rushing forward through the water toward the writhing Gobul. He swung his sword at the giant fish's face, tearing a huge gash across it just over the Gobul's eyes. The creature howled in pain, pushing off the muddy river bottom to get away from the assailant, with Levin tailing close behind, sword in hand.

Suddenly Ellie blinked. Her eyes had suddenly dilated from a burst of light, leaving spots dancing in her eyes. Had the sun reflected off the water above them and into her eyes? The flash came again, and Levin slowed to a halt, affected by the sudden flash of light as well. The two glanced around, uncertain as the flashing continued, slowly increasing in frequency.

Ellie's eyes flew to the Gobul, remembering what she'd read in her monster manuals. Sure enough, despite the blinding light blinding her and leaving blind spots in her vision, she managed to see that the light was flashing from the pale lantern atop the Gobul's forehead stalk. However, Levin didn't seem to have realized it, still charging toward the Gobul and glancing around in confusion with each consecutive flash from the lantern.

Marshall turned hopelessly, averting his eyes from the inevitable flash of light that was sure to blind any persons looking that way. But Ellie reloaded her gun, sliding in a pair of paint shots, cocked back the bow, and fired down the sights. The shot flew awkwardly through the water, wobbling and shaking as the current of the bay altered and distorted its course. But the shot flew true, smacking full on into the back of Levin's head, coating the dirty yellow hood in a blank pink goop.

Levin spun around in surprise, giving a confused look at Ellie and the flashing continued to speed up. But before Ellie could turn around herself, the flashing of the Gobul's lantern suddenly went dead for a moment. Ellie paused, confused, when the lantern suddenly erupted with light that seemed a thousand times brighter than any of the ones before it.

The light seared into Ellie's eyes, filling her sensing and brain with a thousand piercing needles tearing into her eyes and filling them with only pure white nothingness. And then the light blurred away into dull grey, slowly and surely growing a deeper and fuller black. She flailed around, suddenly lost in the dark water, not able to tell the difference between up and down any longer. She brought her hands up to her face, pawing at her eyes, trying to force herself into seeing again.

A hungry and almost joyous growling filled her ears, followed by the rumbling sound of what could've been the Gobul's imitation at laughter. Then a rushing noise burst from the same location of where the Gobul's laughter echoed from, a surging churning that grew louder and more furious by the moment.

A rough hand grabbed her by the shoulder, the familiar grip of Marshall pulling her back and away from the onrushing sound. But the older hunter wasn't fast enough, and dozens of jagged spikes and needles tore into Ellie's armor and peeled away at the exposed skin on her stomach and legs. She cried out in pain, her scream dampened by her air philter and carried away by the rush of water as the Gobul whooshed past in the water.

Ellie twisted in pain as Marshall pulled her away from the rumbling growl of the Gobul, reaching forward to clamp her hands over the bleeding wounds on her legs and abdomen. Another sound of motion through the water rushed past, and a swooping sound reached her ears, followed a wet crunch and the sound of the Gobul howling in pain and irritation.

Instinct and reflex made Ellie reach for her pouch, pulling out a potion before she remembered the air philter was covering her mouth. She sucked in a deep breath, peeling away the small plant before swiftly uncorking the bottle in her hand and shoving in into her mouth. The vile tang of saltwater accompanied the bitter taste of the potion, but she managed to swallow the substance, feeling the telltale numbness of the drink and the feel of her wounds cinching closed due to the power of the potion.

The sound of the Gobul roaring in fury echoed into Ellie's ears through the thick clumps of seaweed that remained wedged in her ears. Marshall squeezed her shoulder gently, releasing her in what Ellie assumed to be a safe spot as the older hunter rushed away nearly soundlessly. The sound of powerful hammer-blows thundered through the black in her eyes, followed sometimes by a yelp of irritation or pain from the giant fish.

With aggravating slowness, the darkness in her eyes began to slowly fade away, revealing patches of blurry blue color in her vision, and the occasional flicker of motion across them. She urged her eyes to finish filling with color, and began preparing herself for returned vision by sliding her hand into her ammo pouch and feeling around for several particularly shaped rounds that she planned on using against the Gobul in revenge. As the circles of color widened, she clamped her hand over the rounds she sought and slid one of them cautiously into the chamber of her bowgun, careful not to slip and let it fall.

Finally, her vision widened enough for her to make out where things were again, and she spotted Levin and Marshall circling around an enraged Gobul, the massive fish lunging at snapping at them while they circled, lunging forward to attack while its attention was on the other.

Ellie lined up her sights, focusing on the Gobul's face and pulling the trigger. The gun burst with a short flame and the shot flew through the water while the giant fish twisted around to face Levin. The Gobul winced as the shot contacted with the side of its face, the shell exploding open and a bright purple goop latching onto the Gobul's rubbery skin. Even as Ellie began sliding in the next round, the goop began to seep into the Gobul's skin, making the creature twitch and moan in irritation.

The Gobul lurched towards Marshall, snapping irritably at the older hunter as the hammer user slid away through the water. Ellie fired another round of the purple goop at the Gobul's face, splattering it with goop just behind the stalk on its forehead. Once again, she began reloading as the goop seeped in and the Gobul shivered in irritation, continuing its chase after Marshall.

Suddenly, the Gobul's complexion faded into a sickly greenish hue from its normal purple hue. With a vile belch, a slab of Epioth meat was regurgitated in the water, and the Gobul let off a weary whine in pain and dizziness. The creature gave another half-hearted lunge toward Marshall, but was forced to stop to cough in pain as it inflated back began to slowly deflate, the spikes on its back retracting inside the monsters body.

Ellie grinned. Her Poison shots had worked! She had wondered if they would work at all, considering how much paralysis-inducing venom the creature had flowing through its veins (or at least secreted away in some sac or another). With a joyous grin, she slid another group of Sub shots into the barrel and began unloading the chamber into the creature's side as it gurgled and moaned in sickness. Seeing their chances, Levin and Marshall lunged forward as well, smashing their weapons into the creature's softening skin.

The Gobul roared in pain as the two assaulted it and Ellie continued to fire rounds at open spots on its body. It roared in fury, attempting to puff itself up again to reveal its barbs, but halfway into its inflation, the poison in its veins got the better of it again and its back began to shrink in size once again. It grumbled in irritation, deciding instead to focus its strength into defense. With a flash, it once again began sparking the light on its lantern, attempting to blink the trio of hunters that were barraging it.

However, Marshall was experience in the hunting of Gobuls, and their experiences earlier had taught Ellie and Levin the dangers of the Gobul's lantern. Immediately, the two melee fighters sheathed their weapons, sliding nimbly through the water away from the Gobul and the lantern that flashed ever faster. Ellie swam backwards a stroke or two as well, turning away from the Gobul as the light sped up to a near strobe light speed.

Then came the pause, followed by the same unparalleled flash of light from the Gobul's lantern. Ellie blinked profusely, still slightly blinded from the flash despite being turned the other direction and having her eyes closed. Spots danced in her eyes as she turned back to face the Gobul…

And found it completely vanished. Gone. Completely disappeared from where it once stood. She saw Levin and Marshall both turn, stunned looks on their faces at the sight (or lack thereof) of the missing Gobul. But Marshall's eyes shot the sandy bed of the bay, searching frantically around. Ellie looked down as well, in search of whatever sign Marshall sought.

It wasn't immediate, but she managed to spot what she believed Marshall was searching for: a large, ominous-looking lump surged through the muddy bottom of the bay, digging through the soil at the bottom of the bay and looking like one of those cartoons from her world of something digging through the dirt and leaving a trail behind them. Ellie followed the line of its path and winced in fear: the Gobul was making a bee-line for the mouth of the bay, attempting to escape before it incurred any more damage.

As the Gobul trailed through the dirt, it slid underneath one of the barrel bombs littering the bottom of the bay, lifting it gently into the air as it passed underneath, unsuspecting. Ellie quickly swung her bowgun around, leveling it on the barrel as it loosened from the dirt of the bay bed and began to rise inch by inch towards the surface of the water. The Sub shot fired, spiraling through the water.

The bomb detonated as the others had, ripping the water apart with deafening sound and a furious blast of pressure against Ellie's skin and bones. But the Gobul, situated just underneath the primary blast zone, felt the worst of the blast and was rocketed out of the silt, flopping over upside down in the water, reeling in pain and confusion at being caught and uncovered. The disorientation from the detonation churned it around, and the potent poison in its veins made it belch up another half-digested slab of Epioth meat.

Levin and Marshall were both frozen in surprise at Ellie firing and the subsequent detonation, but they recovered quickly as Ellie reloaded her bowgun, lunging forward to assault the flailing Gobul. However, the Gobul caught sight of the pair as they approached from its rear, and swung its tail wildly at them, fending them off with the threat of paralysis as it tried to recover its balance and flip over.

Ellie continued to pepper the Gobul with rounds as it twisted, trying to roll itself over. Meanwhile, Levin and Marshall began to circle around, attempting to get to one of the Gobul's safer sides before it had the opportunity to flip itself over and begin any attacks again. However, the giant fish finally managed to recover its balance, rolling back onto its belly and turning to growl menacingly at the pair of approaching melee hunters.

Ellie noticed that its face had color returning to it, meaning the poison she'd injected into it was beginning to wear off. Apparently the Gobul seemed to sense its improving health as well, for it began to inflate itself again, allowing its spikes to expand outward. With a triumphant growl, it shoved off the sand, rushing towards Levin at a frightening pace.

The great sword user blanched, surprised by the sudden vitality of the monster they hunted as it rushed his way. He managed an attempt to dodge out of the way, but he had hesitated for a moment too long, and the spiny bulk of the Gobul clipped him as it passed, cutting slashes into his armor from the spikes on its back. Bubbles erupted from the edges of Levin's air philter as he cried out in pain, but he managed to swim away from the Gobul, reaching instinctually for the potions in his pouch.

But the Gobul refused to give up on hunting its current target, turning around and charging towards Levin again before the great sword user had any opportunity to dull the pain with a potion. Levin was forced to ignore his wounds and swim out of the Gobul's way as it lunged his way, intent on clamping its massive jaw down on him. Ellie fired at the creature's head, attempting to pull its attention from the attack, but the Gobul was intent on getting a hold of Levin.

But Marshall slid through the water between the two of them, bringing around his hammer in a powerful swing that smashed into the Gobul's lower lip. A few of its teeth shattered or broke free from the impact of the blow, and blood oozed and twisted in the water as the Gobul reeled back, yowling in pain from the impact. Without even the slightest break in motion, Marshall continued his assault, bringing down his hammer again and again onto the Gobul's face and head, forcing the giant fish to wallow feebly backwards and away from the aggressive hunter.

Again the glowing lantern on the Gobul's head began flashing, the monster attempting to ward off its assailant or blind the man so it could escape the seemingly inexhaustible onslaught. Ellie ceased her stream of fire, turning to avoid the light, and Marshall began swimming away from the lantern. But from the opposite of Marshall, Levin rushed in, irritation and rage at the Gobul making his sword glow red as he swung it down onto the Gobul's flashing lantern stalk.

With a cut as fluid and smooth as a hot knife through butter, the blade severed the lantern from the Gobul's stalk. The lantern flashed brightly for a moment longer, then the light slowly faded until it fizzled away into nothing.

The Gobul howled in pain at the injury, reeling away from the hunter that attacked him. It waggled its now useless stalk in front of its eyes, as though hoping the lantern that it once proudly displayed at the end would magically reappear. But after a few moments of only a stream of blood coming out, it looked up and saw the lantern float listlessly to the sand of the bay. Rage surged onto its face and it turned on the hunters, howling in fury.

It lunged toward the hunters, twisting itself over and rolling through the water towards them like a bowling ball towards pins. Levin and Marshall swam aside as the Gobul barreled past, completely missing the pair of them in its rage. And in its fury, it failed to realize that it had swum too close to one of the barrel bombs again.

Ellie fired, and the explosive erupted in flame and noise, enveloping the Gobul yet again as the shockwave thundered through the water, shaking the hunters to their cores as the Gobul cried out in pain again. But its rage at the loss of its lantern surpassed its sense of pain under the flames of the bomb, and without a moment's hesitation, it turned about, immediately charging towards Ellie even before she could recover from the thunder of the explosion.

Ellie attempted to dodge under the massive creature, but the Gobul's leg caught her as it passed, sending her thumping against the soft earth of the bay. The impact jarred and winded her, the force of her gasp nearly peeling off the philter on her face. She rolled upright, but the enraged Gobul was faster in the water, and was already bearing down on her again.

Suddenly Marshall appeared, swooping in from the Gobul's side and smashing the creature with his hammer. Levin swam up to Ellie, helping her back onto her feet and pulling her out of harm's way while the older hunter tangled with the Gobul. And tangle was certainly the right word to use; the Gobul's rage had made it blind with rage, twisting towards Marshall and snapping violently at the man with its massive mouth. Despite the older hunter's experience and skill, he was forced back by the monster's continual onslaught.

Ellie quickly drank a potion offered by Levin, and was soon back on her feet (figuratively speaking) and firing at the Gobul as it bum rushed the older hunter. But even as she fired, and Levin swam forward to attack as well, cutting at the creature's spiked tail, the violent anger of the creature forced them into a defensive position as it continued to charge and lunge towards them, with nearly no thought for its own safety.

The Gobul's blind charges allowed Ellie to detonate another pair of bombs that it drifted towards at one point, but as before, its rage was so all-consuming that it barely noticed the injury and kept right on coming, single-mindedly trying to devour the three of them.

While Levin was drinking a potion after a particularly nasty hit, Ellie suddenly caught sight of Marshall on the far side of the Gobul, motioning insistently to the beach head on the far side of the bay from the docks. Ellie gave him a look of confusion, until he pulled out an object from his satchel. Ellie recognized it instantly: a shock trap! Marshall intended to end the battle by capturing the Gobul rather than risk their neck attempting to kill it while the creature had an advantage over them in the water.

Ellie motioned to Levin quickly as the Gobul turned its attention to Marshall, blindly rushing towards the older hunter as he slid the trap back into his pack. Levin managed to catch a glimpse of the trap before Marshall had finished putting it away, and nodded in agreement to the plan, beginning the swim to shore, Ellie close behind. He turned around a moment later, however, and Ellie shot past him. She glanced back, unsure as to why he had stopped, but he motioned her on. She nodded, albeit reluctantly, and continued to shore, turning just as she broke the surface to watch why Levin had stopped.

As the Gobul lunged for Marshall, Levin charged in smashing his sword against the side of the Gobul's face, cutting a deep slice into the beast's lip. The creature turned on the great sword user in anger, snapping violently at him as Levin swam out of the creature's range.

Marshall gave and angry glace at Levin, but the younger hunter motioned to the hunter's pack, and Marshall understood; the trap couldn't be set off properly unless the one with the trap was out of the water before the last. Marshall began to reach into his pack, intent on passing the trap over to Levin, but the great sword user waved frantically toward the shore. Marshall hesitated only a moment, but reluctantly began swimming to shore as Levin pulled the attention of the Gobul.

Marshall burst out of the water just as Levin began slowly working his way to shore. The hammer user quickly ripped his helmet off of his head, followed by the air philter off of his face, then reached into his bag, pulling out the trap and tossing it hastily to Ellie.

"Don't argue," he snapped, before Ellie could ask why he had given to her. "You've got a better eye for detail and timing than I do and no amount of skill or experience will change that. If anyone is to set off the trap without giving Levin a dosage of the same voltage, it'll be you and only you, got it?"

"Got it," Ellie nodded, secretly worried. Could she really time the throw right a second time? She shook herself. She couldn't think like that! If it needed to be done at a certain time, then she'd be damned if she didn't time it perfectly!

Levin was slowly egging the Gobul closer and closer to shore, searching frantically for an opportunity to make a dash for shore. With each lunge, Ellie could see Levin stamina wearing thinner. Despite the amount of time he'd spent as a hunter, he hadn't developed the strength to take on such a massive monster solo yet.

But luck was on Levin's side, apparently. As the Gobul lunged for him again, it suddenly noticed that the great sword user was floating defensively over one of the barrel bombs wedged into the sand of the bay. And while the creature _was_ enraged, it was most certainly not stupid. It knew by now what had been blowing up underneath it and knew to avoid them. With a near squeal of fright, it veered off course, sliding far to the surprised Levin's side and tumbling clumsily into the sand.

Levin saw his chance and took it, sliding his great sword over his back and swimming frantically towards the shoreline. The Gobul, still eyeing the barrel cautiously, noticed Levin's escape, and with a furious growl, charged right after him. Ellie gulped nervously. Levin had an obvious lead, but the Gobul was clearly the superior swimmer, and was closing fast.

Levin broke the surface of the water with the Gobul only a dozen or so yards behind. He quickly ripped off his philter, gasping for breath and beginning to wade up the shallows towards the shoreline. Ellie called out encouragements as he struggled through the water, the Gobul tailing him. The creature was forced to slow down as well, however, the low level of the water forcing it to crawl across the sand rather than swim.

Ellie's vision began to focus onto a single point as Levin approached the shore, and time began to slow for her. Every thought was spent calculating the perfect time to throw the shock trap. Nothing else mattered in the moment. She hadn't felt this single-minded focus since their first battle with the Royal Ludroth, but she couldn't be concerned with that right now. Every synapse watched Levin struggle up the beach, the Gobul crawling right behind.

Then the moment came, when every nerve and thought process in Ellie's head screamed at her to throw the trap. She twisted the activation latch immediately, and lofted the trap into the air with an underhanded throw, seeing the sparks fly as the crystals inside burst to life. Levin was still a few feet from shore, but he would make it.

Then he tripped.

Or rather, didn't trip, but the water he waded through was suddenly pulled out from under him. Ellie gasped in shock as the Gobul pulled a last ditch effort to keep Levin from going on shore by inhaling vast quantities of the water, jets of excess venting out it gills and spraying across the surface of the bay.

The water suddenly being sucked back pulled Levin's feet out from under him, dropping him face-first into the shallow water, a mere foot short of the beach. With a splash of effort, he attempted to drag himself to shore, but the suction of the Gobul's suction pulled him back out into the water.

Then the trap hit the water and the bay lit up as thousands of volts surged through the water, arcs of electricity lancing over the surface of the water.

Levin and the Gobul both cried out in pain as the electricity seared through them. The Gobul howled in agony, the voltage high enough to cause it pain, but not enough to knock it out of consciousness. It writhed in agony on the shore, trying desperately to escape somewhere where the voltage couldn't reach it, not understanding that the entirety of the water in the bay was a conductor.

Levin managed to crawl a foot or so towards the beach, his thick spongy armor absorbing some of the shock, but the current overcame him and he dropped face forward into the bay water.

"Levin!" Ellie cried out, rushing forward to help the great sword user. But a firm hand grabbed her by the shoulder. She turned frantically to look at Marshall.

"We can't yet!" he yelled over the crackle of the electricity. His face and voice were pained, but a steely resolve was etched into his features. "We have to tranq the Gobul first, or it'll just eat him once the trap wears away!"

Ellie nodded grudgingly, furious but understanding. With speed she didn't know she had, her hands flew into her pouch and out again, sliding tranq rounds into her bowgun's chamber. Her hands became a blur as she slid the chamber closed and pulled back the bow, quickly lined up the sights and fired the shots into the Gobul's face.

The Gobul coughed through the pain of the trap, the effects of the tranquilizers taking effect. With a wheeze of weariness, it toppled onto its side. It tried desperately to keep its eyes open, but in a moment they squeezed silent and the sound of ragged snoring rose over the crackle of the current.

"Good!" Marshall said, worry overcoming his encouragement. "Now quickly! Shoot the trap!"

Ellie was already several steps ahead, sliding the last of her Sub shots into the chamber and sliding the lock shut. Her eyes scanned the water for the trap, at last landing on the sight of a bright yellow glow a couple yards underwater and behind the Gobul. She barely thought about the aiming, pointing her bowgun and pulling the trigger. The rounds snapped out of the muzzle of the gun, and the Sub shots flew into the water and through the current, crashing into the trap and blowing it to pieces instantly. Immediately, the current in the water vanished, an eerie silence filling the air.

Ellie was already halfway to the water, her bowgun dropped carelessly to the ground as the voltage stopped and silence filled the bay.

She sprinted into the shallow water of the bay at the fastest she'd ever run before, nearly tripping herself up as the density of the water slowed her down. She reached Levin only a couple seconds later, grabbing him by the hood and flipping him over. A jolt of fear tore through Ellie at the sight of Levin's closed eyes and a rush of water poured from his mouth and nose.

She dragged his body to shore, adrenaline and fear pushing her muscles to strain themselves to painful lengths. Marshall met her at the edge of the water, grabbing Levin by the shoulders and hauling him several yards up the beach as Ellie stumbled in exhaustion. But she picked herself up quickly, hurrying after the older hunter as he set Levin down on the sand.

Marshall looked down at Levin hopelessly, checking him over. "I'm not sure what to do," he said painfully. "He's swallowed a lot of water by now, and he's not breathing. It might be too late."

"Do CPR then!" Ellie said. Marshall gave her a blank look and she sighed in frustration. "Mouth to mouth? The Heimlich? That stuff?"

"I don't know what you mean," Marshall admitted.

Ellie groaned in irritation, moving forward and shoving the older hunter away. "I'll do it then!"

The process was simple, she knew, but fear and worry made her stumble throught the first steps that she remembered from health and physical education classes she'd taken back home. She tilted Levin onto his side, a look of fear flickering over her face at the amount of water that poured out of his mouth. Flipping him back on his back, she began pressing frantically against his chest, trying to force out the water. A trickle dripped down the side of Levin's mouth, but otherwise, there wasn't a change.

She placed her mouth against his, ignoring the stunned look from Marshall and forcing air into his water-filled lungs. His chest inflated as air filtered into his body, but he remained unresponsive all the same. Infuriated, she began repeating the process, ignoring her surroundings as the sound of the villagers cheering approached from the direction of the village on the other side of the bay.

Ellie's heart began to sink on the fourth run through the procedure. Tears began filling her eyes as she forced her fists down onto Levin's chest. Still there was no response. She pressed her mouth to his again, trying to force air into his lungs when he suddenly lurched forward, retching.

Ellie toppled backwards at the sudden motion, relief overwhelming her senses as the great sword violently rolled into a kneeling position, vomiting seawater onto the sand. Marshall had a stunned, disbelieving look on his face as Levin flopped over, gasping for air and gazing weakly at the blue sky.

"Good lord," Levin muttered. "Is that what the shock trap feels like? Not fun."

Ellie laughed weakly. "Yeah, it kind of sucks, doesn't it?"

Levin remained on the sand, staring blankly at the clouds that floated by above them. "How'd I survive?" he asked. "I thought I was a dead man for sure once the trap hit the water."

"You have Miss Eleanor to thank for that," Marshall said, relief filling his voice as well. "She pulled you out of the water and… what was it. Ceepee something or other."

"CPR?" Levin asked, shooting a questioning glance to Ellie. She felt her face tint red slightly.

"That's the one," Marshall replied with a nod. "Very effective."

Levin held Ellie's gaze for a moment, before grinning and chuckling weakly, flopping back onto the sand. "Not going to buy me dinner first, Ellie? Quite forward, aren't you?"

Ellie reddened. "Oh, shut up. I was just trying to save you. Next time you nearly drown, I'll let you, how about that?"

Levin laughed gently before he rolled over in a fit of coughing. However, he still managed to chuckle through the coughing, grinning genuinely at Ellie. "Thanks Ellie," he said. "I mean it. I really owe you one."

Ellie smiled. "Fair enough. Just don't scare us like that again, alright?"

"Deal," Levin replied.

The pair of them turned to the sound of cheering that echoed across the bay. They spotted several rowboats working their way across the bay, dozens of fishermen from Cobi Village standing and calling out congratulations to the hunters. Willard stood at the head of the lead boat, grinning madly at the three of them. He leapt out of the boat almost before they struck shore, sprinting over to the hunters.

"Glad to see you're all well," he said with a broad grin. "Took us all a bit by surprise when the lake lit up with electricity a bit ago, but I assured the rest of the village it was all part of your plan… it _was_ a part of your plan, wasn't it?"

"To a certain extent," Marshall replied. "Apparently, that's what happens when you toss a shock trap into the water. Don't worry about your fishers, though. The trap's been disarmed and the water's completely safe now."

"Especially with this swimming troublemaker out of the way," Willard laughed, motioning toward the bulk of the Gobul as it snored loudly. "You all come out of the fight alright?"

"For the most part," Marshall replied. "It got a little edgy with Levin at the end, but Miss Eleanor helped him pull through."

"Good to hear," Willard grinned. He shot a disappointed glance to the Gobul. "I wish you'd taken time to kill it, but I suppose we have to take whatever we can. A transport ship is already prepared, and the next Guild ship comes by tomorrow, so we'll send the beast off with them to wherever they want to take it. The three of you planning to take the same ship back to Boma?"

"Most likely," Marshall said. "I'm sure these two would like to take a break, and nothing quite relaxes you like sleeping in your own bed."

"That's true. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get the rest of the fishermen of my village to help drag this ugly bastard out to the transport ship that's outside the bay. Think I could get your help, old man?"

"Not a problem." Marshall turned to look at Ellie and Levin. "You think you two could spend the afternoon unearthing the barrels you planted? It'll need to be done, and the villagers don't know how many the two of you placed."

Ellie shot a worried glance at Levin, who was still pale and tired-looking, but he nodded. "Fine by me," he told Marshall. "It shouldn't take too long."

"Take your time, boy," Willard said. "Once you're done, you can take a long break. And then tonight, we'll feast! The village is already preparing a victory meal for the lot of you!"

"That seems a little overkill," Marshall said.

"Perhaps," Willard laughed. "But the people of Cobi love to party. All we really need is an excuse."

* * *

"Hoo boy, this is rougher than I thought it'd be," Levin groaned, slumping into the sand and peeling off his air filter as the fourteenth barrel bomb was dragged out of the water onto the beach.

"You should've taken a break," Ellie chided. "You nearly died out there. There's no reason to work yourself to an early grave."

"Yeah, I know," Levin admitted. "I just wanted to do something. To feel… I don't know, alive. Having a brush with death just makes me feel like… doing things."

"Whatever," Ellie sighed. "I just don't want to have to try and save your life again. Once is enough for one day, thank you very much."

"Alright, alright, I'll take it easy," Levin laughed. "How many more barrels do we still have to pull up from the bay, anyway."

Ellie tallied them up in her head. "About seven or so," she estimated. "I don't remember the exact count, but that seems right."

"I see. Well, at least we'll beat the old man and the others with our work."

Ellie nodded, glancing over to the archway, where the group of fishermen and Marshall were just beginning to round the corner of the mouth of the bay and heading into the ocean. She didn't envy them their jobs, dragging the massive dead weight of the Gobul out to sea. Even with the buoyancy of water, it seemed like a massive effort.

"So how'd you like your new bowgun?" Levin asked, motioning to the weapon slung across Ellie's back.

"It was surprisingly powerful," Ellie replied. "I didn't realize exactly how weak my first bowgun was until I used this one. This one just has so much more… oomph."

Levin laughed. "Yeah, I know what you mean. My first sword was made out of really crappy materials. Once I had the things I needed to upgrade it, it was just like 'holy crap, why was I using that weapon in the first place?'"

Ellie grinned. "I hear you. The only thing I really can complain about is the smell, I guess."

Levin blinked in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Ellie laughed. "Well, it's probably nothing, but it smells. Like a Ludroth, I mean. That musty smell that comes off the Ludroth's mane when it's wet and nasty. I can smell it sometimes coming off my bowgun."

Levin frowned. "That's not really good, I don't think. Most blacksmiths are supposed to work the smell out of the materials you bring them. I'm not really sure why, but…"

Suddenly a rumbling crash tore out of the forest on the end of the beach head. The two hunters turned in surprise as a flock of bird shot out of the trees as the sound of trees and bushes being upturned echoed through the forest. A large shape appeared in the shadows of the forest as the sound rumbled closer, bursting from the trees.

The hunters jumped back in shock as a Royal Ludroth ripped from the forest, turning and howling at them in rage.

"Wh-what's that thing doing here?" Ellie asked in shock.

"Your bowgun!" Levin cried. "It can smell its brethren on it! It must be here for revenge!"

"Damn it!" Ellie cursed, swinging her bowgun around and sliding in several rounds. "I'm not ready for this right now! I don't have enough shots left after the fight with the Gobul!"

"I'm not really in any condition to run," Levin admitted, pulling his sword from its sheath. His grip seemed particularly forced, and his breathing was slightly ragged.

"What do we do then?" Ellie asked.

"Looks like we don't have much of a choice but to fight," Levin groaned. "Hopefully Marshall gets wind of this before anything really bad happens."

"He just went out of sight, though," Ellie said.

"Then we'll have to hope that the villagers see what's happening and calls for him to help!"

Ellie nodded in pained acceptance, mentally going through a list of what bowgun rounds she had left. The only thing she could think, however, was that there weren't nearly enough.

Without so much as a howl of challenge, the Royal Ludroth lunged forward, furiously charging towards Ellie. The bowgun user dove away from the creature as it slid back, rolling to her feet as the lithe creature twisted around, preparing to charge her again.

Levin rushed it from the side, bringing around his sword and cutting into the creature's side. But the blow was shallow, Levin's weariness holding him back from a full power strike. The Royal Ludroth twisted towards the great sword user, swinging a claw at Levin as he brought up his blade defensively. The claw smashed against the bone of the blade, knocking Levin back, followed closely by the creature lunging its head forward and snapping at the edges of the sword.

Ellie fired a few rounds of Pellet shot at the Royal Ludroth as it snapped at Levin, peppering it with holes and making it growl in irritation. It immediately turned to her, charging headlong in her direction. Ellie began to dive away, but was forced to alter her direction at the sight of the creature starting to heave mucus in her direction even as it ran. She tripped in mid-leap, managing to dodge the mucus but tumbling into the sand in a heap as the Royal Ludroth slid past her.

The Royal Ludroth turned immediately, not allowing Ellie to rise to her feet before it reared back and leapt through the air at her. Ellie rolled across the sand, but the Royal Ludroth came down hard, clipping her in the side and sending her across the sand. Pain lanced up her side as lines of blood trickled across her waist from where the claws of the monster had nicked her.

Levin caught up with the beast as it turned to sink its teeth into Ellie as she tried to get to her feet. His great sword sank into the Royal Ludroth's bright mane before it could snap at Ellie, tearing away a large chunk of the spongy material and sending it flopping to the ground. The blow must have also cut deep enough to catch some of the rubbery skin underneath, because the Royal Ludroth howled in pain. It twisted around in rage, smashing into Levin's side with it snout and knocking him back.

Ellie quickly pushed herself to her feet and reached for her pouch, pulling out more Pellet shells and sliding them into the bowgun's chamber. However, the Royal Ludroth quickly turned back to her, ignoring Levin and lunging towards her as she slid the lock back in place. Ellie leapt out of the way as the Royal Ludroth's teeth snapped where she once stood, and she quickly turned her barrel the creature's direction, firing all her shots into its side before it could turn on her again.

The creature ignored the pain, however, but grunted in irritation and swiped its tail at her. She danced out of the way of the attack, sliding out of the tail's range before it could strike her. She pulled back on the lock as she turned and ran from the creature, ejecting the spent cartridges into the soft sand. She could hear the Royal Ludroth twisting around in the sand and preparing to lunge towards her.

She heard the Royal Ludroth push off the ground, leaping through the air at her, and dove to the side. A loud thump echoed off the sand behind her as the creature landed, spraying sand everywhere as it slid across the sand. Ellie coughed as a wave of the sand flew up her nose, but stood up and continued running, sliding a hand into her pack as Levin passed her, intent on pulling the Royal Ludroth's attention away from her as she reloaded.

Ellie nearly stopped running in realization. She was running low on ammo! By her count, she could feel perhaps a dozen or so Pellet shots in her satchel, next to a single Poison shot, and three of the large Cluster shots that she'd brought along with her on impulse. She couldn't just hit the Royal Ludroth with the butt of her bowgun. In only a few minutes, she'd be as good as worthless without any ammunition! She would have to make every single shot count.

She loaded her last Poison shot into the barrel and turned to fire as the Royal Ludroth howled out in pain, Levin bringing down his great sword onto the creature's tail. The blade tore into the monster's flesh, cutting a deep gouge into the tail and half separating it. However, before the sword could cut all the way through, the Royal Ludroth curled its body around, pulling its tail from the edge of the blade. A spray of blood swung across the beach in an arc as the tail whipped around.

The creature glanced back at its partially severed tail and roared in anger at the hunters, pushing forward and dashing towards Levin. As the great sword user braced himself to dodge out of the way, Ellie aimed down her scope and fired her Poison round. The shot spiraled through the air, splattering itself on the Royal Ludroth's serpentine neck a few inches below its jaw. The creature hardly noticed it, continuing its charge past Levin as the hunter dove away from the charge.

The Royal Ludroth turned around as it screeched to a halt on the sand. Ellie noticed it had a mildly queasy look on its face, but otherwise was unaffected by the poison that was seeping into its system, too little to affect it properly. But its reactions seemed to be a little slower, and its gaze was somewhat dazed, and Ellie knew she could use that against it. As the Royal Ludroth's gaze swept back over to Levin, Ellie slid several Pellet shots into the chamber and charged forward toward the creature.

Levin saw what she was doing, a worried expression flickering over his face for a moment, before he realized her plan and ran the opposite direction, pulling the Royal Ludroth's gaze further away from Ellie's approach. The monster growled menacingly at the great sword user, padding the ground as it prepared to rush at him.

But Ellie closed the distance between herself and the Royal Ludroth before it took off. She slid to a halt only a few short yards from the creature, raising her bowgun and unloading the chamber into the monster's thick stomach and neck. The Royal Ludroth yelped in pain as the bursts of buckshot sprayed across its hide, making the creature wince back in pain.

By instinct, it made motions to push itself away from Ellie as she ejected the empty shells and began sliding in new ones. However, the lingering disorientation from the poison in its veins made the creature lose it balance, and with a heavy _thump_, the Royal Ludroth toppled over, landing on its side in the sand and starting to flail around on the ground.

Ellie grinned ecstatically as the Royal Ludroth twisted around on the ground, sliding the lock into place and aiming down the sights. She saw Levin rush forward as she began firing rounds into the Royal Ludroth's thick neck, peppering the creature's spongy mane with smoking holes and shrapnel. The great sword user brought his sword down onto the creature's thick spine and frill, cutting deep wedges into the monster's flesh as it writhed around in pain.

Ellie pulled back on the lock once again, ejecting the spent cartridges and loading in the last of her Pellet rounds. With a sense of urgency, she locked the shells in and aimed intently at the Royal Ludroth's face. The creature snapped a glare her direction, and Ellie realized the monster's gaze was crystal clear and filled with rage, the poison in its veins worn off.

She attempted to step out of the way of what she knew was coming, but before she could dodge, the Royal Ludroth twisted its whole body around, rolling its whole body into a barrel roll. The side of the creature's neck smashed into Ellie. The impact from the sponge on its mane dampened the impact slightly, but the blow winded her and sent spikes of pain up her body as she felt one of her ribs give way and crack.

Ellie tumbled across the beach, cradling her ribs as she skidded to a halt several yards down the beach. With what felt like an extreme amount of effort, she forced herself to her feet, reaching into her pouch and fumbling around for a potion. She frowned in dismay when she realized that she was down to her last potion as well, but was forced to drink it down to numb the pain lancing up from her ribcage.

The Royal Ludroth turned towards her, preparing to jump at her, when Levin lunged forward, swinging his sword around into the base of the Royal Ludroth's neck. The force of the blow made the creature wince back in pain, coughing. Red energy poured into Levin's body as rage seared through him. He swung his great sword around behind him, and with a powerful roar of effort, brought the blade crashing down onto the Royal Ludroth's shoulders.

Blood sprayed as the impact jarred the Royal Ludroth, but Levin's great sword was so dulled and dented from their fighting that the cut was far shallower than it would have been otherwise. However, the blow still had the weight of the red energy to it, and the Royal Ludroth's legs give out from underneath it, slumping its neck to the ground and making it cry out in pain.

Levin jumped back from the creature, prepared for retaliation. However, Ellie noticed that his face was even paler that it had been before, and the great sword user was breathing raggedly. Despite the pain in her chest, Ellie used the chance to charge forwards toward the Royal Ludroth while it was recovering from the blow, in order to finish it off. The Royal Ludroth gasped for breath as it tried to recover from the sword strike, backing away from Ellie as she charged towards it.

However, it was far more fatigued than Ellie from the constant assault from Ellie and Levin, and despite her wounded ribs, Ellie was able to get close enough. Once she was only a few yards away, she slid to a halt and raised her bowgun. Her vision narrowed, the only thing she could see being the Royal Ludroth's swaying head. With the creature's head in her sights, she pulled the trigger.

The first blast shredded through the Royal Ludroth's ear on its left side, blowing away flesh and sponge as it went past. The second and third shots struck the creature in its spongy neck mane, tearing through the thick material and pouring blood down the monster's thick mane. The last shot tore into the Royal Ludroth's jaw, puncturing holes into the creature's mouth.

The Royal Ludroth screamed in pain, flailing wildly as pain tore through its face and neck. Ellie felt a victorious surge flow through her. Suddenly, the Royal Ludroth's claw shot out, smashing Ellie in the arm and knocking her back. The claws failed to pierce her armor, but the bowgun user was still sent falling onto her back as the creature growled at her, blind fury overcoming its senses.

The Royal Ludroth lunged its head forward, intent on snapping down on Ellie as she lay helpless in front of it, when Levin jumped between the two of them, swinging his sword across broadside. The flat of his sword slapped the creature in the head, knocking its teeth aside and making it bob in confusion. With another howl of anger, the creature turned its attention to Levin as the great sword user pulled its attention away from Ellie, running up the beach away from the prone bowgun user.

As the Royal Ludroth lurched forward to chase after Levin, Ellie rolled to her feet, intent on following the two of them. She slid a hand into her ammo pouch, groaning nervously as she pulled out one of the Cluster shots and slid the large round into the chamber of her bowgun. She still wasn't sure what these rounds did, and was worried they'd be ineffective.

The Royal Ludroth closed the distance between itself and Levin, and the tired great sword user dove away, sliding to a halt near a clump of trees at the top of the beach. The creature, despite its massive size and extreme weariness, managed to stop only a moment after, turning towards the great sword user and howling. Levin quickly swung his sword out of its sheath and brought it up defensively as the Royal Ludroth's head shot forward, clanging against the bulk of the weapon and knocking the great sword user even further back.

Seeing Ellie running up the beach towards them, Levin pulled his sword back, intent on attacking the Royal Ludroth and keeping its attention on himself until Ellie arrived to shoot it. The creature's serpentine head snaked forward, intent on snapping down on the great sword user. Levin thrust the bulk of his sword forward as the enraged Royal Ludroth bore down on him. With a sickening tearing of flesh and the screech of bone-on-bone friction, the tip of the great sword wedged itself into the Royal Ludroth's mouth, jammed between the teeth of its upper and lower jaw.

Ellie gaped in shock as Levin and the Royal Ludroth stood stunned for a moment, hardly able to comprehend the sudden development. Then the creature realized its circumstances and reared back, attempting to rip its teeth off of the edge of the great sword. But the weapon was stuck tight, and with a yelp of surprise, Levin was yanked forward, swinging haphazardly through the air as the Royal Ludroth swung its neck around to dislodge the weapon.

With a loud crack, the twisting of the creature's neck smashed Levin crossways into a tree at the edge of the beach. Ellie winced, rushing forward with her hands flying into her pouch to remove a potion for Levin. On impulse, the great sword user swung a free arm around the trunk of the tree, holding tightly to the hilt of his blade as the Royal Ludroth yanked back, attempting to free itself. The creature's head snapped to a halt, unable to free its head or dislodge Levin from his grip on the tree.

"Shoot it!" Levin cried out, wincing in pain with each tug of the Royal Ludroth as the sharp bark cut into his hand and arm.

"I don't have anything left!" Ellie shouted. "I only those Cluster rounds and I don't know what they do!"

"Just use them! Aim for the head! Please!"

Fearfully, Ellie held her bowgun up and aimed, lining up her sights with the Royal Ludroth's head. She lingered a moment, still uncertain of how well the rounds would work. But as Levin groaned in pain as the bark of the tree peeled away the skin on his arm, Ellie pulled the trigger. The Cluster shot had far more kick than Ellie figured it would, nearly knocking her onto her butt in her tired state as the shell rocketed out of the barrel of her bowgun. The shot tore through the air towards the Royal Ludroth, slower than some of Ellie's other rounds.

The Royal Ludroth saw it coming, and reared back, trying to pull its head out of the way of the shot. Ellie winced in fear as she saw the creature pull back enough to get its head out of the way. However, the shot's path carried it right up to Levin's blade. With a loud, ringing ping, the large round ricocheted off the flat of the blade, its momentum carrying it right into the Royal Ludroth's mouth.

There was a moment of silence as the Royal Ludroth gulped, swallowing the round in surprise. It glanced around, uncertain for a moment, and Ellie felt a twang of disappointment as the creature shook it head and began growling again and trying to free itself from the blade jammed into its jaw.

Suddenly there was a dulled explosion, and the Royal Ludroth's rubbery neck expanded outward, a rush of flames shooting from its mouth. The creature screamed in pain as fire ripped from its body, and its throat began to blacken as the fire burned through his muscles. For a moment, the flames slowed to a halt and the Royal Ludroth whimpered in pain as smoke poured from the creature's mouth. Then, from the Royal Ludroth's gut, another series of dulled explosions began going off.

The Royal Ludroth howled in pain as even more flames ripped from the creature's throat, this time with such force that the great sword inside the monster's mouth was blasted free, soaring over Levin's head and tumbling into the forest. The howl of the Royal Ludroth was covered by the roar of the flames erupting from its mouth, and the creature staggered backwards, making a mangled attempt at getting to the water of the bay.

The flames died away before the Royal Ludroth was even halfway to the water. Smoke billowed from the creature's mouth, and the monster teetered in the sand. It managed one last step, before honking out a death rattle and tilting over, thudding into the soft sand of the beach.

The two hunters stood in silence for a moment, catching their breath as the burned and damaged body of the Royal Ludroth sat smoking on the beach. Finally, Levin began to chuckle.

"Not a bad replacement for the Crag shot, huh, Ellie?"

Ellie grinned. "Not bad at all," she agreed. "So I guess it's a mortar of some kind, huh?"

"Sounded like it. I'm kind of surprised the Guild allows things like that, it seems more like a type of war weapon than a monster hunting tool."

"Maybe so," Ellie said. Then she glanced at Levin's arms, where his arms were lined with drying blood. She hurried over to him and knelt down next to him. "Jeez, that looks bad. You don't have any more potions with you, do you?"

"Not a one," Levin replied, wincing as Ellie pulled back the sleeves of his armor to check on his wounds. "Used all mine up while we were fighting the Gobul. Besides, even if I had any, I'd probably pass them on to you. Didn't I hear you break a rib or two back there?"

Ellie winced, the memory making the pain flare up again in her chest. "Yeah, I guess so. Your wound's a bit more immediate though."

"Hey, are you two all right?"

The two hunters turned as the sound of Willard's voice floated over the water of the bay. The old fisherman was sitting in one of the rowboats, heading their way. One of the fishermen from the village was doing the paddling, and was apparently putting his full effort into it, since the boat seemed to be nearly skimming across the water as he rowed their way. Marshall stood at the head of the craft, a worried look on his face.

The older hunter leapt out of the boat the moment it hit shore, dashing over to the two apprentice hunters and giving them a quick look over. "What happened here?" he asked them, glancing over to the Royal Ludroth carcass.

Levin motioned to the corpse. "That guy jumped us while we were pulling barrel bombs out of the harbor."

"So I've heard," Marshall replied. "The villagers started yelling at us to come back not too long after we'd loaded up the Gobul onto the transport ship. But you two are still injured from the Gobul fight. How in the world did you manage to beat it?"

Ellie glanced over at Levin as a weary look covered his face, still pale and tired. So she forced him to rest as Willard brought over medical supplied from the rowboat. As the old fisherman tended to Levin's wounds, Ellie recounted the fight with the Royal Ludroth, replaying everything she could remember about the fight. Every once in a while, Levin would pipe in with something she'd forgotten, but otherwise sat back and let her tell the story.

As Ellie finished up the story of their fight, Willard was putting the finishing touches on Levin's bandages. The great sword user crawled to his feet, wincing slightly as he pushed himself up. The old fisherman walked over to Ellie.

"You got any wounds on you, little lady?" he asked.

"I think I might have broken a rib or two," Ellie admitted.

"Well, we've got a doctor in the village who'll have to look at that. A little out of my range of expertise, I think." Then he turned and grinned at Marshall, who was looking back and forth between Ellie and Levin in mildly stunned amazement. "Not a bad story, huh, you old fart? If I'd had a tale like that when I was younger, I'd have been talk of the town in Loc Lac. Not too many hunters can say they bombed a Gobul, drowned and got revived, and then blew up an enraged Royal Ludroth from the _inside_! And they're still apprentices, at that!"

"Yes, they are," Marshall muttered. Then he grinned broadly. "We'll have to fix that, won't we?"

Ellie's eyes widened in shock as Levin blinked in confusion. "What do you mean? Fix what?"

"Not too bright, is he, Marshall?" Willard laughed.

"Sometimes, no," the older hunter chuckled. "What I mean is, sometime next month, in a village far to the north of Boma, called Orage Dell, there's going to be a hunter's examination hosted. A rather large one, at that. And I think you two are ready to participate."

Levin jaw dropped as Ellie gasped. "You mean we're going to be official hunters?"

"Assuming you can pass," Marshall grinned. "And after today's show, I'm sure you'll have no problems at all."

"Alright!" Levin cheered. He rushed over to Ellie, who laughed in surprise as he hugged her around the waist and lifted her up to spin her around. Ellie laughed as he spun her around, but started yelping in pain as her broken rib began to throb. Levin quickly set her down, repeatedly apologizing, but was stopped as Ellie began laughing again, still ecstatic from their chance to take part in the hunter's examination.

"Finally!" she gasped. "I thought we'd never become hunters at the rate we were going!"

"Well, this calls for a celebration!" Willard laughed. "And wouldn't you know it, there's already a party getting set up in the village. Shall we head back? I'm sure the villagers would adore hearing a first-hand account of your battle against the Royal Ludroth. Most of them already saw it from the other shore, but no good story's complete without a little extrapolation on the part of the teller, is it?"

"Sounds like a plan to me," Levin grinned.

"Let's go, then," Willard grinned, and the four of them began walking over to the rowboat, looking forward to the party, while the younger hunters though excitedly of the hunter's examination in the future.

* * *

**Author's Note: Please Review!**

**Extra long! Two hunts for the price of one! I made up for my lack of hunt last chapter! And a near death! Were any of you on the edge of your seat? Actually this whole storyline has been arranged for a while now, it just worked better this way. **

**A quick thought. I looked up the word "philter" to determine how it differed from the word "filter." Turns out a "philter" is actually defined as a love potion of sorts… I wonder if the translators of MH3 knew that when they made the game, or if they were just trying for an alternate spelling for fun. Makes me wonder what extra ingredients the air philters you buy from shops in the game had in them? I was tempted to abuse this little spelling issue in my story, but I resisted. (Maybe I'll abuse it later on, though… mwahaha)**

**Just a note for the readers: the next few updates will most likely be sporadic. Big work in school coming, and let's face it, everyone wants to pass their classes. I'll be pretty busy, but I'll try to put out a new chapter as often as possible.**

**Reading: The Waste Lands by Stephen King, Wizard and Glass by Stephen King, The Hades Factor by Robert Ludlum  
Playing: Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Assassins Creed Brotherhood DLC, Portal 2  
Listening: Ludovico Einaudi, Linkin Park, Manchester Orchestra, Lucky Boys Confusion**


	13. The Roll of Thunder

The Roll of Thunder

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. All the characters in this story are mine._

It was a hot day in Loc Lac, as far as Marco was concerned. Well, every day in Loc Lac was hot, but today was particularly nasty. It didn't help that he was forced to dress in formal dress in his line of work, buttoned up thick robes that required multiple layers and highly complicated designs. As the middle-aged man gazed listlessly out the window of the city council's assembly room, he could see the heat radiating off the endless buildings, tents, and streets below, creating a wavy distortion in the air that twisted and mangled the view of the city below.

It reminded Marco of one of those… what were they called?... modern arts that some of the more "artistic" (although _that_ was certainly a matter of opinion) members of the Lost liked making and attempting to sell to the higher class members of the city. Though Marco didn't really understand the whole appeal behind those strange types of paintings, he supported the efforts of the Lost and helped pull some possible customers to their stalls in the South District's market.

It was his duty, after all, as the representative of the South district.

"Are you enjoying the view Marco, or shall we wait on you to take in the scenery before getting back to business?"

Marco turned sharply, slightly embarrassed at getting caught not paying attention, to the table in front of him. Across the table from him, the representative of the North-East district, Ferrell, glared irritably at him. Ferrell was as good as the unspoken leader of the Loc Lac council, at the very least the oldest of the group. The older man seemed old and frail, with his thin body and long white beard, but his deep, rumbling voice had a tone of command that almost forced you to respect and obey him. It was said that when he'd been a hunter in his youth, he'd stolen the vocal cords of a Rathalos and had swallowed them in order to strengthen his own voice. Truth be told, Marco almost believed it.

Marco glanced nervously around the posh room he sat in. The room was tall and expansive, set near the middle levels of the massive structure that sprouted from the center of Loc Lac city. The room was surrounded with windows, dug out from the thick material the thick structure was made of. The floor was polished to the point where you could see your reflection in it, and in the center of the room sat a table made of the finest of lumbers. Though the fine decorations didn't exactly stop the heat from turning the room into an oven. He wished those lost scientists that lived not too far from him would hurry up and finish building that "air contrition-er" contraption or whatever they called it.

The structure the room sat in was one of the mysteries of Loc Lac itself, a mysterious pillar of bone-like material that shot up from the earth in the center of the city. It had been there since the city was founded, it was said. Many citizens of Loc Lac swore the tower was the tusk of an exceptionally massive Jhen Moran, since the material was unknown to any rock or mineral in the surrounding area. In the years since Loc Lac's founding, the interior of the pillar had been dug out for an infinite number of uses, depending on the times: a throne for kings, apartments for the wealthy, an inn, and for one rather nasty stretch of history, a prison. Nowadays, however, it was used as an assembly hall for the council of Loc Lac, and many other functions required by the city.

There were seven other people in the room besides Marco, all of them a representative of one of the corners of the city of Loc Lac. They each had their own issues and problems to deal with during any point of the year. A rather nasty foreign virus had sprouted up in the East district a few years ago, and the representative of the area had spent so much effort working against the disease that he'd been forced to retire from stress once the issue had been resolved. A rather nasty group of smugglers had popped up in the North-West district not long after that, and the whole council had spent the next months taking up complaints from their suffering markets to the representative of the district until the smuggling ring had been disbanded.

But now Marco was in the hot seat. Somehow or another, he'd been drafted by the council into providing housing for the members of the Lost when the first few members started showing up at Loc Lac's doorstep, since the South district was akin to the slums of Loc Lac these days. Of course, at the time, the Lost were measured in dozens, maybe a hundred or so. But after the next few "awakenings," or whatever they were called, the South district was now swimming with thousands of Lost, and hundreds of complaints coming in from other districts about issues they blamed on the Lost.

They complained that the Lost were stealing jobs, despite the fact that the South district's housing and own job market were filled to the brim, forcing inhabitants to seek work elsewhere to live. They complained that the Lost were increasing the crime rate, despite the fact the Lost's own lack of jobs were forcing most to steal in order to eat. They complained about a billion things a day.

But things weren't all bad in the South district, Marco had to admit. Most of the Lost didn't know how to contribute to the Loc Lac work system, but those that could did very well. The housing problem in the South district had improved since some of the Lost architects had been hired onto construction crews. The Lost architects had actually managed to create some impressive buildings in the district, towering several stories higher than any other man-made structure in Loc Lac.

But then there were the rumors spreading around the city that the members of the Lost were all mentally unstable. Marco tried not to think about that too much. He had to admit, the Lost had their… quirks, but calling it mental instability seemed like overkill.

Marco glanced back to Ferrell, whose hard eyes were boring into him.

"F-f-forgive me, Ferrell," Marco stuttered. He cursed himself for the billionth time for his weak voice, not being able to stop the stammering. It was what led the other representatives to feel that they could abuse him. "I'm afraid th-th-the heat is getting the b-better of me."

"That's hardly an excuse," Ferrell growled. "We're all suffering from the heat, but it's no excuse to ignore our duties. Especially you, since our next issue applies to you."

"D-d-does it?" Marco asked. "What's the i-issue?"

"Another complaint about the conduct of the Lost, no doubt," a councilmember down the table muttered. Marco sighed audibly.

"Actually, it's an issue raised by an… anonymous member of the city," Ferrell grumbled, a tone of irritation in his voice.

Marco groaned inwardly, and shot a quick glance down the table. His eyes found the representative of the North district, Zhanin, who appeared only mildly interested in the conversation. Marco knew better. Most if not all of these "anonymous" complaints and formal suggestions were put forward by him, then signed by the supporters he had at his beck-and-call, and everyone in the council knew it. He had some inexplicable hatred to the members of the Lost, and seemed to put forward every effort to cause problems for the entire group. Marco had attempted to confront the man about his issue with the Lost, but had made no ground on the issue, and had only seemed to enrage the man further, since Zhanin had seemed to redouble his efforts to cause trouble for the Lost since then.

Ferrell continued, unperturbed. "It seems that there's a new suggestion from the members of the city involving taxation of the Lost. A motion has been put forward to add an extra ten percent to housing taxes of non-citizens of Loc Lac."

"T-ten percent?" Marco gasped. "That's insane! People would revolt!"

"Perhaps," Ferrell said, "but the proposition is backed by information that an abundance of wealth has been flowing into the Lost community with the rush of requests for… what're they called? High-rise housing? The tall buildings the Lost have been making for the last month or two. Seems all the nobles in the city want their own homes to be several stories tall. With that kind of money available, the Lost could afford the tax, according to the proposition."

"You're t-talking about maybe th-three percent of the Lost! The r-r-rest wouldn't be able t-t-t-to afford it!"

"Like it or not, the proposition is sound," Ferrell muttered, apparently disturbed as well as he flipped through the papers. "And it's been signed by… quite a few notable members of the community."

"Members of the North district, ya mean, right, boy?" a loud, high-pitched voice laughed from the door.

The members seated at the table turned as a short statured Wyvernian walked brazenly through the door, chuckling. The Wyvernian wore the bright red uniform of the Hunter's Guild clerical staff, though the bright golden Rathalos embroidered onto his chest labeled him as a high-ranking member. Everyone in Loc Lac knew who he was just by looking at him, though, even without the embroidery.

"Seems the wealthier part of town's not too happy seein' their money goin' to the Lost instead of theirselves, are they now?" the Wyvernian giggled madly.

"You're late, Stergo," Ferrell chided, though by the tone of his voice you could tell he had expected no less. "Not very becoming of the leader of the Hunter's Guild, is it?"

"Ah, who cares, you wee little whippersnapper?" Stergo laughed. "Ain't nothin' you boys talk about that's needin' my input 'cept problems involving the Guild. All I need ta' do fer my job is point in a monster's direction and tell the hunters 'go kill it.'"

"Which makes us wonder why you're even here, then," Ferrell grumbled, under his breath.

But the Wyvernian heard him and chuckled as he reached his seat and hoisted himself up. "Really no business of yers, is it? But if ya' must know, I heard there's an interestin' issue on tab today involvin' the Guild, and I thought I'd drop by to supply my input."

"How kind," Ferrell sighed, rolling his eyes.

"But since yer all on the subject, maybe I'll give my input on this little tax thing yer discussin' while I'm here."

"You actually care?" Ferrell asked, shocked.

"A mite bit," the Wyvernian chuckled, then held out his hand. "Mind passin' me the papers?"

Ferrell nodded and slid the papers along the table to the Wyvernian, who plucked it up and flipped flamboyantly through the sheets. Most members of the council believed Stergo didn't actually read the papers (and maybe didn't even know how to read), but Marco knew personally that the old codger could memorize most of the stuff by heart with just a glance.

The old Wyvernian laughed. "Ah, thought so. Ya got a problem wit dis little proposal of yers."

"And what's that?" Zhanin spoke up for the first time that day, earning a surprised glance from the rest of the council.

"It says here, 'all non-citizens.'"

"What do you mean?" Ferrell asked.

Stergo laughed. "Well, nearly the entire darn Hunter's Guild claims citizenship in their hometown. Some ain't even from this country! And if yer plannin' on tellin' the lot of 'em that they need to pay extra ta live here, then ya really will have a revolt on yer hands!"

A murmur of disgruntled agreement filtered through the council. Marco saw a look of anger sear through Zhanin's eyes, but it disappeared in an instant. The papers were returned to Ferrell, who flipped through the proposition briefly then nodded his own silent acceptance of the decision.

"Unless I miss my mark, it seems the decision's already been made," he said, glancing around the room. No refutes were raised, so he slid the paper away, effectively ending the discussion. "So much for that idea."

"Ah, it was a darn foolish thing to suggest in the first place," Stergo chuckled. The old Wyvernian glanced over to Marco and winked slyly, and Marco grinned appreciatively. At least there was one other person on the council that was sympathetic to the Lost like he was.

"I suppose," Ferrell said, turning pointedly to Stergo, "that if you're here for a Guild-related issue, we might as well get it out of the way. You seem to have a habit of leaving early from these meetings, along with your arriving late, and I'd absolutely hate to waste your _precious_ time."

"Sarcasm don't suit ya, boy," Stergo chuckled.

"Anyway, I'm sure the issue you mentioned is likely this one," Ferrell said, pulling out a stack of papers. "It's another issue on the Lost as well, incidentally."

"I-i-it is?" Marco stuttered, surprised. "How s-so?"

Ferrell flipped open the stack and flipped through the words. "Well it seems that some members of the Lost have started applying for Hunter's exams. Not here in Loc Lac, mind you, but in some other cities and towns."

"The Lost are weak!" a disgruntled voice shouted from the other side of the table. One of the members on Zhanin's side of the argument, Marco had no doubt. "They aren't as strong or as determined as our kind! They're not worthy of being hunters!"

"And that's the issue being raised," Ferrell sighed. "Whether or not they should be allowed to apply. All other citizenships of humans, Felynes, Wyvernians, even the occasional Shakalaka have been legally allowed to take part in the Hunter's examinations. So now that the Lost are applying, we have to determine whether or not they should be accepted."

"They're smart enough," a voice piped up. A chorus of voices followed.

"In science, perhaps. But where's the strength? Any child of Loc Lac can outmatch an adult Lost in strength."

"Some are strong. Not up to par with the elite hunters perhaps, but still."

"They're reckless and untrustworthy!"

"They all are liars, spreading that tale of destruction everywhere!"

"What of their mental instabilities?" Zhanin suddenly asked. The room fell quiet. "There are many rumors and studies going around that the Lost are suffering from deficiencies of the mind. How are we to trust such hunters on the battlefield?"

"Th-these proclamations are hearsay!" Marco interjected.

"Perhaps so," Zhanin continued. "But with studies by some of the finest minds of Loc Lac testing for fact, can we allow any of them to take the exam until we are certain? It would be disastrous to make an allowance like that before all facts are on the table. It could mean the death of many."

"Th-those tests are being c-c-conducted on your p-payroll!"

"He's got a point, though," Ferrell said, thoughtfully. "If these tales prove true, we'd have let the mentally unstable into an organization where trust is a necessity."

"Y-y-you can't just disallow them from hunting!" Marco interjected.

"We can if it proves a possible risk," Ferrell retorted. "I personally won't allow such a thing to happen without proof of their mental stability. Or at the very least if they received approval from a professional hunter."

"Ha! Well that's good news!" Stergo suddenly laughed.

Ferrell turned on the old Wyvernian. "What do you mean by that?"

"Ya didn't read through all the files, did ya, boy?" Stergo grinned. "The Guild's received at least six requests from Lost hunter apprentices receiving approval from their teachers, professional hunters, mind you, to attend the exam."

"Six?" Zhanin asked, shocked.

"Last I checked," Stergo laughed.

"Can any of these hunting teachers be trusted to make an accurate decision on their students' capabilities, though? I know some hunters like to think their apprentices are far better than they really are."

"There's a couple noteworthy ones," Stergo replied. "Ol' Garret, the man what took down that exceptionally large Deviljho that got inside Loc Lac's walls, approved some boy to take the test. Then there's old Marshall…"

"Isn't he the old who repelled the Jhen Moran that got within a hundred yards of Loc Lac's walls?" one of the councilmen asked, awed.

"That's him," Stergo replied. "Turns out he's got a pair of Lost aimin' to take the test in Orage Dell next month."

"They actually made it?" Zhanin muttered.

"You say somethin'?" Stergo asked.

"No, nothing," Zhanin replied, turning away with a frustrated look.

"That man was a veritable legend back in the day," Ferrell said thoughtfully. "Though I wonder if age might have made him careless."

"Don't be a prude, boy," Stergo snapped.

Ferrell glared at the old Wyvernian before turning back to the council. "Though I don't very much like the idea of people with possible mental problems taking the hunter's exam, if some of the Lost can be approved by professional hunters, I don't see any reason that the Lost should at the very least be _eligible_ to take the exam. No sense wasting possible potential."

A thought occurred to Marco. "I-if I may, the possibility of the L-L-Lost joining the Hunter's Guild would p-produce another outlet to increase job flow f-for the city."

"That's true," Ferrell said. "And we certainly do need an outlet for the Lost. Maybe the Hunter's Guild will do the trick, even if for only a few of them. Any other major disagreements?"

Ferrell glanced around the table. A few members moved as though they wished to speak, but backed off immediately after, apparently unsatisfied with their ideas. Zhanin's face was creased in thought, no doubt searching for some argument to sway the vote his way. However, after a few moments of silence, Ferrell slumped back into his chair.

"Very well, then. Since there aren't any immediate issues, we'll allow the Lost to apply for the ranks of the Hunter's Guild. Worse comes to worse, they can always just fail the examination. Motion passed."

Marco sighed in relief. He knew if we'd let this one slide Zhanin's direction, the North representative's efforts to overrun the Lost would just grow worse. At least he could say he had one decent victory under his belt. He shot a thankful grin over to Stergo, who smiled in reply.

"Now onto the next bit of business," Ferrell said, picking up a folder. "Yet _another_ complaint from merchants about the crime rates in the South district."

Marco groaned. One battle done, a hundred more to go. Before noon. This was not going to be a pleasant day.

* * *

Ellie sighed tiredly as she flopped over into her bed. Her whole body ached from the long day she'd had. Long days actually; she'd been working non-stop out in the wilds ever since she, Levin and Marshall had returned from Cobi Village.

Willard had spent the better part of the party demanding they tell their hunting story to everyone in the village. And like the former hunter predicted, the more times she and Levin told the story, the more extravagant it seemed to become, if for no other reason due to the fact the two of them were getting sick of telling the same one over and over.

The next day the three hunters had boarded the next Guild ship back to Boma Village. Luckily for Ellie, she was able to enjoy the trip on deck this time without the hassle of avoiding Ludo or anyone like him. She much preferred the fresh sea breeze over the stuffy cabin any day. Levin spent a lot of his time on deck as well, but more for the sake of keeping near a railing than any other reason.

They'd gotten back to Boma around midday several days later, and Levin had nearly leapt off the ship sprinting across town towards town square. Ellie had questioned Marshall about it, and the older hunter had informed her that Levin had convinced some of the crew on the Guild ship to let him jump over to the transport ship and scavenge some materials off of the Gobul. Ellie was worried that Levin might have done something illegal like she had, but Marshall explained that since Levin had been one of the hunters that had taken down the Gobul and no illegal activities had occurred during the hunt, it was perfectly acceptable for the great sword user to take a few things off the sleeping creature's body.

When Ellie had finally caught up with Levin, he'd already passed off most of his Gobul materials on to Silph, as well as his great sword, and was grinning excitedly. Ellie would have been pretty damn irritated with the great sword user for taking so many monster materials and not inviting her to partake as well, but apparently Levin had only wanted to rework his sword, because as he walked up to her, he held out his hand and dropped a decent sized bag of Gobul materials into her hands.

It had been a couple weeks since then, and Levin had long since gotten his improved weapon back from Silph, which was apparently called the Golem Blade. After that, both Ellie and Levin had practically thrown themselves into any and all missions they could do in the area for the sake of training. In the meantime, Mel had sent in their applications, and despite the obnoxious amount of time it had taken, the request had come back approved, and the pair of them were on the list to take part in the exam in Orage Dell in only a few weeks.

Luckily for them (or unluckily, depending on your perspective) just before the three of them had returned from Cobi, another Ludroth mating season had kicked in due to the loss of the former Royal and his collection of eggs. As such, at least a dozen or so young Royal Ludroth had made their way to the Boma area in order to fight with the others for rights to dominion over the harem of normal Ludroth that remained in the area.

With the Royal Ludroth in being so young and inexperienced, it proved to be much easier to take down a few of them that tried to journey too far inland, when compared to the older Royal Ludroths the two of them had fought before.

Qurupecos had also become excessive in number the last week or so, so the pair of hunters occasionally were forced to tangle with one of them while out hunting for various other monsters that stalked the area around Boma. Ellie had begun to understand Levin's tendency towards hoarding monster materials recently; after the rush of monsters she'd been taking down recently, she had her own fairly large stockpile of materials in her storage chest.

The thought reminded her of the satchel on her waist. She rolled lazily over onto her back, glancing over to her storage box. She unhooked her materials satchel and unzipped it, unleashing a deluge of various materials from dozens of monsters she'd taken down that afternoon, ranging from Bnahabra to a Royal Ludroth alpha male candidate they'd run afoul with while looking monster guts off the coast. She was too tired to organize anything right now, however, and tossed the satchel onto the ground next to the box rather than sorting the goods around inside.

She glanced out door to the deck behind her house as the sound of rumbling echoed into her room. She craned her head as best she could without leaving the comfort of her mattress, and spotted large, ominous clouds coming towards Boma. It had been several months since the last good storm, which had torn through the village not too long after the Rath mating season. She was glad the awning outside of her hut had such a large area; she'd hate having to get up to cover the door with a tarp like Levin had to over in his hut.

Ellie sat in silence for a while as the storm grew closer. She could hear the waves picking up strength and the roar of rain splashing into the water far out to sea. The wind began picking up as well, filling her room with a cool breeze. The weight in her eyes seemed to increase tenfold, and she felt herself begin to doze off…

There was a sudden rapping at her door, and Ellie groaned in irritation. All she wanted to do right now was pass out and sleep until noon the next day, but she supposed she should've expected to receive company considering her fortune lately and how tired she was. She held still, practically holding her breath, in hopes whoever was at the door would think she was out of her house, or at the very least asleep.

"I know you're in there, Miss Ellie, and I'm pretty sure you're not asleep yet."

Ellie grumbled under her breath. Of course it had to be Levin. With a grunt of effort, she rolled out of her bed and wobbled over to the door, pulling it open and shooting a glare at the great sword user, who'd already changed into casual clothes. Levin just smirked in response.

"You look all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed this evening, Miss Ellie."

"Oh, shove it where the sun don't shine," Ellie growled. "What do you want? I'm trying to sleep."

"I'm well aware of that," Levin shrugged, reaching into a pocket. "I just thought you'd like to know that Mel just received something nice from the Guild."

"What's that?" Ellie asked irritably.

"A guide to the exam in a few weeks, actually," Levin replied, pulling out a thin book and holding it out for her. "I thought the two of us could go over it."

Immediately, Ellie's weariness was gone and her hand shot out for the book. Levin pulled it out of her grasp playfully and grinned at her as she shot another glare at him.

"I thought you were tired, Miss Ellie," he said, chuckling. "Maybe you should wait until tomorrow."

"Oh, shut up and let me read it," Ellie snapped, plucking the book out of the great sword user's hands.

As Ellie flipped open the book, a sudden blast of wind tore through the room, sending materials and clothes flying. Ellie winced as a blast of cold sent chills up her spine. The wind died away a moment later, however, and the flying debris in the room began to settle back to the floor.

"Holy crap that was cold!" Ellie sputtered, shivering. "This armor is not made for cooler weather."

"Well, change into something else then," Levin told her.

"Not while you're in here."

"Fine then. While you get changed, I'll head outside and put up a tarp over your door, alright? That'll keep the cold out."

"Fair enough," Ellie replied. "After that, maybe you can start a fire in the fireplace. It's looking like it'll be a cold night, even if the wind is blocked off."

"Can you not get Leif to do it?" Levin asked, looking around. "Where is that little guy, anyway?"

"I gave him the day off," Ellie replied. "He's been working pretty hard keeping everything in good shape since we got back from Cobi, so I thought I'd let him take a break. He seemed appreciative."

"I'll bet. But you should probably do the fire yourself," Levin said quietly. "I'm… not too good with combustible objects. I almost burned my hut down the last time I tried to light a fire in my own room."

"Jeez, how'd you manage that?"

"Extreme skill," Levin replied. "Or lack thereof, I suppose. I guess I just got caught up in thinking about something and then lost control of the fire."

"Fine, I'll get the fire going. Now get the hell out onto the deck and put up the tarp. You get enough free looks at me while I'm wearing my armor out in the wilds. I'm not giving you any more shows while you're here in Boma."

Half an hour later, Levin had finally finished barricading the doorway from the now howling winds. Ellie had changed into warmer clothes and had gotten a fire going while Levin had hammered a large tarp over the door to the outside deck. The fire had just gotten started when the great sword user had stumbled back inside, escaping the rain, which had come down in a sudden deluge only a few moments earlier.

Ellie sat on her bed, skimming through the small book and occasionally reading something of interest, while Levin slouched down into a chair next to the bed and stared blankly into the fire, watching the flames lick up from the wood. The book was fairly small in the first place, but Ellie soon found herself stunned at how little the little collection of papers actually told her about the exam.

"There's hardly anything here," Ellie grumbled, flipping through the pages again. "A lot of talk about the history and prestige of the hunter's exam, but diddly-squat about the trials in the exam itself."

Levin took a moment to answer before turning away from the fire. "Well, what _does_ it have? It can't just give us nothing."

Ellie frowned and skimmed the document again. She glanced out the window for a long moment, distracted as a flash lit up the inside of the hut, followed by a roll of thunder. Then she turned back to the booklet. "It says there's two tests, more if the first two prove inconclusive, which confuses the hell out of me."

"Well, that's something," Levin said, turning back to fire as another roar of thunder echoed through the hut. "What else does it say?"

"Not much. It claims the first test is a test of preparedness, and the second is a test of skill. No details, just what I told you. The third is supposed to be applied if the first and second aren't enough, I guess."

"So the first test is more mental and the second is physical."

"I guess it could be interpreted like that," Ellie admitted. "I just wish it gave us more than that to work with."

"I guess that's a part of the whole hunting experience," Levin said. "You've got to accept the element of surprise is just as likely to happen as it is that you know what's going to happen."

"I guess," Ellie shrugged, tossing the book onto her nightstand. "I don't suppose we could ask Marshall what his hunter's exam was like, could we?"

"We could," Levin replied. His voice seemed especially quiet. "But it's likely that the exam has significantly changed since he was a rookie. I couldn't even guess at how many years it's been."

"So we're stuck knowing nothing, then," Ellie sighed, slumping back onto her bed and staring at the ceiling. She sat in silence for a few minutes, staring blankly at the ceiling while listening the crackle of the fire, the rush of the winds, and the occasional crash and rumble of the thunder.

"Hey Levin," she said, "do you know what kind of city Orage Dell is?"

There was no response for a few moments, and Ellie raised up her head. She sighed in frustration, seeing that Levin had dozed off in his seat, arms crossed and his head leaning crookedly onto the wall behind. Ellie could see his eyes flickering around behind his eyelids.

"Dreaming already, huh?" Ellie said quietly. "And here you were trying to keep _me_ awake. You were just as wiped out as I was, weren't you?"

The bowgun user sighed, and lay back onto her mattress. Seeing Levin out had made her somewhat drowsy as well, but the uncertainty of the exam was eating at her thoughts, making it so she couldn't bring herself to want to sleep. But as time passed and the monotonous sound of rain drummed against the roof and the warmth of the fire seeped into her, her eyes began to grow heavier, and she knew she wouldn't be able to stay awake much longer.

"Oh, well," she muttered. She cast one last glance at the sleeping great sword user before rolling over and closing her eyes. "Sweet dreams, Levin."

As she drifted off, the rumble of thunder echoed through the hut.

* * *

_A catastrophic explosion shook the earth below, rattling Levin as he jolted awake. The young hunter glanced around in shock and fear as flames roared into the sky all around him, clawing at the sky and blotting out the stars and moon with a flood of smoke and soot. The great sword user coughed involuntarily as the smell of destruction and death filled his nostrils. _

_His eyes shot around, searching, trying to figure out where he was. Wasn't he just in Ellie's hut in Boma? Now he was elsewhere, in the burning ruins of a town. No, it had to be a city. The buildings towered over him, great stone pillars into the sky. No, not stone; the buildings were made of concrete and steel. _

_An eerie sense of familiarity overwhelmed him as a building only a couple dozen yards away from him began to crumble. Finally, with a screech of metal tearing and concrete shattering, the structure collapsed, falling in on itself and unleashing a wave of soot and rubble out into the flames. The roaring inferno wasn't even slowed as the dust settled onto it, however, and even seemed to even burn brighter. _

_His memories flickered to life as he finally recognized where he was: his hometown, or at least what was left of it. He glanced around frantically as his memories of Ellie and his time in Boma began to fade into the back of his mind. He had to find his family! He still had a chance to save them now! He could stop them from being taken away from him again!_

_He sprinted through the rubble of the city he had once called home, screaming out their names in hopes they would hear him. But everywhere he looked there was only devastation and death. What once had been a fine city, a wonderful place to call home, now lay in ruins beneath his feet. And with each step he took, the flames around him seemed to grow taller._

_Suddenly he found himself trapped, surrounded on all sides by roaring flames that rose to the sky, blocking his view of even the tallest of buildings. The ground seemed to waver and distort underneath his feet, making his balance precarious, as though the slightest wrong movement would sent him falling headfirst into the all-consuming fire around him. _

"_Where are they?" he asked himself, misery sweeping over his mind. "They're here! They have to be! I have to find them!"_

**They aren't here, boy. Not anymore.**

_The deep, thunderous voice ripped through the air, tearing into Levin's mind like the screech of nails on a chalkboard. He cried out in pain as his head lanced in agony, the loud words echoing through his skull. The harsh voice laughed mercilessly as Levin dropped to his knees, his head throbbing with each chuckle. _

"_Who… who's there?" he sputtered, dragging himself up to his feet again. _

**Still you don't remember? How could you forget me, boy? After all, it was I that took from you what you treasured the most.**

_Images seared into Levin's mind. His mother's kind face, his father's loud, rough laughter, the voice of his brother. But these images changed into illusions, remembrances that weren't his own memories, a perspective given from something airborne, and the faces twisted and distorted into terrified masks, staring fearfully at something high above them. A blast of black and red lightning lanced out in the vision._

_Levin dropped back to his knees. His own memories had returned and a vast recollection of the past swam back into his mind, buried inside the back of his mind for reasons unknown. He remembered the past now, clearer than before. The devastation, the panic…_

"_The voice," he muttered. His fear began to dissolve away. "I remember now. The voice was yours. You took them away. You took them away from me! Give them back! I want them back!"_

_The voice roared with laughter as Levin's eyes scanned the blazing inferno, searching desperately for the source of the voice. Pain still tore through his head with every slight sound the voice made, but he forced himself to stay on his feet, enduring the concussive force reverberating through his skull. _

**Now I see. You didn't forget. You simply pushed the memories away, hiding them in a place where they would not be found by anyone. Even you… no, especially you. How weak. How childish. How… human.**

_The creature spat the last word as though it was the vilest of curses. Then it chuckled again. Levin felt rage welling up inside of him. _

"_Tell me where they are, you bastard! Return my family to me!"_

**You know, you've disappointed me, boy**, _the voice echoed in Levin's skull, speaking nonchalantly, as though he was talking of something as simple as the weather or what he'd had for breakfast. _**You were filled with such passionate, volatile… delicious rage the last time I saw you in person. It was the only reason I let you live. What happened to that rage of yours, I wonder? Is it hidden away the same as your memories? Perhaps I can bring it back. Perhaps I can remind you of what you hated me for.**

_Another flood of memories poured into Levin's head, forcing him to watch images from a pair of eyes that weren't his own, looking down on his own family. He could feel the voice's thoughts as it tore through the air towards his loved ones, the joy it felt in watching their fear as he bore down on them, the terror as he…_

_Levin screamed in pain and horror as the images flickered through his head and the voice laughed uproariously at the young hunter's agony. The great sword user dropped to the ground, sobbing and wincing as the creature laughed. And from deep inside Levin's chest, a violent fury like he'd never felt before welled up, filling up his senses with hatred. _

_Suddenly, through the flames, a flicker of motion danced into Levin's vision. He had found it! The voice! He would kill it! His hand clamped down on one of the rocks crumbling onto the ground beneath him and charged towards the motion._

_He dove headfirst into the roaring flames as he leapt toward the body of the voice. Searing pain tore through his body as the flames bit into him, devouring his flesh and burning into his body. But Levin paid the pain no mind as he lunged at the movement, bringing the jagged edge of the rock down onto the shadow behind the fire. _

_But as the rock fell, the shadow vaporized to ash, vanishing in the wind. Levin staggered to a halt, tripping and falling onto his face as the flames bit into his body, devouring him alive. Levin couldn't even find the voice in him to cry out in pain as the rage and fury began to die away, replaced with a sense of hopelessness. _

**Not bad, boy**_, the voice laughed mockingly. _**It's good to see there's still some bite in you. I'd hate to think all my efforts were wasted. How about we make a deal? No, don't get up, I'll explain. If you find me again and we speak face to face, and you fight me with all the hatred in your heart and win, I'll return your precious family to you. Does that sound like a fair trade, boy?**

_Levin couldn't even move as the flames burned over his body. The voice waited a few moments as Levin gasped in pain, then laughed cruelly. A rumbling sound filled Levin's ears, and the great sword user realized that it was the approach of monstrous footsteps, heading directly towards him. _

**I'll take that as a yes, then. But you humans do have a tendency to disappoint, going out of your way to make room for other pathetic emotions like camaraderie, happiness, or even love. So to make certain you don't forget me again, I'll take something else from you. Something you cherish. **

_Levin's mind screamed out in rage and fear as the thunderous footsteps ground to a halt right next to him. The voice laughed mockingly growing louder. The hairs on Levin's neck stood on end as he felt the presence of a terrible existence right behind him. When the voice spoke again, it was as though there was an explosion going off right behind him._

**Protect that little village of yours well, boy. I'm going to have it destroyed. **

* * *

"NO!" Levin cried out, swinging his arms at the voice. His fist smashed into the creature, sending it flying backwards across the… hut? When did he get back to Boma? And now that Levin thought about it, the creature seemed a lot smaller and fluffier than he imagined it would.

Ellie jolted awake next to him as a clutter of various knick knacks she'd picked up during her time in Boma clattered to the floor as the creature bounce off of her dresser. As the furry shape tumbled to the floor, Levin shakily rose to his feet, attempting to shake off the weariness of sleep and readjust his bearings as Ellie stared at him with a confused look on her face. He looked down in surprise as a blanket tumbled off of his body, crumpling to the floor.

The creature Levin had hit was still for a moment, before it rolled onto its back and pushed itself to its feet. "I suppose I should've seen that coming, nya."

"Leif?" Levin stuttered in surprise. "When did you… I mean, jeez, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hit you like that, I just…"

"Don't worry about it, Levin," the Felyne cut him off, shaking off its slightly bruised limbs. "Not the first time I've been hit across the room, nya. Besides, some of the other Felynes told me you sometimes had nightmares, and I guess I just chose to ignore them. I suppose I need to just keep an eye open when I'm taking care of hunters sleeping, nya. Nightmares never seem to go well with your kind, huh?"

"I thought you were taking the day off, Leif," Ellie said, sitting up in her bed and looking at the small creature.

"Just thought I'd check on you, Ellie," Leif replied. "I was worried the tarp wouldn't be put up properly against the storm, but it seems one of you did a good job, nya. I just figured I'd toss a blanket on Levin here before I took off, though, since the wind was rather chilly, nya."

"Oh, jeez," Levin groaned. "Again, I'm really sorry about hitting you."

"Don't worry about it, nya" Leif said, turning towards the door. "It wasn't the first time, and it won't be the last. And now I must wish the two of you good night, nya."

"Night, Leif," Ellie called out as Leif opened the door and stepped out into the hallway. But before the Felyne left the house, he turned back to the two apprentice hunters one last time.

"I should let the two of you know, nya, that it would be unwise for Levin to stay here overnight."

Levin blinked in confusion. "Why's that?"

The Felyne grinned. "Because, nya, should the villagers that saw you come into Ellie's hut not see you leave until morning, I have little doubt that there will be some very interesting rumors flying about the village tomorrow."

Ellie squeaked in embarrassment and Levin could feel his face heat up as the Felyne walked out of the hut chuckling to himself, before the furry creature took off sprinting through the rain. Levin chuckled weakly as Ellie groaned in dismay.

"I should probably let myself out then," he muttered. He made a motion to pick up the exam booklet, but decided to leave it there in case Ellie wanted to look at it more. With a shrug to himself, he walked over to the door. "I'll be taking my leave, then, Miss Ellie. See you in the morning."

"Wait, Levin," Ellie said suddenly. Levin turned, and saw Ellie giving him an uncertain look.

"Yeah?"

"What… what were you dreaming about, just now?"

The images of the dream suddenly flooded back into Levin's mind with shocking clarity. He felt his head throb in pain for a moment before dying away. He sighed and rubbed his temples, forcing the images to fade into the back of his mind.

"What's wrong?" Ellie asked, concerned.

"Nothing," Levin replied quickly, putting on a false grin. "Anyway, I don't really remember my dream. Probably just a dream about falling or something like that."

"You sure?" Ellie pried. "It must've been pretty bad for you to hit Leif like that."

"Maybe, but I don't really remember."

Ellie stared at him, studying his face for a long moment, before nodding, accepting his answer. Levin held back a sigh of relief. "Anyway," he said, "I'll see you tomorrow. If the rain lets up by then, we can go out hunting again if you'd like that."

"Yeah, sure," Ellie replied. She still had a worried look on her face as she studied him, but didn't make any more inquisitions of him.

"Well, goodnight," he said, walking out the door.

"Goodnight," she called after him. Before he closed the door, he heard her mutter, "Sweet dreams."

As Levin stepped out into the rain, he paused for a moment, staring up into the sky as lighting flashed and thunder boomed over him. The images of his dream seemed to burst into his mind with every flash of lighting that lit up the sky, igniting memories of explosions in his head. He shivered as a cold wind blew, biting him with cold to the bone. Reluctantly, he turned and ran over to his house.

It was only a dream, he told himself. Only a nightmare of the past. Don't look too much into something that came out of your own head. The village was perfectly at ease, no threats looming over it. And even if something came their way, he and Ellie were here to defend it. And if all else failed, Marshall was here to clean up any mess that came their way. The people here were safe. Boma was safe.

Ellie was safe.

Levin shook his head as he leapt through his front door, dripping wet and soaked to the bone. He took another look into the sky as lighting lanced around the clouds above him, before turning and striding to his room.

He was going to have trouble getting back to sleep tonight, that was for sure.

* * *

Ellie sighed irately as she sat fidgeting next to the corpse of a Qurupeco. Thunder rumbled off in the distance as she glanced out of the cave she currently sat in, which a light shower of rain and hail pelted the ground just outside. She glanced over at Levin, who was staring blankly into the sky again, tilting his head back and forth with each rumble of thunder while his eyes darted around, following the spider webs of lighting that occasionally covered the sky far out into the ocean.

He'd been like that a lot the last few days, Ellie noticed, always staring up at the lightning in the sky. Ever since he'd had that nightmare, Levin had just seemed so… out of it. The two of them had decided to venture out into the wilds for the sake of training, despite the fact that the dark clouds still hovered ominously over the area. And every time a bolt of lightning or rumble of thunder rolled out of the clouds, Levin would stop and glance up at the sky, as though expecting something. Not only that, but he didn't even seem to notice the habit himself, giving Ellie a confused look every time she questioned him about it.

Those were the conditions they were stuck in now, Ellie noted with an irritated sigh. The two of them had taken off from the village in the morning to try and collect Qurupeco materials. Ellie had requested the journey herself, actually. She had particularly wanted to get the materials after Silph had told her a couple days that he would be able to upgrade her short sword once she'd collected more Qurupeco materials. Ever since then, she'd been on Levin to go after the giant birds whenever another mission didn't call for their immediate attention.

Of course, with the sudden rush of Qurupeco that had sprouted up in the recent weeks, it was never that hard to find one or two of the colorful birds swooping around the forest or searching the beaches for fish. However, with the weather being what it had been for the last few days, keeping tabs on any Qurupecos the pair of hunters came across became more challenging when sudden downpours or lightning storms would drastically slow the two of them down to the point where just keeping sight of the creature was a challenge.

Ellie glanced over to the large bird that lay dead a few feet away from her. This one had been a surprisingly easy hunt when compared to some of the others the two of them had brought down the last couple days, since they'd managed to catch it off guard in the very cave it lived in. With nowhere to run, the two of them had trapped it inside the cave and managed to bring it down in short order. But before the two of them could set out again in search of other prey, another surge of rain had begun coming down over the forest, and the pair of them had decided to not risk the weather, choosing to stay inside the cave and wait out the rain.

As lightning webbed out across the sky, Ellie idly pulled out a whetstone and began sliding it across her sword. She knew this was the fourth or fifth time she'd done this since the pair of them had gotten stranded inside this cave, but what else was she to do? All they could do was wait.

"Hey, Levin," she called out to the great sword user.

Levin blinked for a moment, coming out of his reverie before turning to look at Ellie. He still seemed to have a glazed sort of look in his eyes, like he was only halfway awake. "What's up?" he asked.

"Do you think this is enough?" Ellie asked hesitantly.

"Do I think what's enough?" Levin asked.

She motioned to the corpse of the Qurupeco. "Hunting these things. Qurupecos, fledgling Royal Ludroths, Great Jaggis. Are these really enough? Will we really be able to fight and pass the hunter's exam if all we're fighting are these things? I mean, these are supposed to be the weaker monsters that you can hunt."

Levin grinned wryly. "Well, we really don't have much else to work with in this area of the world. The only other monsters that really frequent this area of the world are Raths that show up for their mating season, and occasionally Lagiacrus appear in the area, but that's a mess best left to Marshall or someone that's more experienced. I guess Gobuls sometimes appear in the ocean, but they usually only are found swimming too far out to sea to really fight against without a boat."

"So the only things we can really fight are what we've been beating up the last… what's it been? Six months?"

"Something like that," Levin grinned. "I've been here a bit longer than that, though."

"So nothing else comes this way that we could fight for practice?" Ellie sighed. "I know it's still a bit of a challenge for us to take out any of those creatures, but after so long, it just seems so… boring. It goes against my sense of survival, but I'd kind of like to fight something new."

Levin laughed. "I know what you mean. But Raths are a bit out of our range right now, not to mention Lagiacrus'. The only other monster I've heard of that _might_ show up in the area is the… whatsit, the Devil-something. The Devil… Devil…"

"Deviljho?" Ellie asked, remembering some images from her hunting manuals.

"That's the one," Levin replied. "World eaters, they call them. Massive black monsters that eat anything and everything, from animals to plants to birds to rocks to everything. Anything that it can break, it eats. The old man told me that one showed up in the area, and he had to call for backup from the Guild since it was an especially large one. They sent something like ten hunters to back him up."

"Wow," Ellie replied. "Sounds like a real hellish creature."

"I imagine it is. Just be glad we don't have to fight one."

"I guess. Still, I wish there was something more to fight than Qurupecos, Great Jaggis, and Royal Ludroth."

"Be glad we can even fight Royal Ludroths right now," Levin grinned. "Just a month ago we hadn't even been able to take one of those down."

"Yeah, but now we know how to do it right."

"I guess so," Levin laughed. His head tilted up towards the sky as the rumble of thunder droned through the cave. He stared blankly up at the sky as the sound echoed through the cavern, before shaking his head and turning back to Ellie.

She gave him a worried look. "You know, sooner or later you're going to have to tell me what's wrong, you know."

He blinked, confused. "I'm not sure what you're talking about."

"Of course you aren't," Ellie sighed, before looking up at the sky as well. "Looks like the rain's letting up a little. We might be able to leave this damn cave here soon."

"It's a good thing, too," Levin replied, motioning to the Qurupeco corpse. "Big bird over there's starting to smell, and it won't be long before the scavengers come looking for a meal."

He reached his hand out from under the overhang, feeling for any falling drops, before nodding in acceptance. "Looks like it's stopped for now," he said. "Shall we see if we can't make it back before it starts coming down again, Miss Ellie?"

Ellie nodded. "Sure thing, Mister Levin."

The two of them set off quickly, making an immediate beeline for the coast, in hopes that they would be able to reach Boma before Mother Nature decided to unleash her fury upon them once again. As they walked, Ellie made note that Levin continued to glance up at the sky with each sign of thunder or lightning. However, the glances seemed to be becoming more and more of a glance rather than a long look, so she held on to hope that it was only a phase he was going through.

As they traveled along the side of a river, where the water churned and rumbled from the excessive power it had received from the rain, a thought occurred to Ellie. She remembered that many of the people in Boma, Levin included, had mentioned that the great sword user had been forced to overcome some issues during his time in Boma before Ellie had arrived. Marshall had told her before that she was a lot like Levin when it came to having psychological issues that needed to be dealt with, which meant that Levin had dealt with his own issues.

But even now, the thought of either the Rathian or the Rathalos made Ellie's blood boil, and the single-mindedness she had been cursed with had somehow become an integral part of her hunting routine. Despite dealing with her issues the best she could, the ghosts of her past and whatever was eating at her mind were still there, haunting her. Perhaps whatever was making Levin feel uneasy around lighting and thunder was a sort of aftershock of whatever problems he had been forced to deal with.

She still wasn't sure exactly what sort of affliction Levin had been forced to deal with during his time in Boma before her arrival. She'd been hesitant to directly ask Levin about the whole ordeal, fearful that she might upset him or strike a nerve she would regret. Both Marshall and Mel seemed to skirt away from the issue whenever they were asked, both of them showing uneasy faces when confronted with the question. With each attempt at having her questions answered, she found herself growing more and more worried about whatever it was that had afflicted Levin. He seemed so nice and content right now, but then again, Ellie had to admit that she herself had mellowed out quite a lot since she started hunting.

Then there was that whole red aura that Levin called upon when fighting with his great sword. An ability strengthened by rage? For someone that seemed so down to earth, how was it that Levin possessed so much anger, enough to power that attack of his?

These thoughts tossed and turned in Ellie's head as the pair of hunters made their way towards the ocean. The sound of large waves shook Ellie from her mulling, and she glanced out at the waters of the ocean in amazement as they crested the last hill. Large, thunderous waves crashed against the beachhead as the wind threw them against the shore. A gust of wind nearly knocked Ellie backwards as the rolling sound echoed across the forest.

"Not a bad view, huh?" Levin grinned. "It's not a lot of fun wading through the forest in this weather, but it's things like this that make the effort worth it."

Ellie smiled back. "Yeah, I guess so. That and the knowledge that the stuff I pulled off and out of that 'peco are going to make this sword of mine better."

Levin laughed. "That too, I guess."

As the two of them began making their way down to the beach, Ellie shook away her thoughts. What was she thinking, trying to mold Levin into some kind of villain, hiding his evil ways? Whatever issues he'd dealt with earlier, he'd clearly gotten over them. Who was she to blame someone for having a few lingering moments of uncertainty?

He was just Levin, plain and simple. Her partner and friend. Admittedly, she could do without some of his perversions… but she supposed those little quirks were just as much a part of him as the rest of it all. Honestly, she didn't really mind the ogling that much anymore. In truth, it was somewhat… flattering.

The pair of hunters strode along the beach as fast as they could. Each glance at the sky made them more and more nervous as the sky seemed to grow darker and more ominous with each passing minute. The heavens seemed precariously perched between simply appearing threatening and unleashing the downpour that it was holding back. However, as much as the pair or hunters wanted to simply begin sprinting back to Boma, the soaked and unstable sand, as well as the thunderous barrage of waves coming in from the ocean kept them on their toes and unable to truly make as good of time as they wanted to.

Suddenly Levin slid to a halt, and Ellie nearly crashed into him and she screeched to a halt herself. The wet beach gave out from underneath her, however, and she ended up tumbling into him anyway, forcing the two of them to flop messily into the sand.

"Ow, geez," Ellie muttered, pushing herself up to her feet and irately brushing the sand off her body. "What the hell'd you stop for?"

"That!" Levin said, leaping to his feet and pointing out to sea. Ellie followed his gaze, and spotted what he was pointing towards. Off in the distance, a small shape bobbed in and out of view over the curves of the rising waves. As Ellie squinted, trying to make out the shape, a flash of lightning lit up the ocean and she gasped in shock.

About a quarter mile out to sea, a small fishing skiff bucked and bobbed around in the rough waters. Ellie could make out the crew dashing back and forth across the deck, attempting to keep the small ship afloat despite the terrible rocking of the waves.

Suddenly the skiff lurched to the side, wrenching itself through the water _sideways_. Ellie's eyes widened in confusion. How had the ship moved like that? The waves and the wind couldn't have moved the ship like that, even with this weather. The deckhands seemed to burst into a panic as the ship continued its impossible motions, bucking and swaying in directions unheard of for a ship like that.

All of a sudden, an enormous shape shot out of the water, a large serpentine shape twisting itself up and over the deck of the ship and looking down on the panicked crew. The shape pulled back for a moment, and then a powerful roar filled Ellie's ears, making her instinctively bring up her hands up to blot out the sound. A blast of light like lightning ripped from the tip of the shape's tip and smashed into one of the masts. Instantly, a flurry of flames flew across the sails, turning the fishing boat into a floating lighthouse, lighting the water and ship in flickering clarity.

"Lagiacrus!" Levin gasped as the shape came into clear definition in front of them, leaning ominously over the hull of the ship and eyeing the crew greedily.

"We have to help them!" Ellie cried.

Levin glanced at her with a fearful look in his eyes. The look changed quickly, however, into a grimace of resigned determination. Ellie knew he really was not looking forward to fighting the creature, and she shared his lack of enthusiasm. However, as much as she wanted to run away, lives were at stake, and her pride wouldn't allow her to run away from this.

Levin quickly reached into his pack and pulled out a cylindrical shape. Ellie glanced at it uncertainly: she still had trouble telling Levin's collection of good apart from one another. With a snap of his wrist, Levin pulled the pin and heaved the object out to sea, lofting it high into the air.

"Turn your head!" he cried, and Ellie immediately obeyed, knowing what he'd thrown. Even as she faced the other direction, the blast of light from the Flash Bomb left spots in her eyes, making her blink in irritation. She turned back to face the ship and the Lagiacrus that was hounding it.

The large creature turned to face them as the Flash Bomb, still flickering out a last few strobe blinks, dropped into the water. The Lagiacrus glanced around in confusion in search of the source of the light, no doubt wondering if a Gobul or something of the sort was around, when it spotted the two hunters standing on shore.

Immediately Levin rushed forwards, waving his hands and screaming at the creature across the waves. "Hey! Hey! I'm right here you ugly bastard! Come and get me!"

The massive blue creature stared at the two hunters for a few moments, before deciding the pair of them were apparently not worth its time. With what Ellie imagined to be a hungry grin, it turned back to the ship, looking greedily at the cowering crew.

"Quick, throw something else at it!" Ellie cried. "I don't have my bowgun with me today, so I can't shoot at it!"

"I know that!" Levin growled, digging through his pouch. "I didn't bring any other equipment with me today though! I don't have anything to throw at the damn thing!"

"Then what the hell do we…"

Ellie was suddenly cut off as a piercing screech of pain tore across the water. The two spun around, expecting the worst, but gaped in shock at the sight. Rather than the scream being created by one of the crewmembers being eaten, the Lagiacrus flailed backwards from the boat, howling in pain.

"They hit it with something!" Levin cried out excitedly.

"But I didn't hear any cannons or gunfire or anything," Ellie replied in confusion. "What did they do to it?"

"Who cares? They're fighting back!"

But as the Lagiacrus writhed in agony, it shook its head, a look of anger in its eyes. With blinding speed, the creature lurched through the water again, tearing through the water towards the boat. However, when it was about halfway to the boat, its head suddenly bucked back again, and another screech of agony ripped from the creature's mouth as it bucked backwards, writhing in pain.

This time both hunter's were shocked to silence as the Lagiacrus flailed about in the water, screaming in pain. Finally Levin spoke up. "Nothing hit it. I was watching! What's attacking it?"

Ellie shook her head, not trusting herself to speak. Something was assaulting the Lagiacrus, but for the life of her she couldn't figure out what it was.

Suddenly, as the creature twisted in agony, its head spun around, glaring right at the two hunters. Even as the groaned and whined in pain, it lurched forward towards the two of them, sliding through the water at ungodly speeds in their direction. The two hunters stumbled backwards, shocked at the monster's sudden change in direction, and turned to run from the thunderous waves as the creature shot towards the beachhead.

The pair turned abruptly as the sound of a wet crunch sounded behind them. They turned quickly, hands flying to their blades, as they spotted the Lagiacrus cresting the shore and dragging itself up onto the sand. Ellie winced at the sight as the massive serpentine monster slithered up the beach. It had covered the distance so quickly!

The two hunters braced themselves, expecting the leviathan to unleash its deafening roar once again in challenge of the two. But rather than doing so, the creature unleashed a rather pitiful growl at the pair of hunters. It turned its head around, glancing at the boat out at sea, which was currently booking it back to Boma, in what seemed like a longing gesture. Ellie gave it a confused look as it seemed to make a motion to turn and dive back after the ship.

But suddenly it reared back as though it was struck, and howled in pain yet again. Its eyes flared up in anger and pain, and the Lagiacrus turned abruptly towards the two hunters. Without the slightest warning or call of challenge, the creature lurched forward, surging across the beach towards them, spraying sand in both directions as it tore across the beach.

Ellie and Levin dove away from the creature's path as it sped past them. Ellie nearly lost her footing as she got to her feet, however, with the moist sand proving to be a very unstable base. By the time she'd gotten herself grounded, the Lagiacrus had spun around and began charging again, forcing Ellie to once again move out of its way.

However, rather than sliding past her as it did before, the Lagiacrus slid to a halt before reaching her, and curved its neck around and down at her, intent on biting into her with its powerful jaw. Ellie quickly raised her shield, and the creature's massive jaw clamped down on it. Ellie tried to pull back as the monster's grip on the metal plate tightened. A flicker of despair flashed through her as the steel of the shield suddenly began to bend under the pressure of the creature's powerful jaw.

A resounding clang echoed across the beach, and the Lagiacrus winced back. Ellie glanced over to the creature's side, spotting Levin swinging his sword down onto the massive monster's scaled legs. The Lagiacrus growled in anger, and swung its tail back, smacking Levin in the side and knocking him backwards across the sand. The great sword user managed to keep his balance, however, and retaliated by swinging his sword around and smashing down it onto the leviathan's thick plated tail.

The blow cracked into the creature's tail, shattering a couple of the thick plate scales that coated the creature's body. However, the impact did not break the skin below, and the Lagiacrus merely growled in irritation, swinging its tail back in a windup. Levin quickly brought his sword up defensively as the creature swung its tail around in full force, smashing the thick plated appendage against Levin's blade and sending him sprawling backwards across the sand.

The Lagiacrus growled menacingly, turning to face the great sword user as he pushed himself to his feet from the impact. With the creature's attention away from her, Ellie rushed forward, intent on striking the creature before it could lunge towards Levin.

However, before she could reach the creature, the Lagiacrus took a half step back and lowered its head close to the ground. Its hind and forelegs sunk deep into the sand as it braced itself, digging its feet into a solid hold on the soft ground. Ellie suddenly realized what the creature was planning to do and tried to call out to Levin.

But before the words left her mouth, the Lagiacrus' legs shoved into the ground, and the leviathan burst from its spot in the sand, shooting forward across the wet sand like a bullet. Levin froze in shock at the sudden burst of speed from the creature, hesitating for a fraction of a second as the massive creature tore across the beach towards him. At the last moment, he seemed to realize the danger, and attempted to dive out of the way.

But the moment of hesitation caused him to lose his chance, and the bulk of the Lagiacrus' spined head clipped the great sword user as it passed. Ellie winced as the jagged horns cut through the thick Ludroth hide of Levin's armor, leaving jagged gashed in the dull yellow suit as the impact knocked Levin across the beach.

The Lagiacrus slammed its legs into the ground to slow itself down after it struck Levin, intent on turning around to finish the job. But the ground beneath it, even though it had helped the creature assault Levin in the first place, now proved to soft and wet to slow it down effectively. Where it no doubt wished to skid to a halt a few yards past the injured great sword user, the sand beneath it gave way and the leviathan slid several dozen yards across the beach before it tumbled to a halt.

Seeing a break in the assault, Ellie quickly turned and began running awkwardly across the sand toward Levin's body. She felt a stab of fear as a line of blood trickled onto the wet sand from under Levin, but a wave of relief washed over her as the young hunter pushed himself dizzily to his feet. He winced in pain, a hand flying to his waist where a blot of red was spreading across his armor. His other hand slid into his pouch.

"Geez, are you alright?" Ellie asked as the great sword user drank down a potion.

"Yeah… ouch. I'm fine," Levin replied as he quickly tossed the bottle into the brush. He glanced over to the Lagiacrus as the creature pushed itself back to its feet and turned to face them. "We'll have to watch out for that from now on. It moves way, way too fast on wet sand like this."

"Right," Ellie replied. "But we can use it our advantage. It takes a long time for it to stop once it gets sliding like that."

Levin nodded. "Good to know." Levin reached down and picked his sword up off of the sand as the Lagiacrus growled a challenge at the two of them and charged towards them, clawing its way across the beach.

The two hunters ducked away from the Lagiacrus' charge, each going a separate direction as the creature slid between the pair of them. The leviathan slid to a halt right between the pair of them, and shot a quick glance back and forth between them, before deciding to go after Levin. The monster quickly whipped around to face the great sword user, as he put distance between the creature and himself, and charged towards him.

The Lagiacrus swung its head down towards Levin, forcing the hunter back as the creature's powerful jaw bit down at him. Levin had to keep his sword up guardedly as the massive creature attempted to bite down into him, trying to get around the bulk of metal held between the two of them. In a huff of irritation, the Lagiacrus suddenly pushed itself upright, carrying the bulk of its weight onto its hind legs.

Levin ducked backwards as the Lagiacrus crashed down into the sand, nearly losing his balance as the blast of air from the impact knocked him back a few feet. As the great sword user struggled to regain his balance, the leviathan lunged forward again, eager to bite through Levin's armor.

Ellie leapt forward quickly, though, and swung her sword down onto the creature's foot. Her blade, though not as sharp as Levin's, found a soft spot in the Lagiacrus' heel, and the weapon tore into the monster's flesh, gouging a long cut into the Lagiacrus' skin. The leviathan yelped in pain, twisting its head around to glare at her menacingly.

Ellie began to step back, trying to pull the Lagiacrus' attention from Levin, but to her surprise, the creature twisted its body around the other way from her. Ellie frowned in confusion, thinking the Lagiacrus had decided to run, but the creature continued to twist its head around until it had twisted itself into a coiled shape. The stance seemed familiar to Ellie somehow, even though she had never fought a Lagiacrus before, but she couldn't understand why…

Suddenly it hit her: the stance was similar to the Royal Ludroth's pose when the alpha male of the Ludroths was preparing to…

Before she could finish her thought, the Lagiacrus quickly uncoiled itself, and the creature's thick tail swung around at a blinding speed and smacked her crossways on her shield, knocking her back across the sand. She felt a flash of pain across her shoulder as the jagged plates of the Lagiacrus' tail cut lines of blood into her arm as it sent her across the beach.

As she forced herself to her feet, pushing down the feeling of pain, she heard the Lagiacrus howl in frustration, along with the sound of metal clanging. She glanced up and spotted Levin smashing his sword into the creature's thick neck, splintering the leviathan's shining blue scales and cutting shallow incisions into the monster. The Lagiacrus growled in anger, swinging its massive claw out, swatting at the great sword user as he leapt away from the creature's foreleg.

Ellie rushed forward again, intent on attacking the Lagiacrus while its attention was divided. But the creature caught sight of her as she approached, forcing her to slow down, cautiously raising her shield in case it attacked. But rather than lunge at her, the Lagiacrus reared its head back menacingly. Ellie watched nervously when suddenly the creature's gullet began to glow a pale blue hue. She realized that the leviathan's mouth wasn't the only thing glowing as well; the massive, clear blue spines covering its back began glowing ominously as well. Ellie's memory flickered to the monster manuals Levin had loaned her. What was the Lagiacrus doing, again?

"Ellie! Move!" As Levin charged towards the leviathan, attempting to stop its attack, Ellie remembered the book. The Lagiacrus could spit lighting!

She quickly lowered her shield, and twisted to the side to dive out of the way as the Lagiacrus' throat suddenly erupted with light. Out of the corner of her eye, Ellie saw the whole attack of the leviathan's attack unfold. From the base of the creature's gullet, where the eerie light was welling up from, a shining liquid, hypnotic pale blue in color, welled up in the back of the Lagiacrus' throat. For a fraction of a second, Ellie could see the substance coagulating in the back of the creature's mouth as it gathered it up into a thick enough mass. Even in mid-leap, Ellie found herself spellbound; the pale liquid glowed and pulsated with a mysterious power and aura, so much so that it seemed to be entrancing her.

But her senses snapped back to reality as the Lagiacrus inhaled and violently spat the radiant fluid at her. As a bowgunner, Ellie had to admit she was impressed; the mucus shot through the air with a speed and accuracy she only dreamt of when she was firing her own bowgun in the field. The thick secretion sparked and crackled in the humid air as it tore across the beach towards her, ribbons of electricity lancing out from the core to the ground below.

Even before Ellie managed to land as she dived away from the attack, the ball of lightning smashed into the sandy beach right where she had once been standing. The ball erupted in a blast of arcing electricity, which splashed around the impact zone. Ellie felt the heat of the shockwave as the blast expand, and the hair on the back of her neck began to stand up on end. Then an arc of lightning lanced up and grabbed a hold of her leg.

Ellie used to thick getting caught up in a pool of water when the poacher tossed in a shock trap was the most painful, nerve-jolting experience in existence. The surge of energy that tore through Ellie when the arc of electricity lanced into her body redefined the experience.

Her body immediately seized up as she tumbled to the ground. She desperately wanted to cry out in pain, but the muscles in her voice box seized up in her throat. As she rolled onto her back, her muscles began to twitch and spasm, making her gasp in pain as sharp stabbing needles bit into her in a thousand different places.

She heard Levin call out her name in worry as the Lagiacrus howled a victorious whoop. Despite the muscles in Ellie's neck twitching sporadically, she managed to crane her neck towards the direction of Levin and the Lagiacrus.

The great sword user rushed forward, red energy firing up the length of his sword into his body. As he closed the distance between himself and the leviathan, he swung his sword around close to the ground, spraying a wave of sand in all directions. Using the momentum, he swung it around and up and over his head, bringing it around towards the Lagiacrus.

But with a snap of the leviathan's arm, the massive sea monster smashed the great sword user across the chest and back across the beach. As Levin tumbled backwards into the sand, the Lagiacrus lurched forward, pushing itself gleefully across the beach towards Ellie as she lay immobile on the sand. A pillar of fear welled up inside her as the massive sea creature rushed her way, eyes glowing with its carnivorous intent.

"Get back here, you son of a bitch!" Levin roared at the creature as he leapt to his feet and charged after it. Ellie cringed at the sound of Levin's voice, despite her predicament; she'd never heard such a foul and hateful tone to his voice before. From behind the massive size of the Lagiacrus, she could make out the telltale glow of his sword's power seeping into him, despite the weapon being sheathed. The Lagiacrus seemed to hesitate, slowing for a moment at the sound of the great sword user's voice, but the prospect of a meal overcame its uncertainty and it continued its rush towards Ellie, the hungry look in its eyes growing more prominent.

The massive leviathan slid to a halt next to Ellie's body, and the young hunter winced in fear as several clumps of wet sand were kicked up onto her body. She desperately begged her body to move, her muscles to obey her commands and get her up and away from the Lagiacrus, but the current that surged through her kept her immobile and twitching.

The Lagiacrus leaned over greedily, eyeing Ellie. She shivered as she felt its moist breath on her as it opened its mouth and began lowering its head down towards her.

"I said STOP!" The Lagiacrus winced as Levin's voice howled over the sound of the rolling thunder in the distance. "I'll kill you, you goddamn monster!" The leviathan huffed indignantly, chancing a glance back at the other hunter before leaning in again to finish Ellie off.

Suddenly, the Lagiacrus lurched back a foot or so, and Ellie caught a look of surprise on the monster's face. It twisted around violently, and Ellie followed its glance. She had trouble seeing around the creature's bulk, but what she saw stunned her.

Levin, red light glowing with a fiery intensity the likes of which she'd never seen before, stood behind the Lagiacrus, his hands clamped firmly around the creature's tail. One arm was wrapped around the bulk of the appendage, while the other hand held tightly to one of the thick spines that lined from the creature's spine to the tip of its tail.

On Levin's face was a look that filled Ellie with fear, a look of unparalleled hatred she'd never seen on his face before or even imagined he possessed. With a growl of effort, the searing red light surrounding the great sword user flared brighter, and the young hunter yanked on the Lagiacrus' tail. With a yelp of surprise, the leviathan found itself dragged backwards another foot or so. The creature whipped its head around in shock, eyeing the hunter that was only a fraction of its size.

With a growl of repressed rage, the Lagiacrus whipped its tail around, lifting Levin up into the air as the great sword user desperately held on. The disorientation of becoming airborne had apparently shaken Levin, however, since the bright red glow around him faded significantly. Suddenly, his grip on the sea creature slipped, and the young hunter was dropped awkwardly to the ground.

The red light began to flare up again as Levin pushed himself to his feet, hand flying to the hilt of his sword as he prepared to attack. But the Lagiacrus swung its hip around, looping its tail into a wide arc. With a shattering sound like the crack of a whip, the Lagiacrus smashed its tail broadside into Levin, sending the great sword user flying several yards across the beach and sent tumbling into a dune at the head of the beach.

The Lagiacrus paused a moment as Levin tried to stand, disoriented and dizzy, then turned its attention once more to Ellie, determined to finish what it started. Ellie forced herself to focus, willing her body to move away from the creature before it bit down on her. The feeling of the voltage surging through her was fading, but she could still only manage to move her wrist somewhat, as well as her legs below the knee. But neither of those limbs were enough to help her escape as the Lagiacrus' jagged jaw closed in on her.

Then the Lagiacrus keeled back, howling in pain. Ellie tilted her head as best she could, glancing over to Levin. But the great sword user was still several yards away, recovering from the massive blow he'd received earlier. But if Levin hadn't attacked the creature, why was the Lagiacrus reeling in agony?

The Lagiacrus suddenly reared back and Ellie's skull felt as though it would split open as the leviathan unleashed an ear-shattering roar. It shuddered violently, though, as it finished its roar and the echo of the sound wave still rang in Ellie's ears. It pawed the ground violently, and its head began to thrash back and forth. Every few moments, it tried to move towards Ellie, but would reel back as though it had been struck, whimpering in suppressed pain before howling again in rage and frustration. And then it would try again, stepping forward towards the immobile hunter before a blast of pain knocked it back again.

Ellie stared in boggled confusion. What was it that kept causing the Lagiacrus pain? It didn't look injured in any way that she could see, yet it was as though something was forcing it back away from her.

The Lagiacrus was gasping for breath when suddenly Ellie felt a wash of numbness begin to crawl over her body. She quickly tested her muscles, and found that she could move once again. Not very well, but enough to get onto her feet and away from the howling leviathan next to her. She quickly rolled onto her stomach, and with what seemed like an outstanding effort on her part, managed to push herself to her feet. Without looking back, she began hobbling away from the Lagiacrus, not aiming to go anywhere in particular, but just _away_ from the creature.

The Lagiacrus' voice suddenly seemed to change in pitch, and Ellie chanced a glance back at the strange-acting creature. She noticed immediately that its eyes seemed different. Whereas when it had first attacked them, the eyes were hungry and determined, now they seemed fearful and weak. Ellie almost stopped to stare, when the Lagiacrus suddenly whipped its body around and practically sprinted towards Levin.

The still-recovering hunter was caught by surprise as the Lagiacrus rushed him, only just barely leaping out of the creature's way as it smashed into the dune, spraying clumps of wet sand everywhere. The young hunter's hand went instinctively to the hilt of his weapon, but the Lagiacrus snapped around almost immediately, teeth snapping violently towards the great sword user, forcing Levin to leap back defensively to avoid getting eaten.

Ellie noticed immediately that the Lagiacrus seemed to be attacking blindly now, as opposed to the calculated assault it had been conducting earlier in the battle. Rather than the cautious but extremely powerful attacks it had used before, it was now clawing at Levin like a creature backed into a corner, like it had everything to lose if the pair of hunters weren't immediately killed.

The red glow that had formerly engulfed Levin had also faded away once the great sword user had noticed Ellie hobbling away from the creature. But the explosive power that had once been there had been replaced by fear as the Lagiacrus relentlessly assaulted him, knocking him back across the beach further and further and pushing harder and harder, even as the great sword user pulled out his sword to try and block back the seemingly endless attacks of the leviathan.

Ellie's eyes widened in fear as the Lagiacrus suddenly pulled back its body, turning its side to Levin. Levin held his sword tighter in recognition, he and Ellie both remembering the stance from their second battle with the Royal Ludroth. And as predicted, the Lagiacrus swung its whole body at the great sword user. The force of the blow, even with Levin's great sword repelling the bulk of the impact, still blasted the young hunter backwards and sent him skidding harshly across the sand.

Even as Levin began to struggle to his feet, Ellie could see the Lagiacrus turn and begin charging again. She had to help him out somehow! But the tingle of the electricity from before still spiked occasionally through her, making her stride sporadic and uncertain. Frantically, she reached into her pouch, desperately searching for something to use against the creature.

Potions, antidotes, Qurupeco feathers; no, no, no.

A couple collapsible pickaxes. No. A pitfall trap? On this wet beach? No!

Depression began to trickle through her as she brushed aside a slab of monster guts and dug into the bottom of her pouch. Her hand landed on a few unfamiliar objects, and she quickly pulled them out. Her heart sank at the sight, however: just a few Para Shrooms, leftovers from the mission request she and Levin had undertaken a day ago. She'd forgotten to remove them while she was in Boma.

Then her memory flickered to life. Levin had mentioned something about Para Shrooms once, had laughed about some devious trick he'd heard about from one of the fishermen in Cobi village. Said it had been a hilarious idea, but took way too much effort and patience for someone like them to pull off successfully. But still…

What else did she have to lose?

She reached back into her pouch and pulled out the slab of monster guts she had been carrying around. She whipped out her hunters knife and swiftly cut a deep pocket into the side of the meat, then wedged the handful of Para Shrooms deep inside. Pulling a string out of her pouch, she tied the bundle of meat and mushrooms together, knotting the stuff together. Glancing it over, she realized that no sane creature would eat something so obviously jury-rigged… she'd have to get in close.

Pulling out her sword, she skewered the slab of tainted meat onto the end of the metal blade, and then turned back to the fight between Levin and the Lagiacrus. The pair of them were pretty far away by now, and Levin looked like he was on his last legs, the Lagiacrus still mindlessly assaulting him with no sign of stopping anytime soon. His sword, although new, was badly notched and dented from the endless attacks of the Lagiacrus' sharp claws and fangs. Ellie gently but urgently tested her muscles, and when they all reacted satisfactorily, she began sprinting over towards the leviathan.

As she approached the hunter and monster fighting each other, she saw Levin try to leap away from the sea creature and try to run her direction. He gave her a shocked and frightened look when she realized that she was running his way rather than away from the Lagiacrus. He tried to motion for her to run the other direction, but was forced to dive away as the leviathan rushed his way again, claws swinging and teeth snapping at him.

Ellie sprinted forward until she was only a few yards from the Lagiacrus. She swung her sword low to the ground as the creature kept its focus on Levin. With a clang of metal-on-plate, the blade glanced off the side of the sea monster's solid scales on its claws. The Lagiacrus failed to even notice and continued to try and bite its way around or through Levin's thick sword.

With a growl of frustration, Ellie brought both hands to the hilt of her sword and flipped it around. She swung it up above her head and with a roar of effort, swung it down onto the Lagiacrus' hind leg. The blade slid off the first scale it hit but wedged itself into the gap between one plate and the next. Ellie quickly twisted the hilt and the gap wedged itself wider, the blade of her sword beginning to bend under the torque. Once the gap was sufficiently wide enough, Ellie whipped out her hunter's knife, and with a quick thrust wedged it into the gap and piercing the Lagiacrus' thick skin.

The Lagiacrus howled in pain at the sudden injury as a gush of blood poured out of the wound. Ellie quickly held up her shield as the creature's head whipped around, eyeing her angrily. She kept her sword hidden behind her back as the creature turned towards her, making sure to keep it out of sight of the monster. Ellie noticed that the creature's head twitched slightly like it had before when the phantom injuries had been assaulting it earlier, but with the pain-delirious look it had on its face right now, Ellie highly doubted the Lagiacrus even felt it anymore.

Levin gave her a worried look, and moved as though to pull the creature's attention back to himself, but she shot a confident (well, _somewhat_ confident) look his way, forcing him to back off.

The Lagiacrus growled menacingly, and lunged its head towards Ellie, snapping its teeth violently against her shield. It howled in anger as Ellie danced to the left and right as it bit down at her, trying to connect but being deflected off the shield. Ellie could feel her arm growing numb from the repetitive impacts jarring her arm and shoulder, each blow feeling as though it would surely dislocate her shoulder.

Then the Lagiacrus pulled its head back and widened its jaw, preparing to do what it had to do to kill Ellie by destroying or devouring her arm, shield and all. Ellie tensed and forced herself into the slide her mind into the hyper-focus that always remained itching at the back of her mind. Her vision sharpened and narrowed until only the Lagiacrus' head remained visible in her eyes, it jagged and toothy maw growing wider and ever more menacing as it readied its lunge.

Then the creature snapped its head toward her, its blinding speed the moment she had been waiting for. With a burst of energy, she put the full force of her weight into sidestepping the creature's head. At the same time, she swung her sword out from behind her back, swinging it into the path of the creature's lunge.

The blade of Ellie's weapon entered the Lagiacrus' mouth as planned. As the edge connected with the edge of the creature's mouth, Ellie felt the heat of sparks fly down her arm as the metal of her sword clashed with the Lagiacrus' teeth. Ellie felt a moment of despair as she realized that even though she was hitting the creature in the mouth with her weapon, it still wasn't doing any damage. But the feeling was assuaged as there was a light tug on the hilt of her sword, the slab of monster guts catching on the Lagiacrus' back teeth and onto the creature's tongue as its head slid past her.

The Lagiacrus abruptly swiveled its head back around towards Ellie, ready to strike again when it slowed to a stop. It paused in confusion, caught in a moment of shock when it realized there was meat on its tongue already. It glanced down at Ellie with a puzzled look on its face, surprised to see Ellie standing and mostly uninjured, despite the collection of fresh meat it had sitting patiently on its tongue.

_Come on, come on_, Ellie urged silently. _Just swallow it already_.

The Lagiacrus stared at Ellie for a moment longer in confusion, before shaking its shoulders in what Ellie imagined was the sea monster's best imitation of a shrug. Not one to pass up a free meal, the Lagiacrus quickly tilted its head back, consuming the slab of monster guts in one go. Then its head snapped back down to face Ellie, the violent and half mad look still gleaming in its eyes.

Ellie leapt back frantically as the Lagiacrus lurched forward again, attempting to clamp its teeth down on her. She ducked away, but winced in pain as the sharp edges of the leviathan's spines clipped her in the shoulder, leaving a long gouge in her arm which trickled a bright line of blood down her forearm.

She cursed under her breath and pulled away from the Lagiacrus. The creature didn't even look phased! How long would it take before the mushrooms took effect? For that matter, the Lagiacrus was enormous; were there even enough mushrooms inside the meat to affect the large sea monster?

Levin had caught sight of Ellie's plan as she had forced the slab of monster guts into the creature's mouth, and had a grin of pride and amusement on his face. But at the sight of her being forced back by the enraged Lagiacrus, he rushed forward, no longer content to stand back and allow Ellie to take the full force of the creature by herself. Dragging his sword along the ground as he charged the creature, as he got close enough, he swung the blade up, spraying a wave of sand across the creature's hide as the massive blade smashed into the Lagiacrus' chest, shattering several of the monster's thick scales.

The Lagiacrus reared back in anger, and twisted its head around violently, ramming its snout into Levin's side and sending the great sword user tumbling backwards. Ellie leapt forward to cut at the creature's head while it was at her level, but the Lagiacrus swiveled its body around as it turned, ramming its torso into Ellie. She managed to bring up her shield in time, but the force of the impact sent a shattering blast of pain up Ellie's arm as her muscles and bones groaned and strained under the blow.

The Lagiacrus' howls and roars of rage began to become increasingly enraged and more and more frequent as the two hunters ducked and dodged around the leviathan. However, although the Lagiacrus seemed to be losing its coherency over the situation it was in, Ellie and Levin were by and far the worse off from the encounter. Despite its maddened and pained state, the sea monster was still far stronger and more stamina than both of the hunters combined, and as the pair of them waited and hoped for the Para Shrooms to take effect, they found themselves becoming desperately tired and battered.

Ellie herself was down to her last two potions, and Levin hadn't taken one in a while, leaving Ellie to suspect and fear that he might be out of them; he had been pulling most of the Lagiacrus' attention towards himself through the course of the battle, after all. It was to be expected that he was probably taking a bigger beating than Ellie was.

Suddenly, as the Lagiacrus lurched forward towards Ellie, attempting to use its bulk to crush her into the sand, the creature's legs gave out from underneath it. The creature wailed in surprise as its body toppled over into the sand, rolling it onto its side. The creature's torso began to shiver violently, the spines of the creature digging its mass into the wet sand as the soil heaved back and forth under the Lagiacrus' weight.

The Lagiacrus howled in shock and fear as the effects began to spread from the torso, first sending his tail and legs into spasms, then beginning to work its way up the creature's serpentine neck. The Lagiacrus' cries of confusion were quickly snuffed out as the effects of the mushrooms reached its voice box, making the only sound it could make a confused and confounded gurgling akin to a death rattle.

"Now!" Levin screamed, swinging his sword back into its sheath. "Let's get out of here!"

Ellie didn't need to be told twice. Sliding her own sword back into its scabbard, she turned and began sprinting in the direction of Boma, with Levin close behind. Every few seconds, she tossed a terrified glance over her shoulder, fearful that the Lagiacrus would recover before the pair of them could manage to get out of the creature's area. She wished desperately that she could run faster and farther, but the battle had taken a toll on both her and Levin's stamina, and the two of them found themselves gasping for air before they'd managed to cap the first dune.

They'd made it nearly a quarter mile down the beach when the Lagiacrus' powerful, bone-rattling roar echoed furiously towards them. The two hunter's shot a look back and saw the creature rolling to its feet and glaring down the beach at them. Ellie could almost sense the leviathan's immense hatred even from this distance.

"Get to the trees!" Levin said, pointing to the forest line. "It's too big to follow us through the forest easily!"

Ellie nodded and the two of them began running over to the tree line as the howling of the Lagiacrus weighed heavily on their ears. Gasping for breath, Ellie shot a glance over to the Lagiacrus. The creature was rearing back again, preparing to charge…

No! That was the stance it used earlier!

"Faster!" Ellie cried. "It's gonna slide at us!"

Levin winced in fear and the pair of them began running faster. A veritable explosion seemed to erupt from the direction of the Lagiacrus, and a terrifying rumbling and crunching sound began filling their ears as it grew louder and closer. The two hunters sprinted full tilt towards the trees, desperate to escape before the sea monster could catch up to them.

Just a few yards from the trees, Ellie suddenly lurched backwards as a powerful grip yanked at her from behind.

"Look out!" she heard Levin scream.

A fraction of a second later, the trees and sand in front of her suddenly splintered into toothpicks as a massive wall of metallic blue suddenly rammed full-force into the tree line. The rumbling sound from before was replaced with the screech and tearing of wood and lumber as trunk and bush were uprooted and ripped asunder. Branches and leaves were thrown into the sky, carried every direction by the increasing wind speeds, creating a wall of debris that drifting down onto the massive body of the Lagiacrus.

The creature itself was still for only a moment as the two hunters gaped in shocked horror at the sight of their escape route cut off by the very monster they had just tried to escape. The leviathan groaned for a moment, then began wrenching itself free of the bent and twisted limbs of the trees. The two hunters quickly pulled themselves into an exhausted battle stance as the monster turned and eyed them angrily.

The massive creature lunged forward, catching the pair of hunters by surprise at the speed it still possessed. Before the two hunters could move, the sea monster snaked its serpentine head between the pair of them and quickly snapped it back to the side.

Ellie watched in shock as one of the massive spikes that lined the Lagiacrus' neck twisted underneath Levin's guard. With a flexible twist, the sea serpent hooked its neck upward, sending the jagged point of the spike right into and through Levin's leg.

Levin gasped in shock, but before he could cry out in pain, the Lagiacrus reared back, trying to pull its head back up to full height. However, the spike that was driven though Levin's leg held fast, and the young hunter was dragged onto his back and along the sand, holding down the leviathan's head near the ground. Levin cried out in pain as the Lagiacrus howled in frustration, and desperately tried to free himself as the monster shook its head, attempting to free itself from the excess weight.

At that moment, perhaps due to the stress of battle, or maybe the simple weariness caused by the whole situation, or even the fear at realizing what a terrible situation they were in and the danger Levin was facing, something inside Ellie seemed to snap. Without a second's thought, the sword user blindly rushed forward, screaming bloody murder at the leviathan as it bobbed its head wildly. Ellie pulled back her sword and swung it down at the creature's face.

The Lagiacrus, though disoriented and unbalanced, realized the threat of the weapon and attempted to rear back its head from the attack. It managed to move the bulk of its face from the path of the sword, but with a ringing clang, the weapon clashed violently against the spines on the creature's neck. With a loud cracking sound, several of the spines, including the one that Levin was currently attached to, snapped off of the creature's face, dropping the writhing great sword user to the ground with a thud.

The Lagiacrus howled in anger and pain as the spikes snapped off its face, turning its rage towards the crazed Ellie. It quickly dove in at her, snapping its powerful jaws down on the hunter's shield as she held it up defensively, attempting to wrench it, and her arm, free. In its own enraged state, the Lagiacrus managed to completely lift Ellie off of the ground, shaking her like a ragdoll in the air as she held on.

The blind anger from only a moment ago vanished as Ellie realized her predicament, and fear began to trickle over her as the Lagiacrus shook her above the ground. In her panic, her sword tumbled from her grasp and clattered uselessly to the sand below. Terror overwhelmed her as the feeling of hopelessness filled her senses.

With no other options available, she quickly shoved her hand into her pouch, desperate to find something, _anything_ that could help her survive this situation. She blindly began pulling out random objects and throwing them aimlessly at the Lagiacrus' head, hoping beyond anything else that something would work. Her hand landed on something blunt and metallic, and without a second thought, she pulled the object out of her bag and blindly swung it at the Lagiacrus' mouth. With a clang, she felt the metal thing wedge itself into the Lagiacrus' teeth, and then tumble into the creature's mouth.

Ellie glanced up wildly at the object she'd shoved into the Lagiacrus' mouth, and realized that it was the Pitfall Trap she'd brought along with her. With a last glimmer of hope, an idea sprouted inside her mind. With only desperation remaining to her, she reached right into the Lagiacrus' mouth and twisted the activation dial on the trap.

There were a few moments where nothing happened, then with a whirring sound, the trap snapped open and began to unravel. The electric crystals unhinged themselves from the device, and snapped out. Where on any other surface, they would have entered the soil and emitted a charge, in this situation they clicked down and wedged themselves into the flesh of the Lagiacrus' mouth, unleashing their voltage directly into the creature's body.

The Lagiacrus howled in agony as thousands of volts that weren't his to control ripped through his skull. As the creature screamed in pain, its mouth widened enough for it to drop Ellie to the ground. The impact on the ground knocked the wind out of Ellie, and a heavy weariness seemed to completely overcome her; she could barely move at all, and could only watch as the situation unfolded in front of her.

The Lagiacrus howled in pain as the electric metal needles swung and swayed as the creature twisted its head, the mechanisms inside the trap forcing the high-voltage crystals to search out a point to wedge themselves in. Searing arcs of current ripped out across the leviathan's face as the tendrils of electricity burned into the Lagiacrus' face and mouth. The sea monster flailed backwards across the beach, screaming in pain as the energy designed to charge soil shot through his brain.

Then it was as though the Lagiacrus was vomiting brown goop, as the net woven into the pitfall trap began to unravel on the trap's timer. The rods and wires that stitched the net together appeared to sprout from the Lagiacrus' mouth and began to wrap around the creature's head and neck, like an old sci-fi blob from the old movies Ellie used to watch back home. The Lagiacrus wailed in fear as the thick, vine-like material spread across its face and slowly worked its way down the monster's neck. The leviathan snapped its teeth madly down onto the thick webbing material, even against the voltage of the crystals. But the thick coils held even against the Lagiacrus' powerful jaws, barely even fraying as the creature gnashed his teeth.

Finally, with a howl of despair, the Lagiacrus twisted its body around, running blindly towards the sound of the ocean in an attempt to escape the cruel torture it was undergoing. Several yards from the rolling waves, the creature suddenly screamed in pain and reared its head back. Ellie recognized the now-familiar sign of the mysterious phantom pain that had been overtaking the Lagiacrus the entire battle.

Watching from a relatively neutral position, Ellie began to feel as though whatever was causing the Lagiacrus pain seemed to be more leading the leviathan's actions rather than just randomly causing it to suffer. Once or twice, she saw the Lagiacrus seemingly begin to swivel around, as though it was deciding to attack once more, only to be overcome with fear again and try to make its way to the safety of the ocean again.

The struggle between the Lagiacrus and the phantom pain continued for a minute or two. Finally, the sea monster released a final wail of agony, and with a powerful kick, leapt up into the air and dove cleanly into the water. Ellie watched as an eruption of electric blue light flashed up from the dark blue-green ocean water as the Pitfall Trap's crystals hit the water. But the light slowly dimmed and flew further and further into the distance as the Lagiacrus swam away from the shore, and soon there was no sign of the Lagiacrus out to sea. Only the churning waves and rumbling thunder in the distance remained.

Ellie felt darkness descending upon her, but her aching bones and muscles cried out for rest too much for her to resist their call. With a sigh of relief and weariness, she closed her eyes.

* * *

As feeling began to return to Ellie's senses and her consciousness began to piece itself back together, she came to realize she was being dragged somewhere.

She tiredly opened her eyes, and for a moment or two, only allowed herself to gaze down at the ground below her as the grass and roots of trees slowly crawled by in off-step motions. She realized she was being held up by the torso, with an arm around her scratched and battered waist. She glanced over and saw that it was Levin, pulling her along to Boma. He saw her turn towards him and looked her way, meeting her eyes with their faces only inches apart.

"Thank… goodness," he gasped weakly, giving her a tired grin. "You're awake. I was… urk… worried the Lagiacrus might've done more damage to you than… I thought."

Her memories of the fight came flooding back and her eyes shot to Levin's leg, where a long broken spine remained wedged into his calf. She gasped in shock, quickly shoving herself off of Levin's support. The sudden jolt seemed to be too much for Levin and the great sword user slumped to the ground, breathing raggedly.

"Oh, jeez! Your leg! I'm so sorry! You… I… You need to get that out!"

"No! No," Levin gasped, waving her off. "We… we don't have any medical materials left anymore. If you… if you pull it out, we won't be able to stop the bleed… bleeding. We need to… get back to Boma first. Orson can look at it then."

Ellie stood there, realizing Levin was probably right. "Fine. Fine, then." She glanced around, somewhat recognizing the area. "How far are we from Boma now?"

"Not… not too far," Levin replied. "About a… quarter mile east from here… I think."

"We should hurry then," Ellie replied, glancing up at the darkening sky. She couldn't tell if the darkness was from the time of day or impending rain, but she didn't want to risk either. She held out a hand. "Come on. This time, I'm carrying _you_ along, got it?"

Levin grinned weakly and took her hand, accepting her help as he staggered to his feet, wincing as he accidentally put weight on his impaled leg. "If you… if you insist, Miss Ellie."

"I do."

Thirty minutes of slow, cautious travel later, the pair of hunters finally crested the last hill, and spotted Boma off in the distance, lanterns and torches glaring brightly in the darkness of the thundering clouds. The two of them grinned at each other, and slowly began working their way down towards the city gates, Levin hobbling awkwardly the whole way.

A hundred yards out or so, the city watch caught sight of them, injured and struggling, and in a minute or two, several minutemen had sprinted their way over and began helping the two along on their way back into Boma Village. The pair received glances of worry and confusion as they were escorted through the village, making a bee line straight to the medical hut, where Orson, no doubt tipped off by the flying rumors, stood waiting worriedly for them at the door.

In what seemed like a flash, the village doctor had uncorked a pair of bottles that he seemed to pull out of nowhere and was urging the pair of them to drink them down. Ellie didn't even feel like questioning the mysterious fluid and swallowed the substance immediately. In only a few moments, she felt an intense weariness overcome her. But unlike earlier, she accepted the sleep that came upon her without fear or worry, and let herself drift off.

* * *

She felt like she slept for years.

When she finally awoke, she saw sun shining in through the paper-thin blinds of the medical hut. From what she could see of the sky, the clouds were breaking off finally, and the clouds were beginning to turn back to a soft, gentle white as opposed to their former ominous black.

She glanced down at her body and was somewhat disturbed to see the lines of gauzes that coated her arms and torso. Her armor lay tattered and worn, hung over one of the chairs not too far away from her bed. She thought she should've felt embarrassed at the knowledge that someone had undressed her without her assent, but she was so relieved to be alive right now that she didn't much care either way.

"You're finally awake I see, Miss Eleanor," a relieved voice said.

She tilted her head to the side, glancing over to the chair next to the bed she lay in. Marshall sat in the seat, smiling down on her with bags under his eyes. As her eyes wandered, she noticed Levin on the bed on the other side of Marshall's seat. The great sword user was covered with bandages, and his wounded leg was elevated above the bed. She sighed in relief when she heard he was breathing softly, as opposed to the ragged breathing she'd heard the night before.

Marshall followed her glance and chuckled. "He'll be fine," he told her. "Orson's a city slicker, but there's no one better when it comes to injuries of any kind. His leg will heal."

"But," Ellie began, and was surprised at how weak her voice sounded. "But what about…"

"The exam?" Marshall finished for her. "Don't worry about that. You'll both be in top shape in time to take part. But before we discuss that any further, I'd like to ask you about _this_."

He reached behind him onto a small table that stood between the beds, and picked up a small, thin object. He held it up for Ellie to see and she recognized it instantly: it was the Lagiacrus' spike. A line of dried blood still clung to the side of the sharp bone, flaking off slightly under Marshall's touch.

"A Lagiacrus is a powerful and deadly enemy," Marshall said quietly. "This spike proves that not only have you seen one, you have also fought it and managed to at least survive. But Lagiacrus aren't supposed to come to this area very often, and I'm positive the two of you aren't foolhardy enough to challenge such a creature without good reason. Now, please; tell me what happened."

Ellie was silent for a few moments as she collected her thoughts. Then she began her story, beginning with the successful hunt of the Qurupeco and ending when she'd woken up being carried by Levin. Marshall sat quietly, allowing Ellie to speak without interruption, thinking solemnly while she spoke.

As Ellie finished telling what had happened, she gave Marshall a confused look. "What I still don't understand," she said, "is what was causing the Lagiacrus such pain. I… I don't think we would've won if the Lagiacrus hadn't kept getting injured by… whatever was injuring it. What couldn't done that to such a powerful creature?"

Marshall frowned. "I'm not sure. The Lagiacrus is called the King of the Seas, and not without reason. It takes a skilled and experienced hunter to fight a Lagiacrus and win. But to cause the monster pain like that? I'm not certain. A virus, or disease perhaps?"

"I've never heard of a disease that acts like that."

"Stranger things have happened," Marshall replied. "I'm not sure what caused the Lagiacrus to act as it did, Miss Eleanor. It is as much a mystery to me as it no doubt is to you. But for now, let us simply be thankful that whatever it was assaulted the Lagiacrus, or else those poor fishermen you helped might very well be in the Lagiacrus' belly right now."

"Do you know where those fishermen came from?" Ellie asked. "I'd like to make sure they're all right."

Marshall grinned. "Thanks to you and Levin, I'm sure they are. But for your sake, I'll ask around. I know some folks in the villages near here, and they'll tell me if any of their fishermen are singing the praises of a couple young hunters that saved them."

Ellie grinned. "All we did was get our butts handed to us by a monster that far outclassed us."

Marshall chuckled. "Sometimes that's all it takes to become a hero to someone. Now, you get some rest, Miss Eleanor. I'm sure you'll want to be in top form for the examination, and rushing around while your injured is a sure way to make sure you're not."

"Whatever you say, Marshall," Ellie said, laying back onto her pillow. She suddenly felt very tired again, despite the hours of sleep she'd had through the course of the night, and soon felt herself drifting off to dreamland once more.

"Hey Marshall," she muttered before losing consciousness.

"Yes?"

"Do you really think we're ready for something like the hunter's exam? I mean, we're not as strong as you folks, or as tough, or…"

Ellie was cut off as Marshall laughed softly. "Believe me, Miss Eleanor. I believe you're plenty ready, now more than ever."

"Good to hear," Ellie muttered, feeling the weight of her eyelids bearing down on her.

"Sleep well, Miss Eleanor," Marshall said softly.

"'Night," Ellie grinned as she drifted back to sleep.

* * *

**Author's Note: Please Review!**

**I'm done with finals! Hell yeah! I hope you like the chapter, because I enjoyed writing this one!**

**Also, this was spotted pretty quickly one of my watchers, Laceathian, but Orage Dell is named after the Monster Hunter manga written and drawn by Mashima Hiro; the same guy wrote Rave Master and Fairy Tail. If you like reading that kind of thing, look it up! It's good stuff. **

**I don't think I've mentioned this before, but the goal I set for myself when I decided to write this little tale was to try and put down at least 1000 words a day. Now, sometimes I go over or under, but the 1k is my goal. Sometimes I write a lot more because I'm excited about the part of the story I'm writing, and sometimes it just drags along because I'm all 'arrgh I don't wanna write this paaaart…' Still, that's my target: 1000 words a day. So you can kind of guess how many days it takes me to write a chapter based on my average chapter length.**

**On a side note, to any reader out there willing to review, do any of you think I've improved at all in my writing abilities during the course of the last 13 chapters? Every author likes to imagine that everything he writes improves their skill, but I'd like an outside opinion. Anyone got anything to say on what I've improved on (if anything) since the beginning of this little tale?**

**Reading: The Hades Factor by Robert Ludlum, Wizard and Glass by Stephen King  
Playing: Portal 2, BFBC2, Half Life 2: Episode 2  
Listening: Lucky Boys Confusion, Manchester Orchestra, Matchbox 20, The Album Leaf**


	14. The Forest Arena

The Forest Arena

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. All the characters in this story are mine._

"Out of the way, out of the way!"

A pair of ship hands that were lounging near the side of the ship immediately sidestepped away from the railing of the ship as Levin lurched towards the side of the ship and retched what remained of his lunch into the clear blue waters below. Over the last few days of sea travel, the members of the crew had come to recognize Levin's voice as the examinee spent most of his time requesting people to remove themselves from the railings of the ship.

One of the crew members shook his head in disgust at the sight of Levin leaning wearily over the edge of the ship, but the other sailor, a man who appeared much older and experienced than the other, simply laughed. "Still ain't got your sea legs, eh, hunter?"

"Not really," Levin muttered, spitting out some mucus that lingered in the back of his throat. "I think I left them unwatched for a moment and someone stole them from me."

The sailor chuckled. "Lot of land folks like you seem to have that problem."

"Yeah, I'm sure," Levin grumbled. "How much longer until we get to Orage, anyway?"

"Late afternoon, probably," the grinning sailor replied. "Nightfall at the latest, I think. Probably an hour or so in reality, though. But don't you worry your little head none. In a big town like that, there's no worry of the two of you having trouble getting around, even in the black of night. Certain places in that town never quiet down or grow dim."

"Huh," Levin said. "That wasn't really what I was worried about, but it's good to know."

The sailor chuckled. "Ah, right. You just want to know when you'll be safe on dry land again. Well, now you know."

"Thanks," Levin sighed, leaning back over the railing.

"Let's get out of here," the other ship hand muttered quietly to the other.

"Aw, what's your hurry?" the first replied, turning away from Levin as the two began to walk away. "Nothing wrong with putting off work for a few minutes to chat with the travelers."

"That's not the problem," the other hissed, thinking he was out of Levin's hearing range. "It's because he's one of _them_."

"Them what?" the first asked, confused.

"You know, the _Lost_. They're crazy, you know? That's all they're saying of them the closer you get to Loc Lac. The lot of them, mad in the head! Bad luck too, I heard."

"Right, and I'm sure they glow in the dark and turn into Jaggis under the light of the full moon too." The first sailor scoffed and with a quick swing of his hand he smacked the other sailor upside the head. "Don't go around believing stories you hear from idiots with nothing better to do than tell tales of people they don't like, you moron."

Levin smirked slightly as he stared out towards the shoreline off in the distance. He was glad someone on this ship was on his and Ellie's side.

Ever since the pair of them had boarded the ship bound for Orage Dell, he'd heard nothing but complaints and worried whispers spoken in hushed voices behind his and Ellie's backs as they'd traveled. At first he'd thought it was because the pair of them were hunters, which he had to admit seemed to be a bit of a rarity in this area of the world.

But as the journey towards Orage continued, he'd become more and more confused about the actions of the other passengers, especially after several other hunters boarded the ship and got along with the other travelers just fine. Then, one day while he was below deck, he'd overheard a conversation between two other passengers on the ship, a pair of merchants from Loc Lac, speaking quietly between themselves. He'd about been ready to turn the corner when the word "Lost" popped up. It wasn't so much the word that made him pause, but rather the way they spoke it, like it was some sort of curse to them.

For the next few minutes, Levin stood in silent shock as the two of them discussed how they felt unsafe in his and Ellie's presence, and how the pair of them was planning of requesting the captain to leave them at the next port. The pair of merchants personally believed that the Lost in general seemed to be a source of recurring bad luck.

Luckily for Levin, most of the crew of the ship, including the captain, didn't seem to care one way or another about whether or not they were members of the Lost. Later in the day after overhearing the two merchants, Levin had heard a rather large argument ensue in the captain's quarters, and took a certain delight in seeing the captain himself toss the two men out of his cabin on their butts. But it seemed that the pair had spread their feelings towards the Lost to the other passengers, because most of their fellow travelers, merchants and aristocrats and other hunters and the like, were skittish of the two of them. There had even been a couple of occasions where certain other passengers wouldn't want to even be in the same room as him or Ellie.

"Hey there, partner. Still seasick?"

Levin thoughts slid to a halt at the familiar voice and he turned with a sickly grin. "Seems that way, Miss Ellie. I'll be better once we reach shore, though."

Ellie smirked. "What a sight. Here you are, a hunter apprentice preparing to take the exam, right after helping to repel a Lagiacrus, and your greatest threat is the rocking of a boat."

"Just another battle with my mortal foe: the tide."

Ellie laughed, walking over and joining him at the railing of the boat. "Thinking about the two punks that tried to get us booted off again, huh?"

"Is it that obvious?" Levin asked sullenly.

"Yeah, pretty much," Ellie replied. "You've been getting this sort of pouting expression on your face every time you've got those two morons on your mind, like they kicked your puppy or something."

Levin frowned and felt his face heat up in embarrassment. "I wasn't pouting. I was… glowering."

Ellie grinned and rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say, Mister Levin."

"How come they don't bother you?" Levin asked. "I mean, they're telling such lies about us and making all the other passengers avoid us. Why aren't you angry? Or at least irritated?"

Ellie looked at Levin and shook her head with a smirk. "Because I honestly don't give a rat's ass what the hell they think about me. I mean, come on. A bunch of rich punks who've probably never talked to any of the Lost? If they're so cowardly that they have to resort to keeping to the other side of the boat just because they think I might be trouble, then they're not worth my time. What do I care what people like that think about me if they won't even take the trouble to find out whether what they've heard about the Lost is true or not?"

Levin stared at Ellie, mouth gaping for a moment, before keeling over in laughter. He knew he had to be receiving a few odd looks from the other passengers on the deck, but at the moment, he really didn't care. As the chuckles began to subside, he grinned at his partner. "Geez. Here I am feeling down about that and you just blow the whole issue to pieces. You're right; I shouldn't worry about what those idiots say, should I?"

"Now you're getting it," Ellie replied. Then her grin faltered and she gave Levin a more solemn look. "By the way, have you done anymore thinking? You know, about… why the Lagiacrus acted the way it did?"

Levin smile faded as well at the reminder of the information they'd received since their fight with the Lagiacrus.

* * *

The first day or so weren't much to talk about. Both he and Ellie had spent the whole next day and night under Doc Orson's watchful eye, constantly under surveillance to make certain neither of them tried to overexert themselves in any way. Levin couldn't even get up to hobble over to the restroom without a procession of medical attendants making sure that not even the slightest of pressures was placed on his wounded leg.

When Levin had finally gotten fed up enough to complain about the fragile treatment, Orson had simply glared him down and told them that he'd had far too many wounded hunters under his watch over the course of his experience as a doctor. Most of said hunters tended to believe themselves walking tanks, and a few broken bones and ruptured organs were nothing that couldn't be walked off in a few hours, certain that they could go hunting the next day. Orson had given Marshall, who was checking in on them at the time, an accusing look, and the older hunter had been forced to grin sheepishly.

Since he'd arrived in Boma, Orson explained, he'd taken into the habit of making certain any and all hunters under his care were tended to fully, even if such treatment required the patient to be drugged under the entirety of their healing time. For their own sake, of course. Orson had given Levin a challenging glare with the last remark, as though daring the young hunter to try and prove him wrong. Levin wasn't one to tempt fate, however, and quickly nodded in acceptance, allowing himself to sink deeper into the cot he lay on while shooting a nervous grin at the glaring doctor.

He'd been thusly forced to spend the next few days in the medical hut, nearly going out of his mind with boredom as his leg slowly mended. Orson's methods of healing were certainly fast, faster than anything Levin had ever heard of, but for the scar tissue on his leg to completely heal over took time. Ellie had gotten to leave Orson's watch only a day or two after their fight with the Lagiacrus, but she'd been perfectly willing to visit for several hours a day to help Levin from going nuts.

In the meantime, while the pair of them recovered, Marshall had sent out several letters to villages in the surrounding area, requesting information on any fishing ships that met with a Lagiacrus recently. The older hunter had informed the two apprentices that a response was not wholly likely, since no right-minded fisherman would've gone out into such treacherous waters willingly. Admitting to doing so would likely earn them ire from their own village, if for no other reason because they'd risked one of the village's ships.

However, much to the older hunter's surprise, the village received a letter from a neighboring village to the north only a couple days later, informing Marshall that some of their fishermen had been the ones Levin and Ellie had helped.

The letter stated that their fishing fleet had been hired by a rather wealthy merchant to search for a particular sea creature that possibly dwelled in the area. A little island village had apparently sent in a report of a large sea-faring elder dragon that had been causing earthquakes in their area. The dragon had been dealt with by the local hunter, but several scholars and nobles had been flocking to the area in order to study the creature.

In the case of the fishing village that had sent the letter, however, the merchant wanted to know the location of such a creature so he could send in hunters to kill it. His goal was to essentially stuff and mount the corpse in a large ballroom as a decoration. The fishermen of the village had planned to bunker down during the course of the choppy weather, but the merchant, having a soirée coming up, had demanded the fleet to make sail anyway. The village had been reticent, but the money was too good to pass up and they had sent their fleet out anyway.

"He did WHAT?" Ellie had growled at hearing this little piece of information. "That bastard risked the lives of who-knows-how-many people for the sake of a damn _party_? And he was going to top it off by sending out hunters to fight an elder dragon? Bastard!"

"I'm afraid such things are common, Miss Eleanor," Marshall sighed, looking up from the letter. "Not all hunting missions consist of removing a threat to the safety of the people, or searching out materials for the village. Sometimes, you're simply helping someone with enough money to stroke their ego. You've done missions of the like before you know; collecting monster meat or eggs for a party. They're very much the same."

"Yeah, but this is an elder dragon we're talking about!" Ellie had replied. "Wouldn't something like that be considered too dangerous to treat like a passing fancy?"

"You'd think so, wouldn't you? But I don't make the rules, Miss Eleanor, I just try and follow them. If it makes you feel any better, most hunters don't volunteer for such obscene hunts unless they simply enjoy a challenge or are really hurting for money."

"It doesn't make me feel any better at all," Ellie huffed, slumping into her seat.

"Neither does it me, Miss Eleanor," Marshall admitted.

The letter went on to say that one of their ships that had been sent south, had been heading back due to threatening weather on the horizon. On their way, they had spotted a Lagiacrus off in the distance. The crew had made immediate motions to get as far away from the creature as they possibly could.

However, before they could, they claimed the strangest thing happened. The leviathan had suddenly begun howling in what the fishermen thought was pain. The Lagiacrus, which had formerly simply been making its way out to sea, suddenly made an abrupt turn, directly towards the shoreline to the south of them. Later, thinking back on the incident, some of the fishermen had come to the conclusion that the creature had suddenly begun making a bee line for Boma Village.

But before the ship could do anything else, the Lagiacrus suddenly spotted them and lurched directly towards them. It wasn't long after the creature began assaulting them, destroying one of their masts in the process, that Levin and Ellie had intervened, somehow managing to pull the creature's ire from them. In fear for their lives, the frightened fishermen had immediately raised what sails they still had and began hurrying north back to their own village.

The information had only raised more questions between the three hunters of Boma Village. Marshall, in all his knowledge and experience fighting Lagiacrus during the course of his life as a hunter, fighting enough of them to have ordered and built an entire set of armor based off of their scales and plates, had never seen or even heard of a Lagiacrus acting in such a way.

"They're generally solitary creatures, only meeting up with others of their kind during their mating season," Marshall had said. "They tend to keep to themselves, defending their territories from invaders and the like. But their habitats generally are several miles out to sea, and they don't come to shore unless food is scarce or they lose their territory to another, more powerful Lagiacrus."

"Then why would one of them decide to head towards Boma?" Levin asked. "If we're not a part of their territory, why would they head this way?"

"That's what's confusing me," Marshall admitted, frowning and furrowing his brow. "The Lagiacrus' food supply should be abundant since there hasn't been any lack of fish recently. Perhaps the reason it began to head towards Boma is the same reason it didn't attack the boat and went after you instead: that phantom pain that was assaulting it."

Levin felt himself flinch visibly as he lay in the medical bed. He shot a quick glance between the other two hunters, but neither of them had seen the look. At Marshall's words, the only thing that Levin could think about was a single sentence, spoken to him in what he'd thought… hoped was only a dream.

**Protect that village of yours well, boy. I'm going to have it destroyed**.

"Hey old man," Levin asked cautiously. "What would've happened if the Lagiacrus hadn't run into the fishing boat and had made it all the way to Boma?"

Marshall glanced at Levin with a grimace. "I shudder to think about that, Levin," he admitted. "Even if, when the Lagiacrus first arrived at Boma, I was already fully armed and ready, and even if the two of you had been around to back me up, the damages and lives lost here in the village would have been… horrifying, to say the least. A Lagiacrus is a powerful and dangerous enemy, even under the best of circumstances. Even with all three of us working against it, the Lagiacrus likely could have destroyed half of Boma before we could stop it."

Levin slumped back in his bed, mind racing. Fear began to well up inside of him as the realization that his dream may have been more than he thought hit home. The implications alone were terrifying him.

"Are you alright Levin?" Ellie had asked. A look of concern had crossed her face as Levin's own had shown his feeling of fear.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," he lied, covering up his fear with a fake grin. Ellie didn't seem to be buying it, though, but didn't pursue the issue. Levin sighed inwardly in relief.

Over the next several days, Marshall and Ellie spent a lot of time contemplating what it could have been that sent the Lagiacrus their way. Ellie would constantly question Levin about what he thought, sensing that he knew something more than he let on. Levin did his best to keep her off his back, throwing bland ideas out to assuage her suspicions. But her insistence was beginning to break him down, her worry tearing down his resistance. He knew she had his best intentions in mind and that was what was wearing him closer to telling her.

The arrival of the ship to Orage Dell had somewhat relieved him of his worries. With the impending trip to the hunter's exam right on top of them, Ellie's attentions began getting pulled away from questions about the Lagiacrus and more towards focusing on the test that lay ahead of the both of them. And for that, Levin was glad. That left the whole issue of the voice in from his dreams only to him. If there was one thing he didn't want, it was to get Ellie involved in… whatever it was that was happening to him.

* * *

And yet here they were, probably at least a hundred miles or so from Boma Village, with only a few hours or less from the city where they would be taking the hunter's examination, and Ellie was still trying to pry her way into Levin's mind. He had to admire her tenacity, but he was getting more and more worried. Sooner or later he was going to lose his control over his own fears and insecurities and break down and tell her. And he couldn't let that happen.

He shrugged and grinned at her. "I haven't really gotten anymore ideas outside of really bad sci-fi machines. You know the type: brainwashing beams, long-range mind control, that type of thing. Honestly, even though the Lagiacrus thing has been weighing on my mind, I've been a little preoccupied the last few days worrying about the hunter's exam."

Ellie paused for a moment, then grinned in response. "Yeah, I guess you're right. To tell the truth, I've been thinking about the exam almost constantly since we got on this ship. I guess I'm just trying to get my mind off of the whole thing for a little while."

_Liar_, Levin thought wryly.

"So where do we go first?" Ellie asked.

"The old man said to head to the arena in the center of the city first," Levin replied. "Although he didn't exactly tell me how in the hell we're supposed to find the arena in the first place. He said it's supposed to stand out, but I'm not exactly sure what he means."

"I think he was being vague," Ellie replied, tossing him a grin. "It seems like old Marshall's giving you a bit of your own medicine, Mister Levin. I wouldn't worry about it too much, though. If Marshall thought we needed more instruction on how to find the arena, he would have given it."

"I guess," Levin shrugged. "We're a day early, though, so even if there's trouble finding the place, we've still got tomorrow morning if we need it."

Suddenly a horn blared out from the bow of the ship. As the sound echoed across the deck, the passengers and crew alive turned, looking up at the sailor at the helm.

"Attention!" the sailor bellowed with a grin, motioning off into the distance. "We will be coming within view of Orage Dell momentarily. If you'd care to enjoy the spectacle, please feel free to watch the shoreline. They should be lighting the lamps momentarily, and that makes the city quite a view."

Immediately, a rush of passengers began to hustle their way over to the Levin and Ellie's side of the ship, eagerly peering over the side in hopes of being the first ones to catch a glimpse of the town. Levin noticed with some irritation that most of the passengers made sure to give him and Ellie a wide berth, but he chose to just ignore them, preferring to keep his eyes peeled to the curve in the shoreline like the rest of the passengers.

It was a slow, agonizing wait of almost fifteen minutes, but finally the ship rounded the corner enough for Orage Dell to come into view, and Levin's eyes widened in amazement. Ellie let out an impressed whistle as well as the scale of the town appeared before them.

From the base of the thick, entangled forest that grew free and towering into the sky, five enormous stone structures rose out of the ground, from the base of the wet swampland earth, to several stories above even the tallest of the trees. The buildings were mostly pyramidal in shape, wide bases several hundred yards long surrounding the structures and long stone staircases leading up to meet the points of the towers. And there were at least a dozen such towers scattered around the entirety of the Orage Dell, with two and three story buildings surrounding the area for a couple miles in every direction. Levin had to admit, it was an impressive town… no. Now that Levin saw the whole size of Orage Dell in whole, he could tell that the place should be called a city.

Where the thick cobblestone streets met the edge of the water, a wide, stable-looking dock shot out to sea for nearly a quarter mile. Dozens and dozens of ships were docked there, with enumerable sailors and deck hands running up and down the gangplanks, pulling cargo on and off the ships. From his vantage point, Levin could just begin to make out lines of booths and stalls, occupied by hundreds of merchants and salesmen.

Just as the sailor at the helm had informed them, glimmers of light began flaring up around the town as lanterns and torches were lit and planted in their appropriate places. Levin watched in awe as enormous mounds of firewood were lit at the tops of each of the pyramids, creating huge pyres of flame that lit up the very clouds above the pyramids and extending its powerful light to the streets and buildings below. Even though the sun was beginning to set, the streets of Orage were lit up as though the sun was still high in the sky.

As the ship continued on, getting closer to the city, Levin gasped in amazement as an enormous structure seemed to swell out of the sides of the towering pyramids. However, unlike the other pillars to the sky, this building had a circular base, and the sides of it went straight upwards, standing as tall as the highest pyramids, but being so much bigger at the top. As the ship continued closer to the city, Levin began to see that the massive building was actually right in the center of the five other stone structures, forming a sort of star shape with the massive circular object right in the center, rising up like a focal point. The structure was lit up brighter and more brilliantly than any of the other buildings in the town, and even from the distance he was at, Levin swore he could hear… roaring coming from the building.

"Magnificent, isn't it?" a voice behind them said. The two apprentices turned abruptly. Behind them stood the good-humored sailor from earlier, grinning broadly and staring at the massive structure that loomed over the city of Orage Dell.

"Hell yeah," Levin replied. "It's amazing. I haven't seen anything like it exempt in Loc Lac, and even then, this one seems so much bigger. Is that…"

"The arena?" the sailor finished. "Aye, it is. The grandest of them all, no matter where you go. Many hunter examinees pass through that structure on their way to becoming official hunters. I imagine that's where the two of you are going, correct?"

"That's right," Ellie replied. "How could you tell?"

The sailor laughed. "You just got that look about you, you do. Nervous and a little bit scared, but determined as hell. Some hunters have more of the former than the latter or vice versa, but either way, it shines out to those looking like the beacons at the top of the towers there. Besides, the exam here only occurs once every six months. Around those times, you get swarms of would-be hunters rushing here to participate."

"You seem to know a lot about the exams, old timer," Levin said.

"The name's Gacy, brat," the sailor grinned. "And of course I know a lot about them. I was born in this town after all. The arena's all anyone and everyone talked about. Hell, I even gave the exam a go myself back in the day."

"You did?" Ellie asked, surprised.

"Yep," Gacy replied, nodding in reminiscence. "Failed miserably. But at least I tried. Everyone that lives in Orage Dell does so at least once in their lives, if for no other reason than to say they have. I wanted to be a sailor my whole life in the first place anyway. Nowadays, the only business I have at the arena is making bets on some of the fights that go on there."

"A lot of stuff seems to revolve around the arena," Ellie said thoughtfully.

"Aye, isn't that the truth," Gacy agreed. "But for good reason, though. Orage Dell has to have the best hunters the area has to offer."

"Why's that?" Levin asked.

"'Cause it's the most dangerous city to live in, next to Loc Lac."

"Really?"

"Yep, and it'd be the most dangerous if Loc Lac didn't have to deal with that creature, the Jhen Mohran. You see how the city's surrounded on all sides by really dense forests?"

Levin glanced towards the city and noticed Gacy was right. Orage Dell wasn't so much surrounded by forest as much at it seemed to be walled in by them. As the cobblestone walkways reached the edge of the city, it was as though construction on the paths screeched to an immediate halt, transforming from civilized land to overrun plant life in half a step. Now that Levin looked closely, he could see that at the edges where the city met the forest, dozens, perhaps even hundreds of guards, all of them appearing to be professional hunters, scoured the trees in search of monsters.

"The village is under constant threat of being assaulted by monsters," the sailor told the pair of apprentices. "Royal Ludroth, Gobul, Rathian, even the occasional fresh-water Lagiacrus come to the edges of the city with plans to attack and steal away the hordes of foot that we keep hidden away. Because of that, Orage Dell has to keep a small army of hunters on a constant watch on the surrounding area to kill or repel any monsters that try to invade the city."

"Sounds like a hellish job," Levin said, impressed.

"Oh, yes, there's no job quite as dangerous, I hear," Gacy laughed. "But I've heard its one of the best training regiments available for licensed hunters. They try and recruit new hunters at the end of the exams into joining up for a year-long run. It's a walk through hell, but those that succeed come out as outstanding hunters."

"Sounds like something the old man would've done in his youth," Levin grinned to Ellie, who nodded in reply. "The way the other old timers in the village go on about him, I wouldn't expect much less."

"Who's this?" the sailor asked.

"Our hunting teacher," Ellie replied. "His name's Marshall."

"Hmm," Gacy mumbled. "The name sounds somewhat familiar. Was he well known in his day?"

"I think so," Ellie replied, scratching her head. "He doesn't really mention too much about his time as a young hunter, though. A few people we've met say he used to be quite the well-known hunter back when he was younger in Loc Lac. All we really know about that time of his life is that he repelled that monster, the Jhen Mohran, from the city."

"Ah, that may be where I've heard of him from then," the sailor said. "Any hunting team that manages to ward the Jhen Mohran usually becomes pretty well known in one way or another. I could've sworn I'd heard his name somewhere else, though."

"Maybe so," Levin said. Suddenly he turned as a loud horn sounded from the helm of the ship. He turned back towards the shore and realized that the ship had gotten close enough to the dock to prepare for landing. Already, the passengers that were disembarking were heading down to the lower decks to gather their belongings.

"Well, looks like this is where the two of you get off then," Gacy smiled at them. "I hope the trip wasn't too bad for the two of you, even with the two of you getting looked at cross-eyed by the other passengers and the young man being sea-sick the whole time."

"Oh, neither of us really cares about that anymore," Ellie replied.

"Good to hear. I'd have tossed the collection of idiots off the boat myself if I was captain. But what can you do?"

"Thanks for the support, I guess," Levin said.

"No problem," Gacy smiled. "Hey, good luck on your exams. If we stay docked here for a few days, I'll see if I can't put down a wager or two on the both of you."

"You're willing to risk your money on us?"

"Sure, why not? It's all any of the locals do when the exams roll around. I figure, if I'm gonna do it, why not wager on a couple of hunters I already know, right? Now, get going, the both of you. You've got an exam to sign up for. Besides, the captain's bound to come calling any moment, and I need to get to work."

"Thanks for the advice, old timer," Levin grinned, standing up straight and stretching as Gacy slowly strolled down the deck. "Good luck winning your bets if you make them."

"I think that whole issue is dependent on the two of you!" the sailor called out, laughing as he strode below deck.

* * *

The pair of hunters were two of the last passengers off the ship, due to their long conversation with Gacy. Gathering their things into their suitcases had taken longer than anticipated as well, considering the pair of them had brought along their weapons, as well as enough supplies and materials to participate in at least a couple of hunts; neither of them still had any idea what the hunter exam would include, so they'd been sure to be prepared for any eventuality.

Even though the two of them knew exactly where they were going and how they needed to get there, it still took the pair of hunters almost an hour and a half to cross halfway across the city to the arena. If it wasn't the immediate barrage of sales on hunter goods at absolutely the best prices in town at every stall in the whole march along the dock, it was the same twisting and curving streets that every village that was within ten miles of any highly-habitated monster zone had begun to use naturally as a way to dissuade monsters from tearing up the city provided one got inside.

However, what had really slowed them down was the trip the two of them were forced to take through the smithy district of the city. It was very much the same as the general goods area of town that congregated near the docks of the city, where the merchants had been trying to sling goods like Demondrugs and higher-quality potions and several acclaimed herbs and mushrooms. However, unlike the docks, the goods on sale in this section of town held the attention of the two apprentices far better than anything else they'd come across.

Weapons.

And armor of course, but the latter hardly seemed to register to the pair when compared to the sight of the bright, gleaming and excitingly sharp blades that littered the walls and occasionally the ceilings of the shops outside the burning hot forges. Hundreds of varying shapes and sizes of weapons, from swords and shields to lances to bowguns of every type were littered about the around the streets that the seemingly hundreds of shops seemed to occupy.

Levin grinned as Ellie glanced wistfully at the walls of short swords and bowguns that filled the walls on their left and right, idly running her hands along the hilt of her own blade. Levin had to admit, her new sword, called the Bone Tomahawk, seemed to lack the shine and luster of some of the other weapons he saw scattered around the shops. And her bowgun, new as it was, seemed so much less fantastic than some of the other bowguns that were displayed, all of them shining brightly from the scales and feathers and other such goods that they were made from.

The two of them had planned not to even pause to talk to any of the shopkeepers on their trek towards the arena, planning to save their time and money for after they'd taken (and hopefully passed) their examinations. But the temptation was becoming overwhelming, and even though they knew they definitely couldn't afford anything too amazing, they still felt compelled to walk over and at least ask about the weapons, perhaps risk requesting a practice swing or two. But getting carried away and going out of their way to purchase or even play with a new weapon would throw them off for sure, having to deal with a new weight and balance of a new weapon.

But Levin suddenly slid to a halt, right in the middle of the street, nearly making Ellie plow headfirst into him as he gaped at the shop that sat at the intersection of two streets. Ellie stumbled for a moment, sputtering in surprise.

"What the hell?" she growled, walking around Levin and following his gaze. "What're you looking at?"

"That," Levin replied, pointing to the shop.

Inside the shop that Levin motioned to were at least a dozen different weapons, all of them unique when compared to the more common weapons that used more commonly by other hunters. Levin had thought it was simply an axe of some sort at first glance, thinking it some heavy weapon used by hunters that used weapons like the hammer. But what had caught his attention upon second glance was the sudden swing of motion the weapon displayed when a demonstration by the owner of the shop was given.

"Behold, hunters and huntresses!" the large man in front of the shop bellowed, brandishing a sleek silver-metallic example of the weapon. "The switch axe! A marvel of modern technology and weapons development! Come one come all and give it a try!"

"Oh, come on, Levin," Ellie sighed. "You can't honestly want to look at that. I've never even heard of a… switch axe before. So it's a double-sided axe. Big deal. Let's keep going."

"Hold on, hold on," Levin said, waving his hand. "He did something weird with it earlier. I want to see if he does it…"

Suddenly, the demonstrator held up the weapon and with the press of a small, discreet, plate on the side of the long primary shaft of the weapon, the switch axe suddenly hissed as a blast of steam was released from a collection of well-designed clockwork cogs and axels. With a quick bounce as the pressure was released, the blade on the back end of the axe seemed to leap forward, sliding up and around the top of the primary shaft. With a dramatic flourish, the demonstrator swung the weapon around, allowing the moving blade to swing around the end and slide down the other side. With a loud but satisfying _click_, the second blade snapped down onto the primary blade, merging the two together nearly seamlessly, changing what once appeared to be an axe into a long and sturdy sword.

"Witness the functionality and compatibility of the switch axe!" the presenter boomed. Though he didn't seem to be focusing his attention on anyone in particular, he still acted as though he had a crowd of a thousand in front of him. "See how in a moment, it changes from the full smashing power of an axe, to the nimble, cutting fury of a sword!"

"Now _that_ was cool," Levin said, whistling in appreciation.

"Yeah, whatever," Ellie replied, rolling her eyes. "Now, can we go? I'd really like to get to the arena and find a place to sleep before midnight, if you please."

"Aw, but…"

"No buts!" Ellie cut him off. "You can come back tomorrow on your own damn time, but right now I really want to get to an inn. I need a bath, badly."

"Fine," Levin sighed, looking wistfully at the store, before turning to follow Ellie back along the street.

The pair of them continued along, slowly but surely approaching the enormous arena that towered over the center of the city. As they got closer, they could hear with increasing clarity the roar of the crowd inside the giant structure. They could almost imagine the fights that were occurring as the tone of the audience rose and fell with each successive turn in the fight, growing in strength as the hunter that was currently fighting began to overcome the monster, then fading and being replaced with boos and hisses as the hunter began to lose ground.

As they turned the last street onto the primary road that led right up to the gates of the arena, the pair of them began to make out the voice of an announcer, voice booming through a amplifying horn and portraying every blow, every maneuver of each monster and hunter alike. The crowd outside the gates, desperate to get in and watch the fights as well, bobbed and swayed with the words of the man behind the horn, cheering along with each successful blow of the contender announced over the roar of the crowd inside.

The two approached the bustling lines that zigzagged around the stadium, trying to determine where and how they were supposed to apply for the hunter's examination. The pamphlet they had received from the hunter's council in Loc Lac had told them that the registration booth for the exam was at the center of the city, and as far as they could tell, that meant it was here at the arena. However, thousands of signs, displays, advertisements and screaming vendors surrounded the arena's base, not to mention the hundreds and thousands of people clamoring for tickets inside to see the fights. With all the noise and color in the area, it was difficult to tell where much of anything was, much less the exam booth.

"Hey you two!" a voice called out. "You looking for the examination booth, nya?"

The two hunters turned abruptly and found themselves facing a pair of Felynes. The two cats were both wearing the bright red uniforms associated with the hunter's guild, and one of them was carrying around a small hand-painted sign emblazoned with the words "Hunter Examination Aid" across the side.

"You're with the Guild?" Ellie asked.

"That's right, nya," the sign carrying Felyne replied. "Sorry about the trouble with the sign. We're not exactly sure why the examination council decided to send us into the crowd to gather the applicants. We realize we're not the most vertically blessed species, nya."

"But anyway," the other Felyne interjected, "the booth the pair of you are looking for is on the north side of the arena. Look for the Blue Gate! You can't miss it, nya!"

"Thanks for the help," Levin said, grinning and waving as the two hunters turned to worm their way through the crowds.

It took them another ten minutes or so to circle around the arena, passing several other entrances swarming with people coming in and out of the arena while the announcer continued his resonating pronouncements of the battles being waged inside. Finally, they came to a massive arch, coated in a deep blue hue of paint. Across the top of the arch, on a well lit and highly decorated banner were the words "Welcome, Hunter Examinees."

Underneath the banner was a wide set of tables where a group of guild representatives sat, while a group of almost a dozen hunters of all ages stood patiently in line, waiting to be helped. Levin and Ellie quickly stepped into line behind a hunter wearing a thick leathery armor with a light purple hue, which Levin recognized as made from Jaggi hides. Another pair of hunters in another line were both wearing shining plate armor that shone a bright bluish silver.

As Levin glanced over to another line, he even saw a pair of hunters decked out in dull green armor that he recognized as made from the plates and scales of a Rathian. Ellie followed his gaze, and Levin noticed her shiver a little at the sight. She glanced embarrassedly towards him, but he turned his head away and pretended that he didn't see.

"I feel like we're a little underdressed," Levin muttered to Ellie as the line slowly inched forward. "Everyone else seems to be wearing their armor right now."

"It's probably just to show off a little," Ellie grinned. "After all, I imagine some people want to, at the very least, look good when they apply."

"I guess you're right," Levin admitted. Then he gave Ellie a lecherous grin. "Maybe you should have worn that lovely Qurupeco armor set you got. If nothing else it would've let the other examinees know that you're in the proper shape to be a hunter."

Levin laughed as Ellie turned a bright red, and held up his arms defensively as she began swinging her fists at him. "You shut up! If it weren't for the fact that that damn armor is actually pretty effective, I would've burned the thing a long time ago."

"What, you don't like showing off a little?" Levin teased, ducking out of her reach.

"Not like that you bastard!"

"Are you two about done, or are you going to keep holding up the line?"

The pair of hunters turned in embarrassment to the man behind the counter as he rolled his eyes at them. They hadn't even realized they'd reached the front of the line.

"Names and location of hunting area?" the man asked irritably.

"Uh, I'm Levin and this is Ellie," Levin said. "We're both from Boma Village, to the south of here."

"I see," the man replied, scribbling notes down onto a pad of paper. "Weapon preferences?"

"Great sword," Levin replied.

"Bowgun," Ellie continued. "And sword and shield too on occasion."

The man nodded and continued to write. For the next ten minutes, the man rattled off various questions to the two of them, asking them about various things from their time in training, to a list of monsters they'd hunted over time, to any armor sets they'd made or received or bought. Levin felt his eyes begin to droop slightly as the questions continued, weary from the last few days of travel.

However, his eyes snapped open at the man's next line. "We're almost done here," he said. "Just a couple more questions. First, were you an apprentice to a professional hunter, and if so, what was his name and hunter rank?"

Levin glanced at Ellie in confusion, but she just shook her head in uncertainty. Levin turned nervously back to the guild representative. "Um, I'm not really sure what his hunter rank was, but we were trained by an old guy named Marshall."

The guild representative blinked in surprise. "Really? Marshall, the hammer user?"

"I guess," Levin replied, scratching his head. "I don't know how many hammer users named Marshall there are, though."

"That's surprising that the two of you managed to get a man like him to train you," the guide said. "He was pretty well known here in Orage back a couple decades ago. Made a decent living taking on the nastier monsters that tried to break into the city."

"Really?"

"Yep. It turns out his work here got him noticed enough to be taken under the wing of one of the big city hunters in Loc Lac. So he took off after that and never really returned. I'm kind of surprised he went to live in… Boma, you called it? You'd think he'd have come back here to Orage Dell."

"I guess he just wanted a quieter life," Ellie said. "I know he prefers to spend time with his grandson more than anything else."

"Perhaps so," the representative nodded. He paused for a moment, thinking with a surprised look on his face. "Odd… I hadn't even heard of him having children. You'd think they'd have taken after such a famous father and become well-known hunters themselves."

"Not everyone takes after their families," Levin laughed. "Hell, my father was a pencil-pusher back home, and hunting's about the furthest thing away from a job like that."

"Maybe your right," the guild rep agreed, before glancing down to his paper again. "Let's see here… ah, the last question. What is the two of your citizenships?"

"Boma, I guess," Ellie replied. "But the both of us are members of the Lost. I'm not sure where that fits on the list."

"I see," the man replied, giving the pair of them a surprised look. "I didn't think that… hold on… ah, here we go. I was worried that the Lost weren't eligible for becoming members of the Guild yet, but it looks like the lot of you were approved for application a few weeks ago. Good news for the two of you, I suppose."

"Just a few weeks ago?" Ellie asked, surprised. "That's pushing it kind of close. Wasn't the next exam in something like four months?"

"So it seems," the guild rep replied. "Anyway, there's a few inns that have been especially reserved for the hunter examinees like the lot of you. It looks as though there are a couple beds still left in one of the inns to the north of here. Want me to sign the pair of you up?"

"That would be appreciated," Levin said.

After receiving directions from the Guild rep, the two hunters took off back through the streets of Orage. Levin sighed in appreciation as the roar of the crowd slowly began to dim, allowing his to hear more clearly once again. He'd been tempted to buy a ticket into the arena to watch a monster battle from a spectator's viewpoint rather than from a first person perspective, but he knew that both he and Ellie were completely beat from the traveling, and the excitement of journeying through Orage Dell certainly hadn't helped. Both of them were desperate for rest.

Luckily for them, the inn the Guild had seen fit to place them in was relatively close to the arena itself. Not so close as to hinder sleep from the roar of the crowd as the fights continued into the night, but not so far that you couldn't appreciate the view of the dynamic structure.

The inn fairly large for a simple traveler's-rest sort of place, built in a large U-shape, with two wings branching off from either side of the main hall. Levin was actually fairly surprised; he hadn't expected to see a building of such spaciousness, even if it was supposed to be used for mass dwelling.

As the pair of them entered the inn, they found themselves in a wide, expansive bar area, where dozens of tables and booths were scattered around. Hunters of every shape, size, and citizenship were seated around the bar, chatting and laughing idly amongst one another. Every once in a while, a large burst of laughter or round of cheers or jeers would erupt from one of the groups as a good story or poor rendition of said tale was told.

Off to the one side of the bar, in one of the corners, was a group of over thirty hunters, all cluttered together and talking excitedly. Levin could see that the lot of them were fairly young, some younger than even him and Ellie. They were circled up into a tight cluster, most of their attentions focusing on a single table in the center, where a pair of hunters were motioning excitedly, no doubt telling tales of their own great exploits out in the world. It took Levin a moment to realize it, but he recognized the pair in the middle as the two hunters he'd seen wearing Rathian armor earlier.

With their helmets off, he realized that the pair of them were actually both women. The one doing most of the talking was a short-haired redhead with a bright and enthusiastic smile, who was waving her arms excitedly as she told stories of her exploits. The other, a dark haired woman with piercing eyes, seemed more reserved than her counterpart, sitting back and allowing her comrade to tell the tale how she wanted, while only interjected very occasionally.

Levin glanced up to the bar itself, where a pair of oddly-matched folks sat behind the bar chatting to the hunters that had strolled up to the bar itself. The first person Levin noticed was a broad-chested man with a shaggy black and grey beard that seemed to have a bright and jolly grin slapped wildly across his face. The bartender, perhaps, or maybe the owner of the inn itself. Next to the large man was a much smaller woman, with a shock of long blonde and silver hair, who wore the characteristic red uniform of the Hunter's guild, grinning and laughing along with the large man tending the bar.

Behind the pair, next to the edge of the bar, was a massive cork board almost two dozen feet wide and six feet tall, littered with dozens, perhaps even more than a hundred leaflets and paper. The scrawl and symbols of the papers were something Levin immediately recognized as the same replicated design of hunter mission requests. Levin was taken aback. He knew a lot of hunters went on missions every day, but to see so many requests spread out at once, filling up the massive request board, left him stunned.

As he and Ellie approached the bar, the short blonde woman caught sight of them and flashed a friendly smile at them at tapped the large man next to her. "A couple more hunters here for the night, dear."

The large man turned to them and grinned broadly. "Aye, so it is, love," he laughed. "Wee little baby hunters, so they are. Here to see if you can't get your training wheels off, eh, laddie and lassie?"

"That sounds about right," Ellie replied with a smile. "We were told to come to this inn for housing."

"And right they were to send you here," the man laughed, taking the woman in under one of his massive arms. "Me and my dear little wife here have run this little inn for many a year, just for the sake of hunters. Especially you examinees. Ain't that right, love?"

"It's true," the bartender's wife smiled. "We decided to open the place when our son took the exam himself. They didn't have any real places for hunters to stay during the exams that year, so me and my husband decided to make a place for such an occasion after that. I worked for the Guild at the time anyway, so we ended up just turning the place into a hunter's bar and inn."

"Cool!" Ellie laughed. "I kinda hope I can do something like that when I get older."

Suddenly a roar of laughter and cheers erupted from the crowd of people surrounding the pair of Rathian armor-wearing woman. Levin and Ellie turned and watched as the pair bowed and laughed along with their audience.

"What's with those guys?" Ellie asked the two innkeepers.

"Oh, those two?" the woman replied with a grin. "Those two are Kimberly and Natalie, or just Kim and Nat around these parts. They're a pair of pretty well known hunter apprentices in this area, trained under one of the best hunting masters in the city. The two of them have lived here in Orage since they were little, and they're finally getting around to taking the test and becoming official hunters. They've actually already made a pretty big name for themselves and are expected to take the top of the rankings."

"Wait, what rankings?" Levin asked.

"Oh, you haven't heard about those?" the woman asked. "After each test the examinees take part in, the Guild drops a certain number of participants that don't meet their requirements. Once that's done, they take the ratings they gave each hunter during each individual test. Then they post the names of all the hunters that passed outside the arena in order from highest to lowest scores."

"Aye, that's the main betting part of the hunts," the large innkeeper told the two of them. "There're folks what test their fortunes by making wagers on all the baby hunters that take the exam. Bets on who'll pass the exam, how many will pass each test, how many total points will be accumulated, that kind of thing. But the big boy of betting for the examinations here is wagering which three hunters are supposed to win as top three hunters over all the others."

"And those two are currently the talk of the town," the woman continued. "With all the stories flying about the things those two have done, even as apprentices, most of the wagers going through the town are putting those two at the top of the pile."

"That's… pretty interesting," Ellie grumbled. She put on a grin but Levin could tell she was a little disturbed by the news.

"Now, then," the man said, "I think I've wasted enough of the two of yours time with idle chit-chat. The pair of you want a room, yes? Sharing a room, I wager?"

The two hunter apprentices stared dumbly at each other for a moment in confusion. As the two innkeepers glanced knowingly at each other, the pair from Boma suddenly reddened in realization and embarrassment. They immediately turned, barraging the two innkeepers with strings of denials.

"No no! You've got it wrong!" Ellie sputtered. "He's just my partner when I'm hunting! There's nothing like that between the two of us."

"That's right!" Levin said. "I don't know what we look like to you, but we're really just friends and allies."

"Whatever you say," the Guild woman laughed while rolling her eyes, glancing between the two of them and shaking her head. "I suppose two rooms instead of one would show more… decorum than allowing the pair of you to maintain such appearances by sharing a room. I'm sure it would be better for the two of you to focus on the exam tomorrow rather than anything else."

"It's not… it's not like that," Ellie sighed, drooping her head as the two innkeepers simply grinned at them.

"Oh, don't worry, lassie," the large man said. "Your rooms will be next to each other, if that's all you're worried about."

"But that's not…!"

"Leave it alone, Ellie," Levin sighed, looking tiredly at his comrade. "They're not going to change their minds about us, I don't think. Let's just get our rooms keys and put our stuff away."

"Don't forget to get some sleep!" the Guild woman called out to them with laughter in her voice as the two of them carried their bags down the side wings to their rooms. Levin saw Ellie turn as though she wanted to retort again, but bit off the words before they left her mouth, simply choosing to shake her head in frustration. The two glanced at each other awkwardly as they walked down the corridor, shifting their eyes away from each other when their eyes met.

Their rooms were right next to each other as promised, and Levin entered his own room quickly, hoping to escape the awkward atmosphere. Levin was mildly surprised at the rooms they stayed in. The rooms were sparse, but surprisingly large for single bedrooms that were free for hunters. It was about the same size as Levin's room back in Boma, with a courtesy storage box for his stuff.

As he dropped his things down onto the bed in the room and slowly began to unpack his armor, slinging his great sword off his back and leaning it against the wall, a soft knocking echoed from his door. He glanced in confusion at the door and wandered over, edging the door open, then grinned at when he saw Ellie smiling at him.

"Here to prove the innkeepers right?" he teased, laughing when Ellie blushed slightly and socked him in the arm.

"No, you perverted jerk. I just came to see if you wanted to go out to the bar and hang out. I mean, no sense just sitting around in our rooms all by ourselves. There's a whole bar full of hunter examinees like us just a walk away; might as well go there and at least see what kind of people are around."

Levin grinned. "Seems like a good idea to me."

The two made their way back to the bar, glad to be free of the heavy armor and weapons that had been weighing them down. As they entered the bar together, they avoided the innkeepers, who shot them smirks as they made their way over to one of the booths in the bar, on the opposite side of the room from the pair of hunters Kim and Nat.

"You don't want to go join that group over there?" Ellie asked as Levin sat down.

"Not really," Levin admitted. "I just don't like the idea of hanging out with a group of people that are only fawning over a pair of celebrities. Even if they're apprentice hunters, I don't really want to spend the entire time sitting around listening to just their exploits. I want to see what a lot of people are saying. Get multiple perspectives, that kind of thing."

"I guess I see your point. Those guys really are just sitting around and listening to them talk, aren't they?"

"You're Lost, right?" a cheerful voice next to them suddenly said.

The two examinees turned in surprise to the voice, and found a young man, about their age, standing next to their table, grinning eagerly at the two of them. He was a few inches shorter than Levin, with short blond hair strewn messily across his head. His face was thin and pointed, with stubble covering the edges of his jaw, and may have been considered handsome, though Levin really didn't consider himself to be an accurate judge on the matter. Overlaying a pair of excited brown eyes were a pair of thin glasses, and hanging loosely from his neck was a form-fitting pair of goggles.

Levin was more taken aback by the man's choice of dress, however, rather than his abrupt confrontation with them. Covering a thin but tightly built body, the young man was a veritable explosion of color and design, lacking any sort of care about personal appearances. He wore a bright pink shirt and green pants, both so shockingly bright that Levin had to blink when he tried to look directly at the young man.

"Uh, what?" Levin finally managed to stammer dumbly though his shock.

"Lost. You're members of the Lost, right? I'm pretty sure you are, at least."

"Yeah, we're part of the Lost," Ellie replied, talking with a confused tone of voice. "How'd you know that?"

"A lot of things gave it away, I think," the young man grinned at them. "The way you walk, the way you act, the way you tend to keep to yourselves, despite being surrounded by other hunter examinees in similar situations to yours. If you listen, there's also a slight accent that the two of you carry that vary from the norm here in the… hunter's world, I guess you could call it. And if you care to look real, real close, there's a few physical variations in your body built that separate you from the people of this time and place; though the differences are so minimal you could hardly catch it without knowing what to look for in advance. Then there's the way the two of your eyes seem to linger a moment longer on Felynes or Aptonoth steed, like you're constantly reminding yourself that such strange things are commonplace now, instead of obscure objects from fantasy novels or video games. And if you care, there's the…"

"Okay, okay, we get it," Levin interrupted, cutting the man off. "We're Lost, and we stand out."

The man seemed taken aback at getting cut off so abruptly, then a sheepish grin covered his face and he smiled apologetically. "Sorry about that. I kinda have a tendency to ramble a bit when I get going. And I didn't mean to offend or anything. It's just, I'm Lost too, you know, and I was pretty glad to see some comrades taking the hunter's exam besides myself."

"You're taking the hunter's exam?" Ellie asked incredulously, giving the young man a look up and down. Levin could understand why she seemed a little uncertain; the man seemed a little thin for a hunter, and seemed to have a bit of a care-free attitude. Levin had a hard time seeing this guy as a hunter of any monster.

"That's right," the man replied proudly, then paused in thought. "Well, I meant to join a zoological society instead. I was studying to be a veterinarian back in our own world, after all, so it seemed like a good idea. But it seemed like they weren't too fond of the idea of letting a member of the Lost join their ranks. So I thought to myself, 'What's the best way for me to get out into the wilds so I can do a proper study of these strange, exotic beasts that wander the earth?' Then it hit me! Obviously I needed to become a hunter!"

"You're joining the hunter's guild to _study_ monsters? Not to kill them?" Ellie asked, flabbergasted. "That's a… bold move to consider. Why join an organization that is paid to kill things if you want to just study them?"

Then the young man grinned. But not just any grin. For a moment, Levin swore he was looking at the face of a mad scientist, straight out of the old black and white films he used to watch as a child. Like the doctor Frankenstein as he prepared to bring his creation to life.

"Well, if I'm to conduct a truly proper study," the man said, a slightly mad tone slinking into his voice, "then I'll need to do proper autopsies of the creatures, I think. Studying a creature's habits and niche will only get you so far before you need to… observe its internal designs."

The man stood grinning to himself a moment longer. Ellie shot Levin a nervous glance, but Levin just shook his head in confusion. Then the man seemed to snap back to his former state, suddenly slapping his forehead with his palm.

"What am I thinking!" he exclaimed. "Here I am, making conversation with other Lost and I have yet to introduce myself! How rude!"

With a flourish, the man extended his hand and grinned at the two of them. "Allow me to introduce myself. The name's Harker. Zoologist, anthropologist, entomologist, ornithologist, botanist, chemist, physicist, or anything else that happens to take my fancy at the time. Nice to meet the two of you, comrades."

Levin hesitated for only a moment, staring in abstract amazement at the man, and then laughed, reaching forward to take the man's hand. The man Harker seemed abrupt, carefree and not much of a hunter, not to mention apparently mad as a hatter, but Levin couldn't help but like him a little. In Levin's honest opinion, if he was going to make a friend here in Orage Dell, it might as well be someone interesting. Ellie gave Levin a concerned look, clearly uncertain about Harker, but shrugged and shook his hand as well when offered.

"The name's Levin," he introduced himself. "And my lovely lady friend here is Ellie."

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintances, my friends. Mind if I pull up a chair?" Harker asked.

"Go ahead," Ellie replied. The other examinee turned and dragged over one of the seats from another booth, sliding between the random people shuffling though the inn towards Kim and Nat.

"Those two really seem to be gathering a crowd of their own," Harker said as he shoved his chair up to the table next to Ellie and Levin.

"No kidding," Levin agreed. "And here I thought we were all going to come into this examination as nobodies. But I guess some people make waves in any circumstance."

"I suppose that's the result of training under some highly-decorated hunter and being taught fighting monsters like the Raths," Ellie said.

"This whole rankings system is really throwing off my confidence, as well," Levin admitted with a shrug. "I don't imagine it'll feel too good if something like twenty people pass the test and you're the last in line. It's like saying 'you did well, but you're the worst out of your peers. Tough crap.'"

"Perhaps so," Harker said. "But I don't see why you really care. If you earn your hunter's license in the end, does it really matter what rankings the judges give you?"

"Yeah, but it's still like a kick in the head. Like telling people near the bottom that they were a hair away from passing."

"But if you pass, you get to do what you want as a hunter," Ellie cut in. "You're living the life and job you wanted to live. Who cares what your ranking is, you're doing what you like. Show them who's boss when you're a professional by becoming a great hunter once you're licensed."

Levin paused for a moment, then grinned in respite. "Yeah, I guess you may be right. Screw the lot of them. If I pass, at least I'm approved as a professional. I can just show them up later by proving myself to be a good hunter."

"That's the spirit," Harker grinned. Then he snapped his fingers in realization. "Oh, yes, before I forget. What sort of weapons do the pair of you use?"

"Great sword," Levin replied.

"I, uh, switch between the bowgun and the sword and shield," Ellie said.

"Oh, very nice, the both of you," Harker said with a grin. "Very defensive, very smart. Not like me, not at all. I waltz around the wilds with a long sword of all things; no defensive capabilities there, no sir."

"Wait, a long sword?" Ellie asked. "I've heard of those. I've never seen one before, though."

"They're rather new, actually. In this area of the world, at least. Very much like the great sword in terms of length, but the long sword has a tendency to be much faster and more… how to say it… fluid than the great sword? But as I said before, they really lack the defensive ability that the great sword has."

"I remember hearing about the long sword from a few traders that came through Boma once," Levin said thoughtfully. "I remember people saying that they had some sort of special power of some kind."

"Ah, yes!" Harker replied excitedly, his eyes lighting up. "The Spirit combo maneuver! I've spent an unbelievable amount of time studying that very ability!"

"What's it do?" Ellie asked, curious.

"Ah, well, it's very similar to the power of the great sword," Harker explained. "The great sword, as you probably know, is able to somehow strengthen its attack power by siphoning the emotional strength of the sword user, generally using the wielder's anger or some such emotion as a base. The Spirit combo uses a similar method, but basis the attack revolves more around a hunter's current fighting spirit in a battle. The faster and harder you assault an enemy, the more powerful your attacks become."

"But how does it all work?" Ellie asked. "How do monster materials allow a hunter to use… that power, whatever it is?"

"That… that is something I'm not entirely sure about yet," Harker admitted, shaking his head. "It's an utter mystery as to how some of the things these monsters are made of work. Like… take the Rathian and Rathalos for instance. They have glands, hidden away at the back of their throats that are filled with a highly combustible fluid that allows them to spit flames like they do. But the fluid actually combusts as it touches atmosphere. How in the hell do creatures like that exist without just spontaneously combusting every time they inhale? It just doesn't make sense to me."

"I can see why you like studying monsters so much, then," Levin said, leaning back in his chair. "Things like that always confused me. Like how the Lagiacrus is able to focus lighting underwater, even though water is such a good conductor. Or how the Qurupeco is able to match the vocal sounds of so many monsters so precisely. Or how Ellie's bowgun is able to defy physics."

"That's why I do it, exactly," Harker grinned. "Something has adjusted this world and has just changed things so dramatically that what once seemed impossible now is possible. That's why I go out and hunt like I do, to figure out how things like that work.

"But the truly fascinating thing about hunting is the fact that you're able to study the monsters in their proper habitats, mysterious abilities and all! Why, joining some zoological society would only hinder the flow of research, with snobby fools wasting away their time in libraries and studying captured beasts in cages near arenas or other such buildings of the sort. Morons! What is there to be learned if you can't see the creatures in their realms from which they call their homes? You can't study monsters in an artificial habitat!"

Levin glanced nervously at Ellie as Harker began to rave, his eyes growing wild as he began to shout. Several patrons of the bar began to turn their attentions from the hunters Kim and Nat across the bar towards them, wondering what the ruckus was about. Ellie began looking around apologetically as Harker continued to yell above the din of the inn.

"Alright, we get it," Levin said forcefully, trying to calm the man down. But the words seemed to fall on deaf ears, and Harker ignored him and continued to speak.

"Why, not a week ago, I came across a Gobul nesting ground, if you can believe it. A Gobul nesting ground! It was filled to brim with eggs; all of them clear little orbs with the tiniest little unborn Gobuls inside! You think those morons at the society could find and study things like that with their uppity little noses shoved ten feet into the spine of the longest, most painfully boring _book_ they could find? Hell no! You can't just expect the understanding of monsters and their way of life to waltz out of the wilderness, into the city, up to your office and shake your hand with a 'how do you do!' You've got to go out there and find it yourself! You've got to dig yourself so deep into nature that you risk life and limb to know every little tidbit of it!"

"Alright! We get it!" Ellie said fearfully as Harker continued to rant, the mad look in his eyes beginning to return and a wicked grin spreading across his face.

"That won't work, you know," a voice suddenly said. "Once he's in deep like that, he won't respond to anyone's words."

Ellie and Levin looked up as a fully-armored hunter suddenly approached from the entrance to the inn. No, huntress, Levin corrected himself, taking note of the woman's voice. The woman that approached them was dressed head to toe in a dull pinkish-colored set of armor that consisted mostly of large spiky plates that separately covered her body. Across her back was a large, bulky bowgun that seemed to be made of Qurupeco materials as well as… some red-ish brown plate-like material he'd never seen before. She carried a helmet under one arm, an obnoxious thing that was shaped similar to a cat's head, allowing her face to be fully visible.

Levin was stunned for a moment. The woman approaching them was… for lack of a more gentlemanly word, _hot_. Long, shocking red hair cascaded down to her lower back, framing a gorgeous, roundish face. Levin was stunned at the sight of such an attractive woman acting as a hunter, but something caught his attention. What threw him off were the woman's eyes. As opposed to the sometimes bright, sometimes hard, sometimes cunning eyes of the common hunter, the woman before him had eyes that were cold, defensive, and perhaps a little sad. But her eyes seemed to smile a little bit when she looked at Harker, even if the rest of her face was groaning in frustration.

"If you just try and talk him down, you'll just encourage him to keep going," the woman said as she strode up to their table and set down her helmet. "You've got to have a little… how did he put it? Aggressive maneuverability?"

With a sharp snap of her wrist, the new hunter suddenly smacked Harker across the back of his head, making his eyes bulge out in surprise and shock as his words stumbled to a halt and his glasses toppled off of his head. Harker sputtered in surprise, twisting around to face his assaulter, before catching sight of her and pausing. Then he suddenly laughed.

"Ah, I guess I got carried away again, didn't I, my dear Lady Kerrigan?"

The woman Kerrigan sighed and rubbed her temples in irritation, but grinned slightly. "How many times do I have to tell you not to use such ridiculous formalities? It's just Kerrigan, you big idiot."

"Who's this?" Ellie asked.

"Ah, how rude of me!" Harker laughed, picking up his glasses and placing them back on his head. "This lovely young woman here is Lady Kerrigan, a fine hunter of monsters that has done me the honor of offering to teach me how to become a proper hunter myself."

"You're a hunter already?" Ellie asked, shocked. "But you're so… young. You can't be older than the rest of us."

Kerrigan grinned. "Well, actually, my father was a pretty high-ranked hunter when he was younger, and since I idolized him during my childhood, I pretty much made every effort to become a professional myself. I actually only really became an official hunter about a year and a half ago, just a month or so before the first of the Lost began to show up on Loc Lac's doorstep."

"And you're already teaching someone else how to hunt?" Ellie asked incredulously. "You must be really good!"

Kerrigan shook her head sheepishly. "Not really. In all truth, I'm not really an official teacher to Harker here. I'm not that high-ranked yet or anything; I just give the guy advice and make an effort to keep him safe."

"The dear Lady Kerrigan is being modest," Harker interjected with a grin. "She's quite an amazing hunter. She's pulled my butt out of the fire on countless occasions."

Kerrigan sighed and rolled her eyes. "That's because you keep running headlong into moronic situations and throwing yourself into danger for the sake of your 'study of monsters' or whatever. I mean, just last week you dove headfirst into a Gobul's nest, despite the fact the Gobul was still in the water. You almost got devoured whole! Hell, that's the only reason I'm even teaching you anything at all; if I left you alone, you'd just run out and get yourself eaten by the first monster that came by."

"Quite the caring mother hen, isn't she?" Harker grinned at Ellie and Levin.

"That's not… argh! Forget it," Kerrigan groaned, dragging up a seat and sitting next to the others. "So what's the two of your stories? Where you two from?"

"Boma Village," Levin replied automatically. "Well, actually, we're both members of the Lost. We both just went to Boma to learn how to be hunters."

"Apprentices, huh?" Kerrigan asked. "Who'd you train under? I know there's a retired archer called Willard out that way, but I'm not sure about any other hunters that live out there."

"Willard? Really? We've met him," Ellie said. "He didn't seem like a legend to me though."

"Maybe the old man's not as well known as we thought he might be," Levin said, glancing at Ellie.

"I guess not," Ellie replied, before turning back to Kerrigan. "Anyway, our hunting teacher is a hammer user named Marshall. I don't suppose you've heard of him at all."

Kerrigan paused thoughtfully. "No, not really. But then again, there's a lot of hunters I've never heard of. I'm originally from the desert area, after all. Is he well known around here?"

"A little, I guess," Levin said. "A guild worker at the arena said he'd heard of the old man, but if you haven't heard of him, maybe he was just real big here in Orage."

Then Levin leaned back in his seat and grinned. "Although, I have to admit, the thought of a guy like the old man being a big shot is… I don't know. Kind of believable and unbelievable at the same time."

"I know what you mean," Ellie said. "I mean, the way he fights and acts out in the field, you could totally believe that he could've been big back in the day. But the way he acts while he's in Boma just talking to people? You'd never guess it. He spends his time joking with the other villagers and coddling his grandson. You see him acting like that, you can't really see him as anything but another random villager."

A round of laughter rose up from the cluster of hunters hanging out around Kim and Nat, making the four hunters glance over to the other side of the room. Apparently the two were preparing to break off from the group, making motions to head over to their rooms, which were apparently down the wing on Levin and Ellie's side of the bar. Kerrigan shook her head in exasperation when several members of the group offered to buy the pair drinks, before turning back to them.

"Still though, being the apprentice of legend in any area of the world is something worth talking about," she said with a smile. "Really, even the most popular hunters in Loc Lac right now are probably totally unheard of in some of the other countries around the world. So just because some folks from other area of the world haven't heard of you or your master, it really shouldn't get you down."

"Me and the lovely Lady Kerrigan are heading back to the desert after I get my license," Harker said. He grinned at Kerrigan when she opened her mouth to retort at the title he'd given her, but she closed it up instead, choosing to roll her eyes instead. "Maybe we can ask around there, see if anyone's heard of this master of yours… What was his name again?"

"Marshall," Ellie replied. "Our master's name is Marshall. He's a hammer user."

"You two are Marshall's apprentices?"

Levin turned and blinked in surprise at the voice next to them. Standing next to their tables, one hand holding a half-empty glass of water and eyes shining with delight, was the Rathian armor-wearing redhead. She stood looking between Ellie and Levin with an increasingly excited grin.

"You said you're Marshall's apprentices? The Marshall's apprentices? Marshall that fought off the Rathalos and Rathian at the northern gate? The one that swayed the Jhen Mohran that nearly destroyed Loc Lac?"

"Um… what?" Levin said dumbly.

"You said your master was named Marshall. Do you mean Marshall the legend?"

"Umm… I'm not sure," Ellie said with a tone of confusion. She glanced at Levin with uncertainty, but he just shook his head in uncertainty. "Well, I guess he did say he fought the Jhen Mohran once, but I don't know about that Rathian and Rathalos business. He doesn't really tell stories about himself. The locals tell tales about what he's done while he's lived in Boma Village, but we don't usually hear too much about what he did before he came to live there."

"Does he have the weapon though?" the woman asked excitedly. "The hammer made from the Jhen's tusk?"

"Yeah, I guess," Levin said. "It's the only weapon I've ever seen him use. Why, is it rare or something?"

"It's one of a kind!" the girl practically squealed. "It's the only time a Jhen Mohran's tusk has been recovered from the sifting sands of the desert in good enough condition to use as weapon materials! The rest always get lost in the sand waves in the desert around Loc Lac!"

"Really?" Levin asked, shocked. "That's the first I've heard of that."

"I've got to say, I'm still drawing a blank," Kerrigan admitted. "I've lived in Loc Lac most of my life, but I've never heard of this Marshall guy."

"Oh, he was big way way back," the woman said, grinning broadly and talking loudly. "But our master talks about him all the time, so we've heard so much about him that we can't help but get excited as well."

"I see," Levin said. "Um, excuse me for being blunt, but… which one are you?"

"Oh, jeez, I'm being stupid," she said sheepishly. "I'm Kim! I'm taking the exam tomorrow, same as you guys! Here, lemme introduce you to my partner!"

The redhead quickly turned and yelled across the bar. "Hey Nat! Come meet these guys! They trained under Marshall!"

Immediately every head in the bar turned on small table, most in shock or awe. A wave of whispers spread across the room, all of them with Marshall's name on their lips. Levin felt himself turning red in embarrassment as all the attentions of every patron of the bar became focused on them. Nat, the dark-haired teammate, turned and strode over to them, a look of excitement in her own eyes as well.

"Are you serious?" she asked as she approached. "The man Master keeps talking about?"

"Yeah!" Kim said excitedly. "They said it was him! Jhen hammer and all!"

Immediately the cluster of hunters that had surrounded the two Rathian armor-wearers, as well as several local hunters, began to swarm over to them, questions and curiosities on their lips. Levin and Ellie reeled back in shock as a wave of questions and queries slammed into them from the rush of people.

"He's still alive?"

"What's he doing?"

"Is he killing monsters still?"

"I heard he retired!"

"He killed a Deviljho, didn't he?"

"What's he like?"

"Hey! Back off!" Kerrigan suddenly barked. The crowd winced back at the sound of the woman's sharp voice. "Give them a little space, ya vultures!"

"But they're the apprentices of the great Marshall of Orage Dell!" a voice from the back called out. "Surely they must have done some great hunts under him, even before the exam!"

"Yeah!" another voice shouted. "Tell us a story about what you've hunted!"

"What's the biggest, nastiest thing you've killed?" another asked.

Next to them, Nat chuckled as Levin and Ellie glanced at each other uncertainly. "I have to admit," she said, "I'm curious as well. Think you could tell the lot of us about the nastiest monster you've killed?"

"Yeah, tell us!" Kim cheered.

Levin looked at Ellie, who shrugged uncertainly. "What the biggest thing we've _killed_ is?"

"Wouldn't that be the Royal Ludroth?" Ellie asked. "We haven't really killed anything bigger than that."

There was a moment of silent shock, then a wave of disappointment swept across the crowd. Murmurs of disbelief and irritation began to rise up from the crowd as the group of them grumbled.

"That's it?" a voice growled. "Royal Ludroth are easy. A walk in the park!"

"Oh, shut up, you," another voice snapped at the other. "You're from Gobi, and all you bastards do is hunt leviathans and other water creatures. I heard you people can't even fight a Great Jaggi without two other hunters with you."

"Is that really all?" Nat said with a look of disappointment. "I was kind of expecting something… more from the apprentices of Marshall."

"Well, that's not exactly fair," Ellie replied sullenly. "It was really pretty rough. Especially considering that Levin was half dead from drowning at the time."

"You were drowned?" Harker asked, perking up. "How did that feel?"

Kerrigan smacked him across the head as he received a few uncertain looks from the crowd. "What he meant to ask, I'm sure, was how did you nearly drown?"

"Uh, well," Levin said, scratching his face, "We'd actually been fighting a Gobul earlier that day. I was trying to get out of the water so we could capture it, and it did that… vortex thing it does and pulled me back into the water, right before the shock trap we had brought hit the water. So I ended up getting about ten thousands volts going through me and swallowed a bunch of water. Nearly would've drowned too, if Ellie hadn't saved me."

"CPR?" Harker asked.

"That's the one," Levin said. Harker smirked when Kerrigan gave him a confused look.

"Wait, you fought a Gobul?" Kim asked, stunned. "I thought you said the Royal was the worst thing you've fought?"

"Gobuls are easy, too!" the voice from earlier said again.

"Shut up, Gobi boy!" Nat snapped. She turned back to Ellie and Levin. "I thought you two said the worst thing you've ever fought was the Royal?"

"You asked what the worst thing we killed was," Ellie said. "We thought that didn't include capture missions or things like that."

"No, no, it does!" Kim said. "We just said kill for simplicity's sake."

"So the worst thing you've fought is a Gobul?" Nat asked. "That seems a bit more appropriate, I think."

"Well, actually," Ellie said, looking cautiously around the crowd, "it's not the worst thing we've ever fought. We didn't actually kill or capture it, but we had to fight a Lagiacrus that was attacking a fishing boat a few weeks ago. That… really sucked."

"Yeah, that was rough," Levin agreed.

"You fought a Lagi?" Kerrigan gasped in shock as a wave of surprise rippled around the room. "That's impressive. I'm surprised your master had enough faith in the two of you to take you with him on a mission like that."

"It wasn't planned, actually," Levin said. "We were coming back from a Qurupeco kill and ran across it while we were traveling. Marshall wasn't there, so we had to help the fishing boat ourselves."

"How in the hell did you manage that?" Nat asked.

Levin looked at Ellie questioningly, wondering whether she was up to telling the story. He earned an indecisive shrug in response. He kind of wanted to tell the story, but the whole issue with the Lagiacrus' phantom pain, as well as the whole issue with the strange dreams still confused and terrified him.

But looking up and crowd around him, he realized that they were just rookies like him, looking for a good story to listen to in hopes that they could learn something to better themselves with on the hunting field.

"What the hell," he said to Ellie. "Let's tell them about it."

"On one condition, though," Ellie said, looking at Kim and Nat, a sharp gleam in her eyes. "After we tell you our Lagiacrus story, you have to tell us how you fought and killed the Rathian you used for that armor."

Nat blinked in surprise, and Kim laughed. Levin smirked at his partner, earning a grin in response. Using a story to get information on the Rathian? How snide of Ellie.

"Sounds like a plan to me!" the redhead said gleefully.

"It's a deal then," Ellie smiled. She turned to Levin, "You want to start."

"Why not?" Levin said, leaning back and beginning the story.

* * *

**Author's Note: Please Review!**

**I didn't really proofread this one, so I hope you'll forgive any poor grammar or typos. I really just wanted to get this chapter out. **

**I have to admit, writing Harker was a lot of fun. Admittedly, his attitude was a little different not too long ago, but changed to what it is now after the intervention of another mad scientist sort of fellow that goes by the name of Cave Johnson. **

**Little known fact. Most of the characters in this story are named after other people of the same name from books, television, games, etc. Props to anyone who can guess where some of the names come from. **

**Reading: Wizard and Glass by Stephen King  
Playing: BFBC2, Super Mario Galaxy 2  
Listening: Ludovico Einaudi, Sufjan Stevens, Rick Astley, MC Hammer**


	15. The First Test

The First Test

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. All the characters in this story are mine._

Levin slept fitfully during the night, waking up on and off again through the course of his time in bed. He always hated trying to accustom himself to sleeping in an unfamiliar location and bed, but he had to admit that oftentimes is was unavoidable. Honestly, he felt that if he went outside and slept under one of the trees in the park not too far from the inn, he would've slept a little better. He probably would've woken up with a crick in his back, but he would've slept through the whole night.

There was a constant slamming on his door as the sun rose over the horizon and through the blinds, lighting up the room. From outside in the hallway, the booming voice of the innkeeper rattled the frames of the windows in his room: "Wake up, boyo! And girlie too if she's in there! The two of you should be getting up to prepare for your exam today! Trust me; the lot of you will be needing the time!"

Levin grumbled in frustration as the man laughed and pressed onwards to the room over, where Ellie slept. The great sword user still found it in him to chuckle a little when the large man saw fit to pretty much repeat the same accusatory message to his partner word for word. While he didn't really enjoy the suggestions of the two innkeepers (they had given him and Ellie that same "knowing" look throughout the night before the two of them had finally gone to bed), he had to admit he enjoyed watching Ellie's face redden in embarrassment with each passing comment from the couple. Nothing quite cheered up the young man like the sight of his partners flustered face, though he really couldn't explain to anyone why.

As the great sword user rolled out of his bed, he yawned loudly, blinking away the sleep from his eyes and stretching his limbs, allowing his tired muscles to creak and his joints to pop. Standing up, he glanced over to his blue Ludroth armor, which still remained draped lazily over the chair where he'd flung it after unpacking the night before.

Remembering the previous night, he grinned. He and Ellie, along with Kim, Nat, Harker and Kerrigan, had gone late into the night simply talking about the various hunts they'd taken part in. The rest of the hunters clustered around had taken part as well, offering comments and advice from their own areas of experience out in the field, or simply heckling each other during stories about each person's rather fantastic failures out in the wilds.

Harker, despite his odd attitude and wild demeanor, proved a far more experienced hunter than Levin had believed him to be, having taken down a Gobul during his time as a hunter ("It was a different one than the one in the eggs!" he had declared quite adamantly. "It's downright unprofessional to kill the parent of a nest before the children can properly care for themselves!"). Other than that, he'd had similar experience to most of the other hunters that were clustered in the area: Great Jaggi and Qurupeco. He had spent most of his time in the desert where Kerrigan hailed from, venturing only very occasionally into a floodplain forest that was a few days travel by wagon away.

It turned out that most of the other examinees didn't really have a broad range of monsters to fight either, considering most of them never had really ventured too far from their home villages. Most, like Levin and Ellie, came from the areas near Orage Dell, where the climate was tropical with normal forests and only a few low-level monsters. The Gobul seemed to be the generally highest difficulty creature the little group had faced.

Nearly all of them had their own horror stories to tell, however. All of them had had a particularly nasty run-in with a monster that was far out of their league. Levin and Ellie's story about the Lagiacrus seemed to be the capper of them all, but a bunch of them made the two hunters from Boma cringe in fear. Some of the hunters from the colder climes told stories about being hunted through caves in the snowy wastes of the north by a terrifying creature called the Gigginox. One told stories of a massive beast called the Uragaan coming down out of its rocky home in a volcano to feast off the moss that had grown on rocks after a rainstorm in their area.

When Harker had begun to rattle off his own stories, the room slowly began to grow increasingly stunned as his list on incidents continued to grow longer and longer. He told of nasty encounters with some of the more fierce beasts of the desert, like the Barroth and the Diablos, and a close call with a Rathian that had set down near his and Kerrigan's base camp during one of their hunts in the forest. He told several stories about particular incidents he found himself in like the previously mentioned Gobul nest issue, where his lust for knowledge would lead him into trouble.

It wasn't too long at all that the entire group realized that, aside from only a couple of the incidents, most of the nastier incidents that had taken Harker and Kerrigan by surprise were actually the result of Harker's over-curious mind and attitude. Rather than show caution when around unfamiliar situations, Harker seemed to revel in them, diving into trouble headfirst rather than sitting back to assess possible problems. Levin remembered that Ellie had given Kerrigan a pitying and apologetic look at one point, to which the other bowgunner could only sigh and shrug acceptingly in response.

Once they finally got around to hearing Kim and Nat's stories, Levin and Ellie were both somewhat relieved to hear that the two other hunters had not actually fought some highly valiant battle to earn the Rathian armor they wore. Kim had seemed prepared to tell a tale bordering on an epic yarn, but Nat had cut off her partner, embarrassingly telling her to tell the real story instead of the one that seemed to be spreading like wildfire around Orage Dell.

It turned out that the two of them had indeed managed to take down a Rathian, but through luck and trickery rather than skill in battle. While journeying through the forests outside of Orage one day in search of Ludroth sponges, they had run across a battle between two Rathian over the corpse of an exceptionally large Aptonoth. They had watched in awe as the two dragons battled it out with each other, clubbed tails smashing and fangs gleaming.

After almost half an hour of watching in amazement at the battle, one of the Rathians finally lurched back and backed away, admitting defeat to the other. As the victor roared in success, the loser took flight, making a break for its cave to recover its wounds. In a fit of excitement, Kim had immediately suggested that they tail the wounded creature and take it down, sprinting after the retreating Rathian before Nat could retort to such an idea. Unable to stop her friend, Nat was forced to chase Kim and the fleeing Rathian across the forest to the creature's hideaway.

As they had reached the Rathian's nest, though, they found the creature snapping up the broken bodies of several Jaggi that had apparently tried to raid the nest in its absence. Uncertain about how to proceed, Nat, realizing that her partner would likely not be swayed into leaving without the Rathian (or themselves) dead, suggested a possible plan of action that they could use to make the fight easier, something she had picked up from some of the older hunters in one of the many hunter bars around the city.

Much like Ellie had done against the Lagiacrus, the pair of them had stuffed an extra slab of meat they'd had with then with dozens of the most poisonous mushrooms they had managed to get their hands on recently. With the bait set, the pair tossed the meat out into the open area just as the Rathian had finished off one of the Jaggi corpses. The Queen of the Land had given the mysterious meal a cautious glance when it had hit the ground, catching her attention. But with a seeming shrug of indifference and a growl of hunger, she had stalked over to the meal to partake.

It wasn't too long after that that the Rathian lay on its side, howling and spasming in pain as dozens of poisons filled its body. With the opportunity presented to them, the two hunters had immediately sprung into action, taking advantage of the battle- and poison-weakened Rathian. Admittedly, with its wounds already being what they were, it hadn't taken the two hunters all that long to finish the creature off.

There had been several moments of stunned silence in the bar when the two had finished telling their tale. Levin supposed he might have been shocked under the circumstances as well. Hearing that a couple of rising young hunting heroes with an amazing story were little more than a pair that had taken advantage of a lucky break must've hit a lot of them pretty hard. If Levin had heard that something to that effect as the truth behind most of Marshall's battles, it probably would've cold clocked him just as hard.

Ellie had also put on a rather disappointed face. Levin supposed he could understand that too, what with her particular… dislike of the Rathian and Rathalos. Knowing that she had asked about the two hunters' armors in hope of some hint on how to efficiently take down the dragons, Levin guessed hearing that it had been a stroke of luck was a bit of an off-putting situation.

But then an aging hunter in the back suddenly laughed. "Well, I ain't surprised!" he chuckled. "We all got a tale like that! Hell, in my day, me and some friends took on a mission to beat down a Rathian and Rathalos mating pair. The two dragons were so uncoordinated fighting together that they ended up do more damage to each other than to us! Hell, the Rathalos ended up poisoning and killing its own mate in the end! Didn't change the fact that the tale we told when we got back home was nothing short of an epic tale to match the best of them all!"

There was a few seconds of uncertain silence, then one of the hunters in the back chuckled. "I've had something like that happen," he said. "I was having trouble with a Royal once, next to a river. I thought I was going to die at one point, when a Gobul suddenly popped out of the river and just took this massive bite out of the Royal's side. Just a single bite! Then it decides it's full and just slides right back down into the water, and I'm just standing there thinking 'What the hell just happened?'"

After that, the mood immediately lightened, and the path the stories took swung over to the oddest victories people had obtained (with Harker and Kerrigan once again taking the cake with the strangest and most weird stories). Ellie still had a disappointed look on her face, but her mood soon picked up, laughing along with the rest of the hunters, and by the time the lot of them had decided that they better hit the hay, she was in the best mood he'd seen her in since they'd arrived in Orage Dell.

Levin smiled at the memory of some of the stories he'd remembered hearing from Harker as he finished sliding on his large Ludroth-sponge coat. He quickly snapped the latches of his satchel tight across his waist, and then grabbed his great sword, swinging it around onto his back. With a quick look into his satchel to make sure he was prepared, he grinned in satisfaction and walked out the door.

As he turned to latch his door, he heard another door click open a few doors down the hall. He turned to look, and had a double-take as a mess of colors and textures walked out of one of the rooms further down the hall. What looked like a blend between Jaggi, Qurupeco, and… Gobul materials (Levin thought) walked out of the room with a long bluish-silver sword slung haphazardly over its back. Levin was frozen in stunned silence for a moment before familiar realization sunk in at the sight.

"Is that you Harker?" he asked in disbelief.

Sure enough, the multi-colored figure turned, revealing the excited face of Harker from underneath the collection of Qurupeco feathers that built his helm. The long sword user grinned in recognition at the sight of Levin, walking over to him.

"Nice to see you this morning, Levin," he said. "Think you're ready for the first part of the exam today?"

"Yeah, I guess," Levin murmured. "But… are you? I mean, look at you. You look like a rainbow blew up in your face."

Harker's face twisted in confusion at the remark. "I don't see how a rainbow could 'blow up' at all. The phenomenon is a refraction of light, not a physical object to be destroyed in any way… Well, I suppose if you found all the sources of light refraction in the area, you could theoretically…"

"It was a simile, Harker," Levin cut him off, grinning slightly at Harker's response. "Or a metaphor. Or a euphemism. I'm not sure which. Take your pick."

"Oh, right," Harker replied sheepishly. "I apologize. I tend to get…"

"Carried away?" Levin laughed. "Yeah, I've figured that out. So, where's Kerry at right now? Is she in the room next to yours?"

"Kerry? Ah, Lady Kerrigan you mean. No, I'm afraid she's at another inn right now. Seems this inn is exclusively reserved for those participating in the hunter's examination, and no exceptions are allowed. So she's reserved another room at a different inn."

"She coming to the exam with you?"

"I'm afraid that's not happening either," Harker sighed ruefully. "Hunting masters are obligated by an unspoken rule to not interfere with their apprentice's affairs during the course of their examinations. During the day at least. She said she'd come to watch the, ah, practical, but during the rest, she's going to stand back and let me fend for myself."

"I see," Levin replied. "Maybe that's the reason Marshall didn't come with us. Didn't want to give us any insider tips."

"Probably something along those lines," Harker said. "Though it certainly wouldn't be the first time a master's given their apprentice some tips on properly passing. But it really seems like the master must not trust the student very much if they don't think they can pass without help from the teacher. After all, it's the point of this exam to make certain whether we're ready to hunt officially, without someone leaning in over our shoulders and commenting on our every move."

"I guess so," Levin said, then grinned. "Although, Marshall pretty much let us wander off on our own when we went out into the wilds around Boma Village. Maybe he trusted us more than I thought. Or maybe he just thought that two of us together would have enough brains to count as one good hunter."

"Maybe," Harker laughed. "Speaking of which, where is that lady friend of yours? Still sleeping?"

Before Levin could answer, the rattling of a doorknob echoed out of the room next to his and the pair turned to look as Ellie stepped out of her room, decked out in her own Qurupeco armor. She blinked in surprise at the sight of the two of them, then grinned.

"Nice to see the two of you in high spirits so early in the morning," she said.

"You as well, Miss Eleanor," Harker smiled with a dramatic bow. "And may I say you look rather… appealing in that armor selection of yours?"

"Oh, don't you start," Ellie growled, rolling her eyes. "I get enough teasing from Levin about this armor, I don't need to hear any more from others. I swear I need to get Silph to make me new armor, and make certain to run interference on Sophie next time."

"Maybe I'll introduce the concept of a bikini to her next time I see her," Levin grinned evilly. "I'm kind of curious to see where she'd run with that kind of clothing (or lack thereof) design."

"You do you die!" Ellie roared, punching Levin in the chest as her face reddened slightly.

As Levin chuckled and hopped back, Harker glanced in confusion between the two of them. "Is there a story I'm missing here?"

"I'll tell you about it later," Levin smiled.

"Like hell you will!" Ellie barked, still fuming.

As the three of them made their ways out into the main bar area of the inn, they began to come across the other attendees that were preparing themselves for the exam as well. As Levin and Ellie had seen at the arena the day before, the room was a rainbow of colors, with dozens of different armor designs and combinations spread out across the room. Levin took note that he and Ellie weren't the only ones wearing Ludroth and Qurupeco armor, respectively (though Ellie's design certainly was a unique design all on its own).

But Levin had to admit that he was impressed with some of the designs he saw; heavy plate mail made from more solid monster materials seemed common in those hunters that came out of the desert, while the hunters Levin remembered came from wetter areas like he and Ellie did were wearing mostly Ludroth or Gobul materials. There was even a hunter dressed in what appeared to be quite the sharp suit. When he mentioned it to Harker, the long sword user told him that the outfit was surprisingly made out of Bnahabra wings and carapaces.

Ellie suddenly motioned to the other side of the room, where the three of them spotted Kim and Nat emerging from the other wing of the inn. Kim spotted them almost immediately, waving excitedly as the three of them made their way over to them. Levin noticed that they were actually wearing their weapons now, and Levin was actually fairly surprised.

Not by Nat's weapon, actually; the dark-haired woman sported a bowgun that was made with what appeared to be a collection of strange metal with a keen blade jutting forward like a bayonet, a massive, bulky collection of heavy looking materials. A weapon requiring patience and a keen eye seemed to suit her in Levin's opinion. Kim's weapon, however, caught Levin slightly off guard. Rather than a short sword or something that included a flurry of attacks, the vibrant redhead was hoisting a massive circular shield on one arm, with a long and pointy scimitar-like weapon slung across his back.

"Like it?" Kim asked, noticing his gaze. "It's a special lance weapon I made with Gobul materials. The blacksmith called it the Gobulu Muruka. Neat huh?"

"Don't think to hard about her weapon of choice," Nat told him when Kim turned on Ellie and Harker, barraging them with other questions about what they expected from the exam. "Everyone always expects something different when they talk to her, but for some reason or another, she always felt safer behind a shield, poking at monsters from the other end of a lance, rather than just going out and slashing things to bits with a sword."

"I see," Levin said with a nod. "What about you? You got a reason for selecting the bowgun?"

"It's versatile. With the proper bowgun, you can apply a dozen and a half different types of attack or strategy against any monster. Besides, most of the time, you can fight monsters without getting within a dozen yards of the monster. But mostly it was so that I could provide the best support available for Kim."

"You took up the bowgun to help Kim?"

"I guess so," Nat said, scratching her head. "We both decided to become hunters around the same time when we were younger, and since we were close friends, we vowed to become partners once we made it big. Originally, I wanted to take up the hammer, but when Kim decided on the lance, I made the decision to switch over to bowgunner to provide her with proper support."

"All for her sake?" Levin asked, surprised.

"Of course," Nat replied with a shrug. "When you're acting in accordance with allies and friends, you do whatever it takes, even if it means sacrifice, to help them in any way possible. Honestly, giving up the hammer and taking up a new specialty isn't the most earth shattering change to my lifestyle I could've made, but I'd do more if I thought it'd help Kim out."

"That makes sense," Levin said. But a worried thought seemed to fester suddenly in the back of his mind, seeming to well up out of nowhere. Something about what Nat said seemed to resonate with a phrase or memory in the deepest place in his heart. But before he could dig deep enough to catch what it was that had sparked his attention, the thought flew out of his reach. He wished he could've gotten a better hold on…

_FIND IT AND KILL IT, NO MATTER THE COST._

Levin blinked in surprise as the sentence flickered to life in his mind. Find what? Kill what? Where the hell had that thought come from? Was that his voice just now? Why was he...?

"What about you?"

Levin turned, momentarily caught off guard by the question. Nat gazed at him expectantly as he sputtered in response. "What? What about me?"

"What about your great sword?" Nat asked, mild irritation creeping into the edges of her voice."Why did you choose that weapon over any of the others?"

"Oh, uh. Hmm. That's a good question," Levin muttered. "I guess it… I guess it suits me, I suppose."

"What?" Nat said, confused. "What do you mean it suits you?"

"I'm not sure," Levin admitted. "It just seems like it's the most effective weapon for me to use… though I'm not really too sure as to why that is."

"Have you even tried any of the other weapons that are available?"

"Sure. I mean, I tried what the Boma Village had to offer as practice weapons before I decided on a particular weapon. I guess the great sword just seemed like the best option for me."

"Nothing else? That's kind of odd… Usually hunters have at least one other weapon they use just in case. Or at least something to fall back on in case they just want to toy around with something else."

"I don't really have all that much else to go on," Levin said, thinking hard. It had been over a year since he'd toyed around with the practice weapons kept at the Guild booth in Boma. He had a rough idea on each weapon's use and efficiencies, but he'd never really considered changing to a different weapon.

"Well, actually," he said, sudden recollection popping into his head. "There was a weapon on display in the smithy district that I thought looked interesting. I didn't really have time to give it a try, though."

"Which one?" Nat asked.

"The… what was it? The switch axe, I think it was called. I saw some guy giving a demonstration on the way to the arena and thought it looked really cool."

"Oh, yeah. I've heard of those things. Don't they explode in your hands if you're not careful with them, though?"

"They what?"

"Hey Levin, Nat. Are the two of you coming?" Ellie called out to them. "The first exam's gonna be starting soon. Shouldn't we be getting to the arena?"

"Oh, right," Nat replied, stepping forward towards the other three hunters. "Let's head out then. Last thing any of us want after coming this far is to be late, right?"

"Wait, hold on!" Levin shouted, tailing after Nat, who laughed as she walked faster. "What the hell do you mean it explodes?"

"You'll figure it out!"

* * *

The group of five made their way back across Orage Dell not long after, twisting and turning through the swarms of travelers and locals, as well as salesmen and the vast collections of stores and shops. The enormous arena slowly grew larger as they approached, nervously chatting between themselves as they worked their way to the location of the first test.

Finally they reached the massive stone structure, and immediately a large corkboard billboard caught their eye, hanging sturdily from two massive pillars that acted as supports to the coliseum. Hundreds of lines of text were etched onto the board, a long list that was displayed for a large crowd that clamored and shouted amongst themselves.

"What's with the crowd?" Ellie shouted over the din of the horde.

"That's the betting crowd," Nat explained, shouting back. "They're all here to make wagers on the examination results. How many will pass, how many will receive over a certain number of points, that kind of thing."

"I thought the real fights weren't until the second part of the exam," Levin said. "Are these people really all here to bet on something they're not even going to be able to watch?"

"You'd be surprised," Kim laughed. "This city is all about hunting in every single way. If people aren't hunters themselves, they work in some line of work that aids the hunters. If they don't do that, they spend their days gambling on hunters here in the arena."

"Seems like a bit of a waste of life," Harker noted. "What's the point of living if you're not out in the world experiencing what it has to offer?"

"Some people just aren't up to snuff when it comes to things like that," Nat said. "So they live their lives vicariously through their favorite hunters here in the arena."

"Does the list just have the names of the hunters on it?" Levin asked. "It looks like stuff's written next to each name."

"I think that's their expected ranking," Nat replied. "The Guild takes the record of what the hunters have accomplished and places them in order from most expected to succeed to lowest."

"That's neat," Ellie said, glancing across the board. "Looks like you and Kim are at the top."

"That's really one hell of an exaggeration," Nat shrugged uneasily. "I mean, we only got lucky that one time with the Rathian. Our master's a bit of a local hero though, so I guess they're expecting a lot from us."

"Where're we at, though?" Levin asked, scanning the hundreds of names on the list. The group turned and began looking through the names, but were stopped fairly quickly as Harker grunted in notice.

"Ah, there we are… not very faithful in us, are they?" he said, an irritated look spreading across his face.

"What? Where?" Levin asked.

"There," Harker replied, pointing to the last three names on the list.

"What! They put us in last place?" Ellie yelled in shock.

"Well, it's actually a pretty fair rating actually," Harker said thoughtfully. He held up his hands defensively as the two other Lost immediately turned on him with glares of anger. "Now hold on, the two of you, hear me out. Considering the fact that the Lost are new to the whole hunting thing, it's not that far-fetched to think that they wouldn't rank us very high at all, despite our accomplishments out in the field."

"But still," Ellie sighed. "Last place? That's a bit of an insult. I mean, me and Levin fought of a Lagiacrus!"

"Bureaucracy in action I guess," Harker shrugged.

Levin thought for a moment then laughed. "Actually, this might be kind of fun to play with."

"How so?" Harker asked.

"Just think, if… no, when we pass the tests, anyone who may have bet against us will be totally flabbergasted. It'll completely throw off the betting curves. Not to mention we'll have something to throw in the Guild's collective face."

Ellie grinned spitefully. "I like it. Prove to the Guild we're worth our salt, and any non-believers in the audience lose money off of us."

"Holy crap you guys are diabolical," Kim whistled in surprise.

"Attention all examination attendees!" a voice boomed out from one of the many archways of the arena. The five hunters turned, spotting a tall man wearing one of the Guild uniforms standing tall atop a large podium, megaphone in hand. "Please proceed to the south side of the arena for the first examination! I repeat, proceed to the south side of the arena for the first examination! The first test will be conducted inside the warehouses in back!"

"You heard the man," Ellie said to the others, excitement beginning to creep into her voice. "Let's go get this test over with."

As the group of five hunters circled the giant arena, Levin, Ellie and Harker suddenly stopped in surprise. In front of them towered five broad stone structures, each three stories tall with wide windows spanning each side.

Harker let out an excited laugh. "Those are filled with weapons and armor, right? And the materials to make more, of course? Of course?"

"Of course!" Kim grinned. "This arena is sponsored by the Guild, so they keep it stocked with everything they need to keep the place running and business booming."

"Ha! Wonderful! Oh, how I'd love to experiment with some of the materials they keep in there! Especially those new elixirs of sorts they've been advertising all over the place, the Demondrug and Armorskin. Oh, to have the privilege of knowing exactly how they make such drugs! To play with such high-powered materials like that would be quite the joy!"

"For some reason I don't feel that I could trust a guy like you with hazardous materials or dangerous chemicals," Ellie cringed. "It seems like putting you in contact with… well, pretty much anything scientific could end in violent disaster."

"Now I resent…" Harker began to snap back. But then he stopped and frowned in thought. "Actually, that's kind of strange, now that I think about it. I mentioned the same desire to Lady Kerrigan some weeks ago and she said almost the exact same thing, verbatim."

"I can't imagine why," Ellie laughed, rolling her eyes.

A large crowd of examinees, most of them as young and green-looking as the five of them, stood around the large wooden, rolling doors that barricaded the entryway into the massive warehouses that contained the materials for the arena, as well as the contents of the first test. As Levin had expected, all of them were wearing their own collection of assorted or completed armors. What Levin hadn't anticipated was the near-unbelievable amount of people that were actually taking the test. While he had been expecting a fair number, considering the amount of hunters he'd seen at the inn, and knowing that there'd be more at other inns across the city, and seeing the large board with all the hunters' names on it, the sheer mass of people standing impatiently for the test to begin staggered the great sword user for a moment or two.

As the veritable army of hunting examinees milled about the area, impatiently waiting for the beginning of the examination, the large wooden doors sealing the entrance to the first warehouse suddenly began to creak loudly, being slowly pulled open from the inside. Levin craned his neck to try and see over the sea of hunters, just barely making out the shapes of two large men wearing bright Guild uniforms, pulling open the massive gate. Ellie and Kim, both several inches shorter than him, as well as Nat who was pretty much even with him, strained with effort as they attempted to see over the crowd. Meanwhile Harker, several inches taller than the rest of them, simply gazed over the crowd without any effort. He shot a grin to Levin, who rolled his eyes in frustration.

As the doors widened to the point where they were at least a dozen feet wide, a small, hunched figure began to walk slowly out of the gloom of the dark warehouse. As the light of the day began to reach the figure's body, Levin began to make out a human shape, once again dressed in the bright red of the hunter's Guild. However, unlike the other red-cloaked members, this person, this _woman_ Levin realized, had an ornate green symbol of the Rathian embroidered across the chest piece of the outfit. The woman herself was white haired and as old as anyone Levin had ever seen since coming to this world, but the way the other Guild members seemed to step back in awe and respect made Levin think that there was more to this woman than the frail appearance seemed to give off.

The woman moved quickly, old as she was, making her way across the front of the crowd over to a large wooden podium that stood in front of the crowd of hunters. Two hunters carrying ornamental swords and shields flanked her as she strode over to the podium and stepped up the ramp to a point where she could easily be seen by all the examinees. A hush fell over the crowd as the woman gazed out among them. Finally she began to speak, and Levin shivered slightly at the cold tone in her voice.

"My name is Polgara," she woman said, her voice carrying surprisingly well over the background roar of the arena. "I am currently head of the hunting committee here in Orage Dell, and I bear the symbol of the Rathian, labeling me as one of the more prominent members of the entire Hunting Guild. And, I'm going to be honest with you all right from the start. At least half of you are going to fail this first test, no matter how many of you earn a passing grade."

A gasp of fear and uncertainty rippled through the crowd, and a few defiant voices broke out from the din, angry at the notion. But Polgara carried on, ignoring the voices or simply not caring enough to notice.

"This decision is for the sake of the Guild, as well as for the sake of your very lives," Polgara continued. "This test is meant to pull away from this collection of… what was it, two hundred and thirty-seven hunters? This test is meant to take from the lot of you only the best and most capable of all of you, and to do so, we must be willing to whittle away a majority of you and only accept the best. To do otherwise would be raising the likelihood that we would be sending unprepared hunters off to their deaths. So, by the end of the examination, there will most likely be only twenty or thirty of you left to become official hunters, though less than that number is far more likely."

The frustration and anger in the crowd began to rise at the knowledge that only a tenth of them or less would be allowed to pass the examination. Levin shot a worried look over to Ellie as fearful thoughts of his own clattered through his head. What if neither of them passed, and they were forced to return to Boma, defeated? What if only one of them passed, leaving the other trailing behind?

"Oh, yes," Polgara said, "and let's not forget the fact that you won't be allowed to reapply for the test again for a year and a half if you fail to succeed."

Levin felt his heart sink. He remembered that little bit of information now. He hadn't thought to much about it when Mel and Marshall had pointed it out to him several weeks ago, he'd been far too ecstatic at the time knowing he'd be going out to take part in the hunter's examination. The possibility of failure hadn't really sunk in yet. But now that he was here, seeing the massive crowd of people and knowing that only a shy few of them would make it?

Then he felt a hand pat him on the back. He turned, and saw Ellie grinning at him. "Cheer up, perv," she grinned. "Marshall wouldn't have sent us here if he didn't think we'd succeed, would he?"

Levin paused in thought for a moment, then grinned in reply. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Don't get all terrified on me now, Mister Levin. Who would I have to pound on to vent my frustrations in the major leagues if you weren't around?"

"That's me," Levin grinned. "Your eternal punching bag, at your service, mistress."

"And don't you forget it."

As the hubbub of the crowd began to grow stronger at the mention of the temporary ban, Polgara gently cleared her throat. The sound was minimal, but the hunters still caught it and the enraged grumbling faded.

"Now, as much as I'm sure you'd love to complain right now, I'm afraid the Guild has neither the time nor patience to hear out every single one of your petty grievances. The test will be starting immediately, so if any of you feel that you'd rather stay an apprentice a while longer or wait for the next examination to roll around, please feel free to get the hell out of my sight."

"I don't know about the rest of you, but I _like_ this woman!" Nat grinned.

"As do I, my dear Lady Natalie," Harker replied. "She reminds me of Lady Kerrigan. Very gruff and blunt and doesn't give a rat's hind-quarters about what people think of her. I'm curious as to what kind of hunter she must have been back in her prime."

With a look of uncertainty between each other, several hunter examinees began to mutter in frustration. Much to Levin's astonishment, over two dozen of the examinees began to walk away from the crowd, shouting profanities and howls of how unfair such rules were. Polgara waited patiently for the number of hunters to thoroughly thin out, allowing those disgruntled or uncertain hunters to make their way away from the series of warehouses that contained whatever the first test held in store. The number of hunters continued to whittle away. After standing in silent wait for at least five minutes, the steady stream of leaving examinees ceased.

"Well, good riddance to bad rubbish," Polgara muttered, loudly enough for the remaining hunters to hear. "Let that be the first lesson the lot of you learn from this examination. If you don't have the confidence to take initiative in this test, despite the odds, then you should have no part in being a true member of the hunter's guild. Now, let's actually begin the test proper, shall we?

"This first test will be splitting the lot of you into groups of twenty or less," Polgara began to explain, while simultaneously, two of the other Guild members nearby nimbly stepped forward and began to erase a multitude of names from the board. At the same time, two more stepped forward and began to write numbers next to each name on the board, numbering from one to 10. "This board, unlike all of the betting boards you've no doubt all seen around town, is numbered in the order that you signed up for the examination. We will break you all into different groups based on number. Once you're all in your separate groups, each group will be separately taken into a different warehouse. Once there you will receive further instructions. Get to it."

The five hunters fidgeted impatiently as the Guild members continued their long trek across the board, slowly and surely numbering each and every one of the remaining hunter examinees. Kim and Nat gave each other a pained look as they were split into different groups, being that they'd applied for the examination together. Levin cringed slightly and saw Ellie frown in disappointment as the Guild members approached their own names, next to each other as well. And just as quickly as they had done the rest, the pair of Guild members jotted two different numbers next to Levin and Ellie's names.

Levin sighed in frustration as the Guild men finished jotting down numbers. The pair scanned the board once over to make certain they hadn't missed any names, before nodding in acceptance and giving a thumbs-up to Polgara. The old hunter nodded in return and turned back to the crowd of examinees.

"It's done now. There are ten warehouses around here, all appropriately numbered, and you've all been given a number that corresponds with the warehouse you'll be going to. Come up to the board, find out which building you'll be going to, and get to it. I'll speak to the lot of you again after the test. Or rather, I'll speak to those of you that pass." With that, the old hunter abruptly turned and began striding towards the arena, not sparing even the slightest of glances back their way as her two guards turned to follow next to her.

The cluster of examinees immediately began to break apart, starting with those nearer to the front that could already read which warehouses they had been assigned to. Levin could see those other hunters that had applied for the examination in pairs or larger groups, which stood out more so than the rest, due to the fact that they had a tendency to linger next to each other for several moments before awkwardly breaking away to go take the first test.

Finally, the group of five managed to get close enough to all read their own names and numbers clearly. Levin frowned at the sight of the number 8 scrawled next to his name, with a sloppily written 7 written next to Ellie's name directly above his.

"Bad luck, huh?" Levin said sulkily.

"Yeah, no kidding," Ellie replied.

Levin sighed then turned to his partner. "Not much left to say, I guess. Good luck, Miss Ellie."

"You too, Mister Levin," she grinned half-heartedly. "See you on the other side."

And with that the two branched off, Levin following the shouts and calls of the Guild members leading the way to warehouse eight, while Ellie followed her own leaders to warehouse seven.

"Wait! Wait up!" Levin heard a voice behind him call. The great sword user blinked in confusion and turned.

"Harker? Shouldn't you be getting to your warehouse?"

"I am!" the long sword user grinned, pushing his drooping spectacles back up his nose. "It seems the two of us have received the good luck to have both gotten assigned to warehouse eight."

Levin grinned in relief. "That is good news! I was worried I'd have to… well, I mean…"

"Lonely?" Harker smirked.

"No! Well, not exactly…"

"Oh, don't worry," Harker grinned. "I know how you feel. After spending so long trekking around the wilds with the lovely Lady Kerrigan, I have to admit I felt a little uncertain knowing I'd be taking part in this test without her aid. Once you get used to being part of a partnership, it just doesn't seem the same without, does it?"

Levin laughed. "You read my mind, Harker."

"Now, while I may not be as… _alluring_ as your usual partner, Lady Ellie," Harker grinned, "I do hope we can prove to be satisfactory comrades to each other."

"I hope so too," Levin replied with a grin.

The two of them approached one of the last warehouses in the line, where a large number "8" was painted brightly along the side. Around the entrance to the building stood a small collection of hunters like them, eagerly waiting for the test to begin. In front of the group of examinees stood a single Guild member, leaning against the wall of the building and impatiently tapping his foot. As Levin and Harker approached the entryway, the Guild man glanced around the examinees, doing a quick tally before standing back up straight and glaring out at the lot of them.

"Alright, listen up!" the man growled, quieting the nervous chatter between some of the hunters. "It seems all of you are here now, so we'll begin immediately. This test is very straightforward. I'm going to take you into this building and give you one simple order. You will have two minutes to complete that order, at which point a whistle will be blown and you will immediately stop what you are doing and return to me. Are there any questions?"

"What do we…?" one of the other examinees began hesitantly.

"No questions?" the Guild man cut off. "Good. Now get inside. Now!"

With an abrupt tug, the man pulled open the broad doors leading into the large building, revealing a vast darkness beyond. Without even a look back the man led the way into the dark building, with the small collection of examinees tailing cautiously behind.

Levin's eyes took a little while to acclimate to the darkness of the warehouse, but eventually Levin's eyes accustomed to the dark surroundings. The wide space began to clarify in Levin's eyes, and all at once, Levin gasped in astonishment. What had appeared to be an average sized storage facility became a massive structure once viewed from the interior of the warehouse. There were two tiers inside the warehouse itself; the first was on the ground level where Levin and the rest of the examinees stood, and above them was a broad balcony skirting the edges of the structure. Harker whistled in astonishment at the sight of rows and rows of shelves above them, all piled high with dozens of varying monster materials and bones, with tall vials of strange liquids shimmering in the hazy light that came in through the windows.

Levin's eyes then shifted to the center of the lower level, where a series of long wooden tables were laid out in front of the group of hunters. There had to be at least a dozen of them, all piled high with hundreds upon hundreds of varying hunters' goods. Stacks and stacks of potions and picks and bug nets and antidotes and hunting rations and piles of things Levin had never even seen before were laid out in heaps in front of them. And right at the head of all the tables sat a large box filled with standard-issue hunters' satchels.

"Alright, you morons, listen up!" the Guild member in charge barked at them. "The rules of this test are simple. You will pick up one, and only one, pouch from the box in front of you. You will then proceed to the tables laid out, and select the goods that you feel would be required for a randomly selected Guild mandated quest. After two minutes of gathering materials, you will _immediately_ cease all motions and return to me to have the contents of your bag judged. Now listen closely, as I will _not_ repeat myself: gather the materials you would require in order to properly fight and capture a Royal Ludroth in a highly watery area. Begin! You have two minutes."

There was a moment or two of stunned and confused silence as group of examinees stared blankly at each other in confusion. Then one of the other test-takers, one of the hunters that looked like he was bordering thirty years old, leapt forward in a rush, dashing forward towards the pile of satchels. Immediately, the rest of the examinees jumped forward at the same time, madly rushing towards the piles of random hunter goods.

Levin was intent on leaping forwards as well, when he felt Harker's hand grab a hold of his coat's sleeve. He turned in frustration, ready to bark in anger at his friend for holding him back, when he paused at the sight of Harker's calm face.

"Don't rush," the long sword user advised with a grin. "As a man who has a tendency to rush into things without thinking out in the field, I know the value of being prepared for any contingency. Don't take your time, since we don't have a lot of it, but don't blindly rush in. Think about things."

Levin nodded, sobered. "Got it," he grinned. Then the two of them turned, a good fifteen seconds behind the rest of the examinees, and quickly hurried over to the test.

Despite Harker's advice, Levin soon felt his mind racing as he picked up the satchel provided for the test. Every little detail of the Ludroths and Royal Ludroths he'd fought over the course of his time as an apprentice washed over him, and he tallied off the things he'd definitely need. Potions of course, and a whetstone or two. Fighting the creatures in the water tended to occur quite often when dealing with the Ludroth, so Air Philters were a must. What else, though? Traps! Yes, those were vital, a pitfall if available, a shock trap if not.

As he reached the table where he'd seen the stack of potions laid out, he tensed up slightly at the sight. He'd thought there would've been enough of the potions available for the lot of the examinees to get what they needed, but somehow or another, only a dozen or so of the vials remained on the table. Levin's first instinct was to just drop the remainder of the bottles into his own pouch, but his mind snapped over to Harker, who was over at one of the other tables grabbing… binoculars? What the hell?

Without a second thought, Levin quickly poured half of the pile into his own bag, he was tempted to pick up the remainder of the bottles and carry them over to Harker, but he knew time was short, and Harker was on the other side of a couple of tables. Levin winced in uncertainty, but at that moment, Harker happened to glance his way. Levin motioned urgently to the remaining bottles, and the long sword user seemed to reel back in realization, nodding in understanding and starting to stride around the side of the table.

Levin desperately wanted to stick around long enough to make certain that Harker got the potions he needed, but with a glance around the room, he realized that the other goods he'd made a note to pick up were disappearing just as quickly as the potions had. With a twinge of regret, the young hunter took off, desperate to pick up the other goods he needed.

The next minute and a half flew by in a blur, with several piles of things being knocked over as some of the more desperate hunters flailed around, knocking over goods that they thought they needed. A short ten-second scuffle broke out on the other side of the room once as two of the hunters fought over a pair of bright red bottles that Levin couldn't imagine what was contained inside. Levin had to force his own feet to keep an even pace, to prevent himself from panicking like some of the others in the group.

And then with the shill howl of a whistle, the test screeched to a halt. There was a murmur of frustration and disapproval as the other test takers screeched to a halt. A couple of the others tried to nonchalantly slide a few more things into their satchels, but were immediately shot down by the Guild instructor, who quickly roped the entire group of them back into a little cluster. Without a sense of tact or care, the instructor herded the group of examinees through an adjoining door that Levin had failed to notice before. Levin cautiously made his way back over to Harker as the group clustered through a small, poorly-lit hallway towards a well-lit (or perhaps simply better-lit) room.

As the group of hunters made their way into the light of the room at the end of the hall, blinking away the pain in their eyes as they adjusted to the brightness, some of them reeled back in surprise at what they found. In front of the whole group sat a table with five Guild representatives, staring sternly at the examinees from across a solid wooden table. Directly in front of the table was a series of five seats, and pressed up against a nearby wall were two long, uncomfortable-looking pews.

"Sit down, all of you!" the instructor barked. With an uncomfortable lurch of motion, the nervous examinees awkwardly made their way over to the pews, sitting down carefully and clinging tightly to their satchels of goods.

"Alright, now, listen up," the instructor growled. "Here's what's going to happen here. I'm going to select a few of you at a time to go up and be judged based on what you selected to put in your satchels. These fine men and women of the Guild you see in front of you will be your judges for this test. They will be the ones that determine whether or not you have selected an adequate choice of goods. I may choose to only send one of you up. I may chose to send five of you up. The choice is my own. You will not speak unless spoken to. You will not try to explain your decisions on the items selected unless asked to. Is this understood? Good.

"Now," the instructor said, looking up and down the line carefully, "let's start with… you."

With abrupt selection, the instructor pointed directly at a hunter a few seats down from Levin. The hunter wore a well-polished armor, made from what Levin believed was Rhenoplos shells (though he'd only seen the design in some of Silph's catalogs, so he wasn't certain). The young man had a confident look on his face, no doubt expecting to have been called up, and even more so expecting to pass. But the examinee had a… fidgety look to him that Levin wasn't sure about.

As the first selected hunter stood, the instructor continued down the line, glancing thoughtfully at each of the hunters in order. He got to the end of the line as the first selected examinee reached the chairs in front of the Guild representatives.

"Alright, two more will do," the instructor said, marching back along the line. "How about… you and you."

Levin blinked in surprise as the instructor pointed directly towards him and Harker. Levin glanced nervously around as he and Harker stood up, grabbing onto their satchels, filled with goods and walking over towards the chairs in the middle. The instructor glanced up and down the line of remaining examinees, then nodded in acceptance and sat down in a nearby chair.

Levin sat down next to the other hunter in the row of chairs, as the other gave him a slight nod. Levin returned the gesture as Harker walked around the chairs as well.

"Hold on now, son," one of the judges said before Harker could sit down. "If you please, Mister…"

"Harker, sir."

"Yes, Mister Harker," the judge nodded. "If you could, please bring us your satchel as well as those of the other examinees to be judged."

"Very well," Harker nodded. As ordered, he quickly knelt down and grabbed the other two bags of goods, then carried them over to the judges. The judge accepted them soberly and passed two of the bags down to the other judges as Harker sat back down.

"Shall we begin with this bag?" the third judge from the right asked her associates, patting the bag of the hunter next to Levin.

"Fine," the fifth said. "Any bag will do, considering the circumstances. I trust the instructor we've chosen has sharp enough eyes to bring the important details to light."

Levin spared a confused glance back to the instructor, who ignored Levin's look. What did they mean, 'important details'? Did the instructor select the three of them specifically for a particular reason? Levin frowned uncertainly, turning back around at the sound of rustling as his bag was carefully pulled open.

"Your name?" the first judge asked. Levin told him, and the man nodded, jotting it down onto the paper in front of him.

"Let's see here…" the third judge said, unceremoniously dumping Levin's selected goods onto the broad table in front of them. Levin fidgeted nervously as the judges scrupulously gazed over Levin's choices.

"Hmm," the second judge muttered. "A nice, varied selection. Not as many potions as I'd like to see a prepared hunter carrying with him, though."

Levin opened his mouth slightly, wanting to defend himself, but he remembered the instructor's harsh orders and quickly closed his mouth. A couple of the judges had noticed and seemed to appear disappointed that he had stopped. Levin wondered if there was a penalty for speaking out of turn.

"Anyway," the judge continued. "You've got a very broad selection of things. Seems you're trying to take into account any eventualities by bringing two traps instead of just one. Preparedness; I like that."

"And it seems you handle well under pressure," another judge commented. "You don't appear to have forgotten too much, despite the time limit. Although, this could be attributed to good teaching by a master as an apprentice. Did you serve under a licensed hunter as an apprentice, boy?"

"I did," Levin replied. "His name is…"

"Don't tell us," the judge cut him off firmly. "We don't like to build up favoritism for students of well-known hunters, so please keep his name to yourself."

"Well," the third judge said somberly, glancing between his fellow judges, "unless there are any other noteworthy mentions about this young man's choices, I think we're done with this one. It was a decent selection under pressure, though you didn't quite have as many medical goods as I'd like to see, but that can be understood. You're didn't exactly impress us, but you'll do fine. Any other comments? No? Well, then, let's carry on, shall we?"

Levin felt a wave of relief as the judges proceeded to dump his choices into a small basket at the end of the table. While he didn't exactly feel confident in whatever score they were thinking of giving him, the good mood of the judges seemed to indicate that he might have passed. Well, at least this part anyway. The later tests would be something else altogether.

"Don't get too cocky," the fourth judge snapped at Levin, catching the look in his eye. He expanded his gaze to cover the rest of the examinees in the room as well. "Remember, we're here to weed out the unprepared from this little test. You may think we're being generous, and you may think we've decided for you to pass, but at the end of this test, we're going to take the half of you we like the least and cut. Them. Out. Understand?"

"Yes sir," Levin muttered fearfully.

"Let's open this bag next," the third said, rolling his eyes at the speech of the fourth. "This is yours, correct, Mister Harker?"

"That's right."

"Now, let's see what's inside." With a graceless tug, the judge wrenched the top of the bag open and dumped the contents of the materials onto the table in front of him. With a symphony of clatters and clinks, a series of materials and bottles tumbled onto the table in a clatter.

Levin's eyes widened in surprise at the jumble of items that fell to the table. Rather than the common materials Levin was used to bringing, Harker seemed to have assembled a completely different hodgepodge of random items. Next to the bulky pair of binoculars that he'd seen Harker drop into his satchel earlier was a few slabs of preserved slabs of meat, as well as a few dozen small bags of assorted mushrooms. There were also an obnoxious amount of air philters; far more than Levin usually brought, that was for sure. There was a trap there, but it was a shock trap, dangerous to use near the water; Levin wondered if the pitfall traps had run out as well. Levin's heart sank slightly as the sight of only three bottled potions rolled loosely across the table.

Levin turned in irritation at the sound of light snickering coming from the hunter sitting next to him. The hunter was rolling his eyes in mirth at the mix and match goods that Harker had selected. Levin glared at the young man as his laughter began to die away.

"This is an… interesting choice of goods," the fifth of the judges said. "A unique selection of goods, that's for certain. You seem to be partial to setting baited traps for monsters. Not many potions, though. Can you explain why you chose these… particular goods?"

"Well, the potions I couldn't avoid," Harker explained calmly. "It seems most of them were gone by the time I managed to reach the pile of them. Or what was left of the pile, at least."

"And why did you not immediately go to get potions?" one of the other judges asked curiously.

"Because I felt that there were other items I would much prefer to them," Harker admitted. "Besides, I don't entirely trust Guild-mandated potions. They have a tendency to create an addiction in some of the hunters willing to use them, from what I've heard. And if I must be out in the wilds hunting for monsters, I'd rather be dependent on my own strength and wits rather than the pain-killer effects of a drug that I didn't make myself."

The judges looked uncertainly between each other, clearly not sure on whether to deem Harker's logic as sound or unstable. With a harrumph of dismissal, the first judge that spoke scribbled a note into a small pad of paper in front of him and proceeded to set aside the potions and move on to the other goods on the table before him.

"And what of the rest of this?" the fourth asked Harker with a disbelieving tone. Levin glanced down the table of judges and felt slightly downhearted as the lot of them seemed to be very dissatisfied with Harker's selections. "What good are the rest of them? You have… two whetstones, some uncooked meat, some mushrooms. A couple various types of smoke bombs and poison bombs I see. No collapsible pickaxes or barbeques, no drugs or horns. What exactly do you hope to accomplish with these particular goods?"

"Study, of course."

The judges frowned in confusion, glancing at each other uncertainly. The fifth judge leaned forward. "Could you please clarify what you mean?"

"Well," Harker replied with a grin, "it is my personal goal to make a proper study of the monsters and other creatures of this strange world. The materials in that bag are what I decided would act as efficient use for the study of the Royal Ludroth I would be hunting. The meat and mushrooms would be used to tranquilize or paralyze it, allowing me a closer study of its habitat. The poison bombs were an afterthought, I admit. I saw them on the table and wondered how a Royal Ludroth reacts to poison."

"And the smoke bombs?"

"For a quick escape, should the situation require it," Harker replied, matter-of-factly. "Not all attempts to study the Royal would end with myself properly hiding myself, I have no doubt. I am not perfect at stealth, after all. Should the situation take a turn for the worse, a way out is helpful."

"I see," the fifth sighed, leaning back into her chair. "And what of actually fighting and capturing the Royal Ludroth?"

"Well," Harker replied. "That would come once I'd gathered all the information on the Royal that I thought I could possibly get. Or once the Royal Ludroth realized I was there and decided it wanted me dead. At either point, I would then feel compelled to complete the mission as ordered."

The fifth judge gazed levelly at Harker with a bemused look. "A scholar attempting to be a hunter for the sake of study, are you? We've had your type come through the test before. They rarely do any good during these tests. However, it seems that you've thought out things in advance far better than most of them. Not bad, boy. Not bad at all."

"But not that good, either," the fourth judge growled. "He's thought things out well enough here, but how good is he in practice, I wonder?"

"That's not for us to decide," the first judge said. "We're here to judge their preparedness and ability under pressure, not their actual level of skill."

The fourth opened his mouth to snap back, but held his tongue in the end, leaning back into a sulk as the judges proceeded to remove the goods from the table again.

"It was an interesting selection of goods," the fifth judge told Harker. "But this is an examination for the authorization of hunters, not for scholars. It's people who are here to kill or capture monsters for the sake of the populous and the sake of the Guild that we seek, not people out there to sate their own curiosity. We'll take your selection and logic into account, but don't be surprised if we choose someone we deem to be more efficient than you."

"Fair enough," Harker nodded.

"Shall we move on to the third one, then?" the first judge asked.

"Yes, let's," the fourth said, pulling open the bag that lay before him. A loud and repetitive clinking sound jingled out of the bag. The fourth grinned obstinately at Levin and Harker. "It certainly sounds as though at least one has a bit of faith in Guild-approved goods. Let's see what our last participant, Mister…"

"Zeal," the other hunter replied. Levin frowned at the word. The young man seemed to have a quiver in his voice that belied his confident attitude. Was he more nervous than he let on, perhaps?

"Yes, Mister Zeal," the fourth judge nodded, jotting the name down onto his pad in suit with the other judges. "Now, let's see exactly what it is you've decided to carry along with you."

Once again, a pile of goods was dumped on the table, and once again the group seemed to reel back in amazement. Or more accurately, confusion. There were most of the regular goods that Levin had expected to see in most of the hunters' bags: a trap, some tranqs, some other miscellaneous goods like picks and whetstones. But as opposed to Levin and Harker's own bags, out of Zeal's bag tumbled nearly three dozen bright green potion bottles. The rush of bottles was so large, that several of the bottles tumbled from the table and dropped to the ground, shattering in a spray of glass and green fluid.

Out of the corner of his eye, Levin vaguely noticed the hunter Zeal cringe and lean forward as the bottles broke apart, as though he had wanted to leap forward to save them. However, more immediately, the great sword user felt the burn of rage tear through his mind at the sight of the pile of bright green bottles. It was his fault, Zeal's fault, that he and Harker had been forced to take only the last dregs of potions from the last of the pile? That greedy, self-centered son of a…!

"How disappointing." Levin froze in mid-thought at the words, turning in confusion to the first judge as the man sighed and leaned back in his chair. A look of weariness and mild distaste flittered across the old man's face as he gazed pityingly towards Zeal. "I see now why our instructor decided on the three of you in particular. Such a shame, too. I was hoping we wouldn't have one of your kind in the running for this examination."

"Excuse me?" Zeal spoke up, earning a look of disapproval from a couple of the other judges for speaking out of turn. "What do you mean by that? I've got everything I need there, don't I?"

"Yes… and no," the first judge replied somberly. "You do have a lot of the goods we'd expect you to have for a mission like the one we've asked you to provide for. However, in some cases, there are situation in which you have brought with you too much. Such as this instance here."

"Too much?" Zeal growled. "Too much what? Potions? Is it wrong to be prepared? Is it wrong to want to be ready for any eventuality?"

"Not exactly," the judge replied coolly. "However, it is wrong to allow yourself to become so dependent on the numbing and medicinal properties of the potions before you that you become addicted to their effects. As such, it would be wrong of us and our responsibilities as decision makers to allow such a needy person to become an official hunter."

"Addicted?" Zeal shouted. "I'm not…"

"Oh, really?" the judge barked, cutting him off. With a snap of his wrist, the man reached over, plucking one of the vials from the pile and throwing it to the ground, shattering it on the floor. Zeal reeled back, as though physically struck as the pale green liquid splashed across the floor. He took a half-step forward, as though wanting to try and collect the fluid, but stopped, conflicted at the accusing looks he was receiving from the judges.

"It's obvious, boy," the first judge said viciously. "The look in your eyes, the pain in your expression, your numb reactions. To any normal person you would perhaps appear tired or not quite as sharp as normal, but we judges are trained and experienced hunters. We spend years learning the motions and tactics of the monsters we hunt, memorizing their very movements and twitches to predict their next assault. Do you think it is any challenge at all for us to spot how much you've become dependent on the effects of the potions?"

"And that's not all," the second judge piped in. Zeal snapped his head to face the older judge. "You've not only earned demerits for being physically untrustworthy, but perhaps the addiction has also made you completely unaware of the results of your choices."

"What… what do you mean?" Zeal stuttered.

"What I mean is this: there were exactly one hundred and sixty bottles of potions in that pile at the start of the test. Here in warehouse number eight, exactly eighteen hunters were selected to take the test together. Also, on the side of each potion phial, there is a small warning, recommending that any hunter that uses potions should only take a maximum of ten with them on a hunt, a number selected for the sake of reducing the chances of creating an addiction. That means that there were more than enough potions on that table for all hunters to get a fair share, but little enough to whittle out those that weren't sharp enough to go directly to the table." At this comment, the judge shot a particularly strong look in Levin and Harker's direction, making them both wince in nervousness.

"However, the test also has another, more subtle agenda: to find out whether or not the examinees have the capacity to consider the well-being of their fellow hunters. And, I suppose, whether or not the examinee has a tendency towards addiction. And while there is something to be said about the speed in which hunters are supposed to get to the potions in order to collect the necessary amount, there is even more to be said about those hunters that greedily take what they want without thought of others."

"But I got what I needed for the hunt!"

"That you did," the fifth judge told him. "However, your motivations are severely under question now. Who's to say you won't simply use the title of professional hunter as a method to legally purchase vast amounts of potions?"

"But…!"

"No. That's enough," the fourth judge grumbled. "We've seen enough. Honestly, I'm quite disappointed with all of our three initial examinees. The first is too plain, the second has the wrong motivation; both of which seem to lack the mentality to go after what's necessary quickly. The last is worst of all, a potion addict. Honestly, I hope some of the others are better than this. At this rate, warehouse eight isn't likely to see anyone walk out with passing marks."

"I think you're being a little overly negative about it," the third judge replied. "This judging will be fair, despite your own preferences. But, in the end, I think we've seen all we really need to see of these three. You three may leave. The results will be posted in on the board near warehouse one later."

Levin nervously got to his feet, followed by Harker. He wasn't exactly certain how to believe the test went. He nodded as the instructor pointed him to another door, walking past Zeal as the young man stood in disbelief.

"No!" the young hunter growled. "I won't let you just boot me out! I…"

"You are _done_." Zeal turned in surprise as the powerful grip of the instructor clamped down on his shoulder and began dragging him to the door past Levin and Harker. Levin winced as the large instructor flung open the door, revealing bright sunlight, and unceremoniously threw Zeal out onto the stone walkway.

The instructor turned, eyeing Levin and Harker. "Well?" he asked, motioning to the door. The two remaining hunters didn't need to be told again, and quickly hurried past the large man and out into the sunlight as well. They had barely made it two steps outside before the massive wooden door slammed shut behind them.

Levin was forced to pause in slight pain as his eyes were forced to readjust to the bright light after being indoor for so long. As his eyes slowly adjusted, he managed to see Zeal get to his feet and storm away. Levin felt as though he should say something to encourage the other hunter, but couldn't think of anything that would be any good to say.

"Well now what?" he said to Harker as his friend got his own eyes used to the sun.

"What else can we do but wait?" the long sword user replied. "Let's head back to warehouse one. Maybe Miss Ellie, Kim or Nat have finished as well. If we've got to wait, we might as well stick together."

"Sounds like a good enough idea to me."

* * *

"Wake up you lazy bum!" Levin abruptly jolted awake as a well-placed kick pegged him in the side, rolling him from his sitting position leaning up against a small tree and dropping him onto his back into the grass. The great sword user quickly regained his bearings, glancing around in search of his assailant, and frowned at the sight of Ellie grinning down at him.

"Get a nice nap?" she asked.

"Yeah," Levin grumbled, shaking his head to remove his drowsiness. "The wake-up call could've been a little gentler, though. Did you just get out?"

"No, we got out of our tests a little while ago," Ellie replied, sitting down next to him. "I guess you must have been one of the first ones out, though, because by the time we got here, you were already under this tree and completely out of it. They're going to be announcing those people that passed the test soon, though, so I thought you'd appreciate it if I woke you up."

"Much obliged," Levin grinned. "By the way… how did your end of the test go?"

Ellie sighed. "Not as good as I'd hoped. They asked us what goods we'd bring to capture a Qurupeco, and I'm so used to you being the one carrying around the traps that it completely slipped my mind to grab one for myself. I picked up tranq bombs and all the other stuff I needed, but… well, I don't think the judges were very impressed at all, even after I tried to explain my mistake."

"At least you were able to grab some potions before the rest of your group grabbed the whole pile of them."

"Yeah, I heard about that from Harker. A potion addict? Really? I thought you were joking when you told me people got addicted to them back when we first started hunting together."

"Not really. I mean, I'd never seen one in person before, but the old man and Mel both told me about issues people have had with potions before. I don't really see the appeal, though. I mean, who wants to spend time just completely numb?"

"I guess you never really know with those types."

"Maybe not."

"Yeah. Anyway, you wanna go find the others? I think they wandered over to the board in front of warehouse one. They should be posting the results here anytime soon."

"Alright then," Levin said, hopping to his feet and stretching. "Let's get this over with."

The two made their way back to where they had started, where Polgara had given the hunters her speech. As they walked, Levin's nervousness slowly began to increase again at the fear of what the results would be. Apparently, neither he nor Ellie felt as though they had done as well as they could've. But it still wasn't the thought of both of them failing that scared Levin the most; it was the thought of only one of them failing.

Levin knew from some of Marshall's tales that the Hunter's Guild could be very demanding of its members at times, pulling them away from their homes and villages in order to aid in hunts that tended to be particularly difficult. If only one of the two of them passed, the other was sure to fall quickly behind. In his heart and mind, Levin shivered at the thought of separating with Ellie. He'd spent so long with her over the course of their apprenticeships that the thought of being without her made his heart ache with a lonely feeling he wasn't sure he'd ever felt before. At least, not as powerfully as this.

His eyes glanced over to his partner, lingering on her face, intent as the two approached the crowd of hunters that milled impatiently, waiting for results. He hadn't really considered how much she'd changed during their time together until now. Her soft brown hair was longer, for one; where it had only been shoulder-length when they'd first met, it now had grown down to her shoulder blades, forcing her to tie it back to keep it from interfering during their hunts.

Her very face seemed different as well when compared to the past. It was calmer, more thoughtful, not the aggressive, single-minded look she'd once had. But Levin had to admit that she got that focused look on her face when she was deep into a fight with a monster. She seemed happier to Levin, seemed to laugh and joke more than before, which made the great sword user glad. He always enjoyed hearing her laugh, even if it was at his own expense.

Suddenly Ellie looked over at him and grinned, making Levin blink in surprise. "Quit staring, you perv," she smirked.

"But I do so enjoy the view," he said with a lecherous grin, getting a much-desired blush from the girl.

"Well, look up at the board instead, you jerk," she said, pointing up to the list. "It looks like they're getting ready to announce those that passed. And I'm pretty sure that's a bit more interesting thing to see than my midsection."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Levin replied in an intentionally husky voice, leaning in closer and making Ellie turn a deeper red.

"Knock it off and pay attention," Ellie growled, smacking Levin in the shoulder. The great sword user laughed, dodging away as she pulled back another fist threateningly. Levin had to admit that about Ellie too: she'd gotten stronger, much stronger. Her punches had a tendency to leave welts if he wasn't careful about keeping away from her.

As Levin begged Ellie's pardon, attempting to sway her ire, a trio of red-cloaked Guild members suddenly marched from the dark interior of the first warehouse, followed closely by the old huntress, Polgara. Immediately the sound of restless chattering died away, followed by breath-held silence. The three Guild members each carried a small clipboard with them, and as Polgara made her way to the podium once again, the trio began writing on the board, marking each name with an X or a checkmark. Even as the trio continued to track their way across the board, the old huntress quickly began to speak to the crowd.

"As I have limited patience, and the whining of the incompetent does not amuse me, I'll keep this short," she said. "To put it simply, those with a checkmark beside their names have passed this test and are allowed to return tomorrow, at the arena, to take part in the second test. Those that have an ex next to their name have failed, and your name has been added to a roster, not allowing you to take part again for a year and a half. Use that time to improve, or simply give up. I don't really care which. If you didn't understand something or have any complaints, then you're probably one of the losers, and certainly not smart enough to have passed in the first place. Now then, good day to you all."

And with that she turned and left, marching quickly towards the arena again, her bodyguards in stride next to her.

"That woman doesn't mince words, does she?" Levin mumbled.

"I'm with Kim on this one," Ellie grinned. "I _like_ that old bat!"

A rush of noise filled the air as the three Guild members in front suddenly moved from in front of the board, their work marking each name completed. As the trio swept from in front of the list, it allowed each name to be seen clearly, and the air was soon swarming with cheers of victory or moans of failure. Levin strained his eyes, trying to catch sight of whatever was next to his and Ellie's names, desperate as the rest to find out their results.

Suddenly Ellie twisted towards him, grinning broadly. "We did it! We both passed!"

"We did?" Levin asked, finally catching sight of their names. Sure enough, two checkmarks were displayed next to their names. "We did! Yes!"

Overjoyed, Levin turned to his partner and hugged her around the waist, picking her up and swinging her around excitedly. The two of them laughed mirthfully until Levin was forced to put her down, grown dizzy from the spinning. As they continued to chuckle and celebrate, Levin noticed Kim and Nat walking up to them, Harker close behind. All of them were grinning excitedly as well.

"You guys passed, right?" Kim laughed. "Awesome!"

"Yes, congratulations," Harker said with a smile. "Once I saw that I'd somehow managed to pass, considering the harsh words our judges gave me, I figured the rest of you were sure to pass as well."

"I was hoping you'd pass," Levin grinned. "I find it kind of funny thinking about how the Guild would react to a guy like you becoming a full-fledged hunter."

"Well, keep your fingers crossed," Nat said. "We've still got tomorrow's test to do before we can be declared as official hunters. And if you thought today's test was rough, just think how tomorrow's practical exam will be."

"Well there's only thing to do now, then," Kim grinned. "Celebrate! Worry about the next test tomorrow! Then tomorrow night we can really let loose once we all pass and become official hunters!"

Nat gave Kim a concerned look, as though slightly questioning her sanity, before breaking down and laughing. "Fine, fine," she said, shaking her head. "I suppose having a little fun before getting prepared for tomorrow is allowable."

"Allowable, she says," Levin grinned. "I can't see what kind of person you are once you let loose."

"Oh, she's hilarious when she's been drinking!" Kim laughed. "There was once when our master let us drink some grape wine from the forest and she totally…"

Immediately Nat leapt forward, clamping a hand over her partner's mouth as a red tint covered her cheeks. "We agreed not to talk about that day again!" she hissed into Kim's ear as the redhead broke away, laughing.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot," Kim grinned wickedly.

"Liar!"

Harker laughed at the sight. "Come on now, ladies. Now's not the time to argue. Let's head back to the inn. I'm sure we'd all like to celebrate with the others that passed, and I for one would like to meet up with Lady Kerrigan to see if she'll impart any advice for the test tomorrow."

"I thought official hunters weren't supposed to pass out advice on the exam tests," Levin said.

"They're not," Harker smirked. "But after hearing Lady Natalie and Kimberly's discussion, I'm curious as to what kind of person Lady Kerrigan is after a few pints. Perhaps she'll be a little more loose with her words than normal."

"Getting a lady drunk for less than noble reasons is hardly a gentlemanly thing to do Harker," Ellie said, shooting a glare the long sword user's way.

"Hmm. Perhaps you're right. But considering how many drinking contests I've seen Lady Kerrigan participate in, and _win_, I think I'd be the one at a loss at the end of the night. I could swear that woman has a liver that would leave a Gobul green with envy."

"So what are we waiting on?" Kim asked excitedly. "They don't keep kegs behind the bar for the sake of appearances."

"Let's go then," Ellie grinned, and the five of them began making their way back to the inn, laughing and chatting the whole way.

* * *

On the northern side of the city, as the bright lights of the arena and corresponding towers began to light up with the fall of night, two figures emerged from the depths of the forest walkway. The hunter guardsmen standing watch at the broad archway that led into the city tensed for a moment in hesitation, uncertain of what approached, before relaxing slightly as the figures formed into the shapes of two humans. The two that approached were rather surprising, however, being as one was rather larger than normal, accompanied by a much smaller, lither figure. Both were covered in dull gray cloaks to defend against the rainy weather that wasn't uncommon in the area, making their features hard to distinguish.

The smaller figure glanced up at the hunters on top of the barricades expectantly, and the gatekeeper nodded in acceptance at the sight of sharp pale-blue eyes, barking at the hunters in charge of the pulleys to get to work. Immediately the hunters leapt to the wheel of the gate, turning fervently to allow the pair of travelers into Orage Dell. The creaking and groaning of the massive logs and taut cords echoes through the woods as the broad door slowly rose up and off the ground. Once the gate was several feet off of the ground, the smaller traveler quickly slipped under the rising gate, followed closely by the larger one, who was forced to crouch under the gate even as it capped six feet high.

Once the pair were safely through the gate, the gatekeeper barked another order to the hunters in charge of the wheel, and with a sigh of relief, the men released the wheel. There was a rolling rattling as the weight of the gate pulled against the wheel, spinning it wildly as the massive door fell, slamming with a thunderous rumble as it crashed back into the dirt below. The two travelers barely seemed to notice or care the eruption of sound as they continued into the city, earning a confused look from the gatekeeper. The hunters at the gate simply shrugged, however, not really caring about the attentions of the passerby, and walked back to their posts, intent on insuring the safety of the city by keeping a watchful eye out for any monsters.

The two travelers continued through the town, sliding through the hoards of townspeople and other travelers on their path. Finally, the two stopped before a large building, an inn to be precise. Inside, a chorus of cheers and jibes filled the air, as the examinees inside that had managed to pass celebrated their completion of the first step towards finishing the exam. The two travelers glanced up at the giant billboard at the front of the building, showing the long list of hunters that had made it into the second round of the examinations. The two travelers scanned the list, then quickly turned, moving on.

They kept walking until finally they reached another inn. Unlike the previous inn, however, this one gave the impression of being a far seedier residence, with broken windows and poorly lit rooms displayed into the street rather than the bright, comfortable dwellings that the other inns afforded.

"Hmph," the larger traveler growled. "You'd think the old man would be able to put out a bit more money for lodging considering how much effort and cash he's putting into this whole project of his. I've fought off drunken bums in nicer places than this rat hole."

"It's not so bad," the other traveler replied, a lilting feminine voice with laughter hidden behind it. "It's places like this that remind me that the project will certainly come to fruition, despite the collection of do-gooders and righteous warriors there are out there. As long as places of depravity like this exist in the world, I doubt we'll ever truly lack in business. Besides, we're both… how to say it? Less than appreciated in most social circles."

"We've both got bounties on our heads, you mean," the larger man said.

"If you like," the woman replied. "Now shall we enter? Any roof over our heads is better than sleeping in the gutter, wouldn't you agree?"

"Not much better by the looks of the place, but fine. Let's get a room."

The woman led the way into the bar of the inn, lowering her hood as she walked through the door, unveiling a smooth complexion and tied up black hair. Immediately, the occupants of the room quieted, glaring untrustingly to the pair that had just entered. The large man shot a cold look around the room, daring any of them to make a fuss. Meanwhile, others in the room gave the woman lecherous looks, despite her still-hidden figure, followed by snide catcalls and lewd jokes. But the woman simply ignored them all, striding across the room to the dirty man behind the bar and requesting a room. With two beds, if you please.

The innkeeper looked cautiously between the two of them, not certain if they were trustworthy, but when the woman placed a stack of zenny in front of him, he nodded soberly. Greedily pulling the money under the counter, he tossed the woman a worn key, muttering that they were room 116, to the left, and watch out for the rats, they bite.

The two walked past the counter, immediately continuing to their rooms without another look back at the hungry looks they were getting from the other people in the bar. They entered their room quickly, ignoring several shadowy follower that tailed behind, making certain they were actually entering their room.

"Ah," the woman sighed as the door closed behind them, glancing at the bed. "I didn't realize exactly how tired I was before until now. It's been quite the tiring day. Even that no doubt lice-infested pile of straw looks comforting after such a long day."

"Weak woman," the man grunted, tossing his satchel to the ground. "If you're not cut out for this kind of work, then don't join in the first place, you dumb broad."

"I'll ask you not to use such cruel language in my presence, you idiotic thug," the woman snapped. "Just because I'm not as… accustomed to this line of work as you are, don't make the assumption that I'm just a frail little wisp just waiting to be snuffed. Make no mistake, you will be hard pressed to find a comrade like me in a business like this. Or certainly not one so… enthusiastic."

The man scoffed as the woman wandered over to her own bed. "Yes, I suppose if anything is true about you, it's that. You're like a banshee out there, woman, laughing and squealing during the hunt. It ain't normal, that's for certain."

"Ah, but it's such a pleasure!" the woman gasped, a look of utter ecstasy filling her face. "The looks of pain, of shock, of fear on their faces as they fall. Hunting! There's nothing like it!"

"Aye, I suppose not," the man agreed. "I have a tendency to agree with you. I enjoy the thrill of hunting as well. But I'm having a bit of trouble understanding this rapture you seem to be feeling. Felling a Rathalos, or a Diablos, or Lagiacrus, that kind of thing I can understand the true joy of. But it wasn't a monster we were hunting today, it was another human."

"Yes, exactly!" the woman positively moaned. "The true test of skill! To fight against another hunter, one your equal or better, and come out victorious! There's no equal to it in the world! And just think! The world will forever know us as the ones that brought down the great hunter Richard!"

"If you know what's good for us, the world will never know that little fact," the man growled, grabbing the woman's collar and yanking her into the air. "The world doesn't need to know something like that."

"Yes, of course," the woman replied, rolling her eyes. "I was being facetious, you overstuffed sack of meat. Now put me down."

"Fine," the man spat, dropping the woman. He no doubt tried to be rough about it, but the woman landed nimbly, unharmed. "The world will be better off thinking Richard's dead, fallen to some beast. Even the mightiest hunters can fall to such things, and when he doesn't return from his mission, they'll assume the worst."

"And no one will ever guess that he's alive!" the woman giggled wickedly.

"Aye, but that won't get out, except to a few," the man nodded soberly. He groaned suddenly, rubbing his arm. "It's not easy taking someone in alive, especially a man like Richard. The old man better pay us well for this. Pulling in high-ranking hunters in one piece is infinitely harder than lopping their heads off."

"Ah, but it's not the pay you look forward to, is it?" the woman asked. "You're like me. You revere the end result, the final product of our work. That's why you agreed to capture Richard. That's why you agreed to help capture those two examinees."

"It is," the man agreed. "I'd not have done it otherwise, had not the project been something I desired completed. Still, I don't like this whole 'capturing people' business. I'd rather just smash those two's faces in before anything else."

"I don't know why the old man wants little rookies like them in the first place," the woman scoffed. "Even if their master is something else, why take them? They won't last a second against us. And the thought of involving them in the project? Foolish."

"Perhaps not," the man said. "I've seen them in action, and the two of them aren't bad. Not good, but not bad. And they'll certainly bring in a profit, that's for certain, more if they do well at all in the examinations."

"You going soft for them?" the woman jeered. "A couple little babes to be eaten up?"

"Hardly," the man scoffed. "I'd rather just kill them right out, but we apparently can't do that, can we? They have to be brought back in one piece."

"Whatever," the woman said, rolling her eyes.

The man growled in frustration. "That little uppity brown-nosing brat was less of a pain to deal with than you, you damnable woman. Even if he talks about is that damn boss of ours, at least he talks less than you."

"Ah, but surely I'm more pleasurable to look at?" the woman teased mockingly.

"Perhaps, but then you open your damn mouth and all attraction goes down the drain, when people see you for the monster you really are. And that flaunting you did in the bar? That stupid, attention-pulling stunt. Make no mistake, with that show, you'll be receiving less than courteous attentions from the scum out there sometime in the next few days, perhaps even tonight. They'll try to sneak in through the window, most likely."

"Let them come," the woman purred. "After being forced to hold back fighting against Richard, I've felt compelled to treat myself to a proper time with a hunter. I think I'll gut the first one that comes my way. I think my knife will find its way into their liver. Makes it nice and slow. As for the next one? Well, I've always wanted to see what would happen if you ignited a Wyvernfire shell from inside the body..."

The man shook his head in disgust, pulling off his cloak to reveal bright red alloy armor, as well as a black and purple spiked hammer. "Vile, bloodthirsty woman," he muttered.

* * *

**Author's Note: Please Review!**

**I've got the longest MH story now! Holy crap! Also, I don't know if I've made this clear, but all my hunters in this story are at least of legal drinking age. Underage drinking is bad, mkay? ()**

**Sorry for the wait. Once summer rolled around I just felt really, really lazy about things. I'm sure most of you understand. But I'll try to be better about the next chapter. **

**So, I'm going to be honest with you. Levin's name was sort of a made-up word in my head when I first decided to call him that. It was supposed to be a shortened version of the word "Eleven," with altered letters. However, it threw me off guard when I discovered that my spell check didn't dispute it. I thought for a while that maybe Levin was an actual name. Then, not too long ago, as I'm playing (ironically enough) MH3, I see the same word tacked onto the title of one of the movies in the gallery; the one about the Lagiacrus called "Levin Maelstrom". So I got curious and looked it up, and was shocked to find that "Levin" is an archaic word for lightning. It's also a Jewish surname, but the archaic thing was what got me. Weird, huh? I'm not sure how to react to this. I'm actually finding humor in the way it's turned out, though, considering the fact that Levin uses what is probably the slowest weapon in the game, despite his namesake. **

**Reading: Wizard and Glass by Stephen King, The Heaven Makers by Frank Herbert, The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov, The Green Mile by Stephen King, The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster  
Playing: Minecraft, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Super Mario Galaxy 2  
Listening: Modest Mouse, Smash Mouth**


	16. The Second Test

The Second Test

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. All the characters in this story are mine._

As the beast of an innkeeper made his morning rounds the day of the second test, Ellie slowly eked her eyes open, only to be met with the warm sunlight of morning. Thinking about it, Ellie had to admit that she always did like waking up with the sun. When she thought about how things used to be in her own world… in her own time, she recalled the hurry and rush of the era, always rushing around from before dawn until after dusk. That was one of the things she liked most about the world as it was now was how people seemed to awaken with the rise of the sun rather than by a certain time on the clock.

But as her thoughts slowly began to coalesce into something more coherent, a sudden roll of pain tumbled through her head, and her stomach started to turn over inside her gut. She suddenly felt a compelling urge to make a break for the nearest toilet to vomit, but the ache in her head fought the urge, demanding that she stay in bed to nurse away the pain.

Ellie's mind flickered back to the previous night, or at least what she remembered about it. Which wasn't as much as she'd have liked, actually.

* * *

She recalled getting back to the inn and meeting up with the other examinees that had passed the test. There hadn't been that many from their inn that had done so. A massive board showing the passing hunters' names was put up behind the bar, showing the Guild-ordained rankings. As Polgara had promised during the first test, more than half of the original examinees had been cut from the rankings, reducing the total number of active participants from over two hundred down to only eighty seven.

The remaining examinees were numbered in order of rating, and as the entire town had suspected, Nat and Kim had topped out at numbers 1 and 2, respectively. A cheer had gone up from the passing examinees in the inn for the two partners, as a few drinks were bought for them by those gamblers at the inn that had won money off of betting on the two of them. Ellie and Levin had managed to pass as well, both of them rather surprised at their own rankings: Levin had managed to rope in rank 28, with Ellie not far behind with rank 33. Harker was further down the list at rank 73, but seemed perfectly content with the number, enjoying the fact that he had managed to pass the test in the first place.

From that point on, all the passing examinees had done was celebrate and tell stories of how they'd managed to pass. Ellie soon found herself feeling far better about her failure to collect a trap once she heard of the slip-ups some of the other hunters pulled. Forgetting whetstones, potions, tranq bombs, even the occasional bowgunner slipping up and forgetting to pack ammo into her pouch. That particular tale had earned some looks of confusion from the others until the hunter explained that he had gotten used to holding ammo in a unique pouch of his own design and not in a side pocket of a regular satchel like most hunters.

Kerrigan (or Kerry as Levin had taken to calling her) had shown up not much later, as Harker had predicted she would. She had congratulated the group of them with a grin. Ellie couldn't help but notice that, even though her fellow bowgunner tried to put on a neutral expression, Kerrigan was just as ecstatic as the rest of them that they had passed. Especially Harker, she noticed. Even though Harker and Kerrigan had both said that they were simply teacher and apprentice, Ellie could sense that there was more to it than that in some way, in the way their moods seemed to improve around each other.

Ellie was scheming to corner Kerrigan about the issue when she got the opportunity, but before she could get the professional bowgunner alone, her attention was snagged away by something else. While she and Kim had been talking about what they were expecting from the next day's test, Kim's eyes suddenly shifted away from Ellie and the lancer grinned slyly.

"What is it?" Ellie had asked, turning and following Kim's line of sight. Her eyes landed on Levin and Nat, who had worked their way over to the bar to pick up some more drinks for the group.

Ellie didn't understand why Kim had smirked at first, until she saw Nat suddenly laugh. But it wasn't like the laugh the other bowgunner had laughed when they'd all been sitting around and telling stories earlier. Rather, this was more of a… giggle, though Ellie couldn't have hardly imagined Nat making such a sound until just then. Why was she laughing like that? It was like… like…

"Looks like my partner has a little crush on your friend Levin," Kim grinned. Ellie felt a cold feeling creep through her as the words left the cheery red-head's mouth. Kim kept on talking, though, without a care in the world. "I don't think I've seen her act like that since… wow, ever, I think."

"You think she likes Levin?" Ellie asked, her voice a little more emotionless than she had tried to make it.

"Yep," Kim replied. "They're always talking to each other, or at least when they're not talking with the rest of us. Nat always preferred the company of guys like him. Guys who smile and joke a lot but don't have the ego you see with some hunters."

"Yeah, that sounds like him," Ellie replied quietly. "He's like that with everyone, though."

"Is he?" Kim asked. "It looks like he's enjoying talking to her, too, though."

He did, Ellie admitted. When she had seen him talking with the others, even Harker and Kim, or even people like Mel or the other people from the village, Levin always seemed to look slightly reserved, as though he was holding back really speaking his mind. But while he was talking to Nat as he was now, he seemed much calmer than usual.

"Wait," Kim suddenly said, thoughtfully. "He doesn't have a girlfriend or anything like that back in Boma, does he? I mean, the two of _you_ aren't going out or anything, are you?"

"No," Ellie said sullenly, shaking her head. "No we're not."

"Oh, okay," Kim replied happily. "Then everything's good, then."

"Yeah," Ellie murmured. "Everything's good."

It was at that point that Ellie seemed to discover that her mug was never quite full enough for her satisfaction. Something inside her just seemed to want to forget the last few minutes of conversation. It hurt inside her to think of Levin and Nat getting together, and somehow or another the drink seemed to dull the pain with each glass that passed in front of her.

It wasn't too long after making that decision that everything went blank in her memory.

* * *

The sudden groan of ragged breathing shook Ellie from her thoughts and spiraling thoughts. Fighting against her throbbing head, she forced herself to sit upright and glanced around the room, quickly spotting and figure leaning awkwardly against the foot of the bed, a long hood covering their face.

For a moment a tremble of fear went through her and she reached quickly for her hunter's knife which lay perched on the nightstand near the bed. She had let someone stay in her room all night? How drunk had she gotten? And what kinds of things had whoever this person was…

But as her hands closed around the hilt of the knife, she glanced back to figure and recognized the familiar dull-yellow outfit. It was Levin, hood covering his eyes and snoring lightly. Ellie's fears slowly began to abate, and she loosened her grip on the knife. Levin was a bit of a lecher, but Ellie knew he wasn't one to… take advantage. The blade had been moved slightly though, and the small carving knife slipped off the side of the nightstand and clattered loudly to the floor.

Levin visibly jumped as sound jolted him awake, and Ellie cursed as the sound made the throbbing in her head pound even harder in her skull. Levin glanced around for a moment, uncertain where he was, before catching sight of Ellie groaning in pain. A thin grin curved the edge of his mouth.

"Ruing your choice to drink so much, are you, partner?" the great sword user grinned at her.

_A different grin than he'd been giving Nat the previous night_, Ellie thought sourly. This grin didn't seem as happy as the one from last night. _I wish I didn't care this much._

"Yeah, I guess," she grumbled, pulling the sheets back over her head in an attempt to block out the light.

She heard Levin chuckle through the sheets. Then he sighed and his voice grew somber. "I was worried as hell last night, you know. You were… really out of it last night. I thought you might be on the right track to alcohol poisoning." He laughed lightly, a fake and tinny sound. "Not that anyone from this world knows what that is. I swear the locals all have iron livers."

A flicker of warmth fluttered through Ellie's head, and she peeked out from under the covers. "You were worried about me?" she asked.

"Of course I was!" Levin flared, making Ellie feel slightly ashamed at herself. "You're my partner, Ellie. Hell, you're the closest friend I've got in this whole world. Of course I'd worry my ass off over you over something like this."

"Sorry," Ellie muttered. But she felt some warmth from knowing that Levin cared.

Levin pushed himself to him feet, stretching his back as he did so. Then he reached down and plucked a bottle from the floor, uncorking it as he walked over to Ellie's side.

"Here," he said, holding out the bottle for her. "It's water. I got it from the innkeeper last night, but you were a little too out of it to drink properly."

"Thanks," Ellie replied. She took the bottle gingerly and took several swigs from it, despite her rebellious stomach turning against her.

"Be sure to drink as much as you can," Levin told her, sitting down at the edge of the bed. "You'll want that hangover gone before the second test starts."

"Oh, damn it all," Ellie groaned, shaking her head in frustration. She'd completely forgotten about the next test during last night's binge. "When does the second test start?"

"You've got a few hours," Levin assured her. "Apparently they're waiting until a little later in the day to begin. From what I've heard, it seems the Guild is making a bit of an event out of the whole thing. Still not sure exactly what it is they're going to do yet, though. But whatever it is, they're letting the whole city into the arena to watch?"

"The arena? I thought they had arena battles going almost year round in there."

"So I've heard, but I guess they're going to be using it for the second test."

Ellie frowned, thinking about what Levin had said. They were going to be testing in front of a crowd? Why would the Guild want them to do that? Skill under pressure? They'd done that in the last test, though.

A light rapping echoed from the door, making the two hunters look over in surprise. Levin glanced at Ellie uncertainly, silently asking if she was willing to see anyone despite her feeling ill. Ellie nodded, though, figuring that they might as well see who it was, and the pain would go away eventually anyway. So Levin got to his feet and walked over to the door, opening it a crack.

"Still keeping a watchful eye on your… 'partner,' are you?" a familiar lilting voice said through the crack. "Such a kind young man. I can see why you two get along so well."

Despite Levin having his back to her, Ellie could tell he was embarrassed by the reddening of the tips of his ears, hardly visible through his shaggy hair. Ellie felt her own face reddening as Levin sputtered in surprise, and turned at a small figure brushed past the great sword user into the room. She blinked in confusion at the sight of the innkeepers wife, bearing a small tray of food.

"Hello, dear," the woman smiled at Ellie. "Thought you might like something to help with your upset stomach. I heard you had a bit of a rough night last night."

Ellie shrugged in embarrassment. "Your husband told you that?"

"He did," the woman replied, setting the tray down. Despite her rolling guts and throbbing headache, Ellie had to admit the small pile of food looked good. Toast, eggs, some milk and a couple slices of bacon, and somehow, despite her condition, the wife's cooking still seemed appetizing. Except a small glass on the side that seemed to be filled with a frothing red goop. That looked vile. The woman continued talking, even as Ellie's stomach rumbled in hunger.

"He was in charge of the bar last night and saw that you were really getting into the drink about halfway into the night. He even had to start watering down your ale about an hour into your little drinking run. He told me sometime after midnight he even started handing you mugs of water and you didn't even seem to notice."

Ellie reached cautiously for one of the slices of toast, bringing it up to her mouth and nibbling carefully on one side of the bread, much to the dismay of her stomach. "I guess I should thank him next time I see him, then. Levin told me I was pretty out of it last night."

"You can thank your boy here for getting my husband proper warning. He was the one that got worried and started asking my husband to wean you off the liquor in the first place." The woman smiled between the two of them, then turned to make her way to the door.

"I'll be off," she said. "Be sure to drink that glass there, though. It looks vile, but it's the best hangover cure this side of the ocean. I'm sure you'll need a bit of time to recover before your next test, so I'll leave the two of you to yourselves. Remember; keep the… physical activities to a minimum. You want to be well rested for the test, after all."

"We're not… ugh, never mind," Levin groaned as the woman laughed her way out of the room.

"Thanks for taking care of me," Ellie said as Levin turned back to her.

"Anytime," Levin grinned. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go get some breakfast of my own. Besides, I should get out of here before that woman starts spreading dirty rumors around this inn. Lord knows these people love their gossip. Get some rest, alright?"

"Yeah, alright," Ellie replied, as Levin walked out the door.

Ellie grinned to herself as she forced herself to chew on the last bit of toast. Maybe she'd been over-thinking Levin's connection to Nat. At the very least, Levin had concern for her, and that was something. Not much, but something. Now all she had to do was see if she could choke down that disgusting-looking hangover drink…

* * *

It was almost two hours later that Ellie finally emerged from her room. Her head was still thumping quietly and her stomach still wasn't too fond of the thought of moving around, but she'd managed to eat most of what the innkeeper's wife had offered and felt a bit better. Especially that stuff she'd gotten to drink. Somehow or another, whatever it was in that putrid glass had managed to blow away her pain pretty quickly. She was still a little dizzy though, so she walked slowly as she made her way down the hall towards the bar.

As she entered the bar, she immediate saw that most of the examinees that hadn't left for the arena left were clustered around a small corner of the bar near the wing Ellie emerged from. As she turned to make her way over to them, she saw Kim, sitting next to Levin, Harker, and Nat, stand up and wave her over. Like the previous day, the red-headed hunter was wearing full armor with her lance on her back and her massive shield slung tightly to her arm.

However, unlike the previous day, where most of the hunters had carried with them an air of nervousness and uncertainty as they'd prepared themselves mentally for whatever the Guild would throw at them for the first test, now were replaced by steely looks of those preparing for a real battle. It was a look Ellie knew well; she'd seen Levin wear the same expression a hundred times during their own journeys into the wilds.

Ellie grinned as she walked over to Kim and the others. This was what hunters really looked forward to. Tests and assessments of a hunters sense of preparedness on the fly was one thing; none of them liked being examined based on things like the first test. But put them in front of a bloodthirsty monster and most of the examinees were right at home and ready to go.

"Good morning!" Kim said gleefully as Ellie sat down next to her. Then a look of embarrassment came over the lance-user's face and she lowered her voice. "I mean… good morning. Sorry, I forgot that you weren't feeling that well this morning. Are you okay? I mean, you really put it away last night."

"No, no, I'm fine," Ellie replied. As Ellie's eyes glanced over Nat, she quickly looked away, embarrassed with herself. "Sorry about yesterday. I didn't anything really stupid did I?"

"No, not at all," Kim replied. "Well actually, later in the night, right before Levin dragged you to bed, you basically started yelling curses at him and taking swings at him. We couldn't even tell what you were saying at the time. That was pretty much the moment we figured you'd had enough."

Ellie groaned in embarrassment. "Yeah, I may have one or two too many."

"And about a dozen more after that," Harker grinned. "I'm surprised you can walk straight after all that. In fact, based on the human body's ability to remove alcohol from the bloodstream, you actually physically should be pretty inebriated."

"The innkeeper's wife gave her something," Levin said. "A hangover drink of some kind."

"Cured me right up," Ellie grinned, as Harker gaped in amazement. "Though I'm still a little dizzy and my head hurts a bit."

"How fascinating," Harker said, the look of a mad scientist returning to his face. "I'd very much like to hear how she makes such a concoction. If a substance exists that so effectively removes toxins from the blood, then maybe I could use my own knowledge to…"

"No. Bad hunter," Levin said, smacking Harker across the head, cutting off the long sword user's thought. "I've only known you two days and I know a guy like you really shouldn't be toying around with these things."

"It's just an experiment I'd like to try," Harker argued.

"At the very least, you should wait until later," Nat told him. "Right now, you should be preparing yourself for the second exam, whatever it is the Guild has rigged up for us."

"Hm. Fair enough, I suppose," Harker muttered, disappointed.

"Any news on what the next test is supposed to be yet?" Ellie asked.

"Not yet," Kim said. "But judging by the way the arena's been filling up over the morning and the way the betting booths have lines a quarter mile long, it's obviously a fight of some kind. An unfair one, at that."

"What makes you say that?" Levin asked.

"This is the Orage Dell arena," Nat grinned. "A fight's not worth betting on if the odds aren't in favor of the monster."

"Wonderful," Levin groaned.

"Oh, don't worry too much," Kim laughed. "It's never an impossible fight. They just make sure you don't have an unfair advantage against… well, whatever they put you up against. I'm not sure how they plan on doing our test, though."

Suddenly the booming voice of the innkeeper rumbled out from behind the bar. "Alright, listen up you wee baby hunters! A Guild messenger has just now sent word that those of you taking the test should be at the arena in twenty minutes for sign in! Anyone late gets booted of the list and fails immediately!"

A shout of dismay went up from the examinees at the words, due to the distance to the arena. But the innkeeper smashed his palm down onto the bar, sending a loud crack of sound across the room silencing them all.

"If you've got time to bicker than you've got time to get out and get going! Now out with you all! You've got a test to take!"

"You heard the man!" Kim squealed leaping to her feet ahead of the others and sprinting out the door.

"Levin!" Ellie yelped, jumping to her feet as well. "How long did it take us to walk to the arena yesterday?"

"Twenty five minutes!" Levin yelled in reply, grabbing his great sword from off the wall and turning towards the door. "Which means we've got to hurry! I guess the test starts now!"

* * *

Eighteen minutes and forty-seven seconds later, Ellie stood next to Levin, gasping and wheezing in long line weaving its way into a wide alcove in the back entrance of the arena. Despite the speed at which the two of them had run just trying to get to the arena on time, the pair of them were still pretty far along down the line of hunters, in the last third or so of the line.

However, as Ellie looked around, she realized the line wasn't as long as it should have been. Where the amount of passing hunters yesterday had been just under a hundred, the line she stood in now couldn't number more than seventy five. A loud clang filled the alcove, and Ellie turned to watch as several Guild members moved to barricade a pair of large gates. Ellie felt a rush of sympathy as another five or six hunter examinees appeared outside the metal bars, begging to be let in to take the test and being sent away.

As her heart rate began to slow down, she realized her satchel and ammo pouch were slipping, the shaking and bumping of the dash having loosened it pretty badly. Levin had almost lost his great sword halfway here, when a buckle had began to slide, nearly dropping the heavy weapon to the ground had Ellie not spotted the swaying weapon and called it out to Levin. Some of the other hunters seemed to be having similar issues with their own goods, carrying unhinged belts and other free-hanging satchels.

"Did the others make it?" Ellie asked Levin, once she got looking around. "I lost sight of them about half way here."

"I think they're further up in line," Levin said, stretching his neck to try and spot someone from their little group. "I'm not sure about Nat and Kim, but I saw Harker take off when we left the bar. I don't know about his fighting skills, and I can't say much about his choices when it comes to battle preparation, but if the guy has one skill, it's running. He took off like a flash when we left the bar. Ah, now that I mention it, I think that's him up there."

Ellie followed Levin's line of sight as the great sword user motioned towards the front half of the line, where sure enough, Ellie was able to spot Harker's telltale mess of varying types of armor, as well as the long blade he kept slung across his back. Not to mention their friend was at least a head taller than most of the other hunters around him, making him surprisingly easy to find in the crowd once you made an effort to look. She also was surprised to spot the familiar green armor that Nat and Kim were wearing, only six or seven places in line in front of her and Levin. A couple other hunters in the room had somehow managed to collect the materials to make Rathian armors of their own, but the tall lance that Kim had strapped to her back made her much easier to catch sight of.

The line moved surprisingly quickly, catching Ellie and Levin off guard several times as the weaving line lurched forward every twenty or thirty seconds or so. As they got closer to the front of the line, they began to see that the hunters at the front were branching off in different directions at the instruction of the Guild members behind a table at the head of the line. As a hunter reached the front of the line, the Guild man or woman behind the counter would mess with something on the table in front of them, then scribble onto a piece of paper and point the hunter towards one of two hallways branching off into the arena.

"Wonder where they're sending everyone off to…" Levin muttered, not really expecting an answer.

"Maybe they're making the fight a versus battle between two teams," Ellie guessed.

"Good lord I hope not," Levin replied. "I can understand the whole 'half of you must fail' idea, but making two teams duke it out would suck royally."

"I guess we'll find out soon."

After just over thirty minutes in line, the two hunters reached the front of the line, where they found themselves face-to-face with a serious young woman wearing a royal blue Guild uniform, representing her association with the Arena. She looked up at Levin, who was ahead of Ellie in line. "Name, please?"

"Uh, Levin."

The woman quickly skimmed a list of names in front of her, letting her eyes skim until they stopped on his name. "Alright, then… weapon of choice?"

"Um, great sword, I guess."

"Any others?" the woman asked. "Anything else you have even partial experience in?"

Levin shrugged. "Not really. I mean, I played with the hammer a bit when I was just starting out, but…"

"Okay, that'll do," the woman said, scribbling a note down onto a paper in front of her. "Now let's see… you're sixty third in line, so you'll be going down the hallway to the left. Go to the last room on the right. You'll receive more instructions then."

"Uh, okay then," Levin said. He turned and grinned at Ellie. "Looks like we're splitting up again. See you after the exam?"

"I guess so," Ellie replied. "Good luck."

"You too," Levin replied, turning to walk down the left hallway, allowing Ellie to step up to the counter.

"Name?" the Guild woman asked.

"Ellie."

"Weapon of choice?"

"Bowgun. And I use the sword and shield about half the time, too."

"Alright, alright," the woman said, scribbling the notes onto the papers in front of her. "You'll be going down the right hallway. First door on the left, got it?"

"Yeah, I got it," Ellie replied, turning to walk the direction indicated.

The hallway turned out to be a lot broader than Ellie had thought it would be at a distance, making an impressions on Ellie of the massive size of the structure. The first door on the left turned out to be a massive pair of wooden doors that stood over twice her height, each of them six feet in width. Ellie imagined two full-grown Royal Ludroth could walk through these doors without too much hassle at all. One of the large doors was cracked open, with the light of torches shining out, allowing Ellie to enter the room without much effort in moving the doors.

The interior room took Ellie completely by surprise. She'd expected rows and rows of ragged benches giving uncomfortable seating to sweating and nervous hunters in a poorly lit room. But what caught her off guard was the sight of a wide, well lit room with dozens of nice (well, not nice, but acceptable) wooden chairs that each looked like seat a hunter quite comfortably. Several of the other hunters that had been sent that way were lounging around. They all looked as uncertain as hell about what to expect, but they all looked pretty relaxed.

It wasn't just the chairs that caught Ellie's eyes though. As expected of a building like this, there were hundreds of different weapons on the wall. As Ellie walked up towards a pair of blue-suited Guild members at the other end of the room, she could see that each weapon latched to the wall had a small plaque underneath it. Ellie could just make out names on the plaque, no doubt the names of great hunters or huntresses that had been honored in the arena or in the city or Orage Dell.

Closer to the end of the room, where a line of two or three examinees stood waiting to be helped by the Guild men, six small areas, cordoned off by tall white sheets, stood tall near one of the walls. Outside the sheets were a row of racks, each piled high with various hunting goods and weapons. Rows and rows of swords and shields, hammers and lances, piles of various pieces and components of bowgun parts, boxes stacked on boxes of ammunition. And, oddly enough, racks and racks of various types of hunters' armor, from Qurupeco goods to Jaggi, Gobul and Bone, even a collection of armors she'd never even seen before.

Ellie waited patiently as she hopped in line, looking curiously up and down the shelves of armors and weapons, as the people in front of her in line were made to skim their ways through piles of papers given to them by the Guild reps. Ellie wished she had paid better attention when Nat, Kim and Harker had gone through the tunnels. Maybe then she'd have known whether any of them were in here. But then, hadn't Nat and Kim been standing next to each other in line? If that was so, then by the Guild woman's method, at least one of them should be in this room with her, but for the life of her, Ellie couldn't seem to spot either of them, despite the knowledge that their telltale green Rathian armor should give them away. And Harker's mess of armor was like a glaring, multi-color beacon in the night compared to the other hunters.

"What is your weapon of preference?" Ellie looked down at the Guild member speaking, and realized she'd gotten to the front of the line while looking around for a friend.

"Um, bowgun," she replied, sheepishly. "I use the short sword and shield, too."

The Guild member, a vibrant young woman, nodded in acceptance. "It's alright to feel a little lost or confused, you know," the woman told her. "The whole mystery and vagueness of the exam is a bit off-putting isn't it?"

Ellie grinned. "A little bit," she admitted. "I realize they're testing our abilities under strain or something along those lines, but you'd think they'd give us at least a better outline to work with."

"I hear you, I hear you," the woman grinned. "I've had to do this to examinees the last seven years that I've worked for the Guild. But this job right here is the best, because I get to explain what's going on to them and wipe away their confusion."

"You do? I mean, you will?"

"Certainly," the woman smiled. "Here's what's going to happen during this test. To put it simply, you're going to be fighting a randomly selected monster. You'll be given a rating based on your performance against the monster you face, which will be dependent on skill shown, damage given, damage taken, and so forth. If you prove yourself capable, you'll get passing marks and be given the rank of official hunter by sanction of the Guild."

Ellie grinned at this, but the woman clicked her tongue at her. "Not so fast, dear. Even if it's a test, the Guild isn't going to make it easy for you. There's a trick to it. For this test, I'm afraid you're going to have to give up the armor and weapons you brought with you and use a selection of Guild-mandated armor instead. Your armor will be locked away in a locker for safe keeping during the test."

"I have to use a different set of armor?" Ellie asked, shocked. "And a different weapon? But I'm used to these!"

"I know, I know," the woman said soothingly. "But that's the way it is, I'm afraid. Some nonsense about 'testing a hunter's ability under unusual circumstances,' that kind of thing. Really, the Guild just wants to get as many as they can out of the running so only the best remain. You heard old woman Polgara's speech, didn't you? Well, that's how the Guild runs these tests, start to finish.

"Besides," the woman smirked, leaning back in her chair. "I'm sure whatever armor the Guild sees fit to equip you with will, if nothing else, provide you more… cover than your current set."

Ellie felt a slight blush creep up her face. "It wasn't my idea," she grumbled. "I wanted the regular armor, but…"

"Oh, you don't need to tell me, dear," the woman laughed. "I know how some armor designers like to get experimental with the fashion of the materials. Happens all the time in larger towns like this. It's usually requested by the hunter, though, which is odd enough considering that hunters should be more concerned about safety than their appeal to the opposite sex."

"You're telling me," Ellie nodded.

"Anyway, since you've got two different areas of profession, you'll get to choose between these two weapon sets," the woman said, pulling out two slides of paper. One was a bowgun set, and the other a short sword set, each with a random jumble of armor designed for who knows what. "Look over the design and take your time. Once you decide which one you want to wear, take the paper over to those changing booths and a Guild representative will help you gather the materials you need for the test."

"I see. Thanks for your help."

"Not at all," the woman grinned, patting Ellie's hand. "Good luck out there sweetie."

Ellie picked up the two papers and glanced back and forth between the two of them. She knew from talking with Levin and occasionally Silph that, like Levin's sword, the monster materials that were used in molding armors had a tendency to leave residual effects to allow the hunter more flexibility. Levin had mentioned once in passing that his Ludroth armor sometimes reduced the damage he took due to the sponginess of the Ludroth manes. She'd also heard Silph mention that her own armor was designed to lessen the strain induced when dodging and diving out of a monster's path.

But the two lists she had right now really didn't seem to give her all that much information. There were bits and pieces of various types of armor and weapon types mixed together on the sets. The short sword weapon set included several types of armor types, including things like Rathian and Bnahabra, and even something made from a creature called the Gigginox (What the hell was a Gigginox? Ellie knew what Giggis were, nasty little bastards, but a Gigginox? The concept of a big Giggi was repulsive).

The bowgun set looked somewhat promising, thankfully, if nothing else because the paper gave a list of ammunition the Guild would be providing for her to use during the test. Cluster, Para, Poison, and Pierce. Not a bad selection. And thankfully, at least two of the parts were made with familiar materials, one part Light and one part Royal Ludroth. The frame was made with Jaggi materials, which wasn't something Ellie had used before, but with luck it wouldn't hinder her all that badly.

She glanced between the two pages, uncertain which way she should go. She was fairly proficient with both weapons, and thoroughly enjoyed both, but either way she'd be fighting something in unfamiliar armor with an unfamiliar weapon. Finally she decided, though. If nothing else, she should go with whatever she'd been using the longest, which was, of course, the bowgun.

She walked over to another one of the Guild reps, dressed in the arena's standard uniform, that stood next to the tall cloth walls, patiently awaiting someone to help along. Ellie handed him the bowgun list, and he nodded, leading her over to the racks of bowgunner's armor and parts. Ellie watched in awe as the Guild rep gathered up the three needed bowgun parts and slid them together with a speed Ellie envied; no doubt this rep had been doing this for a good long while. Ellie wondered if the Guild rep was as good at shooting as he appeared to be at maintaining the weapons.

As they passed by the racks of armor, the Guild rep's hands flew across the piles of clothes, pulling several pieces off the hangers in place and nimbly passing them on to Ellie. As he continued on towards the ammunition section, he waved her over to the curtained off areas.

"Go get changed," he told her. "I'll have you item and ammunition pouches filled up with the necessary goods by the time you're done. Call out for me if any of the sizes are off or if anything's uncomfortable."

Ellie nodded in acceptance, walking into one of the changing rooms, but had to admit she was slightly confused. The Guild member hadn't even asked her what sizes she needed before tossing the clothes her way. Getting fitted in Boma had been an effort in and of itself, and this guy just picked out a random selection and was hoping it would fit her? Ellie was beginning to feel a bit disappointed. The Guild seemed to have the entire process of the examination figured out to the dot. Shoddy help picking out armors wasn't much, but still, it seemed like the Guild had pinned down everyone else's jobs right.

But not five minutes later, Ellie found herself stunned. The armor fit pretty close to perfectly, despite receiving only half a glance from the Guild member. As she exited the dressing room, Qurupeco armor tucked under her arm, she found the Guild member standing nearby, an items pouch and weapons pouch sitting on a small table next to the assembled bowgun. He grinned at her when she gave him a searching look.

"Surprised at my skill?" he smirked. "I've done this job for the last seven years. After all this time, I've learned how to tell what size will fit a hunter at a glance. I'll admit, it was a bit easier with you, considering that you weren't exactly wearing the most concealing of clothes."

"Yeah, I've gotten that a lot recently," Ellie sighed.

The Guild member laughed, handing her the bowgun and the bags of items and ammunition. "This is everything you'll be allowed to use during the course of the test," he told her. "I doubt you'll do anything of the sort, but if there's even the slightest indication that you might have smuggled some extra goods into the arena, you'll be instantly disqualified."

"There seems to be a lot of things that'll do that," Ellie replied.

"Seems that way doesn't it?" the Guild man grinned. Then he held out a slip of paper, letting Ellie take it. "Anyway, until the test is over, we'll keep your things safe inside a locker. That paper is sort of the unofficial note of ownership of the goods in the locker. Don't lose it, or it'll be hell in paperwork for the both of us."

"Got it," Ellie said, snugly wedging the paper into her pouch.

"The first of the tests will begin in about ten minutes. In the meantime, go around and talk to anyone you've made friends with that managed to pass the first test."

Ellie nodded, and turned to look around again for one of her friends from the last couple of days, now knowing that she wouldn't be able to spot any of them by trying to recognize a familiar armor set (or armor jumble in Harker's case). She kept her eyes peeled as she began strolling around the room in search of any other bowgun users, or lance or long sword users.

"Ellie. There you are," a voice Ellie recognized as Nat's suddenly called out next to her. "I was wondering if I was going to be the only one that ended up in this room or not."

Ellie grinned as she walked over to her friend, sitting next to her fellow bowgunner. Somehow or another, Nat had manage to commandeer a small alcove of only a few tightly packed chairs, separating herself and Ellie off from the other twenty or thirty hunters that milled around the room. "I was kind of wondering that myself. So both Kim and Harker went to the other side?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Nat sighed. "The Guild really puts in an extra effort to make sure any comrades that take part in the exam are thoroughly split up, don't they?"

"Seems like it. I mean, they've got to have their reasons, but it's still pretty damn irritating."

"Yeah, it is," Nat replied. Then she turned and gave Ellie a contemplating look, making the Boma bowgunner fidget under the stare. "I've been meaning to ask you something since this morning, but I missed my chance before they told us to run here for the exam."

"What's that?" Ellie asked nervously.

"I spoke with Kim last night after Levin hauled you off to bed. I asked her why you decided to start drinking so much last night, despite the test we have today." Ellie swore inwardly, trying to keep a blank face. This was the last thing she needed to talk or worry about before the test.

"She didn't have a single clue as to why you'd do such a thing," Nat continued, making Ellie mentally sigh in relief. But Nat didn't stop there. "The problem with Kim, though, is that she doesn't really pay attention to little details about people. She doesn't pay attention to why someone would make the decisions they do, she just watches them make them. I had to pry a bit to figure out what it was the two of you were talking about before your little lapse into public drunkenness."

Ellie felt her face fall as her heart sank, and Nat continued to give her that same piercing, studying look. "I know what it was Kim asked you last night, and I know what your answer was. But I'm not going to ask the same question as Kim did last night, I'm going to ask a much more… pertinent question. When it comes to Levin, I know the two of you aren't in any relationship. At the moment. Rather, I want to know if you…"

Then a loud voice filled the room as a grey-haired man in the blue Guild arena uniform pushed open a pair of doors on the opposite side from where Ellie had entered and began shouting to them all. "Attention all hunters!" he boomed. "As you no doubt have guessed or been told, you'll be fighting a random monster for this next test. Since the lot of the hunters that have made it to this, the second test, have all signed in and gotten changed into their Guild-allowed armors, we'll be moving all of you to a special seating area inside where you can properly observe your fellow hunters during the course of their participation. There's no need to keep any of you from observing, since this will be a test of skill.

"A few of you, however, are going to need to come with me. You'll all be fighting in the order that you signed in, so the first few of you will accompany me to the preparation room to prepare. Will the following hunters please follow me: Cedric of Nero Village, Fran of Hook Bay, Garret of Terren. Also, would Natalie of Orage Dell and Zane of Condra please accompany me as well? The Guild would like to evenly spread out the battles of the top ten examinees of the last test. The rest of you accompany the two other Guild members to the viewing area."

A wash of relief flew over Ellie. She looked at Nat, a frustrated look on her fellow bowgunner's face. Nat continued to stare at Ellie for a moment or two, as though thoroughly tempted to continue their conversation, examination be damned. But eventually the dark-haired woman sighed, pushing herself to her feet and walking towards the old man waiting for her.

"We'll continue this conversation later," she told Ellie sternly as she passed. "After the test. You can count on it."

"I'm looking forward to it," Ellie muttered, too quietly for Nat to hear properly, before pushing herself to her feet and walking sullenly towards the two Guild members that had set her and the others up with their mandated armor sets.

The group of examinees followed the pair of blue-suited guides down the long circular hallways of the arena. As they climbed a flight of stairs, Ellie once again had to feel a sense of awe at the sheer scale of the massive arena. The time and effort put into the structure must have been on par with entire villages like Boma or others of the same size.

Luckily for the group of them, there weren't that many steps to climb, and the cluster of examinees stopped only at the third floor. They trekked down one last hallway before coming to a trio of doors that echoed from within with a thunderous chanting roar. The two Guild reps gestured inside, and the examinees walked in.

While Ellie had been impressively stunned by the size and complexity of the arena before, the view of the massive battlefield that lay at the center of the structure absolutely floored her. Massive stone walls towered dozens and dozens of feet over the floor of an enormous battleground, at least three hundred feet across. The walls were filled with broad, light filled holes that were teeming with spectators, cheering in anticipation for the first few rounds. Ellie couldn't even try to count the amount of spectators that seemed to flood the hundreds, maybe even thousands of seats in the massive structure. At the north and south sides of the arena were door large doorways, standing tall next to a pair of smaller entrances.

The floor of the arena itself was covered in broken weapons and shattered scales from the armors of the hunters and probably even from the hides of the monsters that were fought in the very place. Ellie could see thousands upon thousands of spent bowgun shells on the ground, as well as who knew how many shattered potion bottles, crushed under the feet of those that had used them, or the monsters that had made them necessary. Ellie notices several boxes of items in a few corners of the arena, and could just make out the familiar green hue of potions, no doubt left there as a temptation for any desperate hunters that were having trouble during their fights and were willing to take a chance to get some much needed medical supplies.

And above the whole thing, at the very tops of the massive stone walls, hundreds of criss-crossing metal beams turned the massive area into a giant prison, the bars interweaving between each other to create the strongest looking barrier Ellie thought she'd ever seen. She'd half-wondered how in the world the guild managed to keep such creatures, especially the flying ones, contained in such a small area, despite the monsters' tendency to run away in dire circumstances.

The seating area that she and the others were in was fairly basic, with several long benches and just enough seating for all of them. But the view was fantastic, with their seats so low to the ground floor compared to the others. Ellie could make out another seating area like this one on the opposite side, where other half of the examinees probably were. The only other seats that were better than theirs was a large, wide balcony seating area that looked as though it was made specifically for judges and the extremely wealthy. From here, Ellie could see a large collection of Guild members, in both blue and red.

A loud fanfare burst from the judge's booth, and the arena immediately quieted in anticipation. The group of examinees turned to look as the now-familiar figure of Polgara appeared from amongst the rest of the Guild members, striding forward confidently to a podium that stood at the front of the balcony. Ellie could just make out large monster horns connecting to the podium, hollowed out for the sake of amplifying the old woman's voice.

"Good morning!" Polgara began, the horns boosting the strength of her voice to a roar on par with a monster's. "Welcome to the Orage Dell arena. I'm sure most of you out there are familiar with the way things will work here, but for the few of you that don't, I'll keep this quick, so we can get on with the fights."

There was a short cheer from the stands at this announcement, and Polgara allowed the sound to fade away before continuing. "The premise of this test is simple. We've made an effort to dull each examinee's abilities by giving them weapons and armors that they aren't familiar with. This doesn't mean the battles will be impossible, just harder. The monsters that each examinee will fight will be completely random, and there may or may not be a short period between each battle to… alter the field to make it more appropriate. And although the selection is random, the test is designed to favor picking out the lower-ranked monsters before any of the nastier creatures.

"As a final note for the examinees, and this is the most important part, winning or losing against the monster in the arena will not dictate whether or not you pass the test. This is a test of skill, and with random monsters to fight and altered weapons and armor, it is not always expected that you will win, or even have a fighting chance at doing so. However, if you lose, but put in a good fight, showing talent and wit despite the circumstances, there is still a good chance that you'll have shown the skills necessary to be accepted as a valid member of the Hunter's Guild, and earn passing marks."

Ellie saw some of the hunters around her releasing sighs of relief, and Ellie had to admit that she felt a weight some off her own shoulders as well. Like the others, she'd been fearful that the battle here in the arena would have to be a victory, but with Polgara's words, telling them that winning was not a requirement, she felt more confident in herself. She had the abilities she needed to pass, she knew. All she had to do now was prove it.

With her speech finished, Polgara glanced around, hearing the impatient mutterings of the crowd. "Very well," she said. "That's all I think I need to say. And with that, let the battles begin!"

A cheer rose up from the crowd as the old woman backed away from the podium, allowing a large man in a bright and elaborate outfit step up to the voice amplifiers. The man, apparently familiar to the crowd, received a massive round of applause himself. With a proud and highly excited voice, the man, apparently the arena's announcer, boomed out an introduction and welcome of his own to the examinees. His speech was quick however, and in less than a minute, he was introducing the first of the examinees.

"A list of the examinees has been posted giving their basic skills and information, as well as the order in which they'll be fighting," the man told the crowd. "I'm sure you gamblers know by now that the booths close for a specific examinee ten estimated minutes before their fight is due to take place. So if you wanted to gamble on this young man, you've lost your chance! Up first, for your viewing pleasure, from the island village of Lilli, please give a warm welcome to our first contender, a proud sword and shield wielder. Let's hear it for Isaac!"

The crowd roared in approval as a nervous looking young man entered the arena, glancing around and waving to the cheering hordes of people. Then the man froze as a loud creaking filled the arena, and the broad doors on the far side from where he entered from began to slowly work their way open. The examinee cringed in fear, drawing his sword and holding out his shield cautiously.

"And here comes our first challenge of the day," the announcer bellowed as the crowd cheered excitedly. "What waits beyond the door to fight our first examinee? Our random selection has decided that the first monster to be fought shall be… a Qurupeco!"

At the words of the announcer, the large doors burst open, allowing a blur of color and feathers to shoot forth from the crack. The creature's eyes flew around the arena, squawking and howling in rage and frustration for its captivity, furiously seeking something in which it could take out its aggravation on. It was barely a second or two before it spotted its opposition on the opposite side of the arena, cautiously approaching the bird with his shield up. With a howl of anger, the Qurupeco cawed in rage, and charged forward, intent on running the hunter down.

The next few minutes of battle were intense. Ellie had been a passive observer to monster fights on occasion in the wilds around Boma before, when on occasion, Levin would try to solo a Great Jaggi or Qurupeco, or the occasional incidents where Marshall would join them in battle and give them a show on proper battling techniques by taking down a monster by himself. But here in the arena, the feeling was far different.

In the wilds, she had watched the battles as a lesson in proper hunting technique. Here in the arena, however, with the whole building designed for the sake of small, close-range battles, and with the crowd around her roaring and cheering for victory or defeat, the fight seemed more like a carnal lust for violence than a calculated experience to learn. While most of the spectators in the stands were cheering for the examinee, wanting to see a victory for the hunter, there were also those that were howling for the monster to win, for the young examinee to lose. Ellie wondered somberly if that was for the sake of the bets they were making or just for the sake of their own desires to watch an examinee be beaten up.

The battle was shorter than Ellie thought it would be, even with the excited announcing shouting play-by-plays through the horn for the sake of the crowds listening intently outside the arena. Ellie thought it was somewhat unfair when the Qurupeco released one its calls for help and the arena actually allowed a small pack of Jaggi to be allowed into the arena to help the large bird.

The hunter put in a valiant effort during the course of the battle, though, Ellie could tell that much from her own experience as a sword and shield user. But the Qurupeco, having been locked away in whatever cage or prison the arena kept the creature in when it wasn't fighting, had apparently built up an abundance of its explosive mucus. So even with the shield the hunter had available to help block the bird's attacks, with the incessant onslaught of explosions, the young examinee soon found himself backed up against the metaphorical wall.

The Qurupeco wasn't without its own wear and tear from the fight though. Its beak had a rather outstanding cut through it, and there were dozens of the creature's bright feathers scattered across the floor of the arena. There was even a small pile of stone near the center of the arena where the hunter had managed to smash apart one of the Qurupeco's wing flints.

But unfortunately for the hunter, as he tried to dodge one of the Qurupeco's explosive blasts, his shield loosened slightly, and the burst of flame knocked the round piece of metal flying across the arena like a Frisbee. The examinee stumbled as the flames licked across his armor, sending him tumbling across the dirt as his shield clattered and clanged along the floor of the arena twenty yards away. The Qurupeco turned to face the young hunter victoriously as the man struggled to his feet, sword flailing around to point at the bird in hopes of repelling the creature's impending wrath. With a squawk of triumph, the Qurupeco turned and hocked a massive orb of it mucus at the examinee.

Out of instinct, the hunter raised his shield arm, realizing a moment too late that there was no longer anything there to protect him. With a sickening splat, the green slime connected with the examinee's arm, knocking him back several feet. The hunter looked down panicking at his arm and tried desperately to remove the gunk. But the mucus was stuck tight, and the Qurupeco honked mockingly, before steeling itself in preparation to attack, ready to strike its remaining flint at the hunter and taking away his arm and perhaps his life in a blast of fire.

But just before the blow could be struck, a powerful rumble blasted across the arena, sending deafening sound waves into the battlefield. Ellie cringed in fear. The sound was like the terrible roar of some monster she'd never seen before. She turned to glance around fearfully, uncertain what to expect or what terrible creature had been unleashed, when she felt a gentle hand grip her shoulder. Ellie turned, finding herself face-to-face with the Guild woman she'd talked to earlier.

"First time hearing the hunter's gong?" the woman smiled.

"The what?" Ellie asked.

The woman pointed, drawing Ellie's attention to a massive circular slab of metal hanging above the judges' balcony. As she looked, Ellie could see the massive thing still vibrating slightly, a large metal mallet attached to some complex mechanism retracting from behind the gong.

"It's designed to emulate a monster's roar," the woman explained. "Specifically the roar of one of the elder dragons. I'm not too sure which one, but most of the monsters I've seen in this arena are absolutely terrified of the sound of that gong. See? It stopped the Qurupeco, didn't it?"

Sure enough, the Qurupeco, before striking, had suddenly seized up in fear and was glancing in every direction, terrified and uncertain where the roar of the elder dragon had come from. Then in synchronized unison like the certain motions of clockwork, the gates to the hunters' entrance on each side burst open, and four fully armored and armed bowgunners appeared from the depths within and immediately raised their weapons towards the scared Qurupeco.

An arc of eight bright blue shots that Ellie recognized as sleep rounds, flew across the arena, each of them splattering against the frightened Qurupeco and spraying out the sleeping gas that they each contained. The bird warbled in shock as the light blue gas drifted up to its face, making the creature cough in surprise as the odd-smelling substance reached its nostrils. After only a few moments, with so many shells having connected with the Qurupeco, the creature began to wobble uncertainly, before tilting over and falling flat on its belly, dead asleep.

The examinee visibly sighed in relief as the crowd either cheered in acceptance of the hunter's abilities or groaned at the display of loss. As a pair of medics hurried over to the examinee, Ellie saw the announcer approach the podium once again.

"Quite a marvelous display of huntsman-ship, wasn't that, folks? Yes, quite the display indeed. Not a victory, but an excellent start to the test! And we still have seventy-three battles to go! Let's give a hand to our first contestant, Isaac of Lilli!"

Scattered applause filled the arena as the first examinee was led out of the battlefield. As soon as the examinee had faded into the darkness of the doors, the set of doors on the other side of the arena began to open, and the announcer began another introduction, introducing the second examinee to fight.

The next few fights seemed to fly by under the cheering and howling of the crowd. There were a couple victories, a few losses. And the whole time it was nothing but Jaggis and Qurupecos, and one creature called a Diablos (Ellie was irritated about that one. She'd left the room in search of a drink of water and had gotten lost, missing the fight. It had apparently been quite a short match.) But every time, the announcer seemed to spin it so that it seemed that the hunter did a much better job than they may have actually done. And all the while, during the fights, he continued to keep the crowd on the edge of their seats with his fast-paced overview of the battle.

Then Ellie finally heard a familiar name as the announcer called out Harker's name, and the crowd cheered politely, no longer in that "right out of the gate" feel, but not expecting anything fantastic from the relatively unknown examinee. Harker walked out of the doors to the prep room on cue, but caught Ellie by surprise by giving off an insanely calm and nonchalant vibe as he strode straight out into the middle of the arena. The other examinees in the room with Ellie seemed to get the same feel from the long sword user as well, some leaning forward further in their seats for a better look.

The announcer went on with his prepared presentation as the crowd watched in anticipation. With the same flair as the previous bouts, his speech ended with the dramatic opening of the massive doors, revealing not one, but a pair of Great Jaggi with attached tagalongs. The crowd, especially to betters looking for carnage on the hunter's end, cheered in excitement, expecting a real show when compared to the last few, the toughest of which was the particularly violent Diablos, which had made the fight too short for their likings. But now there was an interesting fight in the works! Two Great Jaggis against one poorly equipped hunter? Ellie could practically hear the gamblers lamenting their choices in making bets or choosing to abstain from this fight's results.

The two Great Jaggis snapped at each other a few times, earning some uncertain mutterings from the audience, but then the pair of them spotted Harker standing calmly in the middle of the arena, gazing thoughtfully at the pair of them. The two's territorial instincts rebelled at the idea of getting along with each other, but after their time in captivity, both had apparently gained quite the hatred for the hunters, their captors. Without a second look at each other, the pair began barking orders to their accompanying Jaggi followers.

The crowd grew silent in confusion as the Jaggis began their approach. Rather than pulling out his sword or going into defensive maneuvers, Harker continued to stand perfectly still, staring intently at the approaching Jaggi and their pack leaders close behind. Ellie felt a wave of nervousness fill the arena as the two packs approached, yipping and barking gleefully at the sight of easy prey. She could see the hunters at the top of the judge's balcony already preparing the hunter's gong.

Then, with the nearest Jaggi at only five feet away and preparing to lunge, Harker suddenly bolted, _into_ the Jaggi packs rather than away. The closest Jaggi was caught off guard, but quickly turned to change its direction of attack, leaping at an angle to sink its teeth into Harker's arm. It was just a moment too late, though, and slid past the long sword user…

And sunk its fangs into the neck of a Jaggi from the other pack. The other Jaggi howled in pain and anger, making the first reel back in shock, then choosing to ignore the rival pack's injury as it returned its attention to Harker as the long sword user made his way towards the two pack leaders.

Ellie realized that Levin's earlier note of Harker's running speed wasn't any sort of exaggeration. The boy practically flew through the two packs, confusing the packs as they jumped towards each other and smashing and biting into each other's flanks and hides. In just a few seconds, the long sword user had slid through the entire cluster of minions and was closing in on the leaders of the packs. The crowd began to cheer in excitement as Harker rushed forward, expecting a decent show now that the saw that the young man may possess some pretty good skill.

But as Harker neared the Great Jaggis, he never unsheathed his sword, even as the two Great Jaggis attacked him. The crowd watched on in confusion as the examinee ducked and dodged between the two pack leaders, sliding in and out of the way of their bites and lunges. Both Great Jaggis and their minions attacked aggressively, trying desperately to sink their fangs into Harker.

The crowd began to grumble in frustration at the sight of the fight, irritated and disappointed at the fight so far, with the examinee not fighting but simply avoiding the monsters' attacks. But Ellie saw something different in the fight, as did several of the other hunters in the little viewing room they were in. Most of them, after spending enough time out in the wilds learning the ways and methods of the monsters they'd hunted, recognized the cries of agitation that the Jaggis and their leaders were letting out as Harker led their attacks into each other.

The howls of frustration from the Great Jaggis and their minions grew louder in time and pitch with the groans of disappointment from the crowd. Ellie and several the other examinees were leaning forward in their seats expectantly as Harker continued to lead around the collection of Jaggis into each other.

Then the moment they'd been waiting for came. With a particularly vengeful lunge, one of the Great Jaggis dove for Harker's head, and with a nimble jump, the long sword user leapt out of the way, leading the pack leader's attack right into the throat of the other. The second Great Jaggi howled in pain and the crowd gasped in shock and awe as the surprised attacking pack leader released the other in surprise. The last straw laid broken, the injured Great Jaggi howled an attack order, not aimed at Harker, but rather at the other Great Jaggi and its pack. With a chorus of relieved yips and barks, the pack lunged towards the other pack, intent on tearing their opposition to shreds.

The crowd watched in shock as the two packs began to tear into each other while Harker slunk away from the mess of battling packs, sliding into the shadows of the arena's walls as the collection of monsters continued to assault each other. The pile of corpses continued to grow as the crowd went silent, and Harker sat contentedly in the corner of the battlefield, simply watching the show. Ellie laughed out loud though when she saw the long sword user pull out a small notebook and start scribbling down observations as the two packs ripped each other apart.

After several minutes of carnage, finally one of the Great Jaggis fell dead. The rest of its pack was dead already, and the victorious Great Jaggi and its two tired and injured followers howled in victory. The crowd didn't seem to know whether to cheer or not, however, as Harker calmly put away his notebook and approached the yowling monsters, unnoticed in their celebration, and unsheathed his long sword.

Finishing off the last three monsters took little to no time at all.

Even the announcer couldn't seem to think of all that much to say about the battle as a group of arena workers came out in the field to clean up the mess. The crowd seemed fairly cheated, some of them grumbling in frustration at the sight of a battle that was hardly fought. But in the stands with the other examinees, Ellie and the others were laughing about the whole thing. While the audience wanted a fight, there was nothing that the hunters enjoyed quite as much as watching a monster get outsmarted.

After Harker's mess was cleared out of the field, the battles continued on. Ellie watched absently as those fighting fought as before, pulling the audiences mood back up to where it was used to with swords and shots flying and monsters crying out in rage and pain. As Polgara had told them, most of the monsters faced in the arena were the ones the Guild categorized as low-rank, like Great Jaggi and Qurupeco.

Ellie was taken by surprise during one of the fights in the middle when the arena sent a Gobul after one of the examinees. She'd expected it to be an easy fight in favor of the hunter since there wasn't any water in the arena, much less a pond or river the creature could hide in. She'd thought that for only a moment or two, until two massive gates that stood several yards above the battle floor burst open and began blasting water into the arena, leaving the hunter standing ankle-deep in water in a matter of minutes and allowing the Gobul the ability to burrow into the moist dirt. Fortunately, the hunter was apparently a hunter Ellie had met in the bar that was from a village that seemed to specialize in water-based monsters, and even with the Gobul being given an advantage during the fight, the battle was quick.

What caught Ellie off guard though was the fact that, even as the next examinee waded into the arena to battle against yet another Qurupeco, the Guild apparently decided to leave the water in the field rather than draining it. The battle proved to be a veritably hellish fight for both the hunter and the monster, with the water slowing the hunter's speed too much for him to be all that effective, and the Qurupeco's flints too damp to ever make a spark. The match ended with the hunter's loss, when a patch of mud caused him to slip and allowing the Qurupeco to bear down on him.

But finally came the fight Ellie had actually been waiting for, Nat's. Ellie hardly paid attention to the announcer's excited announcement of Nat's entrance. She was too busy trying to force herself past the other examinees to the front seats of their seating area so she could get a better view. The other hunters in the room seemed to have the same idea, though, so getting there was a fight in and of itself.

Not that she could have truly made out what the announcer was saying anyway. The crowd was excited for the fight as well, and the roar in the stands was deafening. It seemed Nat and Kim's reputations preceded them.

Once Ellie had fought her way to the front seats of the room, Nat had already entered the battlefield, now mostly dried out from the earlier Gobul battle, and was preemptively loading her bowgun. As she finished sliding in the shots and was sliding the lock into place, the massive doors on the far end of the arena began to creak ominously open. The crowd seemed to grow even louder as an incessant grumbling emanated from the depths of the darkness behind the doors. Then with a theatrical rush of speed, the doors burst open, allowing light to flood the interior.

Out from the darkness rushed a half dozen small blue blurs followed closely by a much larger shape. Ellie blinked in surprise. Jaggi? A highly respected apprentice like Nat and they were sending Jaggi after her for the test? That was a shock. Admittedly, the Jaggi was a different color from the ones she'd fought around Boma Village, and the creature's frill seemed to be missing, replaced by a rather pronounced horn. Maybe they changed colors depending on the habitat they lived in.

"Baggis, huh?" one of the hunters next to her muttered. "Those might get a little rough if they're trigger happy with their bile. Otherwise Nat might've lucked out."

"Baggi?" Ellie asked. "Those aren't Jaggi?"

"They look alike, don't they," the hunter replied with a grin. "But Baggi are a little bigger and a little nastier than their cousins. They're accustomed to colder climates, making them tougher. Not to mention they spit bile that puts anything that smells it to sleep. They're very much the same besides that, though."

Ellie nodded absently as she turned back to the arena, giving the creature in the arena a better look. A Great Baggi, huh? The creature did seem to be quite a bit bigger than most of the great Jaggis she'd seen over the course of her time hunting outside Boma Village, and the distinctive plume of the Jaggi had been replaced by a rather noticeable horn, the Great Baggi himself bearing quite the distinguished one on the top of its head. As the Great Baggi caught sight of and focused its attention on Nat, it released an eerie and moaning howl to its followers, urging the group of creatures into a familiar attack dance that Ellie had seen Jaggis use on occasion.

A flash of motion caught Ellie's eye, and she spotted Nat in a full-on sprint headed towards the pack leader as in howled its orders to its minions. Before it had finished its cry, the bowgunner had already raised her bowgun and fired a pair of yellow paralysis rounds into the creature's flank, splattering the Great Baggi's upper leg with the neon venom. The pack leader howled in fury, shaking its no doubt numbing leg, and charged towards Nat, properly beginning the fight.

The battle was shockingly similar to most of the fights Ellie had done fighting against Great Jaggis, with the pack leader swinging its tail and teeth at its target, occasionally barking orders to change tactics while Nat leapt and dodged away, firing at the Great Baggi when the opportunity arose. The blue monster and its ilk proved to be more intelligent than its frilled cousins, with the smaller Baggis jumping in on occasion to take a hit from a bowgun round so their boss could avoid the effects of any status shots.

There was a moment or two halfway through the battle when the collective audience, examinees and judges included, held their breath as one of the Baggi's globs of sleep inducing mucus caught Nat unawares, spraying the stuff all across one of her legs. The crowd watched on the edge of their seats as the famous bowgunner stumbled precariously, the powerful smell making its way up to her nose and trying to overpower her senses. The Baggi pack began to circle excitedly, sensing her weakening state.

But rather than succumbing to the bile, Nat suddenly reached into her pouch and pulled something out. With a quick motion to her head, Ellie realized Nat had pulled out an air philter and covered her face with it, effectively blocking out the smell of the sleep mucus. The Baggis didn't seem to know this however, and continued to yip expectantly as Nat slid several large rounds into her bowgun that Ellie recognized as Crag shots. The creatures were still barking their victory cries as Nat pulled the barrel up and fired two massive rounds right into the Great Baggis thick blue hide, blasting the creature back onto its back with two massive detonations

Finally, however, the Great Baggi found itself with only a couple more minions to bark orders to, leaving its defensive options scarce. With a clear line of sight, Nat truly began to fire seriously, peppering the large creature with various status rounds. The remainder of the battle was roughly equivalent to what Ellie had taken part in fighting Great Jaggis; dodge the attacks, finish off the minions, and then work on the big boss until it falls.

And fall it did, eventually. Ellie kept expecting the creature to fall after the next shot connected, but apparently the talk about it being tougher than its cousin wasn't an exaggeration; the creature took a bit longer to take down than the regular Great Jaggi. As it fell, a cheer went up from the crowd, the locals excited at seeing their homegrown hunter taking a victory over the Great Baggi. With a bit of extra flourish, the announcer led Nat off the field as she waved modestly to the roaring crowd.

But the crowd continued to roar for several more minutes, knowing that, even as the arena workers cleaned away the corpses of the Baggis and their leader with practiced efficiency, right after they were finished, the next of Orage Dell's poster children would be led into the arena to prove her certain worth to the Guild. And they were certain she'd succeed, as her partner had.

The announcer was once again completely overpowered by the noise as he led in Kim to the arena, but with the excitement the crowd was feeling and the noise they were letting off, it didn't seem to matter all that much to him. Unlike her bogunning partner, however, Kim practically raced out of the opposite gate, waving and laughing under the praise of the crowd and just generally showboating for the entire arena.

Then the entire arena shook. It was as though an earthquake had struck the town for only a single moment. Nat quite nearly lost her balance in the center of the field, stumbling a few paces. Several of the examinees in the spectator room Ellie was in lost their own center of gravities, rolling off the wooden benches they sat upon and falling to the floor unceremoniously. A cloud of dust was rolling off the massive wooden doors opposite of where Kim had entered the arena. Was that where the sound had come from, Ellie wondered?

The entire arena had gone silent in the wake of the shake, and were standing around nervously, fearing the worst. Then they turned in shock as the announcer began to laugh whole-heartedly.

"Took you by surprise, didn't it?" he asked the crowd. "It would appear as though the challenge we've set forth for our dear Kimberly of Orage Dell is just as ready for battle as she appears to be. That rumble is his way of letting us know he's ready, I suppose."

Ellie glanced back to the lance user in the arena, and was taken aback by the look on Kim's face. Ellie was having trouble placing it; it was a full blend of both fear and full-bodied excitement. She was quickly whipping her lance into position, ready to face whatever came out head-on, but at the same time, kept herself safely hidden behind her shield.

The doors began to slowly work their way open as they had in the battles before, creaking open at a snail's crawl in order to increase the suspense for the crowd. However, before the doors could suddenly swing open at the control of the arena workers behind the controls, the doors were suddenly blasted open from the inside by a huge smashing force. The huge wooden doors swung noisily on their massive metal hinges, smashing loudly against the walls on either side. A wave of dust swept up from the floor of the battlefield as a massive, guttural roar boomed from the darkness from behind the doors.

"Ladies and gentlemen," the announcer began gleefully, "veterans and newcomers, gamblers of all ages! Today you're all in for a treat! For the first time in the Orage Dell arena for almost three years, we finally have the return of the Brute of the Volcano! Let's hear it as our Kimberly takes on the monstrous Uragaan!"

There was silence behind the cloud of smoke for a moment or two as Ellie waited, expecting whatever the hell the Uragaan was to come striding through like all the other monsters had before. What she hadn't been expecting to happen was to see the most massive wheel she'd ever seen come speeding through the smoke on a one-way rush towards Kim in the middle of the arena.

Ellie had to give Kim credit; if she'd been faced with the sudden appearance of the massive rolling wall of stone that was rolling Kim's way, she'd have certainly frozen in shock or fear and been run down. But Kim reacted almost immediately. Kim's shield could no doubt block quite a few types of attacks from most types of monsters, but Ellie had no doubt that getting smashed into by what Ellie assumed was the Uragaan would crumple Kim's shield into scrap and leave Kim as a pile of road kill in the middle of the battlefield.

Kim managed to sidestep the rolling monster, though the beast grazed her shield, knocking her back and nearly onto her behind. As it passed Kim, the massive wheel began to unravel, revealing massive legs and small stubby arms, jagged spines along its back and a massive noticeable chin. The creature still had its back to Kim, and the lance user, not one to miss an opportunity, turned and began to dash towards the creature's legs.

But as Kim neared, the massive creature twisted its head, seeing her coming. It seemed to know it wouldn't turn before she got there, and when she was only about ten yards away, swiftly smashed its chin into the dirt below it. The impact was somehow strong enough to shake the entire battlefield, and Kim, still mid-charge, lost her balance and dropped to her knees, giving the Uragaan plenty of time to turn around properly.

Ellie was on the edge of her seat, as were the rest of the examinees, watching desperately to see what would happen, when a soft hand tapped Ellie on the shoulder. The bowgun user turned abruptly and angrily towards the offender, before softening slightly at the sight of the female Guild worker she'd met earlier.

"I hate to do this to you dear," she said sadly, "but I'm afraid you need to head down to the preparation room now."

Ellie sputtered wildly in shock. "But… but can't it wait until after this fight is over?"

"I'm afraid not, dear," the woman replied. "You must be there on time or else you'll be automatically forfeited. I know this is a very intriguing fight, but if you don't come now you'll be disqualified for official hunter status."

Ellie cursed under her breath and got to her feet, following the apologetic Guild woman. She took one last look at the field as the crowd cheered and followed into the arena hallways. As she followed one of the Guild workers through the twisting hallways, she could hear the cheers and groans of the crowd as the fight continued, and feel the rumble under her feet as the Uragaan smashed its chin against the ground. As the fight continued, Ellie thought that every once in a while she could hear explosions of some kind coming from the arena, and wondered if the Uragaan possessed explosive abilities like the Qurupeco or the Raths. She tried to make out what the announcer was yelling to the crowd in his play-by-play, but the constant roar of the crowd and rumble of the Uragaan completely overpowered the man's words.

Ellie followed the Guild member dutifully, though, as the two of them weaved through the twisting tunnels and hallways of the arena. Finally, they reached a simple, undecorated door between two larger doors like the ones that had led into the armory Ellie had visited earlier. Without any of the flair or show that Ellie had come to expect during the course of the examination, the man simply opened the small door and motioned Ellie through.

Beyond the door was a surprisingly large room considering the size of the door, where Ellie spotted the highly armored group of bowgunners that had come out to aid a good amount of the examinees, as well as a couple of the other test takers she'd been in the spectator room with earlier. She realized that she'd been so engulfed in watching the other examinees fight that she hadn't even really noticed when the others in her room had been asked to leave the room and follow the Guild man to the prep room. The others in the room looked pretty nervous at the moment, and Ellie realized that with her own test getting so close, she had to admit she was feeling a bit shaky as well.

A shake in the ground reminded her that Kim was still fighting against the Uragaan out in the battlefield, and she quickly looked around for a window to look out of. One of the emergency bowgunners, a rough-looking woman with dirty blonde hair saw her looking and chuckled.

"No use trying to see out there, little missy," the woman told her fiendishly. "A hunter's not allowed to see out of this room until those big old doors open for them. That's the way it is, so just sit back and wait your turn for a beating like the rest of your little friends. It'll come soon enough, don't you worry your little head. And the little lady with the big reputation out there? She'll be done soon. An Uragaan'll make mince-meat out of any rookie that hasn't killed at least a Diablos in skill and not luck."

Ellie frowned, wincing slightly as the ground shook again, followed by another massive explosion from the battlefield. Irritated that she couldn't do anything but wait and listen to the havoc outside, she begrudgingly took a seat next to one of the other examinees on the long wooden benches provided.

The battle outside continued for another few minutes, with Ellie feeling the whole time like she should be standing up and pacing. Or practicing dismantling and reassembling her bowgun. Or taking a pickaxe and knocking a hole out of the wall between herself and the battlefield so she could at least see what was happening. Anything to keep herself from feeling the swelling nervousness towards the approaching battle or the fear for Kim's safety.

Suddenly, from beyond the doors, right after a particularly powerful earth shaking , came the crashing rumble of the hunter's gong. Immediately, all the emergency gunners perked up and made for the door as Ellie heard the sound of the Uragaan groaning in fear. The group burst through the doors, blinding Ellie and the other examinees in the room, making it so Ellie couldn't see out into the battlefield. But a wave of dark smoke poured into the room, turning the sunlight from yellow to a deep red color. Ellie's worry only seemed to grow.

The sound of bowguns firing filled the air as the doors closed, and Ellie finally began to make out what was going on out in the arena as a hush fell over the crowd. Even the announcer seemed to be mumbling a bit incoherently in worry. There was about ten or twenty seconds of silence, before the announcer suddenly burst to life again.

"She's alright folks, she'd alright!" he cheered, pulling a roar of approval from the crowd. "A little singed, I'm sure, but it looks like she'll be alright! A bit worrying there for a minute, wasn't it? But it seems our city's pride has a bit more mettle than she looks like, doesn't she?"

The crowd continued to cheer for a while, and after a few moments the door to the prep room burst open, and in came Kim, being supported by a couple medics. She certainly did look singed, with various parts of her armor smoking slightly, with several burnt-out holes in various places. Kim caught sight of Ellie giving her a worried look, and grinned encouragingly. She tried to say something, but the medics urged her along without stopping, taking her right past Ellie and out the door into the hallway.

"She'll be fine," one of the emergency hunters told her as they reentered the room. "That girl's got some fight in her, and this arena's seen worse injured hunters pull through and come back swinging. And if that girl's got half the same mettle that the rest of the village seems to think she has, she'll pull through."

Ellie let out a sigh of relief as the massive doors opened once again and the Guild workers there sent out the next examinee. A few moments later, the announcer reported that the examinee was deigned to fight a simple Great Jaggi, but Ellie's mind was elsewhere, moving from her worry about Kim to her worry about her upcoming match. She only paid mild attention when the next hunter in front of her went into the battlefield to fight.

She would've stayed dazed and thinking about her oncoming match up until they sent her out into the arena, if she hadn't caught wind of Levin's name over the announcer's intercom. "That's right, folks!" the man boomed over the polite cheer of the audience. "Our second examinee member of the lost, Levin, has stepped into the arena! Let's see what we've got in store for him, shall we?"

Ellie immediately perked up, earning a look from the same emergency bowgunner from before. "Friend of yours?" she asked.

"Yeah. He's my hunting partner in Boma Village."

"I'm sure he'll do fine," the woman grinned. "This test isn't made to be all _that_ hard, so…"

Suddenly Ellie felt as though her mind were being ripped apart. A horrible screeching filled the arena, rattling the teeth of everyone in the room. Immediately, everyone's hands flew to their ears, desperately trying to block out the sound. Out of the corner of her eye, through the pain, Ellie saw a small pitcher of water, as well as a few glasses that the Guild had set out shatter as the high-pitched sound vibrated through the walls.

Ellie was frozen for almost ten seconds, still tormented by the sound, before realizing that the others in the room were regaining their bearings and looking around warily. Ellie realized that the sound rattling around in her head was just a powerful ringing in her ears, still sounding as though someone was blowing a whistle right next to her head. The bowgunner from before cursed and looked nervously towards the door leading to the battleground.

"Damn it!" she swore. "I thought we'd killed off the last of those bastards during the tournament last week! When the hell did we get a new one?"

"Three days ago," another one of the gunners replied. "One of the Guild boats was passing through trying to sell off one of the ones they'd had put under, and Polgara thought it would be a… _fun_ (her words, not mine) addition to the Hunter's Exam. The council here in town gave her hell for it, but you know how she is."

"What the hell was that sound?" Ellie said. She realized she was shouting, still barely able to hear from the ringing in her ear.

"Gigginox," the bowgunner replied nervously. She quickly pulled out her bowgun and began sliding rounds into it. "Get your shots ready boys. This fight will be messy, and we'll need to be quick if something goes wrong out there."

"Why?" Ellie asked, panic creeping into her voice. "What the Gigginox do? Why's it such a problem?"

"Poison, mostly," the gunner replied. "But the thing's a pain in the ass to deal with in the arena under most circumstances, mostly due to the fact that if it tends to try and eat the hunter it's fighting when given the chance. The problem with that is if the hunter can't get out of the thing's jaws, we won't be able to save them before we can get out there to help."

Ellie felt the now-familiar twinge of fear that seemed to be haunting her through the course of this entire examination. She cursed out loud several times at the knowledge that Levin was fighting something truly nasty just beyond a pair of wooden doors, and she couldn't even see what was happening during the fight. And the crowd, who apparently had seen battles involving the Gigginox before, were cheering and jeering far too loud for her to even begin to guess what the announcer was saying about the battle.

But she began to calm down a little as the battle went on, though. Not that much, however, since the horrible screech of the creature would fill the arena every now and then and the sound didn't seem to be getting any weaker. But as she watched the arena bowgunner, the woman's face seemed to go from worried to wondering to downright confused.

"That's odd…" she muttered. When Ellie asked she said, "Most hunters don't last that long against the Gigginox. Its poison and its range of attack generally make it a tough thing to solo. Your friend out there must be playing pretty defensively to have lasted this long. Or he's just getting lucky."

The two of them froze, wincing in pain as another powerful screech filled the arena and the room. The woman gave Ellie an apologetic look and shrugged. "Or, you know, maybe not."

It was another seven minutes of worried waiting until the hunter's gong finally sounded. The emergency gunners were out the door almost before Ellie realized that the gong was ringing, filling the room once again with bright sunlight. Ellie tried to step forward to look out into the arena, but one of the remaining Guild members stepped in front of her, shaking his head and motioning her back to her seat. Ellie sat, albeit begrudgingly, and perked her ears to listen for the announcer. To her dismay, the announcer seemed to be trying to comfort the crowd.

"Don't worry folks," the man was saying. "The Gigginox's poison is certainly something to be feared, but it's nothing our Orage Dell Monster Arena doctors and medics can't handle! We'll get him fixed up momentarily. But before our medics send him under with their medical supplies, let's give him a big round of applause for such an excellent show for us out in the arena!"

A light spattering of applause filled the arena, and in a few moments, the emergency gunners started walking back into the prep room. The Guild worker that had stopped her at the door waited patiently for the last of them to walk in before walking to the door and looking out into the arena. He seemed to wait for something for a moment, most likely for the other gunner squad to get back into their area. Finally he turned back to Ellie and nodded to her.

Ellie stood, glad to finally be doing something. She really wanted to get out there into the arena. All the others had gone already, and at least two of them seemed to have done exceptionally well. The other two had been injured, but they had been matched up against monsters that should have been classified as far above their class of skill. Ellie wondered if the judges would be very lenient at all when it came to deciding how they would be judged.

"And now, for your viewing pleasure," she heard the announcer boom, "let's hear it for our next examinee, the partner of the last hunter, Eleanor of Boma Village!"

Ellie quickly rushed over to the door at the words, hurried on by the man's enthusiasm, and rushed outside into the glaring sunlight. She was temporarily blinded for a moment or two as her eyes adjusted to the bright light of the outdoors. A wave of noise swept over her as she stepped out, the crowd cheering for her victory.

She gaped up in amazement at the size of the crowd around and above her, clapping for her. She knew that they were only cheering politely, showing their support for her efforts as they had with the rest of the examinees, not singling her out as a specific individual to praise. But from where she stood, on the floor of the arena, where she was the center of attention, and all the applause, though polite, was focused on her, she simply felt overwhelmed by the feeling of having so many people rooting for her. She could already feel the overjoyed smile creeping across her face. She couldn't seem to stop herself from raising her arm and waving to the crowd with a grin.

"It seems she's excited to begin," the announcer said. "That's good to see! Let's hope she gives us as good a show as her partner Levin gave us just now! Now as for the monster she'll be facing…"

With a dramatic creaking sound (that Ellie was beginning to believe was counterfeit for the sake of emphasis) the doors on the other side of the arena began to open slowly. The crowd began to cheer louder in enthusiasm, waiting impatiently for the fight to begin. A howl of anger and frustration began to echo from the shadows of the door, a roar that Ellie found familiar…

"Let's see how our young bowgunner fares against a Royal Ludroth, why don't we?"

The doors blasted open, and sure enough, a large and howling Royal Ludroth burst out of the shadows, rushing straight into the arena without a second glance back. The creature was exceptionally large for one of its kind, but had dozens of scars and other wounds across his body. The creature spotted Ellie almost immediately, and she caught a glare from the creature. Ellie could tell that this one was intelligent, violently so, and she immediately began sliding in some of the Para shots she'd been given.

"Quite a nasty looking fellow isn't he?" the announcer laughed. "Those of you who've frequented the arena might recognize this old boy, a regular here in the arena for the last two years now. This old boy's shown us some fight over the course of over one hundred battles now and he's still undefeated! Our little bowgunning examinee is in for a real fight!

"But this seems a little unfair for the Royal Ludroth doesn't it?" the announcer asked, and Ellie glared up at him. They were sending out one of the most battle-hardened creatures in the arena against her, while she was wearing unfamiliar weapons and armor, and they still thought she had the advantage? "As most of the hunters know, the Royal Ludroth tends to become weaker when away from the presence of water. And we wouldn't want a fight to be unfair, would we?"

What did that mean, Ellie thought? How would they… then she remembered the earlier fight. A rumble filled the arena, and Ellie glanced up at the walls, catching sight of the massive floodgates just as they burst open. A veritable cannon a water burst from the pipes, and Ellie had to dive out of the way to avoid getting blasted away by the impact of the water. The Royal Ludroth, however, reveled in the rush of water that burst from the walls. Rather than dogging away from the rush like Ellie had, the creature practically dove into the water, soaking in the flood of water and thoroughly absorbing the liquid into his mane. Ellie hurried forward, preparing to fire, knowing that she'd have to be quick or else the Royal Ludroth would be in full form momentarily.

As soon as she was in range, she raised her bowgun and began firing. However, the Royal Ludroth, with its instincts and skill so improved by the last couple years of captivity and fighting, reacted by impulse as the first shot struck, immediately twisting its body to the side and rolling away, allowing the next couple of airborne shots to simply fly right past it. Ellie cursed as she ejected the spent cartridges and began sliding the next few rounds into the chamber.

She could hear the announcer talking over her, commenting on the fight so far, and the cheering of the crowd began to grow louder as the battle proper began. But Ellie forced herself to close her thoughts into the focused state she'd come to try and control during her time as a hunter. She knew there was a chance of falling into a point where she became too focused and lost sight of her surroundings, but with so many distractions around, she knew she had to at least try to zoom in her attentions. The cheers of the crowd and the thundering voice of the announcer faded away from her mind, until only the sight and sounds of the Royal Ludroth in front of her remained.

And the creature definitely deserved the primary focus of her attentions as it turned towards her, mane fully soaked through, and charged her way. Ellie managed to squeeze off a couple of shots, peppering the creature along the neck before she was forced to dive out of the way. The Royal Ludroth slid past her, abruptly turning around as he passed, preparing to rush again.

Ellie managed to turn and fire at the creature again before the Royal Ludroth got close enough to force her to dodge out of the way. She grinned victoriously as the shot splattered against the creature's mane, soaking into the spongy material. But to her surprise, she saw the Royal Ludroth immediately dive into one of the fountains of water, shaking its neck wildly. With a feeling of shock and despair, Ellie saw the familiar yellow paralyzing venom being pushed out of the creature's mane by the rush of water flowing out of the walls.

"Looks like those kind of tricks won't work against our reigning champion," the announcer laughed. "He's been around the block a few too many times to take a status effect shot without a fight, hasn't he? And he really knows how to deal with them when they hit!"

"Now he tells me," Ellie grumbled under her breath, sliding to a halt to slide more shells into the chamber. She nearly slipped on the wet ground as she stopped, the mud lowering her stability.

That made Ellie take a closer note of the arena itself. It had just barely been a minute since the floodgates had opened, releasing the onslaught of water into the battlefield, yet the water was already almost an inch and a half deep, which terrified Ellie for a moment. At this rate, how long would it be before the water was ankle high? Or knee high? Or waist high? Every wasted moment meant that she'd be more and more at a disadvantage during the fight, with the Royal Ludroth being so accustomed the water, especially one so experienced in fighting hunters as this one.

The Royal Ludroth turned then, snapping its teeth together menacingly before rearing back onto its hind legs and hocking a massive ball of mucus Ellie's way. Finished loading her gun, Ellie was able to sidestep out of the way, and pulled her trigger, feeling her weapon buck in recoil as the massive Crag shot she'd loaded burst out of the barrel. The Royal Ludroth, still reared up, howled in surprise as the shell embedded itself right where its mane faded away to scale, before it burst into flame and blasted the creature onto its back. Ellie grinned triumphantly as the massive shell ejected from the chamber and slid her hand into her ammo pouch, taking a cautious step back so she could more safely load in another Crag round.

But as she stepped back, her feet almost slid out from under her as she stepped down on a particularly slick spot on the ground. She gasped in surprise as she twisted her body trying to catch her balance, and managed to keep herself on her feet. But, she suddenly felt a wave of nausea and drowsiness overwhelm her, a normally unfamiliar feeling her on the battlefield.

No, not completely unfamiliar, she realized. She'd felt this way before, once or twice, noticeably when she was fighting a Royal Ludroth. She turned in shock and glanced down at her foot, where she'd slipped, and cursed under her breath at the sight. The glob of mucus that the Royal Ludroth had spit at her earlier was bobbing up and down in the water behind her, and she had stuck her foot right into the middle of it, allowing the goop to begin seeping through her armor and into her skin.

Even as she fought against the sluggishness that was seeping through her body, she saw that the Royal Ludroth was getting back to its feet. The creature howled at her angrily, before noticing Ellie's condition and proximity to its single pile of mucus. Without missing a beat, the Royal quickly charged her way, intent on running Ellie down before the effects of the bile wore off.

Ellie cringed in fear as the Royal Ludroth bore down on her, raising her bowgun defensively. She knew from experience from fighting the Royal Ludroth before that if she tried to dodge away, the effects of the mucus would likely overcome her, and she'd have severe trouble getting back to her feet. The last time she'd tried to dodge while under the effects of the bile, she'd ended up nearly falling asleep on the ground before she could get back up to her feet.

Ellie's mind flew through her options even as the Royal Ludroth bore down on her. She could just barely hear the crowd and announcer shouting for her to dive out of the way, but she ignored the noise. All she had in her bowgun were pierce rounds, and she knew there wasn't nearly enough time to load in a different type of ammo.

An idea flickered into her mind; a risky maneuver that she knew would be a gamble that would probably decide whether she managed to survive the Royal Ludroth's charge or not. But her alternatives were slim, and it was by far the most likely choice she had that wouldn't end the fight in the Royal's favor. Her focusing ability triggered into overdrive, watching the Royal Ludroth's every motion as her bowgun snapped up into firing position and took aim. The Royal Ludroth was only a few yards away as she pulled the trigger and her bowgun bucked back twice as a couple rounds shot from the barrel.

The creature didn't even realize what was happening as the bowgun fired and the pierce shots left the barrel and quickly covered the distance between the two of them. With two bright splashes of blood, the shots tore into one of the Royal Ludroth's forelegs, the first grazing the creature's claw and the second tearing into the creature's leg fully. The Royal Ludroth howled in pain as it stepped down onto its injured leg and stumbled to the side. The pain in its leg caused the creature to twist around in agony, turning its charge to the side and sending it sprawling past Ellie rather than into her.

The crowd was silent for a moment in shock, and then erupted in cheers of excitement. Ellie was forced to ignore the praise as she tried to keep herself on her feet rather than succumbing to the effects of the Royal Ludroth's bile. It took most of Ellie's focus to discharge the spent shells and reach into her ammo pouch to grab a couple of her remaining Para shots. The Royal Ludroth managed to slowly push itself to its feet as Ellie slid the rounds into the chamber and turned to face the creature.

Ellie pushed herself through the rising water, now ankle-high, and raised her bowgun, pulling the trigger twice and firing two rounds towards the raging Royal Ludroth. The first shot managed to catch the creature in the side as it turned her way, but its instinct forced it into a roll at the feel of the first shot, and it spiraled out of the path of the second shot, letting it splatter harmlessly against the far wall.

Ellie was shocked by the Royal Ludroth's reaction time. Despite taking a Crag shot to the chest and a Pierce round through its legs, its experience and strength allowed it to make a complete turnaround in the blink of an eye, and in a fraction of a second, it was charging her way. Ellie quickly ejected the spent cartridges and forced herself through the water, out of the charging creature's way. But the Royal Ludroth had the advantage in the water, and the effects of the creature's mucus were still lingering in Ellie's body.

With a jarring smash, the Royal Ludroth clipped Ellie as it passed, cutting into her side with the barbs jutting out from its shoulders and sending her splashing through the water. She cried out in pain as the dirty water hit the fresh cuts and gouges on her waist and sent lances of pain up her body.

But the self-induced focus that she'd forced on herself allowed her to ignore a majority of the pain as it tore through her. With all the speed she could muster, she rolled back up to her feet, her bowgun dripping water, and quickly slid another Crag round into the chamber, sliding the lock into place. The Royal Ludroth hadn't even slid to a stop before she'd turned around, raising the sights on the bowgun and pulling the trigger. Ellie felt a wave of relief that the bowguns that smiths made in this world were bow-propelled, rather than gunpowder-propelled, as the weapon bucked solidly, not turned into a dud from the water.

The Royal Ludroth was just beginning to turn around victoriously as the massive shell wedged itself into the creature's back, just where its tail met its back. It had only a moment to try and twist its head around in confusion to see what had stuck it, when the explosive detonated, sending a wave of flame across the creature's back and searing its scales, sending the creature flailing forward in pain. A column of water shot up in the air with the force of the explosion, sending a spray of water in all directions.

But despite the Royal Ludroth squealing in pain, Ellie knew that from the words of the announcer and the scars across the creature's body that the pain of the explosion was unlikely to keep the creature down for very long. She quickly ejected the spent explosive cartridge, and began sliding in another few rounds of Pierce shot before working her way through the rising water to a different shooting location. She even managed to pepper the Royal Ludroth with a few of the rounds, sending the creatures bright blood mixing into the water, before the monster managed to collect itself from the explosive round.

The Royal Ludroth howled in pain as the rounds cut into it. It twisted its head around, growling menacingly at Ellie, before suddenly dropping its head to the ground. Ellie blinked in surprise as her shells were ejected. Was the Royal Ludroth actually trying to reduce its target size? The water was almost knee-high at the time, but the creature was still a fairly large target to spot and hit, an easy target if it weren't for the creature's speed.

But without warning, the Royal Ludroth suddenly shot forward, sliding through the water like a torpedo. Ellie gasped in shock, the feeling of drowsiness suddenly overcome by the surge of adrenaline that shot through her body. She twisted to the side, desperately trying to dive out of the way. With an unceremonious splash she dove into the water next to her, out of the path of the charging Ludroth. She didn't quite move quick enough, however, and as the creature passed her , the sharp scales of the Royal Ludroth's jagged tail tore across her back, tearing through the fabric of the armor and cutting several deep cuts into her back.

For the split second she was underwater, she could hear the thunderous rush of the Royal Ludroth passing next to her, rumbling through the water and sounding like a tank rumbling across the dirt. And just before she breached the surface, she heard a massive thumping sound, which was like a bomb going off from her position under the water. She felt a flicker of terror as she remembered the mucus she'd stepped in earlier, but apparently the pain in her back had sent a rush of adrenaline though her, overpowering the effects of the bile.

Ellie gasped for breath as she pushed herself back up out of the water, shaking the water out of her eyes and ears, and wincing in pain as she turned around in search of the Royal Ludroth that had shot past her. Her back throbbed in protest at the motion, and she risked forcing down a quick potion to dull the pain, despite the Royal Ludroth's possible proximity. Luckily, whatever time the creature had spent in the arena's cages had somewhat dampened its skills, because the Royal Ludroth had slid so far through the water that it must have smacked straight into the far wall of the arena. The creature shook its head, trying to stave off the dizziness it felt from smacking into rock walls.

Then something caught Ellie's eye. The Royal Ludroth had struck the wall next to a large wooden platform, which held several barrels on top of it and several stacked on the sides. Ellie recalled seeing them earlier, a temptation for the hunters that were running low on supplies during their fights. Several of the barrels next to the platform were starting to bob up and down in the water as the pipes continued to pump it in.

But what really caught Ellie's attention was the contents of the barrel that floated next to the Royal Ludroth. The lid was open, revealing dozens, if not hundreds of rounds of ammunition of varying size and type. No doubt there was little rhyme or reason to the placement of the rounds, Ellie thought glumly. After all, the Guild workers here at the arena wouldn't want things to be simple, would they?

But with the knowledge of there being a wide spread of choices in the barrel, a devious plan began to work its way into Ellie's thoughts. As quick as she could, she opened the stock of her barrel, reaching back to her ammo pouch to pull out one of the last of her Crag shots. She only hoped that the water hadn't affected her shots. In a second, the shell was in the chamber, and her gun snapped up to firing position.

By then the Royal Ludroth had managed to recover its senses, and turned menacingly to face her. It winced in surprise at the sight of her aiming her bowgun, and tensed itself to dodge out of the way, but stopped in confusion when it realized her sights weren't aiming at him. Ellie had to admit she was impressed as she aimed; the Royal Ludroth was more intelligent than she thought if it was able to recognize a bowgunner's aiming direction.

"How about this, then?" Ellie said, pulling the trigger. The bowgun bucked wildly as the massive round burst from the barrel. The Royal Ludroth watched curiously as the Crag shot flew towards its side, embedding itself into the side of the ammunition barrel. Ellie heard the crowd gasp in surprise, and the creature had the mild foresight to scoot slightly away from the barrel as the fuse on the shot hissed wildly. Sensing the imminent danger, Ellie quickly dropped, burying herself under the rising water.

Ellie couldn't be entirely certain what the resulting blast looked like, but she later imagined the resulting explosion to be very similar to a fireworks show. Following a single loud thumping sound from above the water, there was a quick succession of smaller bursts, following by a howl of shock and pain from the Royal Ludroth that echoed even through the water. Ellie held her breath as long as she could, forcing herself to stay under the water even as the sound of banging and whistles over her head continued. Through the murky water, she could see random shells falling into the water and sinking towards the muddy bottom.

The blasts and bangs continued for a good twenty or twenty-five seconds. Ellie tried her best to keep her head under the water for as long as she was able to, but the plan had come to her so quickly and she had initiated it so fast that she hadn't really had the chance to take a proper breath before diving under the water. With a loud gasp she resurfaced, blinking water out of her eyes and awkwardly getting back to her feet, raising her bowgun defensively, then cursing herself for not remembering to load it.

But she needn't have worried. After blinking away the water from her eyes, she caught sight of the Royal Ludroth. The creature hadn't managed to move away from the blast before it went off, and had been easily struck by the flying shots that had flown from the blast zone when the Crag shot had gone off.

Its entire left side was a wash of various colors, from the yellow goop of paralysis shots, the light blue of sleep rounds, the sickening purple of poison shots, all blended together with bright red blood pouring from countless wounds on its body, injuries ranging from bruises caused by getting hit with Normal Shot (Ellie always wondered why they were called Normal. Basic seemed for appropriate, or Standard. But Normal? Most of the time, she was using anything but the Normal shot, and from what she'd seen here in the arena, most of the other bowgunners were under similar thoughts.), to the jagged impaling from Pierce shots, to even a couple of massive burn marks from Crag or Cluster rounds.

The Royal Ludroth whined in pain as it tried to get back to its feet, pain keeping it awake and conscious despite the dozens of status rounds that had seeped into the creature's body and blood stream. The monster howled at Ellie defiantly, despite its injuries, screaming bloody murder at her. It tried to take a step forward, ready to show that it was still willing to fight, but its legs gave out from underneath it and it tumbled onto its face.

Ellie felt a wave of relief wash over her as the creature fell into the water, glad the fight was wearing to a halt at last. The hyper-focused feeling began to wear off slightly, and Ellie began to truly hear the roar of the crowd for the first time since the start of the fight. She relaxed slightly, sliding the bowgun she'd been given back into the sheath. She grinned up at the crowd as they roared in approval, as the massive floodgates began to seal shut, the torrent of water slowing to a trickle over time. Ellie was glad for that, too; the water was almost two-thirds the way to her legs. If the fight had lasted any longer, she would've been swimming through the arena instead of wading through it.

She wondered if Levin or any of the others had managed to catch her fight. She realized she didn't really know where the examinees went after they'd done their fights. She hoped at least one or two had caught sight of the fight; as much as she liked the thought of telling about her fight to her friends, she really hoped one or two of them had watched so she'd have someone to back her up.

Suddenly a roar of water blasted into her ears. She turned in shock towards the sound and her jaw dropped in shock at the sight of the Royal Ludroth tearing through the water towards her, ignoring all the pain it felt, or simply too close to dead to feel it at all. Ellie could hear the crowd gasp in surprise, and could see the creature's half-dead, half-crazed eyes as it blindly charged her. She twisted sharply, diving to the side as the creature blew passed her, sending a wave of water in both directions.

Ellie quickly pushed herself back to her feet as quickly as she could, spitting the muddy water out of her mouth before twisting her arms behind her and trying to grab her bowgun from its sheath.

But when she turned to catch sight of the creature that had rebounded back to attack her, she was taken by surprise once again. Despite its attempt to strike out at her, its assault had apparently been a suicidal last-ditch effort to try and finish her off before it bit the dust. With a stumbling move, the Royal Ludroth stumbled again and dropped to the ground, its long neck drooping down into the murky water. It coughed once, a murky purple gunk oozing from its mouth along with the bile it normally spat out.

Poison, Ellie realized. It hadn't been the burn wounds or blood loss that had finished off the Royal Ludroth, but poison, draining the creature's health and vitality from the inside out. The stuff was taken straight from the poison glands of Rathian and Rathalos, and the Royal had been hit and injected with at least a dozen rounds of the stuff, so it wasn't really all that surprising that it would effect it so much.

"Well, that was a close one, wasn't it?" the announcer was saying to the stunned audience. "Quite the match, wasn't it, folks? An amazing final fight for our repeating Royal Ludroth, and quite the show from our challenging examinee! Let's hear it for her!"

The last surge of adrenaline from the Royal Ludroth's surprise attack, and subsequent death, had left Ellie feeling incredibly drained, so despite the sound of the crowd cheering, she could just barely bring herself to wave up at them. She heaved a sigh of relief as the massive doors to the holding cells opened, and the cleanup crew came out to drag away the body of the Royal Ludroth.

From the opposite side, a medic strode out from the prep room. The medic gave her a quick look-over, making certain the wounds on her back and side were nothing serious, before motioning her to the darkness of the prep room.

"It looks like you'll be fine," he murmured to her as they re-entered the prep room. "Just need to apply some ointment to the wounds and cover it with bandages. You should be fully healed by tomorrow."

Ellie was quickly patched up by the medic in the room, and could hear the next battle beginning as the gauze was applied. Apparently, whoever was next in line was tagged to fight a Great Jaggi, and as in some of the previous battles, the Guild decided to ignore the idea of removing the water from the arena.

"Eleanor?" one of the Guild workers in the room asked, catching Ellie's attention. "If you're all patched up, I'd like you to come with me."

Ellie nodded and got to her feet, following the man out of the room. "We've got a room set aside for those of you examinees that have finished your fights," he explained. "It doesn't have as good a view as the room you started out in, but it's acceptable. Keeps the lot of you close together in case we need to make any of you take part in the third test."

The two of them worked their way through the maze that was the corridors of the arena, climbing up a short set of stairs to the second story of the building. She was quickly led to a pair of broad doors, which were pushed open quickly from the inside as they approached. The Guild man motioned inside the room, and Ellie walked in obediently.

And she was promptly met with a wave of applause. She blinked and stepped back in surprise, finding her bearings as she looked around the room. The room was at least three times larger than the other observation room she'd been in, and mostly filled up with the other examinees that had already taken part in the fight. And nearly twenty of them had her surrounded, asking her questions and praising her.

"That was a brilliant fight! You really blew it to hell, eh?"

"I wish I'd thought of that during my fight!"

"How'd you come up with that?"

"That was amazing! You're a shoo-in for passing, aren't you?"

"Not a bad fight, eh, Miss Ellie?"

Ellie turned in recognition to the last voice, grinning happily as she caught sight of Levin. She blinked in surprise at his appearance, however. To say he looked green was a bit of an understatement; he looked as though he was ready to vomit at the drop of a hat. His entire right arm was covered in bright gauze bandages as well, with bright red splotches adding color every few inches. He noticed her look and grinned awkwardly at her.

"Not the best way to leave a fight, huh?" he smirked. Ellie frowned, striding over to him.

"What the hell happened to you?" she asked worriedly, sitting next to him.

"The Gigginox managed to get its head around my sword when I was defending," Levin replied, wiggling his arm for effect and wincing at the motion. "It's got one hell of a stretchy neck, like it's made of damn rubber or something, and there are a _lot_ of teeth inside that thing's mouth. We'll have to remember that kind of thing in case we have to fight one together in the future."

"I heard you got poisoned," Ellie asked, concerned. "Are you… feeling all right at all?"

Levin put on a tired face. "I feel like a bulimic who just downed half a dozen laxatives. I'm dehydrated as hell and despite the fact that I didn't have time to eat that much for breakfast, even the smallest thought of food makes me queasy. I can go into the truly messy details if you want me to."

"No thanks," Ellie laughed. "I've heard plenty."

"Well, well! It appears our good friend Miss Eleanor has come out of the fight unscathed!" Ellie looked up to see Harker approaching her and Levin, with Kim and Nat following close behind. He glanced down at the bandages wrapping Ellie's back and waist and shrugged. "Well, for the most part, at least. Quite the showstopper you are, Miss Eleanor! I must admit that I haven't seen a fireworks show during an arena match before, and I've been to my fair share during my travels with Lady Kerrigan!"

As Ellie grinned up at her three friends, her eyes met with Nat's for a short moment, and the worry from their earlier conversation fluttered back into her mind. Nat seemed to read what she was thinking, however, and subtly shook her head and gave Ellie a poignant look. Ellie understood the meaning without having to be told: _We'll discuss it later, in private_.

"That was amazing!" Kim laughed, jumping forward and hugging Ellie wildly. Ellie wincing and yelped in pain as the excited lancers hands smacked against her wounds, and Kim leapt back in surprise, apologizing profusely. Ellie noted that the lancer was covered in soot, and had some bandages up and down her left side; her lance arm, Ellie realized. However, she was moving her body around freely, making Ellie feel that Kim wasn't as badly hurt as she'd initially thought.

"That'll impress the judges for sure," Nat said. "Hunters are supposed to use their surroundings to their advantage, but not many are really able to do that much in the arena. Nothing there to use. That's generally supposed to be the point, but it ought to impress the judges that you actually pulled this off."

"I thought you were toast when they announced that you were fighting that Royal!" Kim squealed. "He's been here since Nat and I started our apprenticeships! He's given fighters in the arena more trouble than some of the Raths and other nasties that come through. Not as much trouble as the Gigginox or two that get brought through, of course."

"Good to hear that now," Levin grumbled.

"Oh, don't worry too much," Nat said comfortingly. "I'm sure the judges will be more lenient to the hunters that got put up against the bit challenges. I hunter that gets beaten by a Great Jaggi or Qurupeco aren't going to get as reduced a score as a hunter that loses to something worse."

"Have they posted any rankings yet?" Ellie asked, looking around for a board. "Or are they waiting for everyone to finish their fights in the arena?"

"They've probably got a lot of us judged already," Harker replied. "But they're probably going to wait until everyone's done before posting it. Gets all of them out of the way at once, you know?"

"Yeah, I guess," Ellie said. The roar of the crowd caught their attention, and they turned to see the Great Jaggi in the arena fall. The hunter looked beat, and was soaked to the bone from the water in the arena, still halfway up the hunter's thigh.

Ellie sighed and leaned back, the weariness from the battle finally catching up to her. She wondered if it was merely pure tiredness or if the Royal Ludroth's bile was still affecting her in some way or another. Levin smirked at her as the others grabbed seats next to her and sat down.

"Worn out, huh?" he laughed.

"Just a bit," she replied. "Long day I guess. Royal Ludroth spit doesn't help either."

"I hear you," Levin replied. "Truth be told, I know for a fact that I'm going to sleep like a rock come tonight. You know, after we celebrate passing the hunter's exam, of course."

"Of course," Ellie laughed.

Levin smiled at her. "You know, if you want to, you can take a nap if you want. I'll wake you up when the fights are all done."

"Oh, come on, I couldn't do that," Ellie protested. "You guys have all been awake this whole time, why should I be allowed to rest? You and Kim both took pretty good beatings. I should be the one waking you up once it's all over."

"Maybe so," Levin shrugged. "But I'm feeling a little too nauseous to try and get some sleep right now. And Kim? Well, my theory is that she was injected with caffeine when she was an infant. Or crystal meth. Either way, that girl doesn't ever seem to stop moving, and I'm pretty sure she only sleeps a few hours a night or so."

Ellie laughed at that. "Yeah, you might be right. I guess I might try to catch a few zees before the test's over. I don't know if I'll even be able to get any sleep, anyway. The crowd's kinda loud. But I guess I can try."

"Well, then, sleep well, Miss Ellie," Levin said. Ellie smirked as she leaned back, closing her eyes and forcing out the roar of the crowd.

* * *

"Rise and shine, Miss Eleanor. You too, my friend Levin."

Ellie blinked away the sleep as she heard Harker's voice calling out to her. She felt as though she'd only slept for a moment or two, but her eyes were slightly wedged shut from drowsiness. As she blinked her eyes open, trying to push away the sleepiness, she realized the light in the room was different, a redder color, making Ellie think that at least an hour or two had passed since she'd dozed off.

"You look comfortable," Harker said with a smirk.

"Yeah," Ellie muttered. Her headrest was surprisingly comfortable, all things considered. She paused in thought for a moment. Wait, headrest? She was leaning against the wall and sitting on a bench. Hardly a comfy combination.

Then her brain finally engaged, piecing together the feeling on her head. She sat up straight, and glanced to her side. Sure enough, there was Levin, sleeping lightly against the wall, breathing haggardly and coughing every now and then. He looked better than he had earlier; the sick look he'd had on his face earlier had diminished slightly. Ellie realized he must have dozed off not too long after she had, and while they slept, she must have…

"Dozed off against his shoulder, eh, Miss Eleanor?" Harker chuckled. "Must've been quite comfy. You slept like a baby for the last couple hours."

Ellie reddened slightly, then looked around frantically for Kim and Nat. Harker grinned and motioned towards the front of the viewing room. "The other two ladies are up near the front, watching the last examinee battle. After you dozed off, the four of us chatted a bit, but once Levin nodded off, the two of them decided to go off and get a better view of the fights."

Ellie felt a slight wave of relief at the words; things still felt a little too awkward between her and Nat to want her fellow bowgunner glaring at her over something like this. She looked up towards the front, and sure enough, there the other two were, staring intently into the arena, watching an examinee fight it out with a… something. Some fleet-footed, strange white monster Ellie had never seen before. Well, maybe she'd seen it in a book, but she couldn't remember the thing's name at the moment.

"That's the last of them," Harker said, nodding towards the fight. "After he's done with his fight and gets checked over by the medic (and he most likely _will_ be checked over, that monster down there doesn't let up), there'll be a short break, then they'll announce those that passed. I thought the two of you would want to at least be up before the last fight ended."

"Good call," Ellie replied, nodding and stretching. "Thanks for remembering us."

"It was my most sincere pleasure, Miss Eleanor," Harker replied with a dramatic bow, making the bowgunner giggle lightly. Then he glanced over Ellie's partner and smirked. "He looks like he's sleeping lightly, but that one's really out of it, isn't he? Over a dozen monsters out, fighting and roaring just thirty or so feet below us, and he can't hear a thing."

Ellie laughed. "He's always been like that. Once he's out, he's out for good. I have to keep an eye on him when we're tracking a monster; if he dozes off during the wait when we set up a trap, there's a good chance of us missing our opportunity."

Ellie turned, prodding Levin in the shoulder. "Hey, come on, sleepy. The test's almost over."

The great sword user groaned in irritation, opening a single eye and squinting a tired glare at Ellie. She smirked at the look; she'd seen it before when she'd busted into his house to wake him up for a day of hunting. He glanced lazily out at the arena as the crowd roared to the fight in the battlefield. Ellie groaned in frustration as his eye slowly began to work its way closed.

Then a powerful, bellowing roar filled the arena, the white creature in the arena fiercely howling and making the examinee wince back in pain. Ellie was surprised; the creature was a lot smaller than most of the other monsters she knew that could roar, yet it could really let loose one hell of a howl.

But suddenly she saw Levin snap awake with a gasp, eyes flying around. He looked terrified, a sight Ellie was unfamiliar with in urban settings like this. His eyes finally leapt to the arena, catching sight of the battle in the fight and, more specifically, the monster that the hunter was fighting. In a flash, the great sword user was to his feet, and in a few steps was bounding down the steps towards the balcony where many of the others were leaning out to watch the fight.

Ellie was too surprised to follow for a second or two, glancing in confusion at Harker, who shrugged in reply. With a quick step, the two of them were after him, running down the steps and weaving their way through the loitering examinees.

They caught up with him at the front of the room, leaning precariously over the railing overlooking the battlefield. Three or four other examinees stood nearby, grumbling in irritation and ire from being pushed out of the way of their prime spots by the great sword user. Ellie shrugged apologetically to them before reaching forward and grabbing Levin by the shoulder.

"Levin, what's wrong?" she asked, forcing him to turn around. Even as she pulled on him, the great sword user twisted his neck around, desperate to keep his eyes on the fight.

"That thing," he sputtered, pointing wildly towards the white creature. "I've seen that thing before. What is that monster called?"

"That particular monster is called the Barioth," Harker told him. "At least, that's what the announcer said when they brought it into the arena. A dweller of the tundra, I'm told. I'm actually quite impressed that the Guild managed to transport one of them down here, as well as the Gigginox. Very impressive."

"What do you mean, you've seen one before?" Ellie asked as Levin shook free of her grip and turned back to the fight. "When would you have been able to see one? You've always hunted in…"

Then Ellie's memory flickered back to some of her previous talks with Levin and she gasped in shock. "That's it, isn't it?" she whispered. "You woke up in the tundra didn't you? You woke up from that sleep that all of us Lost were in, in the tundra."

Levin was silent for a moment, eyes still on the fight. "Yeah," he muttered. "That's where I woke up."

"That's… impressive," Harker said, surprise obvious in his voice. "I heard rumors about the Lost that woke up in the tundra while Lady Kerrigan and I were traveling through villages in the desert. Rumors said that none of them survived the cold or the monsters that dwell up there."

"I don't know how many of us made it out of the tundra," Levin muttered, a pained expression covering his face. "All I know is that I woke up alone in the snow, no clue where I was or where to go. That and… I barely survived."

Ellie wasn't sure that Levin realized what he was doing, but at the memory of his time in the frozen north, the great sword user absentmindedly reached his good arm up, running his fingers along the three bright red scars crossing his face. Ellie and Harker shared a look of realization between each other, both of their mouths gaping in shock.

"You survived a fight with… with _that_?" Ellie asked, motioning to the white creature in the arena. "You couldn't have had any armor… any weapons at all!"

"I was… lucky," Levin muttered. "Someone saved me. Really pulled my ass out of the fire."

"Who?" Harker asked. "I heard that the Guild had the tundra shut down for the winter. Who would be up there during that time of year?"

Levin frowned, an uncertain look on his face. "I'm… not sure. I was pretty close to dead when it happened. But as far as I remember correctly, it…"

The three hunters reeled in surprise as the enveloping sound of the hunter's gong tore through the arena, making the Barioth, as well as most of the audience, reel back at the sound. Ellie glanced down to the arena, where the emergency bowgunners were bursting into the arena, rushing forward to aid the hunter in the arena. Ellie was surprised; the bowgunning examinee had had his bowgun completely smashed in half by the onslaught of the white monster.

In a few moments, the Barioth lay asleep on the floor of the arena, sleeping heavily from the dozen or so bright blue sleep rounds that had splattered its body and wings. Ellie could visibly see the examinee on the field sigh in relief. She wished she'd watched the fight a little closer now; the Barioth seemed to be one tough customer.

"And there you go folks!" the announcer boomed. "That's the last of the examinees! And what a great show he gave us, eh? Not too many are able to last so long against the fearsome Barioth and still manage to walk out of the arena on their own feet! Let's give him another big hand!"

As the crowd cheered politely, Ellie could practically feel the announcer grinning, even from their distance from each other. "Well, now that that's out of the way, we're finally to the part you've all been waiting for… the announcing of those that passed! Those that are declared passing for this test will be initiated into the ranks of the Hunter's Guild as official, top-notch hunters!"

The crowd erupted into cheers, a louder roar than Ellie thought they had ever let out before, even during the fights with the highest expectations, like Kim or Nat's. The announcer laughed along with them, his bellowing chuckles reverberating through the arena. "Yes, yes. You gamblers out there have really been looking forward to this, haven't you? Well, our judges are going to go through their final decisions, and in fifteen minutes, the results will be announced! Not that long now, folks!

"In the meantime, let's get the brave examinees that took part in these tests down here! Whether they passed or failed, each and every one of them has put on a fantastic show for us all, so we'll give them all a proper congratulations!"

"You heard the man!" one of the Guild members in the viewing room called out to the collection of young hunters in the room. "For the final judging, you'll all be asked to stand in the center of the arena to be deemed a proper hunter or not. Let's go, hurry it up!"

Ellie and Levin glanced at each other. They really made a show of this, didn't they? Ellie felt the same twinge of fear that she'd felt before, of one of them passing and the other failing. Worse, those that failed the test would do so under the watchful eyes of the arena. The Guild was really twisted sometimes, Ellie thought foully.

Levin, seemingly reading her mind, shrugged with a frustrated sigh. "What can you do? Let's go." Ellie nodded, turning and following the crowd of examinees out into the hallway.

Ten minutes later, the entire group of examinees that had managed to qualify for the second test were standing awkwardly in the middle of the battlefield, nervously looking around as the crowd looked down on them. Well, most of the hunters were standing. There were those that had received broken legs and were forced to sit, or others like Levin that had gotten poisoned over the course of their fight and were too nauseous to stay standing.

Ellie, Levin and Harker had managed to regroup with Kim and Nat during the journey back down to the arena proper. The five were next to each other now, not really speaking. All of them were uncertain whether they'd meet the Guild's apparently high standards. Every once in a while, one would speak up, trying to start a conversation, but the words always dwindled away to nothing.

The crowd suddenly began to grow louder, and Ellie looked up, catching sight of the old woman Polgara approaching the balcony of the judge's booth. With a poignant glare around the crowd, the audience quieted down, and the woman began to speak.

"Over the course of the day's worth of arena battles, we've taken the time to carefully and with great precision attempt to determine whether or not each individual examinee you've seen on the battlefield today is worthy of wearing the noble title of Guild hunter. Many of you prefer to enjoy the Hunter's examination in your own way, taking part in the oldest game in history: gambling. Most of you are here simply to see whether the hunters you've wagered on have passed. For those of you that are here for that reason, I have bad news. We will not be releasing the names of those who passed until tomorrow."

There was a moment of silence, and then half the arena seemed to erupt in fury. Dozens of betters leaned over the railings of the arena, screaming angrily for the results of the test. Several of the examinees on the battlefield were cursing loudly as well, shaking their fists up towards the balcony. Polgara glanced uncaringly around the howling crowd, and then raised her hand, wordlessly demanding silence. There were still several gripers, but the audience was quieted for the most part fairly quickly, and the Guild master continued to speak.

"Allow me to explain," she said. "There were exactly seventy two examinees that were allowed to participate in this test. At this point in time, only twenty seven have passed. Thirty eight examinees have failed."

Polgara allowed a moment of silence before continuing. "Those of you who are quick with numbers may have realized by now that there are exactly seven examinees that are unaccounted for. The reasoning is this: we have reached an uncertain impasse between the verdicts of the judges over the fate of these seven hunters. As such, the decision has been made to enact one of the old rules of the Hunter's Examination; we will make these seven hunters take part in a third test, in order to better deem their quality."

All of a sudden, the mood of the crowd shifted. Where the audience had only moments ago been seething with anger and confusion, now the crowd was once again excited and on the edge of their seats, eager to hear what Polgara had to tell them. Ellie glanced at her comrades. They all seemed on edge, except for Harker, whose expression had changed from uncertain to only partially amused by the whole thing.

"With the fates of these seven hunters' passing grade on the line, we of the Guild felt it best to hold off on our announcing of the rest of the names until those taking the third test have passed or failed. With that in mind, allow me to read the names of those that have been selected to take part in the final test.

"Young of Terra Village.

"Urdot of Orage Dell.

"Gerri of Red Falls.

"Harker of Sentry Oasis.

"Jeremiah of South Harbor.

"Levin and Eleanor of Boma Village.

"Those are the names of those taking the third test. We ask that those named report to the arena tomorrow at noon for their final test. That is all." And with that the old woman turned and marched away from the podium.

Ellie turned in shock, seeing Levin with a stunned look on his face. She sputtered for a second or two, trying desperately to put her thoughts into words. Then she froze and gentle laughter filled her ears. She turned, appalled, and saw Harker chuckling and shaking his head.

"What's so funny?" Levin growled. "You're on the list too!"

"I know, I know," Harker grinned. "But then, I thought this might happen, right from the start."

"What!" Ellie yelped. "How? How could you know that?"

Harker chuckled again, looking between the two Boma hunters. He motioned to the door leading out of the battlefield. "I'll explain on the way back. No sense standing around here, is there? I'm sure the arena would like to make their daily gambling profit that they couldn't get from the exam, and that means we'll need to leave, eh?"

Ellie glanced in confusion to Levin, who could only shrug in response. Kim and Nat only shook their heads as well when Ellie turned to them for explanation. With a sigh, Ellie turned with the others, determined to catch Harker and pull an explanation out of him.

* * *

**Author's Note: Please Review!**

**Ah, the joys of waking up from a night of drinking, amirite?**

**So… this chapter was a little later than I wanted it to be due to a biological hazard that went down in my place of dwelling. Seriously, the Environmental Protection Agency was called and they evicted us for a few days, confiscating everything (including my laptop) until it could be deemed safe. So, apologies for the wait if you were waiting.**

**I kind of wanted to go more in depth when it came to the everyone but Ellie's battles, but the chapter probably would've ended up at 35k+ words by itself. I wouldn't have minded writing it, but I would've had to split it into multiple chapters, and I want to keep the story going, so I decided to just go into details about the person whose perspective I was writing, which, this time, turned out to be Ellie. I was going to make it Levin's, with the Gigginox and all, but he had his turn the last chapter. **

**Reading: Wizard and Glass by Stephen King, The Green Mile by Stephen King, The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy, Patriot Games by Tom Clancy  
Playing: BFBC2, Mass Effect (obsessively), Portal 2  
Listening: AC/DC, Smash Mouth, Radical Face, Sum 41**


	17. Voices

Voices

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. All the characters in this story are mine._

"They kicked us to the curb because we're members of the _Lost_?"

Levin growled in frustration, smashing his fists down onto the table the five examinees sat at, sending a small platter of food the massive innkeeper had provided skidding across the table and clattering to the floor. He saw Ellie frown in disapproval at the outburst, reaching over to grab the plate. But Levin's anger at the decision of the Guild overruled any feelings of guilt he might have felt, and he simply leaned back into his chair, scowling.

"No sense pouting about it," Ellie told him. "To be fair, I agree with Harker's assessment of the Guild's decision. I don't _like_ it, but I accept it. It's… fair. I guess."

"I'm not pouting," Levin muttered. "I'm… glowering. Ominously."

"Of course," Ellie smirked, tossing the now-empty plate back onto the table.

"Run this by me again," Kim asked, an uncertain look on her face. "I'm still confused about why you think the Guild would do this to you guys. As far as I could tell, you guys all did really well during your fights. Well, I guess Harker here sort of abused the monsters' instincts rather than fighting then properly, but even that required some bit of knowledge on how to deal with monsters properly."

"I think I've got the jist of it," Nat volunteered. "Let me try to explain. You know that the Lost are relatively new members of our country's society, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so. They only started showing up about… I'm not sure. A year and a half ago? Something like that?"

"Something like that," Levin replied. "I've been in this world for almost two years now."

"Anyway," Nat continued, "from what Levin and Ellie were told, the Lost were only allowed to apply for the test a couple weeks ago, despite how long they've been here. I don't know the specifics as to why the Guild would wait that long to allow the Lost into the running, but it most likely has to do with the rumors that have been going around about the Lost and their… unique traits."

Kim sat in ponderous silence for a moment, then replied, "You mean the whole, 'they're all psycho-crazy' thing people are saying."

Levin and Ellie both frowned at this, but Harker merely shrugged. "That's basically what they're saying. Although, I'm almost certain this is just a fear-induced fallacy. I've yet to show signs of madness myself after all."

There were a few moments of awkward silence as the remaining four hunters pointedly refused to look Harker in the eye, earning them a confused look from the long sword user. "What?" he asked.

"Anyway," Nat said, moving on, "I personally don't see any fault with allowing the Lost to take part in the Hunter's Exam. After all, the three of you are all pretty interesting, and very skilled hunters. I don't see any problems with allowing you all to work under the Guild's banner. But I suppose the Guild has to take every eventuality into account, which is why they're making those three take the third test. They can't risk that the rumors might be true so they're making all of the Lost take another test so they can get a better feel for their mental state. They probably tacked on a few of the other examinees that were close to the drop off point just to try and trick the less intelligent gamblers in the audience into thinking it was just for show."

"I still call this whole thing a load of bull," Levin grumbled. "You'd think they'd have seen enough from today's fights to determine whether or not we're capable of being declared adequate as hunters."

"Who knows?" Harker said. "Obviously they want something more, or they wouldn't be making us take the third test tomorrow."

"I really don't want to fight another Gigginox, though," Levin muttered.

"I don't think any of us do," Ellie said. "I didn't even get to see what the thing looked like and I don't want to fight one. That thing's screeching will haunt my nightmares for days."

"That thing's _mouth_ will haunt my nightmares for months," Levin said with a shiver. "So many teeth…"

"I thought the weirdest part was the whole screaming-out-of-its-butt part," Kim added.

"We're getting off topic," Nat scolded them. "Whatever reason the Guild had to make you guys take the third test, it doesn't change the fact that you've got some unknown test to take tomorrow. I mean, they haven't made use of the third test since… since I don't know when. Way before I was born, that's for sure."

"Well, how are we supposed to prepare for a test that nobody's taken in who knows how long?" Levin asked.

"I don't know what you guys are going to do," Ellie said, getting to her feet, "but I know what I'm doing. I'm going to bed early, waking up early to get to the arena on time, and, most importantly, _not_ drinking a _drop_ of alcohol the night before."

"Words to live by, Miss Eleanor," Harker grinned.

"And if I were you, I'd do the same," Ellie smirked at Levin. "Unless you want that Gigginox poison to still be flowing in your bloodstream tomorrow morning, I mean."

Levin frowned, glancing down at his bandaged hand and wiggling with fingers slightly, before shrugging in acceptance. "That's a fair enough diagnosis, I suppose," he grinned. "Heavens above know I could use a good rest. I know I got a nap earlier after we got our tests, but I guess I'm still pretty beat. I wasn't a very good alarm clock, huh, Ellie?"

"A decent enough pillow, though, apparently," Harker laughed quietly. Levin blinked in confusion as Ellie shot a glare at the long sword user, who merely smiled innocently back at the bowgun user.

"A what?" Levin asked, confused.

"Never mind," Ellie grumbled. "And don't you say a word, Harker. Now if you'll all excuse me, I'm going to bed."

"Very well then," Levin grinned. "Sleep well, Miss Ellie. I'll probably be hitting the hay not too long from now."

As Ellie smirked and walked out of the room, Levin raised an eyebrow and turned back to Harker. "What was that all about?"

"I was wondering the same thing," Nat said with an odd gleam in her eye. Levin raised an eyebrow at the bowgun user, but Nat's attention was fully on the long sword user.

Harker laughed again. "I'll tell you about it one day. Maybe the next time we meet each other after we've passed the exam will be a good time to tell the tale. Your lovely Miss Eleanor may cut me off again, though. We'll just have to wait and see."

Levin kept his gaze on Harker, trying to stare him into revealing what he knew. But his friend kept his gaze, unwavering and grinning slyly as the great sword user stared him down. Finally Levin sighed and pushed himself to his feet.

"Fine, I give up. Maybe I'll get it out of her myself. For now, I'm going to hit the sack before this Gigginox venom makes me pass out."

"See you tomorrow, then, comrade Levin," Harker waved as Levin left the room.

"Sweet dreams," Nat called out after him, making the great sword user grin as he walked down the hall.

* * *

_A cool breeze fluttered over Levin's face and he opened his eyes in surprise, wondering if he'd left the window open before he'd gone to sleep. But he was taken aback when he realized that he wasn't in his room at the inn, but at the docks of Orage Dell._

_(Why was he here? When did he come here?)_

_His mind was blank as he tried to remember when he'd traveled to this side of town. He didn't remember drinking the previous night. He was fairly certain he didn't have a habit of sleepwalking, but you never knew…_

_Or, wait, was it really Orage Dell? The building were a little more upscale than he was used to, but he recognized most of the boats in the harbor as the fishing fleet that Boma Village used for their food supply, and the people walking up and down the docks were villagers he'd come to know over the last two years. He could even see the familiar fishery he'd bought several of his meals from down the pier. _

_(When did he get back? Why were the buildings so tall? This didn't make sense!)_

"_Levin!" an older, powerful voice called out to him; a familiar, comfortable voice. Levin turned, following the sound, and spotted a pair of familiar faces at the end of the pier, each casually holding fishing rods out into the deep blue water. _

"_Ellie! Old man!" Levin said in surprise as he walked across the planks to speak to his partner and his teacher. He glanced down at Ellie as she smiled up at him, knowing there was something important he needed to ask her, but not quite remembering… _

_(The test! You'll be late! Why are you in Boma right now?)_

_Oh, yes. Now he recalled. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't we be getting to the third test?"_

"_Don't worry about it," his partner replied casually. Her voice seemed dim, far off. Levin thought that was a bit strange, but couldn't think why. "There's plenty of time before the next test. All the time in the world." _

"_Besides," Marshall said, reeling in his line and holding up a fish as long as his arm, "the fish are biting today, and it would be such a waste to waste such a nice day bowing to the fickle whims of the Hunter's Guild."_

_Levin opened his mouth to reply, but was suddenly taken aback by the appearance of the fish that the old man held in front of him. The thing certainly had the basic shape of a fish; head, gills, body, flipper at the end. But the one on the end of Marshall's line was not one Levin had ever seen before. It was a deep blue hue, and has jagged scales and spines running across its body. Its mouth was long, ending in a very crocodilian snout, capped off with gleaming red eyes. Levin could swear the thing bore a striking resemblance to something he'd seen before, but _

_(Monster! Abomination! Throw it back! Kill it! Before it attacks you!)_

_his mind was fuzzy and dull, making it challenging to remember what._

"_We've been catching them all day," Ellie told him, motioning to a nearby pail. Levin frowned at the sight: nearly a dozen of the nasty-looking blue fish swam around the shallow water of the bucket, snapping violently at each other, sharp fangs gnashing menacingly at each other. _

"_Sit down, join us," she said enticingly, patting a small stool next to her. "You'll catch a dozen before noon, I guarantee it."_

_(Dangerous! Horrible water serpent! Throw them back and get away!)_

_In the back of Levin's mind, he felt what Ellie and Marshall were saying was not something that he could take lightly. The two of them had both worked too hard and too long to so casually ignore the importance of the Hunter's exam. But as he looked around at the smiling villagers and the happy faces of the two people he'd grown closest to over the course of his apprenticeship, _

_(Why was she happy? Couldn't she see the monster fish for what it was?) _

_he couldn't help but feel his worries and uncertainties slowly begin to slip away. With a grin of his own, he contentedly sat down next to his partner, grabbing a fishing rod that may or may not have been there a moment ago, and sending a line into the water. _

_Levin wasn't sure exactly how long it was that he, Ellie and Marshall sat there, pulling fish after fish out of the pristine water. Every fish the three of them caught turned out to be the same, the eerily sharp and dangerous-looking blue fish. But each fish they caught seemed to be bigger than the last. How could they bring themselves to stop, with such good luck? _

_As Levin pulled what seemed to be his hundredth fish from the water, he idly noticed that the water seemed a little murkier than it had before, a little darker and more dangerous than it had seemed the rest of the day. He glanced up to the sky and blinked in surprise. _

_It had been cloudless when he'd gotten to the dock,_

_(How long ago? Morning? Noon? Had he been here hours? All day?)_

_but now the sky was a murky gray. Off in the far distance, he could make out the ominous flickering of lighting, hidden behind the black clouds on the horizon. But the clouds were approaching rapidly, bearing down on their tiny village like an invading army, the rumble behind the clouds oddly similar to the march of soldiers. With every moment that passed, Levin could see the lightning growing brighter, flashing ever more rapidly, as though the thick black clouds were just barely holding back the overwhelming power that surged through them. It was as though they were saving up, waiting for the proper moment to unleash the storm's fury. _

_Where had the clear sky gone? When had this wave moved in, Levin wondered? He turned, looking into the sky behind him, where only a fraction of the sky remained clear and blue, the rolling clouds covering the blue as though it were devouring it. But the blue wouldn't disappear completely. Even as the storm swelled, the clear sky always seemed to break through the clouds, as though it was fighting back. _

_Then Levin noticed the bucket… buckets. They had spent the afternoon_

_(Hours? Days? Weeks? How long? How long ago?)_

_catching fish, and the swarm had grown. Where one bucket had once stood, there now teetered dozens, hundreds of shaking, rattling metal pails, teeming with furious gnashing teeth of flailing blue fish. They fought for freedom, fought each other, fought against their metal walls. Fear began to creep though Levin, despite the laughter and mirth of Ellie and Marshall. _

_A bucket at the top of the piles slipped, rolling down the tower of metal. Each time the metal clashed against the edge of another pail on its way down, Levin heard_

_(Felt)_

_the flash of lighting behind the clouds, the roll of thunder across the harbor. With a boom of thunder and a bolt so searing that Levin winced in pain, the bucket hit the ground, spilling its contents across the pier. _

_Two large blue fish, a pair of the most recent pulled from the water, spilled onto the dock, flailing angrily at their situation and growling_

_(Growling fish? Monsters!)_

_at Levin accusingly. They stared at him hungrily. Levin could feel their desires, their thoughts. If they were in the water, they would eat him for certain. _

_Then without warning, one of the fish, the larger, twisted its body around. With a snap, it sank its jagged fangs into the throat of its fellow fish. The other fish howled in pain, flailing wildly, desperately attempting to escape the larger fish's clutches or bring its own teeth down on its assailant. But its struggle was in vain, and soon it had ceased its flopping, laying limply in the crushing jaws of the other. _

_Levin watched in horror as the scene unfolded. Without a second thought about its actions, the larger fish greedily began to devour the dead, smaller fish. The feasting was short, the larger fish practically swallowing the smaller one whole, consuming it whole before Levin could think to wonder how long it had taken. With a satisfied belch, the larger fish snapped its eyes back to Levin, its gaze boring into the great sword wielder. _

_The gaze was hypnotic; Levin couldn't look away from the thing's _

_(Not a fish. Abomination. Monster!)_

_eyes. But every moment of what happened next was seen clearly, as though he'd watched a hundred times. The creature grew larger, inflating like a balloon. And it was not just expanding, but lengthening, hardening, evolving. Its flippers solidified, replaced by arms, digits, claws. _

_The growth stopped shortly. It hadn't changed much, but enough for Levin to notice. It was bigger and it had grown claws. It seemed dissatisfied, as though it hadn't accomplished what it had wanted. But a wicked gleam filled its eyes, and it turned to the towering pile of buckets each filled with others of its kind. It knew how to grow even bigger. _

_It was as though at that exact moment, that exact knowledge had been transferred to the other creatures telepathically. Simultaneously, every single one of the blue creatures, momentarily contained in their buckets, turned on each other, perfectly willing to tear each other limb from limb to gain the power and strength offered by killing and eating their kin. The fighting and thrashing rattled and shook the tower of buckets, and soon the stack began to shake and sway, pails tilting loose and falling from their places. As with the first bucket, each collision and bump was met with another flash of lighting and roll of thunder, each more blinding and more deafening than the last. _

_Levin stood in shock as the creatures devoured each other senselessly, uncertain what to do or how to stop the creatures from consuming each other and growing larger. He looked hopelessly at Ellie and Marshall, but the two of them still sat contentedly at the dock's edge, smiling blankly as they watched their bobbers and lines, patiently awaiting the next bite and apparently oblivious to the raging storm that was practically on top of them. Levin opened his mouth, desperate to catch their attention, but no sound emerged but a gasping, wheezing sound, the sound of his own fear. He couldn't even seem to find the strength to reach out and touch them, to pull their attention from their lines. _

_Frantically, he created an idea, a blind and stupid plan, he knew. His body managed to respond to it, however, and he lurched forward, charging directly towards the clattering and clanging tower of buckets and raging fish. With a lunge, he charged headfirst into the wall of metal. It was like the straw that broke the camel's back. The shaking and wobbling tower had finally had enough, and the force of Levin's blow, sent the tower careening backward. With a deafening smash, the buckets clashed down onto the dock, metal and flailing creatures scattering everywhere. _

_Desperately, Levin dashed across the dock, violently kicking each bucket and fish he came across off the wooden planks and into the murky water of the bay. Each time he swung his leg, he aimed them a different direction, hoping and praying that it would keep them far enough away from each other to dissuade them from continuing to devour each other. Pain lanced up his body as the creatures retaliated to his plan, biting and clawing at his every step, fighting fiercely to stay_

_(Where he could see them, watch them consume each other.)_

_above water. The process felt _

_(Like years) _

_too long for Levin to keep track of, but finally he'd reached the end of the pier. He was forced to fight for his life against two of the largest creatures he'd seen so far, each as large as he was and now shaped like a crocodile rather than a fish. They both were eventually fought back, however, and the dock was finally cleared. _

_Fear tore though Levin, and he knew what he'd see even before he turned around. Sure enough, as he spun back to face the ominous ocean, he now stood at the start of a massive, impossibly long pier. He could just barely make out Ellie _

_(Marshall was gone. Drowned? Eaten? Run away? Had he really ever been there?)_

_at the end of the dock, seemingly miles away in the ocean. His eyes darted to the sky, against his will. The clear blue of the sky was still there, but only an insignificant speck amongst the dark, rolling clouds. _

_Levin didn't think about anything anymore. He simply started running down the dock. The waves seemed to grow larger the closer he got, rolling and thrashing _

_(Like a battle underwater)_

_against the dock. Waves smashed and tore at the wood, soaking Levin to the bone. The lighting grew even more rapid, filling the sky with constant, blinding light. The thunder was deafening, no other sound could be heard. The waves were converging. Levin was almost there. He had to beat the waves, beat the light. He had to get to Ellie before…_

_Things had changed. The flashes of light were no longer coming from the sky, but from under the water. The concussive thunder had changed pitch, it was no longer a rumble but a deep, massive roar. The waves were converging, a mountain of water rising into the sky right in front of Ellie at the end of the pier. Levin could feel her expression, the laughter gone, replaced by fear, terror, hopelessness. _

_The peak of the mountain of water erupted like a volcano, and water shot into the sky as a massive, terrible shape burst from the rolling storm, bearing down on Ellie with killing intent. The same color as the fish, the same powerful fangs, bearing the power of the lighting, the roar of the thunder. _

_Lagiacrus. _

_Levin was only a few steps away as the leviathan lunged, fangs flashing towards Ellie. Levin reached forward…_

_And found himself surrounded by fire. The pier was gone. He was in the middle of Boma Village, _

_(Skyscrapers between, behind the huts. Not only Boma)_

_the town alight with flames. The clouds in the sky no longer rolled with thunder and lighting, no longer held the threat of rain, but were black as night, the creation of pillars of smoke pouring into the night sky. Corpses to charred and burned to distinguish from one another littered the ground. _

"_No. No. No! Not again! Not again…" Levin felt himself beginning to sob._

**Familiar, isn't it, boy? **

_Levin's eyes shot around. The voice again! That deep, hateful, wicked voice! It was just supposed to have been from a dream! It was just the creation of his nightmares… wasn't it?_

**Do you like what I've done with the place?** _the voice laughed mockingly_. **This ratty little village of yours really gives of a… warmer feel to it now, doesn't it? Nothing quite brings out a city's true personality like a nice, crackling fire, don't you agree?**

"_Where are you?" Levin howled at the flames, eyes flashing for some sign of the creature he knew lurked somewhere beyond the roaring fire. "I'll kill you for this!" _

**Be calm, boy,** _the voice chided, a tone of annoyance creeping into its spiteful tone_. **You should know by now that this is but another nightmare I'm giving you. A dream. A kindly reminder of my continuing impact on your life. Yet here I rein. Here I am as akin to the gods and devils that watch over the world. And let me make this clear; this vision is also a view of the future.**

"_What do you…" Levin began, but he was suddenly cut off as one of the buildings nearby suddenly blasted apart with an enormous explosion. The great sword user's words were abruptly snuffed out as a pile of debris smashed into him, dropping him to the scalding ground and pinning him under several still-burning planks of lumber. He tried to cry out in pain, but the heat of the fire seemed carry the air from his lungs, leaving him mute as the flames bit into him. _

**Such a talkative one, aren't you?** _the voice mocked_. **Always trying to interrupt me with your little threats of vengeance and vows of hate. Perhaps now you'll allow me to speak my mind properly without putting your two cents in every other word I say?**

**As I was saying,** _the voice continued, acting nonchalantly about Levin's pain_, **this little show I've provided for you is a veritable glimpse into your not-so-far-off future. However, it pains me greatly to admit that this view of things to come should have come to pass already, around a month ago.**

_Levin's mind flashed to the past month. Boma in ruins? Why? What could have destroyed the town he loved in such a manner that… _

_The Lagiacrus!_

**Yes, now you see. It should have come to pass that the creature you humans call the Lagiacrus, the one you and that little girl came across, was destined to destroy your little village. I have little doubt that I know what you're thinking right now, boy. 'But how? How could you know that the Lagiacrus was bound to destroy my precious... what was it? Boma.' It's rather simple, you see. **

**I was the one that ordered it to do so, boy. **

"_It can't… you can't have…" Levin gasped, forcing the words out. _

**Still got some fight it you yet, eh, boy? Not bad. But yes, I did send the Lagiacrus towards that little hovel you call a home. My control is absolute, when it comes to these monsters you hunt and slay and capture. They are all bound to me with their very existences, and they cannot with great ease disobey my commands. However, admittedly, there are times when the creatures I give commands to need a little push in the proper direction.**

_Levin remembered with shocking clarity the fight he and Ellie had had with the Lagiacrus. When the leviathan had been attacking the ship, something had sent waves of pain into the creature's body, and it had abruptly turned its attention from the crew of the ship to Ellie and him, standing warily on the shore and trying to catch its attention. _

_And through the rest of the battle it had shown similar pain! It had once been tempted to eat Ellie when she was down, but the pain had forced it to focus back on Levin! When the creature had the pitfall trap wedged into its mouth and had tried to run, the pain had tried to force the creature to stay! Had tried to force it, but…_

**Now you remember, boy. Now you can remember the power which I can exert over the monsters of this world. It was I that ordered that Lagiacrus to leave the area of the ocean it controlled! I gave it the order to find and attack your little village while you were away, so that you would know despair upon your return, to find all that you'd come to cherish, blasted away once more! Taken from you as I took away your last home!**

**But those damned creatures have grown complacent!** _the voice howled furiously_. **They have forgotten my voice! My power! My right to oversee their actions and move them to my every whim! They have grown primal in my absence, too stupid to understand that my orders are law! That damned Lagiacrus should have had your village thoroughly destroyed by the time you returned! But instead it came across that boat full of other humans, and decided that sating its own hunger was a more urgent thing to accomplish then my commands!**

**I bent that foolish creature to my will by force! If it would not listen to my commands, then it would certainly listen to the searing pain I could inflict on it! My plans were forced to change the moment you laid eyes on that disobedient creature, bringing its presence to light! The damnable Lagiacrus' actions made it so that a successful attack on your puny little dwelling would not go as well as planned, so I was forced to reassess my goals. If I could not take from you the village you cared for, then I would take from you that weak female human you cared for!**

"_No!" Levin roared. Fury burned through him at the words, and adrenaline surged through his body. The pain he felt from the roaring embers that coated his body was forced out of his mind as rage filled his mind. His body forced itself against the thick burning beams that pinned him, and with a trickle of hope, the great sword user felt the debris above him begin to sift slightly under the force of his push._

**You are lucky, however,** _the voice continued as the beams and columns creaked and groaned as Levin pushed against them_. **I would have let the Lagiacrus eat that girl, but you managed to impress me with a display of hate that I thought you didn't possess outside our little… talks. You managed to force the creature to a halt with mere physical strength alone! Oh, how surprised I was, I'll admit it! It intrigued me enough to pull the sea serpent's attention from devouring that girl. I gave it a new order: I wanted it to test the strength of your anger in a direct confrontation! **

**I admit the results were more disappointing than I'd hoped. You weren't able to pull as much strength from your anger during your confrontation as you had at that one particular point. I'm still not entirely sure why. Perhaps the sight of my work pulling the Lagiacrus' attention back to you confused you enough so that you were able to calm your anger; I can't imagine why you'd do such a thing, though. Perhaps it was the howl of pain the serpent unleashed when I forced my will upon it; I know you humans have such sensitive ears. **

_With a final grunt of effort, Levin felt a mass of the rubble shift just enough for him to force himself loose of the debris. He could hear… sense the direction from which the voice was coming from. He _knew_ the creature was just to his right. He _knew_ he could get to it this time! _

_He saw an old sword, a blade he recognized as a weapon of the town guard, laying under a pile of broken boxes. He quickly knelt, plucking the weapon up, and without hesitation he charged forward, dashing through a thin alleyway towards the voice. He could hear rumbling accompanying the voice at it chuckled; footsteps. Massive, powerful footsteps. It didn't matter, he had the creature now. _

_He heard the snapping of planks as one of the massive steps landed right around the next corner. He had it! With a lunge around the bend, he raised the blade in his hands, ready to strike…_

_And found nothing. _

_Again. _

_His world was suddenly blasted with pain as a massive force smashed into his back, crushing him down onto the ground and grinding him against the dirt and wood that lay broken around him. Levin gasped in pain as his body was crushed. As he groaned in agony, he saw a single monster's claw click down next to his head; a massive, black, terrifyingly sharp talon. _

**Once again you think you can attack me here,** _the voice hissed above him mockingly_. **And once again you are wrong. This realm is mine to do with what I wish. These images are mine to do with what I wish. And while you are here, **_**you**_** are mine to do with what I wish.**

**As I was saying before you so rudely tried to interrupt me,** _the voice chortled, cruelly grinding Levin deeper into the dirt_, **it took me some thinking to figure out what it was that made your anger erupt so violently, as well as how it managed to fade again so soon after you received it. The answer confounded me at first, but now seems so very simple; that girl.**

**Levin felt his anger flare up again, and his fist clenched as he strained against the voice's massive paw. But the creature simply applied more pressure, and the great sword user groaned in agony as he felt his ribs crushing under the weight**.

**I thought as much**, _the voice laughed_. **You humans are certainly simple to read. Let it be known, boy; I have made some plans for you, and plans for that girl. The next time I send you a warning, you can be certain, things will not fall apart so easily**.

_Levin could feel the voice's head closing in on him, hissing hot breath onto the back of his head_.

**And make no mistake, boy. Next time, I will take her from you, and you will truly know what it means to hate me**.

* * *

Levin gasped in terror as his body shot upright. Cold sweat dripped down his face as he gasped for breath, eyes shooting around the room in search of the claw that bore him down.

He was in Orage Dell. The sun was just peeking through the blinds of his room, just barely inching over the horizon. Levin groaned in pain as phantom aches surged through his chest and arms. For a moment, he could swear he still felt his ribcage crushed under his chest and the burns that had covered his body. He quickly pulled up his nightshirt, giving himself a quick once-over to make sure none of the pain he'd felt had actually been inflicted. He didn't find any sign that he'd sustained any injury recently, minus the wound he'd received the previous day from the Gigginox.

"But you're not supposed to feel pain in dreams," he muttered to himself.

He sighed to himself, rubbing his eyes as he walked over to the window, raising the blinds slightly to look outside. The city had barely begun to wake up. A few merchants were outside their shops, preparing their storefronts for the rush of customers they expected as the day broke properly. He could see people laughing quietly amongst themselves, trying to keep the noise down so they didn't disturb those that were still sleeping.

Even though Levin was watching all this, he never really saw any of it. His mind was still too occupied on the horrible dream he'd had the previous night. If it really was just a dream at all. He leaned against the windowsill, watching the sun rise and growling in frustration. Horrible vision! How was he supposed to deal with something like this, some terrible creature coming into his thoughts in the night and forcing his most frightening nightmares onto him? What was he supposed to do about a creature like that, if it even existed?

_Find it and kill it! Grind its bones to dust and dance on its grave!_

Levin blinked in confusion, shaking his head. Was that really one of his own thoughts? It seemed far more vicious than anything he was accustomed to. He hadn't felt so cruel about anything in… a long time. He sighed wearily. He must be letting his bad dreams get the better of him…

_Make it suffer! Remember the suffering it's forced on you! It's only fair to seek vengeance! Only fair for it to feel the same that you've felt!_

A welling up of anger began to fill up Levin's heart. Yes! This creature, this thing of nightmares, it was tormenting him! Why should it be allowed to do such things and not expect an equal response in kind? These thoughts that whispered into his mind may be right! Yes, he'd look for this creature, this dark voice that tormented his dreams, and then he'd…

_You'd leave behind your friends so easily? Is revenge so consuming that you'd leave your comrades behind on some blind suicide mission? What of Eleanor? The voice threatened her. Would you ignore that danger?_

Levin frowned. Confusion and fear began to creep through him. Another murmur in his head, words straight from his own thoughts, but not quite. The thoughts… the voices, both of them, came from his own head, he could tell that much. But they weren't really his. Or were they? They felt… separate. Apart, like echoes, whispering into his mind and heart like his own thoughts, but… from the side. Levin shivered, terror creeping into him. He didn't know how to describe it… couldn't describe it. The thoughts were his, but at the same time, they weren't.

_The beast swore to bring harm to Ellie. You cannot ignore that threat. You must protect her. You care for her, and you cannot let the creature have her._

Absently, Levin realized he was nodding in agreement. This second, softer whisper was right. He couldn't just leave the threat made against Ellie alone. She was too important to him to leave alone. He couldn't risk…

_You would wait and let the threats continue? The beast will continue its assault from a distance unless you seek it out yourself! If you wish the threat gone, you must hunt it down and slay it yourself!_

Levin winced back. The first whisper had returned. But it spoke truth! This monster, this dark voice could control monsters from who knows where! If Levin held still, the creature could simply send wave after wave after him and Ellie until its goal was accomplished! If he wanted to stop it, he would have to hunt it down, kill it at its nest, wring the life out of it until…

_And leave behind that which it would use against you? You cherish Boma Village. You cherish Eleanor. If you flew off in search of this faceless monster, you would leave them open for attack, a weak spot uncovered for this dark voice._

_Then strike quick! Before it can retaliate! It took the beast a month to prepare another assault! Seek it out and strike it down! The best defense is an overwhelming offense!_

Levin found his breathing increasing rapidly, and his heart began to pound furiously in his chest. A dull throbbing began to fill his head. What was going on? These… whispers, these murmurs in his head, were becoming increasingly prominent. Like they were breaking away from his own mind into entities of their own. With every word one whisper hissed into his ear, he found himself leaning in its direction, only to be pulled roughly back the other way by the other.

_You cannot know the extent of the beast's power. Best to hold back and defend what you care for. You have so little in this world, to lose anything would be as though losing everything. You must stay back and protect those things you love._

_You would cower under the threat of a faceless enemy? Coward! Seek out your opponent before he takes what is yours! He has taken from you before, he would take from you again! The cycle will continue unless you step forward to end it! You must move forward and kill that which terrorizes you!_

Levin gasped in terror, his legs giving out from under him. He roughly dropped to his knees, gasping for breath. Horror filled his mind as the thought argued back and forth in his mind, each overflowing with words countering the other and trying to pull Levin to their side of the argument. Levin held his hands to his ears, trying desperately to drown them out, but the voices only seemed to grow louder.

"Please be quiet," he muttered, pleaded. "Go away. Just go away."

* * *

"Levin? Levin, are you awake?"

The great sword user's eyes snapped open at the noise. His eyes glanced around the room and he blinked in surprise. The room was brighter, the sun risen to well above the horizon. He was still lying on the floor, hands on his head. How long had he just been there, fetal on the ground?

"Are you awake in there?"

Eleanor's voice, Levin realized. He quickly pushed himself to his feet, and quickly crossed the room to the door, pulling it open wide and catching his partner on the other side off guard. She recovered quickly, though, and grinned at him.

"Well, it's about time, sleepyhead," she smirked. "You just wake up?"

"Yeah, sorry about that," he said sheepishly. "Rough night."

"I get that," she laughed. "I'll be glad when I'm back in my own bed back in Boma."

_Protect her. Protect Boma Village._

_Hunt the monster! It must be slain if you want to be free of it!_

Levin winced visibly, gasping in fear. The voices were still there! Why were they still there?

Ellie frowned at him, noticing as he paled. "Are you alright?" she asked, concerned. "That Gigginox poison's not still bothering you is it?"

The voices began bickering amongst themselves again, and Levin forced himself to ignore them, grinning lopsidedly at his partner. "I'm fine, I'm fine. Just had a couple bad dreams and I'm still trying to shake them off."

Ellie frowned, giving him and untrustworthy look. Levin cursed inwardly. He'd had trouble deceiving her over the last couple months or so. They'd gotten to figure each other's emotions pretty well over the course of their partnership, and Levin knew that she knew something was off.

"You sure that's it?" she asked. "If you're not feeling well, I'm sure the judges will understand and wait to give you the third test until you're ready."

Levin hid a sigh of relief. Luckily for him, Ellie had mistaken his unease for lingering effects of the poison he'd received yesterday. He grinned with as much sincerity as he could muster. "No, I'm fine. Like I said, just a few bad dreams. Give me a few minutes and I'll be just fine. Besides, I'd hate to leave you all on your lonesome out there for the third test."

Ellie smirked and Levin felt himself relax as she did so. If she was smiling, it meant she was off his case, for now at least. "I would just fine, with or without you around," Ellie laughed, socking him gently in his good arm. "Don't get too full of yourself, you moron."

"My sincerest apologies, Miss Ellie," Levin ginned.

As Levin watched his hunter partner walk away, his mind flickered back to the dream he'd had the previous night and the threat the dark voice had made. With the thought, the two whispers in his head seemed to grow louder once again, but he shook his head, trying to force them down. Fortunately, the two voices seemed to dim slightly at his desire, becoming less of a voice in the back of his head and more of a light buzz humming in his ear. He had no delusions thinking that the whispers were gone for good; they hadn't been there when Ellie had knocked, but had popped right back up after he'd answered the door.

He shook his head miserably as the softer whisper tried to make another comment about Ellie, but forced himself to ignore it until it quieted down. He kept his mind occupied by getting his armor on and making certain his sword was good and sharpened before slinging it over his back. His item pouch still had all the goods he'd prepared inside, just in case. He was glad to find that the whispers dimmed slightly when his mind was occupied with preparations for the hunt, and he hoped that meant that they wouldn't interfere when he was in a battle.

It was several minutes later that Levin finally emerged from his room, fully armored and bearing his Golem Blade across his back. For some reason he always felt a bit more comfortable when he was wearing his armor, even though he knew there really wasn't that much to it other than a layer or two of damage absorbent sponge. It had saved his life on more than one occasion, and he couldn't fault it for that.

As he wandered into the inn's tavern area, he was taken by surprise at the sight of the table his comrades sat at. To be precise, it was Kim and Nat that took him by surprise. Ellie was sitting next to Harker, the both of them wearing the armors they had become familiar with over the course of their own apprenticeships. But what caught Levin off guard was the sight of the two Orage Dell natives, not in their armor, but their casual clothes. (Civies, he'd heard some of the older hunters call them, giving Levin the impression that the Hunter's Guild hunters thought of themselves in a more militant sense than he'd imagined.)

Kim was dressed in what he'd imagined she'd wear when not hunting, bright colored form-fitting clothes with a skirt that showed off her athletic form. But Nat somewhat shocked him. Levin had been expecting looser, more modest clothes, like the ones he frequented, he was caught off guard at the sight of an exceptionally exposing v-neck that hugged her body closely, leaving very little to the imagination, as well as a pair of leather pants that were just as close-cut. Very flattering, Levin had to admit.

"Odd to see us out of our armors, huh?" Kim laughed. "The Guild said those of us not taking the third test could relax a bit."

"Lucky you," Levin replied. "I haven't worn full armor this many days in a row since the last Great Jaggi breeding explosion around Boma."

"Nat always wears those boring long-sleeved linens everyone else in the village wears, despite all the clothes I've bought for her from traders passing through," Kim prattled on, swinging her arms around her partner's shoulders. "But I finally… ah, _convinced_ her to let me dress her today, being as it's a special occasion and all."

"The announcing of the passing hunters, you mean."

"Among other, more interesting things," Kim grinned wickedly. "How does she look, eh, Levin?"

_Pretty sure there's only one right answer to that question, no matter who's asking it_, Levin thought wryly.

"You look great," Levin said with a grin. "I guess I'm just not used to seeing you out of armor since, well, I've never seen you out of your armor."

"Why thank you, Levin," Nat replied with a smile. She seemed genuinely happy with the complement, but Levin noticed that she gave Ellie a searching look from across the table, receiving a quick but uncertain frown in response. Levin wondered if something the two had gotten into an argument recently, or some other type of falling out, and was tempted to ask, but decided he'd be better off staying out of the two bowgunners' business. Less likely of a chance for him to end up as a casualty of war.

"Any clue about what the third exam is going to involve yet?" he asked as he sat down, Harker giving him an odd grin of his own. Levin felt as though he was left out of the loop on something or another. He'd have to try and corner Harker sooner or later and see if he couldn't ferret out some information from his friend.

"Not as of yet, I'm afraid," the long sword user replied. "It seems Miss Kimberly's comment on the rarity of the elusive third Hunter's Exam test was not an inaccurate one. It seems that it's been so long since the last time the third test was brought into effect that no one is really certain what the test entails. No one outside the Guild at least. And only not yet."

"Apparently the Guild is really abusing the mystery of the test as well," Ellie spoke up. "They're playing the whole intrigue of the test really close to the chest. They're mostly doing it to play with the stakes of the gamblers out there, keep them guessing, you know?"

"They're making sure to keep quiet about who's already passed the exam as well," Kim said. "Apparently, old lady Polgara laid down the law on the Guild members that work at the arena. I've heard anyone that releases information on the results of the exam in immediately fired and banned from working for the Hunter's Guild or any of its constraints… constitutions…"

"Constituents," Nat finished.

"Yeah, that one," Kim grinned sheepishly.

"I suggest you eat quickly, Levin," Harker said. "Knowing the way the Guild has run the last couple tests, we'd better get there early before they try to throw us another curveball like yesterday."

"Good point," Levin said, quickly calling over the innkeeper and requesting some food. The five of them continued to talk about what to expect as Levin chewed through the food. Levin knew he should eat plenty, so that he could be properly prepared for the upcoming test, but he found himself forced to push his plate away after only a few bites.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he heard Ellie suddenly ask. "I've haven't ever seen you eat so little before a hunt. Well, minus the time you spent in Doctor Orson's hut, when he kept you on a strict diet, but those are an exemption."

Levin sighed, then smirked at Ellie. "Yeah, I guess there's still a little toxin in my bloodstream right now. I'm not really feeling it that hard, but I guess I really can't bring myself to eat that much."

"Good catch, Miss Eleanor," Harker said. "I'm surprised you caught that."

Ellie laughed softly. "I've been around this idiot for a long time now. If I've learned nothing else from him, it's his habits."

Levin grinned. "I guess that's true enough. I'd be hopeless without you around. Where would I be without you to pull my butt out of the fire, Miss Ellie?"

"I'm sure I don't know," Ellie grinned. Levin noted that his partner's eyes seemed to wander Nat's way, but the glance was so quick, and Nat didn't seem to react to it, so Levin decided it would be best to ignore it.

"Do you think the Gigginox poison will cause you any trouble during the third test?" Kim asked with concern in her voice. "I'd hate to think you came this far to get knocked down from lingering poison."

"I should be fine," Levin said, trying his best to give an encouraging grin. "The doc I talked to yesterday told me I'd be fine by the time we took the test, and if there's anyone I'll trust with information like that, it's the arena doctor. If anyone in this town has seen the ins and outs of Gigginox poison, it would be him."

"I guess that's a fair assumption," Kim replied.

"We better be taking off," Ellie said, glancing outside the check the height of the sun. "If what we've seen from the Guild over the last couple days is any sort of indication, it's far better to be early than late."

"Agreed," Levin said, getting to his feet.

"The Guild is providing seating for the examinees that aren't taking part in the third test," Nat said, standing up along with the rest of them. "That means the two of us, as well as the others taking part, will be able to watch your test. That means we'll be able to watch you guys win from prime seating."

Harker laughed. "Glad to see you guys are so optimistic about our odds, Miss Natalie. From what I've seen of the gambling odds the Guild's posted, the rest of the city doesn't seem to have the same… faith that you and Miss Kimberly seem to have."

"Well, they obviously weren't paying attention to yesterday's fights, were they?" Nat smiled as the five of them walked out into the morning sun. "You all showed exceptional skill and strategy yesterday. The Guild's just being stubborn about the whole thing."

"We gotta take a different path than you guys," Kim said sadly. "The seating area the Guild's putting us in is in a different area than where they're sending you guys."

"Alright, then," Levin said as the two groups branched off. "We'll see you later."

"After you guys have passed the test!"

"Right!"

* * *

Levin, Ellie and Harker all entered the same arched alcove that the three of them had gone through on the previous day of testing. As Levin walked in, however, he was given far more time to appreciate the size of the room. With the room mostly empty, the room seemed far more expansive then he'd thought before.

The room was empty for the most part, though the same woman from the previous day sat at the same table that she had before. A small pile of papers, much smaller than the previous day's sat in front of her as she glanced impatiently around the room. The other four hunters that were taking part in the exam were sitting nearby, all of them in their full armor sets as well. As the three members of the Lost walked towards the woman at the table, Levin noticed a couple of them glance their way, then glare angrily at them once they recognized them.

"What's their problem?" Ellie asked quietly, noticing the look.

"You want the most likely reason?" Harker said. "Odds are, most of the town, including those four, has figured out the same reason for the third test that we did. Chances are good that they blame us for them having to take the third test in the first place, rather than being able to finish the exam."

"But if they're taking this test with us, doesn't that mean their butts are on the line?" Levin asked.

"Probably so," Harker shrugged. "But that means their odds of passing the exam were just as high as their odds of failing. In some of their minds, I'm sure they think that they would've been declared as passing examinees, had the three of us not done well enough to call the attention of the Guild."

"That seems a bit of a harsh judgment," Ellie said.

"Maybe so," Levin said. "I guess they just want someone to blame for the extra pressure the Guild's putting on them."

The three hunters approached the table where the Guild woman sat impatiently. She looked up as they approached, then quickly looked down to skim the list of names in front of her.

"Harker, Levin, and Ellie, I assume?" she asked.

"That's right," Ellie replied for them.

"I thought as much, with the others here," the woman said, motioning to the cluster of four hunters on the other side of the room. "Not sure if you guys are lucky or unlucky that you came after them, though."

"What do you mean?" Levin asked.

"Well, according to the instructions I received from the Guild, I'm supposed to send the first four hunters that arrive over to one of the prep rooms, then the last three over to the other one. Not the same process as yesterday, and I'm not too sure exactly what that implies. Maybe it's better that you guys are separated from those others, though; it looks like a couple of those guys have been giving you three the evil eye for a while now."

Levin and his friends frowned sheepishly, trying their best not to follow the woman's line of sight to risk meeting eyes with the other hunters. The woman saw their uncertainly and shrugged, not really caring about their problems with the other hunters, and looking back down at her papers.

"A couple other things you'll need to know," she said, plucking a list from the papers. "First of all, you're not going to head straight to the prep room, not yet at least. Guild Master Polgara is planning on heading down here and giving you guys the primary rundown of the third test herself. Secondly, the three of you won't need to go to the changing rooms to get into preordained armor. The Guild will allow the group of examinees taking the third test to keep their own armors and weapons."

Levin glanced in worry towards his comrades in uncertainty. The knowledge that Polgara herself was coming down to give them the rundown of the test was worrying to say the least. If the Guild master herself needed to come by to lay out the plans, the test had to be quite something else. And the knowledge that the Guild was allowing them to wear their most comfortable and familiar armors and weapons? That was a frightening prospect in and of itself.

"That'll be all for now," the Guild woman said. "Polgara will give you more information when she arrives, but until then, try and take some time to relax and prepare yourself for the test. I rarely say things like this to hunters taking this exam, but, good luck to you. You'll need it."

With that, the Guild woman quickly shuffled her papers together in a nice neat pile, and then picked them up, quickly marching away down one of the corridors and disappearing around the corners. Levin looked at his friends worriedly.

"That was certainly foreboding," he said, trying to make it seem good-humored, but failing miserably. Ellie grinned feebly, clearly just as worried about the whole thing as he was.

The three hunters wandered over to a pile of wooden crates that sat in one corner of the room, choosing to sit down rather than stay standing while they waited for Polgara to show up. There were a few awkward attempts at conversation as they waited, but it seemed to Levin that all of them were feeling awkward trying to be nonchalant under the circumstances. Levin noticed that occasionally, Harker would randomly decide to rattle out various tidbits of monster biological or habitual traits that he'd picked up during his time as a hunter; it made Levin wonder if that was his way of venting his nervousness or frustration, despite his perpetual good mood and attitude.

"Well, get up, the lot of you. Unless you've all decided against taking the third test and would rather wait a year and a half?"

The three Lost hunters all glanced up in surprise at the voice next to them, and gaped in shock as they laid eyes on Polgara herself, who was grinning with an amused expression on her face at their looks of astonishment. She was flanked by a pair of Guild guards as usual, and though they had the same steely, ever-prepared expression that Levin had seem on them that it seemed to Levin they always had, he could somewhat sense the laughter hidden in their eyes through the slits in their helmets. Levin was shocked; he hadn't heard her or even her guards approach despite the plate armor they were wearing.

Polgara glanced over to the other four examinees as they spotted her. As they began to get to their feet and begin to walk over to her, the old Guild master leaned over them and began to speak in a quieter voice.

"I imagine the three of you have taken a fair amount of time to consider why the third test was brought into effect," she said. "Have you figured out why you three were made to take the third test?"

Levin looked uncertainly between the other two, but Harker decided to speak up for the three of them. "Unless I am sorely mistaken," he said seriously, "We three _are_ the reason for the third test."

Polgara nodded soberly, at the words. "As much as I don't care for it, I'm afraid that's the truth of the matter. If it were up to me, the three of you did plenty well enough in the last exam to pass. It'd be easier and faster just to give the lot of you licenses. But it is custom to… thoroughly test members of a new civilization. Not to mention there are a few judges on the board that don't exactly like the Lost in general…"

The three hunters glanced at each other uncertainly. Levin wasn't sure about the others, but such blatant honesty from the Guild Master here in Orage Dell was not reassuring at all. Levin wondered what the old woman's opinions of the rest of the Guild really was if she was so easily willing to give out information on the judges she didn't seem to care for.

The other four examinees had closed the distance between themselves and Polgara by then. The Guild Master glanced at them with a sigh and a tired look, then shook her head and raised her voice for all of them to hear.

"Enough of that, then," she said. "As all of you know by now, you've been split into two groups. I suppose you think it's strange enough that we've done so, considering the previous day's method. I suppose you also consider it odd that we've allowed you to keep the weapons and armor that you are all already used to, despite the rules of yesterday as well."

Polgara frowned in thought then and sighed. "Look at me, dancing around the issue. I hate getting off track. Fine then, I'll just lay it out for you. You'll all be fighting together to take down a monster as a group. The first group will be the four that got here first, and you three will be the second group. And before any of you ask, you will not be fighting something for beginners, like a Jaggi or a Qurupeco or a Royal. You'll be fighting something bigger and nastier, that's for certain."

The seven hunters glanced around each other, muttering with a tone of uncertainty and fear in their voices. One of the hunters in the other group spoke up: "How nasty are we talking?"

Polgara shrugged noncommittally. "I can't give any of you any definite answers. Like yesterday the monster you'll be facing will be chosen randomly. I can't guarantee any of you will be able to win against whatever you'll face. I can't even guarantee that any of you won't walk away with broken bones or not."

A groan of fear swelled up among the examinees, but the Guild Master raised a hand to silence them. "Keep your faith up, all of you. This isn't a win-pass battle. Like yesterday's test, you will be deemed passing or failing based on your performance, not on the outcome of the match. So do your best, and you'll pass for sure. Anything less, and, well, no guarantees."

The old woman looked around at each of their faces one more time before cocking her head in thought. She pondered something for a moment, then nodded to herself. "Well, it seems I've said all I came here to say. I won't wish you good luck, but I hope that you each have the skill to pass. Group one to the left hall, group two to the right hall. You all remember where to go, I'm sure. Farewell."

The two hunting groups watched in surprise as the old Guild Master turned abruptly, quickly walking away from the group of them without another look back. In a moment she was through a broad stone archway and gone through the tunnels of the arena. There was silence for another few moments, before it was broken by Harker, who chuckled lightly.

"Such an undiplomatic woman she is," he smirked. "I hope all Guild members I meet in the future share the same simplicity that she does."

"Yeah, no kidding," Ellie said with a small smile. "She kept it simple. I'm actually less worried now than I was before. If she'd gone into detail, though… well, I'm not so sure."

Levin had to admit he felt a little better as well. The speech Polgara had given them wasn't exactly encouraging at all, but the fact that she'd felt compelled to come over to them and confirm their suspicions about the third test was somewhat reassuring; someone in the Guild cared about the Lost, or at least not against them. That and the knowledge that she thought they should have passed already was a bit of a relief.

The other four hunters were already halfway to the hallway that Polgara had sent them towards by the time Levin and the others got to their feet. Levin saw Harker raise his arm to them, no doubt to call a wish of good luck to them, but one of them gave the long sword user an exceptionally nasty look, and despite Harker's consistently bright temperament, he lowered his arm with a dejected look on his face.

"I try not to wish bad tidings on people," Levin muttered, only loudly enough for Ellie and Harker to hear, "but I really hope those four don't pass. They seem to have a really sour attitude."

"Maybe so," Harker said ruefully, forcing a smile. "But despite the circumstances, and despite their attitudes, I think I'll still wish them the best of luck, in spirit if not in voice."

"Why bother?" Ellie asked as the three of them made their way down the hallway. "Why wish them luck if they act like such jackasses to us?"

"It's simple," Harker grinned. "If I didn't, would that not put me on the same level as them? I believe myself to be a nice enough person, so why be cruel, even if it's to people who don't appreciate it? After all, if nothing else, I'd like them to see that the Lost aren't the terrible people they seem to picture us as."

"Huh, I guess you may be right," Ellie nodded thoughtfully.

Levin frowned in thought. He knew what Harker and Ellie were saying was true enough, but in the back of his mind he wondered whether or not he'd be capable of acting nicely to people who treated him so poorly. He was able to keep a straight face for now since he didn't need to be in the immediate proximity of those who looked down on him, but if he had to keep proximity to someone like that? Who knew how he'd react?

_Any who stand in your way should be destroyed!_

Levin winced at the words as they flickered through his head. He cursed under his breath. He'd let himself get complacent, and the wrathful voice from before had forced its way back into his thoughts. He quickly shook his head, trying to focus on the upcoming battle rather than any other issues. However, Ellie had been looking his way, and gave him a concerned look.

"Are you sure you're okay, Levin?" she asked, worry creeping into her voice. "If that poison is still working its way through your body, I'm sure you can get the doctor here to look at it for you. If you're hurting, I'm sure the Guild will understand if you need to wait."

"No, no, I'm fine," Levin said, trying to assure her. "I'm just a little tired right now. I'll be fine. After all, I've got you around to watch my back. Harker too."

"Secondary to the lovely Miss Eleanor, eh?" the long sword user laughed. "I suppose I can understand this sort of preferential treatment. I'm sure when you're having your wounds tended to, it's far more comforting to have someone with Miss Eleanor's… shape and choice of clothing leaning over you and caring for you than someone like me."

Levin laughed and grinned perversely at Ellie. "I won't argue with that, Harker. Nothing quite ignites the will to survive, (among other things) like a lovely lady tending your wounds."

Ellie blushed brightly and growled in frustration. "I swear, you both are terrible! You won't let me worry about you for a minute without turning the whole thing into a perverse joke, can you? I swear the next set of armor I get is going to be a full-body coverall."

"Aw, I'm sorry," Levin laughed, grabbing Ellie around the shoulders and squeezing her tightly. "It's just fun to see you blush, Miss Ellie. Besides, you're cute when you're angry."

He laughed again as she reddened even more. "I also tend to be quite violent when I'm angry," she growled, holding up a fist, "especially when you've been messing with me. Don't forget that I still have some ammunition on me."

"Sorry, sorry," Levin laughed, letting her go with Harker grinning humorously nearby.

"And don't you encourage him, either!" Ellie barked at Harker. "Do you act this way with Kerrigan around?"

"Not so much," Harker admitted. "But I don't hide my thoughts when I am feeling particularly appreciative of Lady Kerrigan's appearance."

"Even things as lecherous as you were just saying?"

"Well… maybe not quite that descriptive," Harker admitted.

"Would you like me to pass on the topics of our conversations the next time I see her?"

"Ah, uh, maybe not," Harker said. "Perhaps we should switch to a different topic, Levin?"

"Fine by me," Levin grinned. "If we go too much further, our dear Miss Ellie is going to start swinging at us. Or shooting, I don't think she's picky."

"Damn right I will," the bowgunner muttered before speeding up her step and stalking ahead of them.

"She seems rather miffed," Harker muttered once Ellie was far enough ahead of them that he could whisper to him safely.

"Yeah, she's always been somewhat irritable," Levin grinned. "But she's a lot of fun to play around with."

"Quite fond of her, aren't you?" Harker asked.

"Of course," Levin replied. "Did you expect less?"

"Not really," Harker admitted. "But I'll admit I'm a bit curious. I pride myself in my capability to read people's reactions and emotions, and I'm afraid that I'm trying to judge you in just the same way. So I must ask: how much?"

Levin blinked in confusion. "How much what?"

"How fond of her are you?" Harker asked, trying half-heartedly to hide a smirk.

"She's my partner," Levin replied bluntly. "She's my friend, the closest I've had in… well, a long time. She's fun to talk to and more so to tease."

"Is that all?"

"What do you mean?" Levin felt a twinge of uncertainty flicker through him. Where was Harker trying to go with this?

"Just a test of camaraderie, I suppose," Harker replied. "An attempt to broaden your view of yourself and your surroundings, if you will. You and Ellie are close, but the question is, how close? How you ever thought about it more heavily than considering that the two of you are partners that hunt together? Where would you stand with her if the two of you simply became normal citizens of your little Boma Village?"

Levin nearly stopped in the middle of the hallway as he considered Harker's words. He'd never really thought about his and Ellie's friendship outside their time hunting together, and the occasional hassling they gave each other during their time in Boma. He didn't really have too many memories involving her that didn't have something or other to do with hunting, though. There were a few occasions when they'd simply kept each other company during storms when the people of the village were spending their own times huddled away in their houses to hide from the rain and the wind in the comfort of their homes.

The thought made Levin remember a certain memory. He remembered the discussion they'd had after watching the Rath mating dance, when Ellie had acquiesced to his calling her by her nickname. She'd told him that is was more comfortable that way. Ellie had found comfort in the pet name. So what was his comfort? A friend?

Then he remembered more from the same day. He and Ellie had been so similar that Levin had decided that he had wanted to help her, save her, keep track of her. He'd told her that he wanted to take care of her. Not that she couldn't take plenty good care of herself, he thought wryly, but… well… His comfort was her protection, her safety and peace of mind. It was his urge as a teacher, as a friend. What else was there to comfort him?

He felt his heart rate spike slightly at the memory of when she'd leaned up against him after the dance, how warm and soft she'd felt, the words of thanks she'd given him. How she'd leaned up against him. How she'd smiled gently. He remembered the moment so vividly; it had always been so clear to him when he thought about that moment. It was always the first image that flew into his mind when he thought of her, after all…

Levin felt his heart skip a beat at the thought, the memory, the lingering feelings. That was it, wasn't it? That was always how he thought, felt about Ellie, wasn't it? The smile, the warmth, the want, the need to protect her, to hold onto her. Her form, her eyes, the sway of her body as she walked next to him. Her laughing, her blushing, her embarrassed face, her retaliations when he made a lewd comment. The anger, the jealousy that burned in him when men turned their head as she walked by in her Qurupeco armor. Her confident look during a hunt, the determined face she made as they struck their target, the victorious smirk she'd display once they were triumphant.

It was all so vivid, so clear. He could picture everything so clearly.

That was how he really felt, wasn't it? That's what that feeling was, that always seemed to elude him when he tried to reach out and grab a hold of it. It was there when he saw her smile and he smiled as well. It was there when she had been sad and he'd felt compelled to console her. It was there when she'd been in danger and he'd been desperate to help her.

His heart was pounding a thousand miles an hour now. It felt like his chest would burst at any moment. He'd felt this way about her for so long, hadn't he? When had it begun, and why? That burning, overwhelming, consuming feeling?

It wasn't just camaraderie or friendship he felt for her. All this time, he'd…

"Hey, Levin, are you sure you're alright?"

Levin jumped in surprise at the sudden voice. His heart suddenly tightened like it had been clamped into a vice when he realized Ellie stood right in front of him, glaring him down with that same concerned look she'd aimed at him all morning. He realized he had become so lost in thought just now that he had completely stopped in the middle of the hallway, with both of his comrades looking at him curiously. Just looking at Ellie now made his throat dry, and his mind immediately locked onto the memory and feeling of her head leaning against his shoulder. How had so much changed in only a few moments?

"Are you sure you're alright?" she asked, glancing him over. "You look really pale, and your breathing's really harsh right now."

"Don't worry about it," Levin managed to choke out. His voice was forced, however, and Ellie's eyes narrowed slightly, untrusting. She suddenly snapped her hand forward, touching the back of her palm up against the great sword user's forehead. Levin felt his heart jump at the touch and he groaned inwardly.

_Damn it!_ he thought, cursing himself. _I never would have acted this way a minute ago!_

"You seem a little warm," Ellie noted. "Nothing too dangerous, though. Jeez, what's wrong with you today? I swear we're going straight to the medic's room right now. This Gigginox poison is obviously doing something to you and I'm certainly not going to let you risk your safety over some stupid pride over taking the test."

"No! No," he said, pulling his hand back as she reached for it, intent on dragging him to the doctor if need be. "I'm fine, I swear! Just… some pre-battle jitters, I guess. Nothing to worry about. I mean it."

Ellie eyed him warily, obviously not certain whether or not to believe him. Levin saw Harker looking at him oddly as well, before a devious, knowing smirk slid across the long sword user's face. Levin felt his heart sink as his friend suddenly held back a laugh aimed at him. _Damn it all, he knows! How did he know? Was it really so obvious to him?_

"Are you sure?" Ellie asked, a tone of menace in her voice. She was certainly worried for him, wasn't she? Somehow that made Levin feel overjoyed and fearful all at once.

"I'm sure," Levin replied, nodding vigorously.

"I'm quite sure our friend great sword wielder here will be perfectly alright," Harker interrupted, appearing next to the pair in a flash, surprising them both. "With so many eyes upon the three of us, and so much at stake, it's certainly no surprise that our comrade should feel a twinge of stage fright, is it? Standing in front of crowds is still the number one fear of people everywhere, I imagine."

"I guess so," Ellie agreed, though there was a tone in her voice that made her seem not entirely convinced. She sighed in frustration. "I just don't want to risk it if you're feeling out of it, Levin."

"I'll be fine," Levin reassured her. "A little queasiness isn't going to slow me down enough to make us lose." He suddenly felt a swell of the familiar friendliness he'd felt around her before and leaned towards her with a grin. "Besides, I've got one of the best damn bowgunners on the continent watching my back. Not to mention a mad scientist wielding a long sword on his back along for the ride, though I can't say that provides quite the same assurance."

"Gee thanks," Harker chuckled.

Ellie kept her eyes on Levin for another few moments, judging his honesty. Levin couldn't seem to tear his sight away from her own bright green eyes…

_Dang it, no! Bad Levin! Stay focused! Don't lose control of yourself in front of her or she'll figure you out!_

"All right, fine," Ellie suddenly sighed, noticeable frustration obvious in her voice. "I guess we can skip going to the medic here. I guess I really just don't want to do this thing without you after we've come so far together."

Levin felt a rush of warmth flow through him at the words, but he forced himself to act naturally, leaning forward and bowing with a false flourish. "I swear by my blade that I will not let you down, Lady Ellie."

"I think you're stealing my lines, Levin," Harker smirked as Ellie laughed mirthfully.

"_Swear by your blade_? What kind of line is that?"

"I'm not sure, actually," Levin admitted with a chuckle. "I heard a couple of old hunters use the phrase once. I think it's some old standing line from this timeline's rendition of the Shakespearean era. You know, the hunter's whole 'bite my thumb at thee' sort of speaking."

"Well, you sound ridiculous when you say it, Levin," Ellie chuckled. "No offence."

"None taken," Levin grinned. "Now if you don't mind, Miss Ellie, we should probably be getting to the prep room, don't you think?"

"Yeah, we should," Ellie replied, shaking her head and turning towards their destination. "Let's hurry up, though. Who knows what kind of time limit the Guild is giving us just to get to the prep room."

Ellie quickly stepped off in the direction of the prep room, taking a swift lead ahead of the two melee fighters as they lagged behind. Levin soon found himself walking next to Harker, and his friend seemed to have a look on his face that seemed both humored and victorious at the same time, but the expression quickly faded to be replaced by what Levin believed to be an intentionally contemplative look. Levin was uncertain how to approach the long sword user after what he'd led him to think about.

"Um, Harker, about what you asked me about earlier…"

"Hmm? Are you still thinking about that?" Harker asked nonchalantly. "I've actually decided to focus my energies on figuring out the best way to properly flush poison out of the human bloodstream. After all, you seem to be having trouble getting rid of the Gigginox venom in your veins, and you've had trouble all day."

Levin frowned in confusion. "But, what about the whole…"

"What we were talking about earlier? I've moved on from that. More important, more pressing things to think about. Like the battle we've got ahead of us. Or the various uses for Barroth mud. Oh, speaking of which, did you know the Barroth mud can be used as a mild incendiary fluid once it's dried out? Something to do with the fire herbs and nitro shrooms that get pulled into the mud and mix in with the dirt, mixed together over countless years from growing and dying flammable plants. Burned my eyebrows off when I found a pile of the stuff on the ground and picked it up with a torch in my hand. I was really close to some caves out in the desert, which is why I had it out in the first place. But moving on, I've got this really good idea involving mixing dried Barroth mud with gunpowder to…"

"Harker. Focus," Levin cut him off, making the long sword user pause in surprise before returning to his previous thoughts.

"Right, right. Anyway, like I was saying, I've moved on to different trains of thought in the last minute or so, and really don't feel like extrapolating on what we were just talking about. I especially don't like working with incomplete or un-thought out information. So, since you've only just now taken this information to mind, you'll clearly need time to properly consider and make sense of it. Perhaps my interest in the subject will be rekindled at a later date, but until then, I'll leave you to think about it for yourself. Tell me what you've come up with the next time we meet after the exam. Perhaps you'll have made some progress on the whole issue by then."

Levin gave his friend a confused look, before realization kicked in. Despite the circumstances, he found himself grinning and chuckling to himself. "Progress? Alright, then, next time we meet up, I'll give you an update."

Harker smirked back at him. "Let's hope the results are positive, eh? Oh, yes, and be sure to keep track of all possible obstructions. Or opportunities, depending on your preferences."

"Wait, what's that mean?" Levin asked, confused again.

"Now, now, comrade Levin, you don't want me to give you all the answers, do you?" Harker laughed, increasing his speed and lurching ahead of Levin, despite the great sword user's protests and curses.

In only a couple more minutes, the three Lost examinees found themselves at the door to the prep room, where an impatient-looking Guild worker stood waiting for them.

"Did you get lost on your way here?" he asked irritably. "That is what your namesake is, isn't it? The odds on your victory aren't too hot, maybe they're representative of your collective intelligence."

Levin felt seething anger sear through him for a moment, and saw Ellie open her mouth to snap off a reply, but before any of them could respond, the man shook his head in exasperation and continued talking, apparently not caring whether they'd heard him or not.

"More likely, that damn old woman took her sweet time getting to you little runts. Likes to keep her words to herself, that woman, but she'll keep pace with the slugs if you want her to rush. Damn old bat. Well, what are you waiting for? Get in there! By the sound of it, the old woman's already speaking to the crowd and getting them riled up. I realize you're not first, but the quicker you're in, the faster I'm gone and off doing things that actually matter. Also, it'd help if you lost quickly. I'm betting the under on how long you'll last."

Levin saw Ellie burning with anger, and though at the moment he would've liked nothing better than to unleash the bowgunner's wrath on the man, he suddenly saw a challenging look in the Guild man's eyes. Levin growled slightly under his breath. It was like the man wanted the three of them to beat the crap out of him!

Levin was about to pull his arm back to take a swing at the man, when he caught a look from Harker out of the corner of his eye. The long sword user had an irritated look on his own face, but he quickly and subtly shook his head and motioned into the room. Ellie's hand was starting to reach for the hilt of her bowgun, however, so he quickly grabbed her by the collar and dragged her along into the room. The Guild man lazily opened the door for them as Levin dragged his furious partner though the door. Levin felt the man's eyes on his back, but ignored the feeling, pulling Ellie along as she swung at him, trying to get the great sword user to release her so she could vent her anger on the man.

"Damn it, let go of me!" Ellie raged, smacking Levin in the side as the man slowly closed the door. "I'll give him a new asshole! Let go!"

Harker was still next to Levin, and leaned towards him, whispering in the great sword user's ear. "That seemed very much like a setup to me, comrade Levin."

"No kidding," Levin muttered in reply, turning to check and make certain that the Guild man was out of range. "Even if the guy really didn't like us, if he'd really wanted us out of the running, I think he might have been a little bit more subtle about it. That was another one of the Guild's tests, I think."

"A test of patience," Harker nodded. "If you get in a fight with a Guild member, you get booted from the third test. Shows you have lenience if you pass."

"Wait, wait, wait, what are you guys talking about? Let me go, dammit!" Ellie asked, still trying to shake herself free of Levin's grip. With a smirk, the great sword user released her, earning an irritated glare from the bowgunner as she finally managed to stand up straight again. "So what the hell were the two of you talking about just now?"

As the three Lost hunters sat down on the benches in the room, Levin took note of another cluster of emergency bowgunners sitting in another corner of the room. Harker explained their suspicions to Ellie as Levin perked up his ears, trying to determine what was happening out in the battlefield. The noise was fairly subdued, making Levin figure that the provoker from earlier had been lying about Polgara already speaking to the crowd. From the din that Levin could hear, it was simply the impatient grumbling of the audience wanting to see some action, as well as wanting to find out whether their particular wagers were to be determined successful or not.

Levin smirked wryly to himself, wondering how accurate the Guild man's words about the odds of their victory were. Levin wondered slightly how easy it would've been to try and put in a fair wager on a victory on their part. With a city this size and a betting system going like the one the Guild was running, Levin was almost certain that there was some place or another for less than socially acceptable bets. It made Levin wonder exactly how the Guild viewed the action of hunters placing bets on (or against) themselves. There had to be some stipulations put into effect; the people of this world (time, Levin had to remind himself) were honest and hardworking, but they weren't _exceedingly_ honest and hardworking. There had to be _some_ people in this civilization that tried to push the boundaries of legality for the sake of personal gain.

As Harker whispered what he and Levin believed the provocative Guild man had been attempting to do, trying hard to keep from being overheard by the emergency gunners. Ellie's face went through a spectrum of emotions as Harker went thought the explanation, from confusion to surprise, back to anger for a moment or two, worry somewhere in the middle of the whole thing, back to confusion again, then finishing off with a thoughtful but uncertain look.

"So… it was a setup?" she asked.

"Roughly, yes," Harker nodded. "That's the jist of it."

"Geez," Ellie muttered, scratching her head. "I guess I owe you guys one for pulling me back. If I'd attacked that guy… I'd have…"

"No sense worrying about it now," Harker consoled. "What's done is done, and you've done nothing at all. Or, nothing to get you booted from the exam, at least."

"I guess," Ellie sighed, "but I got really lucky. If you guys hadn't been there… Levin, I…"

The three hunters suddenly perked up as the noise out in the arena began to increase in volume, the mild silence rising to an excited and expectant din. Levin wished the room had some sort of window, and could tell that at least Ellie did too; Harker looked interested, but seemed perfectly willing to listen. The emergency gunners' ears perked up as well at the noise, tightening their grips on their bowgun hilts and absentmindedly checking their ammo pouches.

There was a small round of cheering for a moment and Levin managed to catch the sound of Guild Master Polgara's name being yelled by some of the more boisterous voices in the crowd. In a few moments, the cheers of the crowd suddenly dimmed dramatically. Levin could practically picture the old woman raising her hand and silently demanding quiet from the crowd. After a few moments of silence, the old woman finally began to speak.

"I imagine you're all excited to see how the seven hunters that were selected to take the third test will do today, if for no other reason than to see whether or not you'll win the particular bets you've all made." There was scattered applause and chuckling at the words, but Polgara kept right on going through the laughter. "It seems that I've got some news for some of you right off the bat, though. One of the hunters, a Jeremiah of South Harbor, has been disqualified for inappropriate conduct outside the arena. So for those of you that wagered on him, tough luck."

There were a few vocal grumbles of complaint that came from the arena that were able to be heard through the thick wooden doors that stood between the three examinees and the exterior. The three Lost hunters all looked knowingly between each other, realizing that not all of the seven takers of the third test had managed to pass the hidden test that the Guild had set up for them. Some in the crowd continued to grumble, but they were quickly silenced as the Guild Master continued to speak.

"As such, as you all have most likely figured out by now, this battle is going to be a team battle; with the removal of Jeremiah from the running, that means that there will be two battles, both of which being three hunters versus a single monster. And as I'm sure most of you might have guessed, the monsters they fight will be a little nastier than the normal monsters."

The crowd cheered a little louder at this, Levin noted. Apparently not everyone here were betters; some of them were apparently just here to see a good show, rather than trying to make money off the winning or losing of the hunters.

There were a few moments of silence, and Levin could almost picture the Guild Master standing on the balcony, thinking of how to proceed. "Since you now know what to expect, let's get into it, shall we?" Polgara finished simply, and the crowd cheered in response. "Our first group consists of the hunters Young, Urdot, and Gerri. I wish them good skill in their fight."

From where they sat, the three Lost could just barely make out the sound of the wooden door on the other end of the arena opening, and the crowd roared in approval while the hunters entered. A scowl seemed to develop on Ellie's face and Levin raised an eyebrow in silent question.

"I know I shouldn't be so spiteful," Ellie whispered, "but I really hope that one of the guys that were giving us dirty looks was the one that got booted out."

"No sense wishing bad tidings on people that have already been booted out," Levin told her, but he smirked to himself, knowing that he felt the same way, somewhat.

Suddenly the loud and boisterous voice of the arena's very own announcer filled the room, laughing and animating the crowd. "Well, it looks like our three little hunters are ready to take on the third test! Let's see if they've got what it takes to beat what we throw up against them. And speaking on which…"

A loud rumble, the sound of the giant wooden doors being smashed against, filled the arena and the crowd cheered while the announcer laughed. "Looks like our challenger is ready to go, eh? Let's see what the Guild has got set up for our examinees!"

A deep, bellowing roar filled the arena, and Levin felt himself wince in fear. He recognized the roar almost immediately and felt a chill soak through his body. Ellie frowned, uncertain at the sound of the roar, before she caught sight of Levin's face and gasped in recollection.

"Barioth," she whispered.

"Yeah," Levin muttered, wincing at the sound of the creature's growling echoing through the room, despite the thickness of the door and the roar of the crowd.

Levin found himself clamping down on his knees as the battle outside continued. He tried desperately to block out the sound of the roaring by delving into his own mind, but every few minutes, he'd just get pulled back to reality by the Barioth's guttural roar. It seemed with every sound the Barioth made, his mind would flicker back to a time in his past, where all he could remember was the painful, biting cold. That and the fear of being hunted by the massive white drake of the Tundra.

In the back of his mind Levin wondered if this was the same feeling that Ellie had when they'd come across the Raths at one point or another during their time together.

_This creature that wounded you is your enemy as well! Reduce it to ashes, as a stepping stone to the black beast! Scar it as it scarred you, then trample it underfoot!_

Levin seized up as the whispers in his head broke into his thoughts, grasping at the opportunity gleaned by his fear and memories of the Barioth. He shook his head desperately, trying to block out both the voices, as well as the sound of the fighting outside the wooden doors.

Levin couldn't be sure exactly at what point she came over, but after one of the Barioth's more powerful roars, as he was recovering from the sound, he realized there was an arm around his shoulder. He looked up in surprise, to find Ellie sitting next to him, arm draped tightly around his shoulders protectively. Levin had only a moment for his face to heat up at the close contact before a loud thump rattled the walls of the prep room and a loud, tearing scratching sound ripped across the wooden door leading to the arena. It was followed immediately by a loud, defiant bellow and a cry of pain from one of the examinees out in the arena.

Levin felt his heart rate quicken and his chest tighten at the sound of the struggle right outside the doors, and Ellie tightened her grip slightly. Levin had to admit he felt comforted from the gesture, despite the howl of battle only a few feet away. His worries and fear seemed to fade slightly just from her close presence, and he was able to force the sound of the battle, as well as the muttering of the whispers in his head, out of his mind.

With Ellie next to him for the rest of the fight, the battle seemed to fly by, and Levin only barely noticed when the massive Hunter's Gong reverberated throughout the arena. He did, however, notice when Ellie gently released him, allowing him to come back to reality and get his bearings again. He saw Ellie looking at him worriedly, and grinned gratefully.

"Thanks," he muttered. "I… I guess I was a little more affected by the Barioth than I thought I was."

Ellie grinned at him in reply. "You did the same for me once as I recall. I'm more than happy to return the favor when you need me to."

"Alright, cut the lovey-dovey crap, you two," one of the emergency gunners said abruptly, popping up behind them, making the two Lost redden slightly. "The Barioth's getting cleared out and the other three examinees have been escorted to the medical station. You three are up next. Better hope you're ready."

"Did the three of them manage to defeat the Barioth?" Harker asked curiously.

Rather than answering with words, the gunner reared his head back and laughed uproariously. "Not a chance in hell!" he sputtered through the ripples of mirth. "The Barioth gives even the most experienced hunters here a run for their money. Those three didn't stand a chance! They lasted pretty long, though, but anyone can do that if they run fast enough and use enough potions. Their shields and weapons are a mess, though, only good for scrap now. Good thing the Guild offers replacements for things like this, eh?"

Levin nodded in reply, a disappointed feeling coming over him. So he was nowhere near ready to fight one of those things, was he? When would he be ready to take one of them on, he wondered?

"Alright, folks, we got a pretty good show from our first three examinees," the announcer boomed over the sound of the polite cheering from the crowd. "Let's see how our next three will do, shall we?"

The three Lost looked between each other, nodding to each other. They knew what they each meant; they were ready for whatever the Guild threw at them, good or bad, easy or rough. Nothing left to do but to get out there and do it. They quickly stood and made their way to the door, Levin taking the lead, Harker and Ellie close behind.

The sun bit into Levin's eyes as the harsh glare of the bright mother star stood in contrast to the dark room they'd just been in, directly overhead and filling the arena with its light. The crowd cheered and whistled in approval as the three of them made their way into the center of the arena. He noticed that Ellie had a look on her face that must have been a desire to wave to the crowd, but the nervousness of the test was overbearing the feeling. Harker simply had a content and expectant look on his face as he glanced up at the audience.

Levin quickly scanned the lower levels of viewing rooms, finally catching sight of a booth that seemed more filled with younger faces than that of the rest of the rooms. Sure enough, he managed to recognize a few familiar faces mixed in the room, and knew for certain that it was the room that was containing the remaining examinees. And right in the front row were Kim and Nat, as well as some of the other examinees he'd met over the last few days, cheering wildly as they entered the arena. Levin couldn't help but grin as they cheered for them.

"Looks like the three of them are geared up and ready to go!" the announcer bellowed excitedly into the horn. "I'm sure you're all itching to know what the Guild's gotten ready for the lot of them…"

The three hunters turned abruptly as the massive wooden doors on the opposing side from where they entered began to creak open, giant cogs groaning and wheels scraping as the towering gates swung outward. Levin swung his sword into a defensive position and leapt closer to the door, allowing the other two Lost to branch off in other directions, since neither of them had any immediate defensive capabilities. Ellie already had several status rounds sliding into the bowgun's chamber, ready to fire at a moment's notice, while Harker had one arm warily brushing against the hilt of his sword and the other lingering close to his item pouch.

A menacing growl rumbled from the darkness behind the door, and Levin caught sight of a massive yellow eye peek out through the crack for a fraction of a moment before flickering away again. Several footsteps echoed out from the door, sounding to Levin like whatever stood behind the wooden gates was backing away from the door slowly.

Then there was a staccato burst of rapid footsteps, and the massive wooden doors blasted open as the creature inside blasted its way into the bright light sending a wall of dust across the arena. Levin could just barely make out a massive winged shape through the haze before the creature reared back and released an ear-splitting roar.

* * *

**Author's Note: Please Review!**

**Cliffhanger! Ah, I'm such a bastard, aren't I? The fight will continue in the next chapter!**

**I tried a new method of writing the dream sequence, very highly influenced by Stephen King, I think. Tell me what you think about it if you have the time. Too much? Not enough? So this chapter took a while to really get started. Not because of personal issues or anything like that. However, one of my friends let me borrow his copy of Mass Effect 1 and 2, and… let's just say I got addicted. After summer classes ended, it wasn't uncommon for me to spend an entire day playing either of those games. They. Are. AWESOME. And that's all I'll say about that. I'm probably going to give Dragon Age a go after I'm done with them.**

**One of the things that's been bothering me about the people that review my stories are the two or three of them that review, but don't have a profile on FF. I love all of my readers, my reviewers especially, and I try my hardest to reply to all reviews, but I can't do that if the reviewer doesn't have a profile! You know who you are, so get yourself a profile! **

**On another note, I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but I do take character requests… sort of. I probably won't make a requested character a main or high-profile character, since I've got most of the primary characters in my story fleshed out, but I kind of like the idea of taking already designed personalities and adding them as secondary characters, mentioned in passing or given a few lines in a chapter or two. Nothing major, but as I've said, I think the idea is fun.**

**Reading: **_**Patriot Games**_** by Tom Clancy, **_**The Red Pyramid**_** by Rick Riordan, **_**The Eye of the World**_** by Robert Jordan, **_**A Game of Thrones**_** by George R.R. Martin  
Playing: Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, BFBC2, Scribblenauts (surprisingly fun and oddly challenging)  
Listening: Pandora radio, Mika, Dubstep**


	18. Twin Horns

Twin Horns

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. Most of the characters in this story are mine; nameless Jinouga hunter belongs to Zephyr Overlord_

The screech of the monster ripped through Ellie's skull like a thousand piercing needles tearing into her brain. She recognized the monster's roar almost immediately; after all, she'd heard the same intense screech over a dozen times before the previous day. As the dust from the doors blasting open began to settle and the painful ringing in her ears faded from a painful whistle to a dull throbbing, the shape of the beast that challenged them began to take form.

The creature was all horns and tough, rock-colored scales, with massive solid wings and an enormous clubbed tail. The Diablos from the previous day, that had torn up many an examinee and essentially not taken much damage, stamped its feet expectantly and glared in excitement at its prey.

"Hey ugly!" Levin yelled, catching the creature's attention. "Come and get me!"

Ellie realized that she had been frozen in shock for a moment, stunned at the magnitude of the creature the Guild had set up for the three of them to fight. But Levin's slipshod war cry snapped her out of her feeling and she brought her bowgun up to bear as the two massive horns swung toward the great sword user and two yellow eyes focused beadily on him.

Ellie fired just as the horned beast snapped its head down and pulled in its wings. The first and second paralysis rounds leapt from her barrel and closed the distance between herself and the monster quickly, but with a burst of motion, the massive creature suddenly shot forward, dashing across the arena in a flurry of rapid steps. The two rounds flew harmlessly through the air and splattered against the wall.

However, that wasn't the case with the Diablos itself. Ellie watched helplessly as the massive creature rushed Levin with a speed Ellie would have never thought possible with the creature's bulk. Ellie hadn't really managed to get a good look at the creature's abilities during her time watching the arena battles yesterday. The creature was bearing down on Levin with a speed that terrified her.

But Levin, though his face had a worried look to it, seemed prepared if not a little bit afraid. Apparently he'd gotten a pretty good look at the Diablos' abilities during the arena bouts yesterday, and though he appeared uneasy, had expected the creature's speed. With a twist to the side, the great sword user managed to get out of the monster's direct path, avoiding the direct impact and taking a glancing blow off the creature's wing instead. His weapon took the brunt of the damage, though, as a loud ringing sound echoed across the floor of the arena. Ellie could have sworn that the impact of the blow would have left a sizable dent in the great sword or broken it entirely, but Silph's ability at the forge was better than she had assumed, and the blade remained solid, hardly worse for the wear at all.

The Diablos' speed was not without its drawbacks, however, and the speed of the creature's charge sent it skidding several dozen yards across the arena floor. Harker was close enough to the monster's slide that he had to dash out of the way as well or else get run over. Already, Ellie was sliding in more rounds into her bowgun, realizing now exactly how much it looked like the three Lost would be needing her to pepper the Diablos with status shots.

The horned beast turned abruptly as it finally skidded to a halt, preparing to charge again. However, as it had been sliding, Levin had closed the distance between himself and the Diablos, and quickly swung his sword around, smashing it into the creature's leg. The monster's armor and plates were far thicker than anything he and Ellie had fought before, however, and despite the weapon's weight and sharpness, the blade only barely cut into the Diablos' ankles.

But the horned beast growled in pain, shaking its leg in pain and growling in irritation. Levin backed away warily, but was suddenly blown backwards as the Diablos snapped its body around, smashing its massive clubbed tail into Levin's blade as he lifted it defensively. Ellie wasn't sure exactly how heavy the club was, but the weight must have been something fierce, because the force of the impact sent the great sword user skidding across the floor of the arena, despite the heavy metal blade taking the brunt of the hit.

Ellie had loaded her gun by this point, however, and as the Diablos turned to follow where its tail had sent Levin, she quickly snapped the sights of her weapon up and quickly sent a pair of Para rounds right into the creature's face, just above the creature's two lower tusks. The horned beast gagged as the smell of the fluid overwhelmed it, the substance soaking into its thick skin and into its very bloodstream. Ellie doubted the two rounds were nearly enough to properly paralyze the creature, and quickly began to get herself in motion as the monstrous creature's eyes snapped towards her.

The shells were quickly ejected to the floor of the arena as the Diablos rushed her way. It wasn't the full-sprint charge from earlier, but a regular run. The beast still covered the distance very quickly, though, and was soon almost on top of her. The Diablos quickly smashed its thick horns into the ground, shaking the earth below Ellie and making her loose her footing and trip to the ground.

Ellie rolled back to her feet quickly, scrambling to get away from the massive beast as it stamped its feet down onto the ground in an attempt to rid itself of the hunter that had peppered it with the noxious gas. Ellie leapt and sprinted as fast as she was able, trying to keep herself from ending up underfoot of the creature that could so easily outpace her. She shot a hopeful look over her shoulder, catching sight of Levin, but the great sword user was too far to catch up to them.

Then from the side, Harker seemed to materialize out of nowhere, long sword lancing out from its sheath and tearing in a long arc up the side of the creature's leg and cutting across the creature's thick-plated wings, sending bright sparks flashing across the dirt and sand. The strike was superficial, Ellie could tell that much, but the creature still felt it well enough, and the Diablos snapped its head around towards its new assailant.

By then, with the monster stopping in its tracks, Levin had gotten the time he needed to catch up with the beast, and was bringing his sword around when the monster spotted him as well.

Harker seemed to sense what was going to happen before Levin even suspected a thing, his experience in the desert providing him with the same sense of detection that Levin and Ellie had developed from fighting Jaggis and Qurupecos and Royal Ludroth. He tried to shout a warning to the great sword user, but Levin was too far into his attack to slow down. With a sway of its torso, the massive horned beast swung its tail up and brought it smashing down to the ground, swinging it wildly to and fro as he did so.

The two sword swingers were both caught by the wild assault of the Diablos. Harker, although he had predicted the attack, had taken too long trying to warn Levin to properly dodge the attack; the giant clubbed tail had clipped him as he'd tried to roll away from the attack, knocking him up off his feet and sending him sprawling. Levin wasn't so lucky, however, and the massive frame of spikes and bone collided with his side, lifting him up off the ground and sending him flying through the air and landing in a heap a good twenty yards away.

Ellie felt fear seize her heart at the sight of Levin's fall, but she and him had been through too many fights and seen him take almost as many heavy hits. She had learned during her time working in the field with him that despite his medium frame, her partner could take a surprising amount of hits before finally falling. The Diablos was, admittedly, quite a bit bigger than anything else the two of them had fought before, but she knew she had to trust that Levin was alright for now, but to keep the Diablos' attention away from Levin until it was certain he was alright.

She quickly slid another couple of status rounds into her bowgun as the Diablos' eyes lingered on Levin's body, pushing the lock into place and aiming the barrel up at the creature's face again. The monster seemed to sense her intent, though, and its eyes snapped back to her, but too late. With two bucks, the bowgun fired the next two status rounds into the Diablos' face, and the creature winced back in irritation, shaking its head wildly.

Suddenly, its neck began to spasm wildly, and its high-pitched howl began to quiver and shake. The spasms continued to spread along the creature's body, its grunts of frustration growing louder as the feeling spread. Soon it was fully paralyzed, and the crowd was howling in excitement at the change in circumstance.

As the rounds were ejected from the chamber of her bowgun and Ellie was reaching for a more powerful round, she managed to risk a glance in Levin's direction, and was relieved to find that the great sword user was pushing himself back up to his feet, looking somewhat dizzy but not too much worse for the wear. There didn't appear to be any blood on the ground at the time, either, which allowed Ellie to feel hopeful that he wasn't too badly damaged.

While Levin was stumbling to his feet, Ellie and Harker both pushed forward in their attacks, Ellie firing two rounds of heavy Cluster shots up at the Diablos' neck while Harker sent a flurry of attacks towards the creature's legs and tail. Ellie approved of the tactic; even a single view of an attack from the massive club was enough to convince her that the Diablos' tail would be better off missing if the three hunters wanted to last long against the horned beast. The long sword user seemed to have a bit of trouble getting his blade up high enough to hit the tail, though, despite the Diablos being paralyzed to complete immobility.

The explosions from the Cluster rounds echoed around the arena as they blasted flame across the Diablos' massive back and down its giant, curved horns. The explosions would have dropped any of the other creatures that Ellie had fought before relatively quickly, but it appeared that the horned beast's plates were thicker than anything else she'd ever fought before, and the rounds only seemed to singe the creature's scales rather than blast through them.

As Ellie ejected the empty shells and began to slide new ones in, she noticed Harker cautiously increasing his distance from the Diablos. Ellie's eyes glanced up towards the creature, and she noticed that the creature's wings were beginning to twitch a little less fitfully than before, meaning the paralysis venom was beginning to wear off.

Despite the shivering and shaking of the Diablos as the creature began to regain its movement, Ellie saw that Levin was skulking forward, sword raised to the ready as he prepared to strike. Ellie called out to him, but the great sword user was already in the motions to strike. As the Diablos shook its body, waving off the last of the venom, Levin swung his sword back, and the red glow of anger began to surge through him. Ellie saw that he had situated himself directly underneath the Diablos' tail, and realized that Levin had come to the same conclusion that Harker had.

Ellie realized that if she or Harker didn't do something, the monster would quickly spot the great sword user and strike him again before he could connect his attack. Harker had distanced himself too much from the Diablos to properly bring himself back into the fight, however, so Ellie quickly removed the pair of Cluster shots she'd had in the stock of her gun, replacing them rather with a group of Scatter shots. As the lock snapped into place and the Diablos began to look around in search of the locations of the hunters, Ellie quickly snapped her bowgun up and began to unload the rounds into the horned beast's face. The rounds peppered the Diablos' face, breaking off some of the scales from the creature's body and sprinkling the ground with several of the shining brown scales.

The Diablos yowled in irritation, wincing back as the rounds splashed across its head, not truly feeling pain, but protecting its eyes from the shrapnel. With the time to finish his charge, Levin was able to finishing charging his attack, and with a distinct flash of crimson energy, the force of the power transferred to the blade, and the great sword user brought the sword swinging up and over his head towards the Diablos' tail.

A rattling smash echoed across the arena as the massive metal blade connected with the base of the Diablos' tail. Plates and scales alike shattered and tore as the blade cut through appendage. The wound was shallow after the Diablos' armor took the majority of the assault, but bright red blood still sprayed freely across the floor of the arena as the weapon cut through nearly six inches of the horned beast's thick tail.

The Diablos screeched in pain at the strike, a howl so loud and high-pitched that the three Lost almost had to cover their ears to block out the sound. Its tail was cut deep, over a third the way through the whole of the appendage. The creature tried to twist its body around to see what damage had been done, but the act instinctually made the creature swing its tail to the side, and the Diablos howled it pain with the motion.

The creature screeched in anger as the three hunters branched off from the creature, getting out from underneath it. Ellie quickly ejected the spent cartridges into the dirt as Levin and Harker sheathed their weapons and ran as well. The two stayed closer to each other than either of them did to her, allowing either of them to be nearby, should the Diablos attack either of them. That left Ellie on her lonesome, but she had no need to be close to shoot, and could simply move away from the Diablos if it came her way.

The horned beast's eyes snapped back and forth between the three hunters, uncertain which the go after. All three stood at the ready, prepared to dive away should the beast head their way. However, rather than charge, the creature suddenly bent over, and rather than sprinting towards any of them, horns bared, the massive claws at the tips of the Diablos' claws began to tear into the sand of the arena, spraying dust and sand everywhere as huge swaths of dirt piled up on either side of the monster.

Ellie was forced to shield her eyes as a cloud of sand flew her way, getting into her eyes and making her blink painfully. She tried to see through the fog of dirt, but could only just barely see the outline of a massive black shape through the haze, still tearing obsessively into the dirt below it. And the whole while, the rumbling of churning earth filled the arena.

Then the sound suddenly stopped. Ellie's eyes snapped up and she forced herself to squint through the billowing dust, trying to catch sight of the beast through the haze. Yet, for some reason, even as the dust began to settle, she couldn't seem to catch sight of the massive horned creature. She forced herself into a defensive stance, ready to leap away at a moment's notice as she waited for her sight to clear.

At once the bust cleared and Ellie's eyes snapped around the arena, but she froze in shock when she suddenly discovered that the Diablos was gone. Not hidden in a corner, not hidden behind a wall of dust, not escaped through the massive doors that it had come through for one reason or another. Just… gone.

"Ellie! Look out underneath you!"

Harker's voice burst out from the other side of the arena, and Ellie's eyes snapped to the ground. Somehow or another she'd missed a small lump of dirt that had sat right underneath where the Diablos had just been digging. Suddenly the lump of dirt lurched forward, like one of the old cartoons she used to watch as a child, making a beeline her way with a speed that terrified her. She quickly tried to leap out of the way, but the lump of dirt was on top of her so quickly that she barely had enough time to react before it was on top of her.

All Ellie could think as the ground sifted below her was, _How in the hell did this massive creature manage to practically swim through the dirt and sand?_

With an explosion of sand and dirt, the two massive horns of the Diablos burst up from the soil below, followed closely by the rest of the beast in a leap akin to that of a dolphin bursting from the water. Ellie didn't exactly have the time to properly appreciate the motion, however, as the edge of the monster's thick and jagged horn caught against the edge of Ellie's back, tearing into flesh and catching her by the armor, yanking her into the air.

Even as blood poured from a gash across the long of her back, Ellie could only flail in fear as vertigo overwhelmed her, making her flail her arms as her sense of balance vanished into thin air. She finally managed to find her sense of balance as the ground rushed up to her, and she quickly pulled up her hands, desperate to protect her head.

Pain shot through her arms as she crashed into the ground, upturned stones and weapon shards tearing into her skin, despite the thick Qurupeco feathers that protested her arms. She could tell from experience by just the feel of the cuts that the wounds were probably superficial, but that didn't help the feeling of piercing pain that lanced up her arms. Her shoulder and waist came down next, each bursting in pain as they connected with the hard ground. Ellie could almost feel her shoulder bones contorting as they tried to keep from breaking.

The Diablos smashed down to the ground next to her, landing gracefully on its feet despite Ellie smashing clumsily to the ground herself. It quickly twisted itself around, stamping its feet on the ground and shaking its head menacingly. Ellie pushed against the ground with her good arm, trying desperately to get to her feet before the Diablos bore down on her. The Diablos closed in, tearing through the ground with its horns as it got closer to her.

"Close your eyes!" she heard Levin shout.

Ellie's eyes snapped shut and she covered her head protectively at the words, forcing herself to ignore the spike of pain that flew through her arm at the motion. The sound of the Diablos' horns tearing against the ground seemed to slow down as well at the voice, taking the creature by surprise. Ellie heard the sound of metal ricocheting off the rocks on the ground.

The burst of light that erupted from the flash bomb was so bright that it even seared through Ellie's eyelids, leaving stars in her eyes. The Diablos howled in pain as the light blinded it, and Ellie could hear the creature stumble backwards in its loss.

Ellie quickly burst into motion at the sound of the creature flailing wildly. She forced herself to ignore the pain in her arm and waist and back, pushing herself awkwardly to her feet. She nearly fell once, but a hand grabbed onto her good arm, pulling her up and away from the howling Diablos. Ellie was relieved when she looked up and saw it was Levin pulling her away, rather than one of the emergency gunners.

She caught sight of Harker on the other side of the arena, and wondered why the long sword user wasn't using the opportunity to attack. But the sight of the Diablos showed her the reason; the massive beast was spinning around, stamping its feet and tail wildly in attempt to catch one of the hunters, even by chance. It was kicking up yet another dust cloud, making it increasingly difficult to see if it hadn't stood so tall above the debris.

"You alright?" Levin finally asked once they were a relatively safe distance from the rampaging Diablos, a worried expression on his face as his eyes glance over her bruised and bleeding arm.

"Fine… ow, fine enough," Ellie replied, fumbling through her pouch for a potion, and drinking greedily. She sighed contentedly as the fluid dulled the pain as Levin quickly slapped an instant bandage against a couple of her wounds.

"How the hell are we supposed to beat this thing?" Ellie muttered, glancing back to the horned beast. "Our weapons are barely doing anything to it, and it's almost too fast to keep up with. Not to mention that tail…"

"I honestly don't know," Levin admitted, shaking his head wearily. He absentmindedly scratched his shoulder, where a trickle of blood from his earlier injury had soaked through the spongy armor he wore. "We need to think of something soon, though. Too much longer and the thing will wear us down before we can wear it out. I've got a pitfall trap on me, but that takes time to set up, and with something that size, it won't hold for long."

"I can poison it," Ellie said, "but that won't slow it down, just make it angry and a little queasy. Besides, I'm not sure if I've even got enough rounds to poison something that big anyway."

"Well, we better think quicker," Levin said, swinging his sword around. "It looks like it's getting its eyes back."

Sure enough, the massive creature was slowing its rampage, snapping its head back and forth, trying to find its bearings. Its bright yellow eyes were blinking rapidly, trying to focus. Then its eyes landed on Ellie and Levin, and it seemed to focus in on them, as though seeing them, but only barely. It began to stamp its feet against the ground, as though once again preparing to charge towards the pair of hunters in one of its high-speed bum rushed.

"Watch out for its horns if it charges," Levin reminded her as they began to separate. "The rest of him is solid as a rock, but those horns are sharp as hell."

"I know," Ellie muttered. "I've felt them, too."

Suddenly an idea snapped into Ellie's head. The horns! They were sharp as any blade, and as Levin had said, solid as a rock. Hard as hell to break? Perhaps. She remembered a moment from her training many months ago, when Levin had seen to her training with the short sword on the test wooden dummies. At one point, she had gotten experimental, and thrust the blade forward rather than arcing it. Ellie had spent the next ten minutes in embarrassed frustration, forced to ask for Levin's help when the blade got wedged into the "throat" of the wooden dummy.

Ellie's eyes shot around, in search for something to use. The walls surrounding the arena were all solid stone; Ellie wasn't sure if the Diablos' horns were that strong, though. Tough, yes, but stone tough? Maybe not. There were a few wooden platforms around the arena, but those looked fragile enough that the horned beast could just as easily rip through them on his charge as he would getting stuck.

Then she remembered the massive wooden doors, and her eyes shot to the door closest to her. She knew the doors were several feet thick at least, and she'd heard and seen several dozen monsters slamming against the interior side, as well as some like the monster she fought going so far as smashing the doors open, and the thick doors didn't seem any worse for the wear at all. Perhaps that meant that the result wouldn't be what she wanted it to be, but… what did she really have to lose by trying?

A thunder of footsteps filled the arena, and Ellie's attention snapped back to the fight, where the Diablos was attempting to run down Levin from the opposite side of the arena in the same high-speed charge that it had started the fight with. Levin had seen the attack coming this time, however, and knew what to expect, and had therefore been able to dive out of the way far before the horned beast had managed to get to him, leaving the Diablos to miss and slide across the arena in its attempt to stop.

Ellie quickly slid more of the Scatter rounds into the chamber of her bowgun. As she began to run towards her planned setup spot, she held her bowgun awkwardly to the side, blindly firing a series of rounds at the Diablos' flanks. She heard the creature grunt in irritation as the shots peppered its side, not doing very much damage but catching its attention. She spared a glance over her shoulder as she slid her bowgun back into its sheath, and met the creature's eyes as it glared angrily at her.

Ellie slid to a halt, planting herself less than fifteen feet from the center of the massive wooden doors on her side of the arena. She heard the crowd gasp in confusion as she raised her arms, waving mockingly to the Diablos as it turned her way. The creature stamped its feet against the ground menacingly, the sound of its growl increasing in volume as Ellie waved and flaunted in front of the massive doors. Even the announcer didn't seem too sure what to make of the display of apparently careless mockery of the monster.

Then Ellie's plan came into fruition, as the Diablos bent its head down, bearing its massive horns if front of it and scratching the ground with its lower tusks. It brought a leg back and pulled its wings in, and with a burst of speed, the horned beast burst forward in a flash of speed, kicking up dust and sand as it tore across the arena.

Ellie forced herself to swallow her fear, holding her ground and tensing her body in preparation to dodge out of the way, allowing her mind to slip into the hyper-focused state that she had come to learn to control (for the most part). She dared not use the ability all the time, and frequently simply trusted her own strength and reflexes rather than using the focus. Any more than that and she risked falling prey to the overuse of the ability, where she lost sight of her surroundings.

The Diablos was like a rushing tidal wave with the way that it bore down on her with all its force and weight behind its charge. Ellie had the briefest moment to ponder how much Levin must have felt it, taking even a glancing blow of the rush; she brushed it off quickly, though, knowing that she really, truly didn't want to experience it herself.

A gasp of fear echoed from the audience as the Diablos closed the final few feet between itself and her. Ellie found that she her hyper-focus was screaming at her to move, and move _now_, and she found no reason to argue with the horned beast so very close. With a twist and a push off of the ground, Ellie dove away from the Diablos' path, sliding right under the creature's massive wings as they rushed over her in a rush of wind.

Ellie braced herself as the creature tore past her, afraid that the tail would still clip her as the Diablos passed by. But the only thing she felt was the rumbling of the ground below her as the monster tore past her, the rhythm of its footsteps stuttering wildly as the beast tried to slow, realizing it had missed the bowgunner completely.

Suddenly a loud and reverberating _thump_ echoed through the arena. The groan and creak of wood echoed across the arena, and Ellie heard the Diablos cry out is shock and irritation, the sound of its struggles and squeals of… fright filling the arena. The audience had been reduced to stunned silence as the sounds of the horned beast's struggles echoed around the battlefield.

Ellie's eyes snapped up at the howling of the Diablos. Somehow or another, her plan had managed to work. The horned beast's two massive horns were both thickly embedded into the massive wooden doors of the arena's monster caging area. Both horns were stuck a good four or five feet deep into the solid gates, the signature twist and fluidity of the stout points thoroughly keeping the Diablos in place, flailing and tugging wildly in an attempt to free itself. It flailed its claws wildly against the solid doors, trying futilely to claw its horns our of the wooden wall.

"Get it! Now!" Ellie shouted to her comrades, both of them as completely stunned by the turn of events as the crowd was. Levin snapped into action quickly, shaking his head and quickly making for the door, his hands flying to the hilt of his blade as he prepared to attack. But Harker kept his ground, an odd, thoughtful look on his face rather than sharing the same aggressive expression that Levin held.

Ellie huffed in frustration, forcing herself to ignore Harker's immobility and quickly pulling out her bowgun and sliding fresh rounds into the chamber. As she locked the two Cluster rounds she'd loaded into place, she began to circle around the massive beast, preparing to strike the beast's head and neck. Her sight was vastly reduced by the creature's flapping and swinging wings, but she still snapped her bowgun into firing position, lining up the sights with the creature's face and pulling the trigger.

Her two large rounds burst out of the bowgun's muzzle, tearing across the field and striking against the Diablos' thick plates in a plume of fire and smoke. The first round detonated off of the creature's wing, sending a round of explosions along the monster's massive, plated claws. The second round, however, managed to slide past the Diablos' flapping arms, striking the creature's massive horned head. The wave of explosions from the rounds dropped as the initial blast launched several of smaller mortars across the creature's head as the initial burst went off. The Diablos howled in pain as the explosions ripped across his back and neck, burning through his thick plated skin.

Then Ellie caught sight of Levin, preparing another powerful strike on the creature's thick tail, intent on finally removing the threat of the creature's heavy clubbed tail. The bright red energy burned through the great sword user, pouring through Levin and back into the blade as Ellie's partner pulled the weapon over his head and brought it smashing down onto the creature's tail.

However, once again, the blow was not nearly powerful enough, and the sword not nearly sharp enough. Had Levin managed to strike the exact same place he'd struck with the first blow, the strike may have been enough to properly tear its way through the Diablos' thick tail. The horned best howled in agony as the strike cut into its tail, ripping yet another massive gouge into the monster's tail, shattering plates and scales alike and sending them clattering to the ground.

The Diablos had been howling in anger and frustration before, as Ellie had been peppering it with Cluster shells. However, with Levin's great sword tearing through half of its tail, the horned beast's flailing and screams of anger increased to the point of pure violent rage. The Diablos began to sway and scream so violently that Ellie and Levin were both forced to pull themselves way from the creature to avoid getting crushed under foot. Despite Ellie's already considerable distance from the Diablos, even she was forced to back away as the screaming and raging monster tore its feet into the earth, kicking up waves of dust and even small stones and shards of rock and broken weapons.

Ellie glanced over to Levin as the two of them backed away from the screeching monster, and noted that his expression was worried and a little afraid. Ellie felt that she understood his feeling; they'd fought enraged monsters before, and both of them knew that it was never fun and often meant that the monster would prove to be several times more challenging until it calmed down.

Suddenly there was a terrible cracking sound, like the sound of rocks breaking off from cliff faces, or even the sound of metal being shredded and torn. Ellie eyes caught a flash of motion out of the corner of her eye, and a moment of instinct was the only thing that kept her from getting completely run down as the Diablos twisted around towards the two of them, swinging low and swinging its whole body in a huge circular twist. Her body reacted automatically, dropping her to the ground as the creature's pair of tusks ripped right over her body, so close she felt the massive bones lightly brush against the back of her armor.

_How?_ Ellie thought. _How did it break loose so quickly?_

Levin wasn't so lucky, though, and the Diablos' massive head smashed right into the great sword user, blowing him backwards and sending him skidding across the dirt. Ellie saw a spray of blood gush out of her partner's mouth at he slid to a halt, falling onto his back, and the young man grabbed his chest in pain, his ribs no doubt broken and possibly an organ ruptured from the hit. Ellie winced in shock and worry, forcing herself to her feet in order to help her partner.

But as she struggled to her feet, pain ripped through her head at the Diablos let loose and terrible screeching roar, a mixture and fury or victorious vengeance filling its voice as it glared down at the injured great sword user.

That was when Ellie first noticed the difference in the Diablos' appearance. The creature's face seemed… flatter when Ellie first looked at the creature, before she noticed what the real difference was: the beast had lost, removed its own horns for the sake of freeing itself from the massive wooden doors. Where the Diablos had once bore its two massive horns with pride at the top of its head, the creature now only wore the tattered and broken remains of its once mighty symbols of strength. One horn was broken and jagged, half of the horn gone in a jagged gash, while the other was nearly completely sheared away. Ellie spared a glance up to the massive wooden gates, and saw that the remains of the creature's horns were still both embedded into the thick doors.

Ellie could hear the announcer howling something incoherent over the enormous speakers, but couldn't afford to listen, as the furious Diablos began to swing around again, attempting to smash Ellie down as it had to Levin. But the bowgunner quickly leapt to her feet, dashing quickly away from the horned beast as it smashed its tusks violently into the dirt, perfectly willing to impale the young woman as it was to crush her. Ellie tried to increase her distance from the rampaging beast, but before she could fully escape, the creature bent down, pulled in its wings, and charged after her.

Ellie could feel the creature closing in with its thunderous footsteps, and knew she wouldn't be able to dodge away from this charge; not this time. All of a sudden she heard a loud clang of metal, and the Diablos howled in pain, and a rumbling crash echoed behind her. Her head snapped over her shoulder in surprise, despite her continuing running, and was shocked at the sight.

Somehow or another, Levin had managed to stand, fighting against his injuries. His great sword was at his side, though the weapon had somehow received a massive dent on the bladed edge of the weapon. The rest of the blade also appeared cracked and dull, hardly a weapon worth fighting with. The Diablos, however, was twisting on the ground in agony, a massive gouge of red blood pouring from one of its legs. Ellie finally realized what had happened; during the Diablos' charge, Levin had managed to put himself in the creature's path and smash his blade into the horned beast's leg, causing the beast to take a massive tumble.

But Ellie caught a glimmer of light to the side, where Levin had landed. In a small pile were four potion bottles, all completely drained and left to remain in the center of the arena. In a last ditch effort to keep Ellie from harm, Levin had effectively doped himself on painkillers, allowing him to force his body into efforts that would otherwise have been out of his reach. Even then, Ellie could tell that Levin wasn't exactly feeling too steady, as his body was swaying haphazardly.

Ellie shot a glare over to Harker, who still stood a good distance away, simply observing the battle, rather than participating. What was he doing! How could he just stand there when Ellie and Levin were taking such a violent beating from the Diablos? Ellie huffed in frustration, wondering wistfully how much motivation she'd give the long sword user if she fired a couple rounds at his ass.

In the meantime, however, she quickly pulled up her bowgun, peppering the Diablos' face with a collection of Poison shots, grinning in satisfaction as the massive creature groaned in nausea, the vile purple goop seeming into its pores, The effects wouldn't last long or do much damage, but it had to do something, right? Levin seemed to be having trouble finding the energy to strike out at the downed Diablos, though, despite the trouble it was having getting up. But before he could swing a strike down onto the horned beast's clubbed tail, the creature swept to its feet, nearly knocking the great sword user onto his back again.

Ellie tried to get off her last cluster shot onto the Diablos before it could get its bearings, but the shot went wide as the monster suddenly leapt backwards, increasing the distance between itself and the two Boma hunter examinees. With a blast of motion, the Diablos suddenly snapped its clawed wings to the ground, pulling dirt and rock aside and kicking up a cloud of dust as it once again began to burrow its way underground. Ellie quickly hurried over to the great sword user, determined to get him out of the way before the creature could run them down.

"Damn it Harker!" Ellie screamed, grabbing Levin around the shoulders and helping him limp away from the digging creature. "Do something already!"

Ellie growled in anger as the long sword user seemed to blink in surprise, as though realizing for the first time that Ellie and Levin were there, and that he was supposed to be helping, not just acting as a casual observer. But his eyes suddenly steeled, and he reached into his pouch, just as the Diablos finished dragging itself into the dirt. Ellie was taken by surprise when the long sword user gave her a cocky grin.

"I'd plug my ears if I were you, Miss Eleanor," Harker smirked. "I've seen enough for now, so I think it's time we take this Diablos down a peg or two, eh?"

Ellie frowned, though she was uncertain whether or not the reaction was due to shock or utter disbelief. Take the Diablos _down_? Was Harker mad? (Okay, bad example, but still.) How were the three of them supposed to take down a Diablos? The creature was tearing them apart! They'd done a bit of damage to the creature's tail, and the horns were certainly gone, but it seemed like all they'd really done with that was to piss the thing off.

But wait, what was that that Harker had said? Plug her ears? What did he mean by that? Then it hit her, and she snapped an arm around Levin's head, clamping a hand onto her own ear as well.

A blast of high-pitched sound exploded though the arena, echoing off the wall and sending a sound not unlike the feel of nails on a chalkboard through Ellie's bones. Even the crowd groaned in pain as the sound bounced off the walls of the arena. Ellie cursed under her breath as Levin shivered in irritation under her. She hated the sound Sonic Bombs let off! Why would Harker throw a…

Then she realized that the sound seemed to be continuing. The squealing sound had faded, though, and Ellie realized that the sound of the Sonic Bomb had been replaced by a similar, but muffled sound. Ellie's eyes flickered around the arena in search of where the sound was coming from.

The sand and dirt from where the Diablos had dug under the ground was sifting and churning, which caught Ellie by surprise; the last time the creature had dug under the sand, she could barely tell the horned beast had been there at all. But this time, it just seemed so obvious. Ellie braced herself, preparing for the creature to lurch though the soil towards her and Levin, but was taken aback when the soil suddenly broke, the jagged remains of the Diablos' two massive horns bursting through the earth. As the monster tore from the earth, Ellie could see it flailing and crying out in pain. It didn't even manage to get all the way out, either, somehow getting itself stuck halfway in and out of the ground, as though it had somehow managed to fall into a pitfall trap that wasn't even really there. Ellie's mouth gaped in shock at the sight. How the hell had that happened? Her eyes wandered over to Harker, who simply grinned knowingly at the bowgunner.

"I've noticed over the course of the battle that the Diablos is exceptionally weak to loud sounds," Harker said with a smirk, reaching up for his sword and unsheathing the blade. "It always seemed a little irked when the crowd was roaring exceptionally loud. Not to mention the sound of the announcer's voice over those massive horns. The big guy keeps wincing every time that big man talks. I just thought the Sonic Bomb would be more effective going through sand then it would through air, and it would seem I was right, fortunately."

Had he been waiting for this since the last time the Diablos had gone under the ground, Ellie thought? Was this why he'd been waiting back while Ellie and Levin had been fighting for victory?

Harker laughed at her expression. "Know thy enemy, Miss Eleanor. I apologize for not aiding you earlier, but it's far easier for me to observe a monster's traits when the creature's not trying to smash me to pieces. But I swear to you now, I will help you finish this fight, and I am positive that we will win."

Ellie stared incredulously at the long sword user, uncertain whether or not she should be stunned at Harker's attitude, or relieved that he was helping them, or furious with him for thinking that it was so simple to get back in her good books after standing back and letting the two Boma hunters take such a beating by themselves. But as the long sword user lurched forward, blade flashing against the Diablos' thick-plated wings, Ellie suddenly blinked in surprise as Levin began to chuckle even as the bowgunner tried to hold him up.

"It's about time, dammit," the great sword user laughed. "I was wondering what he was doing over there."

"You're just letting it go?" Ellie asked. "You're ignoring the fact that we took a beating and he just stood back?"

"Sure, why not?" Levin shrugged. "You saw him during his Jaggi fight. We're in deep right now, and if that guy knows how to do anything, it's how to read monsters. If anyone can pull our butts out of the fire right now and give us what we need to win, well, it's probably him."

Ellie sighed as Levin tried to reach back and grab the hilt of his great sword, grabbing a hold of his hand and pushing him back. "Fine, I'll let Harker's actions slide for now, but only on the condition that you stay the hell back. You may like that armor of yours, and it may take some of the damage you take away from you, but you cannot take another hit like that again, and painkillers aren't going to make it any better."

Levin frowned in irritation, looking longingly over to the downed Diablos, where Harker's own blade seemed to be glowing as the long sword user tore into the creature's side unforgivingly, sending sparks everywhere as the blade clanged and clashed off of the monster's thick plates. But with a sigh, he stepped back, accepting Ellie's decision and backing away. He seemed to realize the extent of his own injuries at the same time, as well, because he suddenly groaned in pain, grabbing onto his chest and wiping a line of blood from the edges of his mouth.

"Don't worry, Mister Levin," Ellie grinned, loading her bowgun with Pierce rounds. "Give yourself a break for now. This thing's tough, but we'll need you later, okay?"

"Right, right, Miss Ellie," Levin nodded, as Ellie took off running for the downed Diablos.

Harker spotted her coming, and moved out of the way as Ellie's bowgun snapped up to aim towards the Diablos' massive head. The rounds burst from the barrel of the gun in flashes of flame, tearing through the Diablos' thick armor plates and shattering them, sending broken shards falling to the ground. The horned beast howled in pain as the shots tore through its armor and into its skin. Somehow, it seemed to start to flail even more, fighting violently to escape as Ellie fired upon it while Harker's blade cut into it.

Ellie loaded and re-fired her weapon as rapidly as she could, switching back and forth between Pierce rounds and Scatter rounds, blasting the horned beast across the face and wings as quickly as she could to do as much damage as possible before the creature regained its feet below it. Ellie gritted her teeth, wishing that she'd managed to make herself a better bowgun before coming to take this exam. Her shots were all connecting, but none of them really seemed to be having the same impact she'd come to expect from the weapon during her time fighting Jaggis, Royal Ludroth, and Qurupeco. Even the Gobul she'd fought had taken more damage, despite its rubbery hide.

Suddenly the Diablos' squirming seemed to slow, and the creature developed a stern look on its face. Ellie leapt back instinctively, and sure enough, after a few moments, the massive creature found a solid foothold and burst from the ground, howling furiously at the two hunters that had been tearing into it. Fighting against the pain in its tail, the horned beast swung around, swooping its club in a low arc in an attempt to smash either of the hunters that were close enough to hit.

Ellie was far enough away to avoid the swing, but Levin just barely managed to keep from getting completely smashed by the thick clubbed tail, sliding back from the swipe and receiving a large tear across the chest plate, courtesy the spikes that lined the club. Ellie turned and began to run, perfectly willing to increase the distance between herself and the Diablos before it could set itself up for a proper counterattack.

But to her surprise, as she turned, raising her bowgun to fire a collection of Water shots she'd loaded into the creature's flank, she noticed that the Diablos wasn't even moving. It was turned to face them, but rather than preparing to charge in to fight them, it was standing still, breathing heavily and sagging in weariness. Ellie was shocked. Had they really somehow managed to wear the Diablos down so much? She supposed she shouldn't have been as surprised as she was; they'd forced it to rip off its own horns, nearly cut through its tail, and probably given it and underground sonic boom.

The Diablos finally managed to catch its breath, however, and with a lurch forward, the creature rushed Ellie. It wasn't as fast as before, but its size still made it cover the distance fairly quickly, and it was soon on top of Ellie, swinging its neck and body back and forth in an attempt to catch the bowgunner with its remaining tusks.

Ellie dove out of the way, but the creature's tusk glanced up her arm, sending a bright spray of red blood across the floor of the arena. Ellie cried out in pain as the bright gash throbbed achingly, and her arm grabbed the injury as she tried desperately to slow the blood flow. The Diablos' next swing completely breezed over her on its next swing, but Ellie still cringed as the rumble of the beast passed over her.

As the Diablos brought itself to a halt, and brought itself around to crush Ellie under its feet, a shadow swooped in from the side, and a massive object smashed into the Diablos' face from its blind side, sending the creature reeling backwards in pain, the plates on its face and neck too broken to provide proper defense. Ellie looked up, spotting Levin taking up a defensive position between her and the Diablos. Her initial reaction was to berate the great sword user for ignoring her orders and joining the fight, but as the massive creature swung its head down and the blow ricocheted off Levin's massive Gobul-bone weapon, Ellie couldn't help but feel appreciative.

"Aim for the right leg!" Harker's voice called out to the two of them. "The Diablos is favoring his left!"

Ellie looked down at the creature's feet at the callout, watching as the Diablos stepped back to try and smash against Levin's blade even harder. For the life of her, Ellie couldn't spot any difference between its steps. However, Harker hadn't led her wrong yet, so she quickly downed a potion, ignoring the pain in her arm, and slid some Scatter rounds into her bowgun. Her sights snapped up, and in quick succession, several rounds blasted into the Diablos' right leg.

The creature howled in pain, louder than Ellie had heard it shriek when struck before. Had Harker really caught onto something, discerning the weakest point on the Diablos' body? Ellie didn't have time to hesitate, and with deft fingers, snapped another set of Scatter rounds into the chamber and unleashing them onto the horned beast's weak leg.

The Diablos staggered back as the shrapnel from the rounds tore into its plates and flash, bright red splotches of blood dripping down the monster's leg. As it teetered, pain overwhelming its balance, Levin lurched forward, staggering slightly from his own injuries. Despite the massive dent in his blade and the chips and cracks along the edges of the blade, the great sword user pulled back and brought the weapons around in a massive circular arc, smashing the blade into the Diablos' ankle. The creature howled in pain, and its leg gave out from under it. Levin had only a moment of realization before his adrenaline kicked in and he turned to dive out of the falling creature's way.

The Diablos crashed into the ground with a powerful thump that shook the earth under Ellie's feet so much she almost lost her footing. But she managed to keep herself upright, sliding the last of her Cluster rounds into the chamber and firing it at the downed creature's head. The rippling explosions echoed off the walls of the arena as the shell detonated across the Diablos' head, breaking the creature's horns even more and sending shards scattering across the arena floor.

"Trap it!" Harker called out, as his blade flashed against the monster's exposed underbelly. "It's not killable yet, but it should be tired enough to capture!"

"Don't need to tell me twice!" Levin replied. The great sword user attempted to swing his blade back over his shoulder, but in his weariness and injury, he couldn't manage it, and simply opted to drop the blade to the ground instead as he fumbled through his pouch. Finally he pulled out the Pitfall Trap he'd brought along and began to hobble over to the downed beast.

He got as close as he felt safe, dropping down right next to the fallen creature's plated back and ramming the trap into the ground. As Levin activated the trap, the Diablos reared, trying desperately to find a foothold. However, between Ellie firing rounds at the creature's face and neck, and Harker slashing his own weapon towards the Diablos' belly, the horned beast spent a better portion of his time trying to scoot across the ground from its assailants.

Finally the bowgunner and the long sword user saw Levin lurch backwards, limping away from the creature's back. The two assaulting hunters followed suit, increasing their distance as the sound of metal joints creaking and winding echoed from behind the fallen Diablos. The creature tried to strain its head around in search of the sound's origin as the Lagiacrus crystals snapped to life and the Saturnian was released into the ground. Worried over its fate, the Diablos struggled harder to find its feet again.

However, just as it was starting to roll to its feet, the Saturnian finished its work and the soil dropped out from underneath the Diablos. It horned beast howled out in surprise as its body suddenly dropped into the sifting dirt and sand. In a fraction of a second, the entire right side of the creature's body had sunk into a murky pit, with the creature's head wobbling above the surface in an attempt to keep itself breathing.

From three different angles came a barrage of six bright pink tranquilizer bombs, splattering against the Diablos' neck and body as the three Lost hunters all tossed them at once. The Diablos coughed twice, shaking his head at the odd smelling gas that burst from the bombs, before groaning as its weariness was compounded by the bombs. With a final defiant grunt of frustration, the horned beast's head dropped to the ground, followed by a sigh and the loud sound of snoring.

Ellie stared at the doped Diablos for a long moment, half-worried in the back of her mind that the creature would shake off the effects of the tranqs and leap to its feet, ready to fight once again. But after a few moments to silence, she finally allowed her weariness and injuries to catch up with her and dropped tiredly onto her backside, letting herself finally catch her breath. She saw Levin do the same a moment later, slumping to the ground next to his dropped sword, wearily holding onto the massive hilt of the weapon. Harker didn't seem tire in the least, in comparison, walking interestedly over to the sleeping Diablos and looking it over with a small field notebook in his hands.

Suddenly the crowd erupted in noise, and Ellie jumped in fright from the sound. She realized in retrospect that the crowd had been collectively holding its breath during the pinnacle of the battle and were now cheering excitedly as the fight had finished. The roar of approval was near-deafening as the crowd cheered happily at the fight. She could just barely hear the announcer booming his own excitement, but couldn't make anything out from the noise of the audience. Ellie wanted to reach up and wave, but all of her energy right now was being used just keeping herself from flopping onto her back.

Like magic, several arena medics seemed to materialize out of nowhere next to her, with a pair of the emergency gunners flanking them protectively, eying the unconscious Diablos just in case. Ellie's eyes shot over to Levin, where three medics and the arena's primary doctor were checking his injuries and giving the great sword user a very thorough medical examination, with rolls of gauze and vials of potions and other various painkillers popping out of his assistants' pockets. Another pair of medics were near Harker, but he was having them off clearly more interested in the bone structure of the Diablos' head (or some other thing) than he was about his own personal medical condition.

Maybe it was just how tired she felt, but it seemed like it was only a moment or two before her entire arm was cleaned and bandaged up, and she was being led out of the arena by the two medics next to her. Levin seemed to be griping about being carried away from the battlefield on a stretcher, but the doctor appeared to be adamant about the issue, and Levin's arguments appeared to be getting him nowhere at all; he also appeared to be slurring his words a bit and Ellie wondered if the doctor had given him something. Harker appeared to be coming off the battlefield willingly, but seemed reticent, not appearing to be done examining the doped-up Diablos.

The doctor, apparently done looking Levin over and leaving him with the other medics, hurried over to Ellie and gave her medics' work a glance over, nodding acceptingly. He handed her an unfamiliar vial of liquid, something that had a sweet scent, Ellie noticed.

"Drink this," the doctor told her. "It'll put you to sleep for a while, but it'll help you heal far better than any other things I have. Your friend the great sword user over there needed two bottles to kick into effect. Something to do with that energy that comes from great swords."

"Will Levin be alright?"

"Oh, perfectly fine," the doctor replied. "In a week or so, anyway. Until then, he'll need to take it easy. I imagine the journey back to your village will be a good chance for him to rest. Until then, keep an eye on him."

"Deal," Ellie murmured, before pulling back the bottle and drinking it down. The effect was fast; the already felt herself going under before the vial left her lips. She fell asleep soon after, grinning as one of the medics complained that the sleeping drug wasn't working on the hyperactive Harker, and that she believed he'd stolen a bottle or two.

* * *

It was warm when Ellie woke up. Even before she opened her eyes, she could hear the nearby crackling of a fire, and could feel what she knew were the rays of the sun laying over her. In the background, she could just barely make out the familiar roar of the crowd, and could almost make out the howl of a monster of some sort. She peeked open an eyelid, and sure enough, closed it immediately as the bright light of the sun glared into her face.

She still felt groggy, but forced herself to stay awake and roll herself over to face the other way and open her eyes. She was in what she supposed was the arena's infirmary, white separators held high by metal poles, keeping her from seeing the person next to her. She looked down towards her feet and could see out into the makeshift hallway of the room, where a medic stood looking down at a person she recognized as one of the other examinees that had taken the third test; one of the silent ones, not one of the two that had been giving her and the other two the evil eye.

The medic turned and noticed that she was awake and smiled as she made her way over. "Rise and shine sleepyhead," she said. "You've been out awhile."

"How long?" Ellie asked, sitting up and stretching.

"About five hours now," the medic replied, glancing out the nearby window and checking the sun. "Your great sword user friend is still out of it. I wouldn't be surprised if the poor guy stays dead to the world for the next day or so. I'm pretty sure the doctor used three times the suggested amount of drugs to put the guy under. Though from what I've heard from some of the traveling medics that pass through bringing new information from the cities, it wouldn't shock me if you Lost had different immune systems than the rest of us."

Ellie blinked in surprise. Was that a compliment or an insult? She couldn't really tell. Maybe it was just a statement of fact. But the medic grinned at her, and Ellie smiled back. It didn't really matter, she guessed.

"Oh, that's right," Ellie sputtered suddenly. "Did we pass the test? The three of us?"

"I couldn't tell you," the medic replied sadly. "It was quite an impressive show if you ask me; I'd make you a hunter if it were up to me. However, from what I've heard from gossip around the arena, it seems some of the judges are being a little bit belligerent about you three being members of the Lost. I imagine from the general view of the Lost, I really don't need to extrapolate on what I mean."

"No, not really," Ellie grumbled, slouching further into her bunk. She should have seen this coming, what with the people of the Guild being like they had been.

"Oh, don't worry too much," the medic comforted her. "The other judges seem to be fighting fairly hard in you guys' favor. Besides, the crowd loved your fight. They'd have a riot on their hands if they tried to fail the three of you. Believe me, as someone who's worked here for almost eight years now, I've seen it before."

"Not to mention the old woman Polgara would try to lay down the law on them if they tried to do otherwise," a familiar voice from the other side of the curtain next to Ellie said.

The medic frowned in disapproval as the bright white curtain swished open, revealing Harker on the other side, grinning brightly. He was sitting in an awkward looking chair, placed next to another one of the medical room. Ellie gasped in surprise at the sight of Levin, who was covered from the torso up in gauze and bandages. His coat of Ludroth armor, hung loosely over a nearby table, was dotted all over with spots of blood and dirt. He seemed to be breathing normally, though, which calmed the bowgunner down. Meanwhile, the medic was giving Harker a rather nasty look.

"You're still here?" she asked shrewdly. "You're not still stealing medical supplies, are you? I swear, if I find you try to sneak another bottle of medicine into your pocket…"

"You wound me, madam," Harker sighed with overdramatic dismay. "I may be a member of the Lost and an apparently less-than-reputable scientist, but I do not steal! I do not, however, refuse to take what I am given."

"That medicine was for you to drink, not to take!"

"I was uninjured for the most part, my dear," Harker argued. "No need to take medicine if you don't need it. That way lies the path of addiction. So I thought, why waste it? Perhaps I can improve it in some way during the course of my investigation of the substance."

"It's not…! Ugh, never mind," the medic grumbled, before turning to Ellie. "I've got to head to the other rooms. Maybe you can convince this guy to relinquish the medicine he took while I'm gone."

"Not likely," Ellie laughed, "but I'll try."

Ellie turned her head back to Harker and sat up, cursing at herself for trying to push herself up with her injured arm at first. She opened her mouth to ask Harker what he intended to do with the medicine, when she stopped, her eyes catching motion from Levin's bed. She gaped in shock when one of Levin's eyes suddenly slid open and a grin eked across his face.

"Is she gone yet?" the great sword user mumbled. "She'll try and dope me again if she sees me awake."

Ellie was quiet for a moment before laughing quietly, so as not to disturb the others in the room. "How long have you been up, moron? You enjoying eavesdropping?"

"Been awake for a couple minutes now," Levin admitted, his voice slurring from the drugs. "But I've been trying to avoid the medic. I'm already pretty out of it right now, I don't need any more to keep me out of it. But now that the little lady is out of sight…"

Ellie gaped in shock as the great sword user suddenly twisted his body around and rolled his feet out of bed. He seemed to get dizzy for a moment as the motion and grabbed his chest as a bolt of dulled pain went through him. In a moment, Ellie was on her feet, marching intently over to the rising great sword user.

"Calm down please, Miss Ellie," Levin grinned awkwardly. "After spending so much time in Orson's clinic, you should know how much I dislike hospitals and medical places like this."

"No offense Levin," Ellie growled, "but you're beat the hell up, and if you think you're getting out of here without being let out, I'll break the rest of your ribs to keep you here."

"Come on now, Ellie," Levin pleaded. "They're supposed to name the passing examinees later today. I really don't want to miss the release, and personally, I don't want to hear it second hand from Nat or Kim."

"You're _injured_," Ellie stated, emphasizing the point. "Why are you not getting this?"

"I promise to be careful," Levin swore. "If all else fails, I'll use you as a crutch, and follow all your orders and go to bed when you tell me to. If you help me out of here, I swear until I am healed, that I am completely and totally yours to control. Anything and everything you ask, I will do."

Ellie blinked in surprise at the words, a tidal wave of possibilities flickering through her mind at the words. Anything and everything, eh? The possibilities were endless. Ellie allowed herself an evil smirk, making a look of possible regret flicker over Levin's face for a moment. Her mind flickered over to some of the conversations she'd had with Nat over the last couple of days, and wondered if she might be able to use this to her advantage.

However, she knew in the end that she really didn't have the guts right now to do anything too outrageous, and sighed in defeat. "Fine, fine," Ellie said to Levin, making a smile open up on the great sword user's face. "I suppose we can… try to make our way out of here, but only on two conditions. One, if we get caught, we come right back. Two, if you look like you're in too much pain, we head right back here, got it?"

"Aye aye, Miss Ellie," Levin mock saluted. "Your will is my command."

"Whatever," Ellie laughed. "Let's get out of here before I change my mind."

Levin and Harker grinned victoriously at each other, earning another glare from the bowgunner. Levin quickly hopped to his feet, grunting awkwardly as he stretched his torso. He quickly grabbed his coat and swung it over his shoulders. Ellie eyed him closely, watching for any signs of pain, but whether he was simply too drugged to feel anything or was keeping a really good poker face, she couldn't see any note of excessive injury on his face or in his movements.

The three of them quickly slid out of the medical room, trying awkwardly to act sneaky, despite the fact that two of them were pretty beat up, forcing the three of them to move slower than Harker seemed to want to go. The long sword user tended to find himself a turn or two ahead of them as they weaved their way through the maze of hallways leading out of the arena, before realizing he'd lost the others and turned around to find them again.

It took a good twenty minutes of walking, skirting the distances between corners, and occasional breaks for Levin to rest before the three of them finally came in sight of a wide archway leading out of the arena. As a cluster of Guild members and audience members began to march their way out of the arena, the three Lost examinees slid into the crowd, merging into them with as much subtlety as they could manage; though with Harker along, who was a good head taller than most people, and the three of them all still wearing their dented and torn armor, they did receive a few odd looks from some of the audience members, wondering who the three of them were and whether or not they'd won money off them in the arena battles.

The three of them slid out of the doors of the arena and into the bright sunlight as quickly as they could, and Ellie could see Levin breathing a heavy sigh of relief at not being caught. Grinning quickly at each other, the three allowed themselves to slow down and take it a little easier, moving a little slower than they were before.

However, from the corner of Ellie's vision, a blur of motion shot towards them, sliding easily through the crowd like a cat and tearing towards them. Ellie turned in fear, suspecting that the arena doctors had somehow managed to catch up with the three of them. However, rather than the standard white of the medic's cloth, whoever was chasing them was wearing hunter's armor, a noticeably bright pink color. Without wasting a moment, their pursuer grabbed Harker by the collar and yanked him backwards, making the long sword user gag in surprise.

"And just where do you think you're taking these two, you moron?" a familiar voice growled.

The three hunters turned towards their follower, and found themselves face to face with Harker's hunting teacher, Kerrigan. The bowgunner was glaring angrily at Harker as the young man grinned sheepishly.

"Lady Kerrigan! What a surprise!" Harker babbled nervously. "I've been wondering when I'd see you again… and you're wearing your armor for some reason. May I ask why?"

"I've been earning some money the last day or two by helping the town guard ward off some of the monsters that get too close to the city wall," Kerrigan quickly explained. "I haven't missed any of your fights, but there's still a lot of spare time on my hands. But you're trying to dodge the question and it's not going to work. These two are injured. Did you convince them to leave the hospital? I know you don't like sitting still, but leave the infirmed out of your decisions!"

"I'm afraid you misunderstand the situation, Lady Kerrigan," Harker replied quickly. "I realize Levin and Ellie are in less than perfect condition, and I realize they are probably better off in the care of a man of medicine. However, I'm afraid it was Levin's wish to leave the hospital, not my own, that got the three of us to vacate the arena."

"Oh, really?" Kerrigan asked, shooting a questioning look over to Ellie and Levin, who both nodded in reply.

"I spent too much time in a hospital about a month ago," Levin said. "I've had quite enough time in the presence of doctors for a good long while."

"And how can I trust that you'll keep yourself safe?" Kerrigan snapped. "Most of the hunters I've met that choose to leave a hospital against doctor's orders tend to be idiotic enough to dive back into action before they're fully healed."

"No need to worry about that, Lady Kerrigan," Harker told her. "My friend Levin here has given Miss Eleanor the leash to his collar, so to speak. If she has any complaints as to his actions, any request she makes of him until she is fully healed will be carried out without question."

"Really?" Kerrigan asked, surprised, before her eyes narrowed again. "But will he really listen? He decided he didn't like the doctor's orders and disobeyed them after all."

Levin grinned broadly at Kerrigan, an honest look in his eyes. "Ellie's my partner and I trust her. Whatever she says goes. I promise."

Kerrigan eyed Levin for a moment or two, then sighed in defeat. She turned to Ellie and eyed her meaningfully. "You better keep a good eye on this one, then. It seems like both of these two blade master hunters have a certain lack of intelligence when it comes to medical treatment, but they both seem pretty dependable otherwise. Maybe he'll actually listen to you. I'm not sure whether he's loyal or just an idiot."

Ellie smirked at Levin. "Probably both. But then again, he's a guy, so that's to be expected. You can't really expect too much from those of the male persuasion, can we? Too much testosterone to think straight at all. They'd be hopeless without us keeping them in line."

Kerrigan laughed at the comment as Levin glared and rolled his eyes. "Big talk, little lady, big talk. Where would you be as a hunter without me?"

"Using a Lagiacrus' head as a footstool, no doubt," Ellie smirked.

"Maybe you and I should team up instead of hanging out with these two," Kerrigan grinned. "Leave these morons behind and just keep with someone who seems driven by logic instead of brunt masculinity."

"No, that'd be too easy," Ellie smirked. "After all, we need someone around to put our skills into perspective with."

"Good point," Kerrigan laughed. "Too bad, though. I thought it'd be better working with another girl after all this time with Harker."

"Yeah, I feel the same way," Ellie grinned.

Levin and Harker both stood by, rolling their eyes in irritation at the two women's jibes. However, as the two bowgunners turned their attention back to the two swordsmen, Ellie caught sight of Harker smirking.

"Oh, dear, so that's how it is," Harker sighed dramatically. "Well, I suppose I might have seen this coming. Well, I can't say I'm not disappointed, though I wish I had foreseen this earlier. Not that there's anything wrong with having… alternate sexual preferences, though. A person's choices are their own."

It took Ellie a moment to realize what Harker was implying, before she blushed furiously at the words. Kerrigan's face had brightened red as well, and her fellow bowgunner was sputtering madly in an attempt to argue as she straightened her thoughts. Ellie heard Levin snort in laughter before the great sword user added his own comment.

"Such a shame, Miss Ellie," he snickered. "Just think how disappointed all the other guys in Boma will be when they hear the news. And to think they so enjoyed the sight of your Qurupeco armor back home."

"We're not… I didn't mean we… you… they…"

"Such a shame," Harker said, finally breaking down laughing. The sound of the long sword user's laughter seemed to knock some sense into Ellie, finally, and with a growl of anger, she reached her arm back and slugged Harker in the chest. The blow winded the long sword user, but he continued to laugh, despite the gasps for breath, which made Ellie wish she'd hit him harder. She turned on Levin, who backed away defensively, raising his arms in surrender.

"Okay! Okay. I'm done. Really! You wouldn't… ah, hit an injured man, would you?"

Ellie paused in thought for a moment, before cracking her knuckles and grinning evilly at the great sword user. "Well, I didn't want you to leave the infirmary in the first place. Maybe beating some new injuries into you, not to mention some sense, will give me a good reason to drag your butt back there."

"And what about you?" Ellie said, turning on Kerrigan, who was still a little red. "You're this idiot's teacher! Shouldn't you be the one punishing him for making such terrible jokes?"

Kerrigan blink in surprise at being singled out and shook her head to focus her thoughts. Then she grinned at Ellie. "Oh, I plan on making him pay for that comment, Ellie, don't you worry about that. But when it comes to Harker, you simply have to do it differently. For example, in this case… I'll just have to forbid him from going on harvesting missions for a while. Maybe a month or two."

Immediately Harker's face fell and a look of immediate regret covered his face. "No, please!" he begged. "Not again! I can't find the ingredients for my experiments if I can't go out and collect things!"

"Not exactly the worst thing in the world," Levin muttered.

"You should have thought of that before you decided to mock me," Kerrigan replied, grinning at the long sword user.

"I apologize! Profusely! I prostrate myself before you and beg your forgiveness!"

"No use begging, I'm afraid," Kerrigan smirked and the long sword user sighed in defeat. Ellie had to laugh at the situation. She had to admit, though Kerrigan seemed to be quite fond of Harker, she certainly had the man on a tight leash. "No, then, if you're done arguing, I'm sure the three of you would like to go hang out with the other examinees while you wait for the results to be posted."

"Ah, you're right," Levin replied, nodding. "I'd really like to figure out whether I passed this damn test before the stress kills me. And I'm sure Nat and Kim are wondering where we are."

Ellie nodded in agreement, and Harker motioned for the four of them to go, still glum from the loss of his gathering missions. His eyes looked up hopefully at his teacher, however.

"I do hope you'll be joining us for the rest of the night, Lady Kerrigan," he said. "As much as I enjoy the company of my fellow examinees, I have found that I am missing your particular style of conversation."

"Oh, I'll be coming along, all right," Kerrigan replied. "If for no other reason than to evaluate your performance on the field today."

"Always right to business," Harker smirked, as the four of them set off through the crowds towards the inn the three examinees were staying in.

* * *

"Argh! The suspense is killing me!"

Ellie smirked up at Kim as the lancer paced back and forth across the tops of one of the tables in the tavern of the inn. She wasn't exactly sure why Kim was up there in the first place, but no one seemed to care. If the innkeeper or his wife minded, they weren't saying anything. The whole room was too nervous, awaiting the delivery of the exam's results.

The group of four had gotten back to the inn fairly quickly, though both Ellie and Kerrigan had cracked down on Levin, forcing him to rest every once and a while, despite his protests claiming himself fine. Neither bowgunner was fooled; they both could see him wincing every now and then, despite the tough face he tried to put on.

When they'd finally arrived at the inn, they were quickly and excitedly greeted by the rest of the examinees, who all crowded around them, shouting congratulations on their victory, despite the odds. The crowd would have resulted in back-patting, but with a glare from Ellie and a note of the bandages that wrapped around most of the great sword user's torso, they receded, satisfied with merely shaking hands in congratulations.

According to Nat (who pointedly approached Levin immediately as he entered, Ellie noticed), the Guild was scheduled to finish their ruminations over the results of the third exam momentarily, and were determined to have the results spread through the city by sundown, a good couple hours away from the time they'd returned, yet. The three lost were left disappointed, not to mention a bit worried, but that seemed to be the feeling of the whole room; none of them knew whether they'd passed or failed, either.

It had been nearly three hours since then, plenty of time for Ellie and the others to change out of their armor and into their casual clothes. The examinees in the room had long since themselves to small talk and bragging to each other about their fights, or wallowing in disappointment over their assumed failures. Ellie managed to keep a spare eye on Levin as he and Harker wandered away to go into a loud and obnoxious retelling of their fights with the Diablos and their own individual monsters. Ellie settled for sitting around talking to Kim and Kerrigan, smirking to herself to see Nat near Levin but not able to get close while he and Harker bragged.

"Did you hear about the Jinouga fight?" Kerrigan asked Ellie.

Ellie suddenly perked up in confusion at the unfamiliar term. "The what? The Jino… Jin…"

"Oh, the Jinouga!" Kim said excitedly, hopping from the tabletop. "I saw that fight! I think the Guild sent it out while you and Levin were sleeping during the second test."

"I've never heard of those before," Ellie admitted. "I haven't seen anything like that in my monster books…"

"It's foreign," Kerrigan explained. "Very foreign. We don't hear about them too often around these parts, much less see any. If the Guild printed copies of books with all the monsters ever seen, it'd be huge. I'm shocked that Orage Dell had the option to pick one up."

"It looks like, um," Kim said, thinking, "kind of like the Barioth (you saw that fight, right? Good.). But it doesn't have wings and its… let's see, light blue and… tannish, I think. And it's not as sleek-looking as the Barioth. It's… spiky-er. Um… that's the best I can do to describe it. And it was _tough_. Lots of lightning and stuff flying everywhere."

"Lightning?" Ellie asked.

"You said you've seen a Lagiacrus before, right?" Kerrigan asked. Ellie nodded. "Picture a Barioth with similar spines on its back. A lot more brute force as opposed to the Barioth's quick and nimble strikes. Very nasty. Usually only reserved for higher level hunters, I hear."

Ellie shivered at the thought. From what she'd seen of the Barioth by itself, it was nasty enough, and that was without the ability to shoot lightning. "How did the examinee that fought it do?"

"He actually won!" Kim replied eagerly. "Well, mostly."

"Mostly how?"

Kerrigan scratched her head in thought. "He was lucky… maybe. The arena was flooded in the fight before for the sake of another Gobul fight. This is mostly speculation, but creatures like the Lagiacrus can use their lightning attacks freely in the water since that's just the way they are, they way they live. But land-based monsters like the Jinouga? Not so much. The creature's electric attacks were able to cover the entire arena as long as there was a line of water to the hunter, but the backlash from the electricity tore up the Jinouga the first few times it attacked. The hunter was hurt pretty bad, but I guess it hurt the Jinouga enough to make it stop using electric attacks during the rest of the fight."

"That is pretty lucky," Ellie agreed.

"Yeah, maybe," Kim replied. "But the monster was really tough already as it was, even without the electrical attacks. The Jinouga gave the hunter hell though the entire battle, and he didn't even have a shield to help stave off attacks. I don't know if I'd have the guts to fight something like that if I wasn't behind my shield."

"What was he, a long sword user? Or a hammer user?"

"Actually, he was a dual sword user," Kerrigan said. She smirked at Ellie's look of confusion. "It's common among hunters in certain areas of the world. It's like the sword and shield, I suppose, but if you got rid of your shield and replaced it with another sword."

"It was all flashy and glowy too!" Kim cut in. "It was like the thing Levin and Harker did with their swords, all flashing lights and bright red!"

"You mean the dual swords can… what did Harker call it? Use the monster's powers?"

"I guess you could call it that," Kimberby replied. "Though I'll be honest, I haven't really heard too much about dual swords, so I can only speculate. I do remember there was some mutterings in the crowd once the hunter finally finished the fight."

"Why?" Ellie asked. "Did he cheat or something, or use… less than exemplary tactics?"

"No, he fought normally," Kerrigan replied, scratching her head in thought. "It's just, I guess he did something odd with that dual sword power. The avid audience members thought he did something unnatural to finish the thing off. Said he did something outside the boundaries of normal dual sword capabilities. I'm not sure, I wasn't really paying attention at the time."

Ellie sat in through for a moment. "That's pretty weird I guess. But if no one in this world really know how the weapons like that are able to grant such powers, how do they know if it was legitimate or not?"

Kerrigan shrugged. "Who knows? I didn't much care either way myself. He didn't seem to have any outside help and managed to take down a pretty tough monster solo. I think the complainers were just mad because the guy managed to beat the odds that the betters had on him."

"He was supposed to lose?"

"Yep!" Kim stepped in. "I saw him come into town before the exam started. He was wearing full Rathalos armor! I guess people figured that his master had given him the armor, and thought he wouldn't be able to win using his own abilities."

"He proved them wrong, I guess," Ellie frowned. "What was his name?"

Kerrigan shook her head and Kim scratched her head in uncertainty. "I guess we didn't catch it," Kerrigan said.

"It was a monster name!" Kim offered. "Or, it sounded like one."

"Like he was named after a Jaggi or something?" Ellie asked, shocked.

"No, no, no! Some creature name… from, like, fables or myths or something. My mom used to read me storied about old monsters that people have told stories about forever! Things like… um… the sphinx! And nymphs! And… uh, cerber… cerver…"

"Cerberus?" Ellie asked. "Those stories are still around?"

"Stories and myths last," Kerrigan grinned. "As long as two people are alive, people will tell stories to each other."

Suddenly a booming voice filled the tavern, roaring, "Out of the way, people! Guild business, important information coming through!"

Immediately the mood went from bored and stressed to excited and nervous. Every eye turned to the door as two impeccably-dressed Guild members walked through the door, carrying a massive roll of paper between the two of them. The examinees in the room immediately rushed towards the two men excitedly, but kept enough distance to allow them to march their way up to the massive board near the bar. With a flourish, the two Guild members approached the board and dramatically unrolled the massive poster and stuck it against the corkboard in one fluent motion, revealing the results of the test in an instant. A wave of scattered noise spread through the room as individual examinees or gamblers laid eyes on the results of the exam, either cheering for joy or groaning in dismay.

Ellie's eyes flew through the list, the names of the second test examinees filling the board, with little checks or exes labeling the lot of them as passing or failing respectively. Kim and Nat were at the top and had passed, obviously. She searched furtively for her and her friends' names, desperate to know the answer to the stressful questions she'd been asking for hours. Finally she found their names, those of the Lost, all three right next to each other in the middle of the board.

"We passed…" she breathed, before leaping in the air excitedly. "We passed!"

Levin and Harker's eyes both flew across the board as she pointed the direction of their names, before the two of them whooped in delight at the sight. As Ellie laughed in relief, she suddenly found herself hauled up into the air as Levin grabbed her around the waist and hoisted the bowgunner into the air excitedly, spinning her around joyfully and sending people nearby backing away as they dodged away from her swinging legs. The swinging continued for several seconds, Ellie laughing all the while, until Levin was forced to put her down, groaning in pain from his chest wound but smiling all the same.

"We really did it, huh?" Levin smirked.

"Seems that way," Ellie replied.

"Guess you're doomed to be stuck with me for a while more yet, Miss Ellie."

"I think I can live with that, Mister Levin," Ellie replied. "Honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Same here, my dear, same here."

"While it's quite lovely to see that you two are so fond of each other," Harker cut in with a smirk, "we have something far more pressing which we must attend to."

"What's that?" Levin asked.

"Celebration, of course!" Kim cut in, laughing. "Congrats you three! I knew you'd come through, no matter what the Guild was saying!"

"Yes, indeed," Nat said, joining the conversation. "That fight of you three's against the Diablos was far too impressive to the audience for the Guild to fail you without some impressive reasoning. You'd be impressed how quickly the Guild can change decisions if the crowd is too against their choice."

"Your teamwork was quite commendable," Kerrigan told them. "Minus Harker's little avoidance there in the middle, the three of you certainly met the Guild's expectations with flying colors."

"Not to mention the wonderful Master Polgara seemed to like us a little," Harker muttered to the other Lost. "But as the lovely Miss Kimberly has said, if there was a time to celebrate, it would certainly be now."

"You know what that means, of course," Kim grinned, motioning to the innkeeper, who nodded knowingly and grinned as he reached behind the counter. Ellie blinked in surprise as the man slid himself through the crowd with a grace that belied his size, carrying a massive tray to them and plopping it down on the table in front of them. "Drinking, of course," Kim smirked, as Levin whistled in awe at the dozen mugs the man had planted in front of them.

"Suddenly, I'm quite thirsty," Levin laughed. Then he seemed to twitch in pain and gave an irritated look at his chest. "Should I be drinking in this condition?"

Harker frowned as he grabbed a mug for himself. "Medically, it's bad to drink heavily when injured. Thins the blood, possible to have adverse affects when mixed with medicine. Also, reduces nerve sensors, reduces inhibitions; tends to worsen injuries or result in new ones. But you should be fine with one or two. So long as your leash holder will allow it."

The five other hunters looked at Ellie expectantly, making the bowgunner shrink a little under the pressure. Finally she sighed and reached forward, picking up a mug and planting it in front of Levin. "One or two isn't bad, I guess. But only as long as it's one or two, got it?"

"Aye aye, mistress," Levin mock saluted, picking up the drink graciously.

Pretty soon, the entire room was filled with noise as the victorious examinees, as well as the other hunters that were visiting and the locals that filed in to talk to the winners began chatting and laughing among themselves. Those that had failed the second exam stuck around for a bit, but most of them tended to find some reason or another to make their ways back to their rooms after a while. Ellie and the others kept to themselves for a good hour or two, chatting relaxingly with each other, glad that the exam was over. Ellie kept an eye on Levin as usual, but her partner seemed to be doing well at keeping his word, though he was eying the brews the others were holding pretty greedily.

Eventually, however, other conversations began to pull on the small group's attentions. Kim caught sight of an aged hunter in the corner that had a rather impressive lance that looked more like a revolver than anything else. Nat seemed to enjoy talking to Levin, but was pulled away by a cluster of other rookie hunters that wanted to hear about her and Kim's Rathian for themselves. Harker seemed to vanish in a flash at one point, but was spotted by Kerrigan later, seen with an older man with a look of a scholar about him; Kerrigan was having a good time talking with Ellie, but she took off after Harker not long after, claiming she'd seen Harker having a certain worrying gleam in his eyes. Ellie wondered if that was the real reason.

Levin and Ellie were by themselves for a while, chatting idly and joking with each other, when they both caught sight of something interesting. Levin took off when he caught sight of a hunter with a switch-axe slung over his back, and before she could catch up, Ellie caught sight of the dual sword hunter she'd heard about from Kim and Kerrigan. That by itself wasn't what interested her, but rather the shining red Rathalos helm he held under his arm; it wasn't just that he was holding it either, but how it seemed like he owned it, that it was his. An examinee that had killed a Rathalos? She couldn't resist!

She'd tried to make conversation with the young man, but he seemed rather stoic when she tried to lead into asking him about his fights against the Rath. Ellie wasn't sure if he was shy or just unsociable, but she soon gave up when she realized he wasn't going to give her much, choosing instead to find a quiet corner and sulk for a while. She was tiredly watching the foam in her next drink fizz away when a familiar voice lulled her away from her thoughts.

"Bored already, Eleanor?"

Ellie looked up and felt a twinge of nervousness go through at the sight of Nat grinning wryly at her. Her fellow bowgunner had sat down next to her before she could reply and was staring intently at her.

"Not… not really bored," Ellie replied finally. "Just… thinking."

"About what? Or who?"

Ellie sensed what Nat was implying and couldn't stop herself from stealing a glance over at Levin, who had apparently finally given into having a third drink. She'd actually been wondering about whether or not should buy a better weapon for herself while she was still in town, but doubted whether Nat would believe her or not.

"I see," Nat said simply. "Just keeping an eye or your partner, then? Or is it something else?"

"It's not that… it's just…"

"Just what?" Nat cut in, leaning forward intently. "I'm tired of you skirting the issue. For once, I want a straight answer. What is there between the two of you?"

"There isn't…"

"Don't lie to me," Nat snapped. "There's something. If it were really nothing, you wouldn't be this hesitant about the whole thing. Nobody's around to hear you, and nothing short of a Rath blowing through the doors of the inn is going to stop me from getting an answer."

Ellie suddenly felt very boxed in. Despite the crowd of people in the room and the noise of conversation, she suddenly felt all alone, as though all that was left in the world was her, Nat, and the table she sat at. The other bowgunner stared intently at her, waiting for an answer as Ellie stuttered nervously.

Suddenly Nat sighed and rubbed her eyes. "I… I'm sorry," she said, catching Ellie off guard. "Maybe I'm being a little harsh about this whole thing. Let me be clearer about this."

"You're being pretty clear already," Ellie muttered, making Nat raise an eyebrow and grin.

"Maybe so," she smirked. "But I'll put something on the table for you. Maybe it'll make it a little easier for you. I like Levin."

Ellie was shocked at the admittance, and more so by the sudden blush that covered Nat's face. "Wow, I guess that is a little hard to say. It's nothing so advanced as love or anything like that, but for a male hunter he just seems so… calm and down to earth. And without the ego that tends to come hand-in-hand with a lot of men in the hunting profession, thinking only men can be hunters. He's got a nice sense of humor as well. And he's pretty good looking, too; the scar on his face is kind of alluring.

"However," Nat said, focusing back on Ellie, "my hunting master told me once that I shouldn't fight an unwinnable battle, whether it be a battle in the field or in life. And right now, the biggest obstacle in my path is _you_."

"Why me?" Ellie asked, and Nat rolled her eyes.

"Why do you think? You _know_ why. If you can't say it to me right now, you'll never be able to say it to him. Not before the two of you earn become Journeyman hunters, at least. And that means I'll be able to get him when you get to Loc Lac. This is a play this game with you, and I will win this game given the chance. Now what's your answer?"

Suddenly, Ellie felt a surge of anger. A _game_? She was treating this, her feelings and wants, as a _game_? Ellie felt a well of clarity and courage building up inside her. She'd been afraid of confronting Nat about this for way too long!

"He fixed me!" Ellie snapped out, and the other bowgunner reeled back at the aggression. A couple nearby hunters turned their heads at the sudden noise, but Ellie was too focused on Nat to care. "I was broken, torn up, uncertain about what I could possibly do with myself! I was too afraid of the world to take any risks half the time, and near-suicidal in field the rest of the time! He pulled me away from that, brought me back into focus, helped me realize what I really wanted in life. I owe him more than my life. I owe him my sanity, and my trust. I care about him more than anything else in the world."

Ellie caught her breath, never taking her eyes from Nat's eyes. Finally she continued. "If you haven't figured it out my now, I _love_ him. And I won't give him up. Not to you, not to anybody. Get it?"

The eavesdroppers had turned away some time ago, realizing Ellie was talking about something serious and respectfully ignoring her and Nat's conversation. Ellie met Nat's intent eyes and kept her gaze, refusing to back down. The two bowgunners stared each other down for a good minute or two before Nat surprised Ellie by sighing and turning away.

"Dang it all," the Orage Dell native muttered, before turning back to Ellie and grinning sadly. "I was hoping you'd back down. Kim always tells me I'm the most intent person she's ever known, but I guess there are others that can pull out some inner strength when they're pressured to do so."

"You're… giving up?" Ellie asked, surprised.

"Not at all," Nat replied. "Just backing off a little. I know when I'm in no position to fight against someone or something. I realize that if you're intent on getting your hands on your hunting partner, I don't have much of a chance of getting to him first. I like the guy, but I'm not going to be able to keep pace with someone that lives in the same village as him, while I live here in Orage."

"I… I'm sorry about all this," Ellie muttered. As wary as she was about Nat getting close to Levin, she really did like the other bowgunner, and wanted to keep her as a friend.

"Don't be," Nat replied, waving her off. "I wouldn't be sorry if I'd managed to grab him first. I still want to be friends with you, Ellie."

"I want to stay friends with you as well," Ellie said, sighing in relief. "I just thought that… this whole thing…"

"Oh, come on now," Nat laughed. "I'm not so shallow as that. Make no mistake though; if the opportunity arises, I'm going to throw my hand into the fight as well. Just be glad you've got a little longer to have him to yourself."

"I plan on it," Ellie grinned, making Nat roll her eyes.

Suddenly a loud crash echoed across the room, and the two bowgunners turned. Ellie gasped in shock at the sight of Levin, getting pulled away from another hunter by Harker. The other hunter was soaked to the waist with ale, and was giving Levin a shocked and furious look. But the great sword user was spitting curses and swears at the man that made several of the onlookers turn away in shock. Ellie groaned in dismay when she realized that Levin was slurring his words quite a bit, and having trouble keeping on his feet, despite Harker's support.

Ellie was out of her seat and across the room in a moment, hurrying over to Levin and Harker. Levin was still cursing violently at the hunter, who suddenly seemed to be flanked by a pair of his own comrades now.

"What the hell are you doing Levin?" Ellie growled.

"He… this guy said… he deserved it!" Levin slurred. Ellie could smell the alcohol on his breath. How much had he had while her back was turned?

"You should get this lunatic out of here before he pisses himself," the soggy hunter spat. "This moron just attacked me out of nowhere! I demand he pay for my clothes! These were purchased from one of the best shops in Loc Lac."

"Oh, please," a voice next to them suddenly said. Ellie turned, spotting Kerrigan approaching. "Those were made here in Orage Dell. I've seen their exact replicas in the markets. You're just trying to sucker money out of them."

The hunter flushed, irritated at getting caught, but quickly snapped back into his angry look. "Hmph. Maybe so, but either way, this drunken jackass attacked me unprovoked, and I demand compensation!"

"Wasn't… unprovoked… bastard!" Levin muttered, stumbling a bit. He seemed to be having trouble focusing. He lurched out of Harker's grip and stumbled over to Ellie, practically falling over onto her. The bowgunner managed to catch hold of him, however, and keep him up as he continued to sputter. "He said… said you… he would… sonnova…"

"You get our friend out of here, Miss Eleanor," Harker said, stepping between the three accusing hunters and the two Boma hunters. "I'm sure me and Lady Kerrigan here can work things out with these men."

"But…"

"Don't worry about us," Harker smirked. "I may not be as acquainted with comrade Levin as well as you, but I'm sure, even when as inebriated as he is, he wouldn't just attack unprovoked."

"You get him to bed," Kerrigan urged her. "We'll get this settled."

"What? You running away?" the soggy man mocked.

"Are you actually trying to pick a fight with a man who can barely stand up straight?" Kerrigan snapped back. "And here I thought the Guild was supposed to choose upstanding people to be Hunters."

"What did you say to me?" the man growled.

"Get him out of here," Harker urged, as Levin tried to stand up to fight back. Ellie needed to further motivation as she saw a determined look flicker across Levin's drunken face. Without another second of hesitation, she began to drag the protesting great sword user away.

Once the two were finally out of the tavern and in the hallway to their room, Ellie finally found the courage to turn on Levin. "What the hell were thinking, trying to start a fight in your condition?" \

An angry look fell over Levin's face as he strained his head in thought. "I… I heard them talking. They were… talking about… about you… your Quru armor."

Ellie felt her heart sink. She could tell where this was going. A few locals of Boma Village would make comments for fun every now and then, and Levin would chase them off. Back home, that kind of thing was a game to the villagers, and Levin knew most of the catcallers there. For the most part, it was just a joke to rile up Ellie or Levin, depending on whether they were together or not. But here…

"They were… saying… saying terrible things about you… and… and saying you were a… a real… They were say… saying that they'd…"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Ellie cut him off. She really didn't need to hear the rest all that badly.

Levin was still murmuring incoherently as the two of them reached Levin's room. It took an effort of flexibility on Ellie's part to reach into Levin's coat pocket and grab the key, but she somehow managed, pushing the wooden door open and pulling the great sword user through. She never thought she'd feel quite as relieved as she did when she finally flopped Levin over onto his bed.

She thought her hunting partner would pass out almost immediately, but the great sword user made an effort to flip himself over onto his back and stare unfocused at the ceiling. Ellie sighed in frustration, sitting down on the bed next to him as he continued to mumble to himself.

"Jeez," she sighed. "What made you think it was a good idea to go and get this blasted? You promised me you wouldn't, didn't you?"

"I couldn't… couldn't help it," Levin muttered.

"Of course you couldn't," Ellie groaned.

"They wouldn't… wouldn't be quiet. They… they wouldn't stop arguing. When I started drink… drinking, they got… quieter."

Ellie turned in surprise. "Who wouldn't stop arguing?"

"I didn't… didn't want to drink as much as I did… I swear! I was… gonna keep my promise. But they were being… so loud, I couldn't help it!" The great sword user lurched forward, a weak hand grabbing onto Ellie's shoulder. "They won't be quiet… no matter how much I beg them."

"Please, Levin," Ellie said worriedly, grabbing hold of the great sword user's hand. "Tell me, whose voices are you talking about?"

"I don't… I don't know," Levin muttered. "One of them… wants me to leave… to leave you to go… the black beast… I can't forget…"

"Go where? What black beast?" Ellie begged.

"I can't… can't leave… Ellie, you… you're so… I won't… I won't leave you, Ellie. I can't. Ellie, I…"

Ellie tried to pry more out of him, but before Levin could say anything else, the alcohol finally got the better of him and the great sword user passed out on the bed, his hand still grasping Ellie's hand tightly. The bowgunner stared down at the clasped hands for a moment, enjoying the feeling, but the enjoyment faded quickly as she thought about what Levin had said.

What voices? What the hell was Levin talking about? She hadn't seen him arguing with anyone during the night. And what did he mean by a black beast? She remembered reading through the monster manuals, and there were a few black-colored monsters in them, but the only monster Levin had said he'd had issues with was the Barioth, and that particular drake was pristine white. The way he went on made him sound so…

Crazy? Mad? Loony? Now that she thought about it, Ellie realized that… _madness_ was about par for the course with the Lost. She was proof of that, with the overpowered focus in her head. Harker was another fine example, with his mad scientist tendencies. Ellie hadn't seen any particularly odd problems with Levin while hunting with him, but what if this… black beast had something to do with it? Or the voices?

Or maybe she was over-thinking things? Levin was hammered. Maybe that's all there was to it. Maybe he was sane, just drunk.

Ellie shook her head, unhappily releasing Levin's grip on her hand. There wasn't enough information to work with right now. Maybe she could ask about it later… or better yet, leave her partner alone. Ellie groaned. Better to wait for now, see if Levin mentioned anything else before jumping to conclusions.

With a sigh, Ellie pushed herself to her feet, allowing herself to head out the door towards her room, dooming herself to a night of restlessness and confused thoughts.

* * *

"Let us know when the two of you get your Journeymen licenses," Nat said to Ellie. The two were standing together on the docks of Orage Dell, next to a large cargo ship that had agreed to carry Ellie and Levin back to Boma Village. All of Ellie's things were stuffed into a pair of duffels next to her. "If we're lucky, we'll meet the two of you somewhere in Loc Lac."

"We can all hunt together then!" Kim said excitedly, throwing her arms around Ellie's arms and hugging the bowgunner tightly.

"I hope so," Ellie grinned. "It'd be nice to get back to Loc Lac and at least have some familiar faces to see."

"I do hope you won't forget to send one our way as well, Miss Eleanor," Harker cut in. "As much as I enjoy the lovely Lady Kerrigan's company, I do enjoy male companionship every now and then, and Levin's the closest thing to a scientific mind I've met so far, though that's not saying all that much."

"Oh, shut up," Levin called from the dock's edge, staring intently at the ship they were bound to take home.

"I didn't think you'd be so fond of ships, Levin," Kerrigan, standing next to Harker, said.

"I'm not, really," Levin replied. "I'm just… mentally preparing myself for the ride."

"Memorizing the closest railing to the cabins, he means," Ellie laughed, earning an exasperated sigh from the great sword user.

Ellie's eyes lingered for a moment on her hunting partner. She had been tossing and turning the memory of what Levin had said the previous night around in her head since she'd first heard her partner say them. She still couldn't make sense of most of it. The thought of strange voices concerned her, alongside the whole "black beast" issue. Now that she thought about it, she couldn't make sense of any of it. The only thing that she really made sense of was… how intently Levin had tried to tell her how important she was to him.

Ellie heard a chuckle to her side and turned back, seeing Nat grinning at her ruefully. When Kim wandered off to mock Levin's lack of seaworthiness, the other bowgunner leaned forward and whispered into Ellie's ear. "You've got until Loc Lac, Ellie. After that, he's free game, got it?"

"I suggest you start looking elsewhere, then," Ellie replied quietly, with a smirk. "I'll have him by then, don't you worry."

"Maybe so, maybe so," Nat smiled. "But I'll leave myself open, just in case."

"All aboard!"

Ellie and the others turned as the first mate of the cargo vessel boomed out the ship's intent to leave to the few waiting passengers scattered nearby, starting a small ant line of people wishing to take themselves to their cabins.

"Well, looks like this is goodbye, then," Nat said sadly.

"For now," Ellie said.

"Get to Loc Lac quickly!" Kim said excitedly. "Last ones there buy rest free rounds at the taverns for a week."

"You're on!" Levin laughed. "See you, Harker, Kerry."

"Kerry?" Kerrigan asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I think it's something he just does," Harker told her. "Remember Levin, I'll be expecting a status report on that social experiment I told you about. Be sure to have some progress made before you get to Loc Lac!"

"Got it," Levin laughed, shooting a quick glance over to Ellie. The bowgunner wondered what that was about, but since it involved Harker and one of his "experiments," she decided maybe it was best if she stayed out of it.

"Good luck out there," Kerrigan told Ellie, giving her a farewell hug as well. "Keep an eye on your partner there. Anyone who's Harker's friend is bound to be pretty reckless, so he'll need watched."

"I'll try," Ellie replied. "But if Harker's friends tend towards recklessness, what does that say about you?"

"I stand by what I said," Kerrigan laughed.

"Last call!"

"Looks like that's our ride," Ellie said, picking up her bags. "We'll see you all later!"

The two Boma hunters found their way to the deck of the ship, but rather than immediately heading under, the two stayed on the deck, watching the shore as the ship left the dock. The two continued to wave and call out to their friends, up until they finally turned around a peninsula and the city went out of sight.

"You think tactually meet up with them in Loc Lac once we get our Journeyman licenses," Levin asked wistfully.

"Definitely," Ellie replied. "Those guys are tough. They'll be fine, and we'll be sure to have a hell of a time once we see them again."

Levin grinned. "Yeah, you're right."

* * *

"You think he's just having trouble tracking the thing?"

Nat looked at her partner and shrugged. It had been several hours since Levin and Ellie had taken off, and Harker and Kerrigan had since gotten on their own ship home. The two hunters' master was still away on a mission at the moment, leaving the two wondering what to do while they waited.

In the meantime, the two Orage Dell natives had decided that it was high time they took on a mission for themselves, one that didn't need to be signed off by their hunting teacher. So they'd taken on the first one they came across that their rank allowed: a simple escort mission to a nearby village. No real threats, except for some Jaggis and maybe a Royal Ludroth if fortune took a turn for the worse. But the local hunters seem pleased with them and sent them off with their best wishes.

"You know the way Master works out in the field," Nat told her partner. "He takes his time with hunts, makes sure everything's in place and perfect before he strikes. The Rathian's probably just moving around a lot and giving Master some trouble to catch up with."

"Are you sure Master won't be mad that we took on a mission without consulting him first?"

Nat sighed worriedly. Kim was always like this when they were alone. Where she put on a tough and bubbly exterior when she was around others, once they were by themselves, her fears and worries seemed to just rush to the surface, leaving Nat to help the poor girl work though her problems.

"I'm sure he'll be proud of the two of us taking the initiative," Nat assured the lance user with a smile. "Once he gets back from his mission and sees we've won, he'll have nothing but good things to say, even if we didn't wait for his return before we did our first mission."

"Yeah, I hope so," Kim said. But a happy smile was working across her face, so Nat knew she'd gotten through to the lancer. Just in time, too, Nat thought in relief, as the two of them turned the corner and came in sight of the small caravan they were signed on to travel with.

"It's too bad you weren't able to get a hold on that handsome great sword user, though," Kim teased her friend, her playful attitude back in full force.

"Oh, I'm sure I'll have a chance again once we meet up in Loc Lac," Nat sighed. "Though, that's if he's not taken already."

"He's really determined to become a true hunter though," Kim said thoughtfully. "I'd bet that the only people he'd date would be other hunters. Who else would get a chance? Ellie said the two of them weren't in a relationship or anything…"

Nat laughed. "You know, Kim, it's pretty impressive how you can turn your perceptiveness on and off so easily."

"Thanks! I think…"

The start of the journey was nothing too impressive or much to write home about. The travelers recognized the two hunters and seemed to be pleased to have some local legends to look after them. Not much happened for the first few hours of the trip, just a few Jaggis that got brave and the occasional Ludroth as they neared a river, and an exceptionally large herd of Aptonoth that forced them to stop in place for a good twenty minutes as they crossed the path.

However, as the caravan turned away from the river and turned back inland, the two hunters perked up, a thunderous rumbling echoing across the floodplain behind them. In a flash, the two were out of their wagons and on their feet as the caravan members looked around nervously, uncertain what to do. The two took up places at the rear of the caravan, eying the forest behind them as the rumbling grew ever closer.

Suddenly, with a burst of movement, a massive, dark shape burst from the trees, grumbling and groaning loudly. Nat blinked in surprise at the sight; a large Gobul, clearly old and battle-scarred. But why was it so far from the river? Most Gobul wouldn't stray too far from water unless their lives depended on it.

She realized the wagons were still nearby, the travelers uncertain what to do and frozen in fear. Nat waved her hands toward the inland, urging them on.

"Get out of here!" she barked. "We can take care of this! You get yourselves going and we'll catch up! Go!"

The travelers nodded fervently, and with cracks of whips and the groaning of wheels, the caravan took off. As the Gobul lurched forward, Kim lurched forward, piercing the beast's side while Nat blasted it with Pierce rounds to draw its attention away from the civilians.

The Gobul howled in anger as the rounds and the lance bit into its skin. Nat shot a glance backwards as the two hunters continued to try and keep the Gobul confused, glad to see the caravan turning a bend in the road and getting out of the Gobul's sight. Though they'd have to wound it a little to get it to leave and go back to its nest.

The two hunters switch back and forth with their attacks in a synchronized dance that they'd learned to weave with each other over the course of their time hunting together. One would dive in on the attack, pulling the creature's attention their way. Once the beast was completely focused on them, they'd dive back away, and the other would slide in from behind, striking from its blind spot where it was weak.

The fight continued for a good ten minutes this way, the two Orage Dell hunters slowly whittling away at the beast. But from over the sound of the Gobul's bellows of rage came a powerful, but lilting and almost amused voice.

"All right, this has gone on long enough! I'm bored watching this nonsense! Let's get this over with!"

From one of the thicker clumps of trees nearby, a massive slab of meat was hurled through the air towards the Gobul. The monster, spotting the treat, was quick to snap at it as it descended, perfectly fine with snapping down on something to give it strength. But Nat's eyes caught an oddity: the mean was practically filled up with small barrels, each bearing the common brand labeling them as highly flammable.

As the Gobul opened its mouth to accept the meal, a flash of a muzzle burst from the bushes, and a single bullet rocketed across the ground, connecting with the meat just as it fell into the Gobul's gullet, right as it closed it mouth on the treat. There was a moment of silence as the Gobul chewed on the meat, when a series of ripping, dulled explosions echoed through its insides. The Gobul screamed in pain as shafts of flame burst from its massive mouth and small nose slits.

Nat watched in horror as the poor creature writhed in pain, the flames and explosions searing it apart from the inside out. In a desperate attempt to live, the creature crawled pitifully towards a small puddle nearby, trying to put out the flames. Just before it reached the puddle, however, its strength gave out, and it tumbled to the ground. With one last death rattle, the Gobul ceased moving, it's eyes glazing over as life left them.

"Wonderful! An absolutely beautiful death! Such suffering! Such _torment_!"

Nat's eyes immediately snapped towards the brush where the shot had lanced out, fury enveloping her at the voice. She realized that hunting sometimes required unorthodox methods to attain success, but to kill a monster for the simple _enjoyment_ of watching it suffer and die? That kind of person didn't deserve the title of hunter! Nat saw Kim turning as well, lance pointed menacingly towards the voice as well. Obviously her partner shared similar thoughts.

Excited, high-pitched laughter pealed across the field they stood on. "It seems the two are less then pleased with my methods! Good, that'll make this next part more fun."

From the shadows of the trees, a thin woman practically floated from the trees, helmet held securely under an arm, a mocking and thrilled smile twisted across her face as long black hair fluttered in the light breeze behind her. And twisted was the right word for her smile. Nat found herself shivering involuntarily. Whoever this woman was, her expression was like looking directly into the heart of lust and violence. The woman bore an impressive-looking bowgun made of red-hot scales, but not of Rathalos make. Her armor was a mystery as well, an odd crimson colored alloy that Nat didn't recognize.

However, it was her companion that truly shocked Nat. Like a hulking giant, her partner emerged from the trees, making Nat wonder how he could ever had been hidden from her in the first place. The man bore the same crimson armor, but his face was obscured by a helmet. However, he was absolutely massive, to say the least, his thick muscles an impressive and fearful as his height. The capper was the diabolical-looking hammer slung across his back, a terrifying black and purple spiked club.

"Quick this quick, woman," the man muttered in a deep voice. "We've not got much time to work."

"Yes, yes, of course," the woman replied, waving the man off. "Though, if our employer really wanted me at my full potential, he'd let me… take my time." Nat didn't like the way the woman looked at her and Kim when she said that, and involuntarily pulled her bowgun a little closer.

"Just get on with it," the man muttered impatiently.

"Oh, alright," the woman sighed in exasperation. "Well, you two, I'll keep this simple. Myself and my companion here are here for only one reason. We'd like to offer the two of you a job."

Nat blinked in surprise and heard Kim mutter in confusion. She hadn't been expecting that. But she steeled herself when she saw the woman preparing to continue, cutting in. "No."

The woman seemed put off balance at the sudden reply, unaccustomed to being interrupted. "Excuse me?" she asked icily.

"I don't know who you are or what job you're offering," Nat said bluntly. "But I absolutely refuse under any and all circumstances to work with anyone… anyone who would enjoy something like _that_," she said motioning to the charred Gobul.

"Yeah!" Kim added in. "You two are sick! Buzz off!"

Nat saw the large man groan in irritation, shaking his head. "I knew it'd be a bad idea to let you kill that Gobul. Should've just waited until they were done fighting. This would've gone faster."

But the woman, still coldly glaring at Nat, laughed wickedly. "Oh, no, not at all. This is exactly what I wanted to happen. It takes far, far too long to convince people. It's faster to just do it my way."

"I told you we're not going to work with you!" Nat snapped.

The woman laughed again, a chilling sound. With one fluid motion, she slid her helmet over her head and slung her bowgun into firing position. "I don't think you understand, deary. This job offer… what was it the boss said? This offer… is an offer you can't refuse."

"Back off!" Kim barked threateningly, as the massive man's hand began to move towards the hilt of his hammer. "We're a couple of the best hunters in this area! Trained personally by hunting Master Richard!"

A peal of laughter louder than any of the others before flew from the woman's throat. Nat could practically feel her heart sinking at the sound. That was the laugh of someone who knew something, something terrible.

"Little brat!" the woman hissed. "We've already captured your precious Master Richard!"

"You lie!" Nat screamed.

"No!" the woman laughed even louder. "Caught him as he was hunting some Rathian in the area! Sent him back to our base on a stretcher! I'll admit the old bastard had some fight in him, though. And you two are next!"

"Never!" Kim howled bursting forward in a charge towards the woman.

Nat quickly snapped her bowgun, ready to fire on the woman before she could shoot at her partner, but a flash of motion to the side caught her eye. She realized in shock that the massive hammer wielded had somehow managed to close the distance between himself and her in only a moment or two and was already only a few feet away, his spiked hammer swinging around towards her.

Nat didn't even have time to scream in surprise before blinding pain split across her chest and darkening her world.

.

**Author's Note: Please Review!**

_**What a twist**_**! Once again I feel particularly diabolical at the end of the chapter, and am totally looking forward to the comments! You can't hear it, but I'm totally practicing my maniacal laughter right now. **

**To my reviewer Hoenn, I've thought up a good place to put your OC, and I'll try to fit him in. However, it'll be a little while before we see him, if that's fine with you. To "terrortheslayer," go right ahead; just give credit where credit is due please and send me a link when you've got something out! I'd love to read it.**

**I'm leaving this up to you guys. I realize Levin has an enjoyment giving people nicknames. However, over the course of the last few chapters, I've had trouble giving Harker a good nickname. Anyone got any good ideas?**

**Finally, I've set up a Beta Reader profile, so if any of you want a beta reader to help with story issues, I'd be perfectly happy to help. Just PM me and if it's something I'm familiar with, I'll give it a look. **

**Reading: **_**A Game of Thrones**_** by George R.R. Martin, **_**The Eye of the Dragon**_** by Stephen King, **_**The Memory of Earth**_** by Orson Scott Card, **_**The Great Hunt**_** by Robert Jordan  
Playing: Mass Effect 2, BFBC2, Fallout 3 (obsessively)  
Listening: Dubstep, Modest Mouse, The OK Go, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Reel Big Fish, Relient K**


	19. Caves of Fire

Caves of Fire

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. All the characters in this story are mine._

With a thunderous explosion and a bright flash of steel, the broad, inflated hulk that was the Gobul howled in pain and frustration. Red lines of blood and swaths of ugly burned skin covered his body and sides. The creature's spiked tail was only half of its original length; the remainder of it was awkwardly propped up against a nearby tree, where it had fallen when it had been cut away. Its once-bright lantern now seemed dim and faded, the stalk bent slightly from about a foot below the peak where the flat end of a blade had smashed into it.

The Gobul growled in frustration to itself and to the hunters. It had left its nesting grounds in warmer, more humid climes down south, making the long and arduous journey to the north in hopes of finding a new place to live, where the other Gobuls from his and other nests wouldn't be fighting each other constantly for territory. Admittedly, this area was rife with what the humans called Royal Ludroth and occasional Lagiacrus, and the difference in salt water thickness irritated his gills slightly, and the fish here were smaller; but it was quiet and the Gobul liked it here. It hadn't taken much effort to chase some Ludroth out of a snug little bay and claim it as his own.

Sure, he'd capsized a few fishing boats that had decided to infringe on the new territory he'd claimed as his, but that was to be expected, wasn't it? Territory was something the humans didn't seem to fully comprehend about his species and that of the other monsters that roamed the world. But the prideful humans had decided that the Gobul was a threat, apparently, and had hired a couple of hunters to come and kill him, or at least to chase him away. Another problem with humans, that; they much preferred to kill that which caused them problems, rather than to simply avoid the area or try to reoccupy the area.

The Gobul hadn't minded the challenge at first. Just some more morsels to snack on, to further solidify its presence in these waters.

But those damnable noise blasts! Every time the Gobul tried to hide under the sand and sneak up on the two, they made some awful screeching sound device go off! It had gotten so bad; the Gobul had been forced to go to land to defend his territory. And that only made it worse; the land was the human's natural habitat! Damn them, but they'd managed to sever his tail and bend his stalk in their fight, his prides as a fine young Gobul! And those fire blasts, how they seared his soft, rubbery hide! It would take weeks to heal fully!

Not that the injury stopped it from trying to stun the two hunters that assaulted it. Even as the Gobul heaved for breath, its weariness getting the best of it, the lantern began to glow and flash repeatedly as the creature attempted to blind its two assailants. The two humans must have fought one of his kin before, to have predicted his blinding lantern's flash!

"Watch out!" the human with the large metal blade called to his companion, pulling his broad weapon up and shielding his face from the incoming barrage of light. The other human, one with a long-range weapon, backed away from the Gobul, covering her eyes in an attempt to blot out blinding light that was coming. The monster knew the strength of his own lantern, though, and knew that the hunter wasn't nearly far enough away to escape the effects of the flash.

The Gobul growled victoriously as its lantern exploded in light, coating the whole area in light and shadow. He listened intently, catching the sound of a pained cry of frustration. It'd gotten her! The female was blinded! As the Gobul lowered its stalk, it quickly twisted around to face the woman, kicking up sand as it lunged towards the human.

But from the side came a flash of metallic light, and the Gobul cried out in pain as the thick bulk of the male hunter's blade cut deeply into the Gobul's underbelly, spilling blood onto the pristine white sand under it. The sword swinger had cut him off! The Gobul growled in anger, twisting its face toward the male as it bore its sword forward, ready to strike again.

But as the Gobul turned, it realized that the male sword swinger was in the perfect location for it to strike back. With a twist of its body, the Gobul spun its massive, inflated body into a rolling motion, spinning like a loose boulder towards the male, bearing down on the male. The male yelped in surprise, trying to swing up his sword in defense, but the Gobul, proud of his speed, felt the satisfying feeling as some of its massive spine pierced through the young man's armor, tearing against his flesh. There wasn't anything truly damaging, but the male cried out in pain, which was very gratifying.

Suddenly, as the Gobul rolled to a halt, a sharp pain lanced out from the Gobul's bent lantern stalk. The beast looked up at its proud lamp and saw with dismay that its once fine object of blinding light was now shattered and torn, the remains of one of the female's shots still embedded in the remaining flesh of the lantern.

A look of victory shot between the two hunters as they looked back and forth between each other, the Gobul noticed. For the first time since the fight proper began, the Gobul actually felt a twinge of nervousness. These two hunters had proven to be a much larger threat then the Gobul had ever imagined! Suddenly a few tussles with other Gobuls in a territory fight didn't seem quite so bad anymore. The Gobul caught itself giving a sidelong glance towards the broad ocean, wondering how much of a head start it would need to escape from the two hunters, and whether or not the two of them still had anymore of those noise blast things.

A motion from the female caught the Gobul's attention, and the beast caught sight of the woman pulling a rather large object from a sac on her waist. The Gobul winced in recognition; that was one of those things that flew out of her weapon, and it was one of the bigger ones… she was going to throw fire and explosions at him again!

That clenched it! As easy as it had been to secure himself a nest in this area of the ocean, it was not worth the effort of fighting these two hunters! And he knew if these two died, more would simply come later! The Gobul quickly turned to face the ocean; he'd find himself a new nest elsewhere, even if it meant fighting off other Gobuls for territory. It had to be safer than this!

The Gobul took off running, thankfully much to the surprise of the hunters. The beast heard the sound of the female's weapon firing, and realized that it was still inflated. Quickly, it forced itself to relax and deflate, pulling in its spines and sucking it its hump. Thankfully, the female had been aiming for its hump in the first place, and the Gobul heard the thing of fire sail harmlessly over his head, making the female curse loudly enough for the Gobul to hear, even as the beast waddled away as fast as he could manage.

The Gobul could hear the two hunters panting and cursing as they chased it across the beach of the little bay the monster had claimed. The Gobul reveled in the sense of protest and despair that filled the hunters' estranged shouts as the Gobul closed the distance between the battlefield and the ocean. The Gobul was glad that the male hunter hadn't gotten a hit on his leg when he'd taken a swing earlier; he needed all the speed he could muster to keep ahead of the two humans as he made a break for the ocean.

As the Gobul's feet clumped over the soft sand of the beach that stretched out into the ocean, it felt a satisfying sense of victory as it coiled itself up, tightening its hind legs, and launched itself into the air. With a cold splash, the large-mouthed leviathan sunk contentedly into the chilly ocean water, taking a deep breath and immediately swimming away from the shoreline. The creature could hear splashing as the hunters tailed him into the water, and slid to the side as the sound of the female's weapon boomed dangerous things toward him.

Soon enough, however, the sound of the two humans slowed and stopped the further away from shore the Gobul got, and with a sigh of relief, he heard the two turning back around to land. The Gobul released a tired sigh as it allowed itself to sink to the bottom of the ocean, shuffling itself beneath the cool mud to get some sleep.

As it began to doze, the Gobul decided that maybe he wouldn't head back home quite so quickly yet. Maybe he'd head a little further north, towards the cooler waters. He recalled him and his fellow nestlings hearing tales from their parents about Gobul that braved the icy waters in the north, where the Lagiacrus dared not travel and the Royal Ludroths sponges weren't thick enough to block out the cold. The Gobul wondered if his blubber was thick enough to keep him warm, and decided that maybe he'd give it a shot, swimming up to the far northern climes in search of a new nest. He'd give any hunters up there quite a shock, that he would…

* * *

"Damn it all!" Ellie cursed as Levin and her waded themselves back onto shore, shaking the ocean water off her body as the two hunters pulled themselves back only shore.

Levin shook his head, wringing the salty water out of his messy hair. His armor was designed to be a little better underwater than most other armors, but it never really made him feel any less soggy once he pulled himself out of the ocean. The great sword user smirked over to his partner as she wrung out her own long hair. He was glad his own hair wasn't quite that long, though he had to admit he found it quite attractive on Ellie.

He flinched as his partner turned to look at him, worried that she'd seen the look on his face as he'd been looking at her. He quickly snapped a smile her way, covering his embarrassment. At the sight of his grin, his partner reddened a little and turned away, making Levin frown in confusion. She'd been acting oddly since they'd returned from Orage Dell. The two of them seemed to try and find themselves alone more and more often since they'd come back from the hunter's exam. However, every time the two of them met, things seemed to be… awkward. The same mental image of the two of them together over the flower valley always appeared in his mind when they were together, making him nervous. She seemed to be acting oddly as well, always seemingly stuck between wanting to tell him something and wanting to ask him something.

Although, he thought, he had to admit that his own impression of her had changed dramatically as well while they were there. But for him, it only made him want to be near her all the more, which certainly made it awkward when she mostly seemed like she wanted to keep her distance.

"It can't be helped, I guess," Levin sighed, turning around holding out his arms to soak in the sun. "It was strange enough that a Gobul decided to try and nest in this area. I guess we really shouldn't think of it as that strange that it decided to take off again."

"But we won't get any ranking points for the mission," Ellie groaned. "We've only just barely earned our second star! If the monsters we sign up to hunt keep running, how are we supposed to rank up again? At this rate, the others will be in Loc Lac for a month before we are!"

"We'll be fine," Levin laughed. "After all, we still get some points from this mission, even if it's not as much."

Ellie raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Really? How? We didn't manage to kill or capture it."

"You didn't read the mission report, did you?" Levin grinned. When Ellie shook her head sheepishly, Levin continued. "The Guild's main request from the village a little inland from here only asked us to make sure the Gobul left the area. Sure, the Guild offered the most money and hunter points provided we kill it, but as long as the Gobul's gone, they'll give us credit for it.

"Besides," he continued, motioning Ellie towards the bay they'd first started fighting in, "they offered a bonus for us if we brought back proof that we took out the thing's tail and lantern. And I _know_ we've got proof of the tail."

"Oh, yeah," Ellie replied, grinning. "I thought those only applied if we killed it in the end."

"Nope!"

Levin had to admit, the Hunting Guild's promotion system was pretty damn complicated. Each monster hunted and each collection mission undergone had a defined difficulty rating, scaled from maybe fifty points to numbers up in the thousands (according to Mel, at least; Levin and Ellie hadn't done anything over 200 points). There were apparently many ways to get points, from killing monsters to collecting herbs to whatever the Guild decided was important enough. Certain rare or expensive goods from monsters or the wilds could be traded in to the Guild in exchange for extra points when you got back from a mission. Or in Levin and Ellie's current situation, removing tails or other parts from the larger monsters gained you bonus points.

The difficulty ratings were another issue. All missions were rated on a scale from one to six stars, the difficulty increasing with each rank. That had been the big problem when they'd first started hunting; when you were an apprentice, there was a bit of leniency in the missions your master could take you on, the Guild allowing apprentices to take on up to three star missions. But once the two of them had become full-fledged hunters, they were forced to keep to the easy missions until they'd earned their next star. Once you'd gained enough hunter points, you could send in an application to earn your next one, and the Guild would send you on an exceptionally challenging mission to earn your stripes (or stars). Levin and Ellie had been sent south on a special request mission to take out an especially experienced Royal Ludroth in order to earn their second stars.

The goal of all determined hunters rested in the third star, however. A hunter had to have an abundance of experience to even be considered for the third star, and the missions that went hand in hand with earning the star were near sinister in difficulty, according to Mel and Marshall at least. But once you'd earned that star, you were advanced from the title of Rookie Hunter to the level of Journeyman Hunter. And with this title came the biggest of all moments for most hunters: an invite from the Guild to travel to and become members of the Loc Lac Hunter's Guild, the central monster hunting hub on the whole continent. The biggest goal of any hunter was the chance to join the Loc Lac Hunter's Guild, in order to gain experience and fame and earn the titles of Professional then Master Hunter, at five and six stars, respectively.

But the problem with working for the Guild was that, in both Ellie and Levin's minds, the points just didn't seem to come fast enough. Not in Boma, at least. In this area of the world, most of the high-profile monsters were far out of their ranking range, and rather than taking the two of their skill into account, the challenges they were allowed to take part in coincided with their ranks. Not to mention the fact that a lot of their hunting was done away from Boma Village; the village had Marshall around to deal with any big nasties that dropped in, so most of the mission requests came from villages and towns down the coast in either direction, or further inland. Levin was getting sick of traveling for several days to take down an overconfident Great Jaggi or a Royal Ludroth that was getting a little overzealous in its territory expansions. Near Boma itself, all they could really do was collect rare plants or certain monster parts for the Guild's warehouses.

The Gobul that had just gotten away was the closest thing in the two Boma hunters' minds to a real mission then they'd had since becoming full-fledged hunters, and the exam was almost two months in the past .They'd been excited to fight something different, even if it was something they'd fought before. Most of the time, though, with most of the Guild missions in the area being too far away to effectively travel to them in time, any truly interesting sounding quests tended to be out of their range. In the meantime, though, the two were forced to spend most of their time doing as they'd always done: collecting materials for the village via village requests.

As the two hunters reached the messy stretch of sand where'd they'd been fighting the Gobul earlier, Levin walked up to the severed tail and bent down to look at it. It didn't seem like he'd cut off as much as he'd thought before; earlier, he'd been worried that the effort to haul the tail back to the Guild booth in Septer Vale, the village that needed the Gobul gone, would prove to be an exhausting effort on the two of their parts. But the thing looked like it didn't weigh much more than ten pounds, even with the half-dozen spikes sticking out the back.

With a grunt of effort, the great sword user hoisted the rubbery appendage out of the water, slinging it up and over his shoulder. "This'll be worth a few points, I think," he grinned to Ellie.

"I still wish we'd managed to finish it off," Ellie sighed, scouring the area nearby in search of some pieces of the Gobul's lantern. "I want to get our third star as soon as possible. Aha!"

The bowgunner grinned victoriously as she plucked a small bit of shrapnel from the ground. At first glance, it looked like a piece of very thin, very fine glass. But Levin knew from experience fighting the Gobul in Cobi Village that the material actually had a very organic feel to it, not the texture of something man-made or fabricated, and also seemed to glow from some inner reaction. Levin had been allowed to take a shard of the stuff off the Gobul they'd captured before; it had been such an odd sensation to hold the thing that Levin had almost been compelled to keep it instead or using it to make his next weapon. By the look on Ellie's face as she held it in her hands, she apparently felt the same.

"Too bad we have to give that stuff up to the Guild, isn't it?" Levin reminded her gently.

"Yeah," Ellie sighed. "Too bad… do we really have to give them this one? We could do without a few points."

"Maybe," Levin shrugged, "but Gobul materials are worth a bit more than the Jaggi and Ludroth materials. Giving that to the Guild rep in Septer will boost our hunter points a lot more than just turning in the tail. Besides, I'd like to try and get enough money so we have some cash to spend on new weapons once we get to Loc Lac finally."

Ellie frowned with a pouty face. "Skinflint," she muttered sourly.

"Oh, come on," Levin laughed. "Don't you even try and tell me that you weren't eyeing those nice shiny bowguns they were showing off in Orage. Especially that pretty red Rathalos one."

"Yeah," Ellie replied wistfully, thinking back to their time in Orage Dell. "But they won't just give me it in exchange for money. I'll need to earn the materials myself. So why shouldn't I just hold onto this little trinket for my own?"

"Do what you like," Levin shrugged. "But I didn't think they made a bowgun made of Gobul materials."

"I'll ask Nat about it the next time I send her a letter. Or Kerri if that doesn't work." The bowgunner had taken to mimicking Levin's nicknames, much to the great sword user's delight. Ellie suddenly frowned to herself in worried thought, though.

Levin knew what she was thinking about. As the two of them began to trek their way back to Septer, he looked over at his partner. "Still haven't gotten a reply from Kim or Nat yet?"

"No, not a one," Ellie replied, shaking her head. "It's like the two of them just… dropped off the earth. I mean, maybe the boats delivering the letters got attacked by a Lagiacrus or something. Or maybe there was a… clerical error or something along those lines. Or… or something. I don't know. But they're not responding."

Levin had been expecting this worry of his partner's. Over the course of the last week or so, he'd been asking peddlers and cargo ships passing through Boma about news concerning Kim and Nat, or anything involving them. Not many travelers really paid attention to the names of the local heroes of various towns and villages, but he'd managed to hear a bit of news on the two high-profile rookies… and their master.

And the news was good!

"Actually," he piped in, grinning slyly as Ellie shot him a confused look, "last week, I picked up some news from that one Guild ship that came by to pick up that Royal we captured. Apparently, right about the time we were taking the exams, the Guild was planning on requesting that Kim and Nat's master, Richard, move to some big hunter's stronghold further inland from Orage Dell. From what I heard, the guy had enough experience that they wanted him to join the town's Hunter's Council. Quite an honor, I've heard, to be asked to such a position."

Ellie's eyes lit up in excitement. "So they're fine? They're not… you know?"

Levin laughed. "I doubt it. I have a hard time imagining someone that those two looked up to so much just leaving them behind right after they'd passed their hunter's exam. They probably got invited to go with the guy. That's probably the reason why your letters haven't been reaching them; they're in another town."

Ellie sighed visibly in relief, before a thoughtful look covered her face. "You'd think they would've sent us a letter about that, though…"

"It's only been a couple months," Levin shrugged. "You've gotta give them time to get themselves all moved around. And the stronghold's a pretty rough place to live, I've heard. If there's a place where you'll have trouble getting letters through, it'll be a place like that."

"Well, I guess that's a relief to hear," Ellie said, rolling the small lantern orb around in her hand. "I'm glad they're alright. I mean, Harker and Kerri's letters have been coming through, and they're further away and all."

Levin laughed at the memory of the first letter the two of them had received from the desert dwellers. "I still thought the look on Marshall's face was priceless when their letter got here."

"There were five pounds of paper inside it!" Ellie groaned. "Does Harker not know the meaning of restraint? Kerri's letter was two pages long, and Harker sent a damn thesis through the post! How do you write that much without your hand falling off?"

"Dedication," Levin replied with another laugh. "Did you even read it all the way through? I'll admit, there was a lot of gibberish in it, but there were some pretty interesting and funny stories through it."

"You can give me the cliff notes later," Ellie muttered, making Levin chuckle again.

In a few minutes, the two crested a hill that looked down upon where the small village of Septer sat, nestled near the water's edge. The town was small enough that the two hunters could easily see the bright red Guild banner flying proudly over the tops of the roofs. Levin adjusted the squishy tail that hung loosely over his shoulder and motioned down to the little cluster of huts.

"Let's finish this up," Levin said. "Maybe if we're lucky, there'll be a ship at port to give us a lift back to Boma."

"Maybe," Ellie replied, still cradling the small shard of the Gobul's lantern in her hands. "Hopefully. I really want to get back to see if any letters from Kim and Nat have come through."

"Let's go then," Levin grinned, and the two made their way down the hill.

* * *

Three days later, Levin found himself standing at the bow of a small ship destined for Boma Village. He knew the cargo freighter was supposed to be coming into sight of the village in a short amount of time, but he sorely wished that that was the reason he was on deck. His stomach churned as if in reply to his thoughts, and the great sword user leaned even further over the railing, earning a laugh from a pair of passing sailors.

They'd caught a ship to Boma the day after chasing the Gobul out of the bay it had taken control of. Which was fine by the two hunters, as the villagers had been perfectly content with throwing the two of them a big "thank you" party. Though, the villagers' concept of a party was to simply throw a few slabs of Aptonoth meat over the fires, and sit around all night telling fishing stories and forcing the two Boma hunters to tell and re-tell how they'd sent the Gobul packing. But Levin and Ellie were both perfectly alright with that, enjoying hearing the villagers laugh as every telling got further and further embellished.

Levin thought it was odd when he'd been offered some of the innkeeper's handmade ale. Not the offer itself, but how Ellie's eyes had snapped to him and kept a sharp eye on him until he'd finally gone to bed. He knew he'd gotten… quite drunk when they'd passed the hunter's exam. Had he done or said something stupid or uncouth during that time? He'd tried to remember, but failed, and asking Ellie about it himself seemed a bit out of the question.

Why had he gotten so drunk in the first place, anyway? He knew he'd been trying to keep his alcohol level down during that time since he was injured. He'd promised Ellie he would. So what made him drink so much? He thought he'd had better self-control than that…

_You worry about her impression of you. You can't leave her alone. Protect her!_

_She'll be threatened by the beast! Leave her behind and seek out to take its head!_

Levin pulled back from the railing and shook his head in frustration. The whispers were still there, trying to force ideas and desires into his mind. It was times like now when he was glad he got seasick; for the most part, being constantly worried about how quickly he could get to the railing tended to drown out the two of them. Ellie seemed to catch when he was hearing them particularly clearly, too, always seemingly appearing out of nowhere and asking

"You alright, Levin?"

Speak of the devil… Levin turned and grinned ruefully as his partner approached from the cabins. The bowgunner had a grin on her face, but Levin could tell that her eyes were prying into his, trying to determine what had been on his mind.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Levin assured her, shaking his head, but not daring to leave the safety of the railing. "Just waiting impatiently for us to get home. Too much more of this and my stomach will decide it wants to vacate my body."

Ellie rolled her eyes and laughed. "Such a wonderful image. Well, I talked to the captain, and he said that home should just be right around the next bend in the shoreline. How in the world did you survive the trip to Orage Dell? It's gotta be about three times further away from Boma than Septer was."

"Who knows?" Levin smirked. A bit of light caught his eye from the side and he turned, a sigh of relief escaping his mouth. Sure enough, out of the corner of his eyes, he'd caught sight of the bright flames that danced at the tops of poles at the Boma Village docks, where a couple other trading ships floated idly in the water. He almost felt better already, knowing he'd be off this floating vomit-inducer soon.

Ten minutes later, the two hunters stood at the edge of the ship, patiently waiting for the ship to inch close enough to the pier for the gangplank to be raised. Levin saw Ellie smirking at him as he tapped his foot nervously, feeling his stomach making some last-minute cartwheels, as though it sensed that he was about to hop off the ship and escape its torment.

As the large wooden platform settled onto the ship's bow, Ellie intentionally stepped in front of Levin, deliberately going as slow as possible in order to irritate her partner. The sailors on board laughed as the great sword user begged his partner to let him get off the ship. As the bowgunner abruptly stopped halfway down the plank, turning to look with false questioning at Levin, his frustration got the better of him. With a swing of his arms, he grabbed the bowgunner by the legs, unceremoniously throwing the squealing girl over his shoulder to the cheers and gibes of the laughing sailors. Swinging his other hand down to grab Ellie's bag, he marched down the rest of the gangplank with the bowgunner griping over his shoulder.

Levin laughed victoriously as he stepped down onto the pier, spinning around to wave to the whooping sailors as he walked down the pier, Ellie bucking and kicking in an attempt to get him to release her. The passerby, people the two had known as long as they'd been in the village, laughed at the sight as Levin walked past.

"Let me down!" Ellie growled angrily, kicking her knee against Levin's chest, but only making him laugh harder.

"Wasn't I just asking the same of you as we were walking off the ship, Miss Ellie?" he asked with a smirk. "You're not even under the threat of throwing up, though. You should consider this a free ride."

"I should consider this harassment," the bowgunner replied, trying to punch Levin in the side but lacking the proper flexibility.

"Oh, come on now," Levin laughed. "It's hardly that bad. Just consider it an act of kindness. We can tell people you're wounded if it really bothers you. Besides, this isn't really sexual harassment. If I wanted to be accused of something like that, I'd do something like this."

The bowgunner let out a satisfying squeak of surprise as the great sword user adjusted his grip enough that he could reach up and give her backside a good squeeze. Levin could practically _feel_ his partner blushing as her attempts to break free of his grip increased in force. But he refused to release her, despite knowing that he'd most likely walk away from this encounter with numerous bruises, as well as some well-thought-out plan for vengeance to be wreaked on him in a day or two. Oh well, he thought, taking another squeeze and making Ellie yelp louder. If he survived the aftermath, he'd still consider the feel as worth the pain.

"Well, you two look like you're enjoying yourself."

Levin swung to the side, grinning as he caught sight of his own hunting master, Marshall, standing at the end of the pier, where the wood of the dock melded away into the cobblestone of Boma's interior streets. The old hunter smirked at the sight of the two of them, rolling his eyes as Levin grinned in amusement.

"I'm enjoying myself," Levin replied, before motioning his head at Ellie. The action ended up with him basically smacking his head into Ellie's side. "Can't say too much about this one here, though."

"You know, under most conditions, when you carry a woman, it's supposed to be in your arms, not over your shoulder."

"This was faster."

"Damn it all!" Ellie barked. "Marshall, hurry up and tell this ass to put me down so I can kill him! I'm going to castrate this bastard!"

Marshall raised an eyebrow at the words and shook his head in exasperation. "What did you do to the poor girl, Levin?"

"Nothing I wouldn't mind doing again."

"You do it again and I'll take your hand!" Ellie roared.

Marshall rolled his eyes again, and then scratched his beard thoughtfully. "Actually, turn around. We've got somewhere to go, and I honestly don't mind if you carry her along with us like that."

"What!" Ellie screamed.

"Come along, now," Marshall said, motioning back to the docks. "We've got someplace we need to go."

For the first time since spotting the older hunter, Levin noticed that the old man had a large satchel lying on the ground next to him, and his massive monster-tooth hammer. Marshall quickly bent down and picked up the large bag and weapon, hefting them over his own shoulder with ease and beginning a swift march back towards the ocean. Levin frowned in confusion, but shrugged in reply (jostling Ellie a bit and making her protest the motion), and turned the follow his hunting teacher.

Ellie had long since given up trying to break free of Levin's grip by the time Marshall came to a halt at the end of one of the larger docks. By then, she'd become content to grumble softly to herself, only speaking loud enough for Levin to hear when she was thinking about something she was planning for him to get revenge. Particularly what she would do to certain body parts. Some of the things she muttered made Levin wonder how long he could carry her to stave of whatever punishment she was plotting.

Levin looked up at the ship that the older hunter had stopped in front of. It was a much sleeker-looking vessel than he was used to seeing docked in Boma, aside from the fishing boats the village sent out on a regular basis. It certainly looked as though it was designed for speed above all else, though Levin really didn't know all that much about ships. Definitely a passenger ship, Levin could tell, based on the amount of civilians on board the deck and the more civilized dress of the crew.

"What are we doing here?" he asked.

"Getting aboard, of course," Marshall replied simply. "I've accepted a mission for the three of us to take together, one that only requires a two star rank, fortunately. We're heading off to a nearby island to deal with a Rathian."

There was a moment of silence as Levin processed the words. Finally the information clicked into place.

"We're _what_?" Levin said, reeling in shock. But the motion was too careless on the wet planks, and the great sword user found his feet sliding out from under him and the effects of gravity taking control. In a fraction of a second, with a yelp of surprise from both him and Ellie, he found himself flat on his back, his partner sprawled on the dock next to him.

Before he could push himself to his feet, however, the bowgunner had twisted around and reached her arm around the great sword user's throat and had him pulled into a chokehold. Levin found himself flailing wildly on the dock as his partner dragged him to his feet angrily.

"Is it too late to beg for forgiveness?" he managed to squeak out hopefully.

"Way, way too late," she growled. "You're not getting away easily for that little move. But for now… I'll just have to settle for this!"

Levin felt his feet slide out from underneath him again, but this time due to his partner kicking out his feet from underneath him. He would've fallen onto his back again, but with a quick shove to the side, Levin found himself tilting over towards the water. He managed to yelp in surprise before gravity took over once again, and he found himself dunked into the chilly water of the ocean.

The great sword user gasped for breath as he struggled his way back up to the surface, grabbing wildly for the dock. As he grabbed ahold of the wooden planks, he saw Ellie standing up on the dock, grinning down at him. Marshall stood next to her, shaking his head and chuckling quietly as passerby grinned in amusement. As the great sword user grinned up sheepishly at his partner, he realized she was holding something in her hand. Upon noticing his line of sight, she held it up for him to look at.

"My wallet?" he sputtered in surprise. When the hell had she managed to swipe his billfold? "I wasn't aware you were so adept at sleight of hand, Miss Ellie."

"And now you do," she smirked. "And you won't forget, considering that I'll be holding onto this for a while as punishment. And before you get your hopes up, there will be more to suffer later."

"There's at least three thousand zenny in there!" Levin protested.

"Consider it reimbursement for the liberties you've taken, then," Ellie smirked, before turning back to Marshall. "So, what were you saying about a Rathian?"

Despite his dismay at the loss of his wallet, Levin had to feel a bit of concern at Ellie's words. He knew Ellie's feelings about the Raths in general, and despite her recent improvements on bettering herself concerning the dragons, he still saw her eyes light up when travelers and hunters passing through brought up stories on the fire breathers.

"Well," Marshall began, looking down at Levin as the great sword user pulled himself up and out of the water, "when I said we were going to deal with a Rathian, I may have been speaking a little vaguely. You see, Eleanor, we're not going to be fighting a Rathian at all, although that particular monster will be a concern of ours."

Levin saw Ellie's face fall slightly at the words, but her face was still intent on learning more about the mission. Marshall noticed this, and continued as the great sword user shook himself off onto the planks of the docks.

"There is a rather old and powerful Rathian present on the island we're heading to," Marshall told the two hunters. "However, it and its mate, the Rathalos (yes there's a Rathalos there too), tend to leave the villagers on the island alone, unless they get caught outside their village in the wilds. There's enough food on the island for them to eat without hunting down humans."

"So why did you say we're going to have to deal with them?" Ellie asked, somewhat irked at misunderstanding the situation.

"Well, we will certainly have to risk running afoul with the Rathian," Marshall admitted. "We were hired by a monster scholar who requested that we… well, that we recover a couple of Rath eggs from the wyverns' nest, and carry them back to the village."

Now it was Ellie's turn to pause in thought before gaping in surprise. "We're supposed to steal _dragon eggs_ from their nest?"

"That's exactly it," Marshall replied with a nod.

"How the hell are we supposed to steal their eggs from their nest?" Ellie asked. "From what I've heard, the Raths are a couple of the most defensive monsters in the world when it comes to their eggs. I've heard about some of them that hunted egg thieves for hundreds of miles without giving up."

"Well, we won't really have to worry about them going that far I think," Marhsall told her. "From the information we've received from the village, the nest has six eggs in it. I know from experience that the Raths wouldn't dare chase us too far if it meant leaving the other eggs behind."

"What if one of the dragons stayed behind while the other hunted us down?" Levin asked, taking off his shirt to wring it out.

"It's possible," Marshall admitted. "But from the information the Guild passed on to us, the Rathalos' territory is quite large, and during this time of the year, it's usually out visiting other islands in order to properly maintain its control of the territory."

"That's lucky," Levin said, and Ellie nodded as well. "But there's still the Rathian to deal with."

Levin expected Marshall to tell them something encouraging them that the situation would be perfectly fine, provided they were careful, or to ensure them that he'd be around to help. What he hadn't expected was that the hammer user simply shrugged, then stared intently between the two of them. "Who knows how we'll do it? This isn't a mission requiring skill with weapons or the ability to hunt and kill a monster. This is purely a find-and-recover mission, and also a survival mission."

The two younger hunters looked at each other nervously at the older hunter's words as the hammer user continued. "I realize that the two of you are aiming for Loc Lac, and there's not much more time available for me to try and teach you things. So this will be the last of my lessons for the two of you. I've taught the two of you how to hunt, how to fight, how to carve, how to mine, and hundreds of other things. However, my last bit of teaching for you will be on having the two of you learn how to _survive_.

"Our goal for this mission is not to kill the Rathian, it is to collect the eggs that our benefactor has requested, and then it is to run back to the village and turn in the eggs. This is not a lesson in battle, but a lesson in survival. I will not lie to you two; once the eggs have been taken from the nest, the Rathian will go to every extent to dog the two of you until we turn the eggs over to the Guild rep in the village and escape to the ocean. I will not be fighting the Rathian off for the two of you, I will be running alongside the two of you, as endangered as you will be. The only time I will even consider pulling out my hammer will be if all hope seems lost.

"This will be a lesson on running, hiding, and keeping out of sight. This will be a lesson on valuing your own life above that of your pride or your faith in your abilities. There will be times when your very life hangs not on whether or not you can fight, but on whether or not you can ward off fighting and stay alive."

Again his will, Levin found himself gulping nervously. It wasn't the sound of the mission that scared Levin, but the tone in Marshall's voice. His hunting teacher's tone was dead serious, and that meant that his words were true to a fault. The old man would not fight off the Rathian for them for almost any reason, and it was up to him and Ellie to keep themselves alive against a monster that outmatched them (and he had no delusions of grandeur against his chances of survival against the Rathian; he knew that he and Ellie wouldn't win by themselves).

He looked over at Ellie, and found that his partner seemed to feel similar, if not the same. Her face seemed somewhat excited at the concept of dealing with a Rathian, but also incredibly worried. He knew that, even though Ellie desperately wanted to take down a Rathian or Rathalos, still feared the two mighty dragons, and Levin worried about how they'd deal with the Rathian once they got to whatever island they were heading to.

"The two of you can stay behind if you want," Marshall told them suddenly. "I realize this kind of mission is abrupt, and I won't fault the two of you if you want to wait a while longer before doing a mission like this."

"No!" Ellie said quickly. "No, no, I'll do the mission. I want to do this. I've got to."

"I'll go of course," Levin said as well. "If I'm going to learn how to be a proper hunter, I'll need to live long enough to become one. I'll take whatever lessons you can give me, old man, no matter the topic."

"Good to hear," Marshall grinned. "Since we're all decided, I believe it's time we headed out, don't you think? It'll take a day or two of sailing to get to Echo Village from here, so it's best we set off quickly."

Levin felt his heart sink at the words. "Wait, we have to sail there? I just… me and Ellie just… can't we take another method of travel?"

"He told us the village was on an island," Ellie replied, smirking evilly. "That means we've got to sail there. Unless you plan on trying to swim there or something like that."

Levin groaned in dismay. "And I just got off the ship from Septer…"

"This is going to be a fun trip," Ellie smiled, laughter in her voice. "I can tell already."

As the old man and his partner walked quickly up the gangplank onto the deck of the ship, Levin took one last, wistful glance back to the shoreline. With a defeated sigh, he followed them up, his stomach starting to churn already in anticipation of the trip.

* * *

"Land! Sweet land!"

Levin was almost dashing across the gangplank before it settled into place on the edge of the boat. Several dock workers were forced to step nimbly out of the way as the great sword user burst past them, diving to the relative safety of the sturdy docks. He found several sailors were chuckling at his nausea as he gasped wildly for breath, allowing his stomach to settle properly.

"You all right, there, Mister Levin?" he heard Ellie ask as her footfalls followed him down off the boat. Her words spoke of concern but he could hear the humor in her voice. But she still stopped next to him and put a hand on his shoulder, making certain he wasn't looking too under the weather.

It made Levin happy to be the focus of her concern, it really did. For the first day or so of their trip towards the small island village of Echo Village, the bowgunner had only looked at him with a piercing glare of supreme loathing. It wounded Levin down to his soul to be looked at by that by the woman he… cared for (It was surprisingly hard to admit to, even in his head. Damn his pride!). The only time she'd really talked to him all that much was at points where he could barely respond from his stomach rebelling against him, getting her revenge by mocking him.

But luckily, her ire with him had faded over the course of the night, and she'd been a bit more compassionate towards him the day after. Levin supposed it might have been helpful when he'd been begging her for forgiveness the night before, before one of the other female travelers had gotten irritated with his presence and booted him out of the women's bunks. That little stunt had earned him some attention from the other passengers; a few of the other women aboard had been smirking at him for the remainder of the day after she'd kicked him to the curb.

Maybe that had been the reason she'd forgiven him so quickly, though, he realized. He'd seen her talking to some of the other female passengers while they were aboard, a rarity for a member of the Lost. They always seemed to quiet down when he was near, making him wonder if they were talking about him. Maybe the other women on board had felt pity for him and convinced his partner to give him a break. If that was the case, he owed them a big favor. Then again, they could just as easily have given her advice on how to lead him along for a while, then strike when he was least expecting it… oh, well. He'd deal with that if that how it turned out to be, but for now, he was just glad she was smiling at him again. She'd even given him his wallet back eventually. She'd kept a few hundred zenny or so for herself, however, just to make sure he felt some loss.

"Come along now," Marshall laughed, passing by the great sword user. "You can recover as we make our way to the village elder and Guild rep. They'll be able to tell us more about our mission and what it all entails."

Ellie patted Levin's shoulder as the old hunter passed the two of them by. "If you're alright, let's head out. We've got a mission to do after all. And this village is amazing, isn't it?"

Levin felt his stomach steadying and allowed himself to look up at the village. He realized his guts hadn't allowed him to get a good look at the village as they'd docked, sickness and the desire to escape the sway of the ship consuming his attention. But once he looked up at the village proper, he felt his breath catch in his throat.

It wasn't the design or the size of the village that caught Levin by surprise, but rather the total vastness of the area surrounding the village itself. Rather than being built along the sides of a bay or inlet, or at the mouth of a river, or along the base of a well-defendable hill, Echo Village was actually built under a massive rocky overhang. Enormous rock walls towered into the sky, covering the village underneath it in dark shadows and hanging creeper vines.

Looking out of the mouth of the cavern and across the "beach" of the island, Levin realized that for as far as he could see before the curve of the island turned out of his view, the entire landmass was almost completely a sheer cliff face. Along the walls of the cliffs, dozens, maybe even hundreds of dark caves and caverns dotted the walls, some filled with bird nests. There were even the occasional Qurupeco nests scattered across the walls.

The city was filled with lanterns and fires, filling what would otherwise be a dank and dreary cavern with warm, comforting light. Huge pillars of fire were planted inside massive stone columns that towered from floor to ceiling, standing like brilliant lighthouses throughout the village. If it weren't for the thick stone ceiling, Levin would never have guessed they weren't open to the sky, had he not looked up.

Three large archways stood at three corners of the interior of the village, away from where the docks jetted out into the ocean. The arches all bore massive wooden doors and were guarded by groups of town guards, standing intently and at arms. Caves, Levin realized, were behind the doors. Leading to what, though? Mines? Caverns? The rest of the island? He didn't see any other paths leading out to the island's forests and crops. But a village this size certainly wouldn't be able to survive on trade entirely.

"Some of the sailors told me about this village on the way here," Ellie told him as the great sword user got back to his feet. "Apparently there's only one or two places besides here that you can consider docking at, but they're too infested with monsters to do so. All the crops and lumber on the island are scattered around the cliffs above us, on the rare grassy areas along the edges. The villagers have to travel through series of tunnels and caves to get and retrieve their food and building materials."

"I've never seen a place like this before in my life," Levin breathed.

"I know, right?" Ellie smirked. "Everything that lives on this island has to travel through the caves and tunnels to get anywhere else. Unless it can fly, that is."

Levin and Ellie followed their master quickly as they wandered through the village, gaping in awe at the vibrant underground town. It seemed exactly the same as any other village, simply missing the sky above. They passed shops and buildings commonplace among other villages like it: a blacksmith, an armor dealer, a tanner, restaurants, fisheries, rare and imported goods dealers. Finally the three of them spotted the most familiar sign of all, the brilliant red flag of the Hunter's Guild. With a purposeful stride, Marshall led the two towards the well-lit booth.

A young man wearing the signature red uniform of the Guild sat behind the counter as the three hunters approached. He looked up as they come up to the counter, giving the three of them a wary look for a moment before realization seemed to dawn on him and a look of irritation seemed to spread across his face.

"You're the three, right?" he said abruptly. "The three hunters that are here to do the Guild called for the damn mission?"

"Yes, that's us," Marshall replied, a tone of confusion in his voice. Levin could understand the feeling. Most of the time, the local populous was glad to see hunters arrive to complete their quests. Some were uncaring when hunters came to their villages, but this was the first time that Levin had met a civilian or Guild member that met them with hostility.

"Well, it's about time you got here!" the young man grumbled. "You should've been here three days ago."

"We can only travel so quickly across the sea," Marshall replied irritably, "and I only accepted the quest three days ago. Do you expect us to fly like a Qurupeco migrating south for the winter? They don't exactly provide airship use this far from the cities."

"Well, maybe next time the three of you should…" suddenly the Guild member stopped in thought and frowned in frustration, shaking his head. "I… I'm sorry. I'm really being snappy today aren't I? It's just… the town's been a little… perturbed recently."

"Because of the Rathian?" Ellie asked. "Isn't that why you asked us to come?"

"No no, not because of the Rathian!" the Guild member chuckled. "Old Yara's been here longer than any of the humans. Both her and her mate, Noro, actually. Neither of them have bothered the village since… well, since long before I was born."

"You named the Rathian?" Ellie asked, shocked.

"Why not?" the Guild man shrugged. "She's been here forever, and she and Noro have kept most of the really nasty monsters away from the village since they started nesting here. As long as we don't bother her or her mate or her hatchlings, she leaves us and our village alone."

"That's an odd sort of relationship," Marshall said, surprised.

"It works well though," the Guild member replied. Then his face seemed to darken again. "Not that those two highborn jackasses…"

"Who?" Levin asked.

The Guild man blinked in surprise, shocked by his own admittance. "No, no, it's nothing. It's just… well… the man who requisitioned your mission and his… provider, are in town to make certain that the three of you come through on your mission."

Levin noticed that the Guild member nearby spat out the word "provider" when he spoke it and the look in his eyes was one of obvious distaste. A harrumph from the side made Levin turn and look, where a pair of passerby seemed to be growling at the sound of the word as well.

"Problems with the tourists?" Levin asked.

"Not exactly," the man replied, nervously looking around. "It's just, the man has some large demands, and… the village has had some trouble fulfilling his expectations. And every day he's here his demands just seem to grow greater. That's why I was a bit snippy earlier; we've been getting more and more impatient for you three to get here so we can get him _out_."

"Demands like what?" Ellie asked.

"Demands like us getting him certain foods every day, by exactly the right time, and at exactly the right temperature," the Guild man grumbled. "Things like that from the restaurants at least. He requires a different bed mattress every night, demands obscure items from the blacksmith and expects him to complete it before his other orders. And he comes by every day, demanding to know why the three of you aren't here yet, and how long we expect him to stay in this 'dingy backwater village' before he can finally head home to his mansion in Loc Lac."

At the words, the Guild man seemed to feel his anger overwhelm him, and he brought his fists down hard on the countertop, rattling the boards of the shop. Several other villagers nearby seemed to be muttering angrily as well, making Levin wonder how much hell this man had raised to make the entire village dislike him so much.

"There are some people like that in Loc Lac," Marshall said. "More than I'd like to admit. I've met some similar to this one; they're never a pleasant lot to get along with."

"Yeah, so sorry if I'm a bit bad-tempered today," the Guild man said. "I'd just like the three of you to hurry up and do your mission and get this jerk out of here. Hopefully, it's not something that'll take too long."

Marshall frowned in surprise. "You weren't told the details of the mission?"

"Not a thing!" the Guild man griped. "That's the weirdest part of all! You're almost required to give a detailed explanation of what you need the hunter to accomplish for your quest, but this guy isn't letting us know any of the details! He's using some obscenely obscure loopholes in the Guild bureaucracy to avoid letting us anything!"

"Is he doing something… illegal?" Ellie asked. "Like poaching?"

"No, no, the Guild wouldn't allow anything like that, no matter the customer," the Guild member replied, shaking his head. "Usually, when missions like this roll around, it's because whoever commissioned them is doing something… nondescript for the Guild. Something that they really don't want to admit to the populous that they're doing. Experiments, studies, that kind of thing, you know?"

"That's a bit dodgy," Levin said nervously. He couldn't help getting an odd feeling from this mission. The Guild had sent the details of the mission to Marshall, but not to the village itself? Something was up; it didn't matter what the Guild man behind the booth thought, whoever had requested that this mission go through wasn't after something for the Guild's sake, or they wouldn't have given Marshall the details yet either… right?

Apparently the old hammer user had the same sort of thoughts going through his head. With a tone of nonchalance, he quickly asked the guard, "I don't suppose you could pass on where this less-than-generous benefactor is at right now, could you?"

"Oh, if he's not here, then he's out causing trouble at the White Pillar Inn," the man replied, pointing the hunters further into the broad cavern. "It's right at the base of that really big stone column near the west gate. It's the same one that the three of you have been set up to stay at during the course of your mission. I don't envy the time the innkeeper must be having with the guy, I'll tell you that much."

"Since you seem to have been left a little bit out of the loop, I guess I'll just have to go have words with this benefactor instead," Marshall said.

"I wish you luck," the Guild man replied. "Try not to kill him while you're talking to him. Trust me, you'll want to."

Marshall quickly stepped away from the Guild counter, striding intently through the crowds towards the side of town that the Guild member had pointed them towards. Levin and Ellie followed close behind dutifully, easily able to go through the crowds, since Marshall's very presence seemed to make the crowd part out of their way. Levin wondered what kind of expression the old hunter was wearing to have such an effect on so many people.

It took a good ten minutes to cross the village to the pillar that the Guild member had spoken of. When they finally arrived at the well-lit inn, Levin could see where the White Pillar had gotten its name. The inn itself practically melded into the side of the massive stalactite pillar that held the thick stone roof about the village's heads. The pillar was a shocking, gleaming white; with the light of the torches and firewood stacks around Echo Village, the pillar practically glowed gleaming neon white.

As the three hunters entered the inn, Ellie nudged Levin nervously. Levin didn't need it though, he knew what was worrying her; as soon as they'd entered the inn, they'd seen the difference. Levin and Ellie had been to several inns during the last month or so as official hunters, and every time they'd gone in, the inn had been, if not pretty packed, then at least fairly well occupied with travelers or simply locals that came to a familiar place to socialize.

Not at the White Pillar Inn, though. The room was practically empty, save the innkeeper behind the bar, idly cleaning a glass. It looked like he was just trying to keep himself occupied for the most part, since he didn't seem to be used to being… bored. The man glanced up when the three hunters entered the inn, a look of surprise floating across his face when he realized who they were. Then his face hardened, and he motioned to one of the darker corners of the room.

Marshall was already making his way over to the corner by the time that Levin turned, squinting in an attempt to see through the shadows in the corner. At the edge of the room sat two men. The first was a medium-height man with shoulder-length black hair, as well as a fairly strong looking face. He was wearing thin glasses and plain clothes, holding several loose papers in front of him and looking idly between them and his partner at the table. He seemed to have an exasperated look on his face when he was looking at the man next to him.

The other man caught Levin off guard from his first look. The man was heavy-set and pretty tall, not as much as Harker, but he had a few inches on Levin. He had fine, slicked-back hair, and bored-looking eyes. His clothes, however, were shockingly pricey looking, fine purple tunics with fancy embroideries. Levin hadn't seen anyone with quite so pompous dress since before he left Loc Lac; or at least he thought he might have seen some clothes like that. He couldn't really remember his time in Loc Lac, try as he might…

The well-dressed man seemed to sense the three of them behind him, and turned his head to look at he approached. A look of realization covered his face when he realized what they were, and he got to his feet, straightening himself up into a… nobler stance, Levin assumed. He wasn't too sure about things like that.

"I see you're finally here," the man said to Marshall, a tone of irritation filling his voice. He gave a cursory glance to Levin and Ellie, but chose to ignore them quickly, turning his attention back to Marshall. "I expected you several days ago. Your Guild representative sent a letter saying you'd accepted this mission some time ago."

"I had to wait for these two here to return to the village," Marshall replied. "They were out in another village at the time, and I thought I decided I wanted to bring them with me."

The merchant glanced at the two Lost hunters, eyeing them up and down again. "Your servants?" he asked idly. "I know some of you prefer to have followers tagging along to carry the goods you need for your work."

Levin felt a flare of anger rise up inside of him at the words. He hated it when people looked down on him just because they judged him by appearance and attitude! He could see Ellie reddening in anger slightly as well to the side. Even Marshall seemed to be rather irritated with the man's attitude.

"No, no, not at all," Marshall replied, keeping his voice level. "These two are my hunting apprentices. Well, they were formerly. They've recently earned their licenses and have since ranked up to two-star hunters. They are quite capable in their own rights."

The merchant frowned in surprise, but shrugged, pulling the voice of superiority back into his tone. "Whatever. Either way, I'm less than pleased with the amount of time it took you to get here."

"If you'd wanted us here by a certain date, you should've told the Guild and they would've applied the number to the mission request," Marshall replied.

The merchant opened his mouth to argue, then blinked and paused, turning to glare at the researcher next to him. The man met his eye and scoffed. "I told you about that," the man said. "But you were in too much of a rush to place the application to listen."

Levin almost grinned as the merchant's face colored in anger at the researcher's words, but held it back. He felt as though laughing now would cause more trouble than it was worth.

"Perhaps I should take over the conversation, if you don't mind, Saul," the researcher said, getting to his feet. The merchant, Saul, seemed a bit indignant to give up his right to speak, but the researcher continued on. "Since I am the one who requested we call for this little mission, I'll know more of the details than you. After all, you're only the _benefactor_, but I'm the one who needs them to accomplish this mission request."

Saul looked ready to say something in reply, but he suddenly seemed to remember something, and his mouth snapped shut. He shot a furtive glance, as though wondering if the three hunters had caught the look. Levin had, but he kept his face blank, trying not to allow the merchant to see through him. _He's hiding something_, Levin thought. _But what?_

The researcher turned to face the three hunters and tilted his head down into a mock bow. "Allow me to introduce myself. By name is Farren, a researcher for one of the Hunter's Guild's subsidiaries. I was the one that placed the request for the mission. The well-dressed man here is my benefactor, Saul, a merchant from Loc Lac, who is here to ensure the success of the mission and the efficiency of the money he's providing to me."

"You seem to quite secretive about this whole mission," Marshall stated. "Is there something about it that needs to be kept quiet? Surely the villagers don't care what it is that you're doing here."

"They'd care more than you'd think, I think," Farren replied. He paused to collect his thoughts before continuing. He shot a glance over to the bartender before speaking in a quieter voice. "You see, as you know, the mission requires you to find and collect at least two Rath eggs. However, as you may have discovered during your short time here in the village, the villagers are… surprisingly fond of the local Rathian. In the past, the Guild has requested to recover goods from the Rath nest before. However, the village is afraid of, how to put it, _insulting_ the Rathian or Rathalos, and have consistently refused to allow any missions of the island that have anything to do with the two dragons."

"And yet you're trying to steal the Rath eggs," Ellie said. "Why?"

"It's part of an experiment the subsidiary I work for is conducting," Farren replied, meeting Ellie's eyes. Levin was surprised that the man didn't seem to have the same ego that Saul had, but appreciated it. "I hope you won't mind, but I'm not allowed to reveal the details of the project. However, what I can tell you is that one of our competitors is very interested in the project we're working on, which is why we're trying to keep everything quiet. As to why we're trying for the eggs in a village where the locals disapprove of the act; of the many areas around the world where we know that Rath nests are, this is the only place in the country that has had a Rath nest in a consistent spot and without the worry of a hunter killing one or the other of the Raths."

"This seems wrong," Levin muttered. Farren heard, however and looked at him with a shrug.

"If you do not like the mission parameters, you are free to leave and go back to your village." Saul began to protest, but Farren cut him off. "They can! It's allowed by the Guild and we can't break those rules. We only ask that you keep the information you've learned here to yourselves if you choose to walk away. It's up to you."

Marshall frowned in thought at the words and turned to Levin and Ellie, looking back and forth between the two of them. "I'll leave the decision to the two of you. I realize this is not turning out to be as we thought it would, and the two of you can choose to leave if you don't like the circumstances."

The two Lost hunters looked at each other uncertainly, not certain how to proceed. Levin had really wanted to learn whatever Marshall had been determined to teach them, but the situation they were in was becoming increasingly untrustworthy. What was he supposed to choose?

"Is it important, whatever it is you're doing?" Ellie asked suddenly. "Is this mission something that'll help the lives of people somewhere in the world?"

Farren paused in thought for a second before replying, then said slowly. "I'm afraid that I'm not allowed to say, one way or the other. Legality issues and all that. However, this mission was sanctioned by our company and approved for application by the Guild. The Guild wouldn't allow a mission to counteract the wishes of a village, not without a good reason, would it?"

"No, I suppose not," Ellie replied uncertainly. "I suppose I'm okay with taking part in this mission, but I don't really like going against the village's wishes."

"Neither do I miss," Farren replied with a sigh. "But as I've said, it's almost the only opportunity we have to collect the… materials for our project."

"I'm game, I suppose," Levin said, frustration filling his voice. "I just hope whatever you're doing with these eggs is worth the effort."

"As do I," Farren muttered, before perking up and looking between the three hunters. "Then are you decided?"

"So it would seem," Marshall said. "We'll do your mission, though you've left us a little uncertain about our mission. We'll begin tomorrow morning, after we've rested from our ship ride. I'm afraid young Levin here doesn't do well with sailing, and will most likely need a night to recover his stomach."

"You aren't starting immediately?" Saul cut in. "You've kept me waiting long enough! I demand that you…"

"You really don't expect these hunters to fight after such a long journey, do you?" Farren asked, raising an eyebrow at his benefactor. "Do you want them to fail? I thought you'd want this mission done as quickly as possible."

"You… fine, I'll allow it," Saul grumbled.

"That's not really for you to decide," Farren said, before turning back to the three hunters. "I'd suggest you get some good rest tonight. I've been here in Echo Village before to study the area for the mission. They call the caves leading around the island the 'Caves of Fire,' and with good reason."

"Really?" Ellie asked. "What reason is that?"

For the first time since arriving, a ghost of a smile fluttered across Farren's face. "You'll find out," he said mysteriously. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some work to do. I wish you well on your mission tomorrow, and I hope to see your safe return tomorrow night."

The researcher quickly gathered up his papers on the table, and with a nod to the hunters, turned and walked away towards his room. Saul the merchant seemed as though he wanted to say something to the three and get the last word, but instead chose to close his mouth and walk after Farren in the same dignified stance he'd held onto the rest of the night.

"That was… ominous," Levin muttered.

"We'd better do as he said," Marshall said. "Tomorrow will be a fight for survival. You'll need enough rest to get by."

Levin and Ellie watched the old man walk away, passing by the innkeeper to get a key to his room. Ellie sighed and glanced over at Levin uncertainly.

"This mission just seems to be getting more and more complicated," she sighed.

"And this is still a rank two mission," Levin replied, sullenly. "Just imagine what's waiting for us when we finally get to Loc Lac."

"We better get some rest," Ellie said, picking up her things. "Even if we're not fighting the Rathian tomorrow, it's certainly not going to make things easy for us."

"Right," Levin agreed, watching Ellie walk away as he grabbed his own things. This wasn't going to be easy in the slightest, was it?

* * *

"This is a lot bigger than I thought it would be," Ellie said as they arrived at the massive western stone archway the next morning. Levin had to say he agreed with her. The archways were almost fifty feet high, each bearing massive wooden doors rivaling the size of the massive doors they'd seen in Orage Dell at the arena.

At each archway, half a dozen guards stood at attention, cautiously watching the shadows that filled the caves. Levin flinched slightly as a small shadow suddenly seemed to melt away from the walls, taking form in the caves. A couple of the guards chuckled at his jump, making Levin wonder what they thought was so funny. However, when Levin looked again, he realized that the shadow that had come to life was actually a pair of Kelbi. The creature looked a little paler than Levin was used to seeing them, however, making the great sword user wonder if spending a lot of time in the caves made it closer to an albino creature.

"They're all like that if you're wondering," one of the guards told him. "Very pale, most of the monsters on this island are. Though a few that live in the upper caverns tend to have some darker furs and hides. Not many monsters are willing to brave traveling up that far, though."

"Why not?" Levin asked.

"Because of the Rath nest," the guard replied. "They aren't willing to get eaten."

"Levin!" Marshall suddenly called out to him. "It's time to head out! We've got to move quickly if we want to be back by night!"

"Right, right," Levin replied, quickly taking off after Marshall and Ellie.

Right before they reached the gate, however, the researcher Farren suddenly seemed to appear next to them. He caught Marshall by the shoulder and quickly spoke into his ear, so that only the hunters could hear. "When you return, tell the guards that those are herbivore eggs. None of the villagers dare near the Rath nest to tell the difference. Try and skirt the edges of the village and take the eggs to Saul's ship. It's the unnecessarily-expensive-looking one. You can't miss it. Keep out of the villager's sight as best as you can, just in case."

Marshall seemed uncertain about the extra caution, but nodded in reply, motioning for his students to follow. The three of them quickly made their way through the massive gates, each of them with a torch in hand. Levin took one last look back before they'd gone too far, and caught a glimpse of Farren's face; an uncertain and frustrated look covered his face. Levin wasn't certain what that meant. After they'd gone several hundred yards, Levin heard the creaking groan of the massive wooden doors, and the sound of the gate slamming shut behind them.

Levin was initially worried about whether they'd have to rely on their night vision in order to make their ways to the top of the island where Farren had told them the nest would most certainly be. However, as they rounded a corner not too far from the village, a gleam of light caught their eyes. Around the next bend, Levin and Ellie gaped in surprise at the sight of a massive, circular hole in the ceiling, where bright, clear sunlight shone into the cavern. Dozens more of similar holes stretched as far as the eye could see through the now-bright cavern, lighting their way far more effectively than any torch could do.

Small patches of grass and brightly colored mushrooms littered the floor as they trekked through the caves in search of the Rath nest. When Levin glanced up through the holes in the ceiling, he could occasionally make out tall trees hanging over the skylights, sending mixtures of green light down into the caves. Thick vines and flowers hung down from the roots, sometimes stretching long enough to reach down to the hunters' level.

The three hunters were forced to guess at which path they should take every time they arrived at an intersection, not entirely certain which way to go. Ellie mentioned that she wished that they would've thought to ask for a map of the caverns, but Marshall replied that he had done so, but the caves overlapped too often to properly map out.

However, after an hour or two of guesswork and the occasional turn that led nowhere but to a dead end, the three hunters suddenly came across something different. As they rounded a bend, the three of them came to a brightly lit knoll, where nearly three dozen Aptonoth were lounging around, nibbling at the grass while the younger ones frolicked and played. There were dozens of light columns shining through holes in the roof, long winding columns of air cutting through the rock like Swiss cheese, all of them filling the room with bright light.

"This is… nice," Ellie admitted. "These caves are a lot more comfortable than I thought they would be. I can understand why the locals would decide to stay on this island despite there not being that much room to farm or anything."

"It is quite lovely here," Marshall agreed, nodding comfortably at the soothing sight of the little hove. "I imagine the locals find the effort to get here to enjoy the scenery is quite worth it."

"There is one thing I don't understand, though," Levin said, catching the other two hunters' attention. "Why do they call these tunnels the 'Caves of Fire?' I mean, I get there's a pair of Raths living at the top of the island in some hidden nest, but from what I've seen, there's really not that much here to give this place a name like that."

"Maybe there's something somewhere else in the caverns that gave this place that name," Ellie suggested. "Maybe a lava pool or something like that."

"Just because the caves have such a name, doesn't necessarily mean it earned the title," Marhsall said. "Perhaps they were named as such long ago for some unknown and no-longer-applicable reasons. Maybe whatever gave these caves their names is no longer here."

"Yeah, maybe so," Levin agreed reluctantly. "But still, it seems like there would be _something_ to make the name make sense. I mean…"

Levin suddenly stopped speaking as a flash a motion caught his eye. He quickly snapped his head in the direction of the motion, followed closely by Marshall and Ellie, who had both caught sight of the movement as well. Levin scanned the small field, trying to determine where the unnatural movement had come from but not being able to spot anything out of the ordinary.

However, a familiar and terrifying sound filled his ears; a repetitive, deep thumping sound that echoed through the chamber. Now the Aptonoth were frantically searching around for the source of the sound, the mature members of the herd gathering up the young ones, and trying to hurry the smaller ones out of the area.

Levin suddenly realized where the odd movement had come from. As he watched the Aptonoth scuttle around, one of the massive holes in the ceiling suddenly darkened over, blackening for a fraction of a second before bright light shone through once again. Another shaft of light blacked out soon after, brightening immediately, followed by another and another.

"She's circling," Marshall muttered, his hand reaching reflexively to the hilt of his hammer. Ellie already had her bowgun out, and was pulling rounds out of her ammo pouch. Levin hands seemed to itch nervously as he felt the urge to pull out his own weapon. But he was forced to sit in wait as the lights through the holes constantly flickered out and back.

Then the circling stopped. Levin's eyes snapped to where one of the pillars of light had just been, where a blot of darkness seemed to coat a small area of the field. Levin realized that one of the panicking Aptonoth was standing directly underneath the darkened hole. The large creature froze, scared stiff as though sensing what was coming.

Levin blinked in surprise as the dark shaft suddenly filled back up with light. Had the Rathian flown away, choosing to chase after better prey? But a softer rumble filled the room, and Levin realized that the tint of the light pouring down the shaft seemed much redder than the sun's.

An explosion of heat erupted through the room as a tidal wave of flame gushed from the hole in ceiling, enveloping the helpless Aptonoth in fire. The rush of dragon's breath came so quickly and with such ferocity that Levin didn't even hear the Aptonoth squeal or cry out, just a burst of fire and the creature seemed to vanish behind a wall of fire.

The onslaught of flame lasted for what seemed like forever, though it was probably only a few seconds. Levin was forced to hide his face behind his arms to ward off the painful heat. He could just barely make out the sound of the Aptonoth herd stampeding out of the area, desperate for a new, safer place to graze. Finally the fire dwindled away, and Levin braved himself to look as the heat lowered enough.

A huge swath of grass was completely burned away, leaving a massive blackened mark on the otherwise pristine field of grass and flowers. In the center of the scar on the land, the well-done Aptonoth lay lifeless on the ground. A howl of victory filled the area from above. The repetitive thumping sound suddenly ceased.

Levin braced himself, just barely keeping his feet under him as the massive bulk of muscle and scale that was the Rathian plummeted in through the hole in the ceiling, smashing into the dirt just next to the cooked Aptonoth. The creature growled in delight at the sight of her meal. Levin winced in fear as the creature's eyes suddenly snapped their way for a moment. However, the Queen of the Land didn't even seem to care about their presence, and without a second thought, it turned back to its prey. It hopped up onto the creature's body, clamping tightly onto the corpse with its powerful claws, and with a blast of wind, pushed herself off the ground and back through the hole in the ceiling.

The three hunters stared in awe as the creature's powerful wing beats hoisted her and her meal into the sky. With a roar of success as it reached the top of the cavern and entered open air, the beast took off flying, her shadow darting across the ground back to her lair.

The three stood in silence for a long moment; finally Ellie seemed to find her voice. "'Caves of Fire.' I get it now."

"Yeah," Levin muttered. "This… this might be rougher than we thought."

* * *

It was another warm day in Loc Lac, though Councilor Zhanin didn't care enough to notice. His mind was occupied with the sights and sounds coming from the streets below, not really hearing anything, but listening to the hustle and bustle none the less. He was in his private quarters on the top floor of the three story building he was in, a small office where he took meetings with clients and benefactors, as well as cut deals with merchants and dealt with the paperwork required of a Loc Lac City councilmember.

The room's basic furnishings were simple, or at least the ones he'd purchased for the room were. Some of his allies and benefactors had thought it prudent to gift him with more posh and "noble" furnishings since his time as a councilmember, making the cozy room seem far more upscale than he'd initially desired it to be when he'd taken it over. Admittedly he appreciated the gestures of kindness, but had rather preferred the simplicity of the office before the extra furnishings had arrived. He'd been raised in a small village called Vattu, where people had lived simply and without excess, and it had never been

The building was one of the several he owned throughout the city of Loc Lac, but was by far his favorite, since it was easily the tallest, allowing him to see a long distance across the sprawling desert city. He had always liked the feeling of being high up in the air. Several people in the city that had been generally opposed to him and his proposals over the course of his years as a city councilmember had claimed that the reasoning behind this was that Zhanin liked looking down on other people.

But that wasn't the case; rather, he simply enjoyed being in the air, being high above the ground, being able to see farther than he would normally be able to. His family back home, a small village hidden in the hills of the rainforest, had always told him that if reincarnation was a real concept, then Zhanin certainly must have been a gull or hawk in a former life, always seeking the high ground simply because the view was better. Airships were rare enough in the world that almost all of them were owned by the Hunter's Guild and other high-profile organizations, but Zhanin knew that if he ever found himself with the money and the opportunity to do so, he'd buy one for himself. He wouldn't even hire a pilot, just learn how to fly it himself and travel the skies in complete control of the entire journey.

But those kinds of thoughts had long since vanished from his mind, nearly two years ago. He'd once dreamed of touring the world as it was known once he'd finally retired from this tiresome job as councilmember, leaving the job behind for someone worthy of the title. However, in his eyes, there wasn't anyone in Loc Lac that deserved the mantle of councilmember. There wasn't anyone who would properly stand up for what was right and just in the world. Not anymore, at least, because of the damn Lost…

He shook his head, forcing the thoughts out of his mind. Thinking along those lines would only infuriate him, and he needed to make certain that his head was focused at all times. There was no room for impulse or carelessness, not in his line of work. For politicians, they needed to be focused on their work, not idly remembering days gone by.

A quick rapping on the door to his office caught his attention, pulling his thoughts back to the present. He quickly got to his feet, stretching the aches out of his bones after staying seated for so long. He gave one last look over the city before turning to the door, his eyes lingering on several large buildings that sat on the opposite side of town. Several of the buildings were seven stories tall or higher, and even more seemed to be growing up from the earth, crawling with dozens of construction workers and architects that were working to bring them up.

A surge of seething anger filled him for a moment at the sight. He could almost make out which of the towering structures currently held the office of the South district's representative to the council, Marco. Zhanin could practically feel his own anger emanating from him at the knowledge that a weak-willed man like Marco could somehow manage to convince the Lost to give him the top floor of one of the biggest buildings in the city. The man could hardly hold his own in normal conversations, and the Lost seemed to think he was good enough to give such a prestigious office, in such a fine location? Even in such a rough area of the city like the South District, an office so high in the sky was something Zhanin… desired. He refused to say he envied the slug-like representative of the Lost District.

He quickly strode over to the doors. Under normal circumstances, he would've just told his guest to enter the door by themselves. However, he'd been busy most of the day and had the door locked from the inside, with a sign saying he was out posted to the door. The only people that would try knocking would be those privileged enough to know his exact schedule and habits. Whoever was out there also wouldn't knock unless whatever information they needed to pass on was of great importance.

He quickly slid the locks out of their hatches, pulling the door open a crack in order to get a glance at the person outside before allowing them in. He found himself face-to-face with a medium-height man, with slicked-back black hair, wearing the bright red uniform of the Hunter's Guild. The man had a confident look about him, which would no doubt be seen as a feeling of superiority to anyone who wasn't above him in the hierarchy of the city.

"Jonathan," Zhanin said in recognition, widening the door. "It's been some time since you last came to report something to me. When was the last time…?"

"Nine months ago," the man quickly replied. "At that time, I came to inform you that another group of Lost had had been discovered at the base of the volcano to the west of here."

"Ah, yes, that's right," Zhanin replied, allowing Jonathan to enter his office. "I wasn't able to pass a bill forbidding the Lost from continuing to enter the city before news of their existence reached the ears of the other council members. A shame. The city's getting more and more populated. There haven't been any overpopulation issues in Loc Lac for a century, and now the threat is just over the horizon."

"A real problem, sir," Jonathan replied dutifully, though without enthusiasm.

Zhanin shot the man an irritated look. Jonathan was a loyal underling, that was for certain. Zhanin was almost certain the man did not share any of his desires or beliefs, but he was a hard worker, and had yet to try and go against Zhanin's wishes, meaning he was still trustworthy for a little while longer. He could still be used for Zhanin's plans. He owed Zhanin quite a bit, his status as leader of the Guild's investigatory squad being the least of them.

"So what do you have for me today?" Zhanin asked, getting right to the point. He tried not to act too familiar around Jonathan as much as he could. He knew that, should the man ever decide that he'd thoroughly paid off his debt to Zhanin, he could very easily reveal a massive host of information on what he'd given to Zhanin by the councilman's order.

"It's nothing incredibly important," Jonathan replied. "However, it is something that you asked me to report to you about should I receive news on the subject."

"Yes, yes, go on," Zhanin replied, returning to his seat on the other side of the desk. Jonathan kept standing, dutifully, as the councilmember began to shuffle through his cabinet in search of the small notebook that he used to write down the information that his informers would give him. It was hidden quite well, if Zhanin said so himself, hidden underneath not one, but two fake drawers. The first hid a bottle of liquor, allowing any sneaks to think that was all he kept hidden; he was exceptionally outspoken against excessive drinking in public.

"It's about the Hunter's Exam's results from the last month," Jonathan said, catching Zhanin's attention. He recalled telling Jonathan to bring him information on the Hunter's exam, but the only in one situation…

"Then you mean that…"

"Yes sir," Jonathan nodded. "There were several members of the Lost that managed to pass the Hunter's Exam."

"_Several_?" Zhanin asked, shock creeping into his voice. He'd been worried about just _one_ managing to pass the test. Such an event would possibly give the Lost a reason to grow confident in their ability to become hunters, and eventual official citizens. With the ability to be a hunter came prestige and fame and eventually, political influence. Perhaps not quickly, but eventually.

But _several_ hunters? He'd had multiple scientists confirm that the Lost were generally not physically capable to be proper hunters. Yet somehow or another, multiples of them managed to pass and earn their licenses! Zhanin failed to contain an angry growl; he'd have to have a… chat with his alleged scientists. Their informative "proof" had been less than accurate.

"How many?" he asked quickly. "And who?"

"Five, sir," Jonathan replied quickly, making Zhanin wince. "Three male and two females. Four of them were specially trained as apprentices under fully trained hunters and the last was simply a surprise entry. The names are as follows: Jared of Gen Village, Harker of Sentry Oasis, Irene of Terra Village (she was the compulsive entry), and Levin and Eleanor of Boma Village."

Zhanin's mind flickered in recognition. He felt a chill crawl down his back. "Two from the same village, you say? What was their master's name?"

Jonathan's reply was quick and concise; he'd memorized the information long before he'd come to see Zhanin. "Marshall, sir. A six star hunter, considered a local legend here in Loc Lac, for fighting back a Jhen Mohran that got dangerously close to the city."

Zhanin cursed under his breath. They'd passed! Damn it all, they'd passed! Several months ago he'd had some fun sending the Lost he met that were aiming to be hunters off to the far corners of the map, trying to discourage as many as he could from attempting to become professional hunters. He had hoped that news of the difficulty of hunting would spread through the Lost, and they'd give up the effort of trying, but…

Zhanin noticed that his informant seemed to pause in uncertain thought for a moment at his mention of the two he'd sent off to Boma. "What's wrong?" he asked. "You know something more on those two?"

"Perhaps," Jonathan replied. "I… had an opportunity to meet the two of them several months ago."

"Really? You were in Boma Village? Why?"

"There was an incident of poaching," Jonathan replied, professionalism filling his voice. "A pair of hunters slaughtered an entire nest of Ludroth outside the orders of the Guild's orders. We're still not entirely certain who they are yet, despite a few points of evidence that would normally pinpoint a suspect almost immediately, such as…"

Zhanin waved his hand uncaringly, making the Guild member pause in mid-sentence. He didn't care about his informant's personal work for the Guild, and knew that Jonathan would prattle of about his mission's details for an hour if he was left to run his course.

"Back to the point please," he said with a bit of irritation. "Tell me about the two Lost hunters working under Marshall."

Jonathan thought for a moment before continuing. "They're both fairly decent hunters from the information I've received from their master. My personal opinions, however, differ slightly. The young man, Levin, seems to not take his work as a hunter as seriously as he could, which isn't a good trait for a hunter to have. I also took it upon myself to look up the information that Marshall submitted to the Guild about Levin early in his hunter career. It seems that the young man had a few… personality issues for the first few months of his time in Boma Village."

"What kind of personality issues?" Zhanin pressed. He'd need more information if he planned to do anything about the Lost hunters.

"A veritable grocery list of character flaws from what I read," Jonathan replied, an uncertain look covering his face. "Short temper, refusal to listen to authority, violent outbursts, general unsocial attitude. The list goes on. However, when I was in Boma Village, he didn't seem to have any of the reported problems that Marshall had initially reported to the Guild. He seemed mostly normal; well, he still seemed to be opposed to authority, my authority in particular. He seemed to be quite intent on cutting me off on every turn, rather than accepting my orders."

"You think he was just faking a good attitude to throw you off?"

"No, not at all," Jonathan said, shaking his head. "I believe I've become fairly adept at reading people's personalities over the years, and whoever this Levin person is, he is not the kind of person that Marshall first reported on to the Guild all that time ago. I don't know what that old man did, but it changed something in that young man dramatically."

"Any foreseeable issues with him in the future?" Zhanin asked hopefully.

"Possibly. Whatever Marshall did to help Levin balance his personality out, it can't be completely permanent. Not by itself. The kind of personality disorders that that young man showed during his first few months in this world isn't something that just vanishes in the space of a few weeks. I can't wager a guess as to when or even if the backlash will return, but I guarantee that something still lurks under the surface."

"I see," Zhanin muttered, tapping a finger on his desk. His mind was racing with this new information. He needed more. "What about the girl?"

"She was reported to be a bit antisocial as well before setting off for Boma Village, and a bit short-tempered as well, but from what I've heard, not nearly as bad as Levin was. However, while I was in Boma…"

Jonathan paused in thought, as though uncertain about whether or not to continue. "Continue," Zhanin said, more of an order than a request.

"While I was in Boma Village, she apparently convinced one of my subordinates to take some of the material from the destroyed Ludroth's nest and pass it on to her rather than leaving it to nature or letting my squad take them away. I… chose not to report the incident, instead choosing to give the two hunters a warning to not do such a thing again. It just seemed like the most proper option at the time, considering what they'd been through."

Zhanin growled under his breath. "Damn it, Jonathan. You're supposed to be working for me and my objectives, not giving pity to those that don't deserve it! They should have been reprimanded for taking goods from poached goods from an investigation scene. That kind of thing has near the same punishment as poaching itself!"

Jonathan's eyes widened in surprise before hardening. "No, sir. Actually, I don't work for your objectives. The terms of our… _agreement_ were that should I have any information to offer to you, I would work to pass on said information a specific amount of time before I would be required to bring it to the Guild's attention. Under no circumstances did I agree to go against my own intuition when it came to my work for the Guild. I give you information and nothing more."

The two men glared daggers at each other for several moments, before Zhanin was forced to turn away in frustration. He hated to admit to it, but the Guild man was right. His deal with Jonathan only covered information that the investigatory squad member was privy to and what he could offer Zhanin from his other sources, as well as his word to not pass on the same information until Zhanin had time to work with it or until it became necessary for safety or other such reasons to do so. Jonathan's actions and motivations were still his own, no matter what Zhanin wished of him.

"Fair enough then, Jonathan," Zhanin growled. "I'll need time to myself to properly process this information. So unless you have anything else to pass on to me…"

The Guild man knew the cue when he heard it. "No sir, that's all for now," he said firmly. With a quick nod of respect, the investigatory squad member turned on his heel, making for the door.

As the Guild man left the room and the latch locked into place, Zhanin felt a grin beginning to slide across his face. Though still frustrated about the way Jonathan had acted against him, he couldn't help but smile from the new information. It had been challenging finding decent results to try and show that the Lost were less than mentally stable. He recalled mentioning to the Loc Lac council that the Lost's mental issues may be less than acceptable for them to join the Guild. And now one member of the Lost had been reported by a trusted hunter as having anger and social issues, while the other had been caught taking goods from a Guild investigation! Let off without punishment at the discretion of a Guild member, but that could be revoked should he give the Guild proper motivation…

But how was he to prove such a thing was worth the Council's time and consideration? He'd need more proof that the two of them were worth shooting down, and then more to show that the Lost required removal from the Hunter's Guild…

But he was getting ahead of himself, he realized, shaking his head and turning back to face the window of his office. He remembered the statistics the Guild put out for the citizens to read: the average hunter (provided they were dedicated to their work), upon receiving their hunting license, took between four months to two years to attain the rank of Journeyman in the Guild's eyes. It had been, what, a month and a half since the exam in Orage Dell? He had plenty of time to weave a plan before any of the Lost hunters managed to arrive in Loc Lac.

He chuckled to himself. And when they got here, he'd be ready for them. The Lost would pay for what they'd done…

* * *

**Author's Note: Please Review!**

**I felt quite playful while writing a bit of this chapter, in no small part due to me reading **_**The Lucifer and Biscuit Hammer**_** manga between my bursts of writing and school. You guys should give it a look. It's silly and fun and has a good ending. **

**Next chapter might be a little while. These next few weeks of school will be kicking my ass, so I'll be a little busy (by a little I mean really, really busy).**

**Reading: **_**The Great Hunt**_** by Robert Jordan, **_**The Memory of Earth**_** by Orson Scott Card, **_**The Dragon Reborn**_** by Robert Jordan, **_**The Call of Earth**_** by Orson Scott Card  
Playing: Fallout 3, BFBC2, GTA 4  
Listening: Relient K, Rufus Wainwright, The Shins, Smash Mouth, Snow Patrol, Spoon, The OK Go**


	20. The Chase

The Chase

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. All the characters in this story are mine._

_**This chapter's a long one. Best get your popcorn and settle in.**_

"We're lost, aren't we?" Ellie asked with a sigh of frustration.

"Do you mean by heritage or location?" Levin asked with a smirk.

"You know what I meant," Ellie replied, rolling her eyes.

"Well, then, it certainly seems like that," Levin groaned, dropping down to sit on a nearby rock and looking longingly up through one of the holes in the ceiling towards the setting sun.

Ellie followed his gaze as well, wishing that the rocks and cliffs above them were even a little bit less precarious. A ledge here, a small nook and cranny there; anything except the sheer cliff face that stood straight up on all sides of the entire island. Maybe then it would be almost safe enough for them to try and risk a path in the sunlight rather than the confusing and misleading tunnels of the aptly named 'Caves of Fire.'

Ellie had to frown at the name of the caverns they now wandered through. In the last eight hours that they'd been trying to find their way to the top of this massive island, they'd experience four more encounters with the Rathian that nested on the island. Each time, it had seemingly appeared out of nowhere above them, sending waves of fire through the ceilings in the caves to roast down Aptonoth for food, and several packs of Jaggis that hadn't been paying attention. Apparently the Rathian was quite a bit more aggressive about its territory than the other monsters she and Levin had faced.

Ellie felt herself shiver every time she recalled the sound of the Rathian's roar as it echoed around the caves, leaving the three hunters never really certain where the creature was or whether or not it had finally decided to hunt them instead of the other creatures on the island. Ellie hated herself for still having what she considered a fear that should have been overcome by now, but she couldn't lie, the nightmares that haunted her dreams were still there, waking her in a cold sweat at least once a week.

But she had to force herself to press on, despite the fear that flowed through her. She knew the rest of the mission would be a challenge for her, stealing eggs from a creature she considered her nemesis, only to be forced to run, as it would no doubt give chase once it knew what they'd done. She had to overcome her fear as soon as possible.

"It's getting late, I'm afraid," Marshall muttered to the two of them, his eyes taking to the small patch of sky as well. He was right; where the light of the sun had once been bright and vibrant, all that remained of the once-blue sky was now only a deepening violet color as the red of the dropping sun filled the sky. They'd been wandering through the caves for a whole day, the only change in their meanderings brought around by the occasional Jaggi pack, or Ludroths that popped out of the water when the caves dropped down enough to get close to the ocean.

"I was hoping we'd have this done by tonight," Ellie sighed.

"It seems that our estimate of time was a little off, I'm afraid," Marshall agreed. "We'll have to find a place a distance away from the holes in the ceiling if we want to avoid getting roasted alive by the Rathian sometime during the night."

"I guess going back to the village to sleep in a nice warm bed is out of the question?" Ellie asked hopefully.

"Well, it could be," Marshall replied with a smirk. "But that's provided we can manage to find our way back the village in the first place."

Ellie laughed mirthlessly. "Heh. Yeah, I guess you're right. At the rate we've been going, we've got pretty much the same chance of getting back to the village that we have randomly finding the Rath nest. I swear this place is the most confusing maze ever."

"Maybe not the _most_ confusing maze, Miss Eleanor," Marhsall grinned. "There are some pretty nasty caves in the Tundra, as I recall. Although, maybe by now, they've gotten around to mapping the place out. It's been a few years since I was that far up north."

"Sounds rough," Levin said.

"Weren't you up in the Tundra for a while when you… woke up?" Ellie asked. She immediately regretted the question, however, as Levin's face seemed to clench up in pain for a moment. "I… I'm sorry. If you don't want to…"

"No, no, it's alright," Levin said, grinning wryly. "I don't really remember too much about the far north. Just a lot of snow. And the Barioth, of course. Other than that, I don't really remember anything. I still only have the vaguest recollection of the time; a don't even really remember what the person who saved me looked like." Ellie nodded silently, uncertain what to say. Before she could think of a good reply, however, Levin motioned over to a small alcove at the edge of the tunnel they were in.

The little hole in the wall was cozy for the three of them as they all found a little nook or cranny to sit down in, but it was hidden back and away from the closest hole in the ceiling, giving them a fair bit of security. The only truly threatening monster on the island was the Rathian, and for the female wyvern to find them, she'd have to come down into the caves to look for them. Still, Marshall wanted the three of them to take no chances, telling them that they would have to avoid lighting a fire for the night, and just deal with any cold that they felt. Ellie was glad she and Levin had taken to the habit of bringing some food with him during their trips into the wilds as well; it would have been a rough night if they'd been forced to hunt and eat food raw.

Marshall had been right with the warning of cold weather, though. After the three of them had eaten their fill of preserved Aptonoth meat, and as night slowly fell over the island, a cold wind began to blow through the tunnels, sending eerie howling sounds through the caverns. Ellie was used to staying out in the wilds until after the sun dropped over the horizon, but around Boma and the other shoreline villages, the night breezes tended to be warm and comforting, not chilly. About an hour after night fell, and the bright waning moon began to light up the sky, Ellie found herself cursing the armor she wore once again; it was fine for warmer climes, but here in these windy tunnels, she soon found herself shivering, envious of Levin and Marshall in their full-body armors.

However, as she was wistfully eyeing a small tree growing nearby, wondering how long it would last as firewood, a bulky mass suddenly dropped over her. She yelped in surprise, flailing for a few moments before pulling whatever was over her off, finally freeing herself and looking down at the thing. She blinked in surprise as she realized that she was holding the brownish-yellow sponge coat that Levin used as armor. She looked up in shock at the great sword user as he stood over her, grinning.

"You looked a little cold," he said simply. "I thought you could use a little extra warmth, considering your armor's lack of… weather protection."

Ellie wanted to protest at first, but, whether it was because of the material itself or Levin's lingering warmth, she found the coat too comforting in the chilly cavern to really want to give it up now that she had it. However, she couldn't help noticing that her partner winced a little as a particularly strong blast of cold air flew through the caverns.

"You should hold onto this," Ellie insisted, pushing the coat back onto the great sword user. "You're obviously cold, you don't have to pretend."

"I'm fine," Levin shrugged, pushing it back into her hands. "After spending those few days in the Tundra, a few cold breezes won't hurt me too bad. Besides, I've always considered myself to have a high natural body heat. I should be fine."

Ellie smirked, but accepted the coat, wrapping it around her. "Trying to act tough for the ladies, Levin? How uncouth of you."

"Ladies? Where?" Levin laughed, looking around the little cove, leaping back as Ellie kicked out a leg at him, not willing to crawl out from under the warm Ludroth coat.

"Jerk," she muttered, but she grinned up at him thankfully, snuggling herself into the warm sponge even tighter. "Thanks."

"Not a problem, my dear Miss Ellie," the great sword grinned with a flourish of a bow.

Ellie smiled back, and then remembered that Marshall was still there with them. She quickly glanced over at the older hunter, and caught him smiling slyly at her. When he met her eyes, he simply shook his head and chuckled to himself. Ellie found herself pulling the yellow coat up tighter around her face as she felt her cheeks reddening a little. She wondered if the old man knew what she was thinking and how she felt. Everyone always said Marshall was one of the most perceptive people in the whole village, so chances were good that Ellie had been found out, though thinking back, maybe he'd known for a while…

"Since you appear to be quite comfortable, Miss Eleanor," the hammer user suddenly said, "perhaps you'd care to take first watch? We may be away from the Rathian's sight, but other dangerous monsters lurk these caves, and it wouldn't be good for all of us to be caught asleep should one of them decide come after us."

"That's fair, I guess," Ellie replied. "How long should I watch until? About midnight?"

"Something like that, I suppose," Marshall nodded. "If you get too tired though, don't be afraid to wake one of us up. We don't want to leave ourselves exposed, no matter what."

"I'll take second shift," Levin volunteered. "I can go back to sleep pretty quickly, so I don't mind being woken up for a few hours in the middle of the night."

"Then it's decided," Marshall said. "Keep a sharp eye Miss Eleanor. There's Jaggi in these caves, and probably Giggi too. Neither of them would be pleasant to wake up to in the middle of the night, wouldn't you agree?"

Despite the old hunter's words, advising Levin to hit the hay along with him, the great sword user decided to stay up a little later, talking quietly with Ellie as the hammer user dozed off into sleep. The two of them had quietly scooted closer to each other over time, trying to keep their voices to a minimum to keep from waking Marshall. Levin's eyes began to droop soon after, however, and pretty soon the great sword user had dozed off as well, arms tightly hugging himself to stave off the cold winds that still rolled through the caverns.

Ellie was tempted to return the coat, braving the cold for the rest of the night. She was also direly tempted to just scoot close enough to her partner to simply toss the coat over the two of them to share; her face had warmed at the prospect, but she knew that if either Levin or Marshall woke up at a bad time, she'd have an awkward time explaining why she'd done what she did. With the looks she'd received from Marshall earlier, she wasn't quite up to explaining that yet, and despite her bold words to Nat in Orage Dell, she hadn't quite bolstered up the courage to confess to Levin exactly how much she cared for him.

She chose instead to take the middle ground. Rather than giving up the coat or sharing it with the great sword user, she scooted over until she and Levin were right next to each other, keeping the Ludroth sponge between them but trying to warm her partner with body heat. Levin seemed to sense the warmth, and soon the great sword user's shivers had stopped and he seemed to be sleeping more peacefully.

Ellie smiled, glad that he didn't seem to be suffering anymore, and patted him on the leg. Levin seemed to feel that, even in his dreams, too, and the young man reached out and clamped his own hand around hers, muttering in his sleep. Ellie felt that maybe she should pull out of his grasp before her partner awakened, but decided against it, figuring that once the great sword user awoke, she'd simply work out an excuse then, and enjoy the feeling for now.

Suddenly Ellie perked up, eyes snapping around the cavern they were in. She could have sworn she'd heard something just now. Something cracking or snapping. A twig, maybe? But as she listened, no other sounds out of the ordinary seemed to reach her ears. There seemed to be some unfamiliar sound in the distance though, a deep rumbling sound echoing from some unknown place. It almost seemed like a voice speaking, the way it cut out and reappeared. Maybe the cavern had some strange acoustics, and voices were traveling all the way from Echo Village to here? Or maybe it was just the sound of waves crashing against an oddly shaped rock; Ellie couldn't be certain.

She strained to hear, trying to make out what the sound was, and for a moment or two it seemed to clarify just a little bit. She just couldn't seem to figure out where the sound was originating from, it just seemed to be sliding out of the walls or something. It was almost like she could hear a deep sort of laughter… But then Levin began to mumble in his sleep again, and her concentration was lost. She turned to face the great sword user, a look of irritation on her face, but then she sighed to herself, knowing she shouldn't place blame on her partner. She tried to hear for the sound again, but whatever focus she'd had on the sound, whatever it was, was gone, faded into the background of the cave sounds.

Levin mumbled in his sleep again, and Ellie turned back to him, wondering what kind of dream the young man was having. She squeezed his hand a little tighter, wishing him a decent dream as she turned back towards the stretching cave, keeping her eyes and ears open for the sound of whatever she'd heard earlier.

* * *

**It is time, boy!**

_Levin gasped in shock as a wave of fire erupted from the ground underneath him, tearing into his legs and dropping him to the floor. For a moment, he thought he was in the tunnels, and somehow the Rathian had caught wind of them, but looking around, he realized that all there was nearby was fire and darkness. No other light but the flames surrounded him, tearing into his body and eating away at his skin._

**Tomorrow, boy! Know now that tomorrow I will take from you what I swore I would take! You village is mine to take! You friends are mine to take! That girl is mine to take! Your happiness is mine to take!**

"_No! I won't let you!" Levin howled, forcing himself to scream at the beast through his pain and fear. "I will fight against you! I will not let you win!"_

_Loud, thunderous, cruel laughter filled his ears, splitting his skull from the noise_. **Just you try and stop me, boy! I will enjoy watching you fail! I will enjoy watching all you care for die! I will make you hate me with every fiber of your being! Perhaps then you will find the strength to properly oppose me!**

"_No, dammit!" Levin roared. With a surge of effort, the hunter pushed himself to his feet. He no longer cared about the searing flames that cut into his flesh and bones. All he cared about was finding the source of the voice before it dared to strike out against all he cared about. Before it could dare hurt Ellie! A rolling chuckle filled his ears._

**Looks like you've got some, heh, fire in you now, boy. But willpower is not enough to scratch me, human. You are not strong enough, not daring enough, not… coldblooded enough**.

_Levin's breath caught in his throat as a new burning sensation seared up his legs. But it wasn't the same as a normal flame, it wasn't like an actual fire. His eyes shot down to his legs, and he gasped as the sight of bright blue fire crawling up his legs. He realized that he could see his own breath, however, and realized that it wasn't fire, but ice that crawled up his body. He could feel panic filling his mind as the cold air began making it continuously harder to breath. He found himself gasping for air, only to cringe in pain as the cold froze the air in his very lungs. _

_Cold filled him as the chill spread through his body. The fire that once covered him now seemed almost a comfort as the deep blue ice slowly swallowed him up. In a few moments, his whole body was completely covered in the thick, frozen ice. _

_No, not his whole body, he realized. As cold as he was, he realized that his hand was still warm. He glanced over to his hand, and vaguely realized that there was still a small fire burning on his hand, and he desperately clamped down on the warmth. He had to hold onto it! It was all he had left._

**How irritating**, _the voice growled_. **You disappoint me, clinging so tightly to something like that. But know this, you won't have it for long, boy. Not much longer at all**.

_From the darkness, a black maw with dark, razor-sharp teeth swooped in from the shadows. The fangs glistened brightly as the long blades opened apart, coming in towards his arm, intent on clamping down on it and taking his arm off. Levin cursed wildly, screaming threats at the dark shape. He couldn't take it! He couldn't! He…_

* * *

"No!"

Ellie jumped what felt like a foot in the air when Levin suddenly bolted awake. Her partner had been clamping down on her hand for the last few minutes, making Ellie wonder if he was having a bad dream, and pondering whether or not to wake him. However, before she could decide whether or not to do so, the great sword user had jolted awake.

As her partner sat, gasping for breath and trying to regain his bearings, Ellie looked over to Marshall, and saw their hunting teacher sitting up against the wall, giving Levin a concerned look. Ellie quickly looked back over to her partner, concerned.

"Are you all right, Levin?" she asked softly.

"It's coming…" the great sword user muttered, not seeming to realize she was next to him. "It said it would… I can't… can't let it…"

"What's coming?" Ellie asked, confused.

Levin's head snapped up, his eyes, focusing on her for what seemed like the first time, as though he'd just realized she was there. He blinked at her for a moment, uncertainly. "No. Nothing," he muttered. "Nothing's coming. It's just… just a dream."

"Looked rather rough for 'just a dream,' Levin," Marshall said. "More of a nightmare."

"Yeah, yeah. A nightmare," Levin replied, forcing a grin. "Just a nightmare."

"You're freezing," Ellie told him, holding a hand against his arm. His body was like ice, chilled down to the bone. She knew from experience that the young man had a tendency to have a rather warm body temperature, from the times the two of them had gotten close enough for physical contact.

"Just a little chilly from the wind," Levin replied, rubbing a hand up and down his arm. "Jeez, I'm cold… seems like the only part of me that's not is my hand."

Levin blinked in realization as he looked down at his hand, seeing his hand clamping down on Ellie's. Ellie felt herself redden as he glanced up at her, meeting her eyes. She also heard Marshall chuckle lightly off to the side, but the odd look in Levin's eyes seemed to hold her attention above everything else. Ellie felt herself wiggling her hand, trying embarrassedly to free her hand from Levin's grip.

But the great sword user surprised her, rather than releasing her hand, he simply smiled in relief. "Thanks," he muttered simply, catching Ellie off guard so much that the bowgunner forgot to try and free her hand, simply slumping back against the wall. What the hell had he seen in his dream to actually thank her for holding his hand?

"I guess since I'm awake now, I'll just take my shift now," Levin said, sitting up a little straighter. "Doesn't look like I'll be able to sleep for a while, anyway. Too wired right now."

"You sure?" Ellie asked. "I've only been on watch for maybe an hour, tops. I'm still good for another few hours, if you're still tired."

"No, you get some rest," Levin grinned tiredly. "I'm not going to be able to get any rest for a while, it looks like. No sense in two of us losing sleep over night watch. Get some rest, Miss Ellie. I'll be fine."

"At least take your coat," Ellie insisted. "You're frozen right now. We won't be able to do the mission tomorrow if you're an icicle on legs."

"I'm fine," Levin replied. "Just… stay close to me. I'll be fine if you do that much."

Ellie frowned uncertainly. Somehow or another, Levin seemed afraid of something, clinging tightly to Ellie's hand and looking around the cave as though he suspected something, anything to just pop out of the shadows and attack the three of them. Ellie was worried, to say the least. She had had issues with bad dreams before, but whatever was haunting Levin's sleep seemed to be frightening him down to his core, not just waking him up in a cold sweat as it did with Ellie.

But as much as Ellie wanted to try and talk to the great sword user about whatever was bothering him, she could feel the siren song of sleep calling out to her, weariness from the day's traveling catching up with her and demanding she get some rest. Marshall was grinning to himself and shaking his head, but his eyes were drooping slightly, ready to get some rest before his turn at taking the next watch. Even the sight of the old man sleeping was pushing down Ellie's eyelids, making her want to sleep all the more.

As consciousness began to slip away, Ellie found herself leaning in closer to Levin, squeezing his hand tighter. "Stay warm," she muttered. "You'll be fine. Everything will be fine. Neither of us have to worry about dreams, okay?"

"Yeah," he replied wistfully. "Dreams aren't a problem. It's real life that's the problem. But yeah, things will be fine. I'll make sure of it."

"Good to hear," Ellie grinned. "Just remember that we're both in this together."

"Yeah, thanks," Levin said, as Ellie drifted off to sleep.

* * *

The three were off and traveling through the caverns again fairly early the next morning. Ellie had woken up the nest morning almost exactly as she'd fallen asleep, sitting close to Levin, hands entwined. The great sword user was sleeping next to her, a heavy sleep that seemed to be without dreams, much to Ellie's relief. She'd been worried before dozing off that her partner wouldn't be willing to sleep for the rest of the night in fear of whatever lay hidden beyond the veil of sleep. But the great sword user seemed truly dead to the world now, and from what Ellie could feel, Levin had managed to regain his body heat, and was sleeping without shivering anymore.

Marshall was wide awake and looking around as Ellie woke up, but was kind enough not to say anything about the two of their positions. But the sun was peeking into the caverns, lighting up the walls and sending warm light into the tunnels. With a small sigh of regret, Ellie pulled her hand free of Levin's, getting to her feet and stretching away the aches and pains that came with sleeping against a rock wall all night. She quickly slipped Levin's Ludroth coat off and covered the great sword user with it, allowing him to stay warm until he woke up as well.

Marshall and Ellie allowed Levin to sleep for another few minutes while they both wolfed down some of the meat Levin had brought along with him. However, the smell of the meat eventually caught into Levin's nose, and with a groan of hunger the great sword user's eyes fluttered open and the young man sat up, stretching as well and eyeing the food hungrily. Marshall grinned at the young man, tossing a few slices to the young man, who wolfed it down greedily.

Ellie and Levin's eyes met once or twice as they ate, embarrassment getting the better of them as they finished off their food. Thankfully, Marshall rushed them along as they ate, encouraging them to finish so they could get a move on in search of the Rath nest. Ellie and Levin were both glad to oblige, content to get going so that they could try and get rid of the uncomfortable silence between them.

The first few hours of their day were very similar to the day before, with the three of them only being able to choose their path randomly, rather than having any knowledge whatsoever about where they were going. But as before, they chose their paths simply by searching for whichever paths went upwards toward the top of the island. And as before, just because it looked like it would head closer to the sky, didn't mean it wouldn't dip down towards the ocean later on as they hiked.

Luckily for them, however, the caves proved to not be nearly as complex as they had first appeared the day before. The caverns looped and twisted around each other, that was for sure, but it turned out that they looped around and pack on themselves, which they realized when they spotted the splatter of a paint shot that lingered on a wall after Ellie and Levin had chased off a Great Jaggi that came over to pester them.

After that it was simply a matter of mentally mapping out the paths they found onto a small hunting notebook that Ellie pulled out of her pack. When Levin raised an eyebrow at the small book, Ellie merely shrugged and smiled. "I wasn't sure what we'd meet while we were here, so I brought this with me just in case something different popped up. We haven't really seen anything too odd, so it's just paper I guess. It's got its use now, I suppose."

It eventually proved to be extremely helpful that Ellie had brought the paper with her, because soon the page was almost completely covered with an intricate web of interconnection lines. However, much to the hunters' delight, they quickly discovered that almost all the tunnels simply looped back around to a collection of maybe three or four intersections. In just under an hour, they found that they'd scoured nearly all the possible paths that were there, leaving only a scant few paths left.

The first path they took was a dead end, where a few hives of Bnahabra nests were wedged into about half a dozen alcoves. The second path led to what apparently was the central Jaggi nest of the island. Luckily, the three hunters managed to get away from the away from the nest before the horde of Jaggi and Jaggia managed to catch sight of them; none of them really wanted trouble when they felt this close to finding the nest they'd been seeking for the last two days.

On the third tunnel, the three hunters finally hit pay dirt. Ellie and Levin had initially disagreed about entering the pathway that they did, since the path took a sharp drop in elevation at the start, looking as though it would connect to a small underground lake or something of the like. Levin didn't think the tunnel would lead anywhere else, but Ellie insisted that they take each path in order, just in case. Levin sighed in irritation, but agreed to follow along. Marshall made an effort to keep himself out of their decisions, only cutting in when he deemed it necessary.

The tunnel initially did lead down to a small underground pond, full of fish pulled in from the ocean, allowing Levin to give Ellie a victorious grin. But the smile vanished as the three traveled to the back of the cavern they were in and they spotted a shaft of light coming in from the ceiling. When they arrived at the light, Ellie and Levin found themselves gasping in shock as they came to a massive stone staircase, covered in odd ancient lettering and symbols, spiraling up towards the top where the sun was right overhead, sending glaring light down into the cave. Ellie allowed herself to return the victorious smirk that Levin had given her earlier, and the great sword user sighed in defeat.

The hunters began working their way up immediately, taking their time working their ways up the staircase. They took their time climbing, knowing that charging up the stairs too quickly would only wear them out. A distant, deep rumbling sound seemed to echo around the walls, filling the cavern and spire with a misleading white noise. As they climbed, Ellie kept her eyes on the walls of the staircase, sliding her fingers along the ingrained symbols on the walls. The writing seemed more like pictures than anything else, intricate images of birds and trees and other things scattered across the walls. Occasionally, Ellie also caught sight of larger symbols that seemed to represent monsters she recognized. There were Jaggi, Ludroth, Aptonoth, even the occasional Qurupeco. One of the especially large images depicted some large aquatic monster, a massive two-horned creature that Ellie had never seen before.

"What are all these symbols for?" she asked Marshall as they climbed. The hammer user blinked in surprise at the question, giving the bowgunner an odd look.

"It's the lettering and words of the old civilization," he replied slowly. "Or… perhaps _an_ old civilization. I thought they'd be something you Lost left here."

"This isn't any type of writing I've ever seen," Ellie replied back. "It more like hieroglyphics than any sort of the writing the Lost had back home."

"It's newer than the Lost's civilization," Levin said. "There weren't any monsters during my time in our society, so whoever made these came after us."

"Interesting," Marshall muttered. "Ever since the two of you told me how you believed the Lost were… _carried_ here from your time, I've always assumed that the old remains that are scattered around through the world were all left behind by the Lost. But if these ruins came after you… hm. I'm not sure what to make of that."

"It just means that there were other cultures after our people were scattered," Levin muttered. Ellie noted an odd tone to the great sword user's voice, a sense of regret. "For all the billions of people there were in our world, it seems like all that's left for people to look at are what came after us."

"Hmm, maybe so," Marshall replied. "But who knows? I've heard of dozens of researchers out looking for remnants of the old structures and remains of vanished cultures. Maybe there's more left of your world than you think."

"Maybe," Levin replied simply.

After what seemed like an eternity of hiking, the glaring sun at the top of the spire finally seemed to be getting close enough for the three of them to feel as though they were reaching the end of their long trek. Ellie could just barely make out the edges of a massive cliff that towered even higher over the opening above them, though the rest of the area surrounding the top of the stairs eluded her vision. Ellie realized also that, as they'd climbed, the quiet rumbling they'd heard at the base of the stairs had slowly increased in volume, and now when the three hunters chose to talk to each other, they were forced to raise their voices a bit in order to be heard.

Finally, though, the three crested the top of the spire, and Ellie and Levin both let out an audible gasp at the sight. The Boma hunters found themselves standing in the center of a large, raised platform bordering the edge of a large, sparkling lake. Ellie realized that, whoever had built the massive spiraling staircase, it was almost as though the island had grown _around_ the walls that made up the sides of the stairs. Ellie hadn't noticed before due to the dim light of the caverns, but the stone of the spire was of a slightly lighter-colored stone than that of the rest of the island. While the bottom of the stairs had merged so closely with the flow of the caves, the top stood out from the surroundings; the peak of the spire was a smooth cylindrical shape that popped nearly five feet out of the gravelly area near the shore of the lake.

Over the water on the far side of the lake, a large, thundering waterfall pouted over the top of the cliff face that Ellie had seen earlier, the source of the reverberating roar the three of them had heard on their climb up here, Ellie realized. She hesitantly edged towards the side of the platform that borrowed down into the stone, watching as the water lapped constantly against the walls of the staircase's walls. Several brightly-colored fish swam in the clear water, making Ellie wonder exactly how they'd gotten up here in the first place.

"How in the hell did a waterfall get all the way up here?" Levin asked in a stunned voice, wandering over to the edge of the nearby cliff and glancing over the edge down towards the ocean below. "We've got to be at least a hundred feet up, and that waterfall's got to add another fifty or so feet to that."

"A geyser perhaps?" Marshall answered. "Shooting up from underground all the way to the top of the island, or something along those lines?"

"Perhaps," Levin replied, craning his neck as though it would somehow help him see over the cliff that towered over them pumping water down in thousands of gallons per minute.

"Do either of you see anywhere that the Rathian could make its nest?" Marshall asked, glancing around the area. Ellie eyes darted around at the words, searching for some sign of the Rath nest whereabouts. However, aside from the broad lake that rippled next to the base of the spire, there was very little to go by in terms of searching for the Rath nest. A few tufts of grass sprouted from the ground in a few spots, but other than that, nothing really showed anything that could possibly represent life here at the top of the cliff.

Levin glanced over the cliff again, in search of some other platforms or knolls on which the Raths could have placed their nest. He frowned in irritation, not seeing anything positive as to where the nest could be. "Must be on the other side of the island or something," Ellie heard him mutter in irritation. Ellie groaned in frustration, thinking about the effort it would take to go all the way back down the stairs and continue searching the island for the eggs.

Suddenly Ellie noticed Marshall perking up, tilting his ears to the wind around them. Levin noticed the old man's motion as well and the two Lost hunters turned to listen as well. It took a few moments, but Ellie soon picked up a new sound, a slow thumping sound and deep growling sound. Ellie couldn't seem to determine where it was coming from, however, no matter how much she looked around. It seemed as though the sound was coming from the ground, or floating on the wind.

"We should head back down into the tunnel," Levin said quietly, motioning to the stairs. "I can hear something, and it sounds close, but I'm not exactly sure where it's coming from."

Ellie nodded and Marshall grunted in acquiesce, and the three hunters slid back towards the spiraling stairs. They made their way down a few dozen steps, then stopped as the quiet rumbling sounds suddenly increased in volume and speed. Levin stopped where he stood, motioning for the others to stay where they were, and slowly inched his way back up to the rim of the hole in the ceiling, just barely glancing over the edge to look out over the lake in search of the source of the sound. Ellie watched the great sword user intently as he peeked over the side.

Suddenly her partner gasped in shock, losing his footing and tumbling from the stair he was on. Ellie lurched forward instinctively as the great sword user started to tumble down the stairs, messily catching the young man as he plowed into her, sprawling the two hunters across the wide staircase. As the bowgunner groaned in pain, a massive shadow passed over the hole at the top of the staircase above them, a bulky mass whooshing over them with a blast of wind. Ellie's eyes shot up just in time to spot the familiar tail of the of the Rathian as it passed overhead, and heard the deep growl of the creature as it set off over the island.

The two hunters quickly sprang back to their feet, taking the steps up the stairs two at a time in order to reach the top as quickly as they could, Marshall close behind them. Ellie was forced to blink repeatedly on the way up, as she realized a spray of shining mist was pouring over the walls of the stairwell onto them. But as they cleared the last few stairs, the air cleared and they turned to watch as the Rathian soared out over the waters of the ocean, turning sharply as it curved around a bend in the island and vanished out of sight.

Ellie took several steps over to the side of the cliff face to make certain that the Rathian was truly out of sight, before realizing that the entire top of the cylindrical spire was coated in a thin layer of water, small puddles reflecting the bright sunlight back up into the bowgunner's eyes. As she looked out towards the other end of the island, the sounds of the Rathian began to fade along with the sight of it, until every last trace that it had even been here on this rocky outcropping was gone completely.

"Where the hell did it come from?" she asked Levin, turning back towards the great sword user. "I didn't even hear it coming! Shouldn't we have heard it flapping its wings or something before it got here?"

"It didn't come out of the sky," Levin replied, earning an odd look from Ellie and Marshall alike. Ellie's eyes shot around the outcropping, searching for some sort of cave or hidden ledge that they may have missed before, but to no avail. Shaking his head, the great sword user pointed and said, "It came out of there."

Ellie followed his motion, eyes landing on the thundering waterfall on the other side of the lake. She tilted her head in confusion before realization hit her. Without another thought, the bowgunner took off running, leaping off the ledge of the spire and down onto the rocky outcropping surrounding the staircase. She heard Levin bark a cry of warning, but knew he followed close behind by the scuffling of feet and thumps of impact she heard behind her as she ran.

She rounded the side of the lake as quickly as she could, finally coming into view of the rear side of the massive onrush of water pouring down the side of the cliff. Sure enough, as Levin had said, there was more back behind the falls than they'd originally thought when they'd reached the top of the spire. Where there would have normally only been a continuous wall between the edges of the waterfall, there was instead a deep black hole that gutted into the area behind the falling water. It was almost as deep and long as one of the caverns they'd been traveling through during the rest of the day. It dipped down in elevation a little ways, from what Ellie could see, leading a small stream of water down into the hole in the wall.

Ellie turned as Levin caught up to her, gasping for breath, with Marshall close behind. "Jeez, you're fast, woman," he muttered. "You're getting kinda risky, you know? What if the Rathian was just circling the island real quick?"

"Sorry," Ellie replied sheepishly. "I got kind of excited, thinking we'd finally found it."

Levin glanced towards the back of the waterfall as well, taking note of the dark cavern behind the falls as well. Ellie could tell by the look on his man that her partner was feeling a swelling of excitement at the sight of the hidden cavern as well. A curve of a smile started to appear at the edge of his mouth as he took a short step forward towards the cave, before realizing what he was doing and laughing in embarrassment.

Coming to a silent agreement, the two hunters quickly made their way across the wet rocks, Marshall following behind with his eyes on the skies in search of the Rathian. Ellie has forced to cover her face as the spray from the waterfall misted across her face into her eyes, making her blink away the water in her eyes. The three hunters reached the break in the cliff face and turned into the cave, and Levin whistled in awe.

Ellie had thought that the tunnel behind the waterfall would be simply that: a tunnel. However, what she hadn't expected was the massive, well-lit room growing into the side of the cliff face that appeared before them. Bright sunlight poured down through large holes in the ceiling, covering large tracts of vibrant grass that coated the floor of the cavern. The trickle of a stream poured through the cavern down into a small pond on the other side of the cavern, creating a clear little area where a few small fish swum around. All around the cavern were various markings in the grass, imbedded stamped footprints where the Rathian and Rathalos had wandered around through the cave.

Suddenly Ellie's eye caught sight of something different, out of the ordinary from the rest of the grassy cavern. Hidden in a corner was a small hole dug into the ground of the cavern. Mossy branches and bales of grass and other plants lined the side of the hole in the ground, creating a cozy little place. Sure enough, right in the middle of the grass and twigs, were seven round eggs. Ellie gaped in shock at the sight of the eggs; she'd been expecting large eggs from such creatures as the Rathian and Rathalos, but the eggs were so big and heavy-looking that Ellie suspected that if she curled up tightly enough, she could just almost fit inside one of the massive eggs herself.

"We're supposed to carry two of those all the way back to the village ourselves?" Levin groaned in shock. "Just getting up those stairs was a massive pain in the butt. Getting down while carrying one of those things is going to be a nightmare!"

Ellie gave a cursory glance to the rumbling waterfall behind them, as though expecting the Rathian to burst back into the cavern at a moment's notice, then turned back to the nest and cautiously approached the nest with Levin in tow. Marshall stayed behind, watching the two hunters cautiously as they approached the nest, keeping a spare eye on the entrance to the cavern so that he could call out a warning if the need arose.

Ellie and Levin crawled carefully over the brambling sticks and grass that covered the nest, approaching the eggs as cautiously as they could to avoid tripping and falling face-first into the branches. Finally they found themselves close enough to touch the eggs, and Ellie did so. She was surprised to find that the egg had a very soft feel to it, despite the leathery texture. And it was warm, so very warm. A soft gurgling sound seemed to be coming from the egg itself as Ellie leaned in close to it. Ellie could almost feel the heartbeat of the small wyvern growing inside of the big egg.

Ellie all of a sudden felt as though it would impossible for her to even consider completing this mission. The warmth and very essence of life coming from the egg seemed to call out to her, and a feeling of insane guilt and uncertainty welled up inside of her. For a long, seemingly endless moment, it seemed as though Ellie would simply turn around and walk out of the cave and head back to the village to tell Farren that she no longer wanted to do the mission. The very thought of taking these eggs from their nest seemed like… an abomination. She cursed herself in dismay; all this time she'd hated and feared the Raths, and now just a few seconds of contact with the wyvern's eggs had instigated… what, her maternal instinct?

"I don't think I can do this," she whispered, just loud enough for Levin to hear.

"I know what you mean," he replied. Ellie glanced over at the great sword user; her partner had a hand one of the other eggs, and a torn look in his eyes. "It just seems wrong, doesn't it? I can hardly bring myself to stay in this cavern; much less contemplate stealing two of them back to give to the Guild."

"Maybe we should just give up on this quest," Ellie said hopefully. Guilt was starting to consume her, and the bowgunner really wanted to hear Levin agree with her decision to give up. She hated the thought of intentionally giving up on a quest the Guild had requested of them, but the desire to protect these eggs was overwhelming. If she only had some confirmation that her feelings were legitimate, were justified…

"I really want to, I really do," Levin confirmed for her. However, there was a powerful feeling of uncertainty etched across his face. "But, it's like Farren said, the Guild sponsored this mission. If… if they sponsored a mission like this, there must be something important that they're trying to accomplish by completing it. I guess it comes down to whether or not we believe that the Guild is doing something with these eggs that's… worth stealing them over."

Ellie felt her mind seem to freeze up. Levin was right. The Guild was the one that requested this mission for whatever reason, how was she to know whether or not the Guild's use of the eggs were more valuable than her own personal instincts.

"I don't like it," she whispered despairingly.

"I don't either," Levin replied. "But if we aren't the ones that do this for the Guild, then they'll just get some other hunter or hunters to do it."

Ellie nodded again, knowing Levin was right. "But… even if someone else does it rather than us, at least we're not the ones that lose our ethical feelings."

Levin was silent for a moment in thought. He gave Ellie a guilty look soon after, and the bowgunner felt a sinking feeling in her gut. "I hate to do this," he said quietly, "but I'm going to leave this decision completely up to you. You have… issues with the Raths, I know. I want to make this decision to make it easier for you, but these are your nemesis', and I want you to be the one that decides what we do with them. If you feel some sort of… regret doing this, some sort of affinity with these eggs, then don't, and we'll get out of here. But just know, I don't know, I'm getting a really bad feeling right now. Maybe we should just walk away from this."

Ellie looked down at the eggs below her, her hand of the one she was standing over. She had always thought that the decision to travel all the way to Boma to become a hunter would be one of the hardest missions he'd ever have to do, but as she felt the warmth of the egg seep into her hands, she knew that this was the most conflicted she'd ever felt in her life. Ellie still hated the Raths, still wanted nothing more than to hunt one or the other and feel the joy of superiority gotten through bringing one down. But the thought of taking an un-hatched egg from its parents just seemed…

"Let's do it," Ellie finally decided. "I… I don't know why. Let's just do it. Let's just get this over with."

Levin held eye contact with Ellie for moment or two longer, a look of dismay and worry crossing his face, and then he nodded in acceptance. Ellie wasn't sure what exactly the look on his face was now. Regret, maybe, or disappointment? Fear? Maybe sorrow? "As you wish, Miss Ellie."

The two of them cautiously knelt down, each of them sliding their hands underneath one of the eggs and testing their weight and shape. With a grunt of effort, Levin pushed his legs, hoisting his egg into the air. He teetered a bit under the weight, but managed to keep his hands on the egg. Ellie followed his example soon after, hoisting her own egg into the air and knitting her fingers together to keep it level. Nodding to each other, the pair of hunters slowly began to work their way out of the brambles of the nest.

Marshall nodded solemnly to them as they worked their way back to the entrance of the cavern. The two hunters were forced to watch their steps as they hauled the eggs back up the ramp to the entrance of the cave; the rocks were slick from the mist of the waterfall, making even the smallest step worth giving their utmost attentions to. The worst of it all was as they were working their way through the small gap of space between the entrance to the cavern and the roaring waterfall. Every rock was soaked completely, making it almost as though the rocks were smoothed to the point of almost complete slickness.

Once they'd made it past the waterfall, though, the going got much simpler. The rocks thinned out to dirt and more level ground, and the water below their feet disappeared allowing them more certain footholds. Ellie was already eyeing the spire pillar warily though; the top of the staircase stood a good five feet taller than the dirt they walked on at its lowest point, making Ellie cringe at the thought of forcing the eggs over the edge of the spire. The slightest wrong move, and one of these precious, warm, living eggs would be…

She shook her head, forcing the thoughts out of her mind. No harm would come to either of these eggs while they were under her care, she would make sure of it.

Upon finally reaching the jutting pillar, it took nearly five minutes of careful work to hoist the two eggs from their arms up onto the round stairwell. Marshall took the top as the two hunters lugged their eggs up onto the platform, taking care to treat the eggs with special care. Once both eggs were safely on the platform, the two Lost hoisted themselves up next to them, stretching their limbs to prepare for the next part of the journey.

Ellie gulped in fear as they approached what she'd been dreading ever since they'd started hauling the eggs: the long, winding staircase. Ellie looked nervously down as the stone ramp descended into the darkness below, the bottom almost invisible to her after spending so long out in the sunlight. She found herself hesitating as she looked down over the crevice, the weight of the egg seeming to bear down all the more on her at the thought of having to carry it down the stairs… One. Step. At. A. Time.

Luckily for her, Levin decided to take the initiative. With a quick look at the sky, the great sword user seemed to realize that the three of them had been there far too long for his liking. With a quick step, her partner began to awkwardly hobble his was down the staircase, trying at the same time to twist his body to see the stairs ahead of him, as well as tighten his grip to keep a firmer hand on the egg. Ellie watched with concern as the great sword user worked his way down the first dozen or so steps, before shrugging in acceptance, and taking the first step down as well.

Ellie had suspected that the hike down the stairwell would be taxing, but before they were even a quarter down the spiral, she could feel her arms aching as though they would like nothing more than to simply fall off and remain where they lay rather than keep holding the egg up. But Ellie ignored the pain, keeping her focus on holding the egg in her arms. Both her and Levin found themselves stopping every five minutes or so, having to catch their breath so that they wouldn't pass out from exhaustion.

Halfway down, Ellie saw Levin pause on the steps, gasping for breath. "Okay, I need a little more than a couple-minute breather or both this egg and me and going to be going down the rest of these stairs in a tumble."

"Sounds good to me," Ellie sighed. As cautious as Ellie felt towards the egg, she knew that any longer holding it would end with her dropping it. Keeping it from rolling would be easier than carrying it for a while, allowing the two of them to rest. Ellie only wished that there was some sort of longer platform where she and Levin could set the eggs down without worrying about the eggs getting away from them. But with her heart beating so loud she could swear Levin could hear it, she'd take anything…

As she stopped, her heart rate began to slow, and Ellie realized that the sound of her heartbeat wasn't fading at all. She didn't realize what the sound was at first until a terrified look came over Levin's face and the great sword user's eyes and both his and Marshall's eyes shot to the top of the staircase where the sun shone brightly down into the spire.

"I hate to break it to you, Levin," Marshall said worriedly, his hand instinctively reaching for his hammer's hilt, "but I think that now would be a good time to pick up the pace, not rest." Levin nodded in fear, and with an abrupt turn, the three picked up the pace they'd been setting, going down the steps as fast as they dared without the threat of tripping over their own feet.

As they hurried, Ellie winced in fear as a massive shadow passed over the top of the spire, the sound of rushing wind tailing behind, darkening the stairwell into such a momentary blackness that the bowgunner feared that she would miss her next step. But the shadow was gone in a fraction of a moment, the wyvern making her way back to her nest. Ellie seemed to find herself moving even faster than before, an impending sense of doom bearing down on her. A thump of the Rathian landing and the splashing of water echoed down the spire, and the three hunters strained their ears for what they knew was coming.

Sure enough, there were several moments of silence, and then the sound of the Rathian's furious roar seemed the shake the very walls of the spire. An explosion of sound filled the spire, followed by a wave of water spilling over the sides of the spire's top, creating an illusion of rainfall for a few moments in the stairwell as the howl of rage bore down on them. Ellie's heart was screaming out in ache and panic, but she forced herself to continue, following close behind the great sword user in front of her as close as she dared without running the risk of running into him.

In a rush of darkness, the shadow that had darkened the stairwell was back, so quickly Ellie nearly missed the next step. But this time, rather than rushing past them, the vanishing of light in the spire remained, and a heavy thud echoed off the walls of the stairwell above them. Ellie risked a glance back up to the top where the sun had previous glowed down on them, and immediately wished she hadn't. The massive shape of the Rathian blotted out the blue sky above them, every feature defining a feeling of blind and all-consuming fury; the Rathian's features would normally have been only a silhouette above them, but searing red flames jetted out of the wyvern's lips with every breath, showing clear the monster's intent if it managed to catch them.

Ellie nearly froze. The creature's eyes met hers, and the look of sheer hatred that bored into her from those shining green eyes nearly made the bowgunner want to drop the egg and run for her life. The egg in her arms seemed to grow even warmer as the sound of the Rathian's enraged howling echoed down to the three hunter's, as though the embryo inside could sense its predicament and was calling out for aid.

"Faster faster FASTER!" Levin roared, and Ellie snapped her attention back to the path in front of her. She nearly sobbed in relief when she glance over the edge of the stairs and saw that the bottom of the spire was only a few levels more down. But a terrible gurgling sound rippled from above them, a familiar sound that haunted her dreams…

Ellie's feet moved so quickly below her that she might have passed Levin had the width of the stairs been wider. Levin seemed to sense her haste, and what the need of it meant, because in a moment, the two hunters found themselves daring two steps at a time, fearing for their lives. The shadows of the stairs were nearly impossible to make out without the sun shining down into the spire, but they had to keep moving.

Suddenly the spire lit up considerably, a hazy orange and yellow light filling the stairwell. Ellie felt herself pushing herself even harder as the blazing roar of flames rumbled after them. The wall of fire bore down on them, pouring over the edges of the stairs above them like water over the falls they'd just escaped from. Ellie found herself growing dizzy from lack of air, but her mind forced her on, knowing that getting reduced to cinders would be the best she could hope for if she dared stop.

The three hunters could feel the heat of the fires above them bearing down on them when they finally reached the bottom of the spire. Ellie leapt the last four stairs in one go, nearly dropping the egg as she landed, her legs almost giving out from under her, but she kept on going, tailing after the great sword user as Levin bolted for the small underwater lake in front of them. Marshall tailed close behind the two Lost hunters as they rushed away from the broad opening that led out of the spire and back into the caverns. Ellie could just feel the flames licking against her Qurupeco skirt tails, could swear that she was going to have to dive into that lake in front of her to keep from burning alive.

But as she neared the lake, she could feel the flames behind her dying down and away. She'd escaped the flames of the Rathian, somehow or another. But the force of effort she'd put into escaping down the stairs finally caught up with her; with a gasp of effort, the bowgunner dropped to her knees, sinking her legs into the cool waters of the underwater lake.

"Don't let the egg fall into the water," Marshall told her, a weary tone in his voice. Ellie wanted to snap out at the older hunter, but she remembered that the hammer user was simply on this mission with them as a passive observer, and everything they did here was up to them and their decisions. The fact that he'd given Ellie even that much advice was what he'd promised to give them, what they needed to survive. And she had needed that advice; if she'd let the egg drop into the water, then what? The egg would grow too cold and die? The Rathian's rage was monstrous; none of them would be able to risk another run up the spire to where the eggs were. Ellie begrudgingly scooted her way out of the water, but refused to get to her feet, not being able to force herself up from sheer weariness.

Ellie turned as a loud crunching sound filled the cavern they were in. Several sections of stone from the spire were dropping down the stairwell, smashing into the rocky cavern floor at the bottom. Wide swaths of the elaborate drawings and hieroglyphs shattered to pieces as chunks of the walls fell from the top of the stairwell. Ellie could hear a loud, repetitive thumping sound coming from the stairs, and groaned in dismay. Was the Rathian just smashing against the edge of the stairwell, or was it actually chasing them down the spire? She didn't think she could bear to run anymore.

But Marshall was willing to do more than she'd thought he would, apparently. With a motion to them to stay where they were, he slowly worked his way back over to the spire, inching his way under the overhang that led to the base of the stairs and cautiously looking up the spiraling staircase. He stared up towards the top of the tower for a moment or two, then a frustrated roar echoed down from the top of the spire. Marshall suddenly yelped in surprise, leaping back from the bottom of the shaft as a massive, organic shape dropped like a ragdoll from the skylight above and crunched brutally against the ground with a splatter and spray of bright red blood. Ellie winced in shock as she made out the broken shape of an Aptonoth, claw and burn marks across its back and bones splitting out from where it had hit the ground. Even Marshall seemed shaken at the sight.

But the old hunter braved the spire again, inching back and glancing up towards the top of the stairwell again. There was a roar of anger from the top, and suddenly the light coming down the shaft opened up considerably, allowing bright, clear light from the sky to fall freely into the caverns. A frustrated and infuriated roar accompanied the coming of the light, followed by the familiar flapping of wings as the Rathian took to the skies. Marshall remained where he was for nearly a minute, waiting patiently in silence as he stared up towards the sky. Finally he nodded in acceptance and walked back over to the two Lost hunters.

"We're safe," he told them with relief. "For now. You two can take a break for now; the Rathian can't reach us while we're down here. The stairwell's not wide enough."

Ellie nearly cried in relief at the words. With a careful motion, Ellie worked her way over to a small patch of nearby grass, and with a sigh of exhaustion, finally released the egg onto the soft grass. In less than a second, the bowgunner found herself flat on her back, gasping for breath and letting her body recover from the strain of the run down the spire. Levin was close behind, setting his own egg onto the ground and slumping up against the wall next to Ellie, his arms hanging limply on the ground next to him.

"You're doing well so far," Marshall said, propping himself up against one of the nearby rocks and looking down at the two resting hunters. "I hadn't expected the Rathian to come back so early, or I would have suggested we wait until it came back and left again. But you surpassed any of my expectations on the way down those stairs. You may not want to hear it, but had you pushed yourselves any less than you did, I would have knocked those eggs out of your hands and forced the two of you down those stairs to keep you alive at any cost. But as I said, you did well, and you've managed to keep the eggs safe, bringing them this far."

Neither Ellie nor Levin could really do much to respond to Marshall's praise other than continue to gasp for air and try and recover their stamina. Had she the strength to speak, Ellie highly believed she may have given the older hunter the most threat-laced lecture she could manage, for even considering the idea of breaking the eggs as a means of escape. But admittedly, as much as Ellie wanted to protect the egg, she couldn't be certain that she wouldn't toss the orbs to the ground if it meant the difference between whether she survived this mission or not.

"I realize this may be stressful to hear," the hammer user continued, "but as I said back in Boma, I'm going to continue to not help you during the course of this mission. I'm going to leave it up to the two of you to get the three of us, as well as the eggs, safely back to Echo Village safely. My only advice to the two of you is to try and avoid wearing yourselves out in a desperate attempt to get back to the village as quickly as possible. The Rath no doubt knows this island as well, probably better than the two of you."

As she caught her breath, Ellie's hand instinctively wandered over to the warm shell of the Rath egg. The unborn creature inside seemed to react to the touch, and a gentle gurgling came from inside as the egg seemed to warm even hotter. Ellie wondered whether the small creature inside truly understood the situation it was in. Could it sense or hear what was going on, or hear the Rathian's roars? Maybe it knew it had been moved or something? Ellie wondered.

Ellie glanced over to Levin, sitting nearby, and his face caught her attention. She had been expecting weariness, fear or uncertainty. But the look on the great sword user's face was different; it was… what, shock? Panic? Fear certainly, but it seemed directed towards something else, something besides their current situation.

"Do you still have that map with you?" Levin asked Ellie, as he idly ran a finger along the peak of his own egg. Ellie nodded, pulling her attention away from the egg and reaching for her pouch, pulling out the scrap of paper that she and Levin had worked out on their search for the nest in the first place. Levin took the paper with a word of thanks and glanced it over. Pretty soon, however, his eyes glazed over in a frustrated frown.

"What's the matter?" Ellie asked with concern.

"I was hoping we'd have a little easier time now that we're out of the immediate danger zone, but…" Rather than explaining, Levin leaned over, holding the map out and pointing. Ellie followed the great sword user's motion, finding herself looking at three large caverns that were intertwined by almost a dozen different twisting tunnels.

"What about them?" Ellie asked, confused at the sight.

"If we want to get back to the village, we're going to have to go through at least two of those caverns," Levin explained. "The fastest way to get back would mean going through all three, though. The caves are really close together, so there're a few tunnels that connect them that are really short. But the problem is the Rathian. Miss 'Queen of the Land' most likely knows this island inside and out, so any time we spend in these caverns will be time for her to come down and attack us."

"Damn," Ellie muttered, eyes scanning the map. Then she pointed at another path that bypassed the first two caverns. "What about this… oh, wait. That's the Jaggi nest isn't it?"

"You got it," Levin replied with a rueful nod. He pointed to another path that led off the first cavern before connecting to a tunnel right near the western entrance to Echo Village. "There's this path too, but it goes through a tunnel that's filled with water from the ocean, and there's some Ludroth down there too. I don't know about you, but I don't think I'll be able to swim and keep the egg above water at the same time."

Ellie groaned in irritation. Just imagining having to bolt through one of those broad caverns with the risk of a Rathian dropping out of the sky to set them of fire and eat them was almost enough to make Ellie contemplate risking a walk through the Jaggi's nest. How long would it take, she wondered, to jury rig a raft so that they could sail across the waterlogged area of cave without risking the safety of the eggs? But she sighed in acceptance of the whole situation; risking a _possible_ Rathian would likely give the three hunters a better chance of success than charging through locations where they _knew_ monsters would be, even if the Rathian was a far nastier beast than any of the others that were on the island.

"Maybe it's better if we go right through all three in a row," Ellie realized, earning a look from Levin that no doubt questioned the bowgunner's sanity. "No, no, hear me out. One of the things we know about monsters is that they tend to avoid the territories of bigger, nastier monsters. If we go through the side tunnels, we risk running into a Jaggi hunting party. But we know for a fact that there's only one Rathian on the island right now, and pissed though she may be at us right now, she won't do anything to us that'll risk the safety of her eggs… right?"

Ellie didn't like the uncertain pause that Levin gave before replying. "I don't… believe she would. But, I have little doubt that she's angry, and who knows how much her sense will drop when she's angry. I've heard the Raths are quite a bit more intelligent than most other monsters, so with luck she'll realize that trying to crush us wouldn't end well for either of her eggs. We shouldn't risk it, not like this."

"So that leaves her with her flame attacks, doesn't it?" Ellie asked rhetorically. "She didn't seem shy about trying to light the two of us up earlier. Maybe the eggs are a bit fireproof, I mean they are pretty warm to the touch. Maybe since they're Rath eggs, they are resistant to fire."

"Maybe so," Levin replied thoughtfully. "But the Rathian's fire spread may be more dangerous than its physical assaults. If it's trying to bite or strike us, we'll know it's coming. But if fire is all it really needs, then it can just go all 'death from above' on us and we'd never see it coming. The only warning we'd really have is hearing its wings flapping and any roars or growls. We'll have to try and avoid standing under the shafts in the ceiling at all costs, if we want to survive. But I don't like it. Maybe it'd be better if we just took one of the side tunnels…"

"Why are you so against my idea?" Ellie asked. "It's risky, but the less time we spend in the tunnels, the better! The faster we're out of here, the quicker we'll be away from the Rathian!"

"I know, I know!" Levin sighed. "It's just… I don't like this! Maybe we should just… I don't know. Let's… let's do it your way."

Ellie eyed the great sword user worriedly. Something was horribly bothering her partner. He seemed fidgety and nervous, like he expected the Rathian to jump out of the shadows. He seemed to be borderline contemplating whether or not to simply leave the eggs and run, which Ellie simply could not abide. Was it the dream from last night, Ellie wondered? The nightmare had hit him pretty hard from what she'd seen. She'd have to ask him, but right now, while they were under so much duress, maybe it'd be better to wait until they'd gotten back to Echo Village.

Ellie wiggled a leg tiredly. She didn't much like the thought of having to run with the egg in her arms again. Her feet still felt as though they wouldn't so much as support her weight for another few hours, but she knew that lingering too long would only call attention to themselves. She and Levin had been set upon by Jaggi pack in the most remote locations around Boma when they took the time to stop and eat. Even if they were pretty far from the main paths, any carnivores in the area would be able to find them just because their scents were different. That or the Rathian would return to the top of the spire and try something different to get to them… No, they definitely couldn't stay here.

They allowed themselves another twenty or thirty minutes of rest. Levin brought out some more of the meat that he'd brought along with him. The great sword user grumbled a bit, mumbling that what they ate was the last of it, and if they got stuck or bunkered down somewhere due to unforeseen circumstances and couldn't make it back to the village before nightfall, the three of them would need to hunt themselves their own food if they wanted to eat at all. Ellie took her time with her sandwich after that, savoring it with the knowledge that it may be the only food she would be able to eat for a good long while.

But the time finally came when Marshall began hinting that they'd stayed in one place for two long, and the two Lost were forced to get back to their feet and prepare for the journey back to the village. Ellie could already feel her feet and legs crying out in pain and aching, and her arms seemed to ache in anticipation, like they knew that they would be forced to haul the egg again, and were crying out in fear. But the bowgunner forced herself to ignore the aching in her arms, and knelt down to hoist the egg up into her arms.

Marshall took the lead at the get go as the three of them set off from the side of the underground lake, taking his marching orders from Ellie's map. The older hunter seemed a bit uncertain about the two Lost hunters' decision to make a bum rush through the three caverns that led back to the village, but nodded in acceptance of the idea once they'd explained their reasoning. Ellie still wondered if she and Levin had made the correct choice, though; Marshall knew much more about the Raths that both her and Levin combined, probably, and his instincts would probably aid them better than any guesswork the two Lost made.

Getting up the hill they'd walked down to get to the underground lake in the first place was one of the more challenging hikes that Ellie suspected she'd ever taken over the course of her life. She'd thought going down the stairs from the Rathian's nest was rough; going up the rough rocks of the tunnels to get back to the main caverns of the island. It took time, and the two Lost were forced to stop and rest for a few minutes to catch their breath before continuing on.

Eventually, however, the three hunters managed to reach the main tunnels of the island, stepping out of the sloping tunnel, gasping for breath as a herd of Aptonoth loped by. Several of the herbivores gave the hunters a wary sniff, before one of the larger creatures noticed the two eggs that Ellie and Levin carried in their arms. With a honk of surprise and warning, the herd picked up the pace, running at their fastest to get away from the three hunters as fast as they could manage. Ellie and Levin gave each other sidelong worried looks; they didn't like the way those Aptonoth had reacted. Levin opened his mouth to comment, but closed it again uncertainly, worriedly scanning the cavern.

As the three hunters made their way towards the first of the caverns, both Ellie and Levin were constantly glancing towards the openings of other tunnels, wary of any traveling carnivores that might be branching out from their nests in search of food or some other thing. And in an effort to avoid their biggest worry, the two hunters skirted the edges of the holes in the ceiling, constantly perking their ears to the wind in hopes of catching wind of the sound of flapping of the wings of the Rathian.

A good ten minutes of walking brought them to the first cavern, a large, well-lit room where a dozen Aptonoth and a small herd of Kelbi grazed around the room. No carnivores were around, not even any large bugs like Bnahabra. The three hunters cautiously crept around the sides of the room, earning a few odd looks from the herbivores in the area, though the creatures chose to ignore them for the most part. Ellie kept an eye on the shafts of light brightening the floor, wary of any shadows that passed over. One shadow, a Qurupeco or some large bird passing over she thought, scared her so much that she'd nearly dropped the egg.

They were nearly halfway across the cavern when an eerie feeling of wrongness seemed to wash over Ellie. Marshall seemed to perk up as well, his eyes darting around the room more frantically than they had been. Only Levin seemed to be oblivious to the feeling, keeping his ears to the wind but not seeming any more concerned than he'd been during the rest of the journey they'd had so far, even if he had been pretty jumpy for a while.

But what was wrong, Ellie wondered? Nothing in the room seemed too out of the ordinary. There didn't seem to be any threats in the room at the moment, or else the Aptonoth would have seen it coming and herded their way out of the room, younglings in tow. But the herbivores seemed to be perfectly content with being in the room, no sign or worry gracing their expressions. But Ellie could feel that there was something… out of place in the room, though for the life of her she couldn't say exactly what that thing was.

Levin seemed to realize that something was a little off when both Ellie and Marshall began to step along a little quicker, pushing to reach the other end of the cavern a little faster. At that point, a scared look crept across the great sword user's face, and he began to glance around the room as frantically as the other two hunters. A sense of foreboding began to overwhelm Ellie, to the point where she wished that whatever was hiding just out of sight would hurry up and get here, just to get the suspense over with.

Ellie nearly leapt out of her skin when Levin finally spoke up, taking the other two hunters by surprise. "Why isn't there any light coming out of that shaft over there?" he asked, motioning his head to one of the holes in the ceiling near one of the other exits that they could have taken back to Echo Village.

Ellie's eyes followed Levin's motion, spotting the light shaft that the great sword user had mentioned, and sure enough, a large hole in the ceiling was dark. Had it been like that the first time they'd passed through the room, Ellie wondered? Had there been a… sixth shaft filling the room with light or had there been only five? Ellie was still wondering to herself whether or not she should wander over to check when a beam of sunlight suddenly streaked down from the shaft, before vanishing a fraction of a second later.

"She's waiting up there," Marshall whispered in awe. Then realization seemed to kick in on the older hunter and he motioned for the two Lost to hurry along. "Go. Go! She'll have heard us by now!"

Ellie and Levin began to hustle a little faster, but true to Marshall's word, a growl of vicious intent poured from the lightless shaft. At the sound, a squeal of fear rippled through the herds of Aptonoth and Kelbi, the herds calling for their young to gather up and move away from the area, to find food in a safer cavern. Those herds that passed the three hunters on the way out seemed to honk accusingly at them when they noticed the eggs that the two Lost carried in their arms, making Ellie wonder once again exactly how intelligent the monsters in the world really were.

The three hunters turned the corner of the cavern leading to the second room, just as a howl of anger filled the room and the thumping of wings echoed from the blackened shaft. Ellie dared not turn around as the smashing of two powerful feet connected with the ground behind her. As fast as her feet could carry her, the bowgunner dashed for the curve in the tunnel, desperate to get out of the Rathian's direct line of sight. Her rush was well-deserved, though, as the familiar gurgling sound of the Rathian filling its flame sac echoed around the walls behind her.

Levin ducked around the corner as fast as his body would allow him, Ellie following close behind, as a bright wash of deep red and yellow light lit up the tunnels, and a wave of heated wind blew behind her and Levin and Marshall so close to her that Ellie could the sweat on her back begin to evaporate and seriously worried that her Qurupeco armor was going to catch fire, despite its flame resistance. But the wave of heat began to dissipate almost immediately, and a howl of frustration echoed behind them. A particularly loud grunt of effort echoed behind them, and a bright orb of light shot through the air behind them, erupting in an explosion of heat against the far wall that scattered shards of rock and dirt across the backs of the three hunters.

"Fireballs," Marshall muttered worriedly. "She's truly getting angry now if she's willing to risk a cave-in. We'd best pick up the pace."

"What do you mean, _now_ she's angry?" Levin groaned. "What was she before, slightly put off?"

"The further we get away from the nest, the more willing she'll be to simply enact revenge on the three of us, rather than try to recover her eggs," Marshall told them. "Raths are smarter than most other monsters in the world; if they realize that they won't be able to recover their eggs, they'll at least put in their best efforts to kill whoever did the stealing in the first place. The closer we get to the village, the more dangerous this whole chase will become."

"Not very encouraging, old man," Levin muttered, vocalizing Ellie's very thoughts.

"I'm not trying to keep the two of you happy," Marshall replied simply. "I'm trying to keep you alive."

Levin grumbled at the words, but Ellie knew that the two of them knew that Marshall was right. Knowing that the Rathian would only get more vicious was something Ellie sincerely was glad to know about ahead of time. Now that she knew that, she was heavily considering taking one of the side paths, despite the certain risks that waited for them in the tunnels… But before she could finish contemplating the option, the tunnel brightened considerably, opening up into the second of the large, open caverns.

And the three hunters immediately caught sight of a herd of Jaggi and their leader circling a small herd of Aptonoth.

The three Boma hunters froze in their tracks at the sight of the herd of carnivores, uncertain how to immediately proceed. Ellie's eyes tracked the edges of the room, wondering how stealthily they would have to move in order to keep from being caught sight of by the pack. Perhaps they'd simply leave the three hunters alone, since they apparently already had a decent meal to look forward to…

But before the three hunters could decide on an action that would lead them safely way from the impending threat the Jaggi pack presented, a yip of surprise caught their ears. Ellie's eyes snapped to the source of the noise, and noticed a Jaggi on the edge of the pack glaring their way, barking calls of attention to the three hunters. Ellie felt a trickle of fear flow through her as several of the Jaggi near the caller-outer began to turn to look their way, the frightened pack of Aptonoth temporarily forgotten.

At the surprised calls of its pack, the Great Jaggi turned its head to the howling Jaggis piping warnings to the rest, before turning its own head to stare in the hunters' direction. It glanced back to the herd of Aptonoth in the center of its pack's circle, and for a moment, Ellie thought the pack leader would simply ignore the calls of its underling, ordering its pack to keep their attentions on the meal it was already guaranteed. However, with what Ellie could've sworn was a wicked smirk, the Great Jaggi growled menacingly at the hunters, baring its fangs and barking a few orders to its followers. Immediately, the pack of Jaggi began to yip excitedly, breaking off from their circle around the Aptonoth and working their way across the cavern to where the three hunters stood; the surprised Aptonoth needed no further motivation to make a try at escaping, and immediately began to bolt for the nearest tunnel entrance.

Without a word between them, the three hunters began working their way around the edges of the cavern in attempt to beat the Jaggi to the path they needed to travel through to get to the next room. However, the room was nearly forty yards away, and the Jaggi didn't have anything that required protecting or carrying. Ellie's mind raced, searching for some method, any method that she and Levin could use to keep the Jaggi away from them and the eggs without Marshall's help, allowing them and the eggs to escape as unharmed as possible.

But as the Great Jaggi and his ilk closed in on the three hunters, out of the corner of her eye, Ellie noticed a darkening of the room. Her eyes risked a glance over in the direction of the darkening, and she realized that one of the shafts twisting through the ceiling of the room up to the bright sky had been blotted out, and over the sound of the yipping and barking Jaggi's, the bowgunner could just make out a deep thrumming sound, one that sent shivers down her spine.

A few Jaggis seemed to perk up at the sound, looking around fearfully, but a majority of the pack failed to realize what was happening, all of them happy to try and take down a trio of humans that generally threatened them. The Great Jaggi didn't even seem to care when the worried Jaggis began to shout warning to the others, even when the thumping sound of wing beats began to grow louder and louder. The Great Jaggi was nearly on top of them ready to leap at the two Lost, perfectly willing to attack the younger hunters when they weren't able to defend themselves well, when the pack leader was suddenly knocked to the side as a scaled, bulky mass suddenly dropped out of the shaft above it, smashing into the pack leader's side and sent the Great Jaggi sprawling across the ground.

Without missing a beat, the Rathian swept around to face the hunters, growling in anger at the two Lost that were holding its eggs. Ellie could already heat the now-familiar gurgling sound that accompanied the Rathian filling its flame sac with the combustible fluid that swept flame like a wave of water from its maw. Levin yelled in warning and terror, rushing to get between the wyvern and the bowgunner, but Ellie knew it would be hopeless. Already she could feel the heat and light pouring from the Rathian's gullet as she prepared to wash the three hunters with bright fire of her own creation…

But as the Rathian tilted her head back to spray her flames, the small, nimble shape of a Jaggi suddenly leapt across the ground, landing on the Rathian's face and scratching at the wyvern's eyes as violently as it was capable. The Rathian howled in pain and surprise as flames jetted from its mouth, spraying out across the Jaggi pack as it twisted its head trying to shake off the attacking Jaggi. A half dozen Jaggis yelped out in surprise and pain and the flames seared over them, leaving them frantically rolling on the ground in an attempt to rid themselves of the fire racking their bodies.

The Great Jaggi was back on its feet by then, howling orders of revenge to its underlings. The Rathian managed to shake off the Jaggi on its face, snapping its teeth down on the smaller creature's throat to end it before turning its attention back to the hunters, but before she could do anything, several more Jaggi leapt for the Rathian's throat and legs, trying desperately to tear through the wyvern's thick scales and plates.

The Rathian howled in anger and frustration, twisting its body around as it tried to shake off the attacking creatures. As it spun around, trying to sink its teeth into one of its assailants, the Great Jaggi itself leapt forward, sinking its fangs into the Rathian's wings and clawing at her legs. The Great Jaggi's fangs and strength were far greater than its underlings, and the Rathian's roars of pain seemed to grow even greater.

Ellie was so consumed with the sight of the battle between the Jaggi pack and the Rathian that she didn't even realize that Levin had gotten behind her and was trying to shove her along. When she did, however, she got moving faster than she'd thought possible, regretfully turning away from the battle and rushing for the second tunnel that led to the final cavern. She needed no further motivation to move quicker when the charred body of a Jaggi flew over their heads, smashing against the wall and crumpling into a heap on the ground next to them as they passed.

The raging sounds of battle followed the three hunters until they finally managed to duck into the tunnel leading on. The howl of frustration that echoed through the tunnel when the Rathian realized that they'd escaped her yet again poured through the caves like the howls of a banshee, making the bowgunner shiver in dread. Maybe Marshall was right; the Rathian might soon be willing to kill them rather than attempt to recover her eggs.

As the light of the third and final cavern began to come into view for the three hunters, Levin called out for them to stop. Marshall seemed surprised at the great sword user's desire to slow down, even in the slightest. Ellie was surprised too, but when she turned to look at the great sword user, she realized that her partner was gasping desperately for breath, making the bowgunner realize that she too could just barely keep running as she was, chest on fire and air seeming like the most precious commodity in the world. She found that she was on the ground and gasping for breath, the egg sitting next to her on a tuft of grass, just as quickly as Levin had gotten to a seat himself.

"How is she following us so easily?" Levin gasped. "It shouldn't be so easy for her to track us. Even if the eggs carry the Rath's scent, there're so many monsters passing through these tunnels that most scents would only be covered up. It can't be because we're human either; the villagers still travel these tunnels to gather materials for their village, right?"

"Perhaps the Rathian has some sort of sixth sense that allows it to track the egg," Marshall said thoughtfully. "I recall a friend of mine saying that he believed the Raths could sense where their eggs were. Admittedly, he'd just failed a mission like this one and was drowning his sorrows in ale at the Loc Lac tavern, but his reasoning was about as solid as could be expected."

"That doesn't seem very likely," Ellie replied, rolling her eyes.

"Actually, it might be more likely than you think," Levin gasped, his face calming as he caught his breath. "Harker mentioned something in the letter he sent to me. He told me that some hunters that use the basic hunter armor get some sort of ability while they're wearing it; a sort of… I don't know, tracking ability of some kind. Sometimes they're able to sense when large monsters are around. Maybe the Rathian has the same sort of ability when it comes to finding their eggs."

"But that's… one of Harker's ideas," Ellie said dubiously. "I mean, I wore the basic hunter's armor back when I first started hunting, but I never really felt the presence of large monsters or anything like that."

Levin shrugged in response. "Maybe, maybe not. But I can't imagine the Rathian is just able to know where we are. Shouldn't it assume we're trying to keep away from it? But it's been dogging us constantly since it found out we'd taken its eggs."

"Either way, you're basically saying that it knows where we are?" Ellie asked, receiving a confirming nod from the great sword user.

"However she's doing it, she's still somehow doing it, whether it's some unknown ability or just a particularly specific sense of smell. We could try and go back to the last cavern and try another path, but that'll just take more time, and if the Rathian really does have some sort of tracking ability when it comes to her eggs, she'll just start sending flames down any tunnels we travel through."

"So what do we do?" Ellie asked. The great sword user had a look on his face for a moment that looked as though he was going to suggest leaving the eggs and bolting, but a sharp look from the bowgunner cut him off. Levin frowned in thought, then pulled his pouch open and dug through it a bit.

"I don't suppose you have anything in your pouch that would make a decent distraction or something like that? Flash bombs or something like that?"

"Not really," Ellie said, pulling out her own pouch. "Or at least I don't think I… oh, wait. What's this?"

The bowgunner stuck her hand into her pouch, where the sight of a peculiar white orb had caught her eye. For the life of her, she couldn't recall having any items that were plain white; flash bombs were yellow, paint and tranq bombs were pink and red respectively, but white was unfamiliar. She pulled it out curiously, and a flash of memory popped into her head.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot about this thing," Ellie said, rolling the orb around in her head. "I bought this in Septer Village when we were hunting the Gobul. It's a smoke bomb, I guess. Oh, this might be really useful!"

"Does it do what it sounds like it does?" Levin asked, excitement creeping back into his voice.

"I should hope so," Ellie replied. "It makes a giant cloud of smoke, covering our movements. So long as we keep to the smoke, the Rathian shouldn't be able to see us well enough to attack us directly. But… the problem is, I don't know how long it'll last. Not to mention one really big blast of fire from the Rathian, and it won't matter how much cover we have, we'll still get burnt to a crisp."

"It's better than anything else we've got," Levin shrugged. "The best I've got is a slab of aged Aptonoth meat loaded with Parashrooms, and maybe it's just me, but I highly doubt that the Rathian's going to stop to grab a bite to eat as long as she's chasing us. I mean, it'd be great if she did, but the odds are slim."

"So, is this our plan?" Ellie asked, holding up the small orb. "Toss it onto the ground between the tunnels and make a break for the exit, hoping we can get through the smoke without tripping and without the Rathian getting a lucky hit off?"

"Does it heat up or something?" Levin asked. "'Cause if it doesn't, maybe one of us can just shove the thing in one of our pockets and run along with the smoke around us. But I guess that all boils down to how long the smoke bomb lasts again. Bad luck if it fizzles out halfway across the cavern."

Ellie frowned in thought. She shot a glance over to Marshall, but the old hammer user kept a blank face, not allowing his opinions on the matter to show, still allowing the two younger hunters to make their own decisions (and own mistakes, Ellie thought wryly). "It'd almost be easier if we could just pelt the Rathian with the bomb, and let it wander around it a cloud of its own. I mean, either way we go, it'll know we're inside the smoke screen."

There was a moment of silence, before Levin quietly said, "Who says we can't? Hit it with the smoke bomb, I mean."

"This isn't a sticky bomb, Levin," Ellie said. "We throw this at the Rathian, and it'll just bounce off her hide and go off on the ground."

"So we just make sure it sticks," Levin said. "Do you have any paint shots?"

"I do," Ellie said, popping open her ammo pouch. "What do you need it for?"

"I know paint shots have Sap plant in them," Levin said, taking the shot that Ellie offered him. "I don't know how much you've played around with Sap plant, if ever, but Sap plant is one of the stickiest substances I think I've ever felt in my whole life. Got it on me once when I was trying to jury-rig something together. Couldn't get the stuff off my hands for over a week. Made hunting the biggest pain in the ass ever, especially when I couldn't let go of my sword sometimes."

Ellie smiled as realization sunk in. "I think I can guess where you're going with this. Cover the smoke bomb with sap plant goop and throw it at the Rathian so it'll stick."

"Pretty much," Levin said, carefully attempting to remove the paint-filled cap from the top of the shell. The small canister popped off reluctantly, and Levin cautiously pulled out his hunter's knife, prepared to poke a hole in the side to allow the goop to trickle out. Then he seemed to think better of adding the sticky sap to the bomb already. "The biggest problem will be seeing whether or not you'll be able to throw the damn thing at all, what with your hand having to touch the sticky stuff on the bomb in the first place."

"Who'll throw it, though?" Ellie asked. The two Lost hunters looked at each other, knowing what she meant. One of them would have to leave their egg alone for a little while in order to plant the smoke bomb on the Rathian, a risky enough effort on its own without risking the safety of the eggs.

Just as Ellie was about to volunteer herself, Levin quickly spoke up. "I'll do it," he said somberly. "I've had to deal with sap plant gunk on my hands before, so it'll probably be easier for me to get the bomb thrown. I'll take the egg a little ways into the next cavern and set it down on a patch of grass. If what we think about the Rathian having a sixth sense is any at all accurate, it'll start dropping into the chamber not too long after I get in there.

"Besides," Ellie heard him mutter to himself, soft enough that he thought she couldn't hear, "I can keep you safe that way. I won't let it take you."

Ellie opened her mouth to ask what he meant when she saw Marshall nod soberly at the plan. It was risky, Ellie knew, but at this point, what other options did they really have? If Levin didn't take a risk, it only meant that she'd have to, no matter how oddly adamant he was about keeping her safe today. And whatever it was she felt for the Rathian's egg, she wasn't sure that she could risk as much as Levin seemed willing to. Damn it! She cursed herself. Why did she feel such a desire to care for these eggs if they belonged to the Raths?

"Do you need any more rest?" Levin asked. Ellie noticed the concern in her partner's voice, but at the same time, she could hear the strain and fear in the great sword user's voice. He put on a tough front, but he was wiped out, and emitting a feeling of fear at what he was about to do. Ellie didn't blame him. Charging in headfirst into certain danger against a monster that had completely destroyed her and him not too long ago gave plenty of reason to show fear. Ellie never understood how hunters could claim to be confident and fearless all the time.

"I could use some more rest, actually," she said, intentionally slumping her shoulders in an act of weariness. Well, maybe not entirely an act; the motion wore her out a bit more than she'd thought it would, and she had to admit she could use a bit of a break. If only they'd brought more to eat, though. There definitely wasn't enough time for the three hunters to take down a Kelbi for food or anything, not with the Rathian hunting them at the moment.

Though Marshall suggested that the three of them continue on into the next cavern in five minutes, the older hunter had the kindness to not get to his feet and urge them to get moving for nearly fifteen minutes. Both Lost were grateful for the time, though.

As the three of them approached the last cavern, Levin motioned his head for Ellie and Marshall to stay put. The hammer user still followed the great sword user to the entrance to the cavern before slowing down to scan the area more thoroughly. Levin did as they'd planned, hobbling over to the nearest patch of grass the sunlit room had to offer and gently setting the egg down on the soft green. Then he reached into his pouch, pulling out the smoke bomb and paint-filled canister, cautiously holding one in each hand as he eyed the holes in the ceiling and tilted his head for sounds of wing-beats.

After a few moments of silence, he motioned to Ellie and Marshall. The bowgunner nodded in acceptance, cautiously stepping out into the cavern and deftly working her way around the edges of the room, eyes flickering constantly between the sun-filled shafts and the rocky terrain in front of her. Marshall followed close behind, trying his best to keep his distance between the two hunters even so he could leap to their aid should the situation call for it. The whole while, Levin stood in the same spot, eyes and ears searching for any sign of the Rathian.

Ellie had passed a majority of the other tunnels, and was almost to the cave leading down to the village, when a gurgling sound caught her ears, echoing around the walls of the cavern. Her eyes snapped around, searching for the source, the Rathian preparing to send flames jetting through the cavern. How had it snuck up on them?

The bowgunner suddenly yelped in surprise as a jet of flame lanced out from one of the intersecting tunnels that she had just passed. She could feel the fire licking at her heels as the blaze brushed past her, and the sound of disappointed growling echoed behind her. It had bunkered down in a side tunnel, waiting for them to pass! A howl of anger followed her as she picked up the pace, trying to cover the final distance to the tunnel leading to Echo Village. Ellie could hear the rumble of heavy footfalls and the tear of claws on stone as the Rathian burst out of the tunnel she'd been hiding inside, skidding around to find the bowgunner and finish the job.

"Hey ugly!" Levin's voice called out. Ellie spared a glance over her shoulder, seeing Levin standing threateningly over the other egg, hand grasping the hilt of his great sword menacingly and the other lingering on the top of the egg. The Rathian howled in rage at the great sword user's apparent smug confidence, twisting around the face the other hunter, murder in her eyes. But somehow, Levin managed to exude a calm and ready aura, making the Rathian stamp its feet in frustration. With a lunge, the wyvern burst forward, charging the great sword user; not at full speed, but close enough that Levin seemed to tense even more then he already was.

Luckily for Levin, the Rathian failed to call his bluff and slid to a halt a shy twenty feet from the great sword user, much to her partner's relief, no doubt. Ellie paused as she reached the tunnel leading back to Echo Village, Marshall close behind; the hammer user had a torn expression on his face, both wanting to rush over to help Levin, and at the same time knowing that any effort he put into trying to save the young man would be all for naught in the Rathian was really willing to risk the egg's safety to kill the great sword user.

Levin's hand on the egg slowly began to drift over to the cover of his item pouch. The Rathian's eyes bored into him, though they primarily concentrated on the hand that remained on the hilt of the young man's blade. With as much subtlety as he could manage, the great sword user pulled the two orbs, one a solid bomb and the other a goop-filled canister, out of his pouch and sneaking them behind his back. And still the Rathian only had eyes for the hunter's sword hand.

Had Ellie turned away for a moment, she might have missed what happened next. As fast as the great sword user could manage, he quickly dropped his sword hand down, taking the smoke bomb in one hand and the paint canister in the other. At the moment, the Rathian's head cocked back, seeing an opportunity, and the gurgling of the Rathian's flame sac echoed through the room. The canister smashed and sap covered the smoke bomb as Levin smashed the two orbs together, at the same time squeezing the bomb and making a spray of bright white cloud hiss out across the ground. As flames licked the backs of the Rathian's fangs, Levin awkward snapped his hand out, sending the bomb half-covered flying towards the wyvern.

Somehow or another, the smoke bomb flew true, and the orb splattered in between two of the jagged horns that lined the back of the Rathian's head. A small haze already covered the area between hunter and monster, and the Rathian still had a clear view of Levin. However, just before the first true jet of fire burst from the wyvern's mouth, a sudden blast of white smoke shot out from the side of the smoke bomb, covering the creature's face with a blinding veil of white. At that moment, Levin dropped, wrapping his arms around the egg's base and lurching out of the Rathian's path. A wide wave of fire that blew through the increasing smokescreen caught the coattails of Levin's yellow Ludroth jacket, but the veil of smoke kept the Rathian from landing a truly devastating strike.

If Ellie thought Levin had been running quickly back when they'd been escaping from the first and second caverns, the speed the great sword user was pushing trying to get away from the Rathian now was pretty impressive, even if it was derived from her partner's fear of death by fire. Ellie could see the fear on the great sword user's face as he bolted across the cavern towards her and Marshall. Behind him, the Rathian slowly began getting more and more covered in the blanket of smoke, and Ellie could see the creature twisting around in the haze, trying to get a view of the hunters. Blasts of flame ripped out of the fog as the Rathian tried to cook the great sword user alive with shots in the dark.

"Go go go go!" Levin yelled as he closed in on the other two hunters. Ellie turned, booking it down the tunnel as the Rathian howled in frustration and anger behind them.

"I can't believe that actually worked!" Ellie gasped as the great sword user leapt forward to get in step with her. The howls of anger followed them, clearly distinguishable up until the moment the three hunters finally turned the last corner leading down to the village.

Marshall hissed quickly at them to a slower pace as they approached the gate. Ellie gave the older hunter a confused glance before remembering that the villagers were actually quite fond of their local Rathian. If they were spotted sprinting away in fear while the Rathian was on a rampage, it wouldn't take the villagers too long to put two and two together. Marshall's caution proved right, though, when the guards at the gate gave them an untrusting glance as they approached, motioning for them to stop.

"Yara's been raising a fuss all day," the man said, pointedly looking at the eggs. "Might those have anything to do with it?"

"Not unless she's got some odd love for hard-boiled Qurupeco eggs," Marshall replied quickly, shooting the guard a smirk. "That's all these are, if that's what you're implying."

The guard frowned uncertainly. Ellie mentally crossed her fingers. With luck, the man was simply a gate guard, and not one of the ones that traveled the island in search of problems to resolve, and hopefully he wouldn't know the difference between eggs.

"We saw the Rathian… Yara, you called her? She was tussling with a Jaggi pack when we were transporting these eggs back to the village," Marshall continued, keeping the ruse going. "My young apprentices here nearly got cooked by a loose fireball earlier. I don't suppose you could let us pass, could you? I think they're still a little shaken up."

The guard eyed them for a moment or two longer, attempting to gage whether or not they were being honest with him, glancing consistently back and forth between their faces and the two eggs. Finally he sighed, uncertainty getting the best of him. "Go on through," he muttered. "But be warned, others in the village might not be so willing to let you pass. You three might consider us odd for feeling compassion for Yara, but if we find you've done something wrong… well, you'll regret it, I'll leave it at that."

Marshall nodded soberly, motioning the two Lost hunters through the gate, with the guards staring intently after them. A few of the other villagers gave them untrusting looks as they passed by, glaring at the eggs. Finally, though, when they reached a more dead area of the village, where none of the villagers were within sight, Marshall shuffled the two Lost down a side alley, out of the main thoroughfares of the village.

Ellie gulped in fear. They'd left the caverns in a run from Yara only to find themselves under scrutiny and possible violence from the villagers. _Out of the fire and into the frying pan,_ Ellie thought wryly. _At least they villagers won't try to kill us… I hope._

"We should try to stay out of sight the best we can," the older hunter muttered. "The villagers are far more outraged about the Rathian, about Yara, than I thought they'd be. If they find out that we stole her eggs… it won't be pretty, to say the least."

"So what do we do?" Ellie asked.

"We need to get a hold of Saul and Farren," Marshall replied. "I don't know about Saul, but Farren seems to have his act together. One of them will have some plan for getting the eggs out of the village without starting a riot from the villagers."

"A riot?" Levin gasped. "You think they'd go that far?"

"If the villagers are as intent of keeping the Rathian and her kin safe and unmolested as they've acted so far, maybe," Marshall replied.

"We can't take the eggs with us, then," Ellie said. "The villagers looked ready to butcher us even without knowing for sure if we were the reason behind the Rathian's anger. The more of them that see us with the eggs, the more they'll think that…" She couldn't finish the thought; a whole town angry at them was not something pleasant to imagine.

"I'll stay behind," Levin said quickly.

"You've risked enough today, I think," Marshall said. "You get caught with these eggs by yourself, things may go bad. Eleanor is in better condition that you right now, and if worse comes to worst, she'll be able to get away, even if it means leaving the eggs behind."

"Yeah, but that might be a problem for me," Levin sighed. He held up the egg carefully, revealing bright red goop clinging to his hands and the egg. "I'm a little stuck at the moment."

"How long will it take for you to free yourself?" Marshall asked with a sigh, sparing a glance back to the main road, where a few passersby walked past, though thankfully they didn't look the hunters' way.

"From what I remember from the last time I got this stuff on me, probably only ten minutes or so. Though, I think the heat from the Rathian's fire may have, ah, hardened the paint a little bit more. I think I'll have to pry at it a bit…"

"Make sure you don't hurt the egg."

"Obviously," Levin replied, tugging tentatively on the sticky stuff.

The three hunters continued along the alleyway, cutting quickly across the main streets when the villagers passing nearby where turned the other way. They slowly worked their ways over to towards the White Pillar Inn, making sure to stay out of the public eye. Finally, though, Marshall brought the two to a halt, calling their attention to a small shed behind a nearby smithy. A pile of hay sat nearby for a transport Aptonoth that stood chained to the nearby wall. In a moment, Levin sat cross-legged on the ground with his egg in his lap and Ellie's egg sitting idly next to him. The Aptonoth sniffed in irritation at the sight of the eggs, but couldn't go anywhere, go it quickly went back to its grazing.

"We'll be back as soon as possible," Ellie told him as she and Marshall began to work their way over to the alley leading back to the main street.

"Please do," Levin replied, pulling his hands and trying to free them as the Aptonoth glanced at him uncaringly. He gave Ellie one last worried look before she turned the corner, making Ellie cringe in confusion. They were supposed to be safe now; why was he still so scared for her?

Ellie and Marshall quickly made their way back to the White Pillar Inn, where Saul and Farren no doubt waited impatiently for their return. They were able to pick up the pace of their journey by taking the main streets, though most of the villagers still gave them dirty looks as they passed. Ellie started wondering if the villagers were going to boot them out of the village even if they didn't have anything on them to prove them guilty of pissing off… Yara.

Finally though, they reached the massive stone pillar that gave their inn its name, quickly traveling around the side of it to get to their meeting place with Saul. As they approached the front door of the inn, though, Ellie slowed to a halt, Marshall frowning next to her. At the entrance to the inn stood two large men, surrounded by a crowd of people. The men were dressed in fancy, embroidered armor with what Ellie highly assumed were decorative swords at their belts, looking threatening at the crowd of people who seemed quite intent on getting inside the building to "speak" with Saul and Farren about their intentions on the island.

"Hired thugs," Marshall muttered, looking the two men over. "Saul's, no doubt. Seems the village no longer feels compelled to put up with the man's whims. Let's head around the back, Miss Eleanor. I doubt they'll be too much happier to see us." Ellie nodded in agreement, following the blue-armored man around the side of the inn. Ellie wasn't even sure there was a back entrance to the building, but the chance of one was far better than simply risking a trip through the front door.

As they rounded the bend, Ellie's ear perked up at the sound of a familiar voice. Marshall continued around the corner in search of a back door, but Ellie quickly leapt up to the side of the building to see if she could see through the window. Sure enough, as she glanced through the barred lines of the building, she managed to catch sight of the back of the head of Saul, in his high-quality clothes, sitting next to Farren, turned slightly facing her way, who was far more reserved in his dress. Ellie pulled open the wooden window shades, to call out to the pair at the table…

"Idiot hunters," Saul suddenly muttered. "They've raised all sorts of hell with the villagers. When do they get back with my damn prizes? I've been waiting far too long!"

Ellie froze, mouth half open. Prizes? What did he mean, _prizes_?

"You rush them too much, Saul," Farren replied. "I highly doubt anyone in the village would tell outsiders where the nest was, and from what I've heard, the caves themselves are quite the maze. To expect them back in one day is not as feasible as you seem to think it is. Give them time."

"They've taken time enough!" Saul growled in reply. "Nearly two days I've waited. I want my pets here now!"

"Pets?" Ellie whispered to herself, a cold chill filling her.

"You treat this like a game." Farren's voice had gone icy. "Those three have their lives on the line, for _you_, and you sit here, acting as though it is nothing."

Saul laughed. "It is a game, fool. To those with wealth, all things are merely a game. Why do you think I made you send in this mission request? To play the game of the rich as it must be played if you dare demand respect among your peers. For the last two weeks, it has been all the rage for those in high places to get themselves a pet Rath, whether male or female, it matters not. If you wish to earn respect in my line of work, you must follow the fads. Or lead them! And with this little romp I've sent those three on, I expect to earn it. Imagine, two pets Raths! If I'm lucky, they'll be of separate genders, and I'll be able to just breed more at will! I could sell them off!"

Cold fury began to well up inside Ellie. They'd had her do this mission, this abomination against nature and against the wills of the villagers so that this bastard Saul could have a _pet_?

"Keep quiet, damn it!" Farren hissed. "You're lucky my superiors demanded I follow through with your little scheme or you'd never have even gotten close to pulling this mission off. If it were up to me, you'd never have gotten away with doing something as foolish as this."

Saul harrumphed at the researcher. "So you've said before. But it's not up to you, now is it? You're at my beck and call right now, Farren, you and the rest of those scientists you work with, and you get to dance to my tune, no matter what. Your research is all you have left, isn't it? Do you want me to take it all away?"

Farren's eyes narrowed and his face darkened. He opened his mouth to retort, but suddenly his eyes snapped over to the window Ellie stood looking through, landing right on the bowgunner. Ellie felt a slight twinge of fear at being caught, but it was quickly overridden by her increasing rage. Surprisingly, though, the researcher didn't react in shock like she'd expected, but his face paused in thought, then was quickly replaced by a blank-faced look.

"I've had enough of you, Saul," he said, getting to his feet. "You can wait for the hunters to return on your own. I have my own work to do besides being telling lies for you."

Saul shrugged, apparently taking this as a sign of submission. "Fine, coward, so long as you know your place with me."

"I know my place just fine." As he walked away from the table, Ellie noticed that Farren was making his way to the back of the inn. Once he was out of Saul's line of sight, the researcher motioned Ellie in the same direction. Ellie glared at the man untrustingly, but followed, intent on giving the man a piece of her mind.

Ellie turned a corner through a small arch leading to a small courtyard between the two wings of the inn, spotting Marshall, helmet slung under his arm, near a small door, likely the exit to the kitchen or some other room. The hammer user glanced up as she approached, and opened his mouth to ask where she'd been, when the door suddenly clicked loudly, the latch of the lock on the other side of the door unhinging. But the door remained closed.

With a burst of speed, the bowgunner grabbed the handle of the door, swinging the door wide and running through the door. She was taken aback for a moment when she saw that there was no one behind the door but a surprised cook eying her warily, but she let herself forget about it as she marched past. Marshall followed close behind, asking what was wrong. Ellie quickly explained what she'd heard as she forced her was through the kitchen. By the end of it, Marshall had a cold look in his eyes like Ellie had, but far more frightening from the man's many years of experience. "This entire thing, us risking our lives, is just so he can have a toy Rathian. Or Rathalos."

Ellie practically exploded out of the kitchen, nearly knocking the swinging door off its hinges. The innkeeper behind the bar jumped as the door slammed against the wall, nearly dropping half-filled glass of one of the alcohols he sold. Ellie felt a satisfied feeling at the sight of Saul's jaw dropping at she stalked towards him, but kept her face hard as she approached. He tried to cover up his shock by giving her an annoyed look, but that only succeeded in making her angrier. She found her fist clenching tighter, the thought of smashing the man's face in seeming increasingly more and more like a good idea. Her arm began to pull back as she neared.

"You dirty, lying son of a…" The bowgunner yelped in pain as the arm she had pulled back was suddenly wrenched back by a powerful hand. Ellie's head spun around and caught sight of the brightly embroidered armor of one of Saul's hired soldiers that somehow she'd missed. The "hired thug," as Marshall had put it, smirked at her with a look of supposed superiority.

"I can't let you do that little girl," he growled.

Ellie heard Saul bark a short laugh as the man reached his own arm back to strike her, and flinched back to protect herself. But suddenly her arm was released and she heard the soldier grunt in pain. Then there was a yelp of surprise and Ellie turned to see the guard tumbling through the air, ending with a loud crash as the man smashed into a pair of tables, sending the candles on the tops of them tinkling across the floor. The man groaned in pain with a vain attempt to get back to his feet, but flopped back to the ground with a grunt. Ellie saw Marshall brushing his hands together with a satisfied smirk.

"And I can't let you harm my apprentice, little boy," he said. Then he turned to Saul, and the merchant gulped loudly. "Now then, Saul, it seems as though you haven't been entirely truthful as to the true nature of this mission you requested of us."

The merchant glowered at the pair of hunters. "My business is my business, hunter."

"It becomes our business when you involve us in something illegal, merchant," Marshall replied. "You're going against the wishes of the village and the Guild by requesting this mission with false pretenses. We won't allow this to pass, Saul."

"You've already done the mission, though," Saul said simply. "That's the reason you're back, isn't it? The completion of your mission? You've managed to do it, to get all the way to the Rath's nest and recover a pair of eggs. You wouldn't be here right now if you hadn't, correct?"

"What's your point?" Ellie asked. "The eggs can be returned. One way or another, they can be."

"Perhaps so," Saul said, staring at her. "But what if I offered you another option? You bring the eggs to my ship, from… wherever you're hiding them at, and I'll double your pay in exchange for your indiscretion in this matter, and perhaps further mission offers later on. Hell, I'm feeling generous; I'll triple your pay. What do you say? The world could do without a couple Raths out in the wild, couldn't it?"

"It could, I admit," Ellie said, earning a look from Marshall. "But not like this. They're not even hatched yet, dammit! I won't allow it!"

Saul glared angrily at the bowgunner, opening his mouth to reply, and then closing his mouth again in thought. "Fine then. Clearly there's no convincing you. Return the eggs if you wish. Try and get the eggs back to the nest. Maybe you'll come back alive; don't think I can't see the singe marks on your armor. However, I'd like to remind the two of you that you both agreed not to speak of the details of this mission to anyone. That includes anyone in the village, as well as the Guild in general."

Ellie opened her mouth to retort, but Marshall grabbed her arm and shook his head. Ellie gaped in shock at the older hunter as the merchant chuckled. "I see you at least understand, old man. I may not be the best at keeping things to the chest, but if there's one thing I do understand, it's bureaucracy. And I know that when you signed up to take on this mission, or when your master signed up for you, you agreed to follow my parameters. And one of my parameters was secrecy."

Ellie cursed under her breath. Damn it all! She was perfectly willing to take the eggs back to the nest to appease the Rathian (and her conscious), but what was the point if this bastard Saul just turned around and convinced other hunters to do his dirty work for him? Saul was smiling victoriously at the two hunters, and Ellie found herself grating her teeth in frustration. She couldn't just let this jackass get away with…

Another two yelps of shock filled the room suddenly, making the two hunters and the merchant turn in surprise at the sounds. Ellie saw Saul's mouth gape open in shock as they caught sight of the two bodyguards he had hired sprawled out on the floor, both of them sporting large bruises across their faces and both relieved of their swords. Through the door to the inn strode a pair of large men, fishermen by the looks of them, if Ellie had to guess. Between the two walked the young man that worked as the village's Guild rep. Each of the locals wore a look of barely-suppressed rage on their faces.

Saul stood up, no doubt to bark in anger at the three men's actions, when he suddenly realized that the three of them weren't the only ones entering the inn. A crowd of people, ranging from young to old, mle and female, or countless shapes and sizes, were starting to pour into the inn, all of them bearing the same angry look as the first three.

"What is the meaning of this?" Saul growled as the three men approached him. "You've physically harmed two of my personal guards! I demand to know…"

"I'm afraid that you'll not be demanding anything else from us, Mr. Saul," the Guild rep replied coolly. "Or anything else from anyone else in the village for that matter."

"What are you talking about?" Saul growled, a note of fear and uncertainty creeping into his voice.

"You see," the Guild rep said, "it seems that your employee, a certain man called Farren, came to us, telling us that you'd tricked him and these three hunters into stealing eggs from Yara under false pretenses. Claims you told the lot of them that you were working for the Guild's subsidiaries for some unknown purpose or another."

"What?" Saul gasped in disbelief. "But he…"

"He also told us that he discovered your true plans by accident," the Guild rep cut in, a tone of obvious disgust in his voice. "Seems that you've been aiming to make a pet, a _pet_ of two of Yara's hatchlings. Here, in a village where the local Rathian is not only liked, but openly protected, both it and its mates and its eggs. Is any of this untrue?"

Saul was only able to gape, at a loss for words. The Guild rep nodded. "I thought as much. Now, once we of the village heard this little bit of news, I'll admit, we were a bit… torn about what to do with you. Admittedly, the whole idea of a tar and feathering while running you out of town seemed like a good idea at first, and you'd be surprised how many of the locals supported the idea once it popped up. The town blacksmith even started boiling up the tar."

Saul paled visibly at the thought, and several of the villagers grinned before the Guild rep continued. "However, some of us realized that conducting such an action would likely reflect negatively on the village in general, so we came up with a far simpler solution. We will simply ask you to leave, to get back on your ship and go back to wherever you came from."

There was a moment of stunned silence between the merchant and the two hunters for a moment, before Saul finally stuttered out, "You're letting me leave?"

"We are," the Guild rep replied. "We don't want to lower ourselves to your level, so we just want to get you out of our lives as fast as we possibly can. Oh, and we're going to send a very long, very detailed letter of complaint to the Guild that will thoroughly describe the multitude of illegal or undesirable acts you've committed while you were here in Echo Village.

"Now I suggest you step lightly," the Guild rep continued, cutting Saul off as the man tried to protest. "While there are many of us in the village that are still a bit cool headed about this whole situation, there are even more that would like nothing more that to carry out the original plan we set out in store for you." The man smirked wickedly. "I suggest you get back to your ship quickly Saul, before they decide that perhaps it would be better to send you off with a proper lesson learned."

To Saul's credit, he seemed to be smart enough to know that he'd lost, and no matter what sort of influence he had at his disposal elsewhere, it was quite useless to him now. He didn't even have any of his guards with him anymore, one taken out by Marshall and the other two beaten down by the villagers. With a huff and a straightening of his back, the merchant strode over towards the exit of the inn, taking only enough time to give his downed guards a swift kick each to motivate them to struggle back to their feet. Ellie noticed that a few of the well-armored men gave the merchant foul looks, and had a bit of doubt as to whether or not they'd protect the man should the crowd truly grow as ugly as the Guild rep seemed to imply.

As Saul and three guards marched their way out the doors, running into some friction when the crowd threatened to close in on the four before moving out of the way, the Guild rep turned on the two hunters. Ellie was taken aback for a moment when the man's face still held a look of reproach. "As for you two… I realize that the three of you hunters… where's the other one?"

"Elsewhere," Marshall replied simply. "We'll go get him in a bit. You were saying?"

The Guild rep humphed in irritation. "Right. As for the three of you, though Saul may have… _tricked_ you into taking part in this quest, it does not change the fact that you took the quest. You intentionally chose to ignore the wishes of the village with concern to Yara and her kin. Despite what Saul may have said to you concerning the village, you still did something wrong."

"What… what exactly are you going to do to us?" Ellie asked.

The Guild rep gazed at her levelly for a moment before replying. "Nothing. We're not going to do anything to you. However, the two of you _are_ going to take those eggs back up to Yara's nest. You're going to put things right."

"Of course," Marshall replied. "That much was obvious, but…"

"And then you are going to leave our village and never return," the Guild man finished. "I realize the reasoning of your decision; I've worked with hunters many, many times over the years, and I realize how you'd be willing to go against the village's wishes for what you think may be a worthy reason. You wouldn't be the first hunters to make such a choice and you certainly won't be the last. But we take our care for Yara and Noro seriously. I'll keep the fault of this issue on Saul as far as the Guild's concerned, but the villagers won't forget this. I suggest you not even think of trying to take part in another mission here in Echo Village."

"I… We understand," Ellie muttered, lowering her head in shame.

"Good," the man replied. "Now, I suggest you go find that third hunter of yours. Yara's mad right now, but you should be able to get the eggs back fairly quickly. There're a few paths known only to the islanders that will make the journey a bit easier to…"

The ground underneath Ellie suddenly shook out from under her feet as a thunderous tremor shook the floorboards. Dozens of bottles and mugs rattled behind the bar, some coming close to falling if they hadn't been caught by the panicking bartender. A loud rattling began to thump against the ceiling of the bar, like the drum-roll of a deep bass drum; stones and rubble, Ellie realized, dropping from the ceiling of the cavern.

As the rumbling began to subside, Ellie turned to the Guild rep, who seemed a bit shaken up. One of the fishermen next to him was helping him to his feet. "Earthquake?" she asked, keeping a hand on a nearby wooden pillar in case of aftershock.

"No, there shouldn't be any seismic activity in this area," the man replied, looking around nervously. "I can't imagine what could have caused such a shaking. Perhaps…"

The two hunters, the Guild rep and the two fishermen froze as a deep, bellowing roar rattled the windows of the inn. Ellie flinched; she recognized the sound all too well. She'd heard it countless times over the course of the day. "The Rathian," she whispered in fear. Immediately, both she and Marshall were bolting for the door of the inn. A look of fear covered the faces of the three villagers, but they weren't far behind making for the door.

The crowd that had formerly been crowding around the entrance to the inn was gone, though from chasing Saul out of town or hiding from the Rathian's appearance, Ellie couldn't be too certain. Either way, what few people that were actually on the small road were either gaping around in awe or bolting for cover. Ellie's eyes darted around, searching desperately for the source of the roar.

The searching proved unnecessary, however, as a wave of light and heat seared over the two hunters, making the villagers duck in fear. Ellie's eyes shot up to the ceiling of the massive village cavern, catching sight of a massive fireball as it soared over the heads of the two of them. Her eyes followed where the blazing orb had come from, leading to the light of the docks. However, before she could step off in the direction of the docks, she noticed that Marshall's attention was elsewhere, staring in the direction that the fireball had traveled to rather than its starting point. He turned towards Ellie, a look of worry on his face.

"She can track her eggs," he said simply, a tone of fear edging into his voice.

It took Ellie a moment to realize what the older hunter was getting at before she gasped in realization. Her eyes snapped toward where the blast had flown as her mind pulled up a mental image of the city's map into her mind. Sure enough, the path of the fireball lined up with where the two hunters had left Levin and the eggs waiting. Without another thought, the two hunters were off running, despite the surprised protests of the three locals behind them.

Despite the old man's level of strength, Ellie was soon far ahead of the hammer user. She received a few shocked or angry calls from the villagers she passed as she ran, but she ignored them, eyes firmly planted on the charred chunk of wall over where she'd last seen Levin. Twice more during the journey, one or two fireballs flew over her head, making the bowgunner try to run faster.

Finally she arrived, nearly skidding past her turn as she twisted to duck down the alley. She dashed through the thin walkway, eyes landing on the pile of hay where she'd last seen the great sword user…

And there he was, without a scratch. He had his great sword out, however, holding it carefully over his head and the eggs; sheltering them from rocks, Ellie saw, from the clutter surrounding the area. Scratched and dents coated the blade, giving testament to the effort he'd put in to keep the eggs safe. Even as she caught her breath, several pebbles and rocks clattered down the wall from where the fireballs collided. The Aptonoth was still there as well, appearing a bit frustrated at being tied down while explosions rocked the wall right above them, but still perfectly content to continue eating the hay in front of it.

Levin glanced up at Ellie as she came into sight, raising an eyebrow at the sight of her gasping for breath. "You look a little beat," he said, pushing himself to his feet with a cautious look at the crumbling wall. "Managed to get my hand free a minute or two before the first blast of fire. Did the Rathian get in the village or something? Do we need to fight it off, or is Marshall off doing that? Do we need to get the eggs to the ship or…"

"No! No, we need to return the eggs to the Rathian," Ellie cut in quickly, earning a surprised look from the great sword user. "When we got back… urgh, it'll take too long to tell. Just… Saul lied to us and now the village is angry at us and we need to get the eggs back to the nest or give them back to Yara however we can because we have to."

Levin blinked, thought for a moment, and then nodded in acceptance, though a worried look covered his face. "Alright, I think I get it. So how do we do it?"

"You're accepting it just like that?" Ellie asked in surprise.

"Sure, why not? I was kinda getting bad vibes from Saul when we first met him. Hearing he was lying to us isn't too much of a shocker. So let's do… whatever it is we're going to do. I'd just… I'd just like us to avoid the Rathian as best we can."

"Well alright then," Ellie said, walking over to the eggs. "Grab an egg, then. We've got to get these back to their mother."

"Right behind you, Miss Ellie," Levin replied, crouching to pick up one of the eggs.

As the two hunters began to work their way out of the alley, they quite nearly ran into Marshall as the older hunter finally caught up with the two of them. The Guild rep wasn't too far behind, though he appeared far more haggard from the run than the hunter was. The man's eyes flared up a little at the sight of the eggs, but he pushed forward to confront the two hunters rather than letting his anger overcome him.

"You've got to get those to the docks," he told them. "Just after you bolted, a villager told me that Yara got into the bay. There's not enough room for her to really fly around in here, so she can't really enter the city proper, but she's causing plenty of mayhem near the ships. You _need_ to get those eggs back to her. She won't leave otherwise."

"Wouldn't she follow back into the tunnels if we tried to take the eggs back into the island's caves?" Levin asked hopefully.

"Maybe…" the Guild rep replied. "It's hard to be certain, though. She's already inside the village after all, and she's not looking very pleased with humans in general right now. Even if you take the eggs back into the caves, the havoc she causes before she finally leaves the village…"

The man left the sentence hanging, but none of the hunters really needed him to elaborate. They'd all seen Rathians in action before, and knew the kind of damage it could do.

"So… we just… need to take the eggs to the docks then," Ellie said. Even as the others glanced at her, obviously thinking her a little bit mad, she continued. "The only way to get her to leave is to convince her that her eggs are more important that her anger, right? So we just… give her the eggs."

"I'm no hunter," the Guild man said, "but I'm fairly certain that any attempt to get close to Yara, eggs or no, will only end in getting eaten or cooked alive. Or both."

"You can't do that, Ellie!" Levin agreed. "It's too…"

"What other choices to you have right now?" the bowgunner cut in.

The man was silent a moment before replying. "Few else," he admitted.

"Then let's go," she said, motioning to Levin. The great sword user only hesitated for a moment before nodding. He didn't like the decision she'd made, but he clearly wouldn't let her run off without him around to help her if she needed it.

The Guild man managed to bite off a couple more arguments before tailing after the three hunters. Marshall followed close behind the two hunters, and managed to ask Ellie if she knew what she was doing without the Guild man hearing; Ellie could only reply with an uncertain nod.

The looks the three hunters as they worked their way back across the village to the docks only got colder as the locals noted the two eggs; it wasn't hard for them to put two and two together as to why the Rathian was causing such trouble. Most of the villagers paid them no heed though, since most were far too busy trying to get as far from the Rathian as they possibly could.

The roars of the Rathian grew increasingly louder as they approached the dock, but at least the wyvern had stopped launching fireballs, unable to get a clear shot at them while they were going through the building. Finally they turned onto the main road leading to the docks, and Ellie yelped in surprise, nearly dropping her egg. Right there in front of them, standing awkwardly with both feet on two different docks. It was barking and belching gusts of flame at the occasional passerby or any others that dared get close.

Ellie wasn't sure exactly what possessed her to act as she did, but as the creature's eyes snapped towards the three of them, the bowgunner lurched forward, charging headfirst towards the wyvern. Levin bit out a quick yell of shock and terror, but tailed close behind her all the same. Marshall hissed an order for the two of them to come back, but with the Rathian's eyes on them at the moment, she felt that any motion to run would only ask for a wave of fire from the wyvern. The Rathian had been making motions to shoot a lance of fire at the two of them, but stopped uncertainly as they ran towards her rather than away from her.

The wyvern's eyes bore into the bowgunner. Terror poured through her as she swallowed her fear, forcing herself to step closer and closer to the creature. The monster snorted at the bowgunner, and Ellie could feel the Rathian's hot breath sweep across her. Soon, she was so close she could've reached out and patted the creature's nose. Though, at the same time, she was close enough for the Rathian to simply bite her in half if it so chose.

"I don't… I don't know if you can understand me," she said quietly. "I've seen Marshall take to Rathians before. I hope you can understand me. I… I'm here to return your eggs to you. I'm sorry. I know you can hardly forgive me for this, but please, just leave the village alone. If this is anyone's fault, it's mine."

The Rathian growled in a rumbling bass as Ellie stooped to her knees. As cautiously as she could manage, she put the egg down onto the wooden planks below her, allowing the egg to set down onto the dock. The Rathian's eyes flickered to the egg, making certain it wasn't going anywhere, before snapping her eyes back to the bowgunner. Ellie motioned to Levin, who still stood a good few yards back; the great sword user flinched visibly as the wyvern's eyes snapped to him and the egg he held, but he managed to take a step forward, working his way closer and closer to the massive creature and setting the egg down next to the one Ellie put down.

As carefully as they could, the two Lost hunters began to back away, Levin doing his best to put himself between the wyvern and Ellie, as the Rathian slowly wobbled across the bobbing docks to nuzzle her snout against the eggs, making certain they were all right. But as the two inched away, the wyvern's eyes snapped back up to look at them, making the two of them freeze where they stood. The Rathian's eyes narrowed for a moment, glancing back and forth between the two of them before finally settling on Ellie. The creature gazed at the bowgunner for a long moment, a considering look in its eyes.

Then, with a sudden snap of its head, the Rathian sent a searing jet of fire from its mouth, a lance of flame no thicker than one of the creature's jagged teeth. Ellie gasped, then screamed in pain as the thread of fire tore across her right shoulder, her armor leaving her upper arms uncovered. The jet ended as quickly as it began, but the pain of the burn seared through Ellie's mind, and her legs gave out from beneath her and her arm reached for the injury, making her cry out again as she touched the fresh wound.

Levin cried out and caught her as she fell over, quickly reaching over and patting away the flames that still burned across her arms. Ellie sobbed in pain as the great sword user began dragging her away from the Rathian as it snorted as though pleased with its actions. The bowgunner managed to pull open an eye to keep a good look on the Rathian, despite the pain that was searing through her arm.

With a snort, the wyvern leaned in over the first of the eggs and cautiously opened her mouth around the large orb, picking the egg up between her jaws and lifting it up into the air. Then it carefully worked its way across the dock, keeping a close eye on the second egg as it tilted back and forth as the deck wobbled with each of her steps. But it made it to the egg, and with a balance and dexterity Ellie wasn't aware the wyvern possessed, it leaned one of its legs up and over the other egg, cautiously picking the orb up and off the ground. Ellie may have thought the creature looked silly at any other time, but the last burning glare the creature gave her before thumping its wings and lifting up off the ground managed to send a cold chill down her spine, despite the pain she felt.

With a burst of speed, the Rathian forward through the air, ducking low underneath the overhang of the cavern. With another spin in the air, the Rathian lurched upwards, turning up and around the side of the cliff side, up and out of sight.

Suddenly Ellie found that Marshall was next to her, helping her sit up as Levin was preparing a bandage for her. The older hunter held up a potion for the young bowgunner, and she drank it up greedily.

"This is gonna hurt," Levin warned her, and Ellie shook her head. Nothing could hurt as bad as the burn mark across her arm right now…

Levin proved her wrong, though, as he slapped down the pad covered in medical gel. Ellie shrieked in agony as the medicine pressed into the burn, sending searing pain of its own into her body. She cringed in pain as the great sword user quickly wrapped a roll of gauze 'round and 'round her arm, before pulling the tape tight and tying it in place.

The bowgunner tried to get back to her feet, but the injury, compounded on top of the weariness she felt from the long day running from the Rathian and carrying the egg. With a slump, the young hunter dropped to her knees, dizziness and a general tired feeling overwhelming her. She mumbled to Levin, words slipping out of her mouth so clumsily that even she couldn't tell what she was saying. She realized she was moving, and found herself being picked up by Marshall, carrying her in his arms and sending Levin off somewhere.

A worried look and a kind word from the great sword user was the last thing she saw before her body forced her into unconsciousness.

* * *

"Damn it all!"

A spray of bright red wine splashed across the wall of the _Sea Bane's _main cabin, sending a spray of alcohol across the edges of a nearby painting; the alcohol bore into the oils of the paint, making the substance curve and twist. The merchant, Saul, cursed quietly at the sight of the ruined work, but quickly forgot about it as he turned back to the broad window at the back of his room. His mind was too focused on other issues to think too hard about such things at the moment.

"Damn you Farren… Damn you!" the merchant cursed, smashing his fist against the window's frame. "And those damn hunters, and those damn villagers… Damn them all!"

In the end Farren had betrayed him, selling him out to Echo Village, no doubt in exchange for his own safety. Saul should've kept a tighter leash on the man! Even with the Guild man's word that they just wanted him to leave, Saul had little doubt that the villagers would've given him a 'parting gift' of sorts if the Rathian hadn't shown up and begun tearing through their harbor. Saul had just barely managed to escape the creature himself with his life intact, hiding aboard his ship until the creature had flown away for whatever reason.

He knew he would never hear the end of this little tale from his rival businessmen and nobles. So many of them already had their own "pets," and he'd spent who knows how many hours bragging that he'd gotten the Guild to allow him to take possession of a couple of Rath eggs; how, even if the two eggs weren't different genders, he had his foot in the door, and would have all the time in the world to get some foolish hunters to collect the eggs he requested until he got what he wanted.

But with a few words from that damn researcher! All of his chances were gone! Farren may have treated him like a fool, but Saul was not so foolish as to not realize that the Guild would never allow him to request a mission again after receiving this kind of response from the village. Even this little rat hovel, Echo Village, such a small and insignificant place, would be able to get the Guild's attention, and no matter who his contacts in the Guild were, they wouldn't be willing to help him if their jobs were on the line.

Damn it all! The nobles and other merchants he rubbed shoulders with would never let him hear the end of this! He could already hear them, all, 'The latest trend is to have a pet Uragaan to heat your bath with, I hear. Do you have one yet? Oh, that's right, you can't. That mishap with the Rath eggs, I recall? A pity. A crying shame.'

"Quite unlucky, aren't you, Saul?"

The merchant nearly jumped out of his boots at the sudden voice cutting into his thoughts. He turned in rage, expecting one of the sailors to have come in to mock him, prepared to give the man a reprimand to make him wish he'd cut out his tongue instead of making a remark. He hadn't even heard the door open; had he really been so consumed in his thoughts? However, Saul found himself caught short as he turned, taken completely aback by the other person in the room.

The man was sitting in one of the easy chairs in the room, but Saul could still tell that the man was massive, to say the least, easily putting to shame the guards that the merchant had taken into Echo Village earlier in the day. While most of the hulking mass was no doubt shear muscle and size, Saul could recognize the shifting motions of armor under the man's bright red cloak. The man's face was mostly obscured by a deep crimson hood at the moment, not allowing the merchant to make out any facial features. However, the man's appearance didn't seem to matter too much to Saul at the moment; the large black hammer leaning idly against the man's chair took priority at the moment. Not for the first time that day, Saul realized that he was especially vulnerable as he was. He needed to start carrying a sword, or at least a knife. Did bowguns come in smaller, more compact sizes?

Despite his rising fear, Saul forced himself to keep a calm demeanor. His voice didn't shake nearly as much as he felt like it should've. "Who are you? This ship is private property, _my_ property. Name yourself and your intent or I'll have to demand you leave the premises."

Saul didn't feel much better about the situation when the man began to chuckle, a deep, rumbling sound that seemed to shake the floorboards. "I don't think you're in much of a position to make demands like that, Saul."

The man continued to chuckle for another few moments, and Saul's mind raced, searching for a solution to his predicament. Could he make it to the door before the large man? Unlikely. Calling for help seemed futile as well. Either way things turned out, the merchant did his best to keep a brave (brave-ish) face in front of the large man.

"You keep a brave face rather well," the man said suddenly, as his laughter began to wear away. "Not bad for such a small man. Color me impressed for the moment. You needn't worry, Saul. I'm not here to hurt you or threaten you. I'm here to discuss… a business opportunity of sorts. Right up your alley, I'm sure?"

Saul perked up slightly. Acts of physical prowess were certainly nothing he claimed to excel at, least of all fighting or violence, but business discussions were something else altogether. He gave the large man a new, more judging look. He didn't look the type to be good at bartering. But Saul kept himself on his toes; a man like this, he wouldn't put it past the fellow to grow violent if Saul's offers or demands were less than what he wanted to hear.

"Alright, you have my attention… whoever you are," Saul said, striding confidently over to the chair that sat across from the man and sitting down in it. "I'll hear what you have to say. But if I find your _opportunity_ to not to be up to my standards of profitability, then I'll have to ask you to leave."

"That's acceptable," the man said with a simple nod. Then he grinned again. "However, I pride myself in being a fair judge of character, and I believe that you, Saul, are definitely the kind of man who will jump at the offer I'm presenting to you."

"Then feel free to enlighten me," Saul replied, letting a bored look cover his face. "I'm waiting to be impressed."

The large man smirked, making Saul believe that despite his experience as a merchant, the man could still see right through his façade. But he began speaking, despite it all. "Let me begin by asking you something. Do you believe that the Guild will ever allow you to apply for a Quest again?"

Despite his effort, Saul couldn't keep an angry frown from crossing his face. "No, I don't. I know the way the Guild works."

"That's right," the man nodded. "The Guild is… corrupt, in some places. Or rather, there are certain people in the Guild that are corrupt. To believe otherwise is foolish. They put up such a good front, claiming to be fair and kind about their decisions and choices, and for the most part, they're not lying. Almost all of the members of the Guild are straight-laced, shining examples of fair bureaucracy. But as you know by experience, every organization has a few black sheep, a few folks that are willing to turn a blind eye or alter a few words on a paper in exchange for something they want."

"Money," Saul said.

"In your case, yes," the man agreed. "Every once in a while, the people willing to bend the rules do it with only their own profit in mind. But most of the time, they're just as fond of the Hunter's Guild as every other member, and any under-the-table dealings are done for the benefit of the Guild. You, for example, gave a generous 'donation' to the Guild in exchange for access to some otherwise unreachable goods. Other people in your position are willing to offer the Guild discounted prices on certain goods, cheaper travel fares, or other things like that. And in exchange, they get 'pets,' or rare items, or other such things… so long as they don't get caught in the act, that is."

"Are you trying to irritate me?" Saul asked, impatience filling his voice.

"Not at all. Just stating a fact. Certain members of the Guild may be willing to do dirty deals, but if their customer is caught, they can't really do much to help them anymore. Too many people in the Guild walk the line to cover it all up. All your contact can do is feign ignorance and hope he can keep his job."

"I know how the system works," Saul said. "What is your point? I've lost my good standing with the Guild, and am no doubt going to become the laughing stock of my acquaintances for who knows how long. I have no patience for dancing around the issue at the moment."

"Then please, allow me to explain," the large man said, leaning forward in his chair in enthusiasm. "My employer wishes to make it so men like you and I can follow our enthusiasms without having to worry about the ethics of organizations out of our control."

Saul made an attempt to keep a straight face during the course of the big man's explanation, but as the man unraveled what his apparent employer was planning, the merchant couldn't hold back to look of shock and awe that slowly began to spread over his face. As the man's words slowed as he finished, Saul found himself gaping dumbly at the man, completely baffled at the concept.

"Is such a thing… possible?" he gasped. "Such a thing is unheard of. Just keeping such an idea secret would require exuberant amounts of work."

"Ah, yes," the man nodded. "But remember, the only people who will be participating in this little scheme of ours will be people who share the same desires as us. Any threat of exposure is lost with the knowledge that any who tells are giving up their own guilt as well."

Saul sat frozen in thought, searching desperately for some sort of fault in the plan. This scheme, as the man put it, was not something that he could dare risk his fortune on, without the certainty that it would pay off without any recompense. After several minutes of thought, Saul found himself grinning. A minute or two later, he found himself laughing.

"I can't find a fault!" he told the man. "Provided no one that joins you grows a conscience, and you manage to keep a tight leash on your other… issues, this could be the most profitable thing I've ever heard."

"Then I assume you're in?" the big man asked with a grin.

Saul paused for a moment before leaning forward toward the man. "Only on one condition. I fund your little project, and I want some Rath eggs. Guaranteed one of each gender. A month from now, at the latest."

The large man smirked in reply. "We thought you might. We just so happen to have a pair of eggs waiting for you at the dock nearest to our headquarters. They'll be ready for you there; all you have to do is agree and I'll tell you where to go."

Saul laughed excitedly. "Then we have a deal sir! May I know the name of the man I'm providing for?"

"You'll meet my employer when we arrive at our location, Saul," the man replied.

"What about you?"

The man smirked. "My name is Filcher. Glad to have you aboard, Saul."

* * *

Ellie watched the horizon without really seeing it as their ship skipped over the waves. Her mind was still filled with the looks of anger she'd received from the countless villagers that had seen her, Levin and Marshall off at the docks.

She'd woken up from unconsciousness just over an hour after the Rathian had taken off. The potion she'd taken had long since worn off and the pain from the burn on her right arm lingered fresh on her, making her cringe in pain. She'd found herself still on the docks not too far from where the Rathian had torn up the street. Levin was standing over her at the time, keeping an eye on the streets, where a small crowd of villagers stood threateningly, as though they were urging them to leave faster. Even if the Guild rep had pulled the blame for the mission onto Saul, the locals still had a cold look of anger in their eyes.

Levin told her that he and Marshall had managed to request passage on a small fishing skiff that was preparing to work its way over to the coast in order to try for some shallow water fish. It would only be the three of them aboard, alongside only three sailors which would be manning the ship. Levin didn't even try to hide the fact that the sailors they were traveling with half expected them to help with the work aboard the skiff in order to get to Boma quickly. Ellie was tempted to ask why they were in such a hurry to leave the village, but with another look at the angry villagers, decided to hold her tongue to avoid asking a stupid question.

And so it was that the three Boma hunters were finally back on their way to their home village. Ellie and Levin had failed missions before, or at the very least left them incomplete to the desires of the requester, but this was this first time they'd truly abandoned a quest in for any reason. Even if the mission specifics were a bust, even if the three of them had done what was right at the end of it all, Ellie still felt a little down that they had a black mark on their records as hunters. Maybe it was just her ego getting the best of her, but it still got her a little down.

She turned as Levin walked up to the railing, and felt a small twinge of irritation. Despite her disappointment and frustration from the whole situation with Echo Village, during the entire journey back to Boma from the island village, the great sword user seemed to be in an unusually good mood. He had had a perpetual half-grin on his face during the entirety of the journey, somehow keeping a vibrant mood despite the somber atmosphere that Ellie and Marshall were keeping. And all this despite the twitchy nervousness he'd had during the mission.

"Nice to finally be heading back home, isn't it?" the great sword user asked. "Not much fun to hang around in a city where everyone wants your head in a basket, is it?"

"Not at all," Ellie replied sourly. "Though, with your current attitude, I'm surprised you even feel bad about the whole thing at all."

Levin blinked at the sudden burst of biting words from the bowgunner, and his grin slipped into an abashed look. Immediately Ellie felt bad, and lowered her head apologetically. "Sorry," she mumbled. "I guess I'm just in a bad mood ever since the village pretty much kicked us out of their town. They just looked at us like we were… trash."

"I know what you mean," Levin nodded. "I've gotten people angry at me before. Even in Boma there're a few people that can't stand the sight of me. But doing something to get an entire village to hate me is… really a consuming experience. Nothing quite makes you feel like slime than knowing you've made an entire city want you gone."

"You seem to be in a pretty good mood, though, despite everything," Ellie noted.

Levin smirked again, though this time it was more of a rueful grin. "I guess it's just a lingering feeling of success."

"In _what_?" They'd failed the mission. How could he consider something like this a success?

Levin paused for a moment, and Ellie noticed that her partner had an uncertain look on his face, as though unsure how to respond. When he finally replied, it was in a slow and measured tone. "I feel that I've come out on top. Like I've won a victory over something."

"Like a moral victory?" Ellie asked.

"Something like that," Levin replied. "It's just… I had a bad feeling about today. The fact that we got away with what we did, still intact and safe for the most part, kind of cheers me up, if only a little."

Ellie paused in thought. "Does this have something to do with the nightmare you had last night?"

Levin's smile faltered for a moment. "I guess you could say that. But everything's turned out alright. You know, minus the whole 'we can never return to Echo Village' part of it. I thought it would turn out worse, I guess, but we survived the Rathian, returned the eggs, and all with minimal injuries."

Ellie's right shoulder ached at the mention of injuries, forcing her to wince in pain and reach for the injury. Levin's face turned concerned, but the bowgunner waved him off. "I'm fine. The wound's still fresh, but otherwise I'll be okay."

Levin nodded in acceptance. Ellie thought for a moment as the great sword user returned his own gaze to the sea. "You… dreamed that something bad would happen to us during this mission?"

"Not exactly," Levin admitted in a quiet. "Just that something bad would happen to us today in general. I guess it's a bit of a relief to know that it was really all just a dream. It's almost sundown after all, and the only thing between us and home is a night on a ship. I'm not pleased about it being a ship, but I'll take what I can get."

"You've had these dreams often?" Ellie asked.

Levin sighed. "I… I don't… It's hard to describe."

"Can you try to explain it?" Ellie asked, pushing off from the rail and walking closer to the great sword user. "It worries me. You always try to act like nothing's wrong, but I've seen how you act every now and then when you've had… dreams. Last night wasn't the first time. I remember how afraid you were when you had that one dream before the Hunter's Exam, before we… before we fought the Lagiacrus."

Levin was silent for a moment, a momentary look of guilt covering his face, before Ellie continued. "Please Levin. You know I worry about you. I've trusted you with my issues with the Raths. Can't you trust me with what's bothering you?"

"I do trust you, Ellie," Levin replied. "More than anyone else."

"Then why can't you tell me?"

"Because I don't want you to think I'm crazy." Levin sighed painfully. "Every time I have one of these dreams, I question my sanity more and more. I don't… I don't want you to lose your opinion of me."

Ellie pushed forward, bringing herself even closer, until she was almost touching the great sword user. She knew that perhaps now wasn't the best time, but she could feel where her partner was going, and she simply wanted him to clarify, to make clear what he felt for her. Levin looked at her, and she could see his eyes softening from whatever was haunting him.

"What do I mean to you, Levin?" she asked. "You say you value my opinion, you say you trust me more than anyone else. What am I to you Levin? Please tell me."

"You mean… Ellie, more than anything, you… I want nothing more than to…" Levin sighed, trying to gather his thoughts. "Screw it, I can't hold it anymore. Ellie, I…"

A sick crunching sound suddenly tore through the air around the two hunters, and both of them yelped in surprise as the deck of the ship bucked and seemed to completely drop out from underneath them as the entire boat shook. Ellie cried out in pain as her burned shoulder smacked against the deck of the ship, sending a jet of pain through her torso. A shout of warning and fear echoed from the bow of the ship, where the helmsman of the ship belted out orders to the other two sailors aboard.

Rolled onto her stomach, Ellie pushed herself to her feet as the deck as the ship began to settle again. She glanced over at the great sword user, who was looking a little unsteady on his own feet, a little worse for the wear due to his tendency for seasickness. The great sword user looked back at Ellie as well, a regretful look covering his face before turning back to look for the source of the thump.

The bowgunner cursed violently under her breath, catching the ear and earning a shocked look from one of the sailors nearby; she ignored the man, though. Damn it all! She'd been so close!

But as the decking seemed to drop out from underneath her again, the bowgunner was forced to grab for the railing to avoid tumbling across the deck. With another curse, she was forced to admit that it was probably a better idea to figure out what was wrong before getting back on the issue of solidifying her relationship.

"What's going on?" she yelled at the taller of the deckhands, and sandy-haired young man with a nervous look in his eye.

"I have no idea!" he called back as the skiff shook again. "The sea is calm, and we're nowhere near a reef! This shouldn't be happening!"

Suddenly, Ellie spotted Levin tumbling towards her across the deck, waving his arms wildly. "Get down!" he yelled, motioning towards the open ocean.

Ellie just had a moment to turn her head towards the sea before the great sword user crashed into her, dragging her down to the deck of the ship. Before she went down, however, she managed to catch sight of a massive, spiraling orb tearing through the air over the churning waves of the ocean. A searing white and blue ball of energy that made Ellie cringe in fear. The two crewmen on the deck near them yelped in fright and dove out of the way as the ball crashed into the ship's mast, and a blast of white-hot lightning lanced across the deck as the wooden beam detonated into splinters. With a twisting, tearing creak, the tall pillar and mast spun through the air, crashing into the ocean.

Ellie and Levin both pushed themselves desperately to their feet, trying to get a foothold. Levin was nearly up and Ellie was up to her knees when the two of them were involuntarily forced to swing their hands to their ears, a powerful, penetrating bellow of a roar thundering across the ship. The crew of three cringed and flung themselves to the deck of the ship, trying to hide themselves for what they knew was coming.

As the rumbling roar died away, Ellie lifted her head up cautiously, scanning around for the source of the noise. It wasn't hard to find; not twenty yards off the starboard side of the ship, a thick serpentine head arched out of the water, two piercing red eyes staring menacingly at the two hunters aboard the ship. Ragged scars and shrapnel were spread across the creature's head, as well as what appeared to be a thick strand of fishing net.

The creature's neck twitched, and Ellie dropped back to the deck for cover as another sphere of energy jetted from the Lagiacrus' throat, tearing across the water and crashing into the helm of the ship. Splintered wood and licks of flame shot into the sky from the wheel of the ship, as the third of the crew members tumbled from the raised platform down onto the main deck.

Ellie nearly cried in relief as the sight of Marshall, sporting full hunting gear, emerged from the depths of the cabins. His hammer was slung across his back, and in each hand he held a weapon belonging to one of the Lost hunters, as well as their item satchels. Spotting the two together, he quickly rushed over to them, sparing only a quick glance at the Lagiacrus as its head dipped below the surface of the ocean.

"Take these!" he barked to them, passing them their equipment. "We'll need to strike back quickly if we're going to have a hope for survival! Now listen close: the trick to properly taking down a Lagiacrus, especially in the water, is…"

The hammer user suddenly quieted, glancing around in confusion. Ellie's eyes shot around as well, realizing something was amiss. The sound of the Lagiacrus' attack had ceased. The ship was slowing its bucking and swaying, much to Levin's relief, but the Lagiacrus was nowhere to be seen. The members of the crew seemed to be feeling more relieved at the change in circumstances, but Ellie couldn't seem to shake a feeling of foreboding. From the concerned looks on Levin and Marshall's faces, it seemed that they felt the same.

"Where the hell'd it go?" Levin muttered, eyes snapping all around in search of any sign of the creature. "It couldn't have just take off, not after all that. It should still be… What's that light?"

Ellie had noticed it too. The sky around them seemed to be getting brighter. No, it was getting darker; or it seemed to be. The deep murky ocean, though, seemed to be growing brighter with each passing moment. Ellie edged towards the side of the ship, glancing over into the deep blue water. Sure enough, it was as though there were lights shining up from the deep of the sea.

A rough hand grabbed at the back of her clothing, yanking her back from the edge. Marshall had a hold on Levin as well, and was dragging the two of them to the center of the ship, all the while barking orders to the three fishermen. "To the center of the ship! It's charging up to attack! We have to buckle down, before it…"

The older hunter was cut off as the light from below erupted in a flare of a glaring flash, followed by the earth-shaking sound of the Lagiacrus' thunderous roar. Static and a screeching whine filled the air as pure electrical energy ripped through the base of the ship, tearing through the wooden bow like fabric. Ellie watched in near fascination as whole planks tore off the deck of the ship and shot into the sky as lines of lightning arced up into the clear sky. The smell of fire filled her nose and screams of terror filled her ears. She wasn't even sure if the latter was one of the others or herself.

Then the surge of energy hit the people aboard the ship. Ellie saw one of the sailor picked up off his feet and flung through the air like a ragdoll as the energy blasted through the deck. But her awareness of her surroundings vanished in an instant as the surge hit her as well. It was though a thousand red hot needles were drilling into her skin, and fire was coursing through her body. She felt herself spiraling through the air, the firm grasp of Marshall long gone and forgotten through the searing pain.

Frigid water cracked across her body as she hit the water, salt tearing into her wounds like acid. She saw the barest glimpse of the skiff they'd ridden on, now barely anything but a jagged frame alight with fire, before blackness took her into unconsciousness' murky depths.

* * *

**Author's Note: Please Review! Also, mwahahaha!**

**Extra looooong, just for you lovely readers! Ah, but I do love me some cliffhangers, don't I? And for those of you that were wanting a little bit of… **_**friendliness**_** between my two main characters, that last bit at the end was for you!**

**I had fun messing with the whole "sticky-smoke bomb" thing. I kind of wish the game had that kind of flexibility for real, but I suppose the mixing of items can only go so far. I guess I can keep my fingers crossed for the next non-portable game in the series. Sap Plant + Small Barrel Bomb = Sticky Bomb of Awesomeness? Or my idea of a tossable smoke bomb for a monster-tagged smokescreen rather than an area of effect one?**

**I've been receiving a lot of messages about the fate of Kim and Nat since the end of chapter 18. I'm glad to see my diabolical work at making you love characters and then pulling out from under you is working! Every time one of you messaged me about those two, I admit the song "When You're Evil" by Voltaire started playing in my head. Look it up to get a feel of it!**

**It's been a while since I last really sat down and just played MH3. I'm thinking I may be losing my touch when it comes to emulating the spirit of Monster Hunter, and if I'm going to keep this story rolling, I definitely need to get my groove back. My brother's got my game right now, which is why I haven't really played recently. I'll try and get some arena battles in on my roommate's Wii to get the feel going for the next chapter, or the one after it. Hint: I'll be fighting Lagis. Lots of them. I shall have me many a shiny blue hide. Though as much as I want to play me some MH3, I know my gaming attentions will be elsewhere the next few months, with such awesomeness as Batman: Arkham City, BF3, Assassin's Creed: Revelations, and possibly Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, coming out in the next few months. I'm curious; what kind of games do you, my wonderful readers play, and what are you looking forward to?**

**Reading: **_**The Shadow Rising**_** by Robert Jordan, **_**The Call of Earth**_** by Orson Scott Card, **_**The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara: Antrax**_** by Terry Brooks, **_**The Fires of Heaven**_** by Robert Jordan, **_**Lord of Chaos**_** by Robert Jordan  
Playing: BFBC2, GTA IV, LOZ: Twilight Princess, BF3, Portal 2 DLC  
Listening: The Shins, Shinedown, The Strokes, Sufjan Stevens, Weird Al Yankovic, Switchfoot, Ludovico Einaudi, Gorillaz, The OK Go, Colin Hay, Final Fantasy VII Soundtrack**


	21. A Long Walk North

A Long Walk North

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. All the characters in this story are mine._

_Darkness surrounded him. A deep thunder filled his ears as the great sword user looked around. Levin immediately knew where he was; the dreams… the dreamscape again. His eyes snapped around, searching fearfully for the creature he knew lurked out in the shadows somewhere… anywhere. Fear welled up in him, but he forced in down, cold anger and defiance surging through him to overpower any fright he might feel. _

_The dreamscape right now was unlike how he'd ever seen it before. He was used to familiar landscapes being lit aflame, or just a field surrounded by endless fire. But all there was for him to see now was a cold, lifeless landscape. Very, very cold, he realized now. Frigid. His breath felt as though it was all his body warmth being pulled out forcefully. Lightning lanced across the sky in rolling flashes of light. _

_Levin forced himself to ignore the pain, steeling himself as his teeth chattered, eyes darting around in search of the beast he knew hid somewhere in the darkness. But for all he could see or hear, there was only the dark and cold, with occasional lightning in the sky. _

_Chilling laughter suddenly rumbled though the dreamscape. Levin searched around, desperate to find the source of the sound. The laughter resounded through the great sword user's bones, rattling his teeth and shaking the organs in his body. Levin roared in anger, eyes tearing across the sky. _

"_Where are you, you bastard? Show yourself!" _

_But there was no response, only a continuing howling laughter from nowhere. Levin screamed in anger, but the only reply was the laughter, taunting him. The crackling lightning seemed to flash brighter with each wave of laughter that echoed through his skull._

**You were warned, boy! Now watch as all you know unravels!**

* * *

Levin woke up painfully, pins and needles crawling across his body and groaned as his body refused to respond to his attempts to get up. He sucked in air at first, trying to catch his breath as his chest ached in pain. He immediately regretted the reaction, though, as a handful of sand poured into his mouth, making the great sword user cough in pain and irritation, painfully retching the stuff out of his lungs and mouth.

The pain of vomiting up his insides was enough to motivate the young hunter to push herself to his feet and get a move on, if for no other reason than to get out of the pile of his own filth. He forced open his eyes, wincing as the bright sunlight blinded him for a moment (how long had he been asleep?), and pushed himself uneasily to his knees.

Looking around told him nothing at all. It was late morning as far as Levin could tell, if not noon already. All he knew was that he was on a beach at the moment. Nothing truly stood out to him as he looked around the area; the area was another sandy beach cutting alongside the ocean, pristine white sands meeting with tropical trees at the treeline, where large grasses began growing up from the sand. The same exact kind of place he'd seen in the dozens of miles he'd seen traveling up and down the various coasts near Boma Village. Was he close to his home, he wondered? How far did this kind of coastline stretch in this area of the world?

His mind ached with a dull throbbing pain as he tried to think harder about his situation. How had he gotten here in the first place? He knew he'd managed to keep himself and Ellie safe from the Rathian. Or at least he'd kept her from dying, what with the rather nasty burn he remembered her receiving. They'd gotten on a ship, they'd set sail for Boma in order to get away from the angry villagers, and then… Ellie had asked him about his dreams, then asked him about what he'd felt for her. He'd replied, hadn't he? He'd told her…

He gasped as the memory of the incident came back to him. A Lagiacrus had attacked them! Ellie and Marshall, were they…? Marshall could take care of himself. But Ellie, he'd seen her get thrown off the ship and…

"No, no!" he muttered in horror. "I got away! I was supposed to be free! She was supposed to be safe! I kept her safe from the Rathain, dammit! What more do I need to do?"

Then Levin's eyes snapped up. What had that been? Had he really just heard that? Some voice, echoing out from the forest… no, north of him, further down the beachhead. It was male. It wasn't Ellie. But was someone else alive?

"Is anyone else out there? Are any more of the hunters still alive?" Definitely a voice. Maybe a quarter mile away? Wait, did he say any _more_ hunters? There was someone else still alive?

"Ellie," he muttered hopefully, before raising his voice in reply. "Hey! Hey, I'm still alive! Where are you?"

A quieter, excited voice echoed his way, the sound of two people talking. He couldn't make out the specifics of the second voice. Male or female, he couldn't be too sure. Finally the first voice called out again.

"We're coming for you! Hold still, please!"

"Alright!" he called back. He quickly forced himself to his feet, anxiously looking around. He found himself fidgeting nervously, wishing that whoever was just over the hill would hurry up. Every minute or two the voice would call out again, making sure they were going the right way, and Levin would call back, growing more excited as the voices grew ever closer.

Finally a pair of shapes crested a dune not too far from the great sword user, a pair of human shapes working their way down the beach. One was oddly shaped; someone carrying someone else, Levin realized. Pushing himself, despite the pain that throbbed in his legs, Levin began sprinting across the beach towards the two shapes.

As he closed in, he made out the shapes of two of the three fishermen he remembered seeing sailing the skiff they'd been returning to Boma on. One was a sandy-haired young man who was fairly tall, perhaps half a head taller than Levin. He was well-built, the body of an experienced sailor, but had a nervous, perhaps indecisive look on his face. The other man was shorter, stockier, with thinning black hair, an irritated and angry look on his face that didn't seem to lighten up in the least when he caught sight of Levin. And across the back of the taller man was…

"Ellie!" Levin gasped, dashing forward to take the young bowgunner off the taller man's back. He lowered her gently to the ground, checking her over. She seemed to be unconscious as far as Levin could tell, but she seemed paler than he thought he'd ever seen her before.

"She's been out of it since we found her," the shorter man said gruffly, though a tone of sympathy edged his voice. "She's breathing, raggedly I'll admit, but she's not exactly looking good. Found her half-submerged in the water not too far from here. We think… she may be a little too far gone to save."

"No no no, this can't be happening," Levin muttered.

"We'll keep her with us, hunter," the man continued, "but I can't promise she'll survive the trip. The Lagi did some damage to her, and she's pretty waterlogged. I don't like to give bad news, but…"

Levin blotted out the man's words as he attempted to console him, focusing instead on the bowgunner in front of him. He leaned over his partner, listening closely to the sounds her body made. The man was right; her breathing was haggard, and her heartbeat was dim. Had she swallowed too much water? Maybe… but what if… no! He had to try and save her!

Ignoring the man's shocked cries and protests, Levin immediately began pushing against Ellie's chest, trying to force the water out of her lungs. After a minute or two of pushing, he leaned in, pressing their mouths together and forcing air into her lungs. He groaned in dismay as she remained unchanged, growing increasingly more and more afraid. He returned and began pressing against her chest again.

On the fourth push, a spray of water suddenly jetted from the bowgunner's mouth and the young woman twisted around onto her stomach and spat up what seemed an endless supply of ocean water. For a few moments, she simply lay there on her knees, gasping for air. Levin simply stared at her for a moment, relief washing over him. The two sailors stood behind him, gaping in shock, no doubt assuming that his partner had been dead to rights only a few minutes ago.

Ellie sat up straight, pulling away from the wet sand she had just emptied her lungs and stomach, and for a moment she simply sighed and stared out towards the ocean. Finally she turned to face the great sword user, her eyes catching his. At that point Levin simply couldn't help himself anymore, the joy at seeing her safe overwhelming him, and he lunged forward, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into a tight hug.

"Thank goodness," he muttered quietly. "I thought you were gone for a second there."

The bowgunner coughed out a weak laugh. "Come on now. Don't kill me off so easily. After all the crap we've dealt with since we partnered up, you think I'd die so quickly?"

"Heh. Yeah, I guess you're right." Even though she was alright, still alive, Levin held tight to her for a good long time. Ellie seemed perfectly content with the position as well, wrapping her own arms around him. Levin thought he could stay like that forever, but eventually the sound of the two sailors shifting awkwardly on the sand caught his ears and he was forced to admit it would be better to let go of her.

"Sorry about that," he said sheepishly, turning back to the two sailors. "Got a little, ah, carried away there, I guess."

"It's fine," the taller man said, waving his hand. "Not sure how you did it, but I suppose any sort of celebration at someone pretty much coming back from the dead is okay."

"Thanks for carrying her here," he said, getting to his feet and pulling Ellie up with him. "If you hadn't brought her with you, she might have… well, she'd be in a worse state."

"It's nothing," the shorter man replied.

"No, it really means a lot to me," Levin insisted. "I really owe you guys… jeez, I don't even know your names."

"The name's Calvert," the shorter man replied. He smacked the younger, taller man on the back. "This one here's Joshua. And like I said, you don't owe me or him anything. Just did what was common decency, even if the two of you did cause a bit of trouble back home in Echo Village. But… if the two of you helped us find our way to some village so we can stay safe? Well, that'd be pretty good of you."

"Yeah. Yeah, we can do that," Ellie replied, nodding. "We couldn't really do anything to stop the Lagiacrus from attacking your ship. The least we can do is keep the two of you safe."

"Don't you two, um… need armor, though?" the sandy haired man, Joshua asked.

Levin blinked in surprise and looked down at himself as Ellie did the same. They both cursed at the same time. The both of them had forgotten that they hadn't been wearing their armor anymore. Levin recalled taking the time to remove his worn out armor, covered in burns and tears all along the sides, worrying that it may be a bit too damaged for Stergo to fix up. Both he and Ellie were only in their "civies," the light cotton and leather clothes that were common around Boma and the other villages, though nothing fancy like Saul and even Farren had worn.

"Well crap," Ellie muttered. "Yeah, that's a bit of a problem. Oh, damn! Where's my bowgun at?"

"Oh, that thing?" Calvert asked. "We, uh, left it where we found you. At the time, we thought it'd just be dead weight for us to have to carry around in the end."

"Well we should be fine, if we can get that," Ellie replied, sighing in relief. "There shouldn't be too much of a problem as long as we can find that. We should be able to make our way to Boma or some other village without too much trouble. We just have to make our supplies last to the nearest village, and we should be fine. What is it, a few hours, a night in the wilds at the worst?"

But the worried and fearful look that the two sailors shared once Ellie was done speaking made Levin grimace in fear. "Actually," Calvert said slowly. "It may be a little harder than that."

"What do you mean?" Levin asked.

"Well," Joshua cut it, scratching his head, "the thing is, I managed to swim to shore after the ship got attacked last night. I managed to meet up with Calvert here early in the morning, but while it was still nighttime, I took a look as the stars to try and figure out exactly where we were. I'm pretty good at reading my location that way. And well, I figured out that we're not exactly in a very safe place right now."

"What do you mean?" Ellie asked nervously.

"Well, let's see," Calvert said thoughtfully. "You two have done missions outside your home village, Boma, right?"

"Yeah," Levin replied.

"Where have your missions usually been in relation to Boma? I mean, in what direction of your village?"

Levin and Ellie thought for a moment before the bowgunner answered for the two of them. "North, for the most part, I guess. There were a few missions inland, when we hunted Great Jaggi or Qurupeco, but for the most part we've hunted creatures that were to the north of Boma. There was that one Gobul hunt in Cobi village to the south, but that was pretty much the only one I can remember. Why?"

"Yeah, that's the problem," Calvert answered. "The problem is, we're right about in the middle. I'd say were about twenty or thirty miles south of Boma."

"We've hunted south of Boma before though," Ellie said. "What's the distance matter?"

"The matter is this: monsters tend to avoid human settlements. The further you get from a village or city, or even a hunter's campsite or road, the more frequently you'll see monsters of all shapes and sizes. Right now we're about as far from a village as you can get along this coastline. That means we're about in the thickest part of the monster-inhabited part of this area as you can get. I mean, I've been half-expecting a Great Jaggi and its pack to pop out of the trees and eat me all morning."

"That's bad," Levin muttered.

"You can say that again," Joshua agreed.

Levin glanced at Ellie, who was tugging at her sleeves irritably. "I never thought I'd feel safer wearing that damn Quru armor than I do now," she muttered worriedly, glancing around as though she expected to be attacked at any moment as well. "I'm feeling really exposed right now."

"Guess that means we shouldn't be wasting time just standing around," Levin replied. Ellie nodded in agreement and he turned to the two sailors. "Let's head out then. We'll be far better off on the move than we will be standing around. Damn it, but I wish Marshall was here right now."

"The big guy with the hammer?" Joshua asked. "Yeah, tough guy like that would be really helpful right now. I guess if we all managed to survive the Lagi attack, that guy must have as well."

Levin nodded somberly, worried for his hunting master. He knew Marshall could handle a struggle with a Lagiacrus, he wore the damn monster's armor, after all. But a surprise attack from the creature in the deep ocean? Even with the old man's many years of experience, facing off against a Lagiacrus with those odds was not a good thing, especially with a long swim to shore in store no matter what.

The three had nothing to gather up to take with them, so had no need to prepare to leave and were able to leave immediately. Levin and Ellie both had their item pouches strapped to their sides, and the bowgunner had her ammo pouch with her, but at the moment the great sword user was the only person between the four of them who was anything close to effectively armed and ready to fight against anything worse than an Aptonoth. And so it was that Levin took the lead in the group's march north, with Ellie not far behind and the two fishermen taking up the rear.

Levin didn't exactly trust his blade all that much at the moment either, right now. It was still covered in dents and scratches from their mission running from the Rathian. The blade was still sharp, the great sword user made sure of that; if nothing else he always managed to have a whetstone on his person. But Levin was worried that if he met some monster with an exceptionally tough hide, or fought against one monster too many, his blade would simply snap or shatter from the strain.

And Levin had to admit, after hearing what the two sailors told him, he felt increasingly more paranoid about their surroundings the further they traveled. Every rustling of the trees sounding like a Jaggi pack working their way towards them; every wave crashing against the beach sounded like a Royal Ludroth or a Lagiacrus; every shadow that crossed their path was a circling Qurupeco or Rath. He'd never really considered his Ludroth-sponge armor to be very tough, but right now he felt like he might as well have been a turtle without its shell. Ellie was right: without his armor on, Levin felt extremely vulnerable at the moment.

The thought made him glance at Ellie, turning away quickly as she turned to meet his eyes. He cursed himself as he felt his face heating up at such a little thing, but what he'd been about to say to Ellie before the Lagiacrus attacked was still at the front of his mind, mocking him with how close he'd been. He wished he could just turn around and tell her how he felt right now, but with the danger of their current situation and his courage from that time being gone, he just couldn't bring himself to do it. And so he was stuck struggling through his own thoughts as the four of them journeyed north, trying to keep his mind from remembering the words that lingered on the tip of his tongue.

About ten minutes of walking later, the four of them came across a small clutter of wooden planks and a collection of random boxes scattered across the beach head; pieces of the fishing skiff, Levin realized. A glance around the area told him that, if the ship had managed to survive the attack at all, it was definitely in pretty bad condition. From what Levin recalled of the skiff, if they'd lost that much wood off the ship, he certainly wouldn't want to risk sailing on it as it was.

But apparently this was where the two sailors had found Ellie, because Joshua motioned over to a cluster of boxes near the trees, and Ellie yelped excitedly, spotting her bowgun lying on the sand and rushing over to pick it up. Joshua and Calvert whistled in surprise and awe as the bowgunner quickly dismantled and reassembled her weapon with experienced ease, cleaning her weapon of the sand and dirt it had collected on the beach and in the water. The whole process took only a few minutes, but the speed at which the hunter went about her business was what truly did her skill justice, though Levin had to admit he preferred having a weapon whose only maintenance was keeping it sharp and straight. The rest of it could be left to Stergo to sort out.

Once Ellie was content with her work and had her weapon reassembled, she slung the weapon over her back, already looking more confident with their situation. With a nod to the others, the four of them set off again in their journey to Boma Village. It was another hour or so before they next stopped, though not to rest, but because of what they discovered.

"Look! Look there!" Joshua suddenly shouted, pushing past the hunters and pointing off into the distance.

Levin looked and whistled in surprise at the sight ahead of them. The four of them were approaching a massive group of rocks jutting out of the ocean, three massive pillars of stone that cut out of the water like massive teeth. And there, wedged between two of the massive rocks, was the remains of the fishing skiff. The sails and the mast were a tangle against the jutting pillars, caught against the handholds and other ledges on the pillars. Only the rear half of the hull of the ship remained, however, swaying gently as the waves lapped up against it, shoving it further against the rocky outcroppings.

"Oh, crap," Calvert muttered. "So much for hoping the captain managed to save the ship."

"Do you think… do you think he's… you know, still on it?" Joshua said slowly. "I mean, you know, one way or another?"

Calvert sighed as the two hunters glanced at the fisherman, realizing his meaning. They shared a concerned look, then turned back, looking nervously towards the wreck. "Should we go check it out?" Levin asked. "If nothing else, if we find somebody, they deserve a proper burial."

There was silence for a moment as the two sailors looked at each other uncertainly. Finally Calvert nodded in acceptance. "We probably should. That man was the biggest hard-ass of any captain I've worked under, but he was a damn good sailor. He deserves what we can give him."

Levin and Ellie nodded somberly, and with a certain unsteady step, the four worked their way over to the shallows, where crossing the water to the wrecked ship would be quickest. Once they reached the place where they would cross, the two hunters were taken by surprise as the fishermen jumped right in, but found that the two easily could outpace them in the water, years of experience at sea showing in their swimming ability. The two sailors beat the hunters the short hundred yards to the rocky shore where the ship was wedged well over a minute before the hunters could catch up. But they were waiting patiently when the two arrived, glancing uncertainly at the remains, as though still wary to proceed, worried what they'd find.

The ship was quiet, the only sound the four could hear at the moment was the sound of the waves pushing against the remains of the hull, and the eerie creaking of the ship as in groaned under the force of the water. The broken shell of the skiff had its bow facing their way, the torn midsection of the ship aimed away from them. It was a cautious effort for the four of them to work their ways around the side of the ship. The ship was at a tilt, the port side tilted horribly up in the air, leaving the starboard side low enough for the four of them to hop onto the deck without too much effort. The sound of their shoes tapping against the deck were like drumbeats compared to the silence around them.

"Seems like the captain's room is still in one piece," Calvert said, looking up and down the ship. "If we're lucky, the cargo bay might be all together. Might be some supplies available below deck. Can't be very certain, though."

"Anything's better than nothing," Ellie replied, glancing into her item pouch. "We used up a pretty fair amount of goods during our time in Echo Village. Any potions or food aboard?"

"Food yes," Joshua replied. "Potions? Not so much. We don't really use things like that for fishing. Actually, I don't think anyone uses potions outside hunters, except maybe town guards or other occupations like that."

"We might not even have that aboard actually," Calvert said, walking to the break in the skiff and glancing down into the water. "Looks like there was a hole ripped in the cargo bay. Not a big one, but we've lost some things by the looks of it. But first we should see if the captain… well, you know."

Suddenly, a clatter and series of thumps echoed from the bow of the ship, making the four jump in shock, turning wildly to face the rear of the ship. Whatever made the noise was moving around the ship, clattering around the cabins, and working towards the door to the lower decks.

"Who the hell is on my damn ship!"

The loud voice blasted across the deck of the ship like a cannon, and the door was smashed open from the inside. However, the frame of the door, worn away from years of rain and winds, and battered even further by the attack of the Rathian, blew completely off of its hinges, sailing through the air and clattering across the deck, forcing Levin and Joshua to dive out of the way to avoid getting knocked out. The wooden frame continued to slide along the deck until it finally reached the break in the hull and sailed off the edge and over the water, sinking into the ocean with a finalistic splash.

"Gah! Dammit! Stupid water snake! Tha' door wasn't s'pos' ta break off fer another… three weeks er so. Need ta learn ta control my strength, aye."

As Levin sighed in relief at the door missing him, he turned to look as a shape worked its way out of the darkness of the ship's interior. From the shadows came another man that Levin recognized, the ship's captain.

"Captain Marcus!" Joshua gasped. "You're alive!"

"O' course I'm alive, ya twit!" the fisherman Marcus replied with a growl. "I've seen this ship trew worser hells than Lagiacrus. Never been attacked so straight by one, but still!"

The captain of the ship was a surprisingly lean-looking man for his profession, though he was the same height as Levin. But for his size he had a lot of muscle, likely the result of his many years on the sea working against the waves. He had roughly cut, short brown hair and a thick beard. He had sharp eyes as well, quickly glancing over the other two fishermen in search of injuries, or something else. Levin couldn't guess at what. Then the man's eyes snapped to the two hunters. "Ah. You two. You the pair what made trouble for the villagers back home, aye?"

"Yeah," Ellie nodded sullenly. "You're not…"

"Angry? Irritated? Searching for revenge? Pah! I don't spend nuff time on land to care a whiff about that Rathian 'Yara' or whate'er they call 'er. Give me a Royal Ludroth or a Gobul to defend the town from other monsters, I could care less 'bout what's crawling 'round on land. Maybe if we had some water monster to watch our backs, I wouldna lost my damn ship, and be stuck out in the middle of nowhere!"

"Ah, cap'n, about that," Calvert cut in, "these two hunters have said they'd help us get to their village. Boma's a good twenty miles north of here, but we should be able to get there by tomorrow, cap'n."

Marcus raised an eyebrow at the two hunters, glancing them over. "They got a ragged sorta look 'bout 'em, though. Ain't no hunter worth they spit if they don't be havin' armor."

"We know," Levin replied, "but we weren't wearing our armor when the Lagiacrus attacked, so… oh! Our stuff was in the cargo bay! Maybe it's still in there!"

The captain of the ship tilted his head in thought, scratching his beard. "Perhaps," he replied. "We've lost a bit o' cargo since the attack. I know yer stuff were in the cargo bay, but I'm no sure if it were one o' the things what got carried away by the sea. We'll have to go 'low deck to check, I think. C'mon, now. Ain't no worth in a hunter if they can't survive fightin' with a monster."

Levin and Ellie nodded, glancing excitedly at each other. While Levin felt confidence in their abilities as hunters, he didn't trust his skills enough to want to dare dealing with monsters out in the wild without his armor, and was very glad that that might not be an issue they'd have to deal with anymore. Ratty and worn as his Ludroth armor was, it was still better than the thin clothes he wore now.

The two hunters followed the captain of the ship (or what remained of it) into the darkness of the cabins, where a few beds and other goods lay scattered around the room in messy piles. Immediately, the other two fishermen dove for their things, rifling through their goods in search of their own precious items. Marcus ignored them, though, perhaps having already gathered his things or smart enough to have not brought anything important with him on the fishing trip, choosing to lead the two hunters down through a smaller hatch down into the lower decks.

The cargo room was fairly small, and surprisingly well-lit, compared to the other ships Levin had ridden on, though the great sword user was sure that they really didn't need the room for much other than food and a few other sundries. However, a feeling of discouragement began to well up inside him when he realized that the only reason that the cargo hold was lit so brightly was due to the gaping hole at the other end of the room, allowing sunlight to pour in, reflecting off the clear water. There were a few barrels of clean water scattered around, as well as other larger ones that Levin suspected contained liquids with more _alcoholic_ properties. Several crates of spare line and other fishing necessities were sprawled across the floor, many of them broken open or at least badly cracked. There were a few boxes that seemed to be filled with preserved food left, which made Levin feel a bit relieved. He wasn't looking forward to having to hunt for their food on the way home; Aptonoth meat was good, but bland unless seasoned, and while there certainly were mushrooms and berries they could eat, the local wildlife tended to pick the bushes clean.

Ellie suddenly stopped, and Levin turned as she strode over to a pile of boxes piled awkwardly across one of the walls. The clutter made Levin think that they'd been all shoved together like that during the Lagiacrus' attack on the ship, knocking them together once the ship had hit land. The bowgunner leaned down over the pile, sliding her hand through one of the cracks in the pile, before pulling back hard and tugging out a familiar satchel.

"Found it!" she said with a grin. "Mine, at least. Maybe yours is under here as well, Levin. They were together the last time I saw them." The great sword user nodded, immediately stepping forward to begin moving boxes around in search of his armor. Ellie helped him out as well, though Marcus instead began sorting through various boxes, searching for any goods that they could use on their journey north to Boma.

Levin's satchel turned out to be in a different pile, as they discovered a good thirty minutes later, after rearranging the boxes and being forced to move onto the next pile. Levin's satchel was eventually found by the captain, under a large barrel of fish chum. Levin was glad to find his familiar yellow coat inside, and even more so that the barrel of fish food hadn't broken open all over his things. Joshua and Calvert made their way inside not long after to help collect goods for the journey, making the area fairly tight as the five of them worked around each other to gather up what they needed into several pouches and packs that they had available.

Food was the main concern, with the sparse medical supplies aboard the ship taking up little space. Not much else was brought, though the fishermen confused Levin by piling a wide selection of various mushrooms and other goods that they had into Joshua's pouch. Levin knew that the things they were putting in were truly not very valuable, and wondered why they wanted them. Marcus surprised the lot of them by pulling a iron sword and shield out of a chest containing his personal goods. When asked about it, he merely shrugged, telling them he'd dreamed of hunting as a lad as well, and left it at that.

Just as they were preparing to leave the hold of the ship, their pouches bulging to the brim with food and the fishermen's things, Levin caught sight of a large bag bobbing at the edge of the hole in the water. Recognizing it, he quickly strode forward and plucked it out of the water, turning it over in his hands. The others in the room looked at him curiously, though Ellie recognized the bag to and a worried look came over her face.

"This is Marshall's bag," he explained sadly to the sailors. "I don't suppose any of you know what happened to him, do you?"

"If he be anywhere, he'll be closer to Boma Village than any o' us be," Marcus replied. "Don't 'member much o' the attack, but I do recall the ol' man getting tr'own from the ship when the Lagi let loose. T'ink I saw him get caught up in a north movin' flow. If the Lagi didn't get 'em, he'll be up at Boma already, if not further."

"So, he's not dead?" Ellie asked.

"Not las' I saw o' him. But with the Lagi on 'im, it's no likely."

The two hunters glanced at each other, then grinned. "Well, if that's the case," Levin said, "then the old fart's still alive, probably. The man's killed enough Lagiacrus to make himself a suit out of their skins. If there's a current hauling his ass back to land for him, then that old man's definitely still kicking."

The three fishermen looked at each other doubtfully, but the captain shrugged to the other two. "Fine by me. Tink what ya' want, if ya' want to. I suggest we be movin' out 'fore any nasties show up to give us trouble."

"Right, then," Ellie nodded. "Let's head out then."

Levin felt far better then he thought he really should as the two hunters and the fishermen hopped off the ship and began working their ways back across the water to shore. Once again the three of them beat the snot out of the two hunters in terms of speed, but Levin didn't care at all. For the first time in a few days, he felt a little confident with the way things were going. They'd been attacked by a Lagiacrus, sure, but they'd all survived, despite the threats the voice in his dreams had thrown at him. He was going to get all of them safely home, no matter what the creature haunting him said, the fishermen and Ellie both. Especially Ellie.

The group took a few minutes to recuperate from the swim once they got to shore (mostly for Levin and Ellie), but set off almost immediately once they'd gotten a bit of a break. Levin and Ellie both began walking at the normal pace they worked at, a steady pace that they'd accustomed themselves to during their many months working together. But not long after they'd set off, the fishermen, all three of them, began urging the two hunters to move a little faster, clearly not as comfortable with being in the wilds as the two of them were. Levin and Ellie had little choice but to acquiesce, picking up their pace to a point where if they'd stepped a little faster, they'd be jogging.

For all the hype of the danger the three had put on the area, Levin found the area fairly quiet. He caught sight of Ludroth out in the deep water every now and then, and every once in a while the trees would thin out and he'd catch sight of Kelbi or even the occasional Jaggi or two, but rarely anything appeared that bothered them. A pack of five Jaggi came at them once to get put down by the two hunters, and a group of sunbathing Ludroth woke up at an inopportune time while they were passing and needed to be chased into the ocean. The sailors, despite their strong builds, seemed very nervous when monsters were near, though Levin was sure any of them could take a Jaggi or two at least, more with practice.

They had walked perhaps five or six miles when Levin suddenly slowed. From out of nowhere, a subtle but piercing whistling sound seemed to appear out of nowhere. He quickly glanced around, wondering if there was a monster around, maybe a Qurupeco, that was making the sound, but he couldn't see anything. He kept his caution for another few moments before the sound seemed to lull and slowly fade. Ellie glanced at him uncertainly as he picked up his pace again, shaking his head. The sound was still there, though it was dull, and he had to make an effort to hear it.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Fine," he replied simply. "Thought I heard something, but I guess it was nothing. Went away, I guess."

"Well speak up next time," Ellie said, reaching up and patting Levin on the shoulder with a smirk. "I've always been more perceptive than you, so if you hear something, maybe I'll be able…"

The bowgunner paused suddenly, frowning. With a wince, she reached up and rubbed her ear, glancing around the area. Suddenly her eyes snapped wide as motion between the trees caught the two hunters' eyes. A large… no, two large shapes moving their way through the underbrush.

The whistling in his ears suddenly snapped away for a moment, and through the crunching and snapping of branches charging their way, Levin thought he could just barely hear laughing. That terrible, thunderous, mocking laughter.

His eyes snapped to Ellie, and her eyes were on him, staring at him in surprise. A confused look covered her face, and her hand on his shoulder tightened its grip. She seemed lost in thought for a moment, as though remembering something she couldn't place. Then a loud howl burst from the trees of the forest, and the pair's attention snapped back to the creatures moving through the forest, the moment of strangeness lost as the two of them reached for their weapons.

Levin turned to check that the sailors were safely away, but the three of them had heard whatever was coming at the same time as them, and were backing away cautiously towards the ocean. That was the backup plan they'd made; should something nasty appear on land, the sailors were to make for the sea, and vice versa. Most land-based monsters were poor swimmers, and most swimming monsters didn't get too far from the water. If something popped out of the ocean, if nothing else Levin and Ellie could hold it at the shore until the sailors were far enough away for them to follow. The two hunters stared at the forest intently, prepared to fight, Levin with his hand lingering on the hilt of his blade and Ellie with Pellet rounds loaded fresh in the chamber.

The tearing through the trees continued until finally two large shapes burst from the forest, and Levin and Ellie gaped in shock. Two fully-grown Great Jaggis burst from the tree line, howling hungrily at the two hunters as they approached. One was a few feet taller than the other, but they were both easily the largest pair of Great Jaggi that the great sword user had ever seen. Levin could only stand in shock for a long moment, only barely comprehending what he was seeing. Great Jaggis were always in perpetual war with each other for pack superiority! Every hunter he'd ever met and spoken of Great Jaggis with said they'd only seen the creatures attacking each other. Why the hell would these two be together at all?

"Where are the rest of their packs?" Ellie asked in confusion. Levin hadn't realized that; the two creatures were all by themselves, their packs nowhere to be seen. He'd never seen a Great Jaggi that didn't have at least three Jaggi tailing it around. But before he could think to question it, the creature closest to him, the smaller of the two, lunged towards him, growling menacingly.

The great sword user reacted instinctively, and Ellie did so as well; the Great Jaggi population explosions they'd dealt with had left them with several inlaid tactics that they'd found useful against the frilled creatures. As the pack leader lunged, Levin's sword slid up defensively. He twisted his blade to the side as the creature connected, sending its head to the side, intentionally towards Ellie. Who had her bowgun up. Trained on the creature's face. There was a pause for a moment, in which Levin leapt away from the creature, and put up his guard to cover himself from Ellie's barrel.

The crack from the bowgun echoed across the beach as shards of launched shrapnel blew from the barrel, ripping into the Great Jaggi's face and frill. The creature howled in pain as it finally managed to slide to a halt, pawing at its face. Another few blasts followed the first, spraying across the Jaggi's flanks and neck, its head turned away in the creatures pain. Levin grinned as he charged forward, pulling his sword back as he prepared to strike out at the creature, perfectly willing finish the beast off with one big hit.

But from the side, the larger Jaggi lunged towards the great sword user, smashing into him and sending him rolling across the sand. Splitting pain tore through the great sword user's arm, and for a moment, Levin swore the creature had dislocated his arm. Damn, but he'd forgotten about the other Jaggi! He wasn't used to fighting more than one of them at a time! The entire idea of two of them working together still boggled him. How in the hell had the Guild managed to set something like this up for Harker to fight in the arena?

The great sword user slid to the side as the Great Jaggi lunged again, smashing its snout into the flat of the hunter's blade, pushing him back a few feet from the impact before pressing forward to try and clamp its teeth into him. Levin dove to the side, pulling his sword around to smash it into the Great Jaggi's leg. The creature howled in pain as the blade sunk into its leg, the monster's thick leathery hide keeping the sword from taking the creature's leg clean off. The creature's reflexes were sharp, though; without missing a beat by letting the wound phase it, the monster snapped around, jaws snapping down on the great sword user's shoulder and making Levin cry out in pain.

The bite barely penetrated through the spongy material that made up Levin's coat, but the jagged points at the ends of the teeth still cut into Levin's flesh. The creature snapped its head to the left and right, trying to cause as much damage as possible to the great sword user. Levin's eyes snapped over to Ellie, hoping for an assist, but the other, smaller Great Jaggi had swayed between the two of them, and was swaying blindly in an attempt to swing around and smash into the bowgunner that had peppered its face. At the moment, his partner was firing Pierce rounds into the creature's flank, but that only seemed to be giving it a better idea of where she was.

As the Jaggi latched to Levin tried to bite down even harder, the great sword user growled in frustration, pulling one of his hands off the hilt of his weapon and reaching around to his belt look and pulling out his hunters knife. With a quick swing, he brought the carving tool around, slashing at the monster's face and slitting a thick gouge through the creature's frill, taking away a long line of blood from the creature as the Great Jaggi howled in pain, finally releasing him as it reared back in pain. The great sword user grunted in pain as the teeth left his arm, hand coming up to cling to the wound. The knife wasn't sharp enough or tough enough to do any real damage to the Great Jaggi, but it certainly caused a bit of pain.

With the larger Great Jaggi yelping in pain, Levin forced himself to ignore the pain in his arm, sliding his knife back into its sheath and running around the side of the pack leader while its attention was away from him, and rushing over to the one pestering Ellie. The smaller Jaggi had managed to recover its ability to see, risking its eyes open despite the shrapnel on its face, and was attacking aggressively. The great sword user rushed over, hurrying to pull its attention his way before the creature managed to overwhelm the long-range shooter. As the bowgunner ducked away from the attacking carnivore, blasting rounds into the thing when she could, the great sword user slid between the two of them, catching the smaller creature off guard with a smack to the face with the blunt end of his blade.

The larger Great Jaggi was quick to recover from the gash across its face, it seemed. Levin could already see it turning towards him and Ellie as the smaller pack leader wobbled a bit, slightly stunned from the blow to the head. The distance between them wasn't far, but the larger Great Jaggi still tried to build up some momentum as it dashed toward them, intent on smashing into them.

"Harker!"

Levin's eyes snapped to Ellie for a moment at the bowgunner's quick word, confused as to what she meant. Then his eyes rose in realization and he nodded, a smirk sliding across his face. The great sword user took a cautious step forward to the larger Great Jaggi as it charged them down, keeping a close eye on the smaller pack leader as it shook its head to clear its rattled head.

"Not sure if this'll work…" he muttered to himself. Two Great Jaggis working together went against everything he'd thought he'd known about them, but maybe…

As the larger Great Jaggi tightened its muscles to lunge at the great sword user, and the other stared past the shrapnel on its face to howl angrily at the hunters, both Ellie and Levin lunged to the side, around the side of the smaller Great Jaggi. The larger of the two, not thinking about its actions, twisted to the side to follow them with its lunge. But the two hunters put the smaller between themselves as it leapt, and despite the leaping Jaggi's warning, it smashed headlong into the smaller pack leader, sending the two monsters sprawling across the sand in a tangle of limbs and scales.

The two hunters used the moment to back away from the two monsters as they untangled themselves from each other. Levin stepped in front of his partner, holding his sword defensively in case either of their opponents made a quick recovery to restart their attack on the two of them. But fortune was with them, and the monsters' natural instincts kicked in, and as soon as the smaller Great Jaggi found its feet, it howled in anger at the larger for crashing into it, snapping its teeth violently at the other's neck. The larger howled in retaliation as the other assaulted it, retaliating with a swing of its tail, cracking the other across the body and knocking it back several feet across the sand.

Levin and Ellie grinned at each other, slowly working their way backwards away from the two Great Jaggis began snapping wildly at each other in an attempt to dominate the other, their natural instincts demanding that one of them be superior over the other. The two hunters slowly worked their ways around the two as they bickered with each other, one or the other of them trying to assault the other when they thought they were open. The two hunters began motioning to the fishermen, who all floated several dozen yards out to sea, pointing them to the beach further ahead.

But the two froze as a painful sound echoed over the sand. At the same time, both Great Jaggis began screaming and howling in pain. Levin's eyes shot back as Ellie turned as well, and the two froze in shock at the sight; where the two Great Jaggis had been fighting, now they both reared and bucked, howling in pain. The larger of the two's legs had even given out from under it and it rolled around on the ground, clawing at its head wildly, leaving bright red lines along the large cut that Levin had given it.

Levin's ears suddenly started ringing, and he groaned in pain as the high-pitched whistling from before returned in full force, The great sword user groaned as the sound of the waves and the wind, and even the sound of the Great Jaggis' cries of pain began to fade to a dull moan in the background. All at once the sound was gone. Ellie was still staring at the two pack leaders, but shock and fear was traced across her face. Levin could understand why, too; the two of them both recognized the effects that the pair were suffering. They'd seen it before, in the Lagiacrus that had tried to kill them before the Hunter's Exam. The two monsters were gasping for breath and releasing… _pitiable_ warbles of pain. But whatever had been tearing through their heads had been effective; the two were getting back to their feet and eyeing the two hunters again, though with more desperation than hunger.

Levin cursed to himself. He was beginning to understand what was going on. When the Lagiacrus had torn them apart, he'd still been skeptical as to the reality of the dreams, but now? If whatever the voice was, was capable of inflicting pain on him, then maybe it was just as capable of sending pain into monsters as well. But they were still awake, so were they more susceptible? And even if this method of compulsion was used on the beasts, they didn't always do what they were told? Too many questions and still no answers.

The smaller of the two, face still bleeding from shrapnel and its own self-inflicted wounds, snapped towards them with such speed that Levin almost didn't have time to pull his blade out to block. Levin was forced to admit that desperation made for a powerful bolster, when the force of the Great Jaggi's blow blasted him off his feet and sent him rolling across the beach. The larger of the two wasn't far behind, charging around the smaller to lunge at the great sword user with its bright teeth flashing. Levin would've earned himself another line of teeth marks on the other shoulder if the flash of Elile's muzzle and the spray of buckshot tearing into the creature's leg hadn't sent the creature off balance and tumbling into the sand.

As the two monsters' eyes snapped to the bowgunner, two more rounds fired off, giving each of the Great Jaggis a blast into the chest and arms. The pair growled furiously, and Levin leapt forward, swinging his blade around the catch the larger of the two Great Jaggis across the creature's chest. The creature howled in pain as the blade embedded itself in the creature's thick skin, and the monster snapped around in retaliation, cracking Levin in the chest with its tail.

But the cut Levin had given Great Jaggi was deeper than he thought it would be; the creature was losing blood quickly, coloring the sand below in red. The creature turned, howling wearily at the great sword user. But from the side, a series of cracks burst from Ellie's bowgun, and four Pierce rounds tore into the Great Jaggi's throat, just above where Levin had struck the beast. The Great Jaggi tried to snap its head around to look at the wound, but began coughing violently, blood spraying out of its mouth with every wheezing breath. It gave one last, withering glare at the other Great Jaggi before Levin saw its eyes glaze over, and the creature toppled to the sand, dead.

The smaller Great Jaggi gave its fallen temporary comrade an impassionate look, then turned back to the hunters and growled menacingly. Both the hunters met its gaze. Both were worn out, but feeling more confident now that one of the pack leaders had fallen. They knew how to deal with Great Jaggis.

Levin has slightly surprised when, rather than charging headfirst towards the two hunters, the Great Jaggi instead chose to lurch to the side, strafing around the side of the two hunters. Levin swung to the side to try and meet it, intent on keeping himself between the beast and Ellie to insure the bowgunner was safe and had distance enough to shoot the creature clearly.

But suddenly the Great Jaggi, slid to a complete halt and leapt backwards, so quickly that Levin's feet nearly dropped out from underneath him as he attempted to turn to face the creature. Ellie followed him, though, firing Pierce shots towards the creature as it moved, but the Great Jaggi's eyes were sharp enough, even with its wounded face, that it was able to nimbly leap out of the shots' way. Without missing a beat, the creature snapped towards him, teeth clashing as the great sword user tried to regain his footing. Levin awkwardly tried to raise his sword up to guard, but that only made him lose his balance even more.

Then, just as Levin suspected the creature would go for him, the Great Jaggi actually completely leapt over him, going straight for Ellie as was reloading her weapon. The bowgunner was forced to swing her weapon up and dive out of the way as the pack leader tried to smash into her, kicking up a wave of sand as it slid past. Before the Great Jaggi could turn back around to get the bowgunner, however, she snapped her bowgun up and snapped the bolt into place, then quickly pulled the trigger. The gun bucked as the shell fired, sending a spray of Pellet shot across the chest of the Great Jaggi. The creature howled in pain, but forced itself forward, charging past ever towards the bowgunner.

Ellie leapt away as the creature's teeth snapped down towards her, ducking out of the monsters range as it dogged her across the beach. The bowgunner was just barely able to keep away from the creature, much less reload her bowgun. Levin leapt forward to chase the hunter and monster as soon as he regained his balance, but Ellie was naturally faster than him, and the Great Jaggi was faster than either of them over land. The only reason that the thing wasn't catching Ellie very easily was because the bowgunner was ducking to the left and right to keep the creature guessing and off balance.

The bowgunner turned as the creature slid past her once again, and with a burst of speed she bolted straight towards the great sword user. Levin eyed the monster as the two hunters approached him, but the pack leader was too intent of the bowgunner to notice him. As the two hunters got within a few feet from each other, Levin snapped his sword out of his sheath, and Ellie dropped to the ground. The Great Jaggi squawked in surprise once it realized what was happening, and tried to slide to a halt, but Levin's blade was already in motion, twisting around towards the creature.

A sickening crunch could be heard when Levin smashed his weapon into the creature's lower throat. The creature's thick skin kept the Great Jaggi from taking a truly heavy hit, but nonetheless, a bright gush of blood hosed out of the creature's throat onto the great sword user's blade. The blade nearly got stuck inside the creature, but the flailing of the pack leader pulled the creature free, flailing backwards across the beach head. The panicked howls and cries of the Great Jaggi made Levin feel sorry for the monster, especially knowing that it had been… forcibly compelled to fight the two hunters.

But the creature was still standing, and apparently had some bite left in it, since the beast snarled menacingly at the two of them. For a moment though, the Great Jaggi's eyes snapped over to the forest, as though contemplating whether or not to risk running away. But Levin winced as the creature howled in pain, a flash of the whistling sound filling his ears for a moment. Levin clenched his teeth in anger. With a quick motion, he stepped closer to the Great Jaggi, swinging his sword back behind his head.

"Leave it alone," he growled. "Damn it all, why couldn't you have just left the thing alone!"

Power surged through him as anger overwhelmed his mind, searing bright red energy filling him through his sword. With a grunt of effort and a massive swing, the great sword user hauled the blade over his head and brought it smashing down on the Great Jaggi's head, splitting it down the middle. There was no death rattle or final breath for this one, the creature simply dropped to the ground and died.

As Levin pulled his blade out from the carnage on the sand, he noticed Ellie looking at him. With the words he'd said before killing Great Jaggi, he'd expected confusion or a look like he was going mad, but his partner simply frowned in frustration.

"That… that was the same thing that happened to the Lagiacrus, wasn't it?" Ellie asked, through Levin knew it wasn't really a question.

"Seems like it," he replied, shaking his head in frustration. "Making two Great Jaggis work together to attack us… I know the Guild managed to get two of them to go after Harker, but still…"

"What's doing it though?" Ellie asked. Levin could tell that it wasn't conjecture she was expecting him to reply with. Somehow, some way, she seemed to know that he knew something of what was going on. "What, or who, is doing this to these monsters?"

"I don't…" Levin muttered. How could he explain this to Ellie without completely alienating her? It was well-known that almost all of the Lost had some madness to deal with, but voices in your head while you were asleep? Predictions of danger and assaults from monsters that should never happen? How was he supposed to explain that? "I'm not sure how to…"

"'Ey, both o' ya! The two o' ya alright?"

The pair of hunters turned to spot the three fishermen emerging from the water of the ocean, Marcus in the lead, tugging their packs back onto their shoulders. The lot of them looked beat; Levin couldn't blame them, either. Even being professional fishermen, he imagined that swimming against the motion of the sea was a challenge, especially with those packs of sundries on their backs.

Levin moved to meet the three fishermen, but stopped when Ellie grabbed his shoulder, an intent look in the woman's eye. He knew he wouldn't be getting way from her again, not after that battle with the Great Jaggi pair. Levin's first instinct was to make an excuse, but… he remembered what he'd told Ellie before their ship was attacked, how he trusted her more than anyone else.

"I'll tell you later," he whispered, just loud enough for her to hear. "I promise, once there's some time when we're alone and safe, I'll tell you what I know. I'll tell you everything." The bowgunner kept his gaze for a long moment before nodding in acceptance. Then the pair of them turned to face the fishermen as they approached.

The sailors, though they were more used to creatures of the sea than they were of the land-based monsters, still pestered the two hunters with questions of the fight. Great Jaggis were too well known as pack leaders for the three to not question why two of them were working together. Neither Levin nor Ellie could think up a very good explanation, but to say that perhaps there was simply a different method of raising the Jaggis in this area of the world. The fishermen seemed uncertain, so the hunters simply shrugged it off and told the men that they didn't know. After all, they'd only been in the hunter's world for a year or so; the sailors were more likely to know more than they. That led to some theories getting thrown about between the three fishermen, which got the attention away from Levin and Ellie, suiting them just fine.

The five of them began journeying to the north again not long after. Before they left, however, they'd set down to quickly tend to the hunters' wounds. Ellie wasn't too bad off, though the fishermen didn't like the looks of the bruises she had on her arms and body from where the Jaggis had hit her. The only issue she really had was the damage the bandage covering the burn on her arm had taken. The coverings had needed to be removed and replaced; the burn was still only a day old, though, and the sight of the charred flesh made the fishermen, and even Levin, cringe. Ellie simply flinched when the wound was touched, refusing to look at her injury until the wound was covered again. Her scrapes and scratches were light, though, and were covered quickly, and she downed a Potion for good measure, to make sure the wounds and aching wouldn't slow her down any. Levin hadn't gotten off so lucky from the fight, however. Joshua, apparently the medic of the three fishermen, needed a good fifteen minutes to check the line of teeth marks across Levin's shoulder before bandaging it up and giving the great sword user a Potion of his own to drink. Levin was surprised at the man's ability. Had they had a needle and threat among them, the great sword user might have received stitches across his arm right then and there.

Both Levin and Ellie kept a close eye on the forest as they continued up the beach, way for another surprise attack from any monsters that might decide that the five of them would make a decent meal, or worse, something or more than one something receiving orders from the voice to attack the pair of hunters. The fishermen didn't seem as worried as they had been before, though, perhaps satisfied that the two hunters could keep them safe from monsters. Ellie had a nervous look about her, Levin noticed, but she kept eyeing Levin with an uncertain look on her face. The great sword user still worried over how well she'd take what he planned to tell her about his dreams later.

Levin kept his ears perked as they moved, though. Not just for the sounds of the forest, but for that whistling sound he'd picked up just before they'd been attacked by the pair of Great Jaggis. Thinking about it, he realized that the sound of monsters moving through the forest would probably be less worrying than the whistling. Monsters on their own could decide to ignore the five of them, but the whistling could mean that they almost would certainly be attacked.

The great sword user's eyes were on the forest when Calvert suddenly whistled in awe. Levin turned back and followed the man's gaze to the north, and felt his eyes widen in amazement as well. Ahead of them was a massive rock wall rising out of the earth, similar to the rocky edges of the island that Echo Island occupied. Levin felt as though he was staring at the remains of a mountain that had been cut down the middle, one side sinking right into the ocean, leaving only a few dozen feet of beach at the base of the rock wall. As they got closer, the great sword user wondered how accurate his description of the wall had really been; the stone of the wall was almost perfectly smooth along the edges… no, not completely smooth, he realized. Along the side of the walls were familiar markings, the old writings of whatever civilization came after the Lost's world vanished, as they'd seen in the spire in Echo Village. Gaping in awe as they approached, Levin realized that the entire wall from one end to the other, top to bottom, was completely coated with the elaborate artwork and writing.

As the five travelers worked their way north, the setting sun allowed them to observe the writing more closely. Levin was impressed at how elaborate the whole thing was, though he didn't dare to imagine that he could understand any of it at all. There were a few pictures of monsters that he and Ellie were able to recognize, though, and for a few minutes, the pair made a short game of trying to figure out what certain monsters were before the other. Levin realized about halfway through, though, that Ellie had obviously spent more time studying books on foreign monsters than he had; she was able to name off all sorts of creatures he'd never heard of, like the Giadrome and the Gypceros. Though there were others that neither of them could place: giant ape-looking things, enormous crabs, a unicorn of some kind (which confused the hell out of both of them), and a pair of sphinx-like creatures.

As they approached the center of the wall, the group of them had to strain themselves to see a majority of the images. The wall had long since grown to over a hundred feet tall, and anything much higher than twenty was too difficult for them to make out with the fine lines covering the walls. But the writing and images on the lower sections of the wall was elaborate enough to keep their attention. Levin frowned when he noticed the taller portion in the middle of the cliff side; a large crack tore through the upper part of the wall, a massive gash across the pictures. Levin wondered where it came from, since the rest of the wall was pristine.

"The pictures get bigger, the farther up it goes," Ellie muttered. Levin frowned, his eyes straining to see what she was talking about as he looked up, but for the life of him, he couldn't see much above thirty feet. The carvings were simply too fine for him to make out. But he knew Ellie had always had sharper eyes than him, so he was certain she knew what she was talking about.

"I see what you mean," Calvert nodded, glancing up. "Kind of odd though, that blank spot up in the middle."

"You can see up that far?" Levin asked, receiving a laugh in reply from the man.

"I'm a fishermen boy. I've lived my life eyeballing fish through murky waters, and trying to spot edgy water of reefs. And I've got the best eyes of the three of us running the skiff. The captain doesn't keep me on this ship for my kind-hearted disposition, hunter."

"He don't be lyin' lad," Marcus chuckled.

"What's up there, then?" Levin asked, glancing up again, though still not seeing much.

"More of what's down here," Ellie replied, Calvert nodding in agreement. "But they're bigger up there. Not sure if that means the monsters they depict are nastier of something else, but a lot of the pictures that I can see are at least three or four times bigger than any of the ones down here."

"The weird part is that there's a really big blank spot up there at the middle of it all, where the big ol' crack up there is," Calvert cut in. "Lost o' pictures on each side, but in the middle it looks like a real big picture was started, but whoever was making it stopped before it was finished. Even before that crack got there, or stopped because of the crack. Who knows?"

"Can you tell what they were putting up there?" Levin asked, curious.

"Something with four legs, that's all I can really tell."

"I think it had wings, too," Ellie added. "I think right up there near the top, there's some wings started."

"Ah, yes, I see it now," Calvert nodded. "Wonder why they stopped? That picture would've been huge by the time it was finished. Easily four or five times bigger than any of the others."

"Wonder what it was," Levin muttered. "Sounds like whoever made this thing must've really respected the thing."

"Or feared it," Marcus replied. "Nothin' earns respect like fear."

Levin nodded sullenly. The man was certainly right. Most of the world feared Rathians and Rathalos', yet most places you went you saw at least one or two of the wyverns' motifs hung up in one place or another. Boma itself had a shop that sold various knick knacks that had a bright red sign in the front shaped like a Rathalos, supposed to be shown flying though the air.

Suddenly Levin froze and perked his ears up. For a moment there, he thought he'd heard the high-pitched whistling sound that heard earlier, but before he could make an effort to listen, the feeling had passed. Levin glanced around nervously, rubbing his ears irritably and wondering if it had just been a figment of his imagination. Maybe his mind was just playing tricks on him, his nervousness getting the best of him. But Ellie suddenly shot him a worried look, and was looking around as well. Had she heard something in the air, or had she heard the whistling too?

The sound of wing beats suddenly caught Levin's ears, a low thumping sound carried by the wind. His head snapped up searching for the source, and he shivered. The sound reminded him of the Rathian he'd spent all of yesterday running from. But Rathians weren't supposed to dwell in this area of the world, so…

A flicker of shadow snapped over the five travelers, and the fishermen jumped in fright. The two hunters' eyes snapped upward, searching for the source, and they were greeted with the sight of a bright and colorful spray of feathers. Levin tensed as the sailors began hurrying towards the water of the ocean, his hand reaching up to take a hold on the hilt of his great sword. Ellie already had her bowgun out, and seemed to be sliding what Levin believed to be Pierce rounds into the chamber.

But to the both of their surprise, the Qurupeco above them kept going right on past them, coming to a halt in midair several dozen yards to the south of the two of them before dropping from the sky and settling down on the sand of the beach. Levin and Ellie watched cautiously, though not without some confusion, as the creature waddled contentedly over to the water of the ocean, before looking carefully into the water in search of fish, head bobbing back and forth as it scanned the shallows for a meal.

Levin gave Ellie a questioning glance. How were they to approach this? They'd expected a fight, but it looked as though the Qurupeco had no other desires at the moment than to simply catch itself some dinner. As far as they could tell, the creature hadn't even noticed them. With a quick tilt of her head, Ellie motioned back the way they were going. Clearly she wanted to avoid trouble in a situation like this just as much as he did. Slowly, the two of them began working their way back up the beach, trying to get away from the creature before it noticed them. The fishermen, bobbing in the water not far away, tailed them through the water, apparently not willing to come back to land until it was as safe as possible.

But before they could go too far, Levin froze, groaning in pain as the whistling sound reappeared again, pounding into his skull. Howling pain peeled out of the Qurupeco's throat as the creature buckled in pain, slipping and falling into the water in its surprise. Levin nearly dropped to the ground himself; the sound was getting worse, the more he heard it the more it became like nails on a chalkboard in his head.

When the sound finally stopped, Levin was gasping for breath, barely on his feet. He shot a worried glance over to Ellie, and discovered that his partner was very pale, and seemed very tired at the moment. Her bowgun was back out again, though, making the great sword user's eyes shoot over to the Qurupeco. The colorful bird was already back to its feet as well, though very shaky on them. It was eyeing the two of them angrily, and Levin could hear a soft rippling growl coming from the creature's gullet. Levin's hand went to his sword, swinging it out in preparation of the impending fight.

Levin was expecting the creature to charge them, but instead, the Qurupeco's breath sac suddenly inflated a bright red. There was a moment of silence, then the monster erupted in a blast of sound, bellowing out a powerful roar across the beach. Levin winced, trying to place the sound of the roar. It didn't sound like anything so dangerous as a Rath, and it was way too low to be another Great Jaggi. As the sound faded into the distance, the large bird dropped into a fighting stance, ready to charge the two of them.

With a lurch and a spray of sand, the Qurupeco leapt towards the two hunters, squawking aggressively as it charged them. The creature focused on Ellie first, forcing the bowgunner to dive out of the way of the creature's charge, leaving her coughing and rubbing her eyes as the spray of sand got into her face. The bird quickly turned, clicking its flints menacingly as it prepared to charge her with its explosive bile. With an aggressive honk, the creature leapt towards the two of them, spitting and clicking its flints together as it landed, creating a blast of fire and a gust of dirt and sand as the explosion sent the beach flying everywhere.

Ellie dove out of the way as the creature rushed her, getting pushed forward by the force of the next explosion. Levin rushed forward, intent on getting himself between Ellie and the Qurupeco, to at the very least pull the attention of the creature away from her so that she could get a little bit of distance to use her bowgun properly. As the bird leapt forward, Levin swung his sword around at an angle as the creature leapt past him, trying to clip the bird's legs out from underneath it. But the creature was far more nimble than Levin thought it would be, and even while it was airborne, the Qurupeco pulled its legs high enough to actually dodge the attack before planting actually planting its feet on the flat of the blade and pushing off of it to leap over the great sword user, continuing its chase after his partner.

Levin cursed to himself as Ellie yelped in surprise, firing off a quick Pierce round at the creature's slightly enlarged throat as it squawked defiantly at her, before diving out of the way of the next explosion. Qurupecos were supposed to be one of the most intelligent, devious creatures in the hunting world (or at least in this area of the world), but he didn't think this one would be quite so dexterous. This particular creature's ability to turn so abruptly to chase Ellie around was terrifying.

With a burst of speed, Levin pushed himself to catch up with Ellie and the Qurupeco that was chasing her. Ellie was managing to keep the bird out of reach by firing quick rounds at the birds belly between its leaps at her. The bird was quick though, and most of the rounds only grazed the creature a little, but the impacts of the rounds apparently put the creature off enough to keep the bowgunner from getting singed.

Levin finally managed to get between the bowgunner and the bird again, bringing his sword around to strike again. The bird squawked in amused sort of way, believing it would be able to dodge again in the same way. But in mid-swing, Levin twisted his blade around, swinging the flat end towards the Qurupeco rather than the blade, making the bird honk in surprise as the weapon smacked against its knees, sending the airborne creature tumbling into the sand.

Levin twisted around as quickly as he could, bringing his sword up and over his head to drop it down on the creature before it could manage to recover, but the bird was just as nimble as before, and managed to roll back to its feet just a hair before Levin's blade dropped into the sand with a soft thump. But the bird was off its balance just a little now, and two quick Pierce rounds caught the bird off guard from the side, tearing into its wings and gut. One got the bird in its leg, making the creature trip a little and yelp in pain.

Levin surged forward as the Qurupeco's attention went back to the bowgunner, as she slid away to eject her spent cartridges and load in new ones. The bird danced away from the great sword user as he approached, then forced the young man to dive away with a quick spray of mucus across the sand. Levin yelped in surprise as the creature snapped its flint together and the mucus burst into flame, making the great sword user jump back, patting desperately at the edges of his coat where the sponge had caught flame.

Several blasts of gunfire sounded, and the Qurupeco yelped in pain as Pellet rounds tore into its wings, leaving dots of blood trickling down the creature's wings. The bird squawked angrily, spitting a quick blob of goop at the bowgunner, making her jump back and away. With a moment to breath the Qurupeco quickly spun around and bolted across the beach away from the two hunters. Levin cursed as the bird suddenly inflated again, and bellowed out that same deep roar that it had released earlier. It sounded familiar, but Levin still couldn't place exactly what…

The two hunters turned as the sounds of fearful yelling filled the air. The two turned and saw the three fishermen, swimming for all they were worth back to shore. Levin scanned the water, and gasped as the sight of familiar yellowish material crested the water for a moment before sliding below the surface again.

"It's a Royal!" he shouted quickly to Ellie, though it proved unnecessary as the massive creature itself hit the edge of the beach and dragged itself to shore. The three fishermen had managed to swim farther down the beach, and were wading cautiously in the shallows, uncertain whether or not they should make a break for the end of the rock wall and into the forest or back into the ocean. Levin waved them back, wordlessly asking them to keep their distance.

The Royal Ludroth's eyes snapped around as it left the water, searching for the source of the cry for help it had heard earlier. Levin realized now where he'd heard the growl the Qurupeco had released earlier: he'd heard very much the same on other occasions. The sound was the cry for help that Ludroth released when they realized that they were in over their heads for some reason or another, more specifically when they were being attacked by something big or nasty and required the aid of the leader of the harem, the Royal Ludroth. No wonder the Royal had shown up!

The creature continued to scan the beachhead, looking for the source of the cry. It ignored the hunters more a little while, but when it finally decided that there weren't any Ludroth to be found in the area, it eyeballed the hunters with a menacing growl, then turned its attention to the Qurupeco. For a moment, the creature seemed uncertain what to do, then it gave a powerful roar and turned to face the large bird.

The Qurupeco gave the Royal Ludroth a amused squawk, shaking its tail in a mocking way before turning to run down the beach away from the hunters and the Royal Ludroth. The alpha male of the Ludroth howled angrily, chasing after the bird, but the Qurupeco was far better on land than the water creature, and easily outpaced it. Levin cursed, realizing that the Qurupeco intended to do, planning to leave the two hunters to deal with the angered alpha male, while it booked it out of there.

"Levin, let's go!" Ellie cried out, pointing down the beach. "We can get out of here while they're fighting each other!"

Levin blinked stupidly for a moment before the logic of the idea kicked in with him. With a quick nod, the great sword user turned, sliding his weapon over his shoulder and began running down the beach alongside the bowgunner. But as he ran he turned making sure to keep an eye on the two monsters down the beach.

Almost sixty yards away, the Qurupeco finally slid to a halt at what it considered a safe distance from the Royal Ludroth. With another shake of its tail, the bird spread its wings, and pushed them down, launching itself into the air. Levin could just hear the creature cackling to itself as it took to the air, with the Royal Ludroth howling angrily at its escaping prey.

Levin almost tripped over his own feet as the whistling sound pounded into his head again. He did gasp in pain as the high pitched whine hit him, though he managed to keep standing, even if he did slide to a halt on the beach. The sound was duller than before, but it still hurt like hell to hear. Levin realized that Ellie had stopped as well, and was turning around to look to look back at the great sword user. Her face was strained though, as though the battle was wearing on her a little, or perhaps more like her wounds were wearing on her.

Then her gaze shifted past the great sword user, and Levin was forced to turn around to look, even though he knew what he'd see. Sure enough, howls and screams of pain met him as he looked back. The Royal Ludroth was tilted over, head in the sand, whining in agony. Most of the cries were coming from the Qurupeco, who had dropped out of the sky and landed on the sand, and was bucking wildly on the ground, as though it was having a seizure. Its feet kicked in the air as it rolled around on the sand, trying to shake off the pain that just wouldn't go away.

And then the whistling was gone again. And Levin's heart sank as he knew what was coming. Sure enough, as the two monsters managed to find their feet again and push themselves upright, the pair ignored each other and turned to face the two hunters, tired and desperate looks covering their faces. The Royal glanced at the Qurupeco irritably for a moment, but shook its head in frustration and turned its attention back to the pair of humans down the beach from the two. The creature didn't growl at the two hunters, but bared its fangs at them, making its intentions clear. The Qurupeco seemed a little more willing show its willingness to attack the two hunters, squawking loudly and flapping its wings in an aggressive way while clicking its flints together. It didn't even look at the Royal, almost as though it had forgotten the other creature was there.

"Damn it all," Levin gasped. He wished his voice didn't sound as tired as he thought it did.

"How?" Ellie gasped as well. "How is this happening?"

"I don't…"

Before Levin could finish his thought, however, the Qurupeco leapt forward, and began tearing across the beach, sending sand flying behind it as it charged, beak lowered as though to run the pair through. The Royal Ludroth hung back for another moment or two, shaking its head as though still uncertain what it wanted to do, before deciding that it would be better for it to attack and charged as well, tailing close behind the Qurupeco.

Ellie's bowgun snapped into firing position, and Levin's partner released an enraged yell as she fired, the noise filled with all the weariness and frustration and confusion at the whole situation. The Qurupeco yelped in surprise and pain as Pierce rounds peppered its chest and wings, but it ignored the pain, the compulsion of the whistling sound, or whatever pain the creature's felt from it, overpowering its sense of self-preservation and forcing it on in its assault.

Levin rushed to get between the charging creature and Ellie, but the bird's nimble agility allowed it to completely leap over the great sword user once again. Levin cursed and prepared to turn, but a challenging roar from the Royal Ludroth brought his attention back to the water creature as the Royal tore down the beach towards him. The great sword user was forced to dive out of the way as the large green-and-yellow monster slid past him on the beach.

Without missing a beat, the alpha male of the Ludroth twisted around with the surprising nimbleness Levin had come to expect from the creatures, ducking its head low and spinning twisting around itself like a snake to face the great sword user again. Levin yelped in shock as the creature suddenly snapped its body up onto its hind legs, and without hesitation, it fired a sticky glob of pale blue mucus at the great sword user. Levin just barely had time to pull his blade up to block the goop before the stuff splashed against his sword, sticking tightly to the metal. Then the creature dropped back down to its legs again and lurched forward, intent on running Levin down before he could recover.

Levin dove out of the way again as the creature tore past him, making sure to avoid touching the glob of mucus that was stuck to his blade. The great sword user turned, preparing to meet the Royal as it charged towards him again. But he was surprised to find that the creature had yet to turn around; it had apparently worn himself out from the continuous assault it had attempted to run Levin down with. Not willing to give up his opportunity, Levin rushed forward, desperate to take as many pieces of the creature as he could while he had the chance.

The creature turned slowly as it turned back to face the great sword user, allowing the young hunter to cover the distance fairly quickly, bringing his weapon around behind him, then swinging his up and over his head and dropping it down on one of the creature's forelegs. The Royal Ludroth reared away from the great sword user in pain, tripping over its own feet and tilting over and slumping into the sand on its side. The Boma hunter quickly followed up his assault with a slow but steady onslaught of strikes, smashing his blade against the Royal's exposed gut and legs. He got in four good hits, leaving a few good gashes across the creature's underside, before the Ludroth finally growled in frustration and swing one of its hind legs out, kicking the great sword user in the chest and sending him falling back onto his back.

But despite the creature's retaliation, it still was gasping for breath and attempting to get to its feet as Levin found his, apparently still worn out from the compulsion whistle from earlier and the rush of attacks it had tried to run Levin down with earlier. The Royal managed to twist its head around and keep an eye on the great sword user as the hunter brought his sword to bear again, the alpha male twitching its feet a little as though reminding the hunter that it was still perfectly capable to kicking him again he dared try to come at it again. Levin slowly began to circle to the side, keeping his weapon up in case the creature managed to recover and retaliate quickly.

Suddenly an explosion caught Levin's ears, and his head snapped around. He'd forgotten about Ellie for a moment, fighting the Qurupeco. For a split second, he assumed the worst, before realizing that he actually recognized the sound of the explosion, as opposed to the sound of the Qurupeco's. Especially once the explosion was followed by several smaller blasts, which was something that Levin knew the Qurupeco couldn't do (or could it? He'd never seen one do it, but you never knew…).

Sure enough as he turned to look for the bowgunner, he saw the Qurupeco squawking in pain on the sand. Stretches of burn marks covered its body, and a few flames licked up from the sprouts of grass that shot up through various spots in the sand. There were a few other craters around the bowgunner, more dips in the sand than the blast crater than Ellie's Cluster shot had left behind. The dips were shallow though, not the usual size Levin had seen, making Levin wonder if the bird's enthusiasm to obey the compulsion was overwhelming its ability to use its full strength.

Ellie caught his eye and the great sword user raised an eyebrow at her. He remembered a talk he'd had with her not too many days ago about how she avoided using explosive rounds against Great Jaggis and Qurupecos these days, claiming the price of buying incendiaries was way too high to waste such shells on what both hunters considered only moderately challenging monsters. Ellie frowned at the great sword user's glance, a worried look crossing her face.

"I'm running low on ammo!" she called out, holding up her ammo pouch and shaking it slightly. Sure enough, even from a distance Levin could tell there was barely anything to it but the leather it was made of. "Only got four Clusters and a dozen or so Normal left! Hey, behind you!"

Levin twisted around at his partner's warning, though far too late to do anything else but watch as the Royal Ludroth's serpentine neck swung around, tilting just right to smash its forehead and long crowned horns into Levin's chest, blowing him off his feet and sending him skidding into the water. Levin coughed in pain as he finally slid to a halt, gulping a swallow of two of sea water as he attempted to keep his head above the surface, trying to gather his bearings and push himself to his feet as the Royal Ludroth hissed at him with a satisfied growl.

The creature lunged forward, making an attempt at pushing the great sword user back into the water, where the alpha male would have the advantage. But before it reached Levin, a small object lanced out from down the beach and impaled itself into the Royal Ludroth's thick mane, making the creature flinch in surprise, but not slowing it down. Levin yelped in fear, and dropped to his belly into the water as the water monster charged him. A loud thump rattled his eardrums under the water, followed closely by several smaller ones and a howling cry of pain.

The great sword user gasped when he finally dared to break the surface, once the ringing in his ears died down a little bit. As he suspected, the creature was now covered in thick and blotchy burn marks all over his mane, and was patting wildly at the wound, desperately attempting to put out the flames. Levin's eyes snapped over to his partner down the beach, and through his water-blurred eyes, he could see her running his way, bowgun still smoking from the round. The Qurupeco was still rolling around a little, trying awkwardly to get to its feet. The Ludroth twisted its head around, growling angrily at the bowgunner as she ran his way, before howling in anger and turning to charge her way.

Levin saw an opportunity and took it, leaping to his feet as best he could in the water and dashing forward towards the Royal Ludroth. His blade skimmed the water and he brought it around, sending a thin spray into the air as he crashed his heavy blade into the alpha male's side. The creature howled in pain and snapped its glare back to Levin as the hunter brought his blade back to strike again. Before the great sword user could bring his weapon down, though, the Royal dropped its neck low until it was right in front of Levin, then quickly hocked a massive blob of mucus right into his face and chest.

The hunter reared back, gasping for breath and wheezing as the dank smell of the gunk blinded him and sent him staggering back. The stuff made the great sword user want to vomit, the feeling of the stuff steaming on his face making him gag, and the seeping chloroform effect seeping into him straight through his face and neck. He could just make out the sound of Ellie's yelling, screaming out a warming to him, right before the truck hit him.

Or at least it felt like a truck. In the back of his mind, Levin knew that what hit him was probably the Royal Ludroth turning on its side and rolling into him, but through the pain in his chest, his head… his pretty much everywhere, he really could care less about what it was the Royal had hit him with. All he knew was that he really could use a potion right now. He realized he was in the water, face up, luckily, but with his new injuries and the effects of the Ludroth's bile, he felt as though he couldn't move at all. He could just barely hear Ellie crying out in worry, but couldn't bring himself to straighten himself up.

Cracking explosions echoed along the beachhead, not Ellie's bowgun, Levin realized. Too many in such even timing. Had to be the Qurupeco, back on its feet and chasing after Ellie. He could hear the bowgunner yelling his name, trying to get him moving even as rattling shots from the bowgun shot off. Normal rounds this time. He could hear the rumbling of the Royal Ludroth near him, as well, could feel the creature leaning over him and growling victoriously. Levin half expected to die right there, expected the creature to snap its teeth down on him, with Ellie screaming at him to get up not far away.

But before it could do anything, Levin heard, just barely sensed the sound of the compulsion whistling, and the creature grunted in pain. It wasn't as strong as any of the ones before, but the Royal still grunted in acquiesce. A ripple in the waves, and Levin realized that the alpha male was turning around in the water, facing away from the great sword user to head for shore. To head for Ellie.

No! Dammit! Levin tried desperately to move, to get up, to do anything. But his wounds and the Royal's bile were holding him down, stronger than any steel. He couldn't even bring himself to move! He could barely guess as to how he was even keeping his head above water. But he had to get up! Ellie was outnumbered! He had to…

Suddenly, he realized that an arm had wrapped itself around his shoulders. Someone had grabbed him, and was dragging him to shore. It wasn't Ellie, the battle could still be heard, so who…? One of the fishermen? A deep voice suddenly rumbled into his ear in an agitated hiss.

"Go 'head an' drink this, lad. Quickly now!" Marcus, Levin realized. The great sword user realized that something was pressing against his lips. He didn't have the energy to resist or question what the skiff's captain was giving him, so was forced to simply drink what was inside. And what was inside was putrid, like aged fish and, oh sweet crap it burned like fire. Levin would have guessed it poison, if he wasn't so sure the fishermen wanted them alive, if for no other reason than to keep the three of them alive.

Levin was trying to work out how to ask what in the hell Marcus had given him, when suddenly burning and roaring lightning seared through him. There was no pain, which bothered Levin a bit, only pure, flowing energy pouring through him and super-charging his nerves and muscles. He didn't even realize he was screaming until Marcus clamped a hand over his mouth.

No, not a scream. A roar. He had never felt so wired, so alive! He could feel his muscles firing again! The pain was still there, but it didn't matter anymore. The exhausting effects of the Royal Ludroth's bile were completely blown away, all hints of weariness gone. He felt like he had injected himself with pure caffeine!

The captain of the skiff yelped in surprise when the hunter bolted upright and pushed him out of his way, grabbing the hilt of his great sword and charging out of the water towards the Royal Ludroth as it made its way towards Ellie and the Qurupeco. It had just about caught up to the bowgunner, only ten or so yards now to where the colorful bird was still chasing Ellie around with loud cracking explosions, spraying mucus all over the beach head, making it look as though the beach was covered with dozens of giant green jellyfish. _Explosive_ jellyfish.

He barely felt tired at all as he charged after the alpha male, feeling as though he could run forever. In a few moments, he'd caught up with the creature and was running next to it. As quick as he could, he snapped his weapon up and over his back, smashing it down onto the Royal's back. His blade had dulled a little during the fight, so it didn't cut into the creature as deep as Levin hoped it would, but a spray of blood fountained up and the monster cried out in pain and shock at the sudden attack.

Levin caught Ellie's eyes s the bowgunner gave him a stunned look, as though she hadn't expected him to have been up, but was forced to draw her attention back to the Royal Ludroth. Levin's sudden attack hadn't slowed the Royal, but it had made the monster stumble over its feet from the impact of the blow. The bowgunner yelped and dove out of the way of the creature as it stumbled past her. Levin felt his eyes widen as the Qurupeco on the other side of the bowgunner squawked in shock when it realized that it was right in the alpha male's path.

There was a loud crunch as the Royal Ludroth crashed headfirst into the Qurupeco, and a symphony of squawks and hisses spread across the beach as the two creatures struggled to untangle themselves from each other. Ellie rushed over when the two monsters began getting angry with each other.

"Are you all right?" she asked quickly, glancing him over worriedly. "That Royal Ludroth steamrolled you back there. I thought you were…"

"I'm fine, I'm fine, really I'm fine," Levin said quickly. Really quickly, he realized. He was talking faster than usual. "Marcus gave me something. The captain, you know? Really perked me up. Thought the Royal's goop would hold me down, but it didn't, did it? Tasted vile, it really did, like eating a spicy sock. Nasty really. Didn't heal me or dull the pain. Still hurts. Hurts like hell. Think I've got a cracked rib, maybe two. Gonna have a lot of bruises too. Oh, right, also…"

"Geez, calm down a little, would you?" Ellie said, though she was grinning a little. "I'm glad you're alright, but calm down a little would you? We've still got to deal with those monsters after all."

"Right right, monsters. Gotta finish off the monsters. Gotta get back to Boma safely. Gotta…"

A cracking explosion suddenly caught the two hunters' attentions. They turned back to the two monsters further down the beach, and saw the Royal Ludroth rearing back in pain as smoke and flame licked its thick mane. The Qurupeco honked irritably at the Royal Ludroth as it pawed at the flames on its neck wildly. Levin half-wondered how the bird had even managed to set off an explosion; one of its wings was bent awkwardly, making Levin believe it to be broken in one or two places. The two monsters growled at each other, each of them seeming to be threatening the other with death, and for a moment Levin suspected the two might start attacking each other as the Jaggis before had, needing to be broken up by the whistling sound. But through some unspoken agreement between the two monsters, the pair of them suddenly stopped their bickering and turned back to face the hunters.

Levin wished he had more time, so he could sharpen his dulled blade, but with a leap, the Qurupeco charged towards the two hunters, warbling its challenge. The Royal Ludroth was close behind, no longer growling but simply intent on running the two hunters down.

Levin ducked out of the way as the bird charged past him, rolling back to his feet in an instant. The effects of whatever the fishing captain had given him were still in effect, and he felt as though he had far more stamina than before. Already he was chasing after the Qurupeco, wanting to be on it before it could turn around, but he realized that the Royal was coming at him from the side as well, trying to catch him off guard. But before he had to dive out of the alpha male's way, a series of shots rang out and several shells smacked into the Royal's neck in a place where a majority of the creature's thick sponge had been burned away by explosions from either Ellie or the Qurupeco. The Royal twitched in pain and missed and twisted to the side, altering its direction and sending it past Levin harmlessly, though it slid to a halt not far from the great sword user. The alpha male shot a glare towards the bowgunner as she loaded more Normal shots, but its eyes snapped to Levin, who was far closer.

The Royal Ludroth began to shake its head a little, a familiar motion that Levin had seen before in other Royals, the sign that the creature was preparing to roll its entire body at the great sword user. At the same time, Levin could hear a clicking sound from behind him, and his head snapped around to spot the Qurupeco snapping its flints together menacingly. Levin glanced uncertainly between the two beasts, uncertain what he should do.

The two creatures moved at the same time, and Levin did all he could think to do. Dodge. His coat would protect him a little from the fire the Qurupeco hit him with, but he didn't think he would be able to take another heavy hit from the Royal Ludroth. He didn't think he had room to maneuver past the Royal's head, so he turned towards the creature's rear and sprinted between the middle of the monsters. With a leap, the great sword user dove, just barely sliding under the monster's tail as it rolled past. A clacking explosion, followed by a honk of surprise and a crash as the alpha male rolled over the Qurupeco once again.

Levin pushed himself to his knees and glanced over to the creatures, spotting the Royal turning to face the great sword user again, ignoring the Qurupeco that lay panting and groaning in pain behind it. The bird worked its way to its feet slowly, wobbling a bit and shooting an angry look at the alpha male. With a snap of its beak, it hocked several blobs of mucus at the Royal's body. The alpha male yelped in surprise as the gunk splattered against him and stuck to its hide. The Royal snapped its teeth threateningly at the colorful bird, making it dance backwards, honking mockingly and clicking its flints together in warning.

Trying to avoid the eyes of the monsters, Levin quickly worked his way over to Ellie. "We've got to finish this quickly," he told her as he approached. "I'm still pretty buzzed from whatever Marcus gave me, but I don't think I'll be able to take much more of this."

"They aren't working well together," Ellie muttered, looking at the two monsters. "Maybe we can play them against each other a little more. Or trick them into doing something stupid."

"Like what?" Levin asked. "All we've got to work with are my sword, a few more Cluster shots, an empty beach head and a giant stone wall."

Ellie paused in thought for a moment, and then looked up at the wall that shot into the air next to them. Her eyes suddenly widened in realization and she smirked wickedly. She motioned to the wall and pointed to the massive ragged cut in the wall above them. "Remember the first Qurupeco fight we did? Think that'll work?"

Levin thought for a moment. Their first Qurupeco fight? But that was the time that he and Ellie had almost been killed when… "Oh! Yeah, that might work!"

"I feel kind of bad doing something like this to the drawings," Ellie said, "but we're kinda out of options right now."

"Let's do it, then," Levin nodded. "Get their attention, would you, Miss Ellie?"

"Got it, Mister Levin." Pulling her bowgun up, Ellie pulled the trigger, and her weapon bucked, sending a massive shell flying towards the two monsters. The two didn't even notice it until it the round smacked into the Qurupeco's wing, giving the pair a moment to look down before the shell detonated, sending fire and other mortars flying in all directions. The Qurupeco was mostly fireproof in the first place, but squawked in pain all the same as the blast went off. But the Royal Ludroth was still covered in several globs of the bird's explosive mucus, and as the flames and other mortars collided with the green goop, the slime burst into flame as well. Both monsters howled in pain, shaking off the flames of the bombs that had burned them.

Almost before the flames had died away, the two monsters were howling in rage at the two hunters, charging forward in a rush to fight the two of them. This time, however, the Royal Ludroth was the faster of the two, the Qurupeco damaged far worse due to only having feathers to defend itself rather than the thick leathery hide of the Royal.

Levin quickly rushed over towards the wall. The alpha male, still enraged over the burns across its body, didn't think twice about following the first thing that moved between the two hunters, and turned to follow the great sword user intently. Ellie was close behind, leading the Qurupeco that had eyes for her, both of them leading the monsters towards the tall stone wall.

Levin watched the Royal closely as it approached. The great sword user slid to a halt just in front the massive rock wall, close enough to make out even the finest carvings on the wall. He could hear the Royal howling victoriously, convinced that it had the great sword user cornered. Levin took note of the Qurupeco, which had eyes only for Ellie at the moment, and didn't notice the Royal or Levin at all.

As the alpha male got close enough, the creature did almost exactly as Levin hoped, twisting its body to the side in mid-stride, presenting its side to the hunter, preparing to lunge with its entire weight and force all at once. Levin was nowhere as good as Ellie with this kind of timing, but he did his best to wait until the very last moment to dodge, until just before the alpha male pushed off from the ground and began to roll towards him. Levin dove away, though just a little late. He managed to avoid the creature's torso, but the Royal's thick tail caught the great sword user as it passed, carrying him with it.

The hunter smacked against the sand before slamming into the tall rock wall, gasping in pain as he struck. Levin was glad above all else that the stone was almost perfectly smooth, not jagged like most of the rock walls he'd seen, but it still hurt like hell. The sound of cracking and crunching followed not long after he struck, though, and the Royal Ludroth howled in pain as it crashed headfirst into the tall wall. Levin glanced up, and saw that the wall had actually cracked in a spider web pattern out from where the creature had hit, and the Royal itself was laying on its side, blood oozing out from two of its legs, most likely the pair that had gotten between it and the wall as it had collided. Its skin all down one side of its body was beginning to color and bruise from the impact, and a large welt covered the creature's face.

"Levin, move!"

Levin's eyes shot up as he pushed himself to his feet, spotting Ellie charging close after him with the Qurupeco close behind her. The great sword user could make out a green slime forming in the back of the bird's throat, a massive collection of mucus that the Qurupeco was no doubt planning to unleash on the bowgunner the first chance it could get.

Levin bolted away from the side of the wall, ignoring the pain in his arms and legs as he rushed to get out of the way of the oncoming bird and bowgunner. He heard Ellie slide to a stop at what couldn't be much more than half a foot from the base of the cliff. The sound of the Qurupeco hocking up followed close after, then the sound of the gunk splattering loudly, against something solid, Levin hoped. Then there was the click of flints.

A blast of heat followed Levin as the goop detonated and the Qurupeco squawked in surprise. A splintering sound followed the great sword user, as well as a deep groaning sound. Levin turned worriedly, but spotted Ellie a few feet behind him, pushing herself up off the sand and brushing herself off. The Qurupeco was in worse shape than before, the blast off the side of the wall blasting back towards it more than outwards, as well as shrapnel from the wall covering from where the rock wall had shattered, sending bits and pieces of the chiseled work everywhere. The bird was desperately brushing stone shard off of itself, and even had licks of its own flame going up its wings.

The rock wall, once pristine and untouched, was a veritable mess now, cracks working their way almost twenty feet up the wall, and a massive burn mark covering where the Qurupeco had detonated its mucus. Shards were still falling every now and then, and the cracks along the wall were spreading, the wall weakened by the collisions.

"Back away!" Ellie called out again, and her bowgun was out. Levin didn't need to be told twice and pulled away as the sound of the bowgun firing filled the air. Then the sound of Ellie tailing after him followed.

Another explosion echoed across the beach, and the groaning of the wall increased. Snapping the cracking filled the air. Levin turned to look and saw that their plan had worked; massive cracks were splintering up the side of the wall, and pieces were beginning to fall from the wall. As the ruptures went further up the wall, the falling stones began to grow increasingly larger, going from shards to stones to small boulders, dropping down from the wall. The cracks continued to grow further and further, sending massive stones down onto the two monsters as they howled in fear and pain, the sounds of their cries getting buried under the roar of the falling stones.

Levin finally stopped, with Ellie next to him, almost thirty yards away from the wall, blinking as a wave of dust and rubble blew on the wind towards them. The sound of the creatures' cries had long since died away, and the cracking up the wall had slowed down, sending less and less falling. The splintering of the wall had spread nearly eighty feet up the side of the wall, and spread nearly as far in each direction down the beach. Finally, though, the breaking of the wall stopped, and the beach was once again quiet, except for the occasional clatter of a pebble clacking off a bigger rock.

When the dust finally cleared, there was almost no sign of the two monsters that had been fighting the two hunters. Rubble and stone piled high at the base of the cliff, making a mound that easily stood several heads taller than the great sword user, even in places where Levin knew that the Royal Ludroth and the Qurupeco weren't. Only a few feathers and what Levin believed to be the remains of one of the Royal Ludroth's paws could be made out among the shattered stone and rocks.

Levin managed to give himself a moment to catch his breath, as he saw the trio of fishermen making their way down the sand towards the two hunters. Ellie seemed just as worn out as him, too, gasping tiredly as she slung her bowgun back over her shoulders. All of a sudden, Levin felt his legs give out from underneath, and felt as though all his strength had suddenly disappeared, and all his stamina had vanished without a trace.

With a shudder, the great sword user dropped, landing on his backside in the sand. Ellie was by him in a moment as he toppled onto his back, grunting in pain and weariness. Joshua's face suddenly appeared over him, looking concerned. He seemed to be saying something to him, but for the life of him he was way too tire, to tell what he was saying. Not that Levin didn't try to understand, but the words just seemed to reach him in a dull mumble. It even took the great sword user a moment to realize that Joshua and Calvert had dragged him to his feet, and were helping him stagger across the beach towards the end of the wall, where the forest once again cropped up on the edge of the sand.

As they approached the forest, Levin realized that Ellie was trying to get him to drink something she was offering, maybe it was a potion, or some other thing. He couldn't really tell at the moment, but he took what she gave him. As he drank it down, he could just make out what she was saying; something about fish and peppers, though Levin wasn't convinced that he wasn't imagining it. She seemed angry at the fishermen for some reason, glaring at Joshua and Marcus in particular.

Levin was confused at the moment, though. For all the pain he was feeling in his body, he knew that under other circumstances, he'd really want to pass out or sleep, but for all the aches and pains he felt, he really didn't feel like resting at all, but was convinced that all he needed to do was wait out the pain. Was that an after-effect of the stuff Marcus had given him? He wondered idly what the little bottles Ellie was pulling out of Joshua's bags were as well, multi-colored liquids and other things that Ellie was eyeing warily.

He realized Ellie was talking to him again, and he seemed to be able to make out what she was saying now. "We'll get you to a safer place before we try and bandage you. Jeez, you're a stickler for punishment, aren't you? You really gotta be more careful, you moron."

Levin muttered something that he hoped was an apology, and Ellie nodded in response. Finally they reached the trees, and the five of them began to work their way through the woods in search of a safe place to hide. But just before they entered the trees, Levin could have sworn he could hear the echoes of that dark, deep laughter on the wind.

* * *

**Author's Note: Please Review! Props who can figure out where Joshua, Marcus, and Calvert got their names. Hope you had fun reading Marcus' accent.**

**Got on a classic game kick recently. I happen to have the Final Fantasy VII soundtrack on my iTunes, and I've been listening to it a lot lately. It made me want to play the original game again after many years. Totally worth it! **

**Most of you have noticed several of the oddities and habits I've slipped into my tale. No last names (which I'm beginning to regret a little for various reasons), a willingness to display my readers' OCs, an attempt to riddle the MH mythos and design with a little pinch of SCIENCE… and my decision not to swear through the story. Well, not the **_**really**_** bad words, at least. And it **_**was**_** a decision to do so. I feel that if a good story can be told, it can be told without excessive vulgarity. Not that I don't curse like a sailor all the time in RL (and I do), but I'm trying to keep The Lost Civilization a little classier. At the start I was tempted to emulate one of my favorite authors, Peter F. Hamilton, by making my story a bit… raunchier (I'll leave it to you do decide what I mean, or to read one of his books yourself), but I felt it would take away from the story I wanted to write. **

**Reading: **_**Lord of Chaos**_** by Robert Jordan, **_**The Throne of Fire**_** by Rick Riordan  
Comics/Manga/etc.: **_**Yumekui Merry**_** by Ushiki Yoshitaka, **_**Silver Spoon**_** by Arakawa Hiromu, **_**Alyosha!**_** by Kondoh Rururu, **_**Girl Genius**_** by the Phil and Kaja Foglio  
Playing: BF3, Final Fantasy VII, Batman Arkham City, Assassin's Creed Revelations  
Listening: Ludovico Einaudi, Gorillaz, Final Fantasy VII soundtrack, Blind Guardian, Eiffel 65, Bright Eyes, Iron and Wine**


	22. Fire and Lightning

Fire and Lightning

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. All the characters in this story are mine.  
Long chapter is LOOOOONG. Settle in, this'll take you a while to read._

"So let me get this straight," Ellie muttered, rubbing her eyes. "You're telling me you doped him, using some jury-rigged mix of a potion."

"Aye," Marcus replied simply, nodding. The captain of the fishing skiff sat across from the bowgunner, on the other side of a small fire him and Calvert had built in the small alcove the five of them had found in the trees.

"Something you made using a mix of… let me be absolutely certain about this, a Sleepyfish and a Hot Pepper?"

"Pretty much."

"And you thought this was a good idea?"

"Did it no work, lass?"

"Oh it worked all right," Ellie growled. "Too well. I mean, just look at him!"

Levin sat not too far away, propped up against a tree. His eyes were slightly glazed at the moment, and he seemed only half-conscious, staring at nothing in particular, though his eyes snapped around constantly. Every few moments he seemed to try and make a motion as if to get to his feet, then seemed to remember how injured he was and stop trying. Ellie worried about the rest of their journey to the north; Ellie had used the remainder of the two hunters' potions on the great sword user, trying to boost his recovery, but even then Levin's breathing was ragged from the pain and his wounds were a little too high for the potions to heal.

"Yeah, the side effects be a li'l odd, I'll admit," Marcus shrugged. "But consid'rin' tha' state he were in a' the time, I tho' the risk be necessary a' the time."

Ellie sighed at shot a glare at Joshua, who flinched at the look. "You're the one who made this concoction, right? Did you know it would do this to him?"

"Eh, well," the younger fishermen said nervously. "Er… vaguely?"

"Despite the occasional slip up," Calvert cut in, "Joshua here is our ship's alchemist, of sorts. Does a damn good job of it most of the time as well."

"An alchemist?" Ellie asked.

"Yep," the shorter fisherman replied, a tone of mild pride in his voice. "It's people like him what make all them fancy potions you hunters use. And despite the work he could do for hunters, he's working on our ship. Makes us all sorts of fancy things with the stuff we catch and the goods we pick up while we're on land."

"What I made for Levin was supposed to be roughly equivalent to an Energy Drink," Joshua said. "But I think I mixed it together at the wrong ratio. Too much Pepper, I think… It was supposed to just give him a stamina boost and give him a little bit of a wake-up call, you know, help him shake off the effects of the Royal Ludroth's bile. It woke him up and gave him a boost, but if I don't mix it right, the crash after the stuff wears off tends to be pretty hard."

"And it don't dull the pain none," Marcus added. "Tha' stuff don' make ya' feel no better like those potions ye' hunters use."

"Yeah, I can see that," Ellie replied, glancing over at the great sword user. The young man's eyes had a strained look about them, letting the bowgunner know that despite Levin's attempt at a tough exterior, he was in quite a bit of pain. Broken ribs, maybe a few fractures in his arms and legs (though Ellie couldn't be sure about those), a likely concussion, and enough bruises that Ellie wondered how her partner wasn't colored completely purple. It made her gloomy sometimes, knowing that the great sword user had chosen a weapon specialization that made him take quite a bit of punishment, while she had chosen weapons that allowed her to keep her distance or hide behind a shield, while all the while Levin put on a brave face, laughing it off.

The bowgunner shook herself angrily. No, dammit! She wasn't going to let herself get torn up over that idiot if he was going to choose a weapon that made him take a beating. In a huff, the bowgunner got to her feet and strode over to the great sword user, who eyed her warily when he saw the look on her face.

"You lucid?" Ellie asked, standing over her partner.

There was a moment of silence in which Levin seemed to genuinely contemplate what she said before replying with a shrug. "Mostly, I think. There're a few moments every now and then when I forget things. Like my name, or where we're going."

"That's the concussion," Ellie sighed.

"Or the name of that guy that raises those giant chickens in Boma. You know, the same one that rides them around with a spear and jousts Jaggi for fun? You'd think it'd be hard to forget the name of a guy like that."

Ellie blinked in confusion. "That… there's no one in Boma that does that. I think that might be the concussion too, unless you're just messing with me."

"Huh," Levin replied, frowning. "That makes sense, I guess. I suppose I might be a little delirious right now."

"A little?"

"…More than a little, perhaps. I think I took a few more hits than I should've earlier today."

"That's actually one of the things I wanted to talk to you about Levin," Ellie said, getting back to the reason she'd meant to talk to him. "I know you're supposed to be a bit more of a front line fighter than me, but you really need to learn when to dodge or block better. You're supposed to be the teacher here, and you're proving to be more likely to die than I ever will, bowgunner or no."

"I don't take that much damage," Levin replied, though he didn't sound as though he really agreed with what he was saying.

"_Giant_. _Chicken_. _Jousting_."

"Eh, well, I'll give you that one. Maybe I've taken a few thumps. But it's worked well enough so far, right?"

"Levin, the toughest monster that frequents this area is the Royal Ludroth, and you walked away from the last one with a concussion and who knows how many broken bones! We get torn up just trying to stay alive while running away from things like Rathians, and you nearly drowned that one time we fought a Gobul! What happens when we go up against things that really give hunters trouble? Like the, I don't know, the Gigginox, or a Barioth? Or the Diablos? In its natural habitat I mean."

Levin was silent, unable to think of a decent way to reply, so Ellie continued talking. "I know you're supposed to be the teacher here, but as soon as we get back to Boma, I'm going to be your teacher. Once you can think straight again, I'm making you learn how to dodge better, even if I have to force Marshall into helping me do it. Get it?"

Levin grinned. "I guess you're not going to give me a choice, are you?"

"Nope."

"Does it matter that most of the time, I've done what I did in order to keep you safe or keep the monsters away so you could shoot them?"

"A little," Ellie admitted, patting the great sword user on the head. "But I'm a big girl. I can take a few hits just as well as you can. At least when they come at me, I can get out of the way better than you."

"Fair enough," Levin smirked.

There was silence for a second between the two hunters for a second, then the bowgunner slowly sat down next to the great sword user. "Now," she said quietly, "you promised me that you'd tell me what was going on back there on the beach. You know something about what's been going on. What is it that's been happening?"

"Don't… don't suppose you'll wait until I'm a little more sober than I am now?"

"No, I don't want to wait any longer," Ellie replied. "You've been holding this back for… at least since before he first warded off that Lagiacrus from the beach head. You got edgy back then."

Levin sighed, frowning down at the ground, a look of uncertainty and fear in his eyes. "It's hard to… I don't know where to begin."

"Do you know what's making monsters flip out like they did today?"

"I… it's… Ellie, I don't… I don't want you to think badly of me. If you her about this, you'll… You'll think that I'm…"

"What?" Ellie asked, a smile creeping across her face. "Crazy? Levin, when we started hunting together, I'd be willing to dive into a fight headfirst without thinking. I almost got killed in a cave-in! If you haven't figured it out by now, all of us Lost are a little… nuts. And it's not your fault! Whatever did this to us happened when we got carried from our time to this one. It's not. Your. Fault."

The great sword user stared at the bowgunner for a few seconds, his mouth half-open and gaping. Then Ellie's partner just seemed to deflate. Weariness and a look of despair seemed to come over the great sword user's face, not to mention a sense of fear covering his expression. Suddenly, a deluge of words began spewing from the great sword user's mouth, a continuous spray just pouring out of her partner.

Ellie listened intently as Levin began his explanation in what seemed like an almost endless drone, beginning with a dark voice he'd heard in his head when the two of them had been attacked by the Rathian. She tried to keep a calm appearance, but soon her eyes widened in shock and fear at what the great sword user was telling her. Voices haunting dreams, while giving the dreamer painful nightmares? And not only that, but somehow it was able to control the monsters in the world, ordering them to go out and attack whoever it ordered, even whole villages? No wonder Levin was afraid to mention this kind of thing to Ellie… even knowing that most Lost were somewhat unstable, this seemed like something completely out of her understanding.

After describing what happened after Levin and Ellie had managed to ward off the Lagiacrus the first time, the great sword user paused, catching his breath and collecting his thoughts. It was at that point that Ellie realized that the three fishermen were staring slack-jawed at the pair of them, obviously having overheard Levin's tale. Ellie worriedly motioned over to the trio, and Levin followed her glance. He tilted his head in thought for a moment, then tiredly shrugged, clearly uncaring about whether or not they heard by now.

Without missing another beat, the great sword user continued, describing the next dream he'd had, the one he'd had in Boma, where the terrible voice had threatened Ellie. Ellie felt a shiver of fear at the words. At first she'd thought that maybe the voice was Levin's particular… madness, or whatever, but the more he'd gone on, and the more Ellie thought about how something had been compelling the monsters into doing things they wouldn't normally do. And this creature had set its sights on her now? Definitely something to worry about.

Then Levin mentioned the two other voices, the ones he referred to as the whispers, that had appeared and begun arguing between themselves after the dream he'd had in Orage Dell. Levin seemed to grow vague about what the voices said specifically, telling Ellie that they were simply trying to convince him whether or not to go off and hunt down the source of the voice on his own. After that he went on to tell Ellie how he'd received a warning from the voice the night they camped out in the Caves of Fire, how it had warned him that it would try to attack Ellie soon, which is why he'd been so afraid to take risks while they transported the eggs. Finally he finished, telling how the creature had been mocking him ever since they'd landed, laughing at him at every opportunity.

Finally the great sword user seemed to sputter to a stop, sighing in relief as though a heavy weight had been lifted off his shoulder. With a tired grunt, Levin slumped up against the tree he had been leaning against, eyes finally drooping as though the "Energy Drink" Joshua had given him had finally worn off completely.

"And that's it," he muttered. "That's what's been haunting me for the last few months. That's what's been making all these monsters pop out of nowhere and start going against their instincts in order to try and tear the two of us apart. That's… that's why I've always been so intent on trying to protect you, Ellie. Whatever this thing is, why ever it's doing this to me… to us, I just can't let it hurt you Ellie. I have to protect you. I care about you too much. I… I…"

Suddenly, Levin's eyes rolled up into his head and the great sword user slumped over himself, sliding onto his side to the ground. Ellie yelped in surprise, reaching for her partner, but paused when she realized that the great sword user was snoring softly, though roughly, the pain in his body obviously still giving him a hard time.

Ellie stared down at her partner for a moment longer before looking over at the three fishermen that were still huddled around the small fire they'd made. They were whispering hoarsely to each other, and Ellie couldn't tell whether the voices were fearful, worried, angry… she wondered how they were taking what Levin had just told them all.

Actually, how was _she_ taking what Levin had told her? She'd essentially been told that not only was there some unknown, malevolent creature out there sending nightmares into Levin's mind and tormenting him through his dreams, but it was also now gunning for her? Was she even sure that Levin was telling the truth? Or maybe he really was crazy, and not in the normal way (well, _Lost_ normal). But Ellie couldn't help but believe that her partner was telling the truth, somehow. With the way monsters were acting, attacking alongside their natural enemies or rivals, and the pain that was forced on them if they tried to disobey.

As for the threat of the creature targeting her? Somehow or another, it didn't seem to bother her quite so much as it should've. Somehow or another, after seeing the dedication Levin had displayed telling her that he'd do whatever it took to protect her, she didn't feel all that scared of… whatever it was. The only thing that really bothered her was what Levin had said about the "whispers" or whatever he was calling them. Something urging him to run out in search of the voice that was summoning those monsters against them, and another that compelled him to stay? Was that another thing caused by the voice, or... Ellie supposed that didn't matter quite as much, though she clearly supported the one that wanted the great sword user to stay.

Then there was another issue, one that she'd been afraid to bring up while Levin was talking. When the great sword user had mentioned the dark voice, and the whistling sound, Ellie had felt a shiver go down her spine. Somehow, her mind had gone back to their time in the Caves of Fire, and while the others had been sleeping, she remembered hearing some sound on the wind… some deep sort of laughter. And even just earlier that day, she'd thought she could hear some high-pitched sound just before the Jaggis had come after them. But how? How could she have possibly have heard something like that? How could the voice be heard by the both of them?

Ellie sighed in frustration as she looked down at the passed out great sword user. He'd been afraid to tell her about all this because he'd been afraid she'd fear him; it was a valid thought, she admitted. She did feel somewhat uncertain what to think about Levin now that he'd told her about these voices, all three of them. But… she could never bring herself to leave him alone. Crazy or no, voices or no, she did still love the poor idiot. The thought made her a little frustrated. And angry! It was the voice, the first one, that had called the Lagiacrus down on them! That voice was the reason that Levin hadn't been able to confess his own love for her! Or she assumed as much… no! She was certain!

Suddenly, the shadows from the fire grew, and Ellie turned, realizing that Captain Marcus was walking over her. A feeling of worry came over the bowgunner as the sailor approached. She worried what they planned to do after hearing Levin's confession. Ellie had to admit that Levin's story was out there, and that was even coming from another Lost that had to deal with that. Would they leave the two hunters, trying to make their way back to a town by themselves? Or would they take more dangerous, drastic measures? Ellie tensed as the fisherman approached, his eyes intent on the two of them.

His hand snapped behind his back, and Ellie instinctively reached for the hilt of her hunter's knife. It wasn't very good for a fight, but in a case like this… But no weapon appeared from behind the man's back. Rather, he pulled out a small pouch and held it out, tossing it to the bowgunner, who caught it awkwardly, being caught by surprise. The pouch clinked as Ellie caught it, making Ellie realize that it was filled with glass of some kind, likely bottles or vials. The ship's captain motioned to the pouch, urging her to open it.

"Go 'head girl," he said. "Give one o' those to yer boy, thar. It'll help a good bit."

Ellie glanced down curiously at the pouch, cautiously un-cinching the straps of the bag and opening it up. Sure enough, several bottles filled the bag, each swirling with a sappy green fluid. Ellie pulled one out to eye it more closely, but for the life of her she couldn't tell what it was. So she asked, and the captain laughed a little.

"It be a potion, girl," he replied simply with a grin. "Not yer normal one, I admit. This be one o' Joshua's."

Ellie frowned uncertainly. "And I'm supposed to trust it? After what the last one did?"

"Ah, but this be one o' the boy's specialties, you could say, aye?" the man grinned. "True, the Energy Drink be a little hit and miss, but the boy be quite good at these."

"But what's in them?" Ellie asked skeptically.

"Blue mushrooms and ground herbs," Joshua replied, coming over to stand next to his captain. "And, uh, a secret ingredient, you could say." Ellie stared at the young man intently until he stammered and continued. "Uh, well, I'm using the same ingredients that the potions that the Guild makes use. That's where the mushrooms and herbs come from. But, uh, I was… messing around with the mixtures one day and, well, I made something pretty good, I think. It's like a normal potion, but, uh, stronger. I don't know if the Guild makes anything like it out in the cities, though."

"And the secret ingredient?"

"Er… well… Altaroth honey, actually. Normal bee honey works too, just not so well. The Guild has a few things like it in the bigger cities, where hunting is really big. They're called Mega Potions I think." Ellie raised an eyebrow at the name. "Hey, don't look at me like that. I didn't choose the name."

Ellie stared dubiously at the fluid, not sure what to make of the stuff. "But what about… what about what Levin said? You heard, didn't you?"

The two fishermen glanced at each other, then Marcus turned back to the bowgunner and shrugged. "I do no know much 'bout monsters, lass. Land dwellin' monsters in particular. But there be Royals livin' near echo, so I be knowing them creatures fairly well, 'specially with the way they do try to eat through my nets. All this time, I do never recall a Royal that be willin' to work with a Quru. To do no know what sorts o' bein' can do wha' you say, but sometin' made dat creature go 'gainst its nature. Whether yer boy be right in what he tinks or no, something bad be happenin'."

"But that doesn't really matter, now does it?" Calvert called out from the fireside. "Whether your boy there is actually hearing things, or is just plain crazy, either way, the three of us need the two of you to help us get to a village safely. Especially if the sword swinger's right! That'll only mean that there'll be more trouble aimed at us than there normally would, so hurry up and give him one of those potions so he'll be a little better by morning!"

"He be right, lass," Marcus nodded. "Crazy or no, we be needin' the both o' ya. Besides, yer boy there showed us he be willin' to get us safe to your village, so we be trustin' him and ye'."

Ellie smiled as the three sailors grinned at her. She was glad that the three of them had been, if not happy with Levin's words, at least understanding of the whole situation. Taking one of the vials from the bag, she uncorked the thing and sniffed the bottle curiously. It did have the same bitter taste that she come to grow familiar with from Guild potions, as well as a sweet-smelling tang that was probably the Altaroth honey.

Leaning over, she carefully tilted the great sword user's head up and carefully poured the viscous fluid into his mouth. Levin coughed once as Ellie poured the stuff down his throat, but instinctively swallowed the rest. Despite the words of the fishermen, Ellie doubted whether the great sword user would really be helped all that much by the altered potion, but her eyes widened in surprise as her partner's face became a little less pale and his breathing evened out a little bit more. In only a few moments, Levin seemed to be healing far more rapidly than he had been before.

"See? I told you they were good," Joshua said proudly. Ellie had to admit he deserved to show some pride, though she'd wait to say so until tomorrow and she was certain Levin had improved a bit.

"Now then, bowgunner," Calvert said, "since your boy there is looking a little better, you should try and get a little sleep."

"What? But if something tries to attack us…"

"Then we'll wake you up," Calvert interrupted. "You and your boy there worked hard today, and I have little doubt you'll work just as hard tomorrow. So rest, you dumb girl. Last thing we want is a sleepy hunter getting knocked around when she's supposed to be protecting us."

"He be right, lass," Marcus nodded. "Sleep, girl. Somethin' nasty comes, and we'll wake ya."

Ellie looked back and forth between the fishermen, and they all were nodding at her, urging her to rest. The bowgunner nodded thankfully, leaning against the tree near Levin and leaning her head against the bark of the tree. She had only a couple moments to realize just how tired she really was before she dozed off into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

The bowgunner woke the next morning as the sun was working its way through the foliage, maybe an hour or two after sunrise. She blinked tiredly, rubbing the sleep out her eyes and stretching. Sleeping against a tree was always uncomfortable, no matter how many times she did it.

"Ah, you're awake now." Ellie looked up as Joshua approached her from the campfire. The young man had a particularly victorious smirk plastered across his face. "Your partner over there is feeling better now, it seems."

Ellie blinked in surprise and glanced over to where the great sword user had been sleeping the night before, finding him gone. She turned to look over to where the fire they'd made had been the night before, and spotted her partner, shirtless in front of Calvert, who was cinching a wrap of bandages around Levin's chest. Ellie sighed in relief at the sight of the great sword user; he seemed to be holding up well, and his eyes seemed as sharp as they had ever been. Though bruises still covered his body, they seemed to be receding quickly enough.

"Ow, ow! Hey watch it!" Levin griped as stocky fisherman tightened the bandages and tied them together. "Doing that hard enough?"

"If any of that crap you were spouting last night was true at all, you and the little miss over there'll be fighting off monsters today too, hunter," Calvert snapped. "Lots of them. Unless you want all those cracked bones popping out of you should a monster so much as brush against you, you'll shut the hell up and let me do this good and proper, damn it!"

"Ow! Okay, okay! Just don't make it so I can't breathe!"

As Ellie sat up, Levin's eyes caught the motion and he glanced over to her. A worried look covered his face for a moment before he stood up, ignoring the complaints from Calvert as he walked towards the bowgunner.

"Um… morning, Miss Ellie."

"Morning, Mister Levin," Ellie replied, glancing over his wounds. "Are you feeling any better today? You really got the crap kicked out of you yesterday."

"Actually, I'm really feeling good right now," Levin nodded, motioning to his wounds. "I don't know how in the world honey of all things managed to make a potion better, but I feel better than I have in days. I know it's probably only the numbing effects that make me feel better, but still."

"Any… any bad dreams?" Ellie asked cautiously. Levin seemed to wince a little at the words. "Levin, you don't need to worry. I don't think you're crazy or anything. I'm just worried."

Levin shook his head. "No, no. I didn't dream of anything at all last night. I didn't dream at all, I don't think. I must've been tired."

"Well, you need to take care of yourself today, Levin," Ellie said, striding forward and prodding the great sword user in the chest and grinning slyly. "As irritating as you are, as perverted as you act every now and then, even if you do have these dreams, and even if you're hearing voices in your head, I am still pretty fond of you. I might get a little choked up if something happened to you. And then I'd have to train a new partner to learn how to work with me, and who wants to go to that kind of trouble?"

Levin gaped at her for a moment, then laughed, wincing as he did so. "Jeez, you act like I'm some sort of pet. Who's supposed to be the hunting teacher between the two of us anyway?"

"I am now, moron," Ellie replied. "Remember? Next chance I get, you go through hell training learning how to dodge better. And there'll be other things we'll need to discuss, right? I'm going to make sure of it."

"Oh, right," Levin replied, reddening a little and stuttering nervously.

"So when we be headin' out?" Marcus asked the two as he walked up to them. "I don' like bein' in one place fer too long in such a dang'rus place."

"I think I'm ready for now," Levin said, twisting his torso to stretch himself out and groaning in the process. "All I really need to do is get my armor on and I'll be ready to go. How 'bout you, Ellie?"

"I could use a bite to eat," Ellie admitted, hearing her stomach rumble.

"Well, we got food and plenty of it," Calvert called from the fire. "It's all fish, though, so I hope you like seafood."

"That'll do," Ellie replied, striding over to the smoldering remains of the fire. Then realization hit her and she hissed a curse under her breath. "No, wait. I just remembered. I'm almost out of ammo. I've got, what, a half a dozen Normal shots and one Cluster? Other than that, all I've really got is my hunters' knife. Without my ammo, I might as well just be hitting monsters over my head with my bowgun."

"Damn, I forgot about that," Levin groaned as he slung his arms through the sleeves of his Ludroth coat. "So how are we supposed to… damn it, I don't think I'm good enough to do all this by myself."

"Can ye' use any other weapon, lass?" Marcus asked.

"Uh, yeah, I guess so," Ellie replied sadly, plucking a cooked fish off of the fire. "I use the short sword and shield every now and then, but that really doesn't do me all that much good right now, now does it?"

"Maybe this'll do for ye' then," the skiff captain said, reaching to his pouch. Ellie blinked in surprise as the man pulled out the sword and shield he'd recovered from the ship and tossed them to her. She caught them clumsily, hoisting them up. They were made of pure, well-crafted iron, Ellie realized, though they were very high-quality, far better than she'd expected to see.

"Keep it lass," the captain said simply. "I don' think I ever used the thing in all my years sailin'. It be far better off in ye' hands than mine, anyway. No don' argue none. Maybe you be makin' somethin' better o' it someday, aye? I know ye' hunters be likin' make yer weapons fancy what wit monster parts an' all."

Ellie felt somewhat guilty that she had to accept the fishing captain's weapon, but both he and her knew that she wouldn't be all that effective with a bowgun that didn't have any ammo. She was forced to nod in acceptance, strapping the shield to her arm and hefting it to test the weight, and was surprised to discover that the weapon was actually pretty easy to wield.

The group of them left the alcove in the trees not long after that, making their way quickly back to the beach head as quickly as they could, not wanting to be caught in the forest should whatever was making the monsters attack decide that now was a good time to do so again. Once they reached the shored of the ocean, the group of them took off to the north again, intent on reaching safer zones as quickly as they could, with luck before night fell or another monster was sent after them.

The beach was no dissimilar from the stretches they'd traveled during the previous day. No massive walls of stone carvings popped up again, but Ellie hadn't really expected anything like that anyway. Even though there wasn't anything that seemed to threaten them at the moment, Ellie still felt nervous just walking up the beach, out in the open. She'd felt wary the day before, knowing that monsters were abundant in the area, but now that she'd been told that some unknown entity was directing monsters into coming after them, she just couldn't shake the feeling of something looking over her shoulder, and the fear that something was just going to pop out of the bushes at any moment.

They'd made it about five miles up the beach when something truly and completely shocking happened, taking all five of them off guard. They'd reached a more hilly area, and at the edge of the beach the tree line was starting to edge away from the waterline, revealing swaths of vibrant grassy fields next to the beach. The hunters and fishermen were all glad to see the change in scenery; as calm as the beach was, the group of them were getting tired of walking across sand, and were happy to have the chance to get back to normal earth.

Ellie noticed a large herd of Kelbi not too far up the grasslands, dozens of the creatures grazing contentedly next to a herd of Aptonoth, just as large. Despite eating not too long before, her stomach growled a little at the sight; she'd really grown fond of Aptonoth meat over the last few months, and the couple small fish she'd gotten from the fishermen just weren't cutting it. Levin had smirked at her when her stomach had growled, earning himself a stern look from Ellie. But she still eyed a close pair of Aptonoth hungrily, wishing they had the time and safety to risk going after one of the smaller ones for food.

A shiver went up her spine, suddenly, and her eyes darted around excitedly. A chill filled her as a faint but piercing sound caught her ears; that same high-pitched whistling sound she recalled hearing the previous day. A look over to Levin verified her fears as the great sword user's eyes shot around and his hand went to the hilt of his blade. The three fishermen began looking at each other nervously when they realized how fearful the hunters were looking, and began backing away from the two towards the beach.

Ellie quickly unsheathed the short sword, eyes still darting around the field. The whistle was still riding the wind around the two hunters, and Ellie was desperate to try and determine where whatever monster Levin's dark voice was coming from. But for the life of her, she couldn't seem to spot any sort of movement out in the trees or…

A pained squealing suddenly filled the area, and the two hunters glanced around in surprise. Ellie abruptly caught sight of one of the Kelbis, one of the larger ones with large, elaborate horns, rolling on the ground in pain. The rest of the Kelbis began to dart around nervously, uncertain what was going on, and even the Aptonoth began to call their young together.

Then another bleat of agony echoed across the field. Another Kelbi suddenly dropped to the ground in pain. Then another dropped. And another. Then one of the Aptonoth, one of the smaller ones, honked in anguish and dropped to its knees in pain, followed closely by a larger one. With every passing second, another creature's voice, filled with pain, echoed across the field.

"Oh no," Ellie muttered, terror filling her voice. "No no no no no… it can't… it can't really be doing this, can it?" Levin didn't reply, but a pained expression covered his face, as well as a look of anger and frustration. He suddenly flinched as one of the smaller Aptonoth, too young for Ellie to try and guess its age, dropped to the ground in agony, flopping around on the ground helplessly. The great sword user's grip tightened angrily on the hilt of the blade, his knuckles whitening.

Soon the pained noise seemed to reach a crescendo, and Ellie realized that almost every creature except a rare few were all laying on the grass in pain. All sizes of the Kelbi and Aptonoth were howling in pain, from the oldest to the youngest of them. Ellie nearly felt as though she would break down sobbing at the sight, with even the smallest of the monsters having pain inflicted on them.

And then the whistling stopped. The cries of pain from the monsters followed soon after, though the sound of whimpers trailed after like ripples of an aftershock. With unsteady legs, the creatures slowly forced themselves to their feet, those few monsters that hadn't been affected by the sound working their ways over to their comrades worriedly, honking or baying questions to their fellow herd members.

Ellie felt as though there were eyes on her all of a sudden, and she glanced around the field and caught sight of the two herd leaders glaring intently at her with fearful and angry eyes. Almost at the same time, the pair of monsters began honking orders to their herds, both of them deep voices of authority tinted with aggression. The few herd members that hadn't been affected by the compulsion whistle seemed incredibly shocked as nearly every other monster in the field began honking in agreement. With a bray of anger and fear, dozens upon dozens of monsters, both Aptonoth and Kelbi, came charging towards the two hunters, fully intent on running them down and crushing them beneath their collective numbers.

Ellie yelped out in surprise as a young Kelbi, its horns barely sprouted on the top of its head, charged blindly at her, nubs of its horn bared as though it thought it could pierce Ellie's skin with it. Ellie's arm quickly snapped up, and the small creature clanged off the shield on her arm and was sent sprawling to the ground. She moved to get away from the tiny creature, but ran headlong into the brute horns of a large Aptonoth that had been charging her as well. The monster hadn't been charging yet, so the impact only really knocked her off balance, but the creature's size made it so it barely felt her impact, allowing it to keep coming towards her.

Ellie was forced to sidestep out of the way as the Aptonoth tried to stamp its feet down on her, and without thought due to months of training and life-and-death situations out in the wilds, her arm swung down instinctively, the blade given to her by the skiff captain tearing deep through the throat of the massive creature. The monster squealed in pain as bright red blood gushed out from the wound, sending the large creature rolling to the ground in death thralls. Ellie cursed to herself; she hadn't wanted to kill any of these monsters! They didn't deserve it!

But the monsters, so enraged and forced into action by the sound that had pounded into her head, continued to charge blindly at the two hunters without regard for the death of their herd-mates. Ellie saw Aptonoth smashing into each other as well as the smaller Kelbi as they attempted to run down the hunters, horns tearing through the creatures' leathery hides as the monsters blindly assaulted each other. As Ellie slid through a pair of Kelbi bearing larger horns as they tried to skewer her, she could see Levin ducking between groups of Aptonoth that made their own attempts to try and smash the great sword user between them. He was managing to get away from getting slammed between the massive creatures, but his injuries from the previous day were really slowing him down. He also seemed to be just as hesitant to kill the Aptonoth and Kelbi as Ellie was, his sword still being sheathed.

The next few minutes were utter chaos as Ellie and Levin danced and weaved between the thrashing and attacking herbivore packs. Despite their efforts to avoid killing the creatures, both hunters consistently found themselves in positions where they were forced to cut down one of the creatures, blades flashing in the sunlight as instinct and training made them react automatically, cutting down the monsters as they came at them. But even as they tried to avoid the monsters' attack and keep the enemies' deaths to a minimum, the frenzy the monsters had been sent into was ending up with them harming each other in their attempts to run down the hunters. Ellie watched in horror as several times, groups of Kelbi or smaller Aptonoth would trip during their rush, falling to the ground only to get trampled to death under the feet of their very herd-mates.

It was a complete rush for Ellie, just trying to survive against creatures that she didn't even want to kill. The usually silent Aptonoth sent out haunting honks and brays that terrified Ellie, a chilling murderous sound that just didn't sound right coming from such peaceful creatures. She'd been attacked by aggressive Kelbi before, when she and Levin had been passing through one of their herd's grazing fields and one of the upstart young males had tried to drive them away, but usually all it took was a paint shot to the hide or a thump with the broad side of Levin's blade or Ellie's shield to send them scampering away. Now, even with slashes across their bodies or puncture wounds from horns, even crushed or shattered limbs from the sheer pandemonium of the battle, the monsters kept coming, a desperate bloodthirst in their cries.

Ellie ducked away again in fright as the elder Kelbi, sporting a pair of massive spiraling horns lined with jagged edges, dove at her in an attempt to tear through her armor. Ellie dove out of the way, and the herd leader slid past harmlessly before careening headlong into one of the younger Kelbi behind Ellie, the twisted horns tearing into the other's hide, spilling bright red blood across the ground of the field. The elder Kelbi didn't even seem to notice or care, turning about at her abruptly and lunging at Ellie once again. But before the creature could get to her, an Aptonoth suddenly slammed into it, sending it sprawling across the ground and underneath the trampling feet of another pair of Aptonoth.

Ellie and Levin both continued to fight, trying to somehow stay alive despite their enemies being herbivores. As the battle continued, Ellie found herself having to watch her footwork more and more, the field growing slick and changing from green to a red sheen as blood began to spread out across the ground as more and more of the monsters died. Also, the bodies began to pile up, and Ellie found herself starting to find herself backed into corners, her back bumping into Aptonoth corpses as she tried to dog away from attacks from other monsters. Levin had similar issues, from what Ellie could see; once as he swung his sword around, his blade got caught in the hide of one of the fallen Aptonoth, catching the great sword user off guard at the suddenly stop of his blade and making him take a heavy hit from one of the fallen creature's herd-mates. Instinct and panic allowed Levin to react quick enough to whip out his hunter's knife before the creature trampled him, cutting a large gash across the monster's face and sending the herbivore stumbling away in pain.

The battle continued on for what seemed like forever for the two hunters, both of them straining every muscle in their bodies trying to keep up with the seemingly endless hordes of monsters. Then all of a sudden, the rush of monsters seemed to grind to a halt. Ellie stood firmly next to a downed Kelbi, eyes flickering back and forth between the herbivores that she could still see, hand gripping tightly the hilt of her short sword, and her shield arm twitched nervously, half-expecting to be attacked from the side again.

But without warning, the remaining Aptonoth and Kelbi seemed to tilt a little, then began to bleat wildly. The remaining enemies, all of them, suddenly turned around and the collection of them all bolted in separate directions in terror. None of them managed to maintain their herds, and the entire collection of them branched off into the forest, leaving the field as fast as they possibly could. Ellie and Levin were the only remaining living beings in the field, surrounded on all sides by the dead monsters, whether killed by their blades or after being trampled by their own kin.

A thump caught Ellie's attention, and Ellie's eyes shot over to the great sword user. She gasped in worry as the sight of her partner, who had fallen over the body of one of the Aptonoth bodies, and was hodling his chest in pain as he wheezed and gasped for air. Ellie rushed over to Levin quickly, helping him to his feet and helping him sling his weapon back over his shoulder. As quickly as possible, she helped her partner out and away from the field and the bodies in it, back towards the beach where the fishermen where pulling themselves from the water.

Already Joshua was rushing forward, pulling another of his potions from the satchel. "The effects must be wearing off. The potion boosts your innate healing for a short time, helping your body recover faster, but the numbing effects don't last nearly so long. The battle… the pain from his injuries probably kicked in about halfway through the fight."

"About… about the time my sword got stuck actually," Levin muttered with a smirk. "Give yourself some credit there, Joshy. Lasted me for _most_ of the fight, not half of it. I could… could use another though. If you're willing to spare another, that is."

The fisherman chuckled. "Not a problem, Levin. I'm not the one with monsters coming after him." Joshua pulled out another of the bottles filled with the viscous green liquid, popping the cork and offering it to the great sword user, who drank it down greedily.

"We need to get home quickly," Levin muttered. "Too much more of this and I'm bound to get addicted to these damn things."

"Yeah, let's try to avoid that, why don't we," Ellie replied. "I don't want a junkie working as my hunting partner."

"Yeah…" Levin grew silent again, and a pained expression crossed his face as he glanced over the vast collection of corpses that covered the entirety of the field. Ellie followed his gaze as well, a feeling of sadness crawling over her as she looked at the dead herbivores. But the feeling was also accompanied by another feeling; seething rage.

Ellie glanced at Levin, remembering him mentioning how those "whispers" of his had been making him want to leave Boma to hunt down the source of the voice. She knew she didn't want the great sword user leaving Boma to go off hunting... whatever it was. She knew she'd do her best to convince him to stay, to ignore the urge to go seeking the voice. She could think of a few things that she was certain would keep the great sword user near her… though there were other hurdles to leap before then. But if he did eventually decide he needed to find whatever was doing this and kill it, Ellie would be damned if the idiot thought that he would ever convince her to stay behind to wait for his safe return. He would try to protect her, she knew, try to get her to stay behind where it was "safe." But no way. This monstrous thing was slaughtering innocent creatures just to get to her and Levin, and the voice didn't seem to have any qualms about killing the fishermen to get to them either. She would see it dead just as Levin would; if he went after it, she would go with him, whether he wanted her to or not.

Levin was up to his feet quickly enough as soon as the potion's effects kicked in. His eyes seemed to glaze over rather quickly when people weren't talking to him though, making Ellie wonder if the numbing was addling him somehow. He seemed to be in a consistent daze when he wasn't totally focusing on something. She wondered if these were the effects that people had when they took too many potions, and wondered if Levin's joke about becoming addicted was a real issue.

The two hunters tried to hurry the fishermen along as fresh bandages were wrapped across their injuries, obviously wanting to avoid looking back to the field where the dead herbivore herds remained on the ground. Marcus and Calvert had clearly been tempted to take a slab of meat or two off of some of the Aptonoth, fiddling with a pair of work knives they'd had with them, but after seeing the two hunters in the miserable state they'd been in, the two had put their knives away and helped Joshua patch the two hunters up. They left not long after, just as a small pack of Jaggi and Jaggia began appearing at the edges of the field, eyeing the remains of the battle hungrily.

The land began to grow hillier when they finally continued on, and the pair of Lost grew more watchful as they went. The closer they got to Boma, the safer they were, theoretically, but the more hills there were, the more nests there were in the area, in their experience.

Soon, however, the group was forced to stop. A massive rock outcropping shot out into sea, sporting tall jagged rock walls that shot into the sky nearly straight up. The five were forced to admit that they would have to cut inland again in order to bypass the rock wall; neither Ellie nor Levin were in good enough condition to dare try and swim around the rock wall to the other side. So the group began their trek into the wilds, working their way up into the tall hills where the trees grew thick. It took the group some time, but Levin finally managed to find them a trail working through the woods, left behind by some monsters as a grazing trail for herbivores. Or hunting trail for carnivores. The woods were silent though, so the five of them were willing to risk taking the path.

Every now and then, the group of them would hear the call of some creature or another off in the distance, making the hunters tense. Qurupeco cries seemed common in the area, the warbling cries of the giant birds carrying through the trees every now and then. Yapping Jaggis could be heard occasionally as well, and the sight of the carnivores sliding through the trees could be seen sometimes. But the group pressed on along the path, willing to risk a little to get through the forest safely.

The rock wall turned out to cut far longer into the mainland then Ellie had hoped, and before long the five had traveled nearly a mile inland with the massive rock wall still just as tall as it had been before. But the end of it seemed to be in sight, luckily. The elevation of the hill sloped downward off in the distance, meeting the elevation of the path they were on not too far away. But as they finally crested the mountain, an eerie sound seemed to drift their way on the wind, coming from the other side of the wall they had just crested; a deep howling, whooping sound accompanied by repetitive yapping.

The fishermen seemed to be growing nervous as they continued, the sound growing louder and louder the further they went; but they had little choice in the matter, they had to keep to their path or risk another night in the wilds or risk another fight with monsters summoned against them. The sound began to become clearer and clearer as they walked, and soon Ellie began to recognize the calls as the cries of Jaggi and Great Jaggi. But a shiver crawled up her spine when she realized that the whooping sounds, the familiar call of the Great Jaggi, was coming too frequently to be coming from just one…

"There's more than one pack again," she heard Levin mutter, and she nodded. "I think maybe… three or four. I can't tell exactly. The ankle-biters are too loud for me to tell. That's actually pretty worrying in and of itself; if they're being that loud, there are, jeez, lots of them. I mean dozens."

Ellie cursed under her breath. "Damn it! Why is this… thing doing this to us? We can barely do anything right now! Why us?"

"I honestly don't know…" Levin replied.

Just as soon as the five travelers managed to cross to the other side of the rock wall, they immediately turned to try and make their way back to the ocean as quickly as they could. However, the noise only seemed to grow louder as they went, but they dared not travel across the land that they didn't know the layout of. Still they continued on, skirting the edge of the other side of the cliff wall as they hurried back to the ocean. Suddenly the ground in front of them dropped off into an incredibly steep hill; Ellie was so caught off guard by the abrupt change in elevation that she nearly dropped, and would have fallen if Calvert hadn't caught hold of her armor's collar and pulled her back.

A large… crater lay before her. That was the only way she could describe it. It was a wide valley, nearly a mile across, almost perfectly spherical in a massive bowl that dipped deep into the earth. A few small trickles of streams gushed into the bowl from a few points along the edge of the valley, and occasional tufts of grass sprouted along the ground. And near the center lay an especially deep dip in the ground, like an impact zone. But it wasn't the hole itself that caught Ellie's attention, but rather what lay within.

Inside the hole was the largest collection of all sorts of Jaggi that Ellie knew she'd ever seen. Dozens and dozens of Jaggi nests lay scattered around the center of the crater, bundles of grass and reeds piled into a collection of egg stacks, and all of them were surrounded by Jaggi and Jaggia. And all of the creatures were howling wildly. There were easily a hundred of the things, a full mix of Jaggi and Jaggia that seemed to completely fill the center of the crater. And in the center of it all were three _massive_ Great Jaggi. Ellie was used to seeing the creatures standing a few feet taller than her, but these three giants stood easily twice and a half her height, and all of them were howling angrily at the other two, menace and rage seething from their calls.

Ellie gaped in shock at the sight of the massive collection of carnivores, only coming out of it when Marcus shook her by the shoulder, pulling her thoughts back to the present. Calvert was motioning Levin towards the edge of the massive bowl, where a thin ledge skirted the top of the valley, just wide enough for a person to walk along the side of it. Levin was nodding in response, both of the clearly thinking that the walkway would be their best option to pass the Jaggi packs by. Levin glanced wordlessly over to Ellie, and she nodded in agreement. Everyone seemed to realize that making too much noise might attract the attention of the Jaggis, so they tried to avoid talking.

"They don't look too pleased with each other," Calvert muttered, motioning to the monsters below as the group of five began working their way across the edge of the valley. Ellie glanced down, and sure enough, the three pack leaders had begun to circle each other. Ellie wondered how exactly the three monsters had even met up like this in the first place. Did monsters set up… duels or something? Was this some big occasion that the Jaggis in this part of the forest did? Or more likely… did the voice call them all here?

The hunters and fishermen were about a quarter way around the lip of the valley when the noise from the monsters below seemed to grow louder. Ellie glanced down cautiously into the valley, and caught sight of one of the pack leaders lunging for another, trying to sink its teeth into the other's throat. The third of the Great Jaggis dove forward at the opportunity, trying the catch the other attacking pack leader off guard, but the first Great Jaggi caught sight of the motion and leapt out of the way just in time. Ellie was fascinated by the sight of the free-for-all between the three monsters, but hurried to move on, not willing to stick around in such a dangerous place.

Ellie and Levin suddenly froze, though. It was back again, the whistling sound from before. Ellie winced in fright, eyes snapping back down to the Jaggis below. Sure enough, several of the small Jaggi near the middle of the valley were beginning to spasm in pain, dropping to the ground as wracking agony was sent through them to compel them to obey commands. Levin began pushing the fishermen to move faster, desperate to get them out of the area as the compulsion spread among more and more of the Jaggi.

The Great Jaggis in the middle began to realize something was wrong about then; the group of them were glancing around worriedly as their underlings began to fall in pain, while at the same time trying to keep their eyes on the other two pack leaders, still trying to keep on top of the little three-way battle they had going on. More and more of the minions began to drop though, and the battle began to dwindle to a halt; even Great Jaggi realized that being a pack leader didn't mean much if there wasn't a pack to lead.

Then the whistling sound hit them, and the three of them all toppled over at the same time. Ellie cursed wildly, egging Levin and the three fishermen on even faster, desperate to escape before the monsters could properly begin a chase of them. But as they ran, Ellie eyes caught a glimpse of something… off in the field. Several of the Jaggi that had been first affected by the sound had begun charging up the side of the valley towards them, intent on obeying the voice's order to try and kill them. But Ellie realized that as the effects of the voice hit the Great Jaggis, several of the smaller Jaggis suddenly seemed to shake themselves off, as though waking up from a dream, and they started to glance around uncertainly.

Ellie realized that she'd come to a stop when Levin rushed up from her side and shook her to get her attention. But her fascination with what was happening down in the valley continued to hold her attention, until Levin glanced down uncertainly as well. As more and more Jaggis began to drop to the ground under the influence of the whistling sound, others would shake themselves loose of the compulsive force, turning back around while they charged the hunters in order to return to their pack leaders. Even the Great Jaggis would occasionally seem to shake themselves loose from the pain and turn their attentions back to the other pack leaders for a moment or two until the whistling came back again in full force.

The two hunters stared in shock at the rolling effects of the whistling. For the last few days, Ellie had though that the effects of the compulsive sound was a permanent sort of thing, but she began to believe that, just maybe, however the sound was, it wasn't as all powerful as she'd previously thought. Were the Jaggis simply not intelligent enough, or individual enough to be controlled by the whistle? They were used to working as a team under the Great Jaggi's orders, so maybe a blind rush towards an enemy was actually something that they couldn't normally comprehend? Or were there simply too many for whatever the whistle was to control? Did the sound have a range of some sort or something?

Either way, every time the monsters tried to rush them, they would eventually slow to a halt before turning their attentions back to their pack leaders, waiting for orders. But though the smaller Jaggis were somehow able to fight off the effects of the compulsion, the three Great Jaggis had been suffering from the sound the whole time, rolling on the ground in agony. The Jaggi around them, at least those that weren't being affected by the sound, were growing impatient and afraid at the pain and suffering of their pack leaders, becoming more and more aggressive with the other Jaggis around them.

A flurry of motion caught Ellie's eye, and she glanced over to one side of the collection of hundreds of Jaggis, where dozens of the carnivores had begun fighting amongst themselves, tearing into each other while their leaders writhed on the ground. The battle between the Jaggis was slowly spreading around the valley, the three packs starting to tear into each other almost indiscriminately, a wave of blood and death filling the bowl. A blast of sound made Ellie stumble as the whistling sound suddenly reappeared in full force, like nails tearing across a chalkboard right next to her ears. The sound ripped across the Jaggis as well, trying to get them to settle down as they dropped to the ground in pain.

But the attempt to wrest control over the Jaggis apparently allowed the Great Jaggis to break free of the compulsion, and the three pack leaders began to get back to their feet, shaking off the pin of the whistling sound. A howl of anger rose from the first Great Jaggi to get up as it look around and saw his comrades dying or dead, and without another moment's hesitation, the monster lunged toward the closest of the other two rivals, sinking its fangs into the other's throat. The attacked pack leader cried out in pain and tried to shake loose of the rival's jaws, but the shaking only made the fangs tear deeper into its flesh. With a whimper of pain, the Great Jaggi soon had damaged its neck too much, and blood poured out of its wounds, until finally it flopped to the ground from blood loss.

There was a moment of silence in the valley when the Jaggis that weren't in pain realized that one of the pack leaders had fallen. Ellie thought order would return to the packs, then all hell broke loose. Like a fog raising from the ground, the whistling sound suddenly vanished completely from the valley. With a cry of despair and confusion, the freed Jaggis bolted upright, howling in blind fury and fear, leaping out and attacking whatever was closest to them. Pack members attacked fellow pack members, males attacked females, and in the center of it all, the two remaining Great Jaggis began to attack each other relentlessly, teeth and claws tearing wildly at each other. The entire valley slowly descended into a complete and total bloodbath, every Jaggi in sight tearing through each other without restraint or reserve.

Ellie found herself being dragged away by Levin, the shock of the sight below her stunning her to silence and immobility. The sound of Jaggis, Jaggia, and Great Jaggis was a haunting wail behind the five of them as they sprinted around the remainder of the valley and on through the forest back to the beach. They didn't even stop running until they were back on sandy ground, gasping for breath. The howls of the Jaggis, both those of anger and pain, still lingered on the wind, though the sound seemed quite quieter than before. Ellie wondered miserably how many of the Jaggis and Jaggia remained alive in the valley; if one of the Great Jaggis had managed to survive, maybe it had been able to call off the fighting. She normally didn't feel empathy for the little carnivores, but… damn that voice!

"What… what exactly happened back there?" Calvert asked with a wheezing voice.

"I do no think that Jaggis should be actin' tha' way," Captain Marcus added. "Is this got sometin' ta do wit the 'voice' or whatever you be talkin' 'bout las' night?"

"Probably," Levin admitted. "Though I have to admit, I never thought something like _that_ would happen. Jeez… the Jaggis just tore each other apart… I don't think that whatever just happened back there was supposed to happen. Things just, I don't know, fell apart."

"Maybe you should be thankful, boy," Calvert said. "You've not exactly had the easiest of times with monsters these last couple of days. You two even got attacked by a bunch of herbivores, for crying out loud! Even if whatever made those monsters attack you messed up and those Jaggis died, it's better than if the pack had caught wind of our scents and attacked us anyway. You may not like all of them having died like that, but we lived, so as far as I'm concerned, we're better off."

"He be right, lad," Marcus nodded in agreement. "Better them then yeh."

Ellie grumbled in frustration, though she had to agree. Her head tilted up when an especially loud howl from the direction of the Jaggi's nest. From the sound of it, one of the Great Jaggis had finally come out on top in the battle for dominance between the three monsters. The howl sounded throaty and severely damaged, however, and the noise from the yapping Jaggis was almost nothing, making Ellie wonder how many were left. She glanced up at Levin in question, but the great sword user merely shook his head.

"We should get moving," he said. "The whistling may have failed taking control of as many Jaggis as there were in the nest, but… there may be few enough now to be controlled. We should leave before… whatever it is decides to see if we can finish off the rest of them." Ellie frowned and nodded sadly, straightening up a little before moving forward and continuing up the beach.

The five travelers continued to make their way north as quickly as they could manage, though this time it was the hunters that were slowing them down. Both Ellie and Levin were feeling the pain from their battles over the last few days, Levin especially. His wounds received from the Royal the previous day seemed to be coming back in full force, and he'd needed to drink another one of Joshua's potions in order to numb the pain enough to keep going. But even then, the great sword user seemed to be having some trouble moving forward, the strain on him from his broken ribs getting the better of him despite the effects of the potions. Even the fight against the two herbivore herds had worn down on the pair of Lost, compounding on top of their lingering injuries. Eventually, Joshua had simply offered Ellie the bag of remaining honey-potions

But just over an hour or so after the group began marching again towards Boma, Ellie began to get the feeling that she could recognize where they were a little. A few rock gatherings and stone pillars that jutted out of the water a little ways out to sea seemed to spark her memories. She remembered her and Levin fighting a… Qurupeco on this beach? Ellie told Levin that she thought she recognized the area, and he glanced around searchingly, nodding in agreement. They couldn't be far now, only a mile or two at the most. The pair of hunters both heaved a sigh of relief; they were both too worn out to do much else, and desperately needed medical aid and a long sleep.

They continued up the beach cautiously, though, still worried that they could be ambushed by… something before they managed to get back to the village. Ellie was worried that they might not be able to survive fighting something truly nasty if they met it. Levin's great sword, though he managed to keep it good and sharp, has showing the wear of all the fighting the pair of them had been dealing with over the last few days, dents from taking hits or defecting rocks while they'd been running from the Rathian. Ellie's own blade was in pretty rough condition as well, actually. As nice as it was, it just didn't seem to stay sharp for very long at all. She'd discovered her blade was so dull after their tussle with the herbivores, even if their hides hadn't been that thick, that she doubted it could pass as a carving knife. Lucky for her Levin had managed to bring a decent supply of whetstones with them, allowing her to sharpen her blade properly, though she doubted it would stay sharp.

Suddenly, Levin stopped as he was walking. Ellie shot a concerned look over to him and realized a scared look had come over his face, his eyes fixated on the northern horizon where Boma lay waiting for them to return. Ellie followed his gaze, and realized that in the general direction of their home, a massive wall of smoke rolling up into the sky. Ellie cringed as the sound of a crash flew in with the wind, followed by the noise of wood splintering. Then another, clearer sound rolled in with the breeze, far clearer than the others.

A deep, thunderous roar tore across the beach, catching the hunters' ears. Terror crept into both of the hunter's expressions as they recognized the sound; the bellowing roar of the Lagiacrus. In less than a second, the two were sprinting across the beach as fast as they could to the north where their home lay waiting in danger. They could hear the fishermen calling out in surprise behind them, but dared not stop. Both Ellie and Levin sprinted up the side of the last hill before reaching Boma village, ignoring the pain in their sides as they bolted up the hill before finally cresting the top and were finally able to see Boma Village properly.

Both hunters gasped in shock at the sight before them. The entire waterfront was coated in flames or rubble, dozens and dozens of buildings either destroyed or burning. Most of the fishing ships in the harbor had been torn in half or already sunk, the broken remains of the helms and the masts sticking raggedly up out of the water like the ribs of a skeleton. Villagers scurried around the roads below them like ants trying to escape a magnifying glass, accompanied by the occasional scream from someone, and shining steel armor worn by the town guard could be seen flashing in the sunlight that shone now and then through the blanket of smoke clouding the village.

Then a large shape rose out from between a collection of huts on the far side of the village, near the bay where the two hunters made their home, a large serpentine shape that shone bright blue. Crackles of electricity leapt across the monster's back and head, and with an ear-splitting roar, the creature sent lances of lightning across the village. The bolt flashed into one of the huts not too far from Ellie and Levin's homes, and an eruption of flame leapt into the sky as the house blew into oblivion, sending yet another plume of smoke spiraling into the air.

The creature let off a powerful roar of victory as a wave of screams filled the air. From the distance they were at, Ellie could just make out the Lagi's appearance. The creature's appearance wasn't pristine; she wasn't sure about the rest of the monster's body, but the Lagiacrus' head seemed broken and shattered, and it seemed as though its head was covered in rags or something like that… Ellie couldn't tell exactly. But the two hunters had no time for contemplation of the Lagiacrus' appearance, with a quick glance at each other, the two began down the slope towards the village, the fishermen lagging a bit behind.

The sprint down the hill towards the village gates seemed to take forever for Ellie, the occasional roars and explosions echoing towards them from across the village. Blasts of flame and lightning lit up the darkening sky, lighting up the black smoke that filled the sky, coloring the air above them in a eerie red light that only seemed to emphasize the destruction before them.

As they approached the gate, they discovered a pair of the town guard standing just outside the gate, fighting off a small pack of Jaggi that had surrounded the gate. Ellie gaped in shock at the sight; Marshall had always said that monsters tended to avoid those monsters that were generally stronger than them, so why were the Jaggi trying to get into a village where a Lagiacrus was attacking? Then she heard a faint but just barely audible whistling on the wind and cursed. Another explosion rocked the air, and she winced as she looked sadly at the Jaggis before her. She knew they were being forced into this, but… they had to go.

She and Levin both dove into the fray, catching the two village guards by surprise, but grateful expressions covered their faces as the two hunters tore into the small carnivores. The Jaggis hadn't seen the two coming, however, and the small pack was slain momentarily. The two guards nodded to the pair thankfully, grateful to be alive but jumping nervously as another blast of lightning lanced across the sky.

"A few fishermen are coming this way! Let them in, then close this gate and go help the other villagers!" Levin said quickly, pushing forward into the village. "And tell people… tell people we're going to try and contain the Lagi in the bay! So keep them away from there!" Ellie was slightly surprised at how quickly the two nodded in agreement, turning to raise their shields in case of another monster attack. She supposed the situation required someone to take control, so maybe they just obeyed the first person who gave them an order.

"Why the bay?" Ellie yelled as the two sprinted across the village.

"It'll be less likely to go elsewhere if it's in its element," Levin replied. "Besides, whatever the voice is, it just wants us! If we catch the Lagi's attention, I think it'll stay focused on us! Then the villagers can get away safely!"

"We're giving it the advantage?"

"If it stays in the village, it'll just destroy more! We have to get it to a safer place! The water's our best bet right now!" Ellie grimaced at the thought but knew that Levin was probably right. The only place nearby that would give them the space to fight without risking the villagers' lives would probably be the bay. But she'd never fought anything but a Gobul underwater before… No use thinking about it now, though.

As the two worked their way across Boma Village, they yelled out their plans to the villagers they passed by, advising everyone they saw to move away from the bay side of the village, and to pass along the information to everyone else they saw. Ellie wasn't sure whether many people really listened to the pair of them; most of the villagers were more concerned about caring for the injured above anything else, trying to evacuate their families, but the crowds began moving towards the side of the village opposite the bay at the hunters' behest.

The explosions grew louder as the pair of Lost closed in on the Lagiacrus. Luckily for them, the lightning serpent was sticking close to the waterline, allowing the two a much better chance of luring it to the bay. They turned a final corner, turning onto one of the village's many circular paths, and there the creature was, tail twisting around and smashing against one of the small huts near it, blowing the home into pieces and sending wood shrapnel and splinters everywhere. A quick high-pitched whine made Ellie wince and the Lagiacrus twitched and grunted in pain, then its head snapped right around and focused directly on the two Lost.

Ellie's arm whipped around, pulling her sword from its sheath as she raised her shield defensively and met the Lagiacrus' stare. Levin did the same, swinging his sword around into a defensive position as he prepared to fight. A deep, guttural growl rumbled from out of the sea serpent's throat as it clawed the ground, ready to fight the two. Ellie studied the creature carefully, trying to figure out…

She gasped in shock. She… _knew_ this Lagiacrus! Earlier she'd thought the creature had been wearing a cloth or something over its head, but now that she was close, she realized that the thing was a _net_, not a cloth. Deep scars and jagged metal fragments jutted from the creature's face and head, odd spikes imbedded in the monster's jaw. She'd seen it before! The Lagiacrus that had attacked the fishing skiff had worn the same scars, the same terrible marks and coiled ropes wrapped around its head. But the net and the metal shards were just as familiar.

"This is the same Lagi that attacked us before the exam!"

"Say what?" Levin gasped.

"Look! The metal and net! That's the Pitfall Trap I shoved in its mouth!" Levin turned and blinked in surprise, and his eyes widened in shock and recognition. If Ellie looked closely enough, she could make out the jagged Lagiacrus crystals from the trap still wedged in between the scales on the sea serpent's face.

The Lagiacrus tilted its head a bit, and then stamped its claw on the ground, its head snapping forward as it ripped out a ear-splitting roar, shaking the foundations of the houses near them. Ellie's arm had snapped up, however, pulling her shield up. Somehow or another, the powerful sound seemed to reverberate off of the shield, knocking Ellie back a foot or so but keeping her ears intact. Ellie blinked in surprise and stared in shock at the round metal strapped to her arm. She'd repelled _sound_? What the hell was this shield made of? Levin had gotten caught by the sound, and was holding his ears painfully, but the Lagiacrus was still straining out the last dregs of its roar.

Taking her opportunity to her advantage, Ellie leapt forward, catching the leviathan by surprise that she was able to move. Before the creature could react, Ellie's blade came up, cutting against the shattered remains of the Lagiacrus' face. The plates covering the creature's body clanged loudly as the blade smacked against it, but there was some dig as the weapon cut against some of the revealed flesh underneath the plates, making the creature yelp in pain. The Lagiacrus howled angrily, snapping its teeth towards Ellie, but she'd only been trying to get its attention and was well out of the way before its jaw snapped shut.

Ellie quickly ran away from the creature, heading in the direction of the bay as Levin had suggested. The leviathan howled angrily at her, pushing off and tearing across the ground towards her, smashing into the sides of downed huts as it came. By then, Levin had managed to recover from the sound of the roar, and had turned to tear after Ellie and the Lagi, following close behind the tail of the monster. Ellie ducked through a few alleys and across streets, but the leviathan was a far nimbler creature than she'd given it credit for, turning sharply behind her at every change in direction. The huts did manage to actually help the Lagiacrus make the turns, the large monster smashing into the sides of the buildings and pushing off the remains to continue chasing after Ellie.

Ellie almost fell headfirst into the water of the bay as she turned the last corner in front of the bay, sliding between her own hut and Levin's. The leviathan was close behind, not allowing her much time to slow down, but Ellie managed to dive to the side, vaulting over Levin's rear porch and allowing the Lagiacrus to slide past in surprise, tumbling into the water of the bay. A small wave of water sprayed across the water, and Ellie could see the creature tumbling around in the water, trying to get its bearings straightened.

Levin finally caught up with her, and Ellie noticed that he was breathing heavily again, holding a hand against his chest in pain. Ellie cursed, realizing that the effects of the "mega" potion that Joshua had provided were wearing off. She quickly pulled out another of the bottles, tossing it to the great sword user, thankful that she'd gotten the bag from the fishermen when she still had the opportunity.

A flash of light glared out of the corner of her eye as the Levin drank down the green liquid. She winced back as a blast of electricity lanced out of the water, licking the sides of the beach. A deep rumbling sound filled the air as the Lagiacrus released a loud bellow underneath the water, before the water shifted and the creature poked its head out of the water and glared at the two hunters. Levin was back on his feet by now, pulling his dented and dinged great sword out of his sheath and readying himself to fight. Both of their weapons had been sharpened not long before Boma had gotten back in sight, but Ellie's sword didn't stay sharp very long, and Levin's blade was so battered it looked like it would snap in half at a moment's notice.

However, before Ellie had any time to contemplate further, the Lagiacrus' neck snapped back, white searing light filling the back of its throat a moment before a massive ball of lightning lanced out from the creature's mouth. Ellie and Levin both yelped in surprise before leaping out of the way. The ball shot past them through the air, smashing headlong into the wall. Her house, Ellie realized! A glow filled the interior of her home for a moment, then a massive blast of heat and light nearly knocked the two hunters off their feet as the whole side of her house blew outward, sending wood and splinters everywhere.

"Dammit!" Ellie swore. She glared angrily at the leviathan as it worked its way back towards the shoreline, digging its feet into the sand to pull itself out of the water. Without a second thought, Ellie leapt forward, sword flashing as it swung through the air and cut into the Lagiacrus' claw. The creature howled in pain and surprise, pulling its foot back and slipping back into the water a few feet. Levin wasn't far behind, bringing his great sword around to smash into the monster's chest with enough force to send the creature back into the bay entirely. The two hunters glanced at each other, making sure the other was ready, before the both of them reached into their pouches to pull out air philters and covering their faces with them. Then the two dove into the water to meet the monster.

As Ellie opened her eyes under the water, she saw the Lagiacrus waiting for them expectantly, the monster having swam several dozen yards away before they'd dove after it. Through the water, Ellie could hear the leviathan growling in anticipation, its scarred and battered face seeming to smile wickedly in its desire to fight them. Ellie wondered how much of the creature's desire was its and how much belonged to the voice controlling it. The creature didn't wait too long for them, however, and howled loudly as it twisted its body and rushed through the water towards them, jaws snapping.

The two hunters slid through the water out of the way. Ellie tried to swing her sword at the creature as it passed, but only managed a glancing blow on the Lagiacrus' tail before it had passed them. The leviathan rebounded off the rising sand bar however, using its claws and tail to twist itself around in the water in an instant, jetting it towards the hunters again and forcing them to dodge once more. Ellie was forced to pull up her shield as the monster rushed past, the scales and spines of the creature tearing against the steel; she could feel the spines tearing away at the metal, weakening her shield. A tingling feeling crawled up her body at the impact, small trickles of electricity from the Lagiacrus' body transferring through the water and her shield.

As the leviathan passed by, Ellie had to shake her shield arm in the water, trying to force off the numbness that was taking over her arm. Levin rushed forward, though, trying to cut into the Lagiacrus as it turned around in the water, but the water monster was too quick, pushing away as the hunter's blade swung around, easily making Levin miss by several yards. With a grunt, the Lagiacrus twisted its body around, flicking its tail through the water with a powerful swish. The appendage caught Levin crossways, blowing him backwards through the water in a tumble.

As the leviathan righted itself in the water, it twisted its body to rush the great sword user before he could recover. Levin managed to pull his great sword between the rushing creature and his body though, but the impact of the Lagiacrus' snout smashing against the flat of his blade still blasted Levin down into the murky sands below, sending a wave of sand and mud everywhere. A line of blood trickled up from the wraps of bandages around Levin's chest, and another from the edges of the air philter plastered against his face.

Ellie swore to herself as the monster turned, ready to charge again to finish the great sword user off. As quickly as she could, she swam towards the Lagiacrus, as the creature curled itself up to charge again. Just before the monster took off, Ellie's sword lanced out, striking the leviathan across the face. The Lagiacrus howled in irritation as the blade clanged across its scales, but it still took off through the water. Its aim was off, however, and the leviathan ended up tearing through the water several yards above where Levin lay in the water.

As the creature slowed to a halt several yards past Levin, it turned to glare at Ellie in anger. It opened its mouth and a light blue glue began to emit from the back of the monster's throat. Ellie turned in panic in the water, swimming at an angle to the Lagiacrus in an attempt to avoid the incoming lightning. Sure enough, a moment later, a large orb of pure electricity spat from the creature's mouth. Ellie was awed for a moment at the sight; she'd expected the monster's electricity to go everywhere, but somehow the energy was being condensed by a small gelatinous substance right in the middle of the lightning ball. Ellie wondered if the Lagi had a sac of some kind that it held that odd fluid in…

But her mind jolted back to the present as the orb missed her. The charge of the ball was contained, but a lance of energy spiked from the center of the ball to her shield as it passed, sending hundreds of volts through her for a split second, rattling her teeth and making her gasp for breath, nearly knocking the philter off her face. The pain and shock only lingered a fraction of a second, though, but it left her rattled and seeing stars in her eyes. But she saw that the Lagiacrus was charging up another bolt! Though her motions were awkward and unsure, she began swimming away, trying to avoid the orb as best she could this time. She managed to get a little further away the second time, about six feet from where the orb passed her by, though she still felt her muscles tighten as a quick shock snapped through her despite the range.

As the Lagiacrus prepared to launch another ball of lightning at Ellie, Levin suddenly lunged up from the bottom of the bay towards the creature, swinging wildly at the monster. His sword glanced off of the monster's chest, though it shattered several of the large plates that covered the leviathan's breast. The swing of the blade also managed to catch the side of the Lagiacrus' tail, which had curled around the monster's body as it charged its attack. The Lagiacrus cried out in pain, the sound piercing through the water just as easily as it would above water. Levin twisted around again in the water, swinging his sword around again to smash the blade against the creature's tail again.

A rush of water blasted Levin away as the Lagiacrus pushed itself away from the great sword user, blight splashes of blood mixing with the salt water pouring from the wounds on its tail. Ellie saw that the blows to the tail had left it hanging half off like a hinge. The leviathan glanced down in pain and frustration, before howling angrily at the two hunters. Levin and Ellie both braced themselves, ready for the monster.

But suddenly the creature seemed to curl up, twisting itself into a ball. A glint caught Ellie's eye, and she blinked, looking around past the edges of her shield towards the Lagiacrus. She realized that small specks of… something were flaking off of the Lagiacrus, specifically off of the creature's electric spines on its back. Small things, like shards of glass were flecking off the spines, glittering in the red light that shone down through the surface. Ellie wondered in confusion what exactly the creature was shedding, when the spines began to glow. A spark or two leapt off the creature's back, snapping over to the shards before leaping on to the next, and the spines continued to grow brighter.

Ellie gasped, though the sound was cut off by the constricting philter. The shards of the spines floated closer and closer, and Ellie began motioning Levin way from the creature. It took the great sword user a moment to realize what she meant, but with a look of fear, the pair of them began working their way away from where the Lagiacrus was curled up. As fast as they could, the spreading shards were still catching them.

Then the Lagiacrus released a powerful screech, and flashes of electricity lanced out from the creature's spines, spiking across the spread of shards and filling the water with bright blue light. Ellie cringed in pain as voltage shot through her, sending her muscles into spasms. But the injury didn't hurt nearly so much as the two previous ones; Ellie turned to face the monster and blinked in awe at the sight. Bolt of lightning spiraled around the leviathan, shooting between the thousands of shards at blinding speeds, creating a massive sphere of pure energy surrounding the Lagiacrus. The creature continued to screech loudly as the electricity swirled around it, filling the water with a charge.

Finally Ellie could feel her muscles loosening as the leviathan ceased its scream and the voltage in the water finally began to drop. The creature seemed to droop its head a little as the electricity stopped flowing again, but the spines on its back still glowed brightly, clearly still holding a lot of energy inside of them. But the shards of the creature's spines were starting to dissipate from the water, either carried away by the current or falling to the sand below. The spines didn't seem any worse for the wear, though, making Ellie wonder how quickly they regrew.

Suddenly the creature snapped forward, pushing through the water towards the two in a fraction of a second. The two hunters pulled up their defenses frantically as the Lagiacrus abruptly swung its neck around, smashing its head and horns into the two hunters, knocking them back a little in the water. Ellie peeked over her shield cautiously in hopes of an attack opportunity, but she was caught off guard as the creature's tail followed close behind, smashing unforgivingly against the two of them, blowing the pair of them both back through the water.

Ellie struggled to keep control of herself in the water, when suddenly the Lagiacrus began to shed the shards of its spines again. But instead of charging up for another large blast of electricity, the creature's already-lit crystals dimmed, charging the shards with energy as the creature coiled up. Levin suddenly swam between her and it, motioning for her to move, when the Lagiacrus quickly uncoiled, shooting through the water like a dart rather than just releasing lightning. But unlike its other charges, this time it was completely surrounded by the shards of electricity, a giant, weight-bearing mass of voltage.

Ellie swam, rushing out of the way as Levin swam the other direction, but the monster simply swam straight through the middle of them. Lances of electricity snapped out to catch the two hunters as the monster passed, pulling a scream of pain from Ellie as thousands of volts of electricity surged through her. Her muscles twitched painfully as the current snapped through her, shocking her to the bone. She gasped in pain, inhaling highly moist air into her lungs through the air philter, groaning in pain with the electricity.

Ellie struggled wildly to keep her balance in the water, waving her arms wildly to balance herself. As quick as she could, she pulled her shield up again, fighting against her twitching muscles, thankfully just before the Lagiacrus lunged again, coming at her intently. Its jaws opened wide, and it lunged, trying to clamp down on her. Ellie raised her shield defensively, but she gasped in shock as the leviathan's massive jaws opened so wide that they completely went around her shield entirely. She could do nothing but gape in shock as the creature's powerful maw snapped closed, bending her shield with a ripping creak around her arm, before sharp fangs cut deep into her arm.

Ellie cried out in pain as several teeth bit into her. She suddenly found herself being flung around and the Lagiacrus snapped its head around, swinging the bowgunner around, trying to tear her arm off or just plain kill her. She screamed and swung wildly at the leviathan, her sword clanging randomly off of the creature's face and neck, though she couldn't tell if anything was really harming it. She could feel the muscles in her arm tearing, and the smell and taste of blood, her _own_ blood, seeped through even the pores on the filter, filling her nose and mouth. She could feel herself panicking, terror and fear starting to overwhelm her.

A massive clanging, crunching sound rattled her teeth, so loudly that she managed to hear the sound over her own screams and the rushing of water as she flailed around. The jaws of the Lagiacrus suddenly loosened a bit, though, and a whine of pain echoed from inside the leviathan's gullet, but the monster tightened its grip on her once again, its teeth digging in even further than before. Ellie flailed even more, so much so that she didn't notice that her blade was striking against something that was not scales or plates, or that with her erratic breathing her air philter had begun peeling off her face, salty water starting to leak into her mouth.

Despite it all, the loud clanging and cracking sound continued, steadily pounding into her ears as Ellie struggled against the Lagiacrus. Coughing and gasping replaced her breathing as more and more of the bay water began to slide through the sides of the philter. Ellie's mind was almost completely drowned out by terror and pain as she fangs dug into her arm, tearing roughly through the remains of the shield, now torn and bent like a cast around her arm. Then a particularly sickening and tearing sound reached her ears, like the sound of a butchers knife through Aptonoth meat, and suddenly the fangs of the Lagiacrus released her, a howling rattling her head as the Lagiacrus screeched in pain.

Then she was getting yanked through the water by a firm grip on her shoulder. She continued to struggle against the force, however, still horrified of dying. Then the mask was ripped off her face and she screamed, hacking violently as a rush of sea water rushed out of her lungs, spilling onto the sand. Instinctively she twisting over, trying desperately to get away from the water, swinging harshly at the hand that grabbed at her. But the grip held, and despite her swings and kicks, she couldn't break away.

Then she realized that her name was being called, and she finally began to look around wildly, in search of the source. She finally noticed that Levin was crouched over her with a worried look on his face, his hands firmly holding onto her shoulders firmly, calling out her name in an attempt to calm her down. Her breathing began to calm a little at the sight, but her breath caught in her throat as the pains in her arm returned in full force. She nearly sobbed as she looked down at the injury, torn flesh and muscle covered by a bright flow of blood, staining also the torn and bent remains of the iron shield.

A ripping sound caught her ears as pain made her clench her eyes shut, and suddenly a tight cinching bit into her arm, piercing just barely through the painful fang holes in her arm. The tight feeling continued down her arm, up to the edge of the ruined shield. A cold feeling pressed against her lips and she coughed as a bittersweet liquid slid down her throat. As abruptly as the pain had struck, it slid away as a wave of numbness washed over her. She blinked slowly, finally calmed down again under the effects of the potion Levin had no doubt given her.

"You alright?" Levin asked, panic seeping into his voice with worry. "Oh, jeez. Ellie, please. Are you…"

"I'm… I'm fine, I…" Ellie winced as a spike of pain tore up her arm despite the effects of the numbing potion. She looked down at her arm, and realized that her injury had been wrapped by Levin, using his own armor as gauze; his yellow coat was missing the entire right arm. She awkwardly waved her sword around in front of her, noting how dented and dull it was. "I can't… my shield is… the Lagiacrus destroyed it."

Levin grimaced at the sight, glancing back out to the bay, where the growling of the Lagiacrus could be heard. Ellie's eyes flashed over in fear, and she tried to push away from the water again in fear, desperate to get away. But a loud thump, followed by a grinding sound filled her ears, and she heard the Lagiacrus whine in pain and frustration. Ellie braved another look over to the bay towards the sound, and blinked in shock at the sight.

Somehow or another, the Lagiacrus was facedown in the sand bank leading up from the bay. The creature grunted in effort, pulling its face from the silt and shaking its head, spitting out the sand from its mouth wildly, before glaring at the two hunters again. A glow began to form in the back of its throat, and Ellie winced in fright as the creature pushed itself back away from them to get to a safe firing distance. But as it rushed away, its body suddenly tilted crossways, flipping the leviathan over sharply. The creature howled in surprise, twisting its body in an attempt to balance itself, but somehow the effort sent the creature careening through the bay, until it plowed headlong into the rocky bottom of the bay, sending a sickening crunch through the water.

Levin laughed wryly, earning a confused look from Ellie. "It can't swim anymore. I didn't think that would happen." When Ellie continued to look blankly at him, he motioned to the middle of the bay, where a large shape bobbed around in the water. It took Ellie a moment to realize that the thing was several yards of the monster's tail. "When it… had you, I just starting hitting it as much as I could, trying to get it to let go of you. During the whole thing, I actually cut through the rest of his tail. I think I broke off a few of those crystals on its back, too, but without its tail, I don't think it can swim very well."

After a moment, the great sword user pushed himself to his feet, a determined look on his face. "Stay here. You can't fight anymore, so… I'll go and fight it myself. Maybe I can get it to leave."

"No, wait!" Ellie cried, pushing herself up to her feet, wincing as she put pressure on her arm. "You can't fight it on your own! Even if it's having trouble swimming, you're just as beat up as me!"

"But I can still fight," Levin replied. "Your shield is gone, so you can't defend anymore. You can't do anything else right now…"

"No! I can… do something! Just… wait for me to think of something!"

"I can't. If we wait too long, it'll figure out how to swim right again, or some up on land and start destroying the village again. We can't let that happen." He paused for a moment before heading towards the water. "I'll be back, Ellie. I promise. We still… have things to talk about."

Ellie cursed, damning herself for not being able to help at all. The bent and tattered remains of her shield wrapped around her arm below the fang-torn parts of her arm, where bright red blood was seeping already through the yellow spongy material. She couldn't fight a Lagiacrus without a shield… she couldn't even replace the shield on her arm as it was, the twisted metal effectively wrapping fully around her arm, unable to be removed as it was. She doubted she could really even fire a bowgun properly with her hand so fully wrapped. But… her bowgun was still with the fishermen, and by the time she got back and recovered it… not to mention her ammo was out.

Her mind suddenly clicked with an idea and she gasped at the thought. She abruptly turned, sprinting down the beach despite the sound of clanging and roaring coming from the water next to her. With a leap, she hopped up the side of her house's remains, ignoring the pain in her body as she began tossing pieces of rubble left and right, desperately searching for what she sought. Then she spotted it: her storage chest sat half-buried under her overturned bed. Quickly she shoved the bed off, and flung the chest open, then began digging through.

Finally she found what she was looking for, her older bowgun, still dented and worn from the last hunt she'd used it on. But the parts were still in good shape, and everything had been cleaned the last time she'd used it. She quickly checked it over, and found everything shipshape, then she reached back in, tearing through the piles of goods and pulling out all the ammunition she could find, tossing it all into her ammo pouch, whatever she could find. A loud roar caught her attention, and she shook her head, taking what she had and rushing back to where she'd come from, slapping on another philter before diving into the water after Levin.

Pain filled her arm as the salt water bit into her wounds, but she ignored it, swimming through the water and catching sight of the massive Lagiacrus, with Levin close at hand. The great sword user had been right; the leviathan was quickly getting used to the water without its tail, but as before, with every lunge it tried to take, it almost lost its balance, allowing Levin time to attack once or twice before it was balanced. But the great sword user was worse for the wear, despite the Lagiacrus' handicap, his compounded wounds and the leviathan's strength getting the better of him.

Ellie nimbly slid several pierce rounds into the chamber, and as the creature lunged for Levin again, she fired, the rounds smashing into the creature's face, sending it careening off balance even further, running it into the sand again. Levin turned to stare in surprise, and Ellie shook her bowgun, showing him her idea. A worried look covered his face, but Ellie merely replied by snapping her bowgun around and firing another few Pierce rounds into the downed Lagiacrus' flank.

The creature snapped around, eyes burning in anger, and a snap of its head sent an orb of lightning at the bowgunner. Ellie felt energy shock her as the ball shot past, but managed to avoid getting hit dead on. The Lagiacrus then lunged forward, intent on running her down, but without its tail, it twisted in an awkward spin through the water, missing her completely, though the rush of water as it passed made her tumble for a bit. The creature howled in frustration as it turned around, trying to rush her again, but getting peppered with Pellet shots for its trouble, before missing her completely with its rush.

Levin was on it by now as it pushed itself away from the sand it had half-buried itself in again. The blade of his sword was damaged and dull, but the force of the sword smashing repeatedly into the creature's neck and head, dull or no, was enough to make the Lagiacrus cry out in pain. Ellie quickly slid a Crag shot into the chamber, one of the last few she still had. She aimed quickly as the monster took a few snaps at the great sword user, its neck snaking out it an attempt to get around Levin's sword, and fired, the force of the shot pushing her back through the water as the round sailed towards the beast. The shell impacted just below one of the monster's arms, before detonating in a violent eruption that sent the monster sprawling away, with a spray of sand and silt billowing out from the bottom of the bay.

Levin rushed in again to attack as Ellie loaded in another Crag round, but the Lagiacrus howled in rage, spinning its body around wildly and smashing into the great sword user, sending him slamming into the bed of the bay. The creature's enraged howling continued as its eyes landed on Ellie again and it bellowed in anger. Its body coiled, and Ellie braced herself to move, pushing herself through the water as the Lagiacrus tore through the water towards her.

But she wasn't fast enough, not this time. She almost avoided the impact, but the Lagiacrus had gotten used to swimming again mostly, and its aim proved true. Ellie managed to avoid getting hit full on, but as the creature slid past, her leg was caught by the creature's lightning spines, sending jagged gashes up her leg as well as a powerful surge of electricity. She screamed out in pain as searing energy shot through her, making her spasm for a moment, until the creature passed.

She gasped for breath, trying to breathe deeply through the air philter, but failed. She forced herself to roll over in the water and bring her bowgun to bear, spinning around to face the Lagiacrus before it could strike out at her again. But she gasped in shock; the creature was gone! It wasn't behind her anymore! No, wait… she cursed when she caught sight of the creature's legs, just as it finished pushing itself back onto land near the remains of her hut. Levin suddenly swam past her, and she followed close behind, desperate to catch the monster before it could do more damage to Boma Village.

She and Levin crested the water at almost the same time, pulling themselves from the bay to chase after the creature. But Ellie gasped in shock when she found herself face to face with the leviathan itself. It had tricked them! It had come onto land and waited for them to follow, in a place where it no longer had a handicap! She flinched, bringing her bowgun up to block desperately, as the beast's head snapped towards her, jaw wide.

A sickening crunch filled her ears and pain shot through her as the Lagiacrus sank its teeth down on the bowgun and her forearm, wood and iron rending and snapping as the creature's jaws snapped down on the weapon Ellie held. It teeth clanged and tore against the shield that still bent around her arm as well, the screech of bone-on-metal filling the air as the beast tried to gnaw away at the bowgun. Levin rushed forward as the Lagiacrus bit down, swinging his blade down at the creature's hide in an attempt to force it to release Ellie, but the monster simply shook a claw as him, knocking him back and leaving a long gash along his unarmored arm. Then it focused again on Ellie, shaking its head and trying to tear apart the bowgun.

The bowgun was ruined, Ellie knew, as she tried to wrench her arm out of the creature's grasp. Bits and pieces of it were shattered or broken, making the weapon worthless, even completely unable to be fixed. She felt despair seeping into her; this bowgun had been her last resort! Without it she… Damn it! She had all this ammo, and nothing to do with it.

Then the scars across the creature's face, the lingering strands of fiber and rope from the Pitfall Trap she'd shoved into its mouth caught her eye, and a last-ditch idea struck her. She twisted around with her other arm and ripped her ammo pouch off of her belt. As the creature bucked wildly, tearing against her shield and weapon, she pulled herself forward and shoved her entire pouch into the edge of the monster's mouth, forcing the bag into the creature's gullet. Then she pulled away again, and with a grunt of effort, pushed her shielded arm forward enough to find the trigger on the bowgun and pull it.

Thankfully, the bowgun's firing pins were still functional, and a click could be heard through the Lagiacrus' grumblings. The bow wasn't working, but a flash of flame leapt from the bolt of the weapon, indicating that the fuse of the round was lit. With a wrenching effort on Ellie's part, she managed to pry her arm from the creature's maw, tripping into the sand as the Lagiacrus pulled away victoriously, jaws tearing into the weapon wildly to destroy it. The bowgunner scurried across the sand, desperate to get away.

The blast of the Crag round was followed closely by the sound of the Lagiacrus howling in pain. Then a symphony of cracks and bangs, whistles and pops, erupted from the back of the Lagiacrus' throat. A screech of agony ripped from the monster's gullet as flashes of light, bursts of multicolored dust and liquid spraying from the monster's mouth as the flames of the Crag round caught and ignited the ammunition inside Ellie's pouch, detonating or activating all of them at once inside the Lagiacrus' throat.

Ellie gaped in awe as the fires and rounds continued, the monster swaying and screeching in pain. Then a round, a Pierce shot she thought, shot past her ear and she ducked in fright. Then Levin appeared next to her, swinging his great sword around and holding it between them and the monster just as a wave of Pellets and sleep goop smacked against the bone of the weapon. The Lagiacrus' howls of pain continued for what seemed like forever as the dozens and dozens of rounds that Ellie had randomly throawn into her pouch continued to go off.

Finally the sounds of detonations ceased to a halt, only every once and a while a pop or snapping sound coming from the other side of the great sword stuck firmly in the sand. Levin turned around, glancing around the side of the corner with Ellie close behind. The Lagiacrus still stood, though Ellie didn't know how. But it was almost completely still, neck just barely swaying in the breeze. Its eyes bore into them, burning hatred clear in its stare. Remains of the bowgun hung from its mouth, blackened from the explosion, with most of it scattered on the ground in pieces. Its mouth snapped open and the spines on its back began to glow as a deep blue light began to emanate from the back of the creature's throat. Levin pulled Ellie closer, hugging her tight behind his blade to block off the coming blast of lightning.

But the shot never came. After several moment, Ellie looked again around the edge of the sword, and the light in the creature's throat had dimmed, and its eyes had glazed over, though its gaze still was directed directly at the two hunters. Then the sand beneath one of its claws gave way, and the monster tumbled over, neck and head slamming into the soft sand of the beach. The Lagiacrus gave off one last groan, its whitening eyes landing on Ellie for a moment, and then the bright red eyes slid shut, and the sound of the creature's breathing slowed to a halt.

The two hunters stared at the large corpse for a long moment, before the two of them dropped onto their back, finally allowing themselves to let weariness and injury overcome them. All Ellie could do was gasp for breath as the weight of her injuries began to overwhelm her; the bite marks across her arm and the tears in flesh on her legs, capped off by the fear of constant attack over the last few days had left her completely depleted. Levin wasn't much better, his gasping somewhat raspy as a hand clenched his chest.

"Is it over?" a timid voice behind them asked nervously. Ellie craned her neck around, catching sight of one of the town's local dockworkers behind her, carrying a massive metal great sword behind him. Others were close behind, makeshift armor over their shoulders, as well as various hunting weapons that Ellie imagined had been taken from Silph or Sophie's shop. Actually, Silph was there, too, she realized, bearing his massive smithy hammer over his shoulder and poorly-fitting leather armor over his body.

"It's… it's done," Levin coughed, trying to get to his feet again. But immediately, a few of the villagers were next to him, helping him up and holding him steady. Another body appeared over Ellie, and she glanced up to find Mel crouching next to her, a worried look in her eye as the Guild rep glanced her over. Mel grinned at her encouragingly though, and Ellie grinned back tiredly.

"Move I said. Move!" Ellie blinked as the sound of Orson's voice echoed over the murmur of the crowd around them. Shuffling from the side could be heard, the sound of the small crowd parting as the doctor hurried through. He stopped between the two of them, his sharp eyes darting around and scanning their injuries with a shrewd eye. He grimaced and sighed.

"Damn you two," he groaned. His eyes were filled with worry, but he grinned at the two of them. "Damn it all. How am I supposed to get angry with the two of you if you go and save the village getting yourself so beat up? You're really something else you two. Come on now, folks. We need to get these two to the hospital as quickly as we can."

Suddenly from the other side of the crowd, a loud series of gasps and screams leapt from the throats of several of the villagers. Ellie and Levin glanced up in confusion at the sound, both of them trying to push themselves to their feet to rush to the villagers' aid. Ellie felt a shock of terror shoot through her. Had the voice that haunted Levin's dreams send something else, something bigger or nastier? Ellie almost felt like sobbing; she didn't think she could do much more before she passed out.

But before the two hunters could rush to the other side of the crowd to do anything to help, however, Ellie found herself shoved back to the ground by Orson. She tried to get to her feet again, stubbornly growling at the doctor, but the man stared her down just as strongly in return, holding her down. "You've done enough," he said sternly. "Let the town guard take it from here, you two. If it was something nasty, we would have heard it coming long ago."

With that the doctor got to his feet, just as the crowd parted behind him. Ellie and Levin both gasped in surprise. Through the crowd marched Marshall, fully dressed in his deep blue Lagiacrus armor. But the sight of the old hammer user wasn't what caught the two Lost hunters off guard, but rather it was the older hunter's current appearance. The two hunters were used to seeing Marshall in pristine armor, standing tall above most of the other villagers, but that wasn't how the older hunter appeared before them now.

Massive gouges from unknown claws ripped across Marshall's bright Lagi chest plate, ruining the shining scales that made up the plates. Deep punctures in the armor lined the hammer user's left shoulder in a broad semicircle, clearly the lingering mark of some powerful monster's jaws, clamped firmly down on the hunter; there were even some shattered teeth still embedded in the armor, sticking out of the holes in the armor. Huge swaths of singe marks coated the hunter's armor as well, blackening Marshall's armor to a dull sooty color, and Ellie saw that the few cracks or holes in the armor showed burned skin. The hunter's hammer hung loosely from his hand, and the hammer user was limping heavily. Ellie thought the older hunter's right leg seemed twisted at an odd angle, and dark dried blood was caked over his foot. Actually, Ellie realized that there was a lot of blood covering several points on the hammer user's body.

"Oh damn," Orson breathed in shock. "What the hell happened to you?"

"Doesn't… doesn't matter right now," Marshall replied. Ellie could absolutely hear the older hunter's pain in his voice, and wondered how damaged the old man really was. "I heard it. I… I heard a Lagiacrus roaring. It's close! I have to fight it off before… before it destroys the village. I have to!"

"No, you don't," Orson replied quickly, striding forward towards the older hunter. "The Lagiacrus is dead, Marshall. Your two apprentices managed to kill it not long ago. Right now, you need to get to the hospital before you bleed out! What the hell did all this to you?"

"They… they killed it?" Marshall muttered painfully, staring in confusion at the two Lost hunters. "That's… that good. I… the monsters, they just wouldn't stop coming. I managed to get… get away from the Lagiacrus that attacked the ship, and got to shore. Landed… north of the… the village. There were… monsters everywhere. Just kept coming. It was just Jaggis and Qurupeco at the start, but… then it was Royal Ludroth and Gobul, and they all kept coming in groups. It was like… like they were… gunning for me and me alone… like I was a target, and everything within distance wanted me dead. Like… like they were being sent after me…"

Ellie shot a worried look at Levin, whose face fell in terror. The two of them knew already what had happened. Marshall had been targeted by the voice just like she and Levin had, but he'd been alone and without his potions out in the wilds with the monsters hunting him.

"I was able to fight them all off… but… but north of here… a Rath pair attacked, a pair of mated wyverns showed up, both of them… after my blood." Marshall grunted in pain and nearly dropped to his knees, but somehow kept himself upright. "I couldn't… couldn't get them to run! I tried to… tried to scare them away but, but they wouldn't… couldn't leave. Something held them there! Like they were chained down! Collared! Every time they tried to run, they'd… spasm in pain and attack again.

"I had to kill them," Marshall muttered. Ellie realized as the hunter paused that the entire crowd was dead silent. They'd heard hunting stories before, Ellie had no doubt. None like this one though. They were used to hearing tales of valor and bravery, even ones they knew were obvious exaggerations, but never ones like the one Marshall was telling them now. "People tell me that… that I'm a good hunter. But those two Raths… they, they were so fierce, and… and I didn't have anything to heal myself with. All my things were… still on the ship we left Echo Village on, and… I was so tired from the swim to shore. I had to… leave them dying behind me before making my way back towards Boma. I could… could hear the roars already. I had to get back.

"But I can't stop," he said sternly, pushing himself straight again. "There's monsters in the town, and I can't stop. Not until…"

"Hold it right there," Orson said, grabbing hold of the hammer user's arm as he turned to deal with the monsters in town. "None of you hunters are in any condition to do anything right now. The really bad monster is good and dead. The town guard can clean up the rest from here."

"You can't!" the older hunter argued. "Now listen here, I can't just…"

"No, _you_ listen!" Orson growled, grabbing Marshall by his shoulder plates. Ellie gasped in surprise when, with a single fluid motion, the doctor twisted his body around, bringing the older hunter up and around, dropping him down onto the ground with a loud thump that seemed to shake the earth. The hammer user wheezed as the air got knocked out of him, the doctor grabbing him by the armor's collar and pulling his head up to meet the man eye to eye.

"Listen, you stubborn, foolish man," Orson growled angrily. "Despite your hunting skill, despite your years of experience, you are not immortal. You have suffered injuries that would kill most men, and you're trying to keep going? Not on my watch. Yes, there are monsters trying to get through our town's wall, but they're only ankle-biters. Our town guard can handle it."

"I've got to… I've got to protect the city," the older hunter muttered. "It's up to me to…"

"Your duty is to continue hunting monsters for Boma, Marshall, yes I'll give you that. But _my_ duty is to keep you alive to do so. And I will do whatever is necessary to make certain that that happens. So I'm going to make this unerringly clear for you. You are going to come with me back to the hospital, or so help me, I will _tear off your legs and drag you back in pieces_!"

"You… you're a doctor. You can't…"

"I can do whatever it takes if it will heal you, you damnable hunter! Oh, don't you worry, I'll reattach the legs later. But until then, I'll take you apart if that's what it takes to put you back together!"

Then the doctor snapped a glare at the two Lost hunters and the pair of them cringed in fear. "Do I need to do anything to convince the two of you?" The two of them quickly shook their heads, and Orson nodded solemnly. "Good. Now, someone help me get these three idiots to the hospital."

Immediately from the crowd, a group of six leapt forward to help. Ellie found herself being lifted to her feet by Mel, who was looking between the three hunters worriedly. As soon as she was up though, the blood loss and pain from her wounds seemed to hit her all at once, and she felt herself grow dizzy and felt as though she would collapse again. Mel kept her up, though, and helped her through the crowds as the villagers began working their own ways through the new piles of rubble, trying to find the remains of their possessions.

Ellie looked around uneasily, wondering how long it would take for the town to return to normal as she and Levin were carried back towards the medical hut.

* * *

Ellie sighed uneasily as she looked over to the tall white cloth walls that Orson had erected around the bed that Marshall currently occupied. The other infirmed villagers in the medical hut were looking at the makeshift room nervously as well, clear worry in their eyes. The doctor and a pair of nurses had been working for the last few hours trying to fix up the old hammer user, and the room was completely silent besides the occasional clink of metal or the focused whisper from the other side of the curtain.

Levin was conscious again, finally, though barely. Ellie had been worried when Orson had been forced to ignore the great sword user in order to look after the older hunter's injuries. He'd left a younger medic to patch up Ellie and her partner in order to see after Marshall's healing, and even though the young woman had done a good job stitching up Ellie's injuries, she wished Orson would have been able to do it himself. But the great sword user seemed to be looking a little better, despite the massive wraps of bandages circling his torso and arms. His dislocated arm had been relocated as well, slipped back into place by the medic; the reinsertion into the socket had been what had pushed the great sword user over the edge into unconsciousness.

Ellie's own injuries had been tended to as well, though the look of shock on the medic's face when she'd uncovered the wound on her leg and arm had been less than encouraging. She'd done what she could, though, even if she'd had to leave a majority of the work for Orson to finish later. Her leg still felt as though hot pins were digging their way through her muscles and her arm was no better, but knowing that she'd probably be able to keep hunting was encouraging, even if Orson wasn't the one saying it.

Levin seemed to be coming out of the daze that whatever painkillers the medic had given him were wearing off, since his eyes seemed to be focusing again. He glanced lazily over to Ellie once he caught sight of her. "Is… the old guy fixed yet?"

Ellie shook her head sadly. "No, not yet. They've been working on him ever since we got here… but… Orson didn't look happy with his injuries. I don't… I don't know if he's going to…"

Suddenly everyone in the room jumped as a pair of the tall white curtains swished open, and Orson quickly strode out of the cordoned off area, followed closely by the pair of nurses that had been inside with him. The doctor was wiping blood off his hands with a towel. Ellie could just barely make out Marshall from behind the screen as one of the nurses closed the screen behind them, but for all she could see, the older hunter was almost completely coated in bandages from head to toe. Small spots of blood dotted the pristine white wrappings that surrounded his body.

Orson turned and whispered quietly to one of the nurses that was next to him, the two of them speaking in a very concerned and focused way. Finally, though, they seemed to reach a conclusion, and Ellie saw both the doctor and the nurse seem to sigh in relief. Then the doctor glanced around the room, seeing all the faces looking between him and the separated area in curiosity and worry. "Don't worry folks," he said with a grin. "He'll live, and probably be back in action in… well, I'll be honest. It'll be a few months I'm afraid, but he'll pull through."

A collective held breath seemed to be released as the people in the hospital sighed in relief, glad to hear that Marshall was going to pull through. The doctor grinned at the knowledge that the villagers had been calmed down before his eyes landed on the two Lost hunters and he quickly made his way over to the pair of them.

"Good to see the pair of you looking… well," he said to them. "I see the rookie fixed you up to the best of her abilities. Not bad work, actually. I'll have to have one of the nurses put on the wrappings a little better when they get changed later today."

"Thanks," Ellie muttered. "So Marshall is…"

"He'll live," Orson replied. "Hell of a mess he came back in, I'll tell you that much. Broken bones everywhere, first and second degree burns, pulled muscles, a decent amount of Rath poison flowing in his veins, and a dislocated jaw to cap it all off."

"He had a dislocated jaw?" Ellie asked. "He was talking really normally when he got back to Boma. I'd have thought that would've made him talk funny."

Orson chuckled sheepishly at the remark. "Actually, that one was my fault. He got a little… rowdy when I was dragging him back here, so I had to convince him to calm down a little."

"Holy crap…" Ellie muttered. "A little overkill, don't you think? Especially for a wounded man?"

"Oh, he had it coming, trying to shrug off medical attentions," Orson shrugged. "I'm actually pretty impressed he managed to survive all those monster attacks, even with all his experience with hunting. Though considering the messes he's come back in before and lived through, I suppose it isn't that surprising that he's still kicking. It'll still be some time before he's well enough to leave, though."

Levin chuckled, his voice slurring a little under the influence of the drugs pumping through his system. "I don't think you'll be able to convince him to stay, once he decides he's healed enough."

"Yeah, I know," Orson shrugged. "But then, that's what the Blue Casket is for."

Ellie blinked. "Wait, the what? The Blue _Casket_?"

"Oh, that's right," Orson laughed. "I guess you guys haven't been around long enough to see that thing. It's a specially ordered… ah, well, it's essentially a cage built to keep Marshall from moving around too much when he _should_ be recovering from his wounds. You'd be surprised the demand hospitals have for things like it in major hunting cities like Loc Lac. Seems a lot of hunters don't like holding still, even when they _should_ be getting bed rest." Both times Orson said should, he emphasized the words, shooting intentional glares at Levin, who seemed to shrink away sheepishly.

"So, you're essentially chaining him down?"

"Pretty much," Orson nodded. "It's made of a rare metal called Carbalite, which is harder than steel, and a dark blue color which we got the name from. Good thing, too. We tried iron, but he tore that one apart when he decided that he didn't want to be hospitalized anymore. So we got a better metal. That's the best way to keep him from moving around too much short of doping him into oblivion, and that's rarely a good idea."

"What if he still tries to get out?" Levin asked.

"I get to see how many needles it takes to put him under," Orson replied, a wicked grin on his face.

"That seems… harsh," Ellie said. "Aren't doctors supposed to… you know, take the Hippocratic Oath or something?"

"The what? Oh, right, that thing. Levin mentioned it before you showed up in Boma, once when I was tending to a broken arm of his. Interesting concept, but highly ineffective when it comes to dealing with hunters. Trust me, I know. When it comes to hunters, you've got to have a firm hand, especially when it comes to making sure that they get their rest."

"That's… horrifying," Ellie muttered.

Orson chuckled. "I suppose it is, considering. But just let that be a lesson for you to remember. Don't mess with hunter's doctors. In order to keep up with you hunters, we tend to be just as tough, if not more so, then you."

Suddenly, one of the nurses rushed over to Orson, panting heavily. "Doctor, the sedatives are wearing off. He's trying to get out again. We think he may have broken am arm snapping out of the leather restraints."

"Oh, damn that man," Orson grumbled, glowering. "Tell someone to get the Casket, now. It seems we're going to need it a lot sooner than I'd hoped. Come on then, let's convince him to stay down once more."

As Orson disappeared behind the curtains again to check up on Marshall, a loud clattering sound echoing from behind it, Ellie leaned back a little into her pillow, the weight of several days of constant work weighing down on her. Right now, she really wanted nothing more than to sleep for the next few days. She wished she was back in her own bed, these hospital cots being pretty uncomfortable, but she knew Orson would lay down the law on her if she tried to get away from the medical hut before…

"Psst. Hey Ellie! How're you feeling?"

Ellie blinked in surprise and turned, catching sight of Mel slinking through the entrance towards her bed, sending sideways glances over the nurses as they went around between the other wounded villagers in the room. She held a finger to her lips to silence the bowgunner as she opened her mouth to ask the Guild rep what was up, effectively silencing her with curiosity. When the nurse turned to work her way to the other side of the room, Mel quickly scurried over to the side of the two hunters' beds.

"Good to see you, um, alright," she said with a grin. "People are going to be glad that the villager's big heroes of the day are going to be all right. You… _are_ going to be alright aren't you?"

"We'll be fine," Ellie nodded. "Orson says we'll be up and moving again in a few weeks at the latest. Well, Levin here might take a little longer, but he'll live."

"Good to hear," Mel grinned. A sly grin covered the Guild rep's face and she shot another look over to the nurse, whose back was still facing the other way. "So… are the two of you able to move around any at all?"

"I could probably walk around a little bit, though I'm not fond of moving around on my left leg. Levin's arms are both broken, but I think he could walk a ways if he needed to… why?"

"Because the villagers would very much like to thank the two of you for saving their village. Right now they're collecting everything they need for a big ol' party. Aptonoth meats, lots of fish, and of course as much beer as we can find, not to mention some fancy wines a few villagers buy off the merchants. All we need now is the guests of honor, and that's why I'm here."

"Bad juju," Levin muttered numbly.

"No kidding," Ellie agreed. "I don't know if you saw Orson's little show earlier, but I'm pretty sure he'd take us apart if we so much as considered leaving without his consent. And I'm pretty sure he'd rather the two of us not leave for much of anything for at least a week or two."

"And that's why we're sneaking the two of you out," Mel grinned, motioning quickly towards the door. Immediately a small cluster of people, a good half dozen including Sophie from the armor store and several of the Lost hunters' neighbors and friends, hurried through the doors towards the pair of hunters, broad grins on their faces as they slunk over towards the infirmed two.

"Uh, I don't, I don't think we'll really be able to do much," Ellie said nervously, glancing over to the white curtain. If that curtain flipped open… "Maybe we should just stay."

"Not a chance," a young man next to Mel laughed. Ellie recognized him as one of Silph's apprentices. "If we wait too long, all the beer in town will be gone, and we can't party without that! That's why we want the both of you out there tonight, while everyone's still in the partying mood, right?"

"But…"

"Now stop your excuses, Miss Ellie," Mel shushed her. The Guild rep leaned forward and lowered her voice to a whisper. "I know that you're really worried about your partner over there, right Ellie?"

Ellie felt herself redden a little and the Guild rep grinned a little. "I thought as much. Don't worry, though. The villagers all saw how beat up the three of you were after the fight, and they know not to push you too much. If all else fails, we've convinced one of the off-duty nurses to keep an eye on the two of you. The village just wants to… borrow the two of you from Orson for a little while. With Marshall in the condition he's in, that's good for an hour or two before the guy notices. When he comes for the two of you, you can just tell him we kidnapped the both of you."

Ellie squeaked in surprise as Sophie and one of her neighbors pulled her out of her bed to her feet before she had the chance to argue any further. Levin was being pulled along close behind her, one of the tagalongs was wrapping a sling around the great sword user's broken arm and making sure the hunter's other arm was properly cinched. Neither of the hunters were enjoying the jostling, though, and both were wincing in pain as the group hustled them out the doors. But Levin was laughing with a slurred laugh, clearly enjoying himself, and Ellie couldn't help but smile as well as the group of them nervously laughed as they made for the door.

In a few moments, the two hunters and their… "entourage," were out the door and working their way back towards the center of town. A few people they passed on the way called out to them when they saw that Ellie and Levin were in the group, yelling out congratulations and thanks to the pair. Many were standing near the ruined houses and huts that had been destroyed by the Lagiacrus, but even as they were picking their way through the rubble in search of anything that could be recovered, the adults all seemed to be carrying glasses of one type of alcohol or another, and they all had excited or good humored grins on their faces. Ellie had to admit she was impressed with the villagers. Those that had lost their homes were all celebrating survival rather than mourning their loss.

As the two hunters were pretty much carried into the town square, Ellie's mouth gaped in shock at the sight before her. Nearly the entire town was there, it seemed, filling the normally nice and spacious market to the brim with people. Large bonfires dotted the area, all of them roasting massive slabs of Aptonoth meat over them; and those were obviously the second or third rounds, as long tables were filled with villagers chowing down on meat that had been cooked already. Large tankards and barrels had been rolled down to the square as well, and a horde of people surrounded the makeshift bar, all of them grinning and laughing with each other. Felynes could be seen scurrying through the crowds as well, carrying packs of Felvyne and other goods, just as ready to celebrate as anyone else.

Most astonishingly, however, was the sight of the massive Lagiacrus corpse. Apparently, the villagers had gathered together to drag the creature's body out of the bay, burned up head and all. Then they'd managed to prop the thing up on a series of stakes, propping it up and over the Guild booth like a giant blue trophy. A small crowd had gathered around the body of the monster, staring up in awe at the leviathan's corpse. Ellie blinked in surprise at the three fishermen sitting at the booth under the monstrous body, Joshua waving his arms and looking like he was telling an over-elaborate tale of the attack on the fishing skiff while Calvert and Marcus laughed next to him.

A cheer of approval met the two hunters as people realized that the pair of them had made it to the party. Ellie and Levin couldn't help but find themselves grinning as the people around them congratulated them and thanked them for saving their village. Levin was sobering up a little from the drugs when a couple plates filled with food seemed to materialize out of thin air right in front of them, and the two dug in eagerly, glad that they wouldn't have to feed off of hospital food for at least one meal.

Not long after, the villagers, obviously impatient to hear the two hunters' version of the fight, began to cluster around the pair, begging to hear the story of the fight and the perilous journey they took from the shipwreck back to the village. There were a couple of villagers that had braved getting close enough to the bay to watch their Lagi fight, but they wanted to hear Ellie and Levin's side of the story. Levin was still pretty woozy from the drugs Orson was offered him to dull the pain from his injuries, so Ellie had to be the one that started off the tale. Levin put his two cents in every now and then as well, though it was slurred and uncertain.

But the audience gasped and cheered at all the right times, all the same. The lot of them were on the edges of their seats as Ellie recited the tale. She was really too tired to try and elaborate at all, but it didn't seem to matter at all, the story holding the villagers' attentions tightly. The people that the pair of them had grown to know and care for hung onto their every word, laughing in excitement and joking with the pair when the two of them described their mistakes, and wincing when they described their injuries. Of course, she skimmed over Levin's discussion about the voices he'd been hearing in his head.

The villagers around them cheered as Ellie finished the tale, with her bowgun firing explosive rounds down the Lagiacrus' throat before the shells detonated inside the creature's gut. The folks grinned and laughed, pointing to the massive bloody hole that covered the chest of the massive leviathan hanging over the Guild booth. Ellie stood up, hoping that she could convince Levin to get back to the hospital before Orson caught on that they were gone, but before she could go far, another wave of different locals rushed forward, begging to hear the story of their journey themselves. Ellie suppressed a sigh as she found herself surrounded in a moment.

This… was going to be a longer night than she'd wanted it to be. She had hoped that something more interesting would happen tonight, but it looked like she'd just be spending it telling the Lagi story over and over. She hoped she'd be able to get Levin back to the hospital before his injuries got worse.

* * *

Music played behind the great sword user as he sat at the end of one of Boma's remaining pier, staring idly out into the ocean. There was still some rubble and broken planks from the Lagiacrus' attack floating around out there, bumping idly into the pillars holding up the dock Levin stood on, a constant reminder of how much damage the Lagiacrus had managed to cause before he and Ellie had managed to bring the creature down. But despite the loud laughter and cheering of the villagers behind him, Levin was wincing in pain and groaning, and not from the pain of the wound on his arm.

_It called the creatures against you! They killed each other to escape the compulsion! It must be found and slaughtered! Its power must be snuffed out!_

_It's targeting Ellie. Would she have survived so long if you hadn't been there? You kept her from drowning, after the Lagiacrus attacked the skiff. You must stay close to her and keep her alive!_

_Kill the beast that hunts her! That will keep her safe permanently!_

_It's not worth the risk! You'll leave her open!_

"Shut up, shut up, shut up…" Levin muttered. "Please just be quiet…"

The whispers in his head had returned in full force since the pair of hunters and the three fishermen had been forced to skirt the edges of the massive Jaggi nest. The whispers had been just barely audible just after he had woken up this morning, but after seeing the three Jaggi packs tearing each other apart, all because of the voice that had been haunting him, forcing them into doing what they didn't want to. The whispers had only gotten louder when the maddened Lagi had attacked Boma Village, and when Ellie had nearly lost her arm to the sea serpent's jaws.

Orson's attempt at making a morphine substitute had dulled the arguing between the two voices for the short time the two hunters had been in the village's medical hut, before Mel had managed to drag to two away to the celebration. But after eating and laughing with the villagers, having fun telling them about the trek they'd taken (with some help from the three fishermen), the voices had come back along with the pain as the effect of Orson's drug had worn off.

The great sword user glanced idly down to a mug that one of the villagers had passed to him, filled to the brim with foaming beer. At the moment, he wanted more than anything to down the damn thing, but as soon as the drink had been passed to him, he had… _sensed_ Ellie's eyes on him, daring him to give her an excuse to get on him about drinking while injured again. The man had been persistent about the great sword user taking his gift though, so he'd grudgingly accepted. The man was a little too inebriated to tell that Levin wasn't really drinking what he'd been given.

Still, the thought of drowning the whispers in alcohol was tempting enough to make Levin almost willing to risk receiving Ellie and Orson's anger to dull the two voices' arguing…

"You doing okay out here?" Ellie's voice said softly behind him.

Or not. Levin turned, a rueful grin crossing his face for a moment as he turned to face his partner. He wondered if the fates or something else out there was mocking him for some reason. Just at the sight of her, the calmer whispering voice in his head, the one that was more concerned with Ellie's well-being, got progressively louder and louder, quickly overpowering the other, more violent one. Levin had to pause for a moment and force the voice down a little before he could reply.

"Yeah, I'm fine enough," he replied with a grin. "How about you? Your arm still hurting? How's your leg holding up?"

"I'm alright," she answered, sitting down next to him and wiggling her shoulders. "I'm more concerned about you, though. Broken ribs, broken arms, bite marks all over you… honestly, I'm surprised you were willing to brave Orson's wrath to come out here to celebrate. Lagiacrus be damned, hearing Orson threaten Marshall with paraplegia was the scariest thing I did today. I imagine he's not going to be kind to you when you head back to the medical hut."

There was silence for a moment between the two. "Any more dreams or voices recently?" she asked quietly.

"Some," Levin admitted. "They've gotten quieter recently. Most of it's vague enough that it's probably only my own mind, or the result of whatever drugs Orson gave me."

"You're certain?" Ellie asked. "I don't mean to pester, but it just seems like anything you dream could be important."

"Maybe so," Levin admitted, "but I guess that any dreams from the… whatever, have a bit more impact than normal ones. Trust me, I'd remember them." He shivered slightly at the memory, and Ellie was kind enough to turn away.

After a moment of silence, Levin's mind began to flicker back to their whole journey north. He felt his face warm a little as he suddenly recalled the… discussion the pair of them were having just before the Lagiacrus had attacked. He glanced over to his partner, and saw her gazing out to sea. The great sword user found himself staring at her, flinching when her eyes flickered back over to him. She opened her mouth once as though she wanted to say something, but closed it again quickly after.

He tried to well up his courage. He'd waited long enough to tell Ellie how he felt. If today was any indication, their lives were short enough, and working as hunters only made it worse. He wasn't going to let his time run out, threat of the voice or no. He shook himself, determined to follow through, and…

"So I owe you one, then," Ellie said finally, and Levin sighed a little. So much for his courage. Hunting bloodthirsty monsters was easy, but this? "You saved my life yesterday. Kept me from drowning with CPR. I guess that deserves a reward of some kind."

"Some men may consider the CPR itself a reward in itself," Levin grinned halfheartedly.

"Jerk," Ellie laughed. "I can make that your reward if you want me to, but personally I'd ask for more."

Admittedly, Levin's first few thoughts had been very similar to what he'd told Ellie. He'd considered for a moment to make his reward along those same lines, but, though he was almost certain Ellie would allow it, he was still afraid of how she'd react. Damn his fear of denial! He was fairly certain she liked him, but with what he'd told her late yesterday about the dreams and about the voices, how could he ever expect her to…

No. Just… no. No more doubts.

"Screw it," he muttered.

Ellie gave him a confused look. "What do you mean…"

Levin leaned forward, not allowing himself to lose his nerve, swinging his hand behind Ellie's head and pulling the bowgunner towards him. To his satisfaction, his partner released a surprised squeak as he pulled her towards him, and her eyes widened in a stunned expression. Any beating he might receive for doing this would be worth it for the look she'd had. Without waiting any longer, he pressed his lips against hers.

Warmth seeped through him as kissed her, pressing himself closer to her as he enjoyed the moment. Damn, but why hadn't he done this earlier? But with a sudden realization, he realized that Ellie had tensed up, and he quickly let her go. His heart sank a little when he saw her face, covered in some expression he couldn't seem to read.

"Sorry," he muttered dejectedly. "I guess… I guess I got a little carried away there. You should… you should just forget about that. Maybe I should just head back to the hut and…"

"Wait," Ellie cut in. "We're unbalanced."

Levin frowned. "We're what?"

"I told you that I owed you for saving my life. I was wrong. Remember our first Gobul fight? I saved your life there when you almost drowned."

"Oh yeah," Levin replied, scratching his head. "I'd forgotten about that. What, uh, what does that mean, then?"

"It means that you did something that you didn't earn. I said that you had earned a reward, but I was wrong. I saved your life first, then you saved mine, so we were even, until you… kissed me. Then we became uneven again."

Levin's heart sank even further at Ellie's words. He'd been hoping that Ellie would be receptive to his feelings, but somehow he must've completely misinterpreted her feelings. He hung his head sadly. "What… what can I do to make it up to you?"

"You have to give me something of equal value to what you took."

"Like what?" Levin asked. "I'll give you or do whatever you want me to…"

Ellie's arms suddenly wrapped around Levin's neck, pulling his head towards her. A sly, victorious smirk covered her face. "In that case, this will have to do."

Levin felt as though he was going to melt when his partner pulled him in to another kiss, this one far deeper and more intense than Levin had dared to risk. The great sword user was sure that the water below Ellie and him must have been heating up under them as his surprise wore off and he pressed forward, pushing even further against her, hands reaching behind her head to hold onto her. His worries, his fears, his doubts vanished as Ellie pulled him tighter.

Levin would have been perfectly content to stay as he was until sunrise, but a sudden laugh and a wolf-whistle from the end of the dock caught their attention. The two hunters pulled away from each other so quickly, Levin almost slid off the side of the pier into the ocean water. A wave of laughter echoed from the shoreline as the two Lost, beet red from embarrassment, turned to face the laughter.

"No, don't stop on our account!" the familiar voice of Mel floated over the sound of laughing. Sure enough, the red-dressed Guild rep stood in the middle of six or seven villagers, waving, all of them laughing or jeering at the two embarrassed hunters at the end of the pier. But luckily for them, Mel quickly began to shoo the group of them away from the docks, sending a final wink at the pair before chasing the villagers around the corner.

There was a moment of silence between the two hunters, before the both of them started laughing between themselves. Somehow or another the embarrassment of the whole situation began to fade as the two of them laughed, until finally the sound died away into silence and the two just sat on the pier next to each other.

"You asked me on the fishing skiff how I really felt about you," Levin said with a grin. "Does that answer your question well enough?"

"Pretty well," Ellie smiled, face coloring a little. She scooted a little closer to the great sword user and leaned against his shoulder, staring up at him. "But I'd like to hear you say it. Words to compliment the actions, you understand. Clarify for me, won't you, Mister Levin?"

The great sword user chuckled and leaned down until the two's faces were practically touching. "Very well. I love you, Ellie, more so than anything else. Does that clear things up for you?"

"I guess so," Ellie grinned.

"Do I get a confirmation of my own, Miss Ellie?"

"If you like," Ellie replied. "I love you, Levin. And I plan on keeping you for myself as long as I possibly can."

Levin laughed as the bowgunner leaned up and kissed him again. Joy poured through him when she'd said the words, the remainder of his worries vanishing like smoke. Then he tilted his head thoughtfully, something Ellie said catching his attention. "What do you mean you want to keep me to yourself? I'm not exactly a believer in polygamy, Miss Ellie, so why would you point that out? It's not like I've got any other ladies lining up to spend time with me or anything."

Ellie grinned at him and patted his shoulder. "You're a dense one, aren't you?"

"Hey!"

"Maybe that's good news for me, though. If your ability to understand women is any indication, should some other woman tries to catch your eye, any efforts will go completely over your head short of them hopping into your lap and humping vigorously."

"I'm not _that_ dense," Levin muttered.

"But you don't deny being dense?" Ellie teased.

"I never claimed to be a perceptive man."

"No, I guess not," Ellie laughed. "Luckily for me."

As Ellie gazed up at him, an amused smile on her face, Levin felt a compelling urge to kiss her again. He leaned down, snapping a quick glance over to the dock to make sure no villagers were nearby, then pressed his lips against hers again. Good lord, but did he love the feeling! It was especially satisfying to feel Ellie pulling herself closer, her warmth seeping though him as they…

"I don't care if they're the town heroes! I don't care if you think 'they'd like some privacy right now!' Even if they'd just saved the damn village from a dozen Lagis and just as many Raths, I'd still demand that those two idiots get fully healed before they dared to leave my hospital!"

"Crap!" both hunters cursed at the sound of Orson's voice. This time when the two hunters pulled apart, it was in fear rather than embarrassment. The sound of Mel's voice appeared again, this time in a pleading tone of voice rather than a teasing one. Immediately the pair were on their feet, Ellie grabbing Levin under the arm trying to steady him as the great sword user hobbled his way down the dock, wincing with every step. However, before they could get to the end of the dock, the doctor rounded the corner, a blazing look in his eyes, with Mel close behind. The Guild rep gave the two hunters an apologetic look as the doctor stalked over to them.

"There you are," Orson growled. Levin noticed that one of the man's hands was twitching awfully close to a small satchel that was filled with syringes, making the great sword user wince. "I'll keep this simple for you. You heard the spiel I gave Marshall earlier, and I don't like repeating myself. Get back to the hospital… or else."

"Yes sir," both of the hunters replied immediately, lowering their heads to avoid the man's gaze. Levin hoped Orson wouldn't just decide to dope them and drag them back to the medical hut instead.

"C'mon Orson," Mel tried to plead with the doctor. "Can't you cut the pair of them a break? I mean, just for tonight?"

Orson rolled his eyes and glared at the Guild rep. "No, I won't. I've seen too many hunters mess themselves up thinking they could walk off their injuries to ever risk it. I'm going to have them back in the hospital is I have to drag them back. And before you try and argue with me about whatever you were saying about 'privacy,' the hospital is plenty spacious enough for them to talk without others overhearing."

"It's… it's not _that_," Mel stuttered in embarrassment, and Levin could feel his face coloring and hear Ellie groaning in dismay.

"Well, I don't see why they'd need any more than…" Then Orson paused thoughtfully and glanced at the two hunters for a moment. "Ah. That. Really. I see."

"Yes, that," Mel muttered in reply. Levin thought his face would burst into flame at any moment.

Orson's head tilted in thought. "So what is that? Five, almost six months since that last mating dance?" Suddenly Mel was waving her hands frantically, stammering unintelligibly at the doctor. "I bet on three months after that, I think," the doctor continued. "Really undershot the mark, I guess. So who won the bet?"

By now, Mel had shrugged over in dismay. Levin and Ellie both glanced back and forth between the two in confusion, neither of them having any idea what was going on. "What bet?" Ellie finally asked.

Mel sighed in embarrassment and frustration, giving the two hunters an incredibly apologetic and remorseful look. "The… the bet about when you two would start dating."

"You bet on whether or not we'd start dating?" Levin asked incredulously.

"No, actually," Mel replied. "We were betting on _when_ you'd start dating. The _if_ was a pretty obvious bet."

"Oh, lord," Ellie groaned, burying her face in her hands. "Was… was I really so obvious?"

"You both were," Orson chuckled. "I could tell, and I only really saw the two of you after you got back from your messier hunts. Once, maybe twice a week as I recall, and that's only when you weren't out traveling. Marshall saw you two every day almost, and his bet was still off. He bet on, what four months?"

"Four and a half," Mel corrected quietly. "Missed it by just under a month."

"How many people were betting on this?" Ellie asked exasperatedly.

"About… thirty," Mel replied in just above a whisper.

"Thirty!" Levin gasped. "You… but we… how?"

"It's a small village," Orson grinned. "We have to amuse ourselves somehow. Now tell me who won, Mel."

"Er, um… Leif, I think."

"Leif was betting on this too?" Ellie asked, shocked.

"Yes, the sly devil," Orson muttered. "I said we shouldn't have let him be in the pool! He's got too much inside access to be a fair bet!"

"He's a Felyne!" Mel argued. "They have a hard time just comprehending human habits! His guess was accurate, but lucky!"

"But why the hell were you… you know what, never mind," Levin grumbled. He realized that Orson was turning to argue with Mel again, and quickly grabbed Ellie by the hand and began dragging her away from the two. In the heat of their discussion, the two locals didn't seem to notice the pair of hunters as they hobbled away, though Levin suspected that if Mel had noticed, she wouldn't have said anything.

Soon, the two hunters were away from the arguing pair, and once again to a quieter area of the village, though the sounds of celebration still drifted over the rooftops. Levin would have liked to go further, but his leg began acting up, and he was forced to stop to wait out the pain. The two found themselves near the base of the farming hill, where very few people were at the moment except for the occasional Felyne or the staggering drunk.

"Normally, this is the kind of situation where I serenade the pretty lady, isn't it?" Levin said with a grin.

"Please don't," Ellie replied. "I've heard you sing before. Really brings yowling Felynes to mind."

"How rude! I've got half a mind to sing for you just for you just to give you what for!"

"Torturing your girlfriend right after you start dating is generally frowned upon, Mister Levin."

"I guess," Levin smirked. Then he frowned uncertainly. "So… what happens now? Where do we go from here?"

"We're hunters Levin," Ellie smirked. "We're supposed to live in the moment. Assuming Orson doesn't find us any time soon, all I really want to do right now is this." Levin didn't need any further motivation as his partner leaned forward and kissed him again. The two of them allowed the moment to linger for a good long while before pulling apart again. "Besides that? Let's just, I don't know, enjoy the night together."

"How oddly romantic of you, Miss Ellie," Levin joked.

"Oh, shut up," Ellie laughed, slugging Levin softly in the chest. "I'm a girl. I'm allowed to act a little sappy every now and then."

"As you wish, Ellie," Levin said, pulling Ellie closer to him.

The night went on, and it was several hours again before Orson managed to find the two again and drag them both back to the medical hut. However, the time they had together was pleasantly peaceful. It was some time before Levin realized why: somehow or another, the two whispering voices echoing in his head had faded away into silence, leaving only the sound of the ocean and Ellie's soft breathing and heartbeat to fill his mind.

* * *

Ellie yawned tiredly, sliding down into the seat of one of the Guild booth's chairs. She grunted in frustration as a flicker of pain sparked up her arm as she leaned against her hand. Despite spending the last couple of weeks under Orson's constant supervision, there was still a little bit of pain if she moved her arm in just the wrong way. And there was still a bandage covering where the Rathian had decided to cook her arm to well-done. Orson had told her that she'd have to keep those bandages on for another month or so; despite the skill doctors in this world had mending wounds and setting bones, waiting out burns to heal was still something that just took time. At least her leg was fully healed now. She'd been worried for a while that she'd be infirmed for months, but Orson had told her that the bite through her arm had been mostly healable, no irreparable damage to the muscles or bones. But she'd be wearing a cast for another month at least.

Besides Orson not allowing the two to leave the village on hunts or anything else, on threat of worse than death ("After all, as a doctor, I know what makes people hurt, and I will use them on you if that's what it takes to heal you"), Ellie had had her own issues to deal with once Orson allowed her to leave the hospital. Specifically, finding temporary housing to live in until her hut was rebuilt. A lot of houses near the shoreline had been pretty much steamrolled by the Lagiacrus during its attack, and most people were moving in with friends or family that lived in town.

Ellie had been offered a few places by several people she knew in town. Mel for one, had offered her a place in own hut. Or in a small cot in the back room of the Guild booth (which Mel swore was _not_ for quick naps while the hunters were out). A few of the shop owners and locals that Ellie had befriended had offered space to her as well, despite most of them already volunteering space to other dislocated folks. She'd even received a kind invitation from Sophie the armor vendor, though Ellie suspected the offer was likely laden with a hidden agenda from the lecherous shopkeeper, so she declined as fast as she could in the other direction.

Luckily, she received a rather appealing offer from Levin, who was still bedridden on Orson's orders. She'd visited him the day after she'd left the medical hut, after a night of sleeping in the uncomfortable cot in the Guild booth. Marshall was still barricaded inside the Blue Casket, though when Ellie dropped by, there were a few syringes poking out of the older hunter's chest, suggesting he'd tried to break out again and Orson had intervened; the slightly bent lock holding the whole thing together only proved it. Once he'd heard her situation, Levin immediately offered her his own home. "At least until I'm out of the hospital. You _could_ stay after that until your hut's rebuilt too, but… well, you know how these Boma folk are."

Ellie certainly did. She wished the two of them had gotten a few days of secrecy about the blossoming of their relationship, allowing for some more personal privacy for the two of them. Well, they _did_ get their privacy for intimate moments, but it seemed to lack impact in Ellie's mind when the privacy had to be _offered_ to them by the rest of the villagers. The obvious turning away of heads while the two of them were talking quietly in the medical hut was getting annoying. Orson had suggested putting up a barrier to separate their beds from the sight of others, but both had declined; that would have been roughly the same in their opinion as slapping a massive neon sign over the barrier that said "Just started dating! Guess what we're doing right now?"

But despite the jokes and comments from the villagers, Ellie had accepted Levin's offer to housesit while he was infirmed, though she planned to book it once he was out. There were enough rumors about them circulating already. It was nice to sleep in a decent bed again after… had it really been almost two weeks? Not since before their first night all the way back in Echo Village. Not long after she'd arrived, though, Leif had walked in offering his services, and Ellie had chased the cat out with a finely-sharpened short sword.

Levin had spent another week in the hospital before Orson had finally released him, and he hadn't been able to get back to his hut until nightfall, with all the villagers that hadn't gotten a chance to congratulate him cornering him at every turn and requesting his rendition of the hunt. When they'd finally gotten back to Levin's house, the two of them spent hours talking, leaning against each other on the dock behind Levin's house, until they'd both simply dozed off under the stars.

Mel smiled wickedly at her at the sight of the bowgunner's sleepiness. "Tired, eh, Ellie? Up a little bit too late last night? Celebrating Levin getting out of the hospital?"

"Yes," Ellie muttered, frowning when Mel giggled. Then her brain clicked into place and her face reddened. "No, not like that! How long are the villagers going to be teasing me and Levin over this? I dragged what was left of my own bed over to sleep on! We just started dating for pity's sake! Damn it all, I miss my house…"

"Actually," Mel said excitedly, leaning over the counter of the booth, "you won't have to be worrying about that all too much longer, I think."

"They're getting around to rebuilding my hut?" Ellie asked with a grin.

"Well, yes," Mel admitted, "but that won't be done for another week or so. But that's not what I meant. The condition of Boma may not be an issue for you much longer."

"Why's that?" Ellie asked. "As nice as it is being Levin's… er, temporary roommate, I'm pretty sure there're rumors circulating about the two of us that aren't true."

"Yet."

"Shut up. Also, why wouldn't I have to worry about housing anymore?"

"Because of some quick (and rather brilliant if I do say so myself) bureaucratic work I did over the last couple of weeks," Mel grinned victoriously. "With a little bit of help from Marshall during his more lucid moments, I managed to send a rather splendid report off to the Loc Lac Guild, describing the whole Lagiacrus situation to them, including the two of your little march up the beach. I included some fairly lavish accounts graciously provided by those three fishermen you defended as well. Basically we wrote up a 'big damn heroes' paper and sent it to the Guild. And they have just recently sent us a reply!"

"Really?" Ellie asked excitedly. "Maybe they'll say we're ready for our test for our third stars!"

Mel rolled her eyes. "Maybe. I think they'll do you one better though."

"How so?"

"Let's find out," Mel replied with a smirk. With a flourish, the Guild rep pulled out a large envelope from under the counter and cut open the top, pulling out a small packet of papers and handing them to Ellie. Ellie reached for the papers, but Mel pulled them away teasingly and scanned through the first couple of pages quickly, a broad grin growing across her face. "I thought as much."

"What?" Ellie asked, trying to grab the papers as Mel danced away. Ellie growled at the Guild rep, pulling a laugh from her as she tossed the papers to Ellie. With a huff of irritation, Ellie pulled the papers towards her and glanced down at the first paper, a wordy letter of some sort, signed at the bottom by someone she didn't recognize, though he had a long and fancy-sounding title under his signature. Ellie muttered quietly to herself as she read her way through the letter.

"'To Levin and Eleanor, may this letter find you well… congratulations on your work… very impressed with the reports… selfless work… show impressive tactical decisions… sorry to hear of the injuries your master has sustained… wish him well… under the circumstances…' wait, what?"

"Got to the good part, huh?" Mel grinned.

"'We of the Loc Lac Hunter's Guild have decided that, in light of your recent success and excellent work in fighting off an attacking Lagiacrus from a mostly defenseless village, we have declared your hunt of said monster as an acceptable substitute to act as your qualifying mission for your third star. This action hereby elevates the two of you to the rank of Journeyman Hunters, which will allow the two of you to take residence in the city of Loc Lac. Please send a reply as soon as possible, so that our organization can locate proper housing for the two of you. Many congratulations to the two of you, signed…' Is this real?"

"I'd certainly think so," Mel replied with a smirk. "I recognize the bureaucratic sound of the whole thing, and it definitely reads like something the Guild would send out for something like this. Looks like you and your boyfriend are heading out to Loc Lac! Congratulations!"

"They're sending us to Loc Lac?" Ellie gasped. "Really? That's awesome! I thought it would take us forever!"

"What's taking forever?" Ellie turned as Levin worked his way over to them, moving far slower than he usually did with the thick bandages still wrapped around his torso under the shirt he was wearing. His wrist had healed, but both of his arms still had another cast covering it. He still winced a little when he sat down next to her at the Guild booth. "What're the two of you talking about?"

"Check it out!" Ellie said excitedly, pushing the papers off onto Levin with a big grin on her face. "We got our third stars! They're sending us off to Loc Lac!"

"They… what?" Levin gaped in shock. His eyes shot to the paper, reading through it as fast as he could, muttering in thought as he went through it. His jaw dropped as he finished reading, stunned at the words he'd read. Ellie laughed as she saw his eyes shoot back to the top of the letter to reread the thing, scanning the paper to try and be certain he'd read it right. Then he slumped down into the Guild booth seat and sighed in shock. "I don't… how… I… damn."

"My thoughts exactly… sort of," Ellie chuckled. "Any other intelligent speeches or thoughts you'd like to get off your chest?"

Levin blinked, glancing back and forth between Ellie and Mel for a moment before shrugging. "Just one I think," he replied, before grabbing Ellie shoulder and yanking her forward to kiss her. Ellie squeaked in shock at the action as Mel giggled at the sight. As Levin pulled away he grinned at Ellie's stunned expression. "I'm quite pleased to read this, if you can't tell."

"Yeah, little bit," Ellie replied. "But try to keep a little more subtle, please. There are enough rumors circulating about the two of us without public displays of affection."

"As you wish, Miss Ellie," Levin smirked.

"Well, let me just say congratulations to the two of you again," Mel smirked, leaning forward onto the countertop and smiling at the two of them. "I suppose the two of you are going to try and head out as soon as possible?"

Ellie opened her mouth to reply, then closed it in thought. She glanced around the town square, and realized something that shocked her more than she thought it would. "I… kinda don't want to go, actually. I think… I think I'd really miss this place too much. I mean, I really want to go to Loc Lac to become a better hunter, but at the same time…"

"I think I get what you mean, Ellie," Mel cut in. "You know, I was offered work over in Orage some time ago, but I turned it down because I love living here."

"Are you saying we should stay here in Boma?" Levin asked.

"Not at all. I turned down work in Orage Dell, even though I'd probably get paid more and have access to nicer things since it's a bigger town, because I enjoyed living here in Boma. I wouldn't be doing anything different there than what I did here, but I liked it better here, so I stayed. But you guys still have a lot of stuff to learn and do, don't you? Isn't there anything that the two of you want to accomplish as hunters?"

Ellie glanced over at Levin, whose eyes had glazed over in thought slightly. She already knew what he was thinking about: the voice. Whatever it was, it threatened him for some reason, using her as bait and trying to kill them. Ellie knew that, one way or another, the great sword user would want to chase down the source of the voice and try to destroy it. And Ellie knew that she'd be going with him when he did. As for her… she had her family to try and find, and if becoming a famous hunter would be able to get their attentions, well, that made her decision for her, didn't it?

The great sword user grinned lopsidedly at the Guild rep. "I guess I can think of a few things I'd like to do that I can't really do here in Boma."

"Besides," Ellie said, "We promised Kim, Nat, and Harker that we'd up with them when we got our third stars. I don't really want to leave them hanging… Ah, I hope Kim and Nat are there already. None of our letters seem to be getting through, and their letters aren't getting here either…"

"I'm sure they're fine," Levin assured her. "They're in a hellish sorta place, no doubt worse than the crap we put up with working our way back here from the shipwreck. I imagine fragile things like letters are tricky to get moving. Besides, if they were as good hunting as they seemed during the exam, they were probably on the way to Loc Lac a month ago."

"So there you go!" Mel grinned cheerfully. "You've both still got a long way to go as hunters! Loc Lac is just the next step. Maybe in a few months, stories of your exploits will be so big, they'll make it back here. And I guess, if you really are feeling homesick, you could try and pick up some missions in this area, come by and visit for a little bit."

"Maybe," Ellie shrugged. Then she grinned at Levin again. "But I guess we won't be allowed to leave anyway, not until our wounds are fully healed. We've really got a lot to do, don't we?"

"So it seems," he replied quietly, with a smile on his face. "We really do have lots of things left to do."

* * *

"Let me out you bastards!" Pushing against the wall, Nat sprinted towards the thick wooden door of the small shell she was in, slamming against it with a blow that rattled the very frame. A small wave of dust dropped from the walls at the impact, making the bowgunner cough. The wheezing aggravated the wound on her side, where she'd been hit by that damn hammer user, and a lance of pain shot through her. With a sob, she dropped to her knees, gasping for air.

The sound of chuckling fluttered through the crack under the cell's door, two guards stationed outside laughing between themselves at her attempts at escape. Nat growled furiously, and leapt up, ignoring the pain and grabbing hold of the thick bars that barricaded a small gap in the door. A string of the vilest curses and threats flew from her mouth at the two men, a collection of the most violent and imaginative methods of inflicting pain promised to the pair of them.

One of them turned towards her, dressed in the same damn elaborate crimson armor the rest of the guards were wearing. Nat had long since learned to loath the color, as well as the white symbol they all had painted to their chest plates, a human skull with two swords crossing behind it inside of an open Rathalos skull. The guard glowered at her, ordering her away from the door. But she could see the look of fear and uncertainty on his face; she'd gotten to him a little. He knew that she was stronger than him, that the cell was the only thing keeping her from following up on the threats. That was something, she thought, as a vicious grin spread across her face. The man winced at the sight, forcing himself to put on a braver face. The other guard, an older man, shook his head and laughed, mocking his coworker for his cowardice. He whipped out a small club he had holstered to his belt, pulling it back to strike at her fingers on the bars.

This was her chance! As the club snapped towards her, her hand snapped forward, grabbing the thing before it hit her, she twisted it around. The guard yelped in surprise as the club yanked out of his hand, tripping over his feet as she pulled and ramming into the door with a grunt of pain. The club spun in Nat's hand, twisting around and catching the guard in the throat, and the bowgunner yanked back, slamming the man's head into the door and making him gag for air as the club pulled against his throat. She grabbed the other end of the club, yanking the man tighter against the wooden door. The younger guard gaped in shock at what had just happened, frozen in fear. Nat growled at him through the bars, pulling the club tighter against the older guard's throat.

"Let me out, or I crush his neck!" she roared at the younger guard, making him jump in fright. He glanced at the older guard worriedly, uncertain what to do as the older one choked and gagged, the club pressing tightly against his neck. His hands began to work their way nervously over to a key ring that was looped to his belt, trying desperately to find a way to save the other guard.

"Don't even think about it," a voice down the hall said sharply. Nat craned her neck, trying to see who had said it, but whoever was there was just out of the line of sight of the door. "Let her kill him. If he's too stupid to get in this situation, then let her crush his throat. If she has the guts to do it in the first place."

Nat glared defiantly as a young man came into sight. He was about the same height as her, but had close cropped black hair and eerily dispassionate eyes. He wore crimson armor like the other guards, but his was clearly hunter's armor, the design meant for mobility as well as durability and defense; professional work, obviously, as opposed to the armor the guards were wearing, which looked more flimsy. A long sword was slung across his back, a dark red and black blade that seemed like in glowed from an inner fire. A slightly bemused expression covered his face as he looked at Nat and her hostage, and she growled angrily.

"You think I won't kill him? He wouldn't be the first one of your damn guards I've taken the life of, and he won't be the last."

"Oh, I'm well aware of that," the hunter replied. "You've killed… what, fourteen of our guards so far? Impressive, I'll admit. That's probably the reason you keep breaking out of your cell; we have to replace the ones that guard you. We should really start warning them about you I think. And your partner too, though she's not as bad as you."

"Where is she!"

"Safe," the young man replied simply. "Safe enough, at least. And if you want it to stay that way, you'll stop trying to break out. She's far less aggressive when you two aren't near each other, it seems." Nat gritted her teeth angrily as the man continued to stare at her, expression unchanged. "Besides, killing that guard won't get you free as long as I'm here. Can you kill him, even knowing it won't help you in any way at all?"

As if to emphasize the hunter's point, the guard Nat had trapped coughed violently and wheezed in his attempt to breathe. Nat pulled a little tighter, making the man flail a little harder, but the long sword user simply raised an eyebrow and smirked, as though daring her to go ahead and kill the man. For a moment, Nat was ready to do so, but… killing guards in an escape attempt was one thing, but in cold blood and without a chance of escape? With a sigh of anger and regret, she dropped the club. The older guard dropped to the ground in a slump, before hurriedly crawling to the other side of the hallway, holding his throat and coughing, shooting fearful glances between Nat and the young man with the sword, who was shaking his head in amusement.

"Good choice, Miss Natalie," he said, before motioning to the younger guard. The young man walked over, and the long sword user quickly took the key ring from the man's belt before turning to the door. "If you would please step away from the door? I actually came here to talk to you, if you have the time, which I'm sure you do."

Nat glared at the hunter defiantly. She considered staying where she was, but the hunter's hand briefly touched his hunter's knife on his belt for a moment in an unspoken threat. She grumbled angrily, but moved away from the door. The young man waited patiently until Nat was at the other corner of the cell before finally unlocking the door and walking in. His hand remained close to the handle on his knife, though, to remind her who was in control of the situation. _For now_, Nat thought.

The cell was fairly spacious, though it was still a prison. Easily enough room for her not to be able to charge him before he could pull out his blade. The room had few amenities; a cot, a sink, and a toilet, the latter thankfully out of view of the hole in the door. She stood next to the surprisingly comfortable cot, which she'd slept on during the last few weeks. Months? How long had it been? She'd long since long track of time of the outside world. A small slit of a window was all she could use to tell if it was even day or night anymore.

The long sword user glanced idly around the room, though his eyes seemed to be taking in every detail. Nat suspected he was looking for some sign of an escape plan she might have been developing. She wasn't, not yet, but she would, and it wouldn't be something that whoever this young man was would be able to spot so easily. Satisfied that there was nothing around that incriminated Mel of attempting escape, the hunter turned his attention back to her.

"Where's Kim?" Nat said as the young man opened his mouth to speak. "And Master Richard? Where are you keeping them? Who the hell are you? And why the hell are you holding us here like this?"

The long sword simply smiled patiently at the outburst, which only helped to infuriate Nat more at the long sword user. "We'll start with who I am. My name is Micah, and at the moment, I am the one charged with taking care of you. As for the rest, I will explain it to you in time, Miss Natalie. Or do you prefer Nat?"

"Miss Natalie is fine. Only friends or _decent_ people can call me Nat."

"Fair enough. But first things first. How are your wounds doing? I've heard that you are refusing to let our medics look at you."

The mention of the injury sent another burst of pain up her body from her side, where the hammer user she and Kim had been attacked by had caught her by surprise and hit her. But she forced herself not to wince, not to even move, so that she wouldn't give the hunter the satisfaction of seeing her pain. "I'm fine."

"So you say," the young man replied, a look of genuine concern crossing his face. "I know the way Filcher acts. No mercy from that man. It doesn't really help that his hammer in covered in spines and teeth either, does it. We are concerned about your health, Miss Natalie, and we'd like to be certain that you're in exemplary health."

"But for what?"

"You'll see soon," Micah replied, grinning cryptically. "I'm afraid that bit of information is to remain under wraps until we're ready to present."

"Present what?"

"As I said, you'll find out later. You've made six escape attempts in the time you've been here, all of them nearly successful, and all of them with at least two casualties on the part of our guards. If you weren't so important to our plans, we would've told them to detain you and Miss Kimberly by any means necessary on sight if you tried again. But we do need you in good condition."

"What about Kim and Master Richard? Where are they?"

"In other cells. I'll admit, Miss Kimberly doesn't seem the type of hunter to be able to put together complex escape plans, but when the two of you are together, it seems that you both are quite the capable schemers. That's why you aren't roommates anymore. But should you act a little more cooperative, we may let the two of you be together again. But until then, I'm afraid we can't take that kind of risk. Richard required a tougher cell of his own; it seems he was strong enough to break through the other cells we put him in, so we put him in one of the… bigger ones."

Nat glowered at the long sword user. "How about this, then. Why us? Why me and Kim and Master Richard?"

"You're well known," Micah replied simply. "We needed people that were popular, and you three fit the bill. Really, it was only your names we needed."

"_That's it_?" Nat roared, her anger renewed. "You… beat us up, kidnapped us, and are holding us in some prison because we're _well known_? You bastard!"

With a lunge, Nat rushed the hunter Micah. Despite his previous show of confidence, the long sword user seemed genuinely surprised by the sudden attack, and hesitated just long enough for Nat to close the distance to him. Too late he swung his arm down to grab for his hunter's knife, and Nat was on top of him, hands going for the young man's throat. Micah was more skilled than Nat had initially given him credit for, however, and the hunter snapped his other hand up to block the bowgunner's assault.

Nat's inertia kept her going, though, and she ended up tackling the long sword user back into the wall, before the two of them tumbled to the ground in a tussle. Micah grunted in pain as the bowgunner landed on top of him, but Nat refused to let up, refused to allow the other hunter even the slightest advantage, immediately pulling back her fists and pounding relentlessly at the long sword user's face and neck, wanting nothing more than to make this young man underneath her die. Slowly. Nat managed to get in a few good hits right at the start as Micah was trying to ward her off, a satisfying feeling coming over her with every crack she felt of her knuckles smacking against the young man's face.

Then Micah began retaliating. Two of Nat's punches suddenly hit nothing but air, the young man's arms knocking them aside with nimbleness he hadn't shown previously. His arm shot out, and a vicious right hook caught the bowgunner in the side, right where the injury she'd gotten from Filcher lay. Nat gasped in pain, her arms reaching for her injury, right as Micah's other arm came up, cracking her across the jaw and sending her sprawling off him and across the floor. The bowgunner was left coughing and gasping for breath as she held her side and her mouth in pain. She heard Micah push himself to his feet, and quickly rolled over, ignoring the pain and hurrying to stand and fight again.

A cold and sharp pain bit into her uninjured side and she gasped in shock. Micah's face wasn't but a few inches from her, a cold and stern look on his face. Another spike of pain tore up her side, and Nat glanced down, finding the cold steel of Micah's hunter's blade pressing keenly into her waist, only the smallest fraction of the blade just barely breaking the skin. The long sword user pushed the blade in just a little deeper, and the bowgunner bit off a sob of agony.

"I know you locals don't seem to know much about science or biology, so allow me to explain," Micah whispered harshly. "This blade is currently located right over your liver. If I so chose to, I could force this knife into your side quite easily. The damage to your liver would certainly kill you. But it would be a slow and painful death, this I assure you. Now, do you surrender?"

"Bastard," Nat cursed softly, but she was forced to lean away in defeat.

"Good," Micah replied, pulling the tip of the blade out of Nat's side. The bowgunner winced in pain as the iron knife pulled away, releasing a line of blood from the fresh wound. Nat immediately clamped a hand down over the injury, trying to slow the flow.

"I'm sorry I had to do that, really I am," Micah said, getting to his feet and wiping the blood off his knife. "I don't like hurting women at all. I'll send a doctor down here as soon as I can to see to your injuries. All of them, I mean, including the ones Filcher gave you. I suggest you do the wise thing and accept the offer. You're no use to us injured, and we'd like to have you as healthy as possible. Besides, wouldn't your escape attempts work better if you're fully healed? I believe so."

Nat simply glared at the man as he prattled on. He was trying to appear kind, or at least concerned. She wasn't falling for it. Any worry he showed for her was entirely molded on… whatever designs he or the other people like him had for her, Kim, and Richard. She'd let his doctor heal her, then she'd spend every waking moment trying to escape from here. And she'd make the best damn effort she could to kill this bastard on her way out.

As the hunter finished talking, he walked over to the door to leave. But before he left, he turned to her and grinned. "You're a fascinating woman, Miss Natalie. I've rarely been surprised like that by someone in a fight. I think you may have beaten me if you'd been fully healthy. I do wish we'd met under different circumstances. Perhaps we could have become friends."

"I don't make friends with people like you," Nat growled.

"Too bad," Micah replied sadly as he opened the door. Then he smirked and glanced at her again. "Oh, and please, the next time you escape, try not to kill quite so many of the guards. They're getting progressively harder to hire. Amusing, considering the job tagline is to 'guard an unarmed girl.'"

The two guards outside the door seemed to balk at this, glancing nervously through the door at Nat and cautiously tapping the handles of their clubs. Nat growled at the two of them, and the pair jumped in fright, the older guard nervously rubbing his throat, as though he expected her to assault him again. Micah chuckled at the sight before closing the door behind him, locking it tight before passing the key back to the younger guard.

"Remember what I said, Miss Natalie," he said through the slit in the door. "Be sure to try and heal as best you can. You'll be better off, trust me."

And with that, the hunter disappeared from sight. The guards glanced uneasily at her, but eventually they contented themselves with knowing that the bowgunner was safely inside her cell, not getting out anytime soon. Eventually though, she'd get out. They would fall just like the others she'd brought down, the bastards. Anyone who was with these monsters that thought it was okay to kidnap hunters and imprison them for… whatever reason they had for holding them there. She'd have to escape first though, and she should try and find out what exactly their plans were… these people seemed awfully well-funded; they may have other buildings like this one, and Nat wouldn't stand for just letting them do the same thing to others.

She sighed, wincing in pain as she leaned back against the wall to wait for the doctor Micah said he'd send. Her hand remained on her new wound the long sword wielder had given her, shallow though it was. "I've really got a lot to do, don't I?" she muttered to herself miserably.

* * *

**Author's Note: Please Review! To Hoenn Master: challenge accepted and challenge completed! I got your message, and determined to finish this before Christmas. I pumped out the last 6k words in one day!**

**I was tempted to end the story here as Part 1, then start on Part 2 soon, but I decided to just keep going. This story will just have to be super-long compared to the rest of the MH fics (which it already is, I guess). I decided to try and look through the other MH stories, and I've discovered that a lot of them do something that I don't really like to see in stories: make their characters insanely badass or nigh-invincible. Then there are the ones that are just completely off the wall… I just feel gypped reading things like that, personally. I admit, I've got some BAMFs in my tale, but none of them are really the main characters, and even then, they get beat the hell up sometimes. I just don't feel right if Levin and Ellie don't walk away from a big fight without some decent wounds to remember them by, to show that, even though they're hunters, they're still human and aren't monster-killing-machines. But maybe I'm just a sadist or something… **

**I tried to bring a little more humor back into my writing in this chapter. I felt I was a little lacking on that front recently. To pull it off, I read and reread one of my favorite webcomics, **_**Girl Genius**_** by the Foglios. I highly recommend it to anyone who thinks steampunk (or Gaslamp Fantasy) is a genre made of pure awesome. Also, for more steampunk fun, read the **_**Leviathan**_** series by Scott Westerfeld. It is great, let me tell you what. On a side note, look up a song on Youtube called **_**4 Chords**_** by The Axis of Awesome. It's quite something for anyone who enjoyed music in the 90s and 00s. **

**Reading: **_**The Throne of Fire**_** by Rick Riordan, **_**The Younger Gods**_** by David and Leigh Eddings, **_**Leviathan**_** by Scott Westerfeld, **_**Behemoth**_** by Scott Westerfeld, **_**Goliath**_** by Scott Westerfeld, **_**A Crown of Swords**_** by Robert Jordan  
Playing: Assassin's Creed Revelations, BF3, Batman Arkham City, Final Fantasy VII, LOZ: Twilight Princess, Minecraft  
Listening: Eve 6, Rufus Wainwright, Gorillaz, Book of Eli soundtrack**


	23. City in the Desert

City in the Desert

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. All the characters in this story are mine._

Ellie blinked and coughed as the sandship bucked, cresting another of the sifting dunes of the sand sea, sending a spray of powdery sand up at her face. She sneezed and coughed some more, pushing her way away from the side of the ship and rubbing her eyes wildly in an attempt to clear out her eyes. A few laughs from the sailors of the ship caught her ears and she grumbled to herself. She'd been wondering why the lot of them had been wearing bandanas and goggles; now she understood.

And somehow or another, Levin actually seemed to be enjoying the trip more than her! The great sword user stood at the head of the ship near the railing, though not in sea sickness or anything like that, but he was actually smiling and enjoying the view, rather than leaning over the railing and emptying his stomach. Meanwhile, she spent most of her time below deck avoiding the sand and dust of the desert. Not that the time she spent below was all that bad, though, especially when Levin managed to pull himself from the deck and come keep her company; clearly the option they'd been offered to get their own room had been money well spent. They had separate beds though; Levin was going to have to work hard if he was going to get more than that.

It had been nearly a month since the pair of them had both been released from Orson's hospital. They'd both wanted to hop aboard the first ship that was headed towards Loc Lac, but several things held them back from heading out so quickly. First and foremost was Orson himself, who had told the two of them that they weren't leaving until he said they could; he hadn't made it sound like and order, but it had been clear that the doctor wasn't leaving either of them any room for flexibility. He was constantly muttering about how they'd gotten away with far too much during the party after the Lagiacrus hunt, and it was clear that they weren't going to be able to do much of anything until Orson allowed it.

The second reason had been Marshall. The old man had requested to see them off when they left, his pride as their teacher getting the better of him. So even though the two of them had been fit as a fiddle thanks to Orson's handiwork, they'd waited patiently for the old hammer user to recover enough to be allowed by Orson to leave the hospital to at least get to the dock. But the doctor proved to be adamant about not allowing the hunter out of the Blue Casket at all, and despite the hunter's multiple attempts at escape, Marshall just couldn't find the ability to escape. It made Ellie wonder exactly what kind of man Orson was, to be able to contain the old hunter so well.

In the meantime, the old man had kept the two Lost hunters moving with busywork. He'd seen the state of their armor while all three of them had been in the hospital at the same time, and given the pair of them orders to go out and seek out materials to patch up their clothes for the trip, as well as to give them experience in order to stay on their toes for the remainder of their time in Boma. They'd also worked to repair the damage to their weapons, but due to the lack of Gobuls in the general area surrounding the village, the great sword user was essentially out of luck. They'd been able to collect materials from the Lagiacrus, but Silph apparently had little to no skill at making armor from the leviathan's parts.

Ellie had stayed true to her word to Levin as well, and once Orson had declared that Levin was fit for physical activity, she had begun his retraining in the art of dodging attacks. She hadn't been certain exactly how she was going to do it for a while, and finally settled on a fun idea. Well, fun for her at least. With Mel's help she rigged up a pair of small but heavy logs and hung them from the branches of the tree behind the Guild booth. She gave orders to the great sword user to take the practice blade and stand between the two logs and swing his blade at them while trying to avoid getting hit. Ellie had to admit he did pretty well at the start, but as time went on, it became more and more obvious how much work he needed, with the young man taking a hit from one of the logs every few dodges or so.

But he improved quickly, especially with her watching. Ellie supposed that there was some measure of pride that demanded that he not look bad in front of his girlfriend (Ellie still grinned every time she recalled that the pair of them were dating. It was slightly embarrassing, but since Levin still sported a dopey little grin when they were together, it seemed he was very much the same way.) Ellie didn't want him getting too lenient, though, so she borrowed the practice bowgun, and when Levin had his back turned, she pelted him in the back with a paint shot. That had caught the great sword user by surprise and sent Mel, sitting nearby, into fits of laughter. Levin had glared a moment, but had gone back to swinging at the logs. Ellie waited a few minutes before pelting him again with another shot, earning another yelp in surprise from the young man. So it was for the rest of their training regimens from then until the pair of them left for Loc Lac; Levin would attack and dodge the logs hung from the tree, but had to keep his eye on Ellie to avoid the random shots she would take at him.

It wasn't all pain and training, though. The pair of them _did_ discover once, as Ellie was tending Levin's bruises, that the little field was a surprisingly private place. _That_ was a highly abused bit of information. The pair of them also learned how to distinguish the sound of the back door to the Guild booth opening over the rattling sounds of the forge, but that was a different issue to deal with.

Finally, though, came the day when Marshall was finally freed to leave his bed and venture out into the village again. And not a day too soon, it seemed; apparently, the Blue Casket, while managing to hold the hammer user inside of it, had taken an irreparable beating from the man's multiple attempts at escape. But the day finally came where the hunters had all their things ready to go, and their teacher, as well as a majority of the town, waited impatiently for the two of them. Luckily some of them were still on the bay side of town, perfectly willing to help the pair of them carry their storage chests to the ship they were planning on taking up to Orage Dell.

Near the ship, the pair of hunters ran into a crowd of their closest friends, ready to see them off. A long run of goodbyes and farewells met them, a wave of well-wishing and good lucks. Ellie noticed that Marshall wasn't around, though, and when she asked about him, some of the villagers mentioned that they'd seen him speaking to another one of the ship captains, a regular thing he did in search or information on what was going on in the outside world. When one of them mentioned that he was only a few docks over, Ellie volunteered to run over and get the old guy.

Marshall wasn't on the docks like Ellie had been told. Some of the fishermen in the area had seen him heading towards one of the small storehouses nearby though, and sent her off with wishes of good luck during their time in Loc Lac and reminders to return with some good stories to tell. As Ellie approached the storage huts, her ears picked up Marshall's resonating voice coming from one of the side alleys; his voice was a whisper, but for a man his size, it didn't take much for his words to carry. Ellie moved to see if she could find the old man, but froze at the entrance to the alley when she realized that the hammer user's tone had a scary feeling of ice-cold seriousness. Though she felt wrong about it, her curiosity got the better of her and her ears strained to hear.

"They're sure it was caused by the beast?" Marshall was asking.

"There's no doubt," another, unfamiliar voice replied. "It's never really the same twice, but there's always enough to tell what caused it. You've seen it before: craters, houses razed, nearby forests burned away or gone completely, and no survivors or even any remains. Everything was just… gone."

"But… four villages!" Marshall growled. "One in the south, one in the far north, and two in the desert not a hundred miles from Loc Lac! In anyone's memory, it's never destroyed for than two in one go."

"Maybe it's the end times. Maybe it's just feeling feisty. Maybe someone pissed it off. Does it really matter? Most likely, some fool group of hunters tried to hunt it, and you know how it retaliates when someone does something so stupid. But it's been a while since the last attack, so maybe it's satisfied with what revenge it's gotten. I just felt like I should warn you in case… well, you know how its attacks are random."

"No, no, I appreciate it," Marshall sighed wearily. "I just didn't expect to have to hear news like this today. Thanks for telling me about it, comrade."

"Not a problem, old friend. Do you… do you plan on telling the villagers?"

"No, I… no, I don't think so. Panic would only exacerbate things, and maybe it'll just be for nothing. With luck, the rumors won't hit Boma for another week or so. But in the meantime, I'll give the town guard the heads up to be wary and watch the skies. Though… if the Alatreon truly attacks the village, I doubt there will be much we can do to slow it down."

Ellie frowned. Alatreon? What the hell was that, some kind of monster? She racked her brain, trying to think of all the monsters she'd heard mentioned in the manuals and guidebooks she'd read, or stories she'd heard over the course of her time as a hunter. But for the life of her, she couldn't seem to place the name. Was it even a monster? Maybe it was an organization? No, she didn't think so. Whatever this… Alatreon was, it was a monster, but… why would she not have heard of it? Surely someone would have written it down or mentioned it…

With a start, she realized that the two inside of the alleyway were saying their farewells, and footsteps were heading her way. As quietly as she could, she slunk away and into an enclosed doorway, and pressed herself into the corner of the wall. She doubted that conversation had been something that she should have been allowed to hear, and really didn't want Marshall to catch sight of her.

From inside the corner, Ellie heard Marshall and the other man saying their final goodbyes to each other, and footsteps started working their way towards her. Ellie pressed herself tighter against the wall, and winced as a tall man walked past her. He was tall and muscled, and had the familiar bearing of a sailor that Ellie had come to recognize during her time traveling around. The man didn't seem to have noticed her however, and didn't even glance her way as he walked past to another ship further down the dock. Ellie watched him go, holding her breath until he disappeared turned to stride down one of the piers towards what was likely a ship he owned. She waited another moment or two just in case, before turning to leave the doorway and chase after Marshall. Maybe she could convince him that she'd just caught up with him and…

"Done listening, Miss Eleanor?" Ellie nearly jumped out of her skin when she nearly ran headlong into the older hunter. The hammer user was glowering at her, his fist clenching tightly to a small wooden cane that Orson had "requested" Marshall use until his leg was fully healed. Ellie's hunting teacher had an obviously displeased expression on his face, yet at the same time it seemed somewhat worried. "Eavesdropping is not exactly a complementary thing to do."

"Sorry Marshall! I…"

"Just stop, Miss Eleanor. I'm going to keep this simple. You're going to keep this little conversation quiet from the rest of the village. You are not going to say a word about what you've heard to anyone. It is not for personal reasons that I ask this, but for the welfare of the village, do you understand?"

"Yes! Yes, I…"

"Good," Marshall replied, cutting her off. Then a worried look covered his face and he gave her another look, an uncertain one. "I realize that you and Levin have recently begun a… relationship. Those in such circumstances should refrain from secrecy from each other, but I would… _recommend_ you not tell him about this, especially. He wouldn't take hearing about this very well, not at all. Actually, you should keep this conversation from Levin more so than the villagers. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I… Well, no, actually, I don't understand. But I won't… I won't tell him," Ellie said reluctantly. She didn't like this, but she trusted Marshall and… well. But, why was Levin not supposed to hear about this creature, this Alatreon? But before she could ask, the hammer user abruptly turned to make his way back to the dock where the ship to Orage Dell waited for them.

The goodbyes with their friends from the village took quite a bit of time once they'd gotten back to the dock. Ellie had to admit, her farewell with Marshall was a little more than awkward (not to mention the rest of the goodbyes with him looking over her shoulder). But they eventually got to speak to everyone, though Ellie nearly kicked Leif into the ocean when the Felyne had the audacity to _thank her_ for getting together with Levin when she did and earning him a pretty penny in which to buy Felvine and other sundries with. But finally the two hunters boarded their ship, waving goodbye to their friends and veritable family until they were out of sight.

The journey required for the two hunters to get from Boma to Loc Lac was a long and arduous one, made more so simply because of the fact that the two of them had to haul all their hunting goods and armor with them. Their trip required chartering passage from Boma Village to Orage Dell again, followed by the two of them having to make a long journey across land to get to the hunting city. The trip south down the coast had been the same as usual, with Levin losing his lunch into the ocean after most meals. After landing in the hunting town, the pair of them had joined a merchant caravan that was making its way to the east, as hunters-for hire, acting as monster warders in exchange for transport. The trip was slow, since the caravan stopped in almost every village to buy and sell goods to the locals, but it was cheaper than getting passage on an airship, and Ellie knew better than to try and convince Levin to pay more than necessary, especially when the Guild wasn't paying for their trip.

There was a broad mountain range between the forests to the east of Orage and the desert where Loc Lac sat, a large set of purple-peaked hills that stretched to the horizon in either direction. The two hunters were forced to leave the merchant caravan as the traders turned to head north along the base of the mountains. As such, the two hunters were lucky enough to meet a group of other hunters, several of them having earned their Journeyman licenses like they had, that had gathered to make their way through the mountains to the city that all hunters looked forward to traveling to.

That journey had been one of the most fun ones Ellie had been a part of, the lot of them swapping stories with each other every night while they'd camped out under the stars. The collection of hunters had spent their days taking turns chasing away the monsters that came at them during their journey through the crevices and valleys that winded though the towering peaks. Mostly it just consisted of Great Jaggis and the occasional Qurupeco, the only monsters that could easily fit through the cracks and holes that spider-webbed in and out of a maze of tunnels, pretty much only used by the monsters that scoured the area. There were a few moments of panic among the group of them when they saw a Rath pair fly over, and another time when a monstrous, bellowing roar could be heard off in the distance that nobody recognized. _That_ had been a real gut-clincher.

Though there were a few moments of the trip that the pair of them had thoroughly enjoyed on a personal level. Ellie had been caught off guard late one night during the trip though the mountains by Levin's... eagerness was all she could call it. She'd wandered off to keep him company one night during his turn at night watch (he'd had to borrow a great sword since his was still damaged beyond reason; he had hopes of repairing it in Loc Lac, though neither of them were optimistic). They'd talked for a while with each other over really nothing at all, just for the sake of enjoying each other's company; it was one of the few times they'd finally managed to get some privacy in a place where no one would tease them over it if they were caught, just nod in understanding.

Eventually, a chilly wind had rolled down the mountain, catching the two of them off guard when the temperature dropped ten or so degrees, making the two Lost shiver a bit. One moment Ellie was hugging her shoulders, rubbing her arms and muttering to Levin at how cold it had gotten; the next, she was pressed against a tree, Levin's hands clinging tightly to the back of her hair and pulling her deeper into a heart-pounding kiss. Ellie didn't even have time to think before getting caught up with the whole thing, grasping Levin just as tightly.

It was several minutes later before the two of them pulled apart, gasping for breath. Ellie couldn't tell if the heat from her face was from flushed embarrassment or just from her pounding heart. When she looked over at the great sword user, she found him laughing at the look on her face. She growled angrily, but Levin simply pulled her closer again and smirked at her.

"Not so cold anymore, are you, my dear Miss Ellie?" He'd earned a hell of a bruise on chest for that one, but that hadn't stopped her from keeping him around for warmth on the nights when she was the one standing watch.

A hell of a sight awaited them once they'd finally passed the towering peaks of the mountains, though Ellie wasn't sure whether to describe in as good or not. Endless sand stretched beyond the horizon, a bright white blaze that just barely was dimmer than the sun above them. But it wasn't just that the sand was there, it was the sight of the sand actually sifting and churning, as though it was water. It wasn't as quick, though, waving more like molasses than anything else, but knowing that the sand was fine enough to move like that had made Ellie uneasy, to say the least. What if she fell in? A dock sat waiting at the edge of the sand, keeping itself steady due to beams and anchors wedged into the rocks leading down from the mountains. Several dozen ships sat rocking in the sand, waiting for passengers to board, each manned by a crew that were bound in full-body clothes, as opposed to the light clothes Ellie was used to seeing sailors wear.

Most of the hunters she and Levin had traveled with purchased fare on board the first ship to Loc Lac, a long, sinewy vessel that was clearly made for speed. Only twelve passengers were allowed on board though, one of the shipmates telling her that too much weight would slow them down too much to properly skim the sands, or worse too slow to escape a monster attack. Ellie asked what monster they were worried about most, and the majority of sailors seemed to agree on the creature called the Jhen Mohran, a 'moving mountain' if their descriptions were to be believed. Some mentioned a Diablos in full charge, but that was only a couple of them.

Ellie had given Levin flak before the ship had taken off into the desert, teasing him about how he'd likely be spending yet another trip bent over the edge of the ship. However, somehow or another, when the ship finally took off, Ellie discovered that it was her, not the great sword user that started to buck and sway wildly in the awkward shaking of the ship. Perhaps it was the slower churning of the sand, or maybe it was the way the ship itself skimmed across the sand, or maybe it was some other reason, but Levin seemed steadier on his feet than she'd ever seen him before on a ship of any kind. But the sand and dirt kicked up by the skiff left her coughing and sneezing wildly. Ellie found that, while she didn't get seasick or anything of the like, she couldn't bear to stay on the deck of the ship and was forced into staying below deck for the day-long journey to the center of the desert where Loc Lac sat waiting. Levin had spent the entire trip smirking at her, whenever he'd left the deck of the ship. Levin seemed to savor being on the deck, enjoying the trip now that he wasn't adversely affected by the motion of the ship.

But Ellie was on the deck now, if for no other reason than to see Loc Lac as it came into sight, only a few moments away according to the crewmembers. So Ellie had willed herself out into the open, covering her face with a mask one of the sailors had generously offered. She remembered a little of Loc Lac, from before she'd headed to Boma Village, but she'd spent a majority of her time trying to learn how to join the Hunter's Guild rather than enjoying the sights, before getting tricked into traveling to the boondocks of society. Levin was very much the same as her, though from the unease he'd had, Ellie suspected that it was most likely that whatever madness he had was an integral part of his lack of remembrance. Another coughing fit nearly made Ellie miss Loc Lac sliding into view around a line of rocky outcroppings that surrounded the hunting city. When she finally looked up, however, Levin was next to her, staring off into the distance and whistling in appreciation. Ellie looked up and did the same.

Admittedly, very little of the city itself could be seen, but what could be was quite impressive. Standing tall over everything, however, was the one thing that could truly be considered as the pride of the city, the Guild Tower. Ellie had heard that, despite the name, the tower was used by pretty much every organization in the city for one thing or another, though certainly the primary uses belonged to the Hunter's Guild and the Loc Lac Council.

That was really all she could see for the most part, until they managed to get closer. Then she began to be able to make out more. Though her memories of the city were vague from before she'd left for Boma, she did realize that what she saw next was different than the last time she'd seen the city. She recalled the massive rock wall that encircled the city being a plain, sheer wall, appearing as though the city was completely and totally impenetrable. Loc Lac did still look quite mighty, but the once-bare walls now were dotted with hanging houses and huts. Ellie gaped in astonishment at the sight, massive cables and poles descending from the top of the wall and supporting wide platforms that held up dozens of huts and other small buildings. The collection of structures only seemed to be on one particular side of the city (the south, she thought), but as far as she could tell, the boardwalks and bridges were expanding in all directions, the sight of work crews working on placing supports for more platforms and more houses.

"Lost housing," she heard one of the other hunters say to another. Ellie glanced over and the hunter saw her and shrugged. "It's true. Seems the South District of Loc Lac is becoming overpopulated due to the Lost; not enough of them are traveling to other cities to reduce population density. From what I hear, the other districts have been trying to keep the Lost from entering other districts to keep overpopulation from hitting them too. So to make room for themselves, the Lost are building farther up… and farther out, it seems. No room in the city, so climb the walls, I guess they think."

Ellie frowned as she gazed up at the towering walls of the city. She had a hard time imagining living in such a place, considering the heat of the desert welling up from below. Why were the rest of the districts so adamant on keeping the Lost contained to only one of the districts, though? She knew the Lost weren't exactly the favorite people in the city, considering how they'd so suddenly poured in, but still…

They sailed ever closer and closer to the city, and Ellie managed to keep herself on deck the entire time, far more eager to see the city again than she wanted to avoid sand in her eyes and nose. As they approached the wall, Ellie began to be able to see large caverns in the walls around the city, where light came pouring through the loading docks on the other side. As they approached, other boats began to slide up alongside them, vying to get into the city like their ship was. Luckily, their entryway was large enough for several ships to go through at the same time.

Finally they emerged into the city, and all the hunters aboard the ship stared around in awe and amazement. Ellie and Levin had been there before, but still had to appreciate the size of the city compared to the size of villages and towns they'd been around in the last year or so. Nothing like the cities that had existed back in their time, but that was to be expected. The city was like a giant bazaar in the area of town they entered into, shouters and shops desperate to grab buyers from any and all of the new hunters in the city, hoping that their wares were something odd and exciting enough to buy.

Without the aid of wagons and carts, as they'd had on the trip through the mountains, the hunters were forced to carry their own storage boxes and chests from the ship, and then across town. That was an effort that was worse than any other she'd undertaken before, Ellie had to admit. She'd asked around in hopes of someone willing to help them cart their way through the town, but any and all Aptonoth-pulled cart were being used for material and shop transport, so the two of them were out of luck.

During one of their visits, Marshall had informed the two hunters that he and Mel had set up the two of them to live in a particular place once they'd arrived in Loc Lac. Apparently he'd requested rooms for them in a housing development (and bar, the hammer user had emphasized) that was owned and operated by someone that Marshall had reluctantly referred to as a _friend_. The place was called the Dual Horn Oasis, an inside joke of some kind, Marshall said. When the two hunters had pressed for more information, the older hunter had clamped up, though, leaving the two of them confused and a little worried about what to expect.

The structure was in the South District, nearly on the complete opposite side of the city from where the two of them had docked, which meant a hell of a walk with their chests in tow, but what else where they to do? They needed to stop off and the Hunter's Guild's headquarters to register themselves in the city logs, before anything else, though. Luckily for the two of them, the Guild HQ was located in a small structure just underneath the base of the Loc Lac Tower, not too far out of their way, so they would be able to stop by on their way to their housing. With a shrug of resignation between the two of them, the pair of Lost took off, making their way across town.

Along the way, they were able to take in the sights and appreciate the layout of the city a little better. Very much like Boma Village, Loc Lac had designed itself to be prepared to immanent monster attacks, with several main thoroughfares running in circles around the entire city, and secondary roads cutting and connecting them. After leaving the docks of the city, the two of them got to a more urban area of the town, with more homes and houses than anything else, but more for the permanent residents than the hunters. They walked near a wide river that sprouted from a wellspring in the northern side of the city, weaving its way in a serpentine pattern through nearly every section of Loc Lac; an odd thing to see here in the center of the desert, but then, that was probably the reason Loc Lac was built here. Children played and ran through the shallows of the river, and civilians gave them smiles as they passed, a few wishing good luck to the newly arrived hunters.

They crested a hill at one point, and Ellie glanced over into the direction of the South district, where their housing was said to be, as well as being the location of the Lost in general in the town. At the sight, she gaped in shock. Where the rest of the town consisted primarily of structures that reached maybe three or four stories in height, the Lost District had sprouted up buildings that towered over the rest, perhaps nine to twelve stories high. And just as the hunter on board the ship had said, including the towering structures, several buildings had been placed up along the inside of the wall around the city, just as they had been outside. Though, the ones inside the wall were far more numerous and clustered than the ones outside, and from what Ellie could see from the distance she was at, there were easily more buildings scaling the wall than there were in all of Boma Village.

As they approached the Loc Lac Tower, Ellie had the opportunity to get a better look at it. She'd heard rumor that the tower was actually the massive tusk of the most massive Jhen Mohran that ever swam the sand seas, and from what the Lost huntress could see as they approached, there might have been a crumb of truth to the idea. The tower was a pristine ivory, no doubt smoothed to a shine by the countless years of being pelted with the harsh sand of the desert. And it just looked so… organic, compared to the dirty brown and red rock of the barrier walls, like it really and truly belonged as an appendage on some creature.

The Hunter's Guild HQ was a fairly impressive building in its own right, nearly as big as some of the warehouses Ellie remembered seeing in Orage Dell, but filled with people. In front of the building was a large bronze statue, elaborately adorned into the shape of a hunter fighting a Rathalos. Along the exterior walls of the building near the entrance was planted dozens of monster's heads, mounted on plaques. Some seemed to be in pristine condition, but a majority still bore the wounds and scars from whatever battles they'd been defeated in. It was all very striking.

Ellie's opinion of the Guild only rose as they entered the building (they left their chests outside the door). While the exterior of the building was showy and imposing, the interior was plain and efficient. Everyone she could see was working, passing information back and forth between each other, sending mission request papers this way and that to go to all ends of the city, or to all ends of the world. A couple dozen chairs sat near what was likely the receptionist, but even she seemed to be going all out at finishing whatever paperwork she had in front of her. Ellie almost felt bad as she and Levin worked their way over to speak with her.

But the woman seemed to sense them before Ellie had a chance to speak. "Name and purpose, please?"

"Um, Eleanor and Levin. Of Boma Village. We're here to, uh, register for housing?"

"Do you have a place in mind or are you seeking recommendations?" the woman replied, not even looking up from her paperwork.

"Um, well, our master back in Boma, Marshall, said that he'd sent a letter ahead for a place called the Dual Horn Oasis."

At this, the receptionist visibly jumped in surprise, and snapped a shocked and confused look at the two Lost hunters. "He sent you _there_? Intentionally?"

Ellie saw Levin frown. "He told us he knew someone there. Why? Is there something wrong with the place?"

"What isn't?" the woman replied, shaking her head. "The list goes on! More bar fights than any other bar in the entire city. More alcohol sold than any other bar in the city. Seedy bar-goers; no proper, upstanding hunters in the lot of them. Even the owner of the place is insane! Perfectly willing to toss people out on their butts if they give a sour look. I hear there's even bribing of city officials going on there. Not to mention it's in the Lost District…"

"What's wrong with the Lost District?" Ellie asked.

"A lot, nowadays," the woman sighed. "Used to be such a nice, calm area of town, but… once Marco said the Lost could stay there, things just went downhill. People thought there'd only be maybe a few hundred or so of them, you know? Like maybe a village or two. But they just kept coming and coming, and the South District kept getting more and more full. Food began becoming a problem by the time the third wave started coming into the city, and people began hoarding, so a lot of people in the South District started resorting to thievery and burglary. None of them had jobs, so they couldn't really buy anything themselves."

"You can't really blame them for that, though," Levin said. But Ellie didn't like the sound of what the Guild woman was saying. Were things really so bad in Loc Lac for the Lost?

"Well, some people do," the woman shrugged. By the flippant tone of her voice, Ellie suspected that she might be one of those people. "I know that the Lost didn't exactly have the skill set to do many jobs here as opposed to… wherever they're from, but they could've tried a little bit. I mean, they built those tall buildings and the Hive… that's what people are calling all the houses and huts hanging on the wall. They built those, but they haven't really done much else."

"What about scientific stuff?" Ellie asked. She knew the Lost were more advanced that other folks in the country, even if they didn't have the materials to make quite everything.

"Oh, that stuff doesn't really matter," the woman replied, waving her hand dismissively. Ellie frowned angrily and saw Levin scowling at the woman, though she wasn't paying any attention. A cold look glazed over the great sword users eyes, and Ellie felt a tinge of fear. She recognized that look as the one that meant that anger was beginning to seep through him, and she could sense a cold, rage induced rant boiling up from inside of him. And as he opened his mouth to tear apart the woman…

"Could we finish getting registered, please?" Ellie quickly asked. "We're both kind of tired, and we'd like to get some rest and drop off our goods chests."

"Oh, I'm sorry!" the woman apologized, luckily not noticing Levin's expression. "Here, the papers are right here, let me just jot you down and you two can be on your way. Would you like me to try and get the two of you transferred to a different housing structure while you're here?"

"No, um, I think we're fine with it. Our master wouldn't send us somewhere bad. Besides, he said he had friends in the area, so we should be alright."

"Well, alright, but just you come and see me if the two of you need bett… um, different living arrangements."

"We'll do that, thank you." As the woman started scratching things down onto the papers in front of her, Ellie turned and grinned at Levin, and the great sword user blinked in realization, grinning sheepishly. Ellie was thankful he'd kept his temper; the woman may not have been incredibly high in the Guild hierarchy, but Ellie didn't want to take any chances. If they were going to try and aid the Lost's reputations, they'd need to stay in good standing with the Guild.

"Thanks for that," Levin muttered once they were out the door. "That woman just… I don't know. Set me off."

"Yeah, I almost lost it myself," Ellie admitted. "She just… brushed off the Lost. Acted like it was completely our fault that all these things happened to us, but… No, we shouldn't be dwelling on it. If she wants to thing that about the lost, then whatever. We'll just have to make an effort to prove her wrong."

"Yeah, I guess," Levin replied. "I wonder if Harker is in the city yet. I figure if we're going to be making a decent name for Lost hunters, we'll need all the help we can get."

Ellie grimaced. "I guess, but… Harker? Really? Isn't that kind of like a step in the other direction? Normally I try to dissuade people from assuming that the Lost are all mad in one way or another, but Harker kind of, er, sets the standard for crazy."

"He's just… unique," Levin argued, though Ellie could tell he wasn't exactly convinced with his own words.

"Whatever you say," Ellie shrugged. "We'll try and get a hold of him and Kerrigan tomorrow."

"I hope the poor guy didn't scare her away," Levin said worriedly. "I imagine that his particular brand of enthusiasm isn't something that just every woman could put up with, and Kerry seemed to have trouble keeping the guy in line."

"Oh, she's probably still around," Ellie grinned. She still recalled the look that used to come over the other bowgunner's face after the stern look of disapproval had vanished when Harker had done something excessive. Full of compassion and caring, perhaps more. Ellie had little doubt that the woman was still hanging around the mad scientist, though she'd have to meet up with the woman eventually and ask how she could manage to put up with the guy. In the meantime, though…

"Let's get heading out," she said to Levin. "There's still a few things I'd like to do today, and I don't want to be dragging this chest through the whole city."

"Fair enough, Miss Ellie," Levin grinned. With a grunt of dismay at having to haul the chest even further, the great sword user hauled his box up, and Ellie followed suit, and the pair began dragging their things through town yet again.

* * *

Nearly twenty minutes later, Levin was getting pretty tired, dragging his massive chest of hunting goods along the streets of the South District. Many of the civilians that passed him and Ellie by raised their eyebrows at the odd sight of him and her carrying such massive crates through the town, and there were more than a few looks at the two of them that made Levin wish he'd had his hunter's knife out in case someone tried to rob them. But at the same time there were a lot of hunters on the street as well, and the two Lost hunters received several grins and chuckles from those hunters that remembered what it was like dragging their own stuff down the street to their new homes in Loc Lac.

But it wasn't the looks from the random passerby that held Levin's attention, but rather, the standards of living that the people in general were living in. From a distance, it looked as though the Lost District was doing surprisingly well, with other buildings towering over any of the others throughout the city. Levin had heard about the bad things that the Lost had been dealing with before, but it never really clicked with him until then. Living structures were packed to the brim with people, no occupancy at all, stuffing two or three families into each house or apartment for space in a few rare locations. Levin wasn't sure whether or not to be glad about the sight of dozens and dozens of signs denoting new housing developments being built.

A lot more of the Lost seemed to be working on jobs than people had let on outside the district. A lot of folks seemed to be working at jobs designing the new buildings that were going up to provide placed to live. But apparently some of the Lost had decided to wing it with whatever skill sets they had at their disposal, and various odds and ends jobs were offered, from clockmakers to mechanics to one man offering lessons in theoretical physics. What was weird was that several non-Lost folks were actually speaking to the man in curiosity, though admittedly most of them were older, scholarly-looking men.

Several of the Lost apparently found the two hunters interesting enough to approach and question, and were shocked to discover that the pair of them were Lost as well, despite being hunters. It was amazing at how quickly the word spread of the two, and by the time Levin and Ellie had turned the next few corners, it seemed every person around was talking about Lost being allowed to try to become hunters. No small amount of people seemed to have contemplative looks on their faces, clearly wondering whether or not they had what it took to make a try and becoming hunters themselves.

But finally, after several rests and a couple more stops to speak with curious passerby, the two of them came in sight of the Dual Horn Oasis, easily distinguishable by its namesake, two massive Diablos horns attached to the entryway. The place was very similar to a lot of the other housing developments, a large entry area (a bar, Levin assumed) connected closely to two stretches of apartments to the east and west. The two hunters picked up their pace intent on getting inside and finding a place to rest.

"Geet out ov my bar, hyu drunken eediot!"

The two hunters both jumped out of the way as the front doors of the bar blasted open, and a raggedly dressed man veritably flew through the air, sailing between Levin and Ellie and tumbling messily to the ground. From the shadows of the interior strode another shape, a woman, Levin realized, before blinking in shock at her appearance.

The woman, first and foremost, was easily the biggest woman he'd ever seen. Not fat, just _big_, easily a head taller than Levin. And tough-looking. Very tough-looking, with a highly toned body, piercing grey eyes, and a snarl on her face; and Levin had to admit, it was quite an attractive face, despite her being, what, thirty or forty? The woman looked as though she would be perfectly capable of ripping Levin's head off with her bare hands and using it as a tetherball if the great sword user dared to irritate her to that point. Other than that, the woman had long brown hair, tied up into a long elaborate braid, and half a dozen brightly colored bangles decorating her wrists. The man she'd tossed out of the bar stumbled drunkenly to his feet and managed to blubber out some slurred, angry words, but the woman pointed a finger at the man as his mouth snapped shut instantly.

"Hyu know da rules, shtupid!" she growled. "Hy only allows anyvun in da bar tree drinks durin' da day! I know hyu've been shneaking drinks by askink doze eediot friends of hyu's to buy dem for hyu! No more! Hyu not allowed in here for tree days as punishment, und hyu better not even tink of tryink to shneak in! Now geet out ov here before hy really lose my temper!"

Apparently the threat was enough to get the drunken man's attention, because his eyes bulged wide, and he abruptly turned around and began sprinting, well, more like hobbling, away as fast as his legs could carry him. The woman stood with her hands on her hips in the doorway, watching him go until he turned a corner, before snapping her eyes to the two Lost hunters, making them wince in fright.

"So? Vat's hyu two's shtory?"

"Um," Levin muttered awkwardly, "we were told that we'd be living here by the Guild. We're, uh, new Journeyman hunters. We just got here." The woman stared between the two of them for a moment or two, a inquisitive look on her face. Then her eyes widened and brightened considerably, and a large smile spread wide across her face. Levin was, admittedly, slightly surprised she had normal teeth and not fangs.

"Oh, it's hyu two! Marshall leedle shtudents!" she said excitedly. Without warning, the woman leapt forward, wrapping an arm around each of their necks and yanking them in for a tight hug. Levin gasped for breath and felt himself flush in embarrassment as he found himself held tight against the woman's ample cleavage. "Hy've been vaiting zo impatiently for de two ov hyu! I vas zo excited ven I heard dot old coot vas sendink hyu two here, I tot a vas goink to flip ot! I svear, dot old fool, don't write or even tink ov visitink, den decidink to send hyu two out ov der blue? Hyu two iz goink to have to be tellink me all hyu can ov how he iz!"

"But hyu iz gettink ahead of myself, hy is thinkink," the woman sighed, releasing the two of them. Levin sucked in a much-needed gasp of air, and tried to avoid the irritate look that Ellie was giving him. The woman didn't seem to notice though, and grinned excitedly between the two of them. "Hy is Lynn, hyu new landlord, hy suppose. Hyu two iz Ellie und Levin, yez?"

"Yeah, that's us," Ellie replied, straightening her shirt a little. "So you're, um, Marshall's friend, right?"

"Ho, yez," Lynn replied, "but dot's a shtory for anodder time, hy tink. Come on now, let's get de two of hyu settled in, hey? Now gimme doze trunks of hyuze. I'm sure hyu is tired from carryink dem zo far."

"Uh, yes," Ellie replied, as Lynn strode over to their chests of materials. "But we can get them. After all they are pretty…" Ellie's words caught in her throat and Levin's eyes widened in surprise as the big woman easily hoisted the two chests up, tossing one over her shoulder and the other hanging under an arm. "…uh, heavy."

"Oh, deez ain't heavy yet," Lynn chuckled. "Just vait til de two of hyu really shtart collectink beeg monshter goodies. Notink veighs a chest down like havink a shpare Diablos horn or two lyink around. Hy know hyu could alvays sell dem, but hyu never know, hey? Now come inside, de both of hyu, and get hyu a place to shleep."

And with that, the landlord turned and strode towards the door, forcing the two Lost to tail close behind to keep up with her long strides. With seemingly effortless motion, the woman swung a leg up and kicked the closed doors open, pushing through into the darkness. Levin and Ellie followed her in, blinking and squinting as their eyes had to adjust to the darkness of the room.

Levin was caught off guard when he was finally able to see. The room was crowded, or at least more so than he'd expected it to be. Dozens of hunters, and even more non-hunters filled the chairs and booths of the dimly-lit room. Levin could even make out several well-dressed folk sitting around, though they weren't lingering with the hunters or locals. Tables were scattered everywhere and without rhyme or reason, making the room a veritable maze, but at the sight of Lynn marching through the room with two massive chests in tow, people scattered out of the way, pushing tables and chairs with them to get out of her way. Levin wondered exactly what kind of reputation their new landlord had.

Though Levin was still a little irked at what the woman at the Hunter's Guild had said to them, he had to admit that she had been right about one thing; the hunters in the bar were definitely a more rough-and-tumble looking group than a majority of the other hunters in the city. These hunters had worn and tattered armor over them, dirty as all hell as well, compared to the other hunters in the city, who wore pristine, well-polished armor. Most of the hunters appeared older than a majority of the others as well, in their forties or more. Levin didn't recall seeing any hunters these men's and women's age anywhere else in the city. A lot of them seemed to be quite rugged in comparison as well, reminding Levin a lot of Marshall, which was quite a comfort, he had to admit.

Lynn led the two of them towards a massive bar at the other end of the room, where the familiar sight of a massive corkboard filled with hunting missions filled up a wide stretch of wall at one end of the bar. The board was filled with far, _far_ more notes and bounties then Levin had ever seen in one place before, even at the inn he'd stayed at in Orage Dell. Monsters of every shape and size were displayed, with dozens of Great Jaggi and Royal Ludroth missions easily in site, with bigger monster hunts showing less frequently. A small section off to the side was separated off, with a small sign scrawled with "Abroad" hovering over them; an area for the really far-off missions, Levin realized, noticing that most of the monsters represented were of things he'd never seen or heard of before.

Two thumps brought his attention back to the bar, where Lynn had unceremoniously dropped their goods chests next to the bar, moving behind the bar herself. She made her way past several absolutely massive barrels of what Levin assumed was beer or some other alcohol. She reached under the bar and pulled out a small booklet, flipping it open and scouring the pages for information. Then she grinned, pointing at a particular page.

"Ah, here eet iz," she said. "Hy managed to geet two rooms for de two ov hyu next to each odder. I vas tempted to boot ot von ov the odder pipple livink here to geet it dot vay, but lucky for hyu, zum hunter got promoted, und left for nizer housink, dot ungrateful bastard… But anyvay, hyu two gots rooms right next door, vich is goot. Unless…" Levin shivered as the woman eyed the two hunters wickedly. "Unless de two ov hyu just vant to share von single room. Vouldn't be de first time hy've seen zum new arrivals like dot."

"No!" Ellie yelped next to Levin, face flushing. "I mean, uh, no. No, that's not something we need, thank you."

"Heh, sorry bout dot," Lynn smirked wickedly. "Dot old coot told me the two of hyu vas togedder, and said to gif hyu a leedle bit of teasink ven hyu got here. Seems de old fool remembered how much hy luf havink fun like dot. I vill leave hyu two alone abott dot from here on, don't hyu vorry."

Levin growled in irritation. "I'm going to need to send the old bastard a letter with some words in it when I get the chance, it seems. We got enough of that in Boma; I don't really need any more of it here."

"Don't vorry, I'm done," Lynn laughed. "Hy ken't promise notink from odders, but hyu von't hear notink from me no more. Now den, let's get de two of hyu to hyu rooms, hey? Dis time, mebbe I let the two of hyu carry hyu own chests? De both of hyu is goink to be needink to be tougher if hyu is goink to be livink in Loc Lac."

So with a sigh, the two hunters grabbed a hold of the handles on the sides of the boxes and hoisted the chests up, following behind as the housekeeper led them towards the right hallway. The hall stretched off for a good hundred yards or so back, with numbered doors every few yards. Luckily for the two Lost hunters, their rooms were only a quarter or so down the hallway, right next to each other, numbers twelve and fourteen. Lynn unlocked the doors for them, giving the pair of them copies before she left. The two hunters quickly pushed their way into the rooms, desperate to drop off their things, as Lynn strode her way back to the bar room, the sound of fighting catching their ears. Levin didn't envy the poor fools that had started a fight here; he'd only known Lynn a few minutes and she already scared him a little.

The room was simple, just the way Levin liked it. A bed lay in the middle, with a few dressers and drawers nearby, with a mirror on top of the bigger one. A small restroom and shower were attached; one of the few technological advances that Levin was truly grateful lasted from the time of the Lost. A small kitchenette was shoved up against one of the walls, taking up a fair amount of space to make room for a furnace and stovetop. The design was definitely more urban, and lacked the more… tribal design that his hut in Boma had sported. And there wasn't a deck behind the house, which saddened the great sword user a little; he was rather partial to being able to go out and fish on a moment's notice. With a grunt of weariness, Levin dropped his hunting chest to the ground, the impact shaking the floorboards and rattling the mirror.

Levin sighed, glancing around the room, half thinking about how he was going to arrange things once he finally got around to unpacking… then decided against it and simply flopped backwards onto the bed behind him. He hadn't realized just how tired he was until just now, as the feeling of exhaustion from the last few days of travelling and moving his things finally began to catch up with him. As much as he wanted to continue to look around the city, at the same time, he really, really just wanted a little bit of rest.

He realized idly that his arm was swinging around awkwardly, reaching for nothing but air, and was forced to smirk to himself in amusement. He and Ellie had dozed off next to each other so many times before they'd made their way here to Loc Lac, he was already used to reaching to pull her closer. Knowing that he was already like that with the woman he loved admittedly made him feel… lonely. How odd, he thought to himself, to be like this already, though he had to admit he liked the feeling of belonging to someone and being belonged to, even if she wasn't here with him now.

The sound of creaking caught his ears, and one of his eyes cracked open, glancing questioningly around the room. Had his ears played a trick on him? Was his bed unsteady? Then the sound of the door closing rattled around the room, and Levin smirked again.

"You lonely, Ellie?" he murmured lazily. "It's only been, what, five or ten minutes? Looking for a little warmth, or are you…"

"Are you really a Lost hunter?"

Levin nearly jumped out of his skin at the unfamiliar, childish voice. He certainly did jump out of his bed, yelping as he tumbled across the mattress and down onto the floor of the room. He grunted in pain as his shoulder rammed into the wooden floor. In a flash he'd pushed himself back to his feet and his eyes darted around the room in search of the source of the voice. He nearly jumped again as his eyes landed on a child, maybe four years old at the oldest, balanced precariously on the end frame of his bed, barefoot and dirty, eyeing him curiously.

"Um, yeah. Yeah, I am," Levin answered cautiously. "I'm a hunter and one of the Lost. Um… who are you?"

The boy blinked. "I'm Logan," he replied, as though it was obvious. "Do you fight lots of different monsters?"

"Uh, yeah. As many as I'm able to, I guess. Where exactly did you come from?"

"Here," Logan replied simply, gesturing vaguely around. "Do you hunt little monsters, too? Or do you hunt only big ones? I know some hunters only go after the big ones."

"I go after whichever ones I need to go after at the time," Levin answered honestly. The boy seemed a little odd to Levin; most children he'd met that asked him about hunting were excited to meet and talk with him about his adventures. This boy seemed just curious, and admittedly, was asking odd questions. "Sometimes I need things from smaller monsters. Most of the time I go after big things, though, since that's where all the, uh, good things are at, you know?"

"Do you kill the bees?" the boy asked abruptly. "The Ben… um, Benny… Ban… um…"

"Bnahabra?" Levin supplied. The boy nodded, and Levin could see him rolling the word around on his tongue, trying it out. "Occasionally. Not very often, though. The only time I really deal with them is when I'm cave diving, or hunting down honey for the village… er, for people. They're pretty irritating, but not much of a threat."

A dark look suddenly covered the boy's face, and he glowered at the great sword user, making Levin frown in confusion. The look was gone in a moment, though, replaced by the same curious look from before, making Levin wonder if he'd even seen Logan's face change at all. The boy tilted back and forth on the bed frame for a moment, looking as though he was wondering what to ask next.

"Do you have any, um, shells or something?" he asked Levin hopefully. "That I can have, I mean?"

Levin frowned uncertainly. Why would a child want monster parts? Okay, a Jaggi skull or something he could understand, maybe a well-carved horn or something. But a Bnahabra shell? That was different. He opened his mouth, trying to determine how to reply to the request, the sound of running from out in the hallway stopped him. He glanced over to the door as the wooden frame burst open again, and Lynn stuck her head into the room, eyes darting around before landing on Logan. A look of worry on her face was replaced with one of relief, then one of anger and frustration. With a look of authority, she pushed into the room, eyes boring into the boy, who had the good grace to look afraid.

"Logan!" she growled. "Vat did I tell hyu abott botherink de hunters? I don't vant hyu goink around pesterink de new pipple abott tings. Especially in dey rooms, hey? Hyu ken't just valk in on pipple! Hyu ken tok to dem in de bar, buy hyu give dem privacy in dey rooms!"

"Sorry," Logan muttered, hopping off the frame, landing nimbly on the ground. In a flash he'd sprinted out the door, slipping around Lynn's legs and into the hallway, sliding out of sight with the innkeepers head snapping around trying to keep up with the boy. But the boy was already gone. Lynn sighed in frustration.

"Sorry bot dot," Lynn said to Levin. "He's a leedle hard to keep track ov."

"Your son?" Levin asked.

"No, no. Er, vell, mehby. Not my keed by blood, by hy am, er, takink care ov him. Hy don know how to shay eet."

"I understand. Um, I think."

"Tenks," Lynn grinned. "Hy vill geet ot ov hyu hair now. Hyu ledy friend vas peekink ot ov her room vhen I run by. Been a vhile sinze I vas her age, but hy shtill recognized de look. Hyu gon haff a visitor here in a leedle bit, hey? Iz nize to be young und in lurve, izn't eet?"

The innkeeper laughed as Levin's face reddened, turning around and striding out of the room, no doubt to chase after her… son, Levin supposed, even if adopted. Levin could hear Lynn talking at the next door over, before laughing and moving on. Levin sighed, but smiled contentedly as Lynn's footsteps faded off into the distance. As embarrassing as it was having Lynn messing with the two of them, he had to admit he kind of liked it; it reminded him of Boma Village, the only place in the hunting world that felt like home.

As he sat down on the bed again, he grinned as the sound of hesitant knocking rattled off the door. He pushed himself back up to his feet and strode quickly over to the door, opening it wide and grinning at Ellie, whose face was still a little flushed from Lynn's teasing. At least he wouldn't be lonely here. So long as Ellie was with him, everything would be alright.

* * *

It was late afternoon when the two Lost hunters left the Dual-Horn Oasis again. Lynn had smirked wickedly at the two of them as they'd left, but apparently Ellie had been feeling feisty, because she'd shot an equally wicked look back when she thought Levin wasn't looking. Levin had felt a shiver go down his spine when he saw a possessive, victorious, and downright… carnivorous look cross Ellie's face for a moment, making Lynn laugh when she saw it.

Levin shot a curious look over to Logan, who sat on the bar near Lynn, toying around with what looked like a Gobul-shaped stuffed animal. He looked almost like a completely different child now, less focused on hunting or monsters, and content with playing with his toys like a normal child. Levin wondered if he should ask Lynn about the boy's questions from earlier, but decided it would be better to do later.

Once they'd made it out of the bar, though, they didn't even need to talk with each other to know where the both of them were going to go. The both of them had satchels and backpacks filled to the brim with monster materials, ready to hit up the side of town that they'd been looking forward to since their arrival: the smith district.

They didn't even need directions to get to the right area of town; giant pillars of smoke and soot spiraled up into the sky a couple of districts over, in the West District (or the Smith District), where countless furnaces sat burning almost around the clock every day of the week. Dozens, then hundreds of hunters began filling the streets the closer they got to the area, until all they could see were the distinct shapes of those that hunted monsters for a living, from large and chiseled muscles, to limber and quick-footed, to everything in between. But everyone had the same sharp, focused eyes of those that walked the edge of life and death.

Levin felt himself grinning as they finally entered the Smith District proper. It was almost exactly like the one he'd seen in Orage Dell, but far, far bigger. Shouters stood at the corner of every store, calling out to passerby, proclaiming adamantly and with increasing vigor about how the store they were working for were far better than any of the others, their smiths far greater in skill than any of the others that had shops in the area. The brightest, most impressive weapons were on display outside of the shops, trying to pull even more attention to the shops.

The number of Wyvernians dramatically increased as they got further and further into the district as well. Levin had heard that most of them were smiths or other such things for the most part, though he'd heard rumor of a few of them that joined the Hunter's Guild and shot up through the ranks. It always made Levin curious to see one in a monster fight. He was tempted to make a trip to the arena sometime soon to see whether or not there were any that were actively hunting…

But for now, his eyes began flashing back and forth between the various shops, in search of something to catch his interest. The Lagiacrus he and Ellie had killed had provided quite a few materials, even despite the damage the creature had taken between the two battles that they'd had with it, scales and plates abounded, and they'd made an effort to recover the horns in as best of condition that they could, but they and several other parts of the creature were in less than good shape. Still, they'd gotten quite a bit, and both of them wanted to make something nice with the leviathan's materials.

Ellie was seeking out someone who'd be able to make her a set of good armor, or at least a few pieces of it, until she could gather the materials for the whole set. Levin didn't say it, but he supposed that the real reason she wanted new armor was to avoid the catcalls she'd no doubt be receiving if she continued to wear her altered Qurupeco armor. Levin would miss the revealing armor, but ever since they'd started dating, he'd been a little more defensive about letting others see her body. He hoped she'd keep the armor though; he was sure they could find some use for it.

Levin was hoping to find a weapon smith of some kind. His Ludroth armor was getting worn, but the battle with the Lagiacrus and the monsters on their trip from the shipwreck site had left his great sword bent and cracked. Silph had gaped in shock at the sight of the blade, pretty much telling Levin that he'd be better off just gathering materials for a new weapon. That had hit Levin harder than he'd thought it would; that weapon had been his first ever, and now it was nothing but scrap metal as far as smiths were concerned.

In truth, Levin had been contemplating buying something besides a great sword recently. As fond as he'd gotten towards the weapon type, he had been forced to agree with what Ellie had said to him during their rough journey the previous month. He needed to make himself more mobile, more able to keep moving, or at the very least a sword that could take a better beating than the one he'd had made of Gobul materials. Defending seemed to be a challenge for him with the weight of the sword slowing him down so much. Ellie wouldn't be pleased, but he might have to try learning to use a weapon that gave up the ability to block. Maybe a hammer? Or maybe he could try out a long sword like the one he'd seen Harker using.

It soon became obvious that the district was sectioned off into two clear areas, one side dedicated to armor crafters, and the other to weapons and other such things. Though the two hunters were hesitant to do so, they both were forced to agree that they'd be forced to split up if they even wanted a chance of getting back to their rooms by then. So, the both of them agreed to meet up at the entrance to the Smith District in a couple hours, so that they could have time to wander around the town in search of nice places to eat.

Levin enjoyed walking around through the weapon smiths. So many random and odd-looking things to look at, with dozens of strange-looking weapons. Levin had to laugh at a few of the things he saw; but he was left completely flabbergasted once, upon seeing a weapon that looked like… a shark? The hell? And he saw a long sword later that somehow seemed to grow larger once it was unsheathed. That had kept Levin's attention for a good fifteen minutes, him staring and gaping as the demonstrator continuously sheathed and unsheathed it for the crowd around him that oohed and aahed.

Eventually, Levin wandered into a small cluster of smiths that were close together. The area wasn't as crowded as the other sections of the weapon area, so he ended up glancing around a little more cautiously. He realized that the weapon smiths were a little different here, selling things that none of the other shops were selling. Foreign, less common weapons seemed to be popular here, walls and displays were coated with things like giant horns, small but nimble pairs of swords, normal arrow-flinging bows, and… was that a lance with a gun inside of it? Levin shook his head in awe. There seemed to be no end to the oddities and absurdities the hunting world had to offer.

But as he walked through the area, he began to feel as though he was being watched. Well, there weren't that many other customers in the area, so he was definitely getting attention from the shouters at the corners, but there seemed to be a more intense stare making the hair rise on the back of his neck. He glanced around uneasily, searching for the source, before his eyes finally landed on a small shop in the corner of the lot, where a wizened looking Wyvernian was grinning at him (And to call a Wyvernian wizened was saying something. They all looked ancient). Yep, definitely right at him. Levin frowned uncertainly as man motioned him over, but wandered over to him.

The smith was the same size as the other Wyvernians, as far as Levin could tell. He had a small wooden pipe in one corner of his mouth, and was sitting on a small stool in front of the shop. The Wyvernian chuckled as Levin got close. "You're going to request that I make a weapon for you, lad."

Levin blinked in surprise at the statement. "Oh? That's a pretty bold statement. How can you be so sure?"

"Oh, I can always tell," the man replied with a shrug. "There's just something or other about the hunter that seems to give them away. And it's not untrue, is it? You would really like me to assemble one of my weapons for you, don't you?"

Levin glanced up, realizing that he'd been so taken in by the Wyvernian that he hadn't taken the time to determine exactly what it was the man produce. But his breath caught in his throat as he glanced up at the display, and he felt a smirk slide across his face. Switch axes. This old man made and sold switch axes. Five or six of the weapons were hung out across the front of the shop, from simplistic-looking ones, to more complex, powerful looking weapons that Levin didn't dare to even guess at what monster had been used to provide the materials for. A small hand-painted sign labeled the shop as Umbre's Switch Axes.

"Switch axes are my specialty, lad," the Wyvernian, Umbre Levin supposed, told him. "A close friend of mine came to me with the design plans years ago, and I started making them, tricky though they are. I won't lie, the weapon isn't quite as popular as some of the others, the bowguns or the hammers or the swords and shields, and I'll never make quite the money that they do, but there's a nice collection of young hunters that like them, and I'm perfectly content making the weapons for them."

"Sounds like a decent living," Levin nodded. He glanced down, and realized that there was another, smaller display case sitting next to Umbre, holding a collection of various vials. Levin leaned forward, studying the little things as Umbre watched on. The little tubes seemed to be filled with bright, constantly swirling fluids of some kind. They came in various colors, too, from yellow to red to some eerie black-and-red swirling concoction that seemed to glow. "What exactly are these?"

"You know how the switch axe works?" Umbre asked. Levin nodded slightly but wobbled his hand in a 'kinda' sort of motion, and the smith shrugged. "Well, the short of it is that, when you've got the weapon in sword mode, the weapon pulls pure energy from these little tubes, called phials. The phial sends the energy through to the blade of the weapon, expelling it out upon impact when you swing the weapon, causing extra damage to whatever it hits. You're also able to expel large amounts of energy from your weapon all at once; makes a big bang that'll leave a wound on any monster. Once the energy in the phial wears out, though, you'll have to switch over to the axe mode, but the fluid inside the phial is able to recharge itself somehow as well, so you'll be able to use the sword again after a minute or two. Quite an ingenious design, I must say."

Levin frowned, tapping one of the tubes with his finger cautiously. "Pure energy in a tube? That sounds a little, um, dangerous."

"Maybe so," Umbre shrugged. "But those phials are made with one of the strongest materials the hunting world has to offer. Some special glass made by mixing the regular glass with Dragonite and Firestone ore. Quite something, I'm told, and safe."

"But what happens if it _does_ break?" Levin asked. He really didn't like the look of that black fluid.

Umbre paused in thought, tapping his chin. "Well… I imagine the phial would unleash all of the energy from inside the phial. An explosion of some sort, I imagine."

Levin winced. "Sounds, um, painful."

The Wyvernian grinned wryly at Levin. "No, it probably wouldn't be, actually."

The great sword user raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Really?"

Umbre chuckled. "Oh, no. You'd be dead far, _far_ too quickly to ever feel any sort of pain."

"I think you need a little work on your salesmanship, Umbre."

"Heh, maybe so. But the question is, is knowing the weapon's flaws enough to make you not want to get one of my weapons?"

Levin blinked and frowned in thought. After that one single show he'd seen in Orage Dell, he'd constantly wondered what it would be like to give the switch axe a go. The knowledge that there was a phial inside boosting its power only made him want to try it all the more. But the knowledge that if the phial were to break, he'd die? Not quite so pleasant, he admitted.

"You want to give it a try?" Umbre said suddenly, pulling his pipe out of his mouth and tapping it to empty it out a little. "I've got a spare weapon in back that you can try out if you like. One of the first ones I made, so it doesn't look too pretty. It's got some wear on it; the same one I've let other passerby try out when the switch axe caught their eye. It's got a pretty old power phial in it, gives you a taste of the kick the blade gives you. Care for a run of it, lad?"

Levin's agreement was almost out of his mouth before he realized it, and momentarily he was out behind the smithy, Umbre sitting nearby with his pipe in his mouth. Levin had what was referred to a Bone Axe in his hands, swinging it against a large tree stump covered in some dark monster hide. The blade was surprisingly easy to swing, though that was probably due to the months and months he'd spent swinging around a great sword, which had easily been twice the weight of this particular weapon. The shift in weight balance when the blade swapped from one mode to the other was a pinch tricky for him to get used to, admittedly, but once he'd gotten a feel for it, he had to admit he was having a lot of fun swinging it around. It just seemed to fly around like a blur to him after so long tossing the great sword around. Ten minutes later, Levin was gasping for breath, still holding the switch axe tightly. He grinned at the Wyvernian.

"Okay, I'm sold," he laughed. "This is a lot of fun. What do I have to do to get one of these?"

Umbre smirked and tapped out his pipe again. "Depends on what type of materials you got that I can work with. You should know the way things work, lad; you bring me materials and some money, and I work my magic making you something nice. What kind of materials were you hoping to make a weapon out of?"

"I have Lagiacrus stuff," Levin replied, which earned him a surprised look from the Wyvernian.

"They're doing Lagi missions for the third star these days? Hoy, and here I thought the Guild was going easier on hunters these days."

"There were some, er, extraneous circumstances to the whole thing. I don't know if they would've given us something like that under normal conditions."

"Hm, well that complicates things a little," Umbre muttered. "You got any Firestones?"

"Um, no."

"Well, then I can't just make you a Lagi switch axe right off. The smithing of a blade with electricity in it is a fickle sort of work at best. You'll need to make a less powerful weapon first, then I'll be able to use what you've got to improve it into what the Guild calls the Bolt Axe. But to get the materials for the materials for that, you're gonna need to get some things from the desert."

Levin frowned. This was becoming more complicated than he'd wanted it to be. "Well damn. That means I'm going to need to get a new weapon anyway. My great sword got all busted to hell during the Lagiacrus fight."

"Tell you what, lad," Umbre said. "Go find a shop up east of here called Rocke's. Take your sword with you and tell the owner I sent you, and he'll fix your sword up right as rain. Unless your blades in more than a dozen pieces, he'll fix it up for you good and cheap. He's always been a generous kind of guy when it comes to weapon repairs."

"Really?" Levin asked, finding himself grinning. "That's a big help!"

"Don't worry about it, lad," Umbre replied, hopping to his feet. "Now let's get you a list of the stuff you'll need to collect for me, to make you one of these fun little weapons, shall we?"

Soon Levin was out the door of the shop, walking happily through the streets with a small slip of paper in his pocket with a laundry list of hunting materials that he'd need for the switch axe. He'd left the Lagi materials that would be used for the blade with the smith, and he had a lot of the things he needed already, but apparently there were some bugs in the desert that produced a viscous fluid that was required to hold the machine together without tearing apart the gears, so Umbre said. Levin had to admit he was excited; not just for having a new weapon, but also for going to a new area. The forests around Boma Village and the few islands in the surrounding area were all very much the same in topographic terms.

"And next for sale," a loud female voice called out from Levin's right, "a genuine article from the ancient civilizations that came before! That's right, before you sits an artifact from the very civilization that built the pride of Loc Lac, the Guild Tower, if not an even earlier one!"

Levin glanced over in curiosity at the voice. He caught sight of a tall, blonde-haired woman atop a stage of sorts, wearing a bright green and form fitting outfit. She stood directly in front of a large collection of random objects, varying from monster materials to tables and desks to random things Levin couldn't even guess at the purpose of. A good sized crowd milled around in front of her, another motley collection of people that the great sword user would never have suspected to see together, from the dirtiest of hunters to the most pristine dressed noble or merchant. A "come-one-come-all" auction house, Levin realized, catching sight of bidder cards in people's hands.

The great sword user's eyes flickered back to the auctioneer as she… strutted over to the object she'd been talking about, a large something-or-other that was slyly covered by a cloth, no doubt to raise the intrigue of whatever it hid. "The true purpose of this mysterious metal object is uncertain," the woman told the crowd, "but archaeologists and scientists have theorized that this magnificent machine is actually an example of ancient musical creation. Anyone interested in seeing more?"

The hunters in the audience clearly didn't care about the thing, eyes glazing over in boredom and turning in anticipation to eye the hunting materials that would be sold later; it seemed the prize item was a pair of curved Diablos horns that looked as though they'd been sawn off the monster just recently. But several of the more "sophisticated" folk in the audience muttered to each other, intrigued. Levin had to admit he was intrigued as well, though he didn't dream of having near the money the woman would demand. The auctioneer grinned, pleased at the curiosity, and with a flourish, yanked the sheet off the machine below.

"Behold! The Cranked Calliope!"

Levin blinked as the sun glinted off shining, polished metal, catching him by surprise. He tilted his head in curiosity at the sight of the strange machine that stood in front of the crowd. The merchants whispered between themselves, pointing in interest at the… calliope? Levin frowned at the object. It seemed familiar, oddly enough, all pipes and tubes in a tightly wound circle, two massive iron wheels holding everything up. Holes and feeds edged along the lower side, next to a gleaming hand crank that had helped name the machine…

Suddenly Levin gasped in shock. He recognized what the machine was now! But how did they find something like that? "That's a… is that really…"

"A Gatling gun," a voice next to him chuckled. "Civil War model 1889, I believe."

Levin turned in surprise at the voice, and found himself face to face with a grinning old man. He wore short hair and sported a trimmed beard, both of them colored a silvery grey, and he had a finely crafted cane in his hand to hold himself up. He was about half a head shorter than Levin was, stout and stocky, with a round face creased with laughter lines. The old man chuckled at the sight of Levin's face, and Levin had a distinct feeling of a doddering grandfather from the older guy, and grinned back awkwardly. The man was… Lost, Levin thought, though he didn't recall ever seeing a Lost that was so old.

The old man glanced Levin up and down for a moment, then smiled again. "You're another one of the Lost, aren't you, lad?"

Levin nodded quickly. "Yes, actually. How did you…"

"You've got the look about you," the man laughed. "And uncertain but speculative gaze when you look around, a certain stride to your step, the way your body is built. Not to mention you were able to tell what that, heh, 'artifact' up there was at a glance as what it really is, not this 'calliope' nonsense."

Levin grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, you caught me. You're pretty sharp, old man."

"Well, us Lost need to stick together, right? We're two of a rare breed in this world, my boy. The name's Moloch, lad," the man laughed, holding a hand forward for Levin to shake; Levin did so happily. He liked this old man.

"Levin," the great sword user introduced himself. Then he glanced back up to the stage, where a small whiteboard showed the current auction on the gun; Levin whistled at the sight of over 300,000 zenny being the current value, with the number only going higher as the bidding boards were raised, only making the number rise. "What are you doing in a place like this, Moloch? An auction house seems an odd place to see Lost. Looking for something interesting?"

"Oh, I've already found it," Moloch chuckled. Levin blinked in surprise as the old man pulled a bidder's number from his belt and raised it over his head. In an impressively loud voice, the man bellowed, "Seven hundred and fifty thousand."

Levin felt his jaw drop in shock as a ripple of murmured surprise rolled through the other bidders. Numerous stunned faces of merchants and nobles turned, confusion at getting out-wagered by a Lost of all things covering their faces for a moment before they forced themselves back to blank faces and turned back to face the front. Moloch laughed in amusement, though at Levin's expression or the reaction from the other bidders, the great sword user couldn't tell. The auctioneer didn't seem to care either way, though, and was prancing around the stage, trying to pull more bids from the others in front of her, though none seemed to be biting. After a few moments, when it was clear that no one was going to pipe in, the woman declared Moloch the victor, and the Gatling gun was wheeled away, to be replaced by a large mounted Rathalos head, which caught the eyes of several hunters.

As Moloch began to work his way back to where his prize waited for him. He paused midstride, though, turning to smirk back at Levin and motioning for him to follow. Levin frowned uncertainly for a moment before shrugging and rushing to catch up with the old man.

"If I may ask," Levin said, once he'd caught up to the old man, "How exactly are you able to fork out three quarters a million zenny for a Gatling gun? I'm pretty sure all the Lost popped into this world without a penny to their names."

"Curious as to how I came amassed such a fortune?" Moloch grinned. "I'm in the… well, let's call it the entertainment business. Back in our world, I used to be a major player in several industries; television, newspaper, radio, that sort of thing. I made a living trying to determine what kind of things people wanted to see, what they'd want to spend money on, what they'd… heh, _wager_ on. I won't lie, my boy; I've made a fair fortune in casinos, bookies, dog racing, and other such stuff."

"Is that how you made so much money here?" Levin asked.

"Somewhat," Moloch shrugged. "Mostly its work I do for the arena. Seems the Hunter's Guild liked some of the ideas I put forward about new types of battles in the arena. Not to mention it pays off if you can make intelligent bets on the winners of said fights. Ha! What fun this whole hunting thing is, even for those of us that aren't exactly fit enough for such things anymore!"

"You made all that money with arena betting?" Levin asked skeptically.

The old man smirked at the great sword user. "I'm _good_ at betting, my boy. It's always been a knack of mine. Horses, dogs, boxing, poker of any type, and even, it seems, betting on winners or losers in hunting arena battles. I popped into his world over a year ago, and the first thing I did was make my way to the Loc Lac arena. I knew I was right at home immediately; I could just… feel whether or not a hunter or hunting party would win or lost their next fight. I was able to wager on the most impossible odds and come out on top. Heh. I'm a man born with natural good luck, I suppose."

"And you're spending all that good luck on heavy weapons?" Levin asked with a frown, blinking in surprise when Moloch chuckled.

"Ah, it's an old hobby of mine," Moloch shrugged. "I've always loved history and archaeology. Every once in a while I'll give in to temptation and come down here in search of some old piece of history. And lucky me, it looks like I've picked up a winner today! An old Civil War piece of weaponry, in almost perfect condition from what I could see. Shame there weren't a few lines of bullets… actually, it's probably for the best. Such a dangerous machine... it'd be terrible if it fell into more aggressive hands. Perhaps I should just destroy it, just to be safe… But I'm getting off topic, I think. Truth be told, most of the money I'm making is going into trying to support the rest of the Lost here in Loc Lac. There's a few new apartment buildings coming up that I'm funding in the Lost district, as well as a few places outside of town. Oh, and there's an archaeological dig site I'm refurbishing, but that's just another personal endeavor."

"That's pretty noble of you, though," Levin said. "The only thing I did was become a hunter."

Moloch's eyebrows snapped up in surprise. "A hunter? Really? I wasn't aware they allowed the Lost to become hunters. Interesting, my boy! There's more to you than meets the eye it seems."

"I'm not the only one, though," Levin replied sheepishly. "My partner Ellie's a Lost and a hunter, and I have a friend named Harker that's the same."

"Ha! Very interesting! Three! Now that's something! Tell me, my boy, have you ever fought in the arena?"

Levin shrugged. "No, I haven't. I like hunting, but… I don't know. Arena fights never were quite like the real hunts. I honestly always felt a little bad for the monsters stuck in there. It just seems more… fair to fight them in their element. Maybe it's just me."

"No, I understand where you're coming from," Moloch nodded. "I always felt the arena could use a bit more flair, but I don't think the Guild's going to be making any changes anytime soon."

A ringing sound filled the air, and Levin glanced over to one of the many town clocks and he winced. "Crap, I'm late. I'm sorry Moloch, but I've got to run."

"Heh, not a problem my boy. Off to meet your lady friend no doubt?" The old man chuckled as Levin's face flushed slightly. "Ah well. Maybe we'll meet again, lad. If you ever feel the urge to fight in the arena, though, look me up. I'm sure you'd do quite well! I can feel it!"

"I'll remember that," Levin grinned, turning to hurry back to the armor district. "Later!" The old man waved as Levin hurried away, before turning to glance back at the Gatling gun as it was being loaded onto a wagon.

Ellie was waiting for him near a large fountain shaped like a Lagiacrus at the crossroads between the weapon and armor district, a satisfied look on her face. Her satchel also seemed a little lighter, meaning she'd found someone or another willing to put together the scales and plates into something usable. She grinned as Levin approached. "Got a couple pieces of the armor put together. Gonna need a few more horns and claws to finish it, though. How about you? Did you find someone to put together a new great sword for you?"

Levin grinned. "Actually, I found a, er, different vendor to talk to."

One of Ellie's eyebrows rose questioningly. "You're not making a great sword? I thought you said you weren't that good at using any of the other weapons. I mean, you said you'd messed around with the hammer, but..." Then her eyes narrowed. "Hold on a sec. There was some weapon you wanted to play with when we were in Orage Dell… the axe thingy…"

"Switch axe," Levin supplied, and Ellie groaned.

"You bought a completely different weapon? Right after the two of us get to a new city? Jeez, and I thought Harker was nuts…"

"Oh, come on. It's not that bad," Levin argued. "I talked to the smith about it and he explained everything I wanted to know about the weapon. And I toyed around with one of the spares he had, too. It was so much fun to wield! And a lot lighter and faster than the great sword! You were the one that told me I needed to find a way to avoid monster impacts, so I got a nimbler weapon."

"I didn't mean for you to… oh, dang it. Why am I arguing? It's your Lagi stuff, who am I to argue with your decision? Just… ah, just promise we won't go headfirst into fighting something we've never fought before once you get the thing, please?"

"Not a problem, my dear Miss Ellie," Levin replied with an elaborate bow. "I'm not going to be able to get the thing for a little while. I need materials first, then the guy's going to need time to make the thing. It'll be another few weeks at least before I even get the weapon."

"So there aren't any problems that the weapon will give you, are there?" Ellie asked, pushing herself to her feet.

"Well, I won't really be able to block all that well with it, or at least not so easily as I can with the great sword," Levin replied. "All the little gizmos inside the weapon would get damaged if I took every hit, so I suppose it's kind of forcing me into getting better at avoiding attacks. The whole sword recharge thing is kind of weird, but I think it'll be fun to get used to. I mean, the only real issue is…" His mouth clamped shut, He didn't want Ellie frustrated with him about this weapon, and he doubted she'd take too well to the idea that, should worse come to worst, the weapon would just up and explode on the wielder. Ellie noticed his hesitance though, and her eyes narrowed. Levin mind raced for an excuse, before he finally grinned. "The cost. It's a relatively new weapon so smiths are rare. It's not going to be cheap."

Ellie wasn't buying it, he could tell already. She opened her mouth to say something else, but then shut it and sighed. Then she grinned at him. "Jeez, look at me, getting angry over something so simple. Who am I to get angry at you for wanted to try out a new weapon? I guess it just means I'll have to get used to working around the new fighting style you'll have to get." She smirked sheepishly, and Levin smiled as she slid her fingers through his as the two began walking back to the inn. "Though I have to admit, I'm a little curious about this weapon. What is it, steam powered?"

"Dragon powered," Levin joked. Ellie gave him a look, and he laughed as he began to explain what he'd learned from Umbre.

* * *

Jonathan paused for a moment outside Zhanin's office. Here he was once again, to report on news that the city council member had requested of him. And not for the first time, he wondered whether or not it would be better for him to simply keep the information he had to himself. The city council member was probably not in a pleasant mood today, considering the council had recently agreed to allow the Lost to build further along the walls of the city, even on the desert side of the wall. Jonathan had little doubt that he would have rather seen the council approve the removal of the population overflow to… elsewhere, Jonathan didn't know.

But though he wanted nothing more than to turn around and walk away, he knew the man would find out about this information sooner or later, and had little doubt that the man would be enraged at the negligence to pass on the information he wanted to know. Then would come the threats, the reminders of the influence the man had over him, the recital of why exactly Jonathan owed the man his vitality, his position, his so on and so forth. Jonathan hated that the man had control over him, but at the moment, there was nothing he could really do.

So with a push, the leader of the Investigatory Squad pushed through the doors. The man in question was sitting behind his desk as usual, gazing out across the horizon and glaring at the towers that were rising up in the South District, and the smaller buildings climbing the walls of the village. The man turned as Jonathan entered, and frowned at the sight of him.

"More bad news?" he asked irritably. "It always seems to be bad news from the IS these days."

Jonathan was tempted to grin at the man's words, but held it in. Zhanin had referred to the Investigatory Squad as the IS, a rather new sort of trend that had been working its way through the Guild and its subsidiaries, abbreviating the names of certain organizations and groups. Jonathan doubted, however, that Zhanin knew that the tendency to use the initials had come from the Lost. It seemed that the Lost preferred to shorten the names of their organizations, which the Guild had picked up on when the Lost had started referring to the groups that worked with them in shorter names. Jonathan would have loved to have told the council member where the trend had come from, but decided against it.

"I suppose it is, depending on your viewpoint," Jonathan agreed.

"And until I say otherwise, your viewpoint coincides with mine," Zhanin snapped. "Now tell me what you're here for. I have far too much to do to waste time with idle pleasantries."

Jonathan pushed down a retort and kept an even face. "Very well. As you know, several months ago, the Lost were allowed to take part in the Hunter's Exam, and according to the Guild, almost ten have taken the Exam in various cities to become full-fledged hunters."

"Much to my great chagrin. Get to the point!"

"Well, it seems as though the first of them have been allowed to join the ranks of the Loc Lac hunters. Two were given their third stars sometime last month, and since then two more have been awarded their third stars."

"What?" Zhanin growled. "How? Even the most talented hunters generally take six months to earn their second and third stars! It shouldn't be possible!"

"At the moment, the record for getting from the rank of Apprentice to Journeyman is around two weeks," Jonathan replied. "The most dedicated hunter tends to take roughly… one to four months to earn their third stars. It would appear that at least four of these hunters have the same around of dedication as the average non-Lost hunter. And if rumor is to be believed, they all do have thorough reason to desire becoming a monster hunter."

"But they shouldn't be able to be good enough to fight against monsters!" the council member raged. "How could the Guild possibly let them pass? Did they go easy on them? Did they get that damn star with a Gobul? Or a Barroth?"

"No on all accounts, I'm afraid," Jonathan replied. "The first two hunters were awarded the third star for killing a Lagiacrus that was attacking their village. The second one killed a Rathian that had been pestering trade routes east of the Flooded Forest. And the last one… defeated a Diablos that was attacking a sandship outpost."

Zhanin turned at that. "Defeated?" he asked, hopeful for an excuse to find fault in the Guild's decision. "Not killed? Are they certain the hunt was good enough?"

"Considering he did it while unarmed? I'd say so. The report was… chaotic and hard to understand, I'll admit. I'm still not certain exactly what the young man did to the creature to remove its horns and tail and capture it."

"Damn!" Zhanin swore. "They're supposed to be mad! They're supposed to be weaker than us! They're not supposed to have the capability to do things like this! They're… they're…"

"Human?" Jonathan supplied, earning a cold look from the council member.

"Get out," he growled. "I've got to figure out a way to work with this. When people realize that the Lost can become true hunters, they'll only grow bolder… But there's still the whole madness thing to work with. If I can get even one of them to cause a scene of some sort…"

Jonathan quickly turned, not wanting to hear any more, and pushed his way out the door. As the leader of the investigatory squad closed the doors behind him, he scowled and sighed in frustration and annoyance. As true as he was to his loyalty to Zhanin, duress or no, he preferred to keep his plausible deniability to any of the man's plans. Passing information to the council member had been far simpler before the Lost had shown up in Loc Lac; since then, though, it seemed as though the man's desires and methods had grown more… sinister. Jonathan wished there was a method he could use to help the Lost, but his dept to Zhanin kept him…

The IS member frowned in thought. Actually, now that he thought about it, he didn't think his agreement with Zhanin actually kept him from passing information off to people outside the Guild. He'd agreed to provide Zhanin information as well as time before passing it on to the Guild, but… what about those who weren't a part of the Guild's system? Like civilians? Or hunters? Hunters were members of the Guild, but generally the Guild only provided rules and regulations to them, but Hunters generally only used information given to aid themselves in hunts or in their lives. He'd need to think about every oral contract he'd made with Zhanin… perhaps there was a method of getting around the agreement in order to try and help out the Lost instead of hindering them.

Jonathan smirked. Zhanin was making plans against the Lost. In that case, he'd need to make plans _for_ them. But he'd need help…

He glanced up again and was surprised to see a hunter stalking his way across the room towards him. The… man (it was so hard to tell with all the armor) was wearing slightly worn Rathalos armor, an older design, Jonathan realized, with a most definitely new long sword strapped across his back. The leader of the Investigatory Squad frowned as the hunter stopped in front of him, but blinked in surprise as the man removed his helmet. He recognized the man, he realized. A taller fellow, a shock of pale blond hair covered the head of the man before him, hanging loosely over sharp-looking blue eyes.

"I was told you wished to speak with me," the man said, swinging his helmet under his arm.

"Yes, I did," Jonathan replied. "You didn't have to come all the way here, though, Richard."

"I was in the general vicinity," the hunter replied simply.

Jonathan sighed yet again. "Whatever. Come walk with me. I have things to do, and I'd like to get you informed and on your way as quickly as I can." Richard nodded in reply, following after the leader of the Investigatory Squad as he walked out the doors and towards the stairs.

Richard was a unique member of the IS, to say the least. Most members were exactly what the name of the squad suggested, solely hired for the purpose of investigation. However, there were other… more aggressive members that were brought into the team for other reasons; specifically, for undercover or reconnaissance missions. Or, in the most extreme circumstances, such as was the case with Richard, to actively track down (and in the worst cases, _deal_ _with_) criminals. Such members of the IS had to be hunters themselves, as tracking such people as poachers tended to carry them into unstable environments, where monsters were just as likely to kill them as anything else.

Richard himself was a recruit from a Guild outpost near the hunting volcano to the south of Loc Lac, where he'd served as a sort of ranger, providing Loc Lac with reports of poaching in the area as well as monster populations. He was apparently renowned in the area as a Rath specialist, but it was his work as a poaching enforcer that Jonathan had called him to Loc Lac for.

As they left the building, Jonathan spared a glance over to the hunter, and noticed that the young man was keeping an eye on the building they were leaving, taking note of the exact location of where they were, and where Zhanin's office had been. Jonathan had little doubt as to the reason; he knew Richard had a less than pleasant opinion of Zhanin's particular political desires for… certain reasons. Though considering the young man's personality, Jonathan wasn't certain whether or not his glare at the moment was due to simple interest or perhaps a hidden agenda the hunter had.

"You clearly brought me into your little organization for a specific reason," Richard said abruptly. "I'd like a bit of… information as to what you're going to want me to do."

"You haven't been told what your mission is yet?" Jonathan asked, receiving a shaking head as a reply. "Very well then. I'll keep this as simple as I can. You're aware, I'm sure, what it generally means when a hunter such as yourself is hired by the Investigatory Squad."

Richard nodded soberly and Jonathan continued. "Yes, well, I'll keep the explanation simple. In recent months, a multitude of illegitimate monster hunts and attacks have been occurring in a wide range of locales. Our first suspicion was several bands of poachers had simply begun working at the same time, giving us no small amount of frustration, but some of our brighter investigators began to notice a string of similarities in a lot of the incidents. They realized that many times there were signs that not only had monsters been killed, but a fair amount of them had been captured."

Richard frowned. "That's odd. Most poachers don't capture monsters. Too much hassle and paperwork to deal with from what I've heard. Far easier to simply kill the monsters and sell the materials made."

"I know," Jonathan agreed. "That's why we got suspicious. Too many bodies dragged away rather than carved. Too many scenes of battle being found near monster nests, with the eggs all missing rather than broken. Too many places with lingering signs of tranquilizer usage. Too many things like that to declare any of this as mere coincidence. And all we have to go on is one single hint; blood red armor."

Richard glanced down, pointedly looking at his own Rathalos armor. Jonathan shook his head though. "No, it wasn't Rathalos armor, we made sure of that. It was something else, though I dare not guess what. It was challenging to find that out, let me tell you. We'd ask around in towns… miles and miles and _miles_ away from the scene of the crime. It may have taken us to people several villages away, but we'd always find at least one or two people somewhere that would tell us the same thing; an odd pair of hunters wearing strange red armor appeared in town for a short amount of time. It's the only thing we really have, but it's something."

"And my job is to locate these people?" Richard asked, and Jonathan nodded. "Am I to… _deal_ with them as well?"

Jonathan frowned in thought. "Possibly, if you're capable of doing so. But, from what we've gathered so far, we may have to assume that, whoever these people are, they're part of an organization of some kind, possibly even being funded by some benefactor. If you can, I want you to get me as many names as you possibly can before you try and do anything else."

Richard growled irritably. Jonathan could tell that the man wasn't too pleased with his request, though he couldn't blame the hunter. Few hunters liked to hear of merchants and other such people being let off their crimes simply due to their social standing or wealth. Jonathan felt very much the same, but knew his own position required him to be cautious about who he arrested or accused, knowing that it would likely come back and bite him in the ass sooner or later. For people of… influence, his evidence had to be absolute.

"One more thing," he said slowly. Richard gave him a quizzical look, and Jonathan frowned, uncertain how to proceed with what he wanted to say. "There's been another sort of occurrence that's been happening recently. It started around the same time as this poaching group, so we're forced to assume the possibility that the two are connected. It seems… it seems that hunters, good ones at that, have been disappearing. And not being killed by monsters, either; that leaves remains at the least, messy but certain."

"You think they're being… _taken_?" Richard asked, shock and disgust creeping into the hunter's voice. Jonathan didn't blame the man.

"We think it's a distinct possibility," Jonathan replied. "We're not certain, but then, there's so little to go on at the moment, that we're not very certain of, well, anything. Maybe it's something entirely different, but we don't know. But along with seeking out the poachers, try and find out what's happening to the missing hunters if you can."

Richard nodded, though his face was still covered with a frustrated and slightly angry look. "Very well. If there's nothing else?" Jonathan shook his head. "Alright then. Where do I start?"

Jonathan grinned. "As for that, I do have something for you to use. As vague and random as the attacks on the monsters and hunters have been, there had been a single discrepancy; it seems that there have been no signs of the red armored hunters in the Flooded Forest area. Perhaps it's just coincidence, or there aren't any monsters in the area that they're after, but it's somewhere to start. Perhaps they've actually made a mistake."

"Or they're laying bait," Richard replied ruefully.

Jonathan shrugged. "Who knows? But at the very least, at least you know to expect the trap, and that's better than running in blind. Just be on your guard."

"Very well," Richard nodded, before turning to face to the east, where Jonathan recalled that the Forest lay. "I'm already prepared to leave. There's an outpost a few miles from the Flooded Forest. I'll begin searching there for these… red poachers."

"Good luck," Jonathan nodded. Richard grinned in reply, then turned to stride to the nearest city exit. A cold memory flickered through his mind of a missive he'd received a month or so ago, about the disappearance of a well known hunter from Orage Dell, as well as his two young apprentices. A man with the same name… Jonathan waited until the man was out of earshot before muttering to himself. "Good luck… You'll definitely need it."

* * *

**Author's Note: Please Review! I love writing accents, if hyu ken't tell. Also, Hoenn? It took me a while, but I got there. I hope I got your character right.**

**Took a break from writing over Christmas break. That's why it took so long to put out this many words. Hope you guys can forgive me.**

**So I got Skyrim, finally, as well as Dragon Age: Origins. I'm wondering how it's going to affect my writing over the course of the time I'm playing through it. Other fantasy novels I've read tend to have an effect on my writing, so I wonder how much a game like that will shift me. I haven't played a lot quite yet but so far… damn it's good. I'm also still plugging away at the Wheel of Time book series, which probably also was an effect on me. **

**Reading: **_**A Crown of Swords**_** by Robert Jordan, **_**The Son of Neptune**_** by Rick Riordan, **_**Boneshaker**_** by Cherie Priest , **_**The Path of Daggers**_** by Robert Jordan  
Playing: Skyrim, Dragon Age: Origins, BF3, LoZ: Skyward Sword  
Listening: Beirut, Eve 6, LoZ: 25****th**** Anniversary Soundtrack**


	24. The Forbidden Hunt

The Forbidden Hunt

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. All the characters in this story are mine._

A geyser of water blasted into the air as a Gobul, the most massive Ellie had ever seen, erupted from the deep waters of the swampy, murky river of the Flooded Forest. The creature was howling in shock and pain, a massive, gleaming, jury-rigged metal hook cutting deep into its lip and pulling it out of the water. The hook was attached to a massive rope that stretched out and looped a dozen times around the upper limbs of a large rubber tree. The tree, clearly bent sideways from its original shape and standing (it had been a pain to angle it like that), was retracting back to original position, a thick rope below it having been cut, allowing the whole thing to pull itself upright, as well as pulling the Gobul with it.

Levin, standing nearby, began laughing ecstatically as the tree hauled the Gobul up and out of the water, completely yanking the creature over the tree and flinging it across the shallows of the forest, where the two of them were able to fight the thing far, _far_ easier. "I _told_ you it would work!" he yelled happily as the Gobul smacked into the mud and began flopping around wildly trying to right itself.

"It's not like we were going to do it with a fishing rod!" Ellie yelled, rolling her eyes, but couldn't keep herself from grinning. She really hadn't thought it would work, but apparently Levin's "sources" as he called them had been right. The two of them rushed forward, unsheathing their blades. Levin's great sword had been fixed, in a borderline miraculous bit of smith work from a man that the switch axe smith had suggested to Levin (his switch axe was still in the works). The last few weeks in Loc Lac, however, had left Ellie with abundance of spare materials and a little bit of spare cash, so she'd had a new sword and shield made. It was a purple a brown blade covered in spikes that practically oozed with a thin layer of paralysis poison along the edges of the blade, which the smith had called the Azi Dahaka.

Ellie felt a moment of uncertainty before leaping in for the attack; the Gobul was absolutely massive! If it was on its feet, Ellie doubted she would just barely come up to the top of its legs! But she couldn't afford to waste time while the creature was vulnerable. With a lurch, she launched herself forward and began tearing into the creature, her blade cutting into the Gobul's rubbery hide. Her new weapon always felt odd while she was using it; the spines along the blade and the lining of paralysis venom made each cut feel… strange, like she was wielding a wood saw soaked in jelly.

The giant fish howled in pain as she and Levin tore into the beast, Ellie sending her quick strikes out against the creature's legs and belly, while Levin sent massive cleaving blows down onto the Gobul's tail, trying to take it off. If they'd learned one thing from their fight with the Lagiacrus, it was that swimming monsters were far easier to deal with once their tails had been removed. Less chance of them escaping, too, what with the running into the riverbeds with their ability to swim hampered. However, before Ellie either of them could do any major damage, the Gobul began kicking and flailing wildly, forcing the two hunters to pull away, Ellie needing to go as far as bringing up her shield to keep from getting kicked in the head by the massive creature's feet, the impact still knocking her back several feet.

The Gobul bucked and twisted itself around, still managing to keep the two Lost from getting in close, until finally it managed to flop itself back onto its belly, bellowing its rage in a deep gurgling roar. Luckily for her and Levin, the swimming creature lacked the lung capacity to truly deafen the two of them, and the howl only gave the pair time to close in on the monster again and attack a few more times before it could truly retaliate.

And it retaliated _hard_. Ellie wasn't sure if the creature was the size it was from age or just naturally, but clearly size meant strength when it came to Gobuls. Levin was still swinging at the creature's tail when the monster snapped the spiked appendage to the side, catching the great sword user off guard with its speed and sending the young man sprawling across the shallows. He was up again in an instant though, just as the massive fish turned again, preparing to charge.

But rather than charging like they assumed it would, the creature took a quick step forward, thoroughly faking both hunters out, before diving down into the shallow water and burrowing its way under the silt and sand. In less than a second, all that remained of the Gobul was a string of bubbles floating to the surface of the water; not long after, even that wasn't there.

But this wasn't the pair's first Gobul fought, and they'd learned a few tricks during their time in Loc Lac. One of the hunters they'd met in the Dual Horn Oasis swore by Sonic Bombs, and in a few of the Lost's other Gobul hunts, they'd found what he'd said to be true. Ellie had the bombs, since she had the best mobility out of the pair of them, and with a swift reach into her pouch, she grabbed one of the bombs, quickly pulling the pin and flinging it towards where the Gobul had gone under. In the same motion, she pulled her hands over her ears, bracing herself for the sound wave.

The blast came with the small flash of light to let the hunters know that the thing had gone off, and the bone-rattling sonic blast shook the water for as far as Ellie could see, destroying the calm mirror and turning it into a veritable floor of broken glass. A small wave of water spreading out from the impact zone nearly made Ellie lose her footing in the mud, but she managed to keep herself upright. A good thing too, since a moment later, the sound thumping through the mud rattled the Gobul so hard that the creature was forced out of the soil, flailing wildly from the sudden pain of its ears. It was so shaken, that it had only managed to get half out of the mud before its feet gave out and it flopped to the ground.

Ellie and Levin both leapt forward at the opportunity. Ellie blade cut into the creature's exposed legs, while Levin went to the other side, pounding against the creature's back to try and weaken the creature. Luckily for the pair of them, there was a lot of skin and body for the two of them to strike out at. But the creature's size apparently gave the Gobul the ability to find its footing far faster than any of the smaller Gobuls, and in only a few seconds it seemed the creature was up and out of his little sinkhole.

Ellie managed to get one or two more swings off before the creature's belly began to quiver a little in a deep vibrating sound. She'd fought enough Gobuls in the last few weeks to know that the shivering meant that the creature was preparing to inflate itself, and quickly snapped up her shield, just barely in time to deflect the piercing needles and spikes that shot out of the monster's hump as it blasted outward.

Two or three needles ricocheted loudly off of Ellie's new shield, ringing loudly across the field. The spikes were strong, though, much thicker and stronger than that of a normal-sized Gobul, and rather than one or two of them snapping off upon impact, the connection of barbs on shield sent the sword and shield user skidding backwards through the mud and mire of the swamp. Another, deeper sound reached Ellie's ears a moment later, no doubt the sound of the same needles striking against Levin's own blade.

Ellie brought her shield up again and began wading in a strafing maneuver to the side through the knee-high water, expecting the giant fish to start rolling either towards her or Levin. But rather than attacking either of them, the Gobul decided instead to simply… hop. Which caught both of the hunters by surprise, but made far more sense once the creature dropped to the ground. Upon impact with the water again, the enlarged creature made a massive splash, sending a wave of water at the two hunters and knocking them back once again from the impact.

Ellie shook her head, trying to get the water off her face and out of her eyes, while trying to keep her shield up and between herself and the Gobul. When she finally managed to glance around her shield, she saw that the Gobul had apparently decided that Levin was the most immediate threat (not a bad decision, considering its tail was cut a third the way through. The great sword user was managing to keep the creature at bay, though, making it flinch back with wide, wild swings that clearly made the Gobul hesitant to approach. Even in its inflated state, an impact from the blade Levin was swinging around would be painful.

Ellie rushed forward, catching the Gobul as it stepped back to avoid another of Levin's heavy swings. Her blade cut into the creature's hind legs now, but apparently the monster's reactions were tighter than she'd expected, because without even looking, the Gobul's tail snapped around from behind, catching Ellie off guard and sending the Lost hunter face first into the murky water. Pain shot up her arm as the poisonous barbs of the Gobul's tail bit into her armor, drawing warm blood from her that became ever more noticeable under the cold waters of the Flooded Forest.

Ellie was pushing herself out of the water as quickly as she could when the effects of the paralysis venom finally began kicking in, a painful, numbing sensation beginning to spread along her arm. Like pins piercing into her veins, the effects making her fingers and wrist start to shiver and twitch. She cursed and quickly rushed through the water, trying to get to shallower water in case the effects of the paralysis managed to pass through the rest of her body.

But a yelp of fright and surprise just barely tipped her off before Levin was sent skidding across the water next to her. Ellie turned in time to get out of the way as the Gobul came after the pair of them, sending waves of water in both directions to the side of it. Ellie managed to swing a retaliatory slice out at the creature as it tumbled past her, cutting a long thin cut along between the monster's fore and hind legs. The Gobul grunted in pain as the blade cut through it, though it seemed more like irritation than pain.

Levin was out of the way in time as well, luckily, and the Gobul was forced to shove its feet into the ground to slow down. But apparently a thick root or something of the like hid buried under the surface of the water, because the creature suddenly tumbled as it ran, slipping face first into the mud. Ellie used the short break to slap a quick bandage on the tear across her arm, hoping to have enough time to attack the creature before it recovered. But the giant fish was on its feet again before she or Levin could get after it, turning to face them again after only a few moments.

Ellie blinked suddenly as a sudden flash of light blasted across her vision, making her eyes dilate for a moment. Another came soon after, definitely from the Gobul's lantern, as the creature began to growl menacingly. Ellie immediately snapped her shield up between her face and the fish, and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to close out the flash of light. But the blast of pure radiance still pierced right through her eyelids, leaving blinking multicolored dots in her vision even after the light flash had faded a little. Ellie's eyes snapped over to the Gobul, trying to see it beyond the multicolored circles clouding her vision, and she yelped in surprise as the massive balloon turned so its side faced her, then twisted its body into a roll, bearing down on her.

Ellie twisted and ran, trying to get out of the way. Unfortunately, it seemed the root the Gobul tripped over wasn't the only hidden root in the water, because Ellie suddenly found her feet getting pulled out from underneath her as a thick tangle caught her armor and jerked her to a halt, dropping her once again into the murky water. She came up again gasping for air only to be hit with another wave of water as the Gobul barreled past. Ellie cursed wildly as she struggled to her feet, and found herself pulled to her feet as Levin ran past. The sword and shield user nodded to her partner in thanks before the two broke apart to flank the Gobul.

The giant fish's eyes snapped between the two hunters, uncertain which of them to go after first. But Levin dove in first, making the creature's decision for it. With a swish of water, the beast turned to face the great sword user, growling menacingly. Ellie rushed in as well, but the monster began swishing its tail in the water wildly, making it hard for her to approach without risking getting injected with more paralysis venom. Her shield arm was just barely recovering feeling again, and another solid hit from the venomous barbs would likely leave her twitching on the ground for a good minute or so; not a very good thing to have happen in knee-high water.

Realizing that Levin was starting to get pushed back, though, Ellie did something she had tried to avoid doing since arriving in Loc Lac, the one single thing she knew would likely support the whole "all Lost are mad" issue. With a sigh, she pulled herself into the hyper-focused state, and everything except the Gobul and its dangerous, poisoned tail remained in her line of vision and in her perception. She tried to avoid doing this very often, since the hyper-focus still made it challenging to remember what goals she was supposed to accomplish, and often made it hard for her to take Levin into account. The few times she'd done it willingly in the Boma area, it had ended up with Levin or her getting far more beaten up they probably should've been. Either she'd not take something into account, or Levin would get into some place where the focus didn't pay attention to him. Once it even ended up with Ellie accidently shooting Levin with a round of Scatter shot. His armor had absorbed a lot of shrapnel, but still…

She forced herself to make sure that Levin remained a shadow in the edge of her consciousness, but the giant fish in front of her took priority. Every little thing between her and it was snapped into perfect clarity; every ripple in the water and every change in color under the water were clear. Every muscle movement in the fish's tail crystal clear to her, every motion obvious. The tail swung her way, and as the muscles inside the appendage twitched, preparing to go back the other way, Ellie lurched forward.

Her body moved in near perfect sync with the Gobul's fluid tail motions, ducking and weaving always at the very last moments to avoid the spines and jagged edges of the creature's venomous spikes. Every moment felt like crawling through slime while her hyper-focus was active, but it only took a few steps and even less seconds to get past the swishing tail and up to the Gobul's side once again. Good thing she'd done so quickly, too; the Gobul was starting to push Levin back towards the river they'd fished it out of, and the two hunters knew that if the creature dropped them into the water, the fight would get much harder.

Finally though, she found herself underneath the loose flap of skin that separated the dark and light, top and bottom sections of the Gobul. She could see the Gobul's hind legs tightening, likely meaning that it was preparing to leap. Without wasting another moment, Ellie's sword arm snapped out, the poisoned blade cutting deep into the rubbery flesh of the creature. The Gobul nearly jumped in surprise as the blade bit into the skin of its belly, pulling bright red blood from the monster. The creature didn't even leap away from the sword and shield user until she'd cut at least a dozen slashes into the Gobul's flank. But finally the giant fish managed to twist around and roll away skidding to a halt nearly thirty yards away from her and Levin.

The great sword user was gasping for breath when Ellie glanced at him, his great sword bearing several dents and teeth marks from the Gobul's attempt to push him back of just outright swallow him. But her attention on Levin vanished as soon as she turned back to the Gobul, the effects of the hyper-focus keeping her interest on the status of the monster. She would've smiled under other circumstances, when she caught sight of an unnatural twitch in the hind leg of the Gobul, a sign that there was finally enough paralysis venom from her sword flowing through the creature's veins to finally effect it. With a grunt of dismay, the Gobul suddenly started to deflate, the effect of the venom making it hard for it to maintain its ballooning.

Abruptly, Ellie sighed, and the tunnel vision she had been experiencing faded back to normal as she allowed herself to release the focus. Levin watched her as she calmed herself down, figuring out what she had done and waiting for her to come out of it. Coming out of the focus was a lot like painkillers wearing off, leaving behind a bit of a headache, but also like going from coffee overdose back to normal, from wired to calm and collected. She'd tried to explain it to Levin, but it was never something easy to describe.

"It's almost there," she told Levin, as the Gobul released a frustrated and slightly twitchy growl. "If I can get a few more hits, it'll be paralyzed for sure."

"Right," Levin nodded. "I'll catch its attention for you, get in close so its eyes stay on me, and then…"

The great sword user winced as Ellie shot him an irritated glare. "We've talked about this Levin," she growled.

"…er, or we could, you know, think up a plan that doesn't put my life and general health in needless danger like I usually suggest. That works too, doesn't it? It does, right?"

"You're learning," Ellie smirked.

"So, maybe I could…"

"Throw a sonic bomb? Keep it attention at a safe distance? Try and distract it with those half a dozen or so frogs you have in you pack right now?"

"Let's go with that last one," Levin replied "If that doesn't work, then the first one, though I don't know how well sonic bombs work on the Gobul, especially when it's out of the earth."

So Levin took off, sprinting to the side, trying to flank the Gobul. The giant fish was not biting so easily at the trap however, and kept its eyes flickering between the two hunters untrustingly. It even made a few aggressive steps towards Ellie, planning to charge her. Then Levin pulled one of the giant frogs out of his satchel, and the Gobul's eyes snapped hungrily towards the great sword user, eyeballing the enormous amphibian. Ellie wasn't sure why all the frogs in the area were the size of her _head_, but at least it made them easy to catch, if not a little gross.

The Gobul had the good sense to keep an eye on Ellie as it began to tear after Levin, the great sword user stringing along a collection of the frogs he'd brought in a line to pull the creature's attention. But eventually, the distance between itself and the great sword user closed enough that in order to keep a watchful eye on Levin, the giant fish was forced to keep its attention focused on him just to keep from getting thrown of track when the hunter ducked and doze to the left and right. As soon as the Gobul's eyes left Ellie, she dove forward, tearing after the Gobul while it couldn't see her.

Levin glanced back for only a moment, to make certain that Ellie was following, before taking one of the frogs and tossing it high into the air behind him, and which point the Gobul leapt into the air, its massive mouth gaping open as it snapped up the frog. For a moment, it paused, taking the time to savor the frog and gobbling it up, allowing Ellie the time to catch up and begin tearing into the Gobul's flank. The creature howled in pain, snapping its body around to try and clamp its massive jaws down on her. Ellie pulled up her shield hastily, only just barely getting it between her body and the creature's massive, pointed teeth, knocking her back several feet and soaking her in water.

The giant fish growled angrily at being tricked, digging its feet into the ground and preparing to charge the sword and shield user. Ellie braced herself to take a hit, knowing she wouldn't be able to move out of the way quickly enough while having to get back to her feet and recover. The Gobul pushed off, its forelegs leaving the ground, and Ellie winced. But before its hind legs left the ground, the giant fish rear half of the body spasmed wildly, making the monster veer wildly off course through the air, crashing painfully into the water and tumbling head over heels onto its back. The Gobul tried to get up, but the twitching in its legs began to spread through the rest of its body.

Ellie and Levin both were on the Gobul at the same time as the effects of the paralysis venom lacing Ellie's swords came into full effect. Levin went directly for the monster's tail as Ellie's blade began to cut into the Gobul's lantern stalk, each cut taking inch after inch through the stalk, streams of blood and other fluids pouring down onto the monster's face as it twitched and seizured on the ground. Repetitive thumping sounds echoed across the water as Levin continued to pound on the monster's tail, slowly whittling it away bit by bit.

A shout of victory could be heard be heard from the back of the Gobul, and Ellie glanced up just in time to watch the creature's tail sail wildly through the air before flopping into the water and floating up and down in the water. The Gobul managed to croak out a groan of pain as its tail detached, and all of a sudden it began trashing wildly, so much so that Ellie just barely managed to get off one more cut on the monster's lantern stalk before being forced to leap away from the creature. Damn it all, the venom had already worn off!

But the better part of the Gobul's tail was gone, the creature's spines and needles full of venom no longer an immediate threat to the hunters, as the stalk, though still attached, was very heavily damaged, and Ellie suspected that the monster probably wasn't able to use its flash anymore. But the creature was still massive, and not very heavily damaged aside from its tail and lantern, as well as the wounds littering the creature's sides that Ellie had given it.

The Gobul was still having trouble getting to its feet, and Ellie was tempted to rush forward to hit the creature with a few more strikes before it managed to get up, but before she could get in too close, the giant suddenly quivered a bit on the ground. The monster abruptly erupted in size, inflating rapidly, and the ballooning veritably launched it up into the air as though launched by a trebuchet. Ellie found herself gaping in surprise and awe as the creature, lightened by the air filling it, seemed to float in the air as it drifted back to the ground, landing softly in the water with a quiet plopping sound.

Ellie and Levin glanced at each other, incredulity taking up their expressions, before the sound of splashing caught their attention, and the pair of Lost dove away from each other out of the Gobul's way as it blasted between the pair of them. Ellie quickly braced herself on the ground, pushing off from the wet ground to charge after the Gobul in a flanking maneuver. With the creature's tail gone, it would be far easier for the pair of them to keep the giant fish off balance. Ellie smirked as the Gobul turned to face her; she supposed it had to be irritated with her for paralyzing it, but leaving its back unguarded to Levin was not a good idea, especially considering…

Ellie yelped in shock as the Gobul suddenly and rapidly deflated, intentionally unleashing all the air it had stored up inside of it, in one concentrated stream. The creature actually aimed the burst of air down at the water, and the blast thumped into the water, pulling up a huge wave and flinging it at the sword and shield user. Ellie only barely had time to suck down a lungful of air before the deluge hit her full on, sending her back over a dozen yards and tumbling through the water. The next moment she was desperately trying to pull herself back to the air, arms pulling through the water to try and breathe again.

As she broke the surface, gasping in relief. The sounds of battle filled her ears, as well as constant cursing coming from where she'd last seen Levin at. An uprising of disbelief and shock filled her. Was the Gobul actually using a distraction with the water to keep Ellie occupied while it pestered Levin? Had the Gobul actually figured out a way to keep the pair of them from flanking it? Without having to figure it out from the pair of them pounding on it a couple of times? How?

Ellie shook herself, forcing herself to her feet and charging after the Gobul before it could hassle Levin all that much. At the sound of her splashing, however, the giant fish cocked its head in her direction, and upon seeing her coming, immediately inflated again, before rapidly deflating as it had before, except towards Levin this time and sending the great sword user sprawling backwards into the water. Before Ellie could get to the creature, it had already turned around, massive maw snapping at her menacingly as it rushed forward to meet her. Ellie danced around, trying to duck out of the way, but the Gobul's mouth was enormous, making it a challenge to keep away.

A splashing from the other side of the Gobul announced that Levin had recovered from the air blast. The giant fish snorted in amusement, and Ellie saw it begin to inflate again. She pulled up her shield as quickly as she could, but it was no use as the massive wave of water plowed against her shield and knocked her back across the water again. She was a little more prepared this time, and was able to get herself up and out of the water a little faster than before, but not nearly enough to be able to properly flank the Gobul before it had gone after Levin for a little while. She cursed to herself; how was she supposed to avoid getting blasted back again before… an idea clicked into her mind and she almost laughed at the absurdity of it.

Sure enough, as she approached the creature from the opposite side again, the Gobul abruptly blasted Levin backwards with another massive spray of water from a gust of air, before turning to face her. Ellie was forced into a defensive position again with the Gobul having its full attention on her once more, ducking and diving out of the way to avoid becoming the creature's next meal. She managed to get a couple cuts on the creature's face and jaw, but other than that the giant fish just kept coming. But eventually the sound of Levin approaching again could be heard, coming a little more cautiously then before but still on his way, and Ellie could see the Gobul tensing again and preparing to inhale.

As quick as she could, she reached into her pouch, pulling out one of her few sonic bombs, and as the creature began to inhale, she whipped it towards the Gobul, and the whooshing air as the monster sucked up air pulled the bomb inside the Gobul's own mouth. The creature growled menacingly for a moment once it reached its full size, certain its next wave of water was certain. But as it opened its mouth to exhale, the bomb went off inside of it. A muffled _boomf_ sound made the entire monster shiver and shake wildly, a wheeze and whimper escaping the creature's lips as it gasped in pain, a tendril of smoke trickling out of the monster's mouth and nostrils. A low pitched whistle could be heard humming from the creature's gullet as it slowly deflated, jaw creaking up and down soundlessly.

But it howled in pain a second later, as Levin's sword dropped down behind it, the blade biting deep into the creature's flank and hitting so hard that the Gobul was actually knocked forward a few feet despite its size. The monster yelped in pain and turned to face the great sword user, but its motions were slow and unsteady, allowing Levin to move around the creature before it could snap out at him. But without having knocked Ellie backward, the sword and shield user was able to get back on the attack as well, sword swinging and tearing into the creature.

The Gobul cried out in pain as the two hunters cut into it with their blades, trying to get away from one of the other but incapable of doing so. Ellie only blinked once when a surprise flicker of light left some spots in her eyes, but rather than charging up and releasing one massive blast, the cuts and damage on the Gobul's lantern stalk made the light flash only once before fizzling out, much to the stunned fish's surprise.

After that, with the tail cut off and the lantern disabled, it was really only a matter of time before the two hunters managed to take the monster down. The Gobul tried once or twice to inflate again, but when it looked over at Ellie, it would yelp in fear and uncertainty, immediately deflating again before it could get too large. It tried at one point to make a break for the water but with all the cuts Ellie had left along its legs, as well as the after effects of the sonic bomb still lingering, the two hunters were able to get between it and its escape. Finally, though, the giant fish let out a pained moan and death rattle, and its forelegs gave out from under it and it fell over into the water.

Ellie sighed in relief. She'd been worried that they might have been in a little trouble, considering how well the Gobul had managed to keep them apart from each other with those blasts of air and water it had somehow managed to pull off. But the creature was dead now, thankfully.

"That was genius back there," Levin laughed, walking up to her. "A sonic bomb in the mouth. We'll have to try and remember that one, I think."

"I didn't actually think it would work," Ellie admitted. "Or I didn't think it would work so well. I mean, it's just sound, and that thing was just so… huge. The whole rubber tree fishing rod thing was ludicrous, _that's_ the one I didn't think would work. Seriously, who the hell are these 'sources' you keep telling me about? Not Harker I hope. I don't really trust his ideas most of the time, and yes I have read a few of the letters he'd sent you."

"Actually, when we're not out hunting together, and your off doing other things, I tend to spend a lot of time talking to the other hunters in the Oasis. Older they may be, and ragged as hell they may be, but a lot of their ideas seem like really good schemes. I mean, to live that long as a hunter, they have to know what they're doing a little bit, right?"

"I guess," Ellie replied. She'd met a few good people while at the Dual Horn Oasis, she had to admit, but a lot of the hunters in the bar just seemed really sketchy to her. Though Levin seemed to get along with most of them really well. "Well, we should probably take what we need. If we wait too long, the Guild's gonna get restless, thinking we got eaten or something."

"That's on you," Levin said, motioning to the corpse. "I've got all the Gobul stuff I need right now. Anything I can use for upgrades right now is mostly Rathian materials, so for a while, I'm out of luck. I mean I could make something new, but I figure I'd better wait until I've finished making my switch axe before I work on anything else."

"Fair enough," Ellie replied, cutting into the Gobul and tearing off several of the creature's whiskers, as well as a few spikes and its lantern. "This is all I care for. Shall we go, Levin?"

"Sure thing," Levin replied, and the two began working their way back through the trees towards the hunter's camp. Then he smirked wickedly. "Maybe if we're lucky, there'll be some time before the Guild comes to pick us up. There's a few things we can do to waste time between now and then that might be quite fun."

"Down boy," Ellie laughed, though a few devious ideas flickered through her mind at the suggestion. Perhaps there would be some time before they left…

* * *

Ellie sighed as she slumped over the bar of the Dual Horn Oasis. As much as she enjoyed hunting (and she really did enjoy it), the job was tiring, when it wasn't painful and injury-inducing. She glanced glumly at the injury lining the edge of her arms, and had to admit she wished she was still in Boma. Orson claimed to be just another hunting doctor, but the man put the medics she'd met in Loc Lac to shame. A week for these venom marks to heal, they'd said! Orson would've had it healed in two days, if not one.

"Dot's a preddy leedle vound," Lynn said, walking over to Ellie from where Logan sat playing at the other end of the bar and placing a glass of some Hunter's Cola in front of her (Though Ellie was hesitant to call it cola. No carbonation, but Ellie supposed some words just… hung around from her time). "De Gobul geet de drop on hyu? Good ting dey teeth don got de poison dey tail got, ja?"

"Yeah, no kidding," Ellie groaned. "That thing was a real monster. I've dealt with larger than normal monsters before, but… damn it was huge! I only stood up to its knees, it felt like."

"Hyu need more trainink den," Lynn grinned. "Mehbe hyu ken come into de back lot vunce gain und hy ken give hyu and hyu boy zum more lesson in huntink, hey?"

Ellie visibly flinched at the suggestion, but didn't care enough to try and hide it, and Lynn laughed at the reaction. A few days after the two Lost had arrived in Loc Lac, they'd returned from a Royal Ludroth hunt in the Flooded Forest, beaten and battered from being unaccustomed to the area. Lynn had been "kind" enough to offer the pair of them some personal training in the back yard of the complex. Both Ellie and Levin were impressed with Lynn's strength at the very least, and both were curious about the woman's skill in hunting, so they'd quickly accepted, eager to see what their landlord had to offer.

They should've gotten the hint when several of the older hunters in the room shivered at her offer, in retrospect.

If they'd thought the rare occasions when Marshall actually trained them personally were rough, Lynn's trials of training were cruel and hellish by comparison. It wasn't complicated or anything, but she demanded only one thing: that they didn't quit until they completed what she requested of them. They'd agreed hesitantly, only to be told that they only needed to do one thing to declare the day's training successful: manage to land a hit on her with a practice weapon.

Which proved to be _insanely_ challenging. Ellie had assumed that the woman's large build would've made her slower, or simply an easier target. But the woman could dart around like a flash of lightning, in one place for a moment, then elsewhere the next. Even if she held still for a moment, allowing either of the hunters to get in close, her dexterity and litheness far outmatched either of them, and she slid through Levin and Ellie's sword swings as if the pair were wading through molasses. Even when Ellie pulled out a bowgun, the woman seemed as though she could sense where Ellie was going to place the shot, and was able to dodge out of the way even before the trigger was pulled.

The two of them had made an agreement with their landlord, and neither of them were honor-less enough to back down. But the woman just never seemed to get tired! The two continued to chase the former hunter around the small yard for hours and hours, long after the sun had gone down. The training continued, and likely would have gone on until Lynn had grown bored, had it not been for the sound of crashing coming from the bar (which later Ellie realized had been another hunter in the bar taking pity on them and knocking over a couple glasses). The sound had distracted Lynn for a moment, just long enough for Levin to nick the woman in the shoulder with his practice blade. The two of them had nearly passed out then and there, only barely making it to their beds before sleeping until early afternoon the next day.

"Not zo beeg fans ov my trainink style, hey? Hy tot Marshall vould haf given de two ov hyu a leedle better. Though, hy got to say, lots ov de hunters ot dere today seem lot veaker den dey were in my day."

"Maybe me and him just need to find a decent group to run with," Ellie replied. "I mean, hunting would probably get a lot more fun, not to mention a lot easier if we could get a hold of Kim and Nat, or even Harker and Kerry. But…"

"Shtill havink trouble findink dem?"

"We haven't had word of Kim or Nat at all since we got to Loc Lac," Ellie replied sadly. "I thought for sure they'd get here before us, extraneous Lagi circumstances or not. As for Harker and Kerry… well, with Harker, you'd think I'd just be able to follow the explosions. Harker's here in town, I know that much, but me and Levin still need to find him. He's being really good at staying on the move."

Which was true, sort of. Rather, it seemed more as though that Harker was on the lam. One day a couple weeks ago, rumor began spreading through the Lost district of a hunter that had been kicked out of his housing complex after blowing a hole in the wall of the complex. Rumor had it the hunter had been, in the words of his neighbors, 'creating abominations of chemistry and giggling maniacally the whole time.' Upon hearing that, Levin had grinned happily and Ellie had sighed in frustration. They both had a fairly good idea of who that had been. She had no idea why Levin enjoyed the long sword user's company so much; he and Harker had been sending each other letters constantly until Levin and Ellie had moved to Loc Lac.

The two had spent free days since then trying to hunt down the long sword user, as well as the bowgunner who Ellie was certain would still be in the madman's company; Kerrigan she understood even less, to actually feel compassion towards Harker, even after all the time she'd spent as his master. However, the long sword user had proved elusive. It seemed that Harker's penchant for the destruction of his surroundings, whether intentional or no, was a consistent issue. They'd ask around his and Kerry's former dwelling for a direction to look for the madboy, go off looking where the rumors led them, but every time, as soon as they managed to figure out where they'd ended up, they'd arrive to find that the two of them had moved on, chased out of the area due to another experiment that Harker had apparently decided he wanted to try.

What was odd, though, was that, despite Harker always being the cause of him and Kerry getting kicked to the curb, it was actually Kerrigan that always seemed to be the center of the conversations. It was always 'that woman and the troublesome boy with her,' or 'the boy with that woman.' Ellie would've thought that Harker would be the center of any and all talks they had in hunt for the pair, but no matter what, it seemed he was always referred to as 'with that woman.' The other hunters in the room always seemed to start muttering when Ellie and Levin brought up Harker and Kerrigan, and when Ellie tried to listen in, all she was ever to make out was the words "misfortune pair" over and over. Ellie tried to figure out what that was all about, but people tended to clam up when she tried to figure it out.

"Dot's a leedle bit ov bad news," Lynn said, pulling Ellie's attention from her own thoughts. "Hyu'd tink hyu'd be able to find somevun dot makes as much a foss as hyu Lost friend seems to be makink. Though I doubt dot he's qvite as goot a partner as my old teammates vere, though hy suppoze hyu shtill rookies ov sorts."

"Yeah, but you're talking about hunting with people like Marshall," Ellie argued. "I don't think all that many people really are as good as you and the old man were in your heyday."

"Hy guess not," Lynn nodded. "But den, hyu two's not too bad, rilly. Und hy guess hy haf had a few more years ov experience den hyu. Und vorkink vit Marshall in de hunts vas a pritty goot motivator to geet better."

Ellie saw an opportunity to ask about something she'd been wondering about for a while and took it. "So you really did hunt with Marshall back when you were younger? You seem a lot younger than him, though."

Lynn grinned wickedly. "De family hy come from alvays look younger den ve seem, hey? But hy suppose it helps beink tventy years younger den him, ja?"

"There's that much of a difference between the two of you? I wouldn't have thought that two people with such an age difference would hunt together. I don't see many people hunting with others that are too far apart, age wise."

"Vell, hy suppose dey's zum reasons for dot," Lynn replied. "Pipple vant to hunt vit people dot haff de same shkill as dem, or follow de same tactics. Dot usually means dey've fought monsters for a vhile. Hy suppose dot hy shtarted off as a rookie de first time hy hunted vith a group, but eet probably helped a leedle dot he's my brudder."

Ellie, who was taking a drink out of her mug, nearly did a spit-take, ending up coughing and hacking as the stuff caught in her throat. "You're his sister? Really? But he said you were…"

"Jest a friend, hey?" Lynn laughed. "Vell, hy zuppose dot's eccurate. Tek-nikly he eez my, vhat's de vord… shtep brudder? No, dot's not eet. De fool vent und married my older seester, Briar, long time ago. Vhat's dot called?"

"Oh! You're his in-law," Ellie replied.

"Dot's de vun," Lynn nodded. "Seester-in-law."

"That… that explains a lot, though I'm not sure I could explain why."

"Heh, hy guess hyu could say dot," Lynn grinned. "Dot's de only vay I rilly got to know him in de first place, hey? Vun day my seester comes back from vun ov her hunts, tellink de family she met a rilly goot hammer user. Tot he vas a total showy offy tvit… buuuut hy suppose she tot he vas decent pipple. Few veeks later, hy get my own huntink license, und she tells me she vill ask de nitvit if he vould be willink to train me a leedle. De fool didn't know vhat he vas gettink hisself into, hey?"

"So he had a little crush on your sister?" Ellie asked, laughing. It was funny to picture the ever serious Marshall acting like that.

"Vasn't jest a leedle," Lynn grinned. "Hy could tell he had a ting for her vhen hy first laid eyes on de guy. Poor fool didn't know eet yet, though, but my seester vas a leedle dense vhen it come to de kissy shtuff, hey? Couldn't see all doze googly eyes he vas makink at her. My husband felt zorry for de guy. _Hy_ tot it vas fonny."

"Your husband?" Ellie asked. She'd thought Lynn hadn't been married. Was she a widower?

"Ho yez, forgot abott dot," Lynn replied, a wistful and reminiscent look coming over her face. "Hiz name vas Oswald. He vas vun ov Marshall's huntink buddies. Vun hell ov a great svord user back den. Vas… abott six or seven years older den me ot de time? Abott eight years younger den my seester."

"What was he like?" Ellie asked cautiously.

"Ha! He vas qvite de ladeez man back den, even though he deedn't realize dot all dem pritty gurls vhat liked to hunt vit him rilly vanted. He vas qvite dashink back den, even ven he didn't know it." Lynn laughed. Then a wicked look crept into the landlord's eyes. "Den _hy_ got my eyes on him. My young leedle heart got all fluttery vhen he vas around, und it vasn't dot long 'til hy tot dot hy didn't vant to _share_ him vit all doze udder gurls. All at vunce all doze pritty leedle gurlies vhat vere tryink to geet his attentions suddenly shtopped comink around, vouldn't hyu know eet, und Oswald couldn't figure ot vhy dey vere avoidink him. Goot ting hy vas dere to comfort him, hey?"

Ellie laughed, but curiosity was getting the better of her, and she twisted awkwardly in her seat at the unspoken question that was haunting the back of her mind. Lynn seemed to notice, though, and grinned sadly at Ellie.

"Hyu vunderink vhat happened to him, ja?" she asked, and Ellie could only nod in reply. Lynn sighed and shook her head. "Tot zo. Oswald died abott six years 'go, now. Vent off huntink vit his team at de time to geet rid ov zum Agnaktor vhat vas causink a heap ov trouble for a leedle village over near de Volcano huntink grounds. De ting vas attackink de village vhen dey arrive, so dey didn't haf any time to prepare. Apparently it vent after a leedle gurl vhat couldn't run zo fast as de udder villagers, und… well, Oswald vouldn't stand for dot. Alvays hyused to tell me he vanted a daughter eventually."

Ellie realized she was tearing up a little, and Lynn smiled sadly at her. "Oh, don't vorry bot it, Ellie. Vhen dey brought him back, dey told me he'd saved de leedle gurl. Hy alvays been proud ov him. Oh, hy miss him shtill, but he died helpink somevun, savink a life, and I'll alvays be glad he did dot. De family ov de gurl shtill sends me gifts every now und den. But hy never did hunt 'gain after he died."

"Why not?" Ellie asked, trying to force down her tears.

"Eh, too lonely," Lynn admitted. "Vhen you go out huntink vit the vun hyu lurve for… years und years, tings just don seem de same vitott dem. Zo hy gave it up, und come here to Loc Lac again, opened dis bar, und haf been happily been helpink out new leedle hunters ever since, und keepink de older vuns drunk. Keeps me busy. Und hey, hy've got dot leedle brat Logan to keep me company now too, hey? Not qvite de same, but I'm happy vit tings as dey are, so dot's goot."

Ellie paused in thought for a moment, letting herself calm down a little from the story as Lynn walked over to pour a few drinks for a few of the other bar goers. As the landlord walked back over, Ellie eyed her questioningly. "If you don't mind me asking… what was Marshall like when he was younger? Was he always as… good at hunting as he is now? Better?"

"Peh, he vas a show off," Lynn scoffed. "Zo mehbe he vas tryink to impress my seester, he shtilll acted shtupid vhenever hy vent huntink vit him. Though, now dot hy tink bot it, mehbe he vas tryink to impress me zo hy vould tell Briar vhat a tuff guy he vas. Vell, at least he vasn't zo bad as doze udders vhat trained under old Hawke. Bah! Doze two vere alvays zo high-und-mighty vhen dey vere around."

"Hawke?" Ellie asked.

"Ho, yez," Lynn nodded, leaning back against the bar and tilting her head back in thought. "Hawke vas de hunter dot vas Marshall's master vay back vhen. Vun hell ov a hammer hyuser, as hy recall. Only met him a copple times, though. A tough, hard man as hy recall. Bot he vas a vera noble kind ov guy. Alvays doink de right ting und standink up for de leedle guy. Hy tink hyu'd like him. He vould definitely be vun ov de pipple dot vould be helpink de Lost, hy tink. Back den, a hunter vould take on dey apprentices based on dey weapon. Zo, Marshall's master und his fellow apprentices, all ov dem used hammers, und all ov dem vere _goot_."

"Who were the other two hunters that trained with Marshall?"

Lynn frowned, a struggling look coming over her face. "Hy… haf to admit hy ken't remember. Vun ov dem died durink a dual Diablos mission, long time ago. De udder? Hy don't tink hy ever met him more den vunce. Big guy like Marshall, bot… he din' like me or Briar dot much, so he shtayed avay."

"He didn't like you?" Ellie asked. "I, uh, can't imagine why."

"Hoh yez hyu ken," Lynn laughed. "If hyu ken't, den clearly hyu haven't been trainink hyu hard enough, hey? Marshall vas de beeg reason dot udder guy didn't want to hang out vit us. Hyused to tell horror stories bot me. Heh, he alvays tot hy vas unlucky, hy tink. Vhen my seeter vasn't huntink vit us, he'd alvays try to look goot zo hy'd be able to go back to Briar und tell her 'vhat a great hunter he vas,' und all dot crap. But every time he vent and tried to do sometink impressive, he'd slip op somevhere und end op makink a beeg fool ov himself. Doze vere de shtories dot hy'd pass on to Briar. After abott six of seven of doze hunts, he svore dot hy vas a beeg ol' walkink bad luck charm. "

"Ha! No wonder he had a hard time calling you his friend," Ellie laughed. "I don't think I would've gotten along with Levin so well if I'd done poorly except for when he wasn't around."

"Hy'm sure hyu vould have found zumetink dot hyu liked abott him," Lynn smirked wickedly. "After all, Briar had me for a seester, und Marshall vas shtill villink to marry her, hey?"

"Heh, good point," Ellie grinned. Ellie suddenly wondered what had happened to Briar, or Marshall's children. As far as she'd seen, the only living relative Marshall still had was his grandson, Theo. But she wondered if she could as Lynn about them…

"Oh, j-j-jeez, Lynn. P-please, _please_ get me a drink."

Ellie looked over in surprise at the sound of the stuttering voice next to her. A short man, well, just about as tall as she was, was sitting at the bar a couple seats down, sighing and groaning in dismay. The man was slightly overweight, with short, thinning black hair. And he was stressed, Ellie could tell that much. For a moment, Ellie thought that the man might be one of the Lost, being in this district, but that just didn't seem to fit with the man.

"Nudder hard day, eh, Marco?" Lynn said, pouring the man a drink. "Hyu not hyusually in here until de sun goze down, hey? Dot eediot Zhanin und his lahckies shtill givink de district trouble, eh?"

"Uh-uh-unfortunately," the man, Marco, sighed. Ellie's curiosity was spiking. Who was this guy? And more importantly, why was he dealing with Zhanin, one of the few people in the world that Ellie didn't like? The man continued talking after taking a long pull from his mug. "It-it-it seems Stephan and Eli have d-decided they'd like to try and build housing along th-the walls of their own d-district's walls."

"Hy assume dot's not too goot for zome reason. De Lost are de only vuns dot ken make doze houses rilly goot. Hy've heard dot anyvun else dot tries, hyusually de tings dey make jest fall down. Seems de Lost know dey buildinks better den ve do. Dot vould normally mean dot the Lost geet more work to do. But doze two are both Zhanin's lahckies, hey? Dey vouldn't try und do sometink if de Lost come ot ov de deal goot, hey?"

"No, th-they wouldn't," Marco replied. Another long drink. When the man continued, Ellie noticed that his stutter seemed to be fading the more he drank. "S-Seems they're trying to pass some law or ruling that makes it so that the Lost have to share their accumulated knowledge of building structures with the other architects in the c-city. Having a hold on the new buildings going up in L-Loc Lac is one of the few boons that the Lost have right now. Luckily, Farrell was on my side w-with this one, basically telling the three of them that under the same logic, the solutions of all Guild-endorsed potions and other such things would have to be shared with all the s-smaller alchemy shops." Another drink and Marco suddenly chuckled at what he'd just said. "Considering the both of them have a s-stake in the Guild's alchemy producers, neither of them were very pleased with the idea anymore."

"Vere dere any udder problems at de meetink? Hy doubt dey just had dot. Dey's a beeg ol' collection ov persistent bastards."

"Actually, they didn't ha an-n-nything else," Marco replied. "Though… Zhanin seemed to be in a foul mood today. Spent the entire morning scowling, he did, and didn't say a word. That g-generally means he's plotting something, which means that sometime this next week he'll be trying to pull something nasty on me to hinder the Lost. I'll be honest, I haven't liked going to the tower since this whole Lost issue started."

A sudden roar of laughter and cheering echoed from the other side of the room and Ellie turned to look, as did Marco and Lynn, the former out of curiosity and the latter to make sure she didn't need to kick someone out of the bar. On the other side of the room, a small group of men and a couple women sat around, tousling a couple young men who were showing off a pair of basic hunter's armors for the others to see. Ellie raised an eyebrow in surprise. The pair of young men and the others around them were Lost (she was getting better at picking out her countrymen). Had the pair of them decided to try and take the exam, or go off in search of a master? Ellie grinned to herself. She was glad more Lost were making an effort to get into the hunting world.

"Maybe that's what the bastard's worried about," Marco muttered as Lynn put another mug in front of him. "He looked as though he was ready to k-kill someone when the Guild was informed that some Lost had passed the Hunter's Exam. Now there's news that some have earned their Journeyman licenses and are here in Loc Lac. Since word spread, there have been… I do-don't know, hundreds of applications and requests for apprenticeships. Guess now that there's p-proof that they can do it, everyone wants a piece of the action."

Lynn grinned and glanced over to Ellie. "Lucky hyu. Dot leedle gurlie over dere's vun ov de hunters dot's givink de Lost a good name deez days."

"What, r-really?" Marco said, blinking in surprise and looking at Ellie. Ellie found herself stuttering and flushing in embarrassment. She didn't much like being the center of attention, or at least, not so much when she was being praised for something. And Marco seemed to be looking at her in awe at the moment, as though she was some sort of godsend, though she couldn't guess why. Lynn smirked as she strode over to introduce her.

"Dis iz Eleanor, a leedle bowgunner und sword und shield hyuser from Boma Village. She vas trained under Marshall. Hyu remember him, ja?"

"Of course," Marco replied, shaking his head. "Such a large man… stopped that Jhen Mohran way back when as I recall. Only met him once or twice though, after you opened this place."

"Und dis," Lynn continued, motioning to the man, "is Marco, he's on de city council here, in charge ov de South District ov de city. He's de vun who takes kere ov de Lost, hey?"

"T-tries to, you mean," Marco sighed, taking another drink out of his mug. "It seems I can hardly do a thing without Zhanin or one of his t-tagalongs getting in the way of anything I try to do to help the Lost and the district in general. But at least Miss… Eleanor, was it? At least the young lady here and the other Lost hunters have been able to get the other Lost motivated into integrating into the community a bit more. Art, music, architecture, and science are all well and good, but with all the m-monsters in the world, hunting is really the backbone of our society."

"Oh, qvit hyu cryink," Lynn groaned. "Dot's all hy hear from hyu. Hyu doink a goot job, hey? Hyu could hyuse a leedle more confidence, hy tink, und hy admit dot stutter makes hyu seem a leedle veak… oh don't look at me like dot, hy'm beink honest. But at least hyu leesen to de Lost und de rest ov de pipple in the district, und dot's sometink not everybody in the council vould do, hey?"

"Hm. That's not much."

"It's enough, hey? Hyu jest keep doink vhat hyu doink and tings should turn ot hokay."

"So you s-say…"

Ellie jumped a little as someone suddenly slumped into the chair next to her. She turned and realized that it was Levin, who still looked tired from the fight against the Gobul. He had returned from the Flooded Forest with only a couple of scratches and bruises, but had spent most of the fight keeping the creature's attention, so he was justifiably worn out. "You're looking better Miss Ellie. How's your arm?"

"Better. Any problems on your end?"

"Just a little. Doc said I should be fine in a few hours, though I'm still drooping off to sleep every once in a while." He glanced past her at Marco, who seemed to be drinking out of his mug nervously. "Who's this?" Ellie introduced Levin to Marco and vice versa, with Lynn filling in the gaps. Soon Levin was grinning. "Good to see someone's got the Lost's backs."

"Well, I like the Lost," Marco shrugged. "They're so… different. Imaginative. Unique. Besides, Lynn here would kill me if I l-let the Lost get into too much trouble, considering her boy. Oh, while I'm thinking about it, how _is_ that boy you're taking care of? Logan, wasn't it?"

A frown of uncertainty etched across the landlord's face, and she glanced over at the child, who was talking happily with a hunter at the other end of the bar. "Hy… hy tink he's doink hokay, but… eet's hard to tell vit dot boy. Hy ken get along vit most Lost, but… a keed like dot is hard to understand, 'specially after vhat he's been true, hey?"

"Logan's a Lost?" Ellie asked, surprised. When Levin had told her that Lynn was taking care of Logan, though he wasn't her real son, she'd assumed he was a local, not one of the Lost. She could see Levin's face contorting in surprise as well; he hadn't suspected either. But the great sword user leaned forward intently, clearly intent to learn about the boy that he'd wondered about since some conversation they'd had when the two had first come to Loc Lac.

"Yez," Lynn nodded. "Hy… found him not too long after de second or tird group ov Lost came true de city, ja? I vas out travelink in de Flodded Forest area, needed to get som shtuff to make de next few barrels of beer, hey? Run into a group of hunters und Guild members a distance eento de forest. De lot ov dem vere ot dere tryink to escort anudder Lost group dot had… appeared in de forest, confused und scared. Hy vanted to help; de Lost had earned my respect und sympathies durink de few months since dey'd started arrivink in de city. Hy vasn't a hunter no more, but hy had learned a bit abott tendink vounds durink my years vit Oswald, und hy was able to help a few vounded vuns, hey?

"Dot's ven hy came 'cross a voman dat… vas dyink. She'd been stung dy vun ov dem Bnahabras. Not a verra dangerous creature, but… sometink in de venom just… vasn't good for her, und, well… she vasn't gettink better. She had a leedle boy vit her, Logan. She shtarted beggink me to take care ov her boy; hy didn't know her at all, but for some reason she shtill vanted me to take care of him. Hy… couldn't bring myself to say no, und… vhen she died, der in de marshes, hy took him back to Loc Lac vith me. He vas younger den, but hy tink he shtill remembers his modder; dot's vhy he alvays asked hunters 'bott de bugs."

The landlady's eyes suddenly darkened. "Dot's vhy hy don't like dot bastard Zhanin. He's treatink all de Lost like dirt, even though dey is havink such troubles in dis place. Logan's modder died, und yet if any ov Zhanin's work goes true, his life vill only get harder. Has he not had enough troubles?"

A sudden horrified gasp made Ellie jump what felt nearly a foot in the air, and her eyes snapped over to Marco, whose eyes were glued to the entrance of the bar in fear and confusion. Ellie could just barely hear him mutter under his breath; "Speak of the devil, and he shows up at your d-door." Ellie followed the man's stare towards the entrance to the bar. There was a short moment where she gaped in shock as well, before another emotion besides surprise filled her emotions: resentment and fury. It had taken her a moment to recognize the man in the center of a small entourage standing in the entrance, but once she did… how could she ever forget the face of the bastard?

"Zhanin," she growled. Levin blinked in surprise next to her, and he gave the man an odd look. Did he recognize the man too? She'd always wondered how Levin had ended up in Boma like she had, so perhaps the same way she had? She shook her head and returned a glare back to the Council member, who held her full attention and anger at the moment.

The man hadn't changed much since the last time she'd seen him, if anything he looked a little older and more tired. And colder. Though Ellie didn't quite remember the finer details of the last time she'd met the man, he certainly did seem to appear more dangerous a man than before. At the moment he stood surrounded by a collection of four personal guards, the lot of which looked far better trained and more dangerous than the collection of thugs that Saul back in Echo Village. The council member looked around the room as he strode towards the bar, glancing in distaste at the rugged and worn hunters, and even more so at the spattering of Lost. As he approached the bar though, his attention turned to focus on the other council member at the bar.

"A little early to be drinking, eh, Marco?" the man said blandly, narrowing his eyes in disdain. "Not a very good example of the council, are you? What if there was an emergency session? Not a very good thing to try and make city-binding decisions while drunk."

"Oh, shove it," Marco suddenly snapped. "There hasn't been an emergency session of the council since the last time a truly dangerous monster got inside the city, so don't threaten me with that garbage."

Ellie blinked in surprise at the sudden outburst from the older man. She hadn't suspected from the short time she'd been around Marco that the man had such a fire in him at all. Judging from the shocked expressions on both Lynn and Zhanin's faces, the two of them apparently hadn't thought so either. Zhanin was actually gaping in shock, and Lynn didn't look all that much different. But Ellie could see a lazy look in Marco's eyes, and an uneasy wobbling in his head gave the man away; the council member was getting his courage from the drink, he was at least a little bit tipsy at the moment. Probably more. Lynn seemed to realize this as well, and covered her mouth with a hand to hide a smirk, but Zhanin and his guards were clearly too flabbergasted to do anything but stare. Levin simply sat next to her, watching the conversation with mild interest.

Eventually, the silence was broken by Lynn, who turned on Zhanin. "Vhat hyu doink here, councilman? Hyu got a point for comink into my bar? Dis bar don allow any loitering, hey?"

Blinking in surprise at Lynn's bluntness and shaking his head to clear it, Zhanin's eyes hardened again. Marco grunted in annoyance before turning back to the bar. The standing councilmember spared a glance over at Ellie and Levin, allowing the bowgunner an opportunity to shoot a furious glare at the man. There was a moment of mild recognition in his eyes before he turned back to Lynn. Ellie thought she saw the edges of his mouth twitching, as though he was trying not to smirk.

"I'm actually accompanying one of the scientific study groups I'm sponsoring through the district," Zhanin replied. "One must make certain that their money is being put to use properly."

There was a notable pause, in which Ellie could tell that the man was waiting for someone to ask him a question. Ellie wasn't going to give the man the satisfaction, but apparently Lynn thought it would be better to just do it, though she sighed in obvious exasperation before doing so. "_Fine_. Vhat iz dis study hyu iz tryink to learn abott?"

"I'm sure hyu… erm, you could guess considering how clearly you don't care for my particular politics. The people of the city are worried about the Lost problem, especially the primary concern, the issue around the 'madness' issue. So I've taken it upon myself to fund a study in order to ascertain the truth of the matter. I personally don't know what the results will be, but I'm looking forward to the results."

"Hy'm sure," Lynn muttered.

"As for what will happen when the results come in, well…"

"Hyu seem to be onder de impression dot hy kere," Lynn snapped, cutting the man off abruptly. Zhanin seemed stunned at getting cut off; he was a fan of his own voice, apparently, and was clearly not used to getting cut off. Even the guards around him seemed surprised. "Now, in dis bar, if hyu don't live in vun ov the rooms, hyu got to buy sometink to shtay here. No loiterink, remember?"

Zhanin frowned in irritation. "Now listen here, miss. I'm a member of the city council, and you can't…"

"Ho, dey's a lot hy ken do, hey?" Lynn smirked wickedly. "But hy've been Marco's friend for a long time. Hy know all de shtupid rules and laws hyu… bureaucrats seem to lurve. So, hy know dot all hy rilly need is dot."

The landlord motioned behind her, and everyone except Marco looked up over the bar, where a messily scrawled sign hung over the top of the kegs, written in large black letters so that everyone in the bar could see it from any angle: "_THE BARTENDER RESERVES THE RIGHT TO REMOVE ANY AND ALL OCCUPANTS FROM THE BAR THROUGH ANY MEANS AT HER DISCRETION. DEAL WITH IT_." At the sight of the sign, the guards around the councilmember immediately tightened their formation around Zhanin, giving Lynn threatening looks. The barkeep just laughed though.

"Ho, hyu tink hy ken't back op dot threat? Mehbe hyu'd like to try und shtop me? Or vould hyu prefer to just be shmott und buy some drinks or sometink to eat, zo hy don't kick hyu all out? Hy doubt any ov hyu vill get moch better treatment from odder places."

Zhanin opened his mouth for a moment to make a retort, but a glance around the room told him under no uncertain terms that if Lynn wasn't too much trouble, he and his guards were still outnumbered by Lost. For a moment, he seemed to be weighing his options, as though considering if the ramifications of starting a fight would have enough pros to outweigh the cons. There was a quick glance at Marco, perhaps wondering how to implicate the man in… something. There was an even quicker glance towards Logan at the far end of the bar, making Lynn scowl viciously; Ellie thought she saw Zhanin's mouth twitch, as though holding back a grin or smirk.

"Very well, we'll wait here, then," the man said simply, avoiding the seething glare Lynn was directing his way. "Some pints then, of whatever you consider your best beer for me and my guards here. Hopefully the researchers won't take too long, and we'll be out of your hair before you know it."

"Ja, hopefully," Lynn growled. She poured the man and his lackeys their drinks, and seemed to give considerable thought to just throwing the mugs at them before finally deciding to just take their money and ignore them.

"You should've thrown them out," Ellie grumbled, her grip on her mug tightening until her knuckles went white.

"Mehbe," Lynn shrugged.

"Bad idea with him," Marco muttered, twirling his finger through the foam of his drink. "That kind of g-guy would only use his influence to make your punishment worse than it should be. Striking a council member, or any citizen for that matter, is an offense. A hunter hits another hunter, no one cares, just another bar fight. But a trained hunter injuring a civilian is another matter entirely, carefully watched for and punished by the law. A hunter is trained to fight and kill creatures tens of times their s-size. A non-hunter, not so much."

"Damn it."

"Hyu probably better off, Ellie. Vun person beats op somevun vhat caused dem trouble, und de whole town vould fall apart. Ees better dot hyu just oppose him, eef hyu kent just pound him into leedle pieces, hey? Less messy, anyvay, und hy vouldn't haf to haf hyu pay to clean op de bar."

Ellie grinned. "I guess so." She looked down at her drink, still half-full. Maybe if she was lucky, she could ignore the man long enough for his "researchers" to finish whatever it was they were doing and be gone before she had to focus on him again.

* * *

Levin had to admit he was a little confused by how to deal with the whole issue with Zhanin being in the bar. He knew the man was violently opposed to the Lost in general, and he certainly didn't agree with that. He knew that Ellie had a deep dislike of the man due to him tricking her into coming to Boma Village in a moment of weakness, but that had allowed the pair of them to meet, so he really wasn't complaining about that all that hard. Lynn openly disliked the man, but she was worried for Logan, which Levin also understood.

Levin felt as though he should act, he didn't know, colder or more antagonistic to the councilman, but the man hadn't personally done him any harm, so he didn't feel right acting openly aggravating. Besides, Ellie seemed to be holding back her desire to throttle the man, choosing to outright ignore the man's jibes. Actually, she seemed to be making an effort to just ignore the man completely. If she wasn't going to try and give the man hell, what right did Levin have to do so?

Levin did have the vague feeling that he'd met the man before in one way or another, though for the life of him he couldn't remember how. He'd been sent to Boma village somehow or another, but his time during when he'd first arrived in Loc Lac was… blurry, to say the least. It was possible that the councilmember had suckered him the same way he had Ellie, but he didn't recall. He was glad the two of them had ended up in Boma Village together, though, foul intentions or no.

Speaking of, as Zhanin huddled down into one of the far corners with his lackeys to drink some of Lynn's beer (though he was eyeing him and Ellie quite a bit, which was creepy), Ellie scooted a little closer over to Levin, then proceeded to scowl down into her drink. "Do you think I could get away with it if I threw this mug at his head and killed him?"

"No, probably not," Levin replied calmly, a smirk etching across his face. "While I'm sure none of the Lost or hunters in this bar would rat you out, those guards of his look loyal if nothing else. At the very least they'll give a report for the sake of professionalism. That means you'd have to kill them too, and picking a bastard of an employer isn't really enough of a reason to sentence death, is it?"

"No… It'd make me feel better, though."

"Besides," Levin smirked, "I'm kind of glad that he did what he did. To you at least." Ellie was so quick to flip from a scowl to a glare that Levin almost laughed out loud. "After all," he continued, lowering his voice to a murmur, "if he hadn't, I never would have met you, would I? That's an acceptable trade off in my honest opinion."

To Ellie's credit, she must have been getting used to Levin's attempts at embarrassing her, because she hardly colored at all from the words. Levin grinned wickedly to himself; he'd have to try harder! Nothing quite amused him and brought him pleasure like a flustered look on his partner's face.

"Be that as it may, you and I both know that the bastard didn't have any good intentions about the whole thing at all, and did it only out of spite. I'll admit, things turned out nicely at the end of it all, but that doesn't change how much I'd like to see him tossed into a pit of half-starved Giggis… in heat."

"Ouch," Levin laughed with a shiver. "I'll be honest, that's a fate I'd not wish on very many people."

Ellie sighed and shrugged, inching a little closer. "I… suppose I could forgive him a little bit. I really did enjoy going to Boma Village, and everything that came with it. I suppose I could just ignore the asshole instead of giving him the pleasure of knowing that I acknowledge his existence. I mean, besides actively opposing the crap he tries to get passed in the council, of course."

"Of course," Levin replied.

"…And I can secretly hope he has a run in with the Giggi pit of doom when I'm in a bad mood."

"Fair enough," Levin said with a laugh.

The two continued to talk at the bar, keeping an eye on the hunting board in hopes of something nice showing up to be posted. A lot more hunters were in the bar right now then there usually were during the rest of the day, the reason for that being the new mission requests were brought around and posted in the early afternoons. Most hunters showed up at bars and other hunting boards around this time of day, hoping to be the first to pluck a good mission from the boards before anyone else could. The way the airship and sandship schedules were set up, once you'd signed up for a mission, the timing of the ships was perfectly timed so that you could hop aboard and be off before night fell, arriving at your carryover stop the next morning. A pretty good setup for the hunters.

Sure enough, around two o'clock, a Guild representative in a bright red uniform pushed through the doors of the bar, quickly making his way over to the hunter's board. A moment of movement and restlessness filled the room as the eager hunters stood to see what new and possibly exciting hunts were available now. Levin stood as well, hoping to find something in the desert that he could convince Ellie to help him with. It seemed that his partner didn't like fighting in the Sandy Plains; allergies, apparently. The sand and dust didn't seem to agree with her.

Something seemed to be different about the Guild rep today, though. A worried look covered his face, and at the top of the stack of mission requests, usually a pristine tan color, was a bright orange piece of paper. The sight of the paper seemed to cause a bit of a stir with the hunters that also spotted it, and worried looks began to cover several people's faces. Even Lynn and Marco had anxious looks on their faces.

"What's with the paper?" Levin cautiously asked Lynn. He didn't want to look like a fool, when everyone seemed to know what it was already.

Lynn blinked in surprise at the question, before realization clicked into her eyes. She opened her mouth for a moment to reply, before apparently deciding against that decision. "Eksually, hyu should jest pay attention. If dot's vhat hy tink eet is, de Guild rep vill be givink a leedle speech abott de issue."

Levin nodded skeptically, uncertain what to think. Sure enough, though, as the Guild rep reached the board, he turned to face the gathering hunters, pulling the orange sheet from the top of the pile of pages. He cleared his throat nervously, before addressing the collection of men and women before him.

"I… regret to inform the members of the Hunter's Guild that the Tundra hunting zone has been closed off to access. Reports have indicated that the… Alatreon has been in the area, and has resulted in the deaths of what is estimated to be twelve hunters."

Levin blinked and frowned. Alatreon? The name was vaguely familiar, but he couldn't think of where it had come from. But everyone else in the room seemed to be acting scared or worried, so he kept quiet. Oddly enough, Ellie seemed to be keeping an eye on Levin rather than the Guild rep, a worried and searching look on her face. That confused Levin a bit, but he shook it off to listen as the Guild rep prepared to go on. After a moment, the Guild rep continued.

"As per Guild regulations, I must inform the lot of you not to attempt to make your way to the Tundra until the threat has been declared as no more. All vessels have been informed of this decision, and any attempts to leave the city for the northern hunting areas will be met with heavy legal ramifications. This is for the safety of the city and human lives in general, as you know. Any questions?" A short silence. "No? Good. Miss Lynn? If you could please remove the Tundra mission requests until further notice, it would be appreciated."

"Of coss," Lynn nodded.

After that, the man nodded, and placed the remaining mission reports on the side of the counter, before walking away from the counter back to the door. There was a moment of somber silence before a few of the hunters around the bar slowly reached for the pile to look through. It was a good minute or so before the room returned to its previous clamor, and even then, it sounded reserved and uncertain.

"Should we… Why don't we get a mission?" Ellie asked. "You still want to try and get those things in the desert, don't you?"

"Yeah, I guess…" Levin replied. "But… what's the Alatreon? I don't think I ever saw that monster in any of the handbooks we've read."

"Um… I don't…" Ellie stuttered. Levin stared at her uncertainly. She was acting odd. Did she know something about the Alatreon that Levin didn't or was there…

"Hyu don't know abott de Alatreon?" Lynn asked, a shocked tone in her voice. "But how did hyu… oh vait. Hyu Lost haven't been here dot long, ja? Hy forgot bot dot. Eet's just… de ting's zo common a ting, like… sometink hyu scare hyu keedies vit vhen dey ees leedle. Bot de ting's real, und not sometink hyu vant to mess vith, hey?"

"Um, I'm not sure I…" Levin paused, glancing around. He suddenly realized that several of the hunters sitting at the nearby tables were glancing at him and Ellie in insecurity. Ellie still had the worried look on her face, but curiosity seemed to be in there as well. "Why… what's the big deal with it? Is in not just another monster?"

"No, it's not just another monster," one of the nearby patrons said with a growl. "It's one of the strongest monsters ever known. One of the elder dragons, it is. Able to kill most of the monsters you two have hunted in seconds, no doubt."

"It controls four elements, as opposed to most elder dragons that only control one, maybe two," another hunter added. "Fire, ice, lightning, and dragon worst of all. And when it attacks a town, it shows no mercy. I've heard what it does… it…"

"Um, wait," Ellie cut in. "You guys keep referring to the thing as 'it,' not 'they.' Aren't there more than one of these… Alatreon? I mean, I've heard of there being more than one of other elder dragons. Like the um… the whatsit… the Lao-Shan Lung? I heard there was a fortress somewhere that gets attacked by those things all the time. And the Jhen Mohran. Isn't the desert filled with them?"

A shiver went through the crowd. "Maybe so," one of the hunters replied. "But there's only one Alatreon, so far as we can tell. Maybe it killed all the rest of its kind off. Maybe the rest are simply hiding or sleeping. Maybe it's just some random freak of nature that came into existence for who-knows-what reason. No one knows, and no one cares. The thing's a menace, whatever the reason it's solitary existence."

"It just… attacks villages?" Levin asked.

"It's vorse den dot," Lynn said. "De creature don't alvays go round attackink villages. Ve get zum times ven eet's not goink around or anyting, trying to vipe out villages. Lotta de time, though, eet's jest flyink around, keelink any hunters dot's unlucky enough to meet eet. But… every now und den, zum hunters vill get eet in der heads to go off und try und find de ting und keel it for goot. Bot de ting is… vengeful. Dot's de best vay hy ken describe eet. Ven somevun attacks eet, vunce de hunters eez killed, eet goze out und shtarts jest… viping out villages in retaliation. Hyusually vipes out mehbe two or tree before eet's calmed down."

"Someone must've ticked it off a few months ago," one of the nearby hunters grumbled. "It destroyed four villages out of spite within a few days before just vanishing off the map again. Back to… wherever the hell it goes. Since then, it's popped into hunting zones here and there, raising hell and killing any hunters that are unlucky enough to head into them."

"But… how?" Levin asked, confusion filling his head. "How is it able to do this without some hunters taking it out? How could any monster survive this long without getting taken out if it's such a threat?"

"No one's really sure," one of the hunters admitted. "But somehow or another, it's just seems to be able to wipe out any and all hunter groups that are unfortunate enough to meet it."

Levin frowned. Ellie seemed to have a disturbed look on her face, and her eyes kept flicking to Levin's face in concern and worry. She definitely knew something, but what? Then she turned back to the group of hunters nearby, opened her mouth, hesitated for one moment, then finally asked, "Does anyone… does anyone know at least what the creature looks like?"

"Not really," one of the hunters replied. "The beast leaves no survivors where it goes. But… there are rumors as to the beast's appearance. Every once in a while someone will see… something flying through the skies near where an Alatreon attacks take place. For the longest time, people thought it was like an omen of sorts, but people eventually came to realize that whatever they were seeing just might be the creature."

"It's a large black monster, so far as anyone can tell," the first of the hunters spoke up. "Three, maybe four or five times the size of a Rathalos. People suspect that it's shaped like most of the other elder dragons. You know, four legs and a pair of wings. Other than that, not much is known about the beast. Some people have described it as 'jagged.' Lots of spikes, and two massive horns."

"De only advice hy ken geeve hyu to vhen eet comes to de Alatreon?" Lynn said, standing in front of them and staring at them seriously. "If hyu see anyting dot hyu tink might be de creature, hyu run. De ting is too powerful for hyu. Geet eet?"

"Yeah, I…" Levin started. Then he stopped in thought. A black, winged creature with control over multiple elements? The concept was somewhat horrifying, but… familiar. Fire and ice… but also lightning and dragon. The only creature he'd even heard of that had both of those elements… he hadn't read them in books, but…

"You hear the rumor about the laughter before?" one of the hunters asked another. Levin blinked and glanced over to the two sitting off to the side.

"Just a rumor," another sitting nearby scoffed. "Hearsay and old wives' tales mixing together to scare people with. Paranoid foolishness."

"But it's happened multiple times! People who have seen the shadow in the sky swear, _swear_ that they heard laughing when the thing passed over! Like it was reveling in its work!"

"I've met people that swear they saw the shadow in the sky," the other grunted. "A group of hunters that arrived a few hours after a village was wiped out. One of the hunters saw the devastation and started panicking, swearing he could hear laughing in his head. _In his head_. No one else heard anything! The fool thought he was hearing voices because he was idiot enough to believe the rumors like you do!"

A cold feeling began to pour through Levin's mind. He didn't know enough about monsters to know how many monsters could use multiple elements, but a laughing monster? That was something he'd heard before. Something that haunted him. He glanced over at Ellie, and a shocked and realizing expression covered her face.

Could it be? Could this… Alatreon be the voice that had haunted his nightmares for so long? His dreams had contained fire and ice (Levin shivered at the memory), but no lightning or dragon fire. But the laughter, the deep mocking laughter, was something that couldn't belong to anything else. In his mind, he'd always imagined the voice, whatever it was, was perhaps human, instead of the monstrosity that smashed and battered him back when he was still having the nightmares.

_Kill it! You know where it is! Go out and slaughter it! Erase it from the world!_

Levin audibly gasped as the piercing whisper drilled into his head, tearing into his thoughts before he knew what was happening. The great sword user winced and grabbed his forehead as a sling of cursing, as well as what felt like the very core of anger and rage poured through him. He could just barely feel the calmer voice there as well, but it seemed as though it was muted, or rather overpowered by the sound of the seething one. Levin tried to push the enraged voice down, but…

_Vengeance! Make it pay for what it's taken! Return what was ripped away from you in fire and death!_

Yes, he thought! It needed to die! A twisted feeling of pain and loss suddenly lanced through him, some warped and agonizing, though fragmented and incomplete memory. There was fire, and smoke, and dying and death everywhere, and… all-enveloping bright, pale blue light. And laughter! That demented, wicked, sadistic laughter! Levin winced in pain as he tried to remember. There was more, but he just couldn't seem to remember what it was that he was forgetting. It was just buried somewhere in his head and didn't want to surface.

Levin realized he was sweating, and his eyes were pinned to the orange slip, the neat scrawl on the sheet explaining the circumstances of the bar from the Tundra. He forced himself to pull his eyes away from the boards, glancing around nervously before sighing in relief at the knowledge that no one had seen him staring so intently at the board. Ellie was talking to Lynn quietly about something or other, and most of the other hunters had joined into their own separate conversations, whether about the Alatreon or about the hunts they were preparing to leave for.

_Go and kill it! Fight through the guards! Force your way to your target! They have no right to stand in your way after all you've lost!_

For a moment, Levin glanced around, wondering how well he could fare in a fight against these experienced hunters. He might be able to catch them off guard if they tried to stop him from going after the black beast, so maybe he could knock out one or two before… Levin winced, shaking his head, desperately trying to force down the aggressive voice whispering violence into his mind. He tried to bring out the sound of the calmer voice, begging for the sound of peacefulness, even if it meant another voice was forcing itself into his thoughts. But the anger and hate he felt was overwhelming him, and he could feel his teeth gritting against each other with every second that passed, his desire to feel his blade tearing into the Alatreon growing stronger.

_You have to find it there and kill it!_

"I have to kill it…"

"You what?"

"Hyu vhat?"

Levin blinked in surprise and glanced up, realizing that he'd spoken out loud. Ellie was giving him the worried look that she had been for the last while, but Lynn's face had actually gone slightly pale with… fear? That was strange.

"I don't… I mean, I think… I think that thing…"

_Kill it! Find it and kill it!_

"I… I have to! I have to find it!"

"No. Hyu don't. Dot's vun ting dot no hunter eez allowed to do."

"But I have to! It's… I don't know why, but it's the one! It's the reason that… that… argh! I don't even know! It's the voice! I know it is! It has to be!"

"De vhat? Vhat hyu talkink abott, boy?" Lynn asked, flabbergasted. Ellie had a shocked look on her face though, realizing what Levin was talking about. He realized that fear was covering Ellie's face as well, but was it fear of what he was saying, or fear of him? No! He couldn't let that happen! He had to calm down! He had to…

_KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT!_

"No! I have to kill it! I have to find it! I have to get to the docks before they cut off the ships! I have to…"

"Hyu not doink notink, boy!" Lynn snapped sharply. Levin saw her tighten her fist menacingly and he growled.

"No, you can't stop me! I won't be slowed down! I have to…"

**Crack!**

Stars bloomed in Elvin's eyes, and he suddenly found himself staring up at the ceiling. He realized that his jaw was hurting as well, and he could see the landlord's fist hovering over him for a moment before being pulled back. Levin only had a moment of incredulity, realizing Lynn had actually struck him, before his eyes rolled back into his head and he slipped into unconsciousness, the screaming and shouting of the whisper in his head following him into darkness.

* * *

**Know my name, boy! Learn to fear it! It will be my power that destroys you, as well as that girl you care for!**

* * *

Ellie twitched absently, rubbing her ear with her hand. There had been a ringing in her ear for a moment there. For a moment she'd thought she'd heard someone talking, but the walls of the apartments were thin in some places, so it was probably just someone passing by the door or talking the next room over. Ellie didn't recall meeting anyone with so deep a voice, but people joining up with other hunting parties passed through all the time, and Ellie was certain she had never and would never meet everyone in Loc Lac.

But that wasn't her primary concern right now. The focus of her attentions right now lay on her partner Levin, who still lay unconscious on his bed next to her. A bright purple bruise lit up his face from where Lynn had struck him, but Ellie was lest concerned about his physical injuries than she was of… other problems.

She shivered at the memory of his outburst only an hour or so ago, how, at the very mention of the… Alareon, or whatever it was called, the great sword user had flipped out. He'd been so blind at the time, so completely enraptured, so… possessed by his desire to find this monster, that he hadn't even noticed how terrified people were of him just talking about seeking out the creature. Just from talking! Several of the hunters had been nudging the handles of their weapons before Lynn had taken him out, with looks of fear in their eyes, and Levin hadn't even noticed in the slightest! Not to mention that, before Lynn had helped drag him back to his room, Ellie had glanced over and seen Zhanin smiling at Levin with the most victorious look on his face.

Was the voice he'd claimed to hear in his dreams really the Alatreon like he thought, too? Sure the creature was really powerful, by nearly everyone's standards, but it was just another monster, right? Right? A monster couldn't really do things like what Levin was claiming, could it? Digging into people's minds and mocking them, and taking control of other monsters and sending them out after people? There was a reason that the pair of Lost hunters had decided to keep that information between the two of them until further notice; such things were hard to believe at all of any creature, much less a monster.

But Ellie couldn't deny that something had tried to kill them by sending waves of monsters at them. She'd assumed it was… she didn't know. Human, maybe? Was it possible that, yes, a monster could possess the power to do what Levin said it could? And how could…

A groan pulled Ellie's attention back down to the bed, and she saw that Levin was beginning to stir again, finally. One of his eyes cracked open, searching around the room in confusion before a grunt of pain brought one of his hands up to rub his face.

"You okay?" Ellie asked cautiously. Levin's expression seemed to be calmer than it had been before.

"Yeah, I think so," Levin groaned, sitting up. "What happened? Ouch."

"Lynn… Lynn knocked you out."

"She did? Why? What did I do to get her so mad? I mean, we were waiting for a desert mission, and then… um… and then…" Levin suddenly gasped in recollection, before wincing and clutching his head. "The voice! I remember now! It was that thing, the one on the poster! The… what was it? The Alatreon! I have to find it! I have to…"

"No, you don't!" Ellie snapped. Levin blinked in surprise, looking at his partner at she glared at him. "You're not going chasing after this thing! Not like this!"

"But I have to!" Levin replied, his voice breaking to the point of begging. "It's the voice! The one I told you about! I can feel it! I… I can't just let it go, not after all it's put me through!"

"Levin…"

"It wants you dead, Ellie! Please, I can't let that happen! I can't lose anything else, or… I don't…"

"Not… not yet," Ellie whispered, and Levin glanced at her in confusion. "Levin, just… we can't fight this thing! Not now! We can barely kill a Lagiacrus, something that this… Alatreon can control! We can't go off looking for this thing as we are. We can't even try. The entire hunting world fears this thing so much it's illegal to hunt it. If we tried, everyone in the country would try to stop us and slow us down. I realize that this thing is dangerous Levin but…"

Levin stared at her. "But?"

Ellie felt a pain in her chest, a tightness of fear. "But I can't lose you either," she muttered. "You always try to protect me to keep me safe, why can't I do the same. I just got you, and I'm not going to lose you!"

Levin blinked in surprise, reddening slightly at the words. Ellie quickly stood up and moved closer, sitting next to him on the bed. "I do love you Levin. You always do stupid things trying to keep me safe from harm out in the field. Why can't I do the same for you? You always made sure I didn't get in over my head when you were still my 'teacher,' so I should do the same for you now that we're on even ground, right?"

Levin could only nod dumbly as Ellie leaned against him. She had him now, she thought, and smiled a little. "I haven't even had the opportunity to show you off, yet, either."

"What? Show me off to who?"

"Hm, no one in particular."

"Ellie… I can't ignore this…" Levin muttered feebly, and Ellie sighed sadly.

"I know, I know. But please, can't you just… wait? If you try and go after it now…" Ellie didn't feel like going into detail. "Please? Can't you promise me that? To wait until we're… more ready?"

Ellie could see Levin rolling the idea around in his head uncertainly. Every moment or two he actually seemed to wince a little, his hand pulling up from his side as though… she couldn't guess why. The voice, perhaps, or something else? But his other hand snaked around Ellie's waist, pulling her tight against him.

"I don't… I don't know what to do, Ellie. It's like I'm being tugged left and right. So much of me wants to go off and kill this monster, but I can't risk you dying…"

"Then that makes your decision for you, doesn't it?" Levin blinked blankly at Ellie, and she turned to stare right into his eyes. "Make no mistake, Mister Levin. I told you that I want you alive. If you try and go after this creature, I'm going to follow, to make sure you stay alive, understand."

"Ellie, you can't…"

"Quiet," Ellie snapped, cutting him off. "You cannot, _have never_ been able to tell me what to do. If you go, I will follow. If you fight, so will I. You're not going to get rid of me, Levin, and you're not going to leave me behind. So make your choice. Do the two of us dive in headfirst towards destruction, or wait until our odds are a bit better?"

"That's not even a choice," Levin said quietly. Ellie had to admit, she felt some comfort when he reached his other hand around to hold onto her even more. "So… what do we do now?"

"What we've been doing, I guess," Ellie replied. "We keep looking for materials so you can finish that weapon you want. In the meantime, we just try to get better as hunters, and someday, we'll be strong enough to deal with… whatever we need to deal with."

"As good a plan as any, I suppose," Levin said.

"We should try and find a hunt to take part in," Ellie suggested. "Today, I mean. People… people didn't seem to like to hear you talking about the Alatreon. If word spreads, there could be trouble."

"Yeah, maybe," Levin replied with a frown.

"Then get armored up, tough guy. We'll leave as soon as we can, then."

Ten minutes later, the pair of hunters were fully armored, with a collection of random goods the pair had discovered were helpful out in the desert sands, and going on Loc Lac hunts in general. Mostly cool drinks, maybe one or two hot drinks in case their hunt took until nighttime or later, potions as per usual, some food in case the Guild-provided rations ran short, and about five or six handkerchiefs for Ellie to use to avoid the dust and sand of the desert. Ellie absolutely _hated_ the desert, but Levin still needed some materials from the Sandy Plains, and right now Ellie really wanted her partner distracted from… recent problems.

As the two wandered back out into the bar area, Ellie was glad to see that the hunters sitting around had changed a little, people going off on hunts and new ones coming in. There were a few familiar faces in the crowd though, and Levin winced a little at the glares he received from some of them. Lynn glowered at the great sword user a little bit, but sighed after a moment and grinning forgivingly at him, winning a thankful smile from Levin. Apparently, somehow or another, Lynn seemed to understand what Levin was going through. The rest of the people in the bar, though, weren't quite so friendly at the moment…

"You're the one who was making a fuss earlier, weren't you?" a voice behind Ellie said.

The two hunters turned, Levin a bit more slowly than Ellie did. Ellie fired off an angry look, but was caught off guard by who she found when she turned. Behind them stood a grinning hunter, in bright red armor. It wasn't jagged, spiky armor of the Rathalos though, but seemed to be made of some sort of smaller scales instead. It reminded Ellie of the Lagiacrus armors she'd seen, but colored differently. He carried his helmet under an arm, a tight-fitting thing that sported a bright red mohawk-looking flare over the top of it. Ellie wasn't too sure about the make, but red-plated monsters were infrequent; maybe the, what was it called, the Agnaktor? The hunter himself was about the same height that Levin was, but seemed to emit a much more confident air about himself, with sharp, piercing eyes and tangled blonde hair. Over his back was a lance and shield set, the weapon looking more like a trident than any lance she'd ever seen. Ellie gave the man an untrustworthy look, and the man laughed.

"Oh, don't worry about me, I don't blame your boyfriend for wanting a piece of the Alatreon, whatever the reason. Every hunter, no matter what they say, always thinks about going after the black beast at one point or another, whether for fame and glory or more personal reasons. I'm not afraid to say that I've thought of making an effort to find the creature and take it out."

"Okay…" Ellie replied. "So what are you here for, then?"

"Actually, I was wondering if the two of you would be willing to go on a hunt with me." Clearly Ellie must have had a shocked expression on her face, because the hunter chuckled again. "Surprised?"

"Because I wanted to fight the Alatreon?" Levin asked.

"No, no," the man replied. Then he cocked his head in thought. "Well, maybe a little now. But I've been looking around for the last few days for the two of you. Well, not the two of you specifically. But rumor has it that the Lost are an interesting collection of hunters, so I've been out looking for some of you guys to hunt with. You two seem to be the only ones that are consistent to find, though. The other two I've heard about move around too much for me to catch up with."

"You want to hunt with us because we're Lost?" Ellie asked, surprised.

"Sure! I've always enjoyed hunting with unique people, and with there only being, what, four Lost out there in the Guild, that's about as unique as it gets. And there's two of you working together, which is even better. So I thought I'd meet up with the two of you, and see if you were willing to go on a hunt with me."

Ellie glanced over at Levin, who still had a tired and uncertain look in his eyes, and still looked weak from his freak out earlier. His expression kept flipping from a resigned sort of look, to one of worry as he glanced around to the irritated looks he was getting from other hunters and people in the room, to one of steeled determination as he thought about fighting the Alatreon. But he seemed to be giving the hunter she was talking to… hm.

"Um, what's your name?" Ellie asked.

The hunter blinked in surprise, before laughing and shaking his head in amusement. "I'm sorry. I suppose I'm getting a little ahead of myself. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Pugnax." Ellie raised an eyebrow and the lance user smirked. "My mother had an odd sense of humor when she named her children. Please, call me Nax. For some reason, a lot of the Lost I've spoken to seem to find it… humorous if I call myself Pug. I've yet to learn why."

Ellie choked back a laugh at the words, making Nax huff indignantly. But he grinned again quickly as Ellie introduced herself and Levin to the other hunter. She had to admit she liked the guy. He seemed really good humored, and he was friendly enough. He seemed like one of those hunters that joined the Guild for the sake of having a good time, rather than doing it for personal reasons or fame. He'd sought out her and Levin after simply out of curiosity to find out how the Lost hunted, after all.

She glanced back to Levin, though, and the great sword user seemed to have a different view of the man. For some reason, Levin had an untrusting look on his face, as though he half expected the man to try and stab him in the back if he turned the other way. He seemed indecisive over his own feelings, though, and Ellie supposed that the pair of them were trying to determine whether not his suspicion was due to his breakdown earlier or not.

"So what do you say?" Nax asked with a grin. "I'd been planning on heading out to fight a Barroth out in the Sandy Plains when I got word that that the pair of you were here. I came over, hoping to invite the two of you out on the hunt if you'd like."

Levin's eyes lit up a little at the suggestion. Ellie understood; he'd been looking forward to getting into the desert and collecting the materials he needed to finish off the switch axe he was trying to make. Ellie didn't care to go; she still didn't like hunting in the desert. All that sand! And the drastic change in temperature if it took until night to catch their monster was painful, especially if the pair of them had forgot to bring hot or cold drinks. But Ellie did know how much Levin wanted that switch axe…

"How about it?" she asked quietly. "It'll get your mind off of… recent events."

Levin thought for a moment, then nodded. "Fine by me," he said. "Probably better if I get away from that damn poster."

"Good to hear," Nax grinned enthusiastically. "I good Barroth hunt is perfect for getting your mind back in the game. I'll take care of the paperwork for the two of you. Be back in a minute!"

As the lancer walked away, Ellie gave Levin a worried look. "You sure you're up for this?"

"I'll be fine, it's just… I don't know. Almost every fiber in me is telling me to go out and find the Alatreon and kill it, but... I know I shouldn't. I'm not… not… I have to kill it! I…"

"I understand," Ellie replied, cutting Levin off. The great sword user gave her a baffled look, before blinking in realization.

"Ah, right, the Raths. Sorry. I'd almost forgotten about your problems with them."

"It's alright," Ellie said. She leaned a little closer to Levin, glanced around the bar to make sure no one was near, and lowered her voice. "Just know that I get where you're coming from wanting to go after this thing but… if it's really as nasty as everyone seems to let on, we wouldn't stand a chance if we tried to take it on now."

"But I swear it's the _voice_! I know it is! I have to…"

Ellie only knew a few ways to quiet Levin once he got ranting, so she picked her recently favorite one. Without giving him a chance to react he quickly leaned forward to kiss him. That quieted him down really quickly. Ellie had to admit, she understood why Levin enjoyed jumping her with things like that or with lewd comments; the surprised look on his face was pretty funny. When she pulled away, Ellie kept her voice low. "We will deal with it eventually. You helped me with the Raths, I'll help you with the Alatreon."

For the first time in a while, Levin grinned. "Thanks Ellie." Then one of his slyer smirks popped back onto his face. "Best not forget to bring hot drinks this time, Miss Ellie, else you'll have to find some other ways to keep warm in that Qurupeco armor or yours. I could make a few suggestions, but I don't think they'd be appropriate with a third person in our little party."

Ellie felt herself redden so much at the words, and reacted faster than she'd expected herself to, slugging the great sword user so hard in the chest that he tumbled out of his chair and onto the floor. But her partner was chuckling as he hit the floor. Ellie grumbled as she reached down to help the great sword user to his feet, but found herself grinning knowing that Levin's good mood was working its way back to normal, even if only a little bit. His eyes were still a little troubled, but not so bad as before.

Nax returned momentarily, baring a small sheet showing that he'd signed the three of them up for the Barroth hunt. The hunter seemed incredibly excited for the hunt, though Ellie admittedly didn't understand why the man would be so intent of going out hunting with a pair of Lost. Ellie began to notice, however, that the lance user's eyes seemed more focused on Levin than they were on her. He seemed a bit surprised at the sight of Levin's sudden improvement in attitude, but the grin on his face never slipped, Ellie noticed. Despite Nax's pleasant attitude, though, Levin still seemed wary of the man, though Ellie couldn't guess as to why. She shrugged it off though; he seemed like a nice enough man, and she was sure that Levin would find some way to get along with the lance user.

Ellie and Levin quickly left to prepare themselves for the impending battle against the Barroth, and in a few minutes, they were armored up and ready to go, Levin with his great sword and Ellie with her bowgun. Ellie had never fought a Barroth before, and Levin had only seen them in an arena fight he'd seen during the Hunter's Exam in Orage Dell. All the pair really knew was that the monster loved to charge. Once they'd arrived back in the bar, they asked Nax about what he knew about the creature, all he'd done is laugh and tell them that they'd figure it out themselves, now wouldn't they?

As they left the bar to head towards the airships, they received quite a few foul looks from the other patrons of the bar, almost all of which had heard about Levin's little outburst from earlier. Those that didn't emanate anger emanated fear, the hunters sitting next to the windows casting cautious glances up to the skies, as though the Alatreon had sensed the dissent already and was planning the downfall of the city as they sat there. The only people they seemed to receive a fond farewell were Lynn and Logan, both sitting behind the bar. Lynn seemed to be understanding of Levin's particular feelings, despite her brute force earlier, but everyone else seemed to just fear the Alatreon's wrath too much to allow much leniency to the great sword user.

But word hadn't traveled far, luckily, and the looks ended at the door, allowing the hunters to make their way to the airfield in peace. Ellie hoped Levin would feel better by the time the three of them got to the hunting grounds to find the Barroth. She hoped he was back to normal by the time they got back to Loc Lac. But that was a thought for later. For now, she needed to prepare for the Barroth, whatever kind of challenge the beast provided.

* * *

A dry, dusty wind churned the desert sands of the plains to the south of Loc Lac. Aptonoth and Kelbi could be seen from most high points in the area, and depending on where you were, packs of Jaggi, or even Diablos or Barroth, could be spotted as well, moving around their respective territories in search of intruders that dared brave a trip into their claimed lands. Scanning the skies revealed the occasional Rathian or Rathalos passing through the area, or dropping out of the skies to sink their teeth into some food.

The Sandy Plains was a popular hunting ground, a wide zone that lay over an expansive area between several cities and villages. The northern areas commonly were dune-covered plateaus, just bordering the sandseas that encircled Loc Lac, but unlike the seas, the sand was shallow enough that the dreaded Jhen Mohran wouldn't try to enter the area. Not without the most extreme reason, that is. The Plains technically spread much further than the area labeled on the maps, but the marked off area was specifically specified for hunters searching for materials or simply a challenge.

The dry wind blew through a small crevice sitting soundly between two massive rock formations, just barely large enough for a man to slide into. Outside, a young Kelbi spotted a tuft of grass just inside the shadows of the crevice. The Kelbi glanced over to its elders, momentarily thinking that maybe it shouldn't go venturing away from its herd, but grass was scarce in the Sandy Plains, and the larger younglings usually managed to take all the best grasses, leaving only the dregs behind for the smaller. Without a second thought, the Kelbi dove into the crevice for the grass, sliding through the thin entrance.

The Kelbi blinked in surprise upon entering. The entrance to the crevice had been so small. Inside, however, was a surprisingly roomy enclosed area, the size of a small hut. Such hovels were popular dwellings for Felyne or Melynx to claim as their own for themselves and their kin, though this one was not being used by the catlike creatures. The nook _was_ claimed, the signs were all there; a small makeshift tent was propped against a nearby wall, with a collection of grass and blankets covering the ground below. Nearby, a small fire flickered softly, casting just barely enough light to illuminate the area. A couple fish hung poked on sticks over the flames, cooking slowly.

A small figure sat near the flames, a ragged brown and green cloak and hood hanging loosely over its shoulder and head. For a moment, the Kelbi panicked; a hunter, perhaps? Nothing of the person's face could be seen from almost any angle, though, save if you planted yourself directly in front of them. From the Kelbi's angle, all you could see was a scraggly beard, and the long wooden pipe jutting out from the person's mouth. The man sat in silence, nearly motionless. The only sign that the man was alive was the occasional puffing of smoke from the pipe from out the man's mouth.

Suddenly the man sighed, muttering sadly to himself. The Kelbi jumped nervously, legs twitching nervously as it tried to decide if and how to run. But a chuckling sound caught the Kelbi's ears as the person's head turned to face him.

"Worry not, little one. I mean no harm to you or your kind."

Somehow, the Kelbi found itself calming down. It didn't understand the person's language, yet it could feel no malice from the man. The Kelbi glanced cautiously down to the grass it had come into the crevice for, and the person motioned to it.

"Go right ahead. _I'm_ not going to eat it."

Once again, the person had spoken, and the Kelbi had stared warily at him. But it bent over and ate. What harm could it bring? As it did so, the man turned back to his fire with a chuckle. But as the Kelbi ate, it felt a change in the person's presence, a more somber tone. The man began speaking again, but to himself, the Kelbi thought.

"He'll be here soon, won't he? Yes, yes he will. I can feel it. We must meet. He won't be pleased to see me I think. It's too soon, too soon. Still tattered and worn, a wrong push could send him either way. So many wrong courses and so few directions to lead towards the right path. Would he know too much or too little if I appeared? Impossible. Impossible to tell. Should I stay? Go? So many paths, not enough directions."

As the Kelbi ripped the last of the grass tufts from the dirt, it pulled its head back upright and watched the man carefully, just in case. Smoke poured from the man's mouth as he puffed in frustration on his pipe, a steady stream of smoke twirling through the air up to the ceiling of the cave. Every few moments, the man would sigh in indecision. The Kelbi kept looking back and forth between the man and the door, tempted to bolt back outside, but curious about the person at the same time.

"Perhaps I should leave," the man continued to mutter. "If he comes here, he'll find this place for sure, somehow, someway. I'll need to take off. Will he ever be ready to meet me? Should I lie? No… I can't do that. Never lie, never deceive. Can't do either, shouldn't. Ring of devastation will only continue, never stop. Can only wait, hide, stay away until the right time. The future will present itself soon. It must."

The Kelbi blinked and began to skitter around nervously as the person's head turned to look its direction, though the hood still continued to almost completely cover the man's face. A chuckling drifted across the cave again.

"I don't suppose you've got any good advice, do you, young Kelbi? Should I stay and determine fate now, or wait until destiny presents an possible option with a better result?"

Once again, the person was speaking, but all the Kelbi could think to do was glance nervously towards the exit, wondering how to make its escape.

"Run, should I? I suppose the decision you make would be just as fair as mine. My fate is so foggy right now, all I can do is guess at my decisions. Perhaps my options are becoming more limited… due to my impending death, maybe? I suppose I have lived for longer than most. But… I need to continue to live for just a little longer. I must see this last thing through. Whether my fate is to help or hinder, I must carry on. So I will take your advice, young Kelbi, and leave this place to wait for him elsewhere. Thank you for your wisdom."

The person waved his hand towards the door, and the Kelbi could take no more. With a flash of motion, it turned and bolted for the hole leading outside, frantically sprinting for its herd, and relative safety. It spared one look back, to see the man getting to his feet. In one last moment of realization the Kelbi noticed that the person couldn't be all that taller than it was. But it forgot the information almost immediately as it sprinted outside, back where its herd waited for it.

It was safer out there. The Kelbi swore to itself that the next time it saw a biped, it was running first chance it got, no questions asked.

* * *

**Author's Note: Please Review! I apologize for the second slow-ish chapter. I swear there'll be more and better fighting soon, as well as more development! Hope you liked it though. Took a few liberties with the Alatreon's actions and patterns in this chapter. Hope you don't mind.**

**Was worried that this chapter might be really, really late, but I think I finished it in okay time. Been really busy lately; moving, settling in, living at friends houses, trying to adjust, working with low speed internet. But I hope you like the chapter. Also, been watching a lot of science videos on the Youtubes. Not sure why, but they're interesting. **

**Note, something fun coming soon that I hope some of you will give me ideas for. Nothing serious, just silly. Will post it soon, hopefully. **

**P.S. I would like a beta reader, for reals this time! Anyone good at grammar or catching spelling mistakes, and would also not mind reading the chapters early and helping tweak them? Or if you think there are parts I'm rushing a little, or trudging through, and you'd like to see me try and improve them? Let me know!**

**Reading: **_**A Path of Daggers**_** by Robert Jordan, **_**Genshiken**_** by Kio Shimoku  
Playing: LoZ: Skyward Sword, Minecraft, Skyrim, BF3  
Listening: LoZ: 25****th**** Anniversary Soundtrack, Eve 6, The Axis of Awesome, The GAG Quartet**


	25. Broken

Broken

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. All the characters in this story are mine._

"You have to leave the tent sooner or later, Miss Ellie."

"Mmmm… don't want to. Can't we wait until the wind dies down a little? So there's not so much sand in the air?"

"Sorry, Ellie, I don't think circumstances are going to get much better. The wind hasn't really died down lower than this in, what, forty-seven years? If anything, it's only bound to get worse."

"Aw, dammit… fine."

Levin grinned tiredly as Ellie finally emerged from the tent at the hunter's camp on the far edges of the Sandy Plains. His partner, wearing her Ludroth bowgun slung tightly across her back, was scowling in frustration out into the desert from the high vantage point they started at, pulling a bandana tight across her face, in an attempt to keep the infernal sand out of her face. Levin had to admit, he was amazed that Ellie could look so irritated at their location, while at the same time looking as though she was sulking at just having to be there.

"No pouting now, Miss Ellie," Levin smirked. "It's unladylike, so I'm told."

"Oh, shove it," Ellie growled, muffled through the bandana. "You're the very last person to know anything about ladies."

"True enough, I suppose. I'd have to have seen one before. Know where I can meet one?" Leven said, smirking wickedly.

"Screw you! Besides, I'm not pouting. I'm glowering. There's a difference." Levin laughed at the line, and Ellie huffed in indignation. "I almost preferred you when you were flipping out."

Levin grinned a little as his partner, and she smiled back happily. He had to admit, he was feeling quite a bit better now compared to how he'd been acting back in Loc Lac. His good humor was returning, slowly but surely, mostly with the hassling he'd been giving Ellie at every chance he got. Ellie still gave him worried looks every now and them, but she seemed a lot happier to see Levin getting along better. Levin would've had more fun teasing her, but with Nax tagging along with them, some of the things he wanted to say had to be withheld.

Admittedly, he'd been as he was before for most of the journey on board the ship to the hunting grounds (when he wasn't hanging over the railing…). It seemed like all he could think about was the Alatreon, how it had mocked and laughed at him, berated him, and threatened him. Worse, it had threatened Ellie! He couldn't allow that! He wouldn't! His mind had begun flashing back through every incident involving the voice, and every memory of Ellie getting hurt only bolstered his anger at the beast.

It wasn't until just a few hours before the ship docked that Levin seemed to remember that Ellie was even on the trip with him. Nax had been talking to him about some hunt or another (Levin hadn't really been paying attention), and the lancer had mentioned that he found it odd that Levin hadn't gotten into a relationship with Ellie. It had taken a second or two for Levin to realize what the man had said, and questioned him about it. Nax had replied by telling him that usually, in his experience, male and female hunters that worked together tended to form more meaningful relationships with each other, but Levin and Ellie didn't seem all that much more to him than that, since they'd not really talked all that much during the trip to the desert. But perhaps the bowgunner had a bit of a crush on him, Nax had laughed, since she'd been trying to talk to him the entire trip.

That was when something had clicked in Levin. Ellie had been trying to talk to him during the trip? He hardly recalled speaking with her at all. Had he really been ignoring her, or not hearing her the whole time? Had he really been so zoned in on the Alatreon that…

'_Kill it! You have to kill it! It has to die!'_

Yes! It did! But Ellie had said that they weren't strong enough, and she might have been right. If that thing could take control of a Lagiacrus, then…

'_She's holding you back! Leave her behind and hunt it yourself! Return when it's dead!'_

No! He couldn't leave her behind! He'd almost lost her once before, he couldn't bear to leave her behind again! She said she'd help… he didn't want her in harm's way, though. She meant too much to him to…

'_So why have you been avoiding her so much if you care for her?'_

Levin had blinked in surprise. The gentler voice had returned. He hadn't heard it since… before they'd left for Loc Lac, he thought. Why was he avoiding her? He hadn't been! Well not intentionally, at least, it was just that he'd been really consumed recently, with…

'_The Alatreon! The beast must die! It must suffer! It must!…'_

'_Oh, shut up. You always say that you won't allow the beast to take anything else from you. Ellie is almost all you have right now. What's the point of going out and killing the monster for the sake of keeping her safe if she leaves you because of this obsession with the beast?'_

Levin felt a wave of surprise go through him. The whisper seemed to have more tone now. When had that happened? It seemed more… human now, somehow. Now he wasn't feeling so much surprise anymore at the thought, so much as was starting to feel a quiver of fear at the thought. He had found his sanity fragile enough with the whispers just being there. Now they were gaining clarity and personality? How was he supposed to keep his head on right if…

'_You have no time to dwell upon that now; you should focus on your current issue.'_

Levin frowned. Then what _was_ the issue?

'_Ellie, or don't you remember? You've been ignoring her, or been drowning her out recently. You can't afford to lose her, correct? So forget the Alatreon for now, or at least until you're more ready.'_

'_No! Never forget! Continue the hunt! The beast must die! The beast must…'_

'_The beast must wait. You've ignored Ellie long enough, I think? Go talk to her. You still care for her, right?'_

Levin nodded fervently, earning an odd look from Nax, who was still next to him talking about something. Levin apologized for cutting him off, but said he had other things to attend to and bolted for the hatch to below deck. He didn't even feel the effects of his motion sickness anymore as he made a beeline for the room he knew Ellie was staying in, tumbling into the room awkwardly.

Ellie had been somewhat surprised to see Levin, apparently still under the impression that he'd been still thinking only about the Alatreon. Levin found himself tumbling over his words; what could he say? Should he apologize? Ask for forgiveness? Help? Should he…

'_You're thinking too hard about this.'_

"Yeah," Levin muttered, earning an odd look from Ellie. Without another thought, Levin rushed forward and kissed Ellie. The bowgunner gasped in surprise at the abrupt show of affection, but returned the feeling immediately. About five minutes later, the great sword user finally came up for breath, panting with exhilaration.

"Um, in case you can't tell, I'm sorry I've been ignoring you recently."

"Yeah, I got that."

"I know this whole Alatreon thing is messing with me, but I… I'm not… I can't…" the great sword user cut off as Ellie leaned forward and kissed him again, ramming her lips against his.

"Just don't forget it, okay?" she said quietly after releasing his lips.

"I'll try."

And he had tried. He'd spent as much time as he could with Ellie again once the ship had landed and they began making their way across the caravan trails and other side paths that needed to be traveled along to get to the hunting grounds. It had actually been amusing seeing Nax's reaction to Levin's sudden turnaround in attitude. Levin had some fun in telling the man that they'd only just hooked up, earning him a shocked look. Ellie had gone and ruined his fun eventually; filling the hunter in when they'd reached the desert.

But, as much as he tried to keep himself together, whenever Ellie wasn't around to talk to him, the angry whisper would grow louder and more persistent, filling his head with a cloud of violent thoughts. And he couldn't seem to fight back against the voice; the kinder whisper, despite it being louder than usual and having more clarity than before, was drowned out constantly by the strength of the angry whisper. It would only lose its power when Ellie returned, or when he started thinking about something she said or did. Luckily, once he'd gone to apologize to her, the pair of them made a decent effort to stay together most of the time.

They'd arrived at the southern campsite of the Sandy Plains area in the late evening, the long journey through the desert on the sandship and the hike along the paths taking longer than expected. Most hunting zones had three or more camps for the hunters that traversed them to stay at, or to allow a higher number of hunters to come to each area. The three hunters arrived in their campsite not too long after the previous hunters had vacated the area (a Diablos hunt, Levin recalled hearing), meaning that the beds were still smelly and unmade. Luckily the Guild-hired Felynes were hard at work cleaning up, doing their best to give the three hunters a comfortable place to sleep that night.

Nax seemed fully intent and capable of going out and hunting down the Barroth at night, but both Levin and Ellie had made a habit of resting for the night if they arrived just before night fell. The afternoon was fine for them, but Ellie was never exactly dressed for the radical change in nighttime weather. Besides, the night was supposed to be moonless, and neither hunter felt comfortable traversing the desert with torches. They had apologized to the lancer, but the man had understood, though he seemed a little disappointed at having to wait for the hunt. Levin had found that out about Nax; he really, really enjoyed hunting, to the point that it was all he seemed to think about. It just seemed a little odd to Levin.

Nax himself, while an interesting and skilled hunter, continued to give Levin conflicted feelings: During their time traveling to the hunting area, the man had given the pair of them his story as a hunter in return for theirs. He was apparently from the far north, a few miles away from the Tundra hunting grounds, and had been raised as a hunter by going out and taking down creatures like the Great Baggi, and the occasional Gigginox; the very mention of the massive worm-like creature made Levin shiver a little, since he still vividly remembered his battle against the beast during the Hunter's exam. Fighting such aggressive creatures, it was no surprise that the hunter took a liking to a more defensive style of battle, wielding the lance and shield. And he seemed friendly enough; he claimed to know a fair amount of hunters throughout Loc Lac and the surrounding areas, saying that he enjoyed looking for other hunters to hunt with.

Yet Levin simply couldn't shake the untrusting feeling he felt towards the lancer. The man was kind enough, and seemed to enjoy hunting just like he and Ellie did, if not quite a bit more excitable about the whole thing. Yet every time Levin looked at the Nax, he simply couldn't shake the feeling that he should avoid him, and he simply had no idea as to why that was. Perhaps it was because the whispers in his head seemed to die town a little every time the man spoke to him, which was an oddity on its own. He would've thought that the feeling of trust would increase at the quieting of the whispers, yet it simply made him all the more suspicious of him.

But Levin forced himself not to think about it. It had to be some lingering feeling, a side effect of the realization of the Alatreon's true name and identity. He'd been so consumed by his anger and hate, he'd even forgotten about Ellie for the trip up to the hunting grounds. Who knew what kind of side effects the great sword user would feel when meeting new people or those he hadn't seen in a long time? He was almost afraid to consider what kind of reaction he'd have when he finally met up with Kim and Nat, (or Harker and Kerry, for that matter) again. So he smiled, or at least tried to grin, when the lancer was around, telling stories and trying to make friends with the man, and doing his best to ignore the gut feelings his mind was trying to force down onto him.

The next day had the three hunters heading out pretty much at the crack of dawn, once Levin finally lured Ellie out of the tent and into the desert. Their plan for the day was to take a sort of curved path through the Plains, searching the well-known Barroth stomping grounds that Nax was aware of, and to give Levin all the time he needed to look for Rare Scarabs. The little bugs tended to hang out near Aptonoth herding paths, one of those little creatures that enjoyed devouring the remains of the creatures left behind by the carnivores that managed to get ahold of a couple of them. Ellie hated looking for them, because not only did it mean they were traveling through the desert, but they were also trawling their way through half-eaten corpses.

"So if I may ask, what type of armor is that exactly?" Levin asked Nax, after successfully collecting two of the little creatures off the carcass of disembodied Kelbi head.

"Agnaktor," the lancer replied, straightening his body a little to show off the armor. Levin smirked a little; he had to admit he might have done the same if asked about his own armor. Nax tilted his head reminiscently. "Now that was a fun fight. It's sort of like a Lagiacrus, I think, except it swims through lava instead of water."

"…Your definition of fun horrifies me," Ellie shivered. The bowgunner was keeping her distance from the Kelbi remains. Levin always thought it was odd how much she avoided dead creatures that weren't something she aided in killing.

"Oh, it's not as bad as it sounds," Nax laughed. "Just avoid its beak and its fire beams and you'll be just fine. I had a few good friends that went out and hunted the beast with me once at the Volcano hunting grounds. The creature jumped us when we were working our way through the core, but we managed to take it down somehow. I didn't get the materials the first time, unfortunately, so I had to go back for another round later. Had to, if I wanted the armor."

"What's so good about it?" Levin asked.

"It's good for lancers and shield users in general," Nax replied. "There're some hooks and cleats on the boots that help you take hits without giving as much ground. Also, it's a little heavier too, letting you take bigger hits. Not such good armor to use without a shield, actually, but if you're a lancer or a sword and shield user, it's pretty great. Perfect for me, you see."

"Okay, I think I… oh! There's another one!" Levin said, catching sight of another Scarab skittering away from a dead Aptonoth and chasing after it.

Several hours later, long after the trio had eaten their ration lunches; the sun was dropping lower in the sky, and not a single sign of a Barroth to be found over the course of the day. They'd visited seven mudflats, areas bordering streams or rivers that had all the water needed to turn the dusty, cracked soil into the muck that Barroths seemed to love so much. Nax seemed to grow more and more frustrated as the day went by, each time approaching the mudflats certain they'd find the beast they sought, only to be disappointed at the lack thereof. With the sun starting to touch the horizon, Levin and Ellie began looking for a place to make camp; they'd found themselves deep the center of the hunting grounds, too far away from any of the base camps to make their way back before the sun set.

"Is that a cave?" Ellie suddenly asked, pointing along the edge of a nearby rock face. Levin followed her motion, and sure enough, a small hole lay in the shadows of the rocks.

"Not a bad spot," Nax said. "Kind of small, though. I'm not sure how comfortable it'll be."

"Might as well check it out," Levin shrugged. "Short of walking all the way back to the campsite, we really don't have that many other options for sleeping tonight. The moon is still new, and we weren't perceptive enough to bring any decent torches. If we're going to light a fire, might as well break for the night."

"You guys really need to learn to be a little more adventurous every now and again," Nax laughed, shaking his head. "Try hunting at night sometime, you'll have fun, I promise. Just bring along some hot drinks here in the desert, or you'll be sorry. Though I suppose for a couple newbies, you will want a full moon to hunt by."

"Maybe one day," Ellie shrugged, adjusting her bandana a bit and kneeling to crawl into the crevice. "But for now, let's get inside. I want to get a fire going before the sands cool off too much."

"Fine, fine. But I'm telling you guys, that cave's a little small. I mean, if you two are in a relationship, you might be fine getting up close and personal with each other, but I don't think I know you guys well enough for you to be doing that in front of me."

Levin smirked as Ellie groaned in dismay. "What is with you male hunters and your enjoyment of these lewd jokes? I swear I may just take Kerrigan up on her offer to make a girls-only hunting party."

As the bowgunner crawled into the hole, Nax stood shaking his head. After a moment, a laugh of success echoed out from inside the crevice, making both the male hunters blink in surprise. "I knew it! Get in here you morons! I was right!"

Nax raised an eyebrow in disbelief at the great sword user, and Levin shrugged. "Guess she must've found something," he said, dropping to the ground and crawling into the darkened hole after Ellie.

On the other side was a rather cozy cavern. Small, Levin admitted, but easily enough room for three hunters to spend the night. A few small trees were growing up towards a hole in the ceiling, where the last glimmers of daylight were still shining in, deep scarlet and purple. Ellie was already setting her stuff down, clearly intent on claiming this place as a temporary base. Nax wasn't far behind Levin, eyes darting around in surprise at the size of the place.

"Well now, don't I feel sheepish," he laughed. "Here I thought I knew every inch of the desert by now, and you find something new right off the bat. I'll have to remember this place. Sort of like a secret base, isn't it?"

"Not all that secret," Ellie replied. "Looks like someone was here before us. _See_?"

Levin followed Ellie's motion to the center of the small area, not seeing anything for a moment or two. Nax saw it first, though, and pointed; it took Levin another few seconds, but he finally caught sight of a small circle of dirt right in the very center of the cavern; a doused campfire? It wasn't natural, that was for sure.

"Sharp eyes," Nax murmured. "Impressive: Another hunter, perhaps?"

"Probably," Ellie replied as she began working to set up a small, makeshift tent while Levin and Nax began working at pulling some limbs down from a small tree for a fire. "Who else would be in this area? The Plains are off-limits to anyone who isn't a hunter."

"Doesn't stop everybody," Nax replied simply, tearing down one of the larger branches. "Some people consider rules are meant to be broken, or at least bent a little. I'm sure there are quite a few civilians in the surrounding villages that make ventures into the hunting zone for supplies, despite the Guild's stringent rules. It could have very well been just another villager come in search of mushrooms, or someone entirely different. I've heard of some people who actually break into highly-infested monster areas just for the challenge of surviving."

"That's a little bit on the crazy side," Ellie replied. "I've spent a night out in the wilderness when hunts ran long, but living out her perpetually? That's kind of stupid."

"Well, I can understand the feeling," Nax replied with a contemplative smile, tearing another thick limb from the tree. "The feeling of living on the edge, the knowledge that your own skills are the only things that keep you alive, the feeling of strength you get when you return back to a village or town, knowing that you've fought the odds and won… An unmatched feeling, in my opinion. That's why I became a monster hunter in the first place actually; the feeling of power, superiority, victory. There is nothing quite like it."

"I suppose one reason's as good as another," Ellie replied.

"Why did the two of you decide to become hunters, then?" Nax asked.

"…Personal reasons," Ellie replied simply. "I've got some goals of my own that I want to accomplish as a hunter."

"Fame and fortune perhaps?" Nax asked slyly. "Or are you one of those die-hard 'protect the innocent civilians' sort of hunter? I've met people like that before, and let me tell you, they're never as high and noble as they think they are."

Ellie paused for a moment before shrugging. "I guess… for the fame, if I have to be honest about it. Though not for fame's sake. I do have a goal that I want to accomplish, but I need to be famous to pull it off."

"Same here," Levin added wryly. "But… I suppose you've heard plenty about my other reasons back in Loc Lac."

"I suppose I have," Nax admitted, before turning back to the bowgunner. "You don't enjoy the thrill of the hunt, Ellie?"

"It's… fun, I'll admit. And there really is a thrill to it. But it wouldn't have been the first choice of what I wanted to do with myself when I got to Loc Lac for the first time, circumstances aside. And the way monsters live and act are just so… strange, and unique, and wonderful. If it weren't for the way things turned out, I may have decided to try and study them like… oh, jeez, like Harker does."

Levin snorted a laugh. "Really?"

"I can't believe I just said that…" Ellie muttered. "Just out of curiosity, though. Nothing like what that madman tries to pull off."

"Whatever you say, Miss Ellie," Levin grinned, plopping his armful wood down into the center and pulling a flint out of his pouch to spark a flame. "If you ever want to read some of the ideas he sent me, just let me know."

It didn't take too long for the three of them to set up camp after that, with Levin and Nax setting up the fire and Ellie setting up some makeshift tents. After that they ate what was left of the rations that the Guild had given to them at the hunter's camp, before setting down to talk with each other. Levin had to admit it was a little awkward with Nax there; the two Lost hunters were so used to their hunts being just the pair of them, they almost weren't certain how to act with a third wheel around.

As the last glimmers of sunlight vanished from the hole in the ceiling above them, a sudden yipping howl echoed from the entry, followed by a chorus of echoing calls. The three glanced around cautiously, instantly recognizing the barking and yipping of a Great Jaggi and its pack, all of them instinctively checking where their weapons were sitting, just in case. But even with their preparations, the cries of the small carnivores began to grow more distant, until the sound was far enough that they were probably safe.

"I have to admit, I'm not liking this whole camping out thing," Nax grumbled, pulling his lance a little closer and keeping a wary eye on his shield, which lay next to him. "It's one thing to go out into the wilds to hunt monsters, but camping like this, hiding away in a little hole waiting for the sun to rise, I can't help but feel like I'm the one being hunted instead of them."

"'A hunter should know how to hide just as well as he knows how to hunt,'" Ellie said, quoting something Marshall had told them. "'If you find yourself in a hard spot, unable to finish off a monster, and you can't outrun it, you should at least be able to be able to slide out of its sight. Death is rarely as noble as storytellers let on, so your first task above all others should be survival.'"

Nax frowned. "Who said that?"

"Our hunting master, Marshall," Levin replied. "That crazy old bastard left us to our own devices for the most part, but when he felt like teaching us something he thought was important, he would spend ages making sure we knew it."

"Marshall… Marshall… I've heard the name," said Nax, tilting his head in thought. "Something about a Jhen Mohran I think. Not a big name recently, I think."

"No, I don't think so," Levin replied. "He did hunt a Jhen some time ago. He even has a hammer made from one of its tusks. But that was years and years ago. I'm not sure how long ago that was, now that I think about it."

"Hm, probably just someone the older folks remember, then. People tend to not hold on to the names of the legends beyond about twenty years unless they did something really and truly epic. Ever since the Guild got around to strapping a Dragonator onto the front of a sandship, people have been able to ward and even kill Jhen Mohran far, far easier."

Another chorus of yipping and howling echoed through the cavern, and the three hunters clinched again, looking around. "Looks like we'll need to take turns keeping watch," Nax said. "Any volunteers for first watch?"

"I'll do it," Ellie volunteered, hopping to her feet while cocking and loading her bowgun up. "I'm not really tired anyway."

"Alright, then," Nax said, nodding. "Come get one of us in a few hours, for the second watch."

"Deal." The bowgunner gave Levin one last smile before leaving. "Later, Levin."

"Later," Levin replied, sending a smile back her way before she vanished out into the darkness.

The great sword user and the lancer spent a little while talking to each other, swapping stories and other hunting tales to pass the time, but after a couple hours, the talk dwindled away to silence, and the two of them simply sat around, Nax with his eyes on the entry to the cave and Levin with his eyes on the crackling fire. The sight began to churn up his memories after a while; flashes of nightmares he'd experienced began to flicker through his mind, haunting him. The two whispers appeared like ghosts in his head, arguing between themselves and trying to pull Levin back and forth between them, both demanding his full attention and cooperation, but neither gaining full dominance over the other. Levin felt his hands clench and his jaw begin to grind as he tried to force the voices down.

"Do you enjoy hunting, Levin?" Nax asked suddenly, the whispers ceasing instantly at the sound of his voice.

Levin glanced up at the lancer, startled out of his reverie, though, thankful for it. "I guess. There's just something about it that appeals to me, I suppose. Some good feelings from knowing that the world's a little safer place with a few less monsters causing trouble for normal folks, I guess. And it helps me get stronger, for my own desires."

"A pretty little speech. Didn't wherever you Lost came from not have any monsters in it, though? Must be something hard to get used to."

"I guess," Levin admitted.

'_Kill them! Kill them all! They all deserve to be destroyed! The Alatreon most of all!'_ Levin twitched in pain and irritation, earning an odd look from Nax, before the lancer shrugged it off.

"It's strange, though," Nax said, an odd tone coming over his voice. "If rumors have any truth at all to them, people say that back where the Lost came from, there aren't any monsters at all."

"Yes…" Levin muttered cautiously.

"Yet the Guild and so many researchers are adamant that the monsters are inherently necessary for the survival of nature as it is somehow. As though they actually keep the forests full of trees and the mountains standing up! As though the monsters stop the sky from falling! If the world got on just fine without them before, why not now? I just don't get why they forbid people from hunting monsters too much, for fear of wiping a species out entirely. You would not believe how many times me and other hunters have been forbidden to go after a monster just because a lot of other hunters have attacked the monsters over the course of the previous weeks or so."

"A lot of the monsters effect the environment more than you'd think," Levin replied, poking the fire with one of the smaller sticks. "Harker sent me a letter about it once. Take the Lagiacrus for example; one of those things can hold or create enough electricity to match a lightning storm. I don't know much about the weather, but I know that when something powerful like that appears, the world has to adjust itself to accommodate. If you just take it away, who knows what could happen? I've heard too many 'butterfly effect' stories to try something like that."

"I guess so," Nax said, sounding disappointed in Levin's reply. "Not sure what the butterfly effect is, though."

"It's… complicated," Levin replied, scratching his head. "Sort of a complicated, cause and effect, philosophical sort of thing. One thing affects another in ways people can never predict. 'A butterfly flapping its wings can cause a tornado on the other side of the world if it changed enough'."

"Sounds _very_ complicated. I suppose just letting hunters wipe out monsters entirely would be a bad thing wouldn't it? After all, where would the hunters go if all the monsters were gone, yeah?"

"Who knows?" Levin grinned. "Probably just have to get a job like the rest of the world. Probably have to join an army or something to have a place to vent their strength somewhere."

"Probably," Nax replied with a frown, clearly not fond of the plan. "You know, though, there's something I always thought would be a good idea. Something I always wanted to see happen."

"What's that?"

"Free rein to hunt any and all monsters you want." A wistful look flickered across the man's face as he stared off into space for a moment. "It's probably one of the few things in the hunting world that really and truly irks me to no extent; the Guild will only allow so many hunts of a certain monster before forbidden any more hunts until the creatures are able to repopulate to the point where the Guild is satisfied. Argh! It's so frustrating! So many times I've been close to finishing a weapon or an armor set, just to get cut off by the Guild for a few months so that the breeding season can pass through so there's a 'safe' amount of monsters again."

"Well, it's either that or the monsters will… run out," Levin said.

"Yes, yes. The Guild reps and bureaucrats and naturalists tell me the same damn thing over and over and over. And unfortunately, I really do have to agree with them. As much as I love to be out there hunting, I'd hate for it all to stop. But you'd think they'd be able to fix things for fighters like me by letting us go all out in the arena, but once again, same problem. Hunters can capture so many monsters, but eventually, you can't do it anymore for fear of pulling too many of the beasts out of the wilds."

"You've hunted in the arena before?" Levin asked curiously. The only time he'd been in the arena was for the hunter's exam, and a couple times he'd gone to watch a fight in Loc Lac when he was bored. Other than that…

"Oh, my friend, it is glorious!" Nax laughed. "If you've ever been praised or congratulated for a successful hunt before, imagine the honor, the glory, tenfold. Your average citizen will cheer you, applaud you, for every hunt you've done and every wonderful tale you tell them. But if they can watch, listen, and applaud you while you fight, then news of your skill and your prowess will explode like you've never imagined."

"Sounds like something else," Levin grinned.

"Oh, you have no idea," Nax murmured, a rapturous look crossing his face. "As enjoyable as the praise and glory of the arena are, they aren't what called me to the arena battles at the start. It was the knowledge that the fights were actually harder than normal fights. Oh, yes, you'd better believe it, my friend! I was first called to fight in the arena when I heard there was a challenge out to hunters to try and take down the biggest challenge in the last ten years, seeing if a party of hunters could take down a pair of Diablos at the same time!"

"You tried to take down two Diablos at the same time?" Levin asked, shocked.

"Of course! Well, not by myself, I mean. The challenge was intended for a team of four, or less if you were a particularly brave group of souls. I did see a man who made an attempt at taking them both down on his lonesome before my team was all together, though; balls of steel he had, I'll tell you that much. The Uragaan armor probably helped too. But eventually I did manage to gather three of my most trusted hunting friends to head to the arena with me to give it a go. Ah! Now that was a fight to remember!"

"You won?"

"Not even close! The Diabloses… Diabli… whatever. They destroyed us! Completely overran us as though we weren't even worth batting an eye at. But it didn't really bother me that much, truth be told. The way the crowd cheered and howled, even when the battle was clearly not going our way. But the challenge of it! The pure, unpredictable trial of the whole thing! I love hunting for the pure thrill of the difficulty and threat of it, but the arena is something else entirely! You're in closed quarters, fighting beasts furious at their captivity, sometimes using weapons or armor you're not used to. There's nothing quite like it!

"But damn it all, it's so hard to just keep fighting there. When you finally find a challenge you really wish to take part in, if someone gets there and takes it down before you, chances are good you're not going to get your chance at doing it yourself since the real challenges involve rare monsters that just can't be captured quickly enough, or in great enough numbers. There aren't enough out there, bringing us back to the whole 'cut off by the Guild' issue."

"No way around it," Levin said, leaning back against the wall.

"Maybe," Nax sighed. "But maybe not. Makes me kind of wish someone would, I don't know… go out of their way and to breed monsters or something. Wouldn't that be something else? A place where you could raise monsters as your own for your own reasons, and to your own wants?"

"Like… pets?"

"No, not at all. Leave that nonsense to the merchants and other wealthy fools who think they can tame and parade around a wild beast. I mean like training, for practice. For _fun_." A wicked look came over the lancer's face and the man's eyes turned to Levin, boring into him. "You enjoy hunting, too, right? But you don't want to risk wiping out the monsters entirely either? Neither do I. I'd never dream of such a thing. No monsters? No hunting? No challenge in life? I think I'd rather die. But just think about it; if you could capture a male and female of the species, and take them to an arena, or something like it, and just breed them. Just think of it! All the monsters you could ever want to hunt, forever!"

"I don't…"

'_Kill them all! Let the lot of them suffer for eternity! One after another after another! Generation after generation shall suffer for the deaths of the innocent! A trail of blood marking the path leading to the black beast!'_

A cold, gleeful feeling began to crawl across Levin's mind. "That would be fun, wouldn't it? Can't have the monsters running out: For the sake of the world, and the hunters, too."

"Now you're getting it," Nax laughed. "Can't you picture it? A place where monsters are limitless? Where the challenge of hunting is whatever you desire of it? You could make it so the most pitiful monsters are more powerful than ever believed before! You could pit yourself up against the greatest odds, the most challenging fights! Just imagine it! The fighting, the glory, the feeling of absolute power you could feel taking what was thrown at you and coming out on top! To fight down a Rathalos and a Rathian at the same time is one thing, but what of something truly testing, something truly dangerous… like, say, a Diablos… and an Uragaan! At the same time! Can you picture it! The cheers of the crowd! The howls of triumph!"

"All the monsters you could kill…" Levin muttered, and the aggressive whisper giggled in joy at the thought. "I could get all the practice and skill I'd need to… to hunt the truly challenging monsters."

"Like the Alatreon?" Nax asked with a grin. "Yes, perhaps. With enough truly epic fights, even the indomitable black beast of night could be brought down. I've gotten to know a good lot of hunters and merchants since I became a hunter myself. I've mentioned this idea to others, but perhaps with enough hunters in on the idea, it could be possible for those of us that wish to make this plan of ours a reality."

"Could it?"

"It's just a pipe dream now, but…"

"What's a pipe dream?" The two male hunters glanced up as Ellie worked her way under the entryway back into the cavern, pulling down her neckerchief and breathing a sigh of relief.

"Just a few plans and hopes for the future," Nax replied with a grin. The lancer spared Levin a glance, some sort of desire for the great sword user to keep quiet what they were talking about reflected in his eyes. "A few weird little ideas I've wanted to try and pull off before I get too old to hunt anymore."

"Huh," Ellie replied. "Well, my watch is over, I think. One of your guys' turn."

"I'll go," Nax said, hopping to his feet. "Spent so long hunting at night anyway that I'm not all that tired yet."

"Thanks," Ellie said, plopping down on the ground next to Levin. "You know, while I was out there, a saw something glowing along one of the walls of one of the nearby cliff faces. I thought it might have been something dangerous, so I went to check it out for a moment, and you'll never believe what I found there."

"What's that?" Levin asked, and even Nax stopped before crouching at the door to listen in.

"A small nook in the wall, I'd guess almost impossible to spot during the daytime. But it was filled, completely to the brim, with those beautiful glowing flowers that you showed me in that one valley near Boma!"

"Really?" Levin blinked in surprise. Nax raised an eyebrow in confusion at the comment. Levin smiled fondly at the memory. It was still one of the most wonderful, beautiful things that he recalled ever seeing during the course of his life, the sight of the Rath pair dancing in the midst of hundreds and hundreds of exploding, blooming bursts of flame. And more personally, it was likely the place where he'd initially fallen in love with Ellie. A glance at the bowgunner made Levin smile; Ellie's expression clearly showed she had similar fond memories of the particular show. "Is it still there? I'd love to see it again."

Ellie's eyes sank at the words though, and she shook her head sadly. "No, it's gone. I got there only just to see the last dregs of the light. I was about to come to get the both of you when it went up in flames. I think it was a fire herb or something that set it off, or a Thunderbug, or something like that. I'm not sure, but… damn it, it was painful to watch the thing go."

"Crap…" Levin muttered. "I was hoping to see it."

"Yeah, but… in my mind, I… it's weird," Ellie said, shaking her head in an attempt at figuring out her thoughts. "It's just, I kind of was sorry to see the flowers glowing like they were. It's hard for me to describe. It just wasn't the same to see the flowers as they were, not without the Rathian and Rathalos around to do their mating dance to light the flowers in the first place. I mean, the very thought of the Raths still makes me angry, makes me want to go out and take one down, but… The dance was just so… beautiful, so perfect, so one-of-a-kind."

'_Quite something, wasn't it?' _The kinder voice suddenly whispered in Levin's mind._ 'If it weren't for the way the monsters lived in the wilds, the way they act and how they live, things may have turned out different between you and Ellie, perhaps. Would you or her be as calm or as stable as you are now if it weren't for the dance? If monsters were contained or jailed, would they be able to create such beauty?'_

Levin had to agree. Monsters were dangerous, but they had brought a lot of beauty and intrigue to the world as he knew it. The Rath mating dance certainly stood out in Levin's mind, because he'd been one of the rare few to see it, and how dramatically it had affected both his and Ellie's lives. But there were other stories he'd heard from other hunters that may just match the wonder of the Rath mating dance in the flower valleys. Levin had heard of entire flocks of hundreds of Qurupecos begin 'singing' all together, a powerful, heartbreaking song that could allegedly bring even the most chiseled, veteran hunter to cry like an infant. Stories of two Diablos fighting in duels to the death that lasted for days, even weeks, with each moment just as terrifyingly furious and aggressive as the last. Or even tales of the Lagiacrus' own mating habits, an explosive, thunderous meeting that caused enormous lightning storms that had the force and intensity enough to wipe out whole cities, if they weren't thankfully taking place miles and miles away from the shorelines.

And could he really justify the deaths of all the monsters Nax suggested going after knowing all that? He had spent his apprenticeship hunting monsters to keep other humans safe, not merely for the sake of killing them. Could the monsters help existing? It was no different than hating Kelbi for being what they were. They had come into existence somehow or another, but they couldn't be blamed for acting according to their nature. It wasn't as though they had been brought to existence for the sole purpose of causing trouble for humans…

And to capture monsters just to breed them suddenly seemed less ethical now as well. To pull creatures into such a life seemed more akin to slavery then Levin had previously thought, with the frightening intelligence that a majority of the older monsters seemed to show. Grabbing a few monsters for the arena may be one thing, but to keep them contained to alter them in unimaginable ways was perhaps going too far. He didn't think he could follow along with Nax's idea anymore.

The lancer frowned as Levin gave him an apologetic smile, clearly realizing what the look meant. A frustrated and slightly angry look came over Nax's face for a short moment, but it vanished quickly, and the lancer nodded in reluctant acceptance. But before the two could say anything to each other, the lancer slid out the door to begin his guard watch. Levin frowned as the man disappeared, and that familiar feeling of untrustworthiness that he'd had towards the man began to slide back into his mind, though he quickly tried to push it down and away. The man liked hunting, a lot; nothing wrong with that, no crime in it. But he still felt a little worried. The man seemed used to getting what he wanted. Levin would just have to talk to him tomorrow, once they were on the road again.

But for now, he actually had some alone time with Ellie for the first time on the trip. He didn't intend to waste it…

* * *

The three hunters crested one last hill, and Nax laughed in excitement at the sight ahead of them. Before them was an enormous crack through a pair of plateaus, and a wide gulch that cut through the center of it all. A thin trickle of a stream edged along the side of the sides of one the plateaus, wedging out a long undercutting where the water could flow. On the other side of the gulch, trees and wild grasses actually seemed to be growing freely, though the branches and trunks were thin. Between the two edges, however, was the source of Nax's glee: a wide line of thick, goopy mudflat, bubbling and churning slightly.

"Lucky us," Nax said with a grin. "This looks like a perfect location for a Barroth. Lots of mud, some water, and those anthills nearby. If there's not one here, the Guild's gone and messed up and let the Barroths in the area die out."

Ellie's eyes scoured the thick mud of the gulch, a little nervously. She glanced over at Levin uneasily. He'd been acting a little strangely since last night, a bit more fidgety about things, and a lot more edgy around Nax. She was worried that he might have had another breakdown like he'd had back in Loc Lac, or at least gotten close. He seemed to be recovering from whatever it was that had gotten to him, though, which was a bit of a relief. She just hoped that he was able to hold it together for the fight; Ellie still remembered what kind of problems her own issues had given her back when she and Levin were still hunting around Boma Village.

She remembered that Marshall and Mel had both been around when Levin had been new in the village. With the way things were going, maybe she should send a letter back to Boma, to see if the pair of them knew anything about how to help Levin recover from whatever bothered him back when he was still new in the hunting world. She'd need to send it as quickly as she could when she got back to Loc Lac; she couldn't even tell whether or not Levin was getting worse or better

As the three hunters moved into the mudflat area, they skirted the edge of the mud, staying on the dryer, grassier area on the far side of the gulch. Ellie kept her eyes warily on the murk that lay only a few scarce feet away from them. The stuff was the thickest and quite possibly the most disgusting thing Ellie had ever seen in her life; brown and sickly black, bubbling and churning around, looking to have the same consistency as molasses or warm glue. Ellie couldn't even guess as to why a creature would want to spend their lives veritably swimming through such a nasty pile of gunk. And she said as much to the other two hunters.

Nax laughed at the question. "Does it really matter? The monster uses it to its advantage as much as possible, so it really doesn't matter all that much to me."

"Harker told me it had to do with keeping itself cool or something like that," Levin interjected, though he was grinning. "Apparently it's a lot more sensitive to the heat than other monsters in the area, so it uses the cooler mud to keep itself comfortable, right? That's why it spends so much time rolling around in the mud. And I suppose it also allows the creature to be a massive pain in the ass to hunters, from what I've heard."

"There you go," Nax said.

"But if it sticks around the mud, won't that mean we'll have to walk through the mud?" Ellie asked hesitantly.

"Afraid to get a little dirty?" Nax teased.

"No! It's just… that stuff looks rough to move through. If we have to fight the thing in the mudflat, won't it be insanely hard to move or even keep up with the creature?"

"If that's all you're worried about, things should be fine," Nax replied. "For some reason, the mud doesn't really stick until after it's been on the Barroth's skin for a while. If you're just walking through it or even if you pick the stuff up, it just slides off you like oil."

Ellie gave the lancer a skeptical look, but he just motioned to the murky gunk with a grin on his face, an unspoken dare in his expression. Ellie was uncertain, but not willing to back down from the man's challenge. Without another word, she made her way over to the thick goopy stuff, stared reluctantly at it for a moment or two, before cringing and reaching down and scooping up a thick handful of the thick mud. She blinked in surprise, though, when the brown goop slid through her fingers like water sliding off a rock during the rain. After only a moment, the mud was completely gone, as though it had never been there at all, leaving behind only a lingering feeling of dampness and a slight cool feeling.

"Well I'll be damned," she whispered, and Nax chuckled.

"Told you so. All that and the stuff still sticks to the Barroth and anyone it slings its mud at." The lancer shot a grin over to the great sword user. "Care to try and explain that one with your science, Levin?"

Levin shook his head in bewilderment. "I've got nothing. That's just weird as far as I'm concerned. Besides, I'm not the one that really thinks about things like that. You get the idea over to my friend Harker, he'll probably flip out at the thought of looking into it; that, or he's already got some theory about it he hasn't told me about."

"He's one of the other Lost hunters, isn't he?" Nax asked. "The one that's… raising Hell through Loc Lac, right? I tried to find him to go on a hunt with him, but all I could find was a trail of property damage. Eventually, I just decided to find a… safer pair of hunters."

"Yeah, Harker's definitely an adventure to hunt with," Levin laughed.

"Adventure," Ellie scoffed. "That's definitely one way to describe it."

The three of them continued to move along the edge of the mud. Nax even began to wade through the stuff, eyes scanning around for signs of the creature. Ellie wanted none of that, though; despite the lancer convincing the bowgunner how "clean" the gunk actually was, Ellie still steered clear of the mud, not willing to touch the stuff unless she really had to. Levin was grinning the whole time at her, but still stayed safely on dry land, though, much closer to the mud than Ellie was willing to get.

Suddenly Nax's arm snapped up warningly, and the two Lost hunters stopped, instinctively reaching for the hilts of their weapons and eyes snapping around for signs of the creature. The lancer's shield was out already, and he motioned over towards a large overhang, where the thin stream was filling up a small pond at the base of the rocks, before trickling away off towards the other end of the gulch. A few gangly trees clung tightly to the base of the cliff below the overhang, branches and leaves stretching painfully far to reach the few rays of sunlight that penetrated into the gulch from above. Ellie's eyes shot around, searching for some sign of the creature she'd seen pictures drawn of in all the hunting manuals, but for the life of her, she couldn't even see any tracks or anything else of the like. She supposed the sifting mud would hide tracks, but there didn't seem to be anything else of any notability in sight.

Then Nax motioned more accurately, pointing to just where the sunlight began to meet the shade of the overhang. Ellie followed his gesture, but couldn't see anything to begin with, only catching sight of a few small rocks that were poking out of the mud in a small semicircle…then she blinked in surprise when a hiss of steam popped into the air, two small spouts of air shooting up and spraying flecks of mud in all directions. Ellie's eyes stayed trained on the rocks for a moment or two, waiting, until another pair of air gusts appeared again, coming out of the rocks. It was just then that Ellie actually realized that what she was looking at weren't rocks, but instead were… something. The Barroth, somehow.

A flutter of motion caught Ellie's eye from the side, and she glanced back to the dry land and spotted a small cluster of Altaroth crawling out of a large sandy outcropping up against the far wall of the gulch. Their feelers twitched searchingly for a moment as they touched the sun, before they deemed the area safe enough, and continued out into the open. Quick as a flash, the cluster of bugs skittered across the ground over the dry ground, working their way in a beeline over to the edge of the mud, where a collection of small bushes filled with berries and fruit lay waiting, soaking up the sun and water.

Ellie's eyes quickly flickered back over to the… breathing rocks, but she was shocked to find that the small ringlet had vanished, leaving no sign of its existence anywhere at all under the churning mud. For a moment, Ellie wondered if they had ever been there, until she realized that, unlike before, some of the mud's sifting actually seemed to have direction, as opposed to before, when it was completely random. A single, broad wave of mud was swooshing across the flat, creeping towards the small group of Altaroth. The big bugs didn't even notice, as the lot of them were munching and chewing intently on the berries from the tree. Then the churning mud ground to a halt, and there was only the clacking of the Altaroth's mouthparts heard across the gulch.

Then, a blast of motion exploded from the mud just a scarce few feet short of the scavenging Altarath, a massive, looming shape, inky and oozing and covered in mud. The giant bugs began to click and panic at the sight of the large creature, splitting up and bolting in all directions as the massive monster bore down upon them. The insects didn't get very far, though, compared to the speed of the Barroth's long strides, and it was only moments before the beast was upon them, massive head swinging down into them, one swoop gobbling up two of them in one bite, taking a moment or two to chew its meal down, before tearing after the rest of them. Another three swings of the Barroth's head brought eight more of the Altaroth into its mouth, and it chomped down happily on them.

Finally though, the fleeing Altaroth, some of them baring sacs filled with food, reached the safety of their nest hole in the wall, filing in quickly one after the other. A few more of the things were scarfed up by the Barroth before the last of them vanished into the darkness of the hole. The creature grunted in disappointment and in a last attempt, lowered its head down and scraped the peak of its scalp up against the edge of the rock wall, actually managing to tear down some of the rocks and packed sandstones off of the cliff side. Another couple of Altaroth were pulled out of the hole, not managing to get far enough into the wall, and were gobbled up by the Barroth before they could escape. The creature gave one of two more testing scratches against the wall, tilting its head to peer into the little hole, but after a moment, the creature sniffed in disappointment and turned away from the nest.

Ellie gasped in surprise, finally getting a full look at the creature in all its size and glory. The beast had a similar shape to the Great Jaggi, a dinosaur-like shape much akin to a bird's body. But unlike the Jaggis, the Barroth seemed to be made of pure, thick muscle, a massive hulking beast that towered over the three hunters. A large, rounded club swung lazily through the air at the tip of the monster's tail. Like Nax had told the two Lost, the thick goopy mud clung to the creature rather than sliding off its hide, appearing far more solid than it did as it clung between their feet. At the peak of the Barroth's skull was a crown-like crest jutting up into the air, the creature's signature scalp. A gust of air shot out of the peak of the beast's crown, where its nose apparently was.

Ellie flinched suddenly as the Barroth's eyes snapped over to them. The three hunters raised their weapons defensively as the creature glared them down for a moment, eyeing them judgingly. After a few moments, though, the Barroth snorted, derisively it seemed, and turned away to begin striding over to the pit of mud where it had been resting only a minute or two ago. Ellie gaped in shock. Was the creature actually choosing to ignore the three of them? Three hunters, the bane of monsters' existence in its territory? And it was just going to walk away from them?

"Does it… not consider us a threat?" Levin asked, sounding just as confused as Ellie felt.

"Sometimes, they don't," Nax replied. "If the Barroth is known for anything besides its love of living in and around mud, it's for its really, really tough hide and endurance. Barroths may not be as strong or fast as the Diablos, but they can take one _hell_ of a beating. They just take forever to bring down."

"And we decided to come out and fight this thing?" Ellie asked Levin, receiving an exasperated shrug in reply.

"Just consider it endurance training," Nax laughed, slinging his lance forward to face the Barroth, which was squatting down to roll around in the shaded area of the mud.

"So how are we going to do this?" Ellie asked, turning to look at Levin questioningly. They had a chance to prepare, so they might as well take it. "I mean, how do we go against something like that? What sort of strategy do we use? What kind of things do we expect to do against us? Hey, Nax, what does the Barroth…"

"No point in thinking about things!" Nax shouted excitedly, interrupting Ellie, and excitement bordering on delirium rippling through his voice. The man sounded nearly insane. "The only way to truly learn is through experience! And nothing is worth experiencing if it's not fun!" And with a psychotic laugh, the man took off running, lance gleaming in the sun as he charged down the monster.

"No! Wait!" Ellie cried out. But Nax didn't seem to hear, or simply didn't care at all, not even slowing down as he barreled down the incline towards the Barroth as the unsuspecting creature continued to sift through the muck and mire.

"Damn it!" Levin cursed. "What is that moron _doing_?"

The two Lost hunters were forced to chase after the lancer at he continued to charge at the monster. As Nax neared the Barroth, the beast paused in its work to glance around at the approaching sound. It caught sight of the lancer just a moment before the point of his spear tore through the mud-covered flank of the creature's leg. A bright splash of fresh blood sprayed over the slimy mud as Nax's assault tore under the belly of the beast, leaving a thin wound under the Barroth's gut. The creature howled in pain and anger at the sudden assault, swinging its body around to try and smash its clubbed tail into the attacker.

The lancer was quick on its feet, though, skidding to an abrupt halt and snapping around to bring up his shield to block the blow. Ellie nearly gaped in surprise as the thick club merely glanced off of the man's shield, barely even making Nax flinch at all. The Barroth growled in indignation and continued its spin, smashing against the hunter's shield another couple more times, to just as little effect as the first.

By then the two Lost hunters had managed to catch up with Nax, and the Barroth barked a growl of challenge at the pair of them, stamping its feet a couple times in the mud, sending out sprays of mire behind it. The creature coiled up a little, and Ellie yelped in surprise as she heard the creature inhaling deeply. She cursed, wishing she'd brought her sword and shield with her, and brought her hands up to her ears reflexively, Levin doing the same next to her. Sure enough, the next moment, the Barroth craned its neck forward, unleashing a ragged, throaty roar that made the murk below its feet shiver and ripple slightly.

Ellie was still wincing in pain when the Barroth turned to face her. She forced herself to pull her hands from her ears, moving to get out of the way as the creature's head dropped towards the ground, stopping to hover only a few scarce inches away from the mud below. With a boost of speed, muck and mire spraying out with every step it took, the Barroth shot forward, tearing across the ground towards her. The bowgunner dove out of the way, tumbling headfirst through the mud as the creature tore past.

As Ellie pulled herself back to her feet, she saw Levin and Nax closing in on the Barroth. The lancer was laughing wildly as he charged, and the monster's eyes snapped hatefully to him. As the lancer neared, the Barroth snapped its head downward, smacking its scalp into the ground and sending up a spray of mud at the man. To the creature's credit, the lancer was caught off guard enough to screech to a halt as the wave of gunk smacked into his shield and send him tripping over his own feet.

Ellie began sliding Pierce rounds into her bowgun as Levin got close enough to the Barroth to pull his great sword out of its sheath, bringing it down hard on the creature's leg. However, rather than cutting deep as it normally would, the blade actually seemed to deflect a little due to the thick layer of mud covering the Barroth's body. A thin smear was etched across the monster's thigh, but the creature merely shrugged it off, twisting its head around to smack at Levin and forcing the great sword user away.

Ellie snapped up her bowgun, quickly firing off several rounds of Pierce shot at the creature. However, like Levin's great sword swing, the mud took up most of the impact, and Ellie suspected that the round just barely pinched the creature before the mud stopped it and the round slowly began to ooze out of the goop on the creature's flanks before dripping down to the ground. The creature only glanced for a moment at its leg in mild irritation, shaking it a little, but otherwise not noticing at all.

Levin was rushing forward again as Ellie ejected all of her cartridges, and the Barroth snorted at the great sword user before abruptly snapping itself around in a circle, bringing the small club on its tail around, smashing headlong into the flat of the great sword user's blade as he just barely brought it up in time to avoid getting his torso smashed up. The blow was heavy enough to send Levin sprawling across the mud, even setting him on his back for a moment, but it took the creature long enough to slow its spin to a halt that Levin was able to get back up before it focused on him again.

Ellie's bowgun was reloaded by then, filled up with Pellet rounds now; the Pierce hadn't worked, so maybe these would? She closed in a little as the Barroth backed away from the great sword user as he moved in to try and attack again. Ellie's weapon came up and fired, a spray of buckshot blowing into the creatures flank, though once again the mud caught most (if not all) of the impact, and a majority of the fragments were stopped by the muck. But the blasts from the bowgun caught the monster's attention, and its eyes snapped towards her. With a quick motion, the monster turned to face her, before promptly taking another couple steps away. Ellie was surprised at the motion for a moment, before the beasts head lowered towards the ground, the Barroth's face hovering just a few scant inches from the ground. Then with a push, the beast shot forward, charging across the mudflat straight towards her with its crest borne out in front of him like a battering ram.

Ellie was shocked at the speed the creature was able to manage as it barreled towards her, head skimming across the surface of the ground and sending a wake of mud to each side of it. The bowgunner quickly moved to dive out the way, just barely tucking her weapon under her arms in time as the creature tore past. She managed to avoid getting struck by the beast, which was fortunate. The creature crashed into the far wall of the gulch, which lay only a few dozen yards past where Ellie had just been standing. The cracking of the wall behind her where the Barroth had struck, and the tumult of rocks that dropped to the ground made Ellie grateful she witnessed the creature's strength first rather than experiencing it personally. The creature shook off its head as it backed away from the wall, loosening a few large rocks from the mud collected in its crown. Then it snapped around again, barely giving the bowgunner the time to get back to her feet before it lowered its head again and began tearing across the ground towards her yet again. This time she was a little more prepared for the beast's speed, but she still only barely got out of the way before the monster barreled past, leaving a wide swath of mud through the middle of the flat yet again.

But this time, however, a shout of surprise called out from behind her, followed by two loud clangs of metal. She turned as she pushed herself back up to her feet, and saw Levin sprawled face-first into the mud, his sword tumbling across the ground not far away, sporting an exceptionally noticeable dent across the flat of the blade. Nax was standing nearby as well, two lines showing where the Barroth had pushed him back, his feet sliding through the sand but keeping the hunter upright. The hunter laughed at the attack, and swung around to chase after the beast, catching it in the flank once again with a rushing charge and causing the creature to howl in anger, though probably not pain.

Levin was cursing as he pushed himself to his feet and grabbed at his blade's hilt, allowing Ellie to sigh in relief that he wasn't hurt, though she followed it up with a grumble of frustration as she ejected the now-spent Pellet cartridges. Two of her better shots weren't working! She didn't dare try to use her explosive rounds yet, either; if the last couple attempts were any indication, the blasts would probably only remove the mud from the monster's body, forcing her to shoot again to do any real damage. And that would only last until the Barroth rolled around in the mud again, covering itself in the goop _again_. So what other choices did she really have? She had paralysis and poison rounds, but those would only get stuck in the mud latched to the creature's hide. She had a few support rounds that she occasionally used in rougher fights, but those weren't things she could use against the Barroth. Other than Tranq and Paint, all she had were Sub and Water shots, but neither of those had proven very effective against other monsters she'd fought.

So with a frustrated sigh, Ellie slid a group of her water rounds into the chamber, carefully watching as the Barroth raged at Nax, the lancer dancing around the tail swings or blocking them with his shield, occasionally jabbing his lance out at the creature in the torso or legs, doing little noticeable damage. The attacks only seemed to be frustrating the creature, though, despite them being the only real attacks that were getting through the mud on the creature's body. Levin was starting to move forward towards the monster as well, so Ellie snapped her weapon up and fired, targeting the Barroth's flank.

The rounds shot out of the barrel rapid-fire, a staccato of ammunition jettisoning out of the end of her barrel towards the monster. Each round soared just a few scarce inches over Nax's head, and splattered against the monster's side, water exploding out across the muck on the creature's body. Each water round was packed in water, insanely pressurized to the point where upon impact; the orb would burst, leaving an exceptional wound on creatures that were susceptible to it. On any other creature or a human, it really only left a nasty bruise, but other than that, they did nothing.

But as the water round exploded across the Barroth's body, rather than splashing everywhere, the water seemed to be pulled into the mud collected on the creature's body. The mud grew a more vibrant sheen as the water moistened the shell on the monster's body, from a tough solid goop to a sloppier and slicker substance; like the stuff on the ground. As the beast moved around, the mud wiggled and shook, until a large glob of it dropped off the beast's body and fell back into the mud below.

Ellie gaped in surprise, and Levin, running up to the beast, slowed down as well, stunned at the removal of the irritating gunk. Nax, still going head to head with the beast, hadn't noticed, and was pulling the creature's attention away from the other two hunters. The distraction allowed Levin to get in close, bringing his great sword around and into the flank of the beast, right onto the uncovered section of the monster's body. With a loud, gruesome crunching sound, the blade tore into the monster's body, tearing a large gash into the Barroth's hide, making the creature howl in sudden pain and stumble backwards across the mudflat, startling Nax, who had to dive out of the way of the toppled beast.

Ellie grinned wildly as the Barroth struggled upright, eyes snapping over to Levin, a dumbfounded look covering its face as to how the hunter had gotten through its mud armor. However, the creature didn't attempt to glance around in search of the chink in its armor, meaning it still had no idea that there was a massive hole in the mud on its body. Ellie snapped her weapon up to aim again; they had a way to fight against the creature now, finally! The weapon bucked as she pulled the trigger again, another faltering collection of rounds launching out at the Barroth. The next few rounds splattered against the monster's hide only a foot or so above the hole already in the beast's armor, widening the vulnerable point on the creature's body. It was then that the Barroth began to realize that something might be wrong, its head twisting back and forth trying to find the weak point in its armor.

But the hunters weren't going to be giving it the opportunity to recover. Nax had realized by now what had happened, and was trying to get in around to the weak point. But Levin was already there, dropping his blade down into the beast's side, sending a large gash along the side of the monster, leaving a spray of blood leaking down the Barroth's already wounded flank. Ellie expected the creature to tumble back in pain again, but instead, all the Barroth merely rumbled in anger, twisting its head around and smashing it right into Levin, sending him sprawling into the mud again, yelling in pain as the crown pounded him into the ground.

The monster moved to try and continue attacking the great sword user, but Nax dove between the beast and the Lost hunter, trying to pull the beast's attention. The hunter's lance jabbed up at the Barroth, stabbing at the open point in the mud and anywhere nearby. A few of the stabs managed to get through the chunky mud, but most of the strikes were dulled by the mud enough to be ineffectual. The creature took a few quick steps back, getting away from the lancer. The beast twisted its head around, sweeping its crown low and scooping up a massive load of mud in it. With a strained grunt, the Barroth swung its head up and out towards Nax, flinging a massive wave of mud at the hunter. Even with his shield, Nax was staggered backwards, thick gooey sludge pouring over his shield and over helmet and chest plate, forcing the lancer backwards to wipe the mud out of his face.

The distraction gave the Barroth an opportunity to attack finally, and with a quick twirl, the beast smashed its clubbed tail into the lancer's blind side, sending Nax crashing into the mud and skidding away from the creature. As the lancer tried to push himself to his feet, the monster dropped its head to the ground and charged after the man, sending a mud spraying to its sides. Levin rushed forward, swinging his sword down on the creature's open flesh as it passed, but the Barroth simply snapped its tail to the side and clipped the great sword user with its tail, knocking Levin back and out of the wet mud, tumbling across the dry dirt. Nax was swiftly pulling his shield up to block the incoming monster, but the beast simply dipped its head just a little lower, before snapping its crown up and catching Nax from below, sending him airborne before dropping him outside the mud as well.

The Barroth twisted around once more, preparing to charge yet again. But Ellie snapped her bowgun up yet again, this time armed with Cluster rounds. The bowgun bucked heavily as the gunner fired off two heavy rounds that were in the chamber, and the two shells soared quickly through the air before slamming into the exposed flank of the creature's body. The Barroth snorted in surprise as the shells connected, twisting its head in search of what was pinching into its side. Then the shells erupted, a collection of mortars spraying up the creature's flank and searing the beasts hide, making it cry out in pain. In a moment, the monster's hide was smoking and black, though the majority of the torso still covered in mud was mostly unaffected, if not a little drier and solidified.

The Barroth was groaning in pain, shaking the leg closest to the injury to dull the pain a little. Ellie began to feel a twinge of worry, though; rather than howling in pain like most of the other monsters the two hunters had fought before, to Ellie it seemed like the Barroth was acting like a human would when they'd burned themselves on a hot pad or something of the like, rather than having one side of him blasted in a fiery explosion. With a thud, the Barroth suddenly dropped to the ground, spinning its body around in a barrel roll through the mud, re-covering itself in the thick goop that surrounded it. Then it was back on its feet, eyes darting angrily towards Ellie.

The creature's head dropped, and Ellie's hands swung her weapon around behind her back, bracing herself for the incoming charge. Sure enough, the creature blasted forward, charging with its crown bared at her, tearing across the mudflat to run her down. Ellie did her best to time it, and just a few scant moments before the beast was sure to mow her down, she dove out of the way. However, rather than barreling past her like the creature had before, the Barroth instead slid to a quick halt, sending up a spray of mud as it stopped only a few yards away from Ellie, who was still pushing herself back to her feet.

The Barroth eyed the bowgunner wickedly for a moment, then began to shake wildly. It reminded Ellie of a dog shaking water out of its fur, the way the creature was wiggling, yet instead of water, the Barroth was sending massive sprays of mud and muck in all directions, massive globs of the sticky stuff. Ellie attempted to scramble out of the way, but at least five massive chunks of mud were lobbed at her, and two connected, one on her leg and the other over her arm. Ellie gasped in shock as the sludge, surprisingly heavy, forced her to the ground with its impressive weight: And unlike the mud that she walked through, this stuff stuck fast, pinning her arm to her side, and her legs together. As the monster's shivering slowed to a halt, Ellie found herself frantically trying to use her elbows to attempt a getaway from the Barroth as said monster began stalking towards her.

Once the creature was towering over her, Ellie began scooting away ever more frantically, while Levin and Nax charged forward to try to pull the creature's attention again. But they weren't moving quickly enough, and the Barroth's head dropped to the ground, just barely missing the bowgunner and smashing into the mud with a loud slapping sound, sending another wave of mud over Ellie's legs. Now Ellie's legs were completely stuck together, making getting away from the Barroth even more challenging, with the beast stomping and trying to butt its head at her. Each step and each swing of its crown seemed to be just a little closer than the last.

Then Levin caught up, bringing his great sword up and over his shoulder to crash into the monster's leg. With the mud still covering the beast's body, the blade's impact seemed to lose a lot of its force, but the creature still lost its good footing and stumbled back a few steps, giving Ellie another moment or two to scoot away. Nax was a surprisingly good distance behind the great sword user, catching up and sending his lance piercing through the thick armor after the Barroth had turned its attention to Levin and taken a few swings with its tail at him.

Meanwhile, Ellie struggled to pull the thick gunk that contained her off her body, taking a long minute or so to pull even her arm loose. Eventually, though, the fight between the two blademasters and the Barroth began to work her way again, despite Levin's attempts to do otherwise. With her legs held together, Ellie was forced to twist her body around and actually roll herself through the disgusting mud, holding her breath to avoid getting the thick goop in her mouth. After a moment or two, though, she found herself cursing her decision when she rolled into the trickling creek bed and was forced to put in in extra effort to keep her face from going under the water.

But after a few quick moments, Ellie suddenly found her arm loosening free, and her legs were slowly becoming unstuck. The bowgunner glanced down in surprise, and realized that the gunk was beginning to dissipate, the cold water sliding into the mud and softening it, allowing the bowgunner the ability to get out. After a few quick moments of actually sliding herself even further into the water, the mud broke off entirely, allowing Ellie to finally push herself back to her feet in freedom, her body free of all but a few remaining dregs of the disgusting gunk.

Levin and Nax were still swapping blows with the Barroth a few dozen yards away, the thick mud still acting as a pretty solid defense against Levin's blade, and keeping Nax's lance from doing maximum damage. Ellie made to chase after the pair of them, but glanced down at the shallow creek below her feet. If such a small amount of water could so easily remove the mud all over her, perhaps the rest of it could be used to help them finish of the Barroth. So rather than rushing forward to help, the bowgunner actually took a few more cautious steps back into the shadow of the overhang, a little bit further into the creek. Then she slid another few rounds of Water shot into the chamber of the bowgun, aimed, and waited for an opening to appear.

Levin and Nax were still duking it out with the Barroth, but Levin caught sight of Ellie and began to pull back a little. Nax seemed to be completely consumed with his battle, though, and didn't seem to notice anything else at all. Ellie growled in frustration at the man's obstinacy, trying to get a shot, but the man kept diving in and out jabbing and stabbing at the Barroth, blocking everything the man threw at him. She glanced over to Levin, but the great sword user could only shrug in exasperation as the pair of them yelled at the lancer to get out of the way.

Finally, Ellie took a deep breath and released it in a slow sigh. Her vision narrowed, and she could feel her nerves and reflexes tightening as she allowed herself to slip into the constricted state of awareness allowed by her hyper-focus. The movements of both Nax and the Barroth seemed to slow down, every muscle twitch and jerk as clear and visible to her as the crown on the monster's head. Looking up at the monster's head, Ellie could even make out the Barroth's jerky eye movements, snapping around to keep track of Nax; Ellie imagined that if the lancer turned around and removed his helmet, she could probably make out his eye movements from this distance as well.

The bowgunner might have smiled if the focus didn't dull her sense of humor. She needed to teach their hunting partner Pugnax a little lesson in battle awareness. With a quick motion, she pulled her bowgun up and aimed right at the back of the head of the lancer, then pulled just a pinch to the side and fired. Her weapon rattled quickly as it rapid-fired a quick series of shots, each of them soaring through the air right at the hunter and the monster. The rounds seemed ready to crash and explode across Nax's head, but the lancer pulled his spear back again, and his head tilted a scarce inch or two to the side, and the rounds seared past his helmet, just above the ear, and burst in quick succession against the creature's body, just above the monster's arm.

Nax yelped in surprise as the splash back of the rounds sprayed against his face, just as Ellie pulled the trigger again, releasing another staccato burst of the water rounds, and again, and again and again. The lancer cried out in surprise a few more times as the next few collections of shots seared past his head, his shoulder, and one just under the armpit of his lance arm, sliding around the edge of his shield to smack against another part of the monster's body, widening the ever expanding area of open flesh on the Barroth's body. As the last cluster of rounds splattered against the Barroth's hide, the surprise of the near misses finally overcame Nax, and the lancer tumbled backwards onto his backside, crab-walking away from the monster as the last rounds splashed the last drops against his face. The lancer shot an irritated glare back to the bowgunner, who returned with a dispassionate look.

As the last of the rounds connected with the Barroth, Levin appeared from the side, bringing around his great sword and smashing it into the open point in the Barroth's armor. A spray of blood splattered across the mudflat, and the creature leapt away with a grunt, shaking its leg in pain and frustration. Levin leapt forward to attack again, but the creature quickly snapped its body around, catching the great sword user in the side with its club and smashing him into the ground. The great sword user cried out in pain, clutching his waist in pain and stumbling away from the monster.

Ellie quickly emptied the chamber out, sliding a collection of Pierce rounds into the chamber as fast as she could, as the Barroth tailed after Levin, who was awkwardly downing a potion to dull the pain of his wounds. Her weapon swung up again, and the hunter quickly pulled the trigger, catching the monster in the open armor with a few quick rounds. The Barroth groaned in pain as the rounds cut into its hide, opening its wounds even wider. The creature's eyes snapped over to the bowgunner again, glaring furiously at her. Abruptly it changed direction, making a beeline straight for her, and Ellie slunk even further into the creek. The Barroth continued to stalk towards her until it loomed over her menacingly, before dropping its crown to the ground again to try and smash her.

Ellie just barely managed to dive out of the way before the crest came down, sending up a huge blast of water into the air, which licked the ceiling of the overhand. Ellie heard the Barroth suddenly cough, caught off guard by the water. As the creature raised its head again, its curved crown held hoisted at least a dozen gallons of water up with it, sifting and softening the mud that coagulated on its head. But the water was heavy, and the Barroth shook its head awkwardly to rid itself of what held it down. And the result was exactly what Ellie hoped it would be.

As the Barroth tilted its head back, the cold water on its head ran down the rest of its body, moistening and loosening the mud from the creature's body, making whole chunks of the gunk fall from the monster's flank to the ground, congealing with the mudflat. The Barroth didn't seem to notice, though, as it turned its attention back to the bowgunner, glaring at her in irritation.

Ellie's eyes snapped over to the two blademaster hunters as she backpedaled, sliding Pellet shots into the chamber of her gun. . Levin was sporting a bit of a limp, but was rushing over to help, a mixed look of worry at Ellie's predicament and excitement at the vanishing of most of the monster's mud. Nax, however, was actually holding back a little, not approaching the Barroth as quickly as Levin was. Ellie was having trouble making out the man's face with the helmet covering his face, but he seemed to be looking at her instead of the monster, though she couldn't guess as to why.

But her immediate threat hovered over her, stamping down at her with its feet. Ellie managed to scramble away for the most part, but she was nearing the wall and running out of room to maneuver. In a moment looking back at the nearing wall, the Barroth used the opportunity and swung forward, knocking Ellie back against the wall. The impact made Ellie wince, and her finger, still on the trigger, fired the bowgun, blasting the creature several times in the face and chest. The Barroth winced backwards as the shrapnel pattered across it. Each piece of buckshot cut into the creature's hide as Ellie continued to fire desperately, pain shooting up from the back her chest.

Levin appeared from the right, bringing his weapon back to attack. But the Barroth caught sight of him and twisted around, bringing his crown down upon the great sword user. Levin yelped in surprise, trying awkwardly to pull his weapon in a defensive stance, but only really managing to swing the broad side of the blade wildly at the monster. With a loud, ringing clang, the metal and bone collided, sending Levin falling back, his weapon tumbling away. But the Barroth tumbled back as well, groaning in pain, eyes confused and unfocused. A dizzy, uncertain moan rolled out of the creature's gullet.

Ellie seized the opportunity, and pulled out a potion as quickly as she could manage, drinking it down before pulling back the bolt on her bowgun and ejecting the spent cartridges into the creek. She nervously slid another two Cluster rounds into the chamber of her weapon as the Barroth continued to wobble, its movements uncertain and dazed. With a quick pull of the trigger, two massive ordinance rounds leapt from the muzzle of her weapon, embedding themselves under the monster's chest and detonating with a wave of fire over the creature's underbelly, followed by several smaller explosions as the bomblets attached to the main bomb detonated. With a howl of agony, the monster was blasted backward, even tripping up in the mud before toppling over and flopping into the muck.

Levin laughed in excitement at the sight of the downed creature, quickly grabbing his blade from the mud pit and charging after the creature. Nax wasn't far behind, actually attacking again, the two hunters tearing into the beast with their bladed weapons. The Barroth kicked and howled as the weapons tore into its hide, forcing sprays of deep crimson blood to splatter onto the mudflat. The cuts still seemed shallow, as the creature's naturally thick hide still absorbed a lot of the force of the blows, even without the mud covering it. Nax's shield took a rough and brutal beating, the hunter for some reason diving right underneath the monster's legs in an attempt to stab at the monster's belly. Levin took the safer path, though, sprinting around the back of the monster and bringing his blade down over and over again onto the monster's spine. Meanwhile, Ellie managed to push herself back to her feet, and managed to get off a few rounds of Pierce shot off into the creature's thick throat, biting deep into the monster's skin.

Finally, though, the Barroth managed to escape, pushing Nax back with an exceptionally powerful kick, and Levin by scooping the side of his scalp through the mud and sending a spray of it up at the great sword user, making Levin stumble back coughing and blubbering. With a quick spin of its body, the creature twisted back to its feet, stumbling slightly from the injuries it had taken. A thick glob of mud clung to one side of the monster's body, but otherwise the beast was still unarmored. The creature bellowed angrily, twisting around to smash its head against the great sword user, but this time, Levin was ready for it. As the Barroth twisted around, Levin slid to the side and brought up the flat of his blade rather than the edge, catching the monster full on in the face with the broad side of his weapon. A long, ringing clang echoed across the battlefield and the creature grunted in pain, its eyes rolling around in its head and a rattled expression covering its face. As the Barroth stumbled backwards, the blow from the massive weapon making it trip over its own feet, dazed; Ellie snapped up her bowgun, ready to fire another Cluster round, and squeezing the trigger.

Suddenly a blast of pain exploded from the back of her head, and Ellie cried out in pain as she toppled forward to the ground. Her finger nicked the trigger as she dropped, and the explosive round fired out aimlessly, soaring harmlessly over the Barroth's head. The round continued to fly, before finally wedging itself into the side of a rock wall, the fuse winding down for a quick second before the shell detonated, the thunderous explosions sending a cascade of rock and dust falling down into the mud, sending flying waves of the muck in all directions.

Ellie's hand came up to the back of her head, dizziness from the pain making even that a challenge. She winced as she touched a tender spot just above her neck, pulling her hand back to reveal a bright smear of blood across her fingers. But how had she been injured? She hadn't heard anything… A dab of red caught her eye in the murk next to her, and she glanced down, just barely catching sight of a fist-sized jagged rock, dotted in blood, right before the small stone vanished below the mire. The pain was still making Ellie dizzy. Where had that rock come from? She turned awkwardly, expecting some monster of some sort, but there was nothing behind her that seemed dangerous. All she could see was…

A small smile etched itself across Nax's face through his bright red helmet. Ellie blinked in confusion. His lance was sheathed. Why? Ellie hadn't seen the man's hands leave the hilt of his spear since the battle had begun. A cold thought worked its way slowly through Ellie's addled mind. Had the man actually…

The lancer's eyes snapped to aim behind her, and Ellie heard a furious growl rumble across the mudflat. She turned again, still slowly, and spotted the Barroth shaking its head angrily, smashing its head into the mud and sending Levin sprawling backwards. The great sword user was still glancing in confusion between Ellie and the pile of rubble caused by the missed Cluster round, baffled that the bowgunner had somehow missed such a clear shot. The Barroth sent some glances over to the pile of rubble as well, shooting a heated glance at Ellie as she tried to push herself to her feet.

Ellie had almost gotten herself back upright when she was forced back down onto her knees by one of the Barroth's harsh roar, making the bowgunner's vision blur since she couldn't get her hands up to her ears quickly enough. Combining the bone-rattling bellow with her already wounded and throbbing head, the roar by itself nearly knocked Ellie unconscious.

On the edge of blacking out, Ellie could just barely hear Levin yelling wildly at her. She glanced up uneasily, and saw the Barroth turn towards her and lower its head to the ground. She needed to get out of the way! She needed someone to run interference for her… Nax! Where was Nax? He needed to get the Barroth's attention away from her, but… no, wait. Not Nax. He was… untrustworthy. Ellie couldn't seem to remember why, though; her head hurt too much every time she tried.

A thundering sound filled her ears, and she glanced up again to see the Barroth barreling towards her. She tried to get out of the way, but her dizziness, combined with the hindering viscosity of the mud below her, she could only tumble a few feet out of the way. In a last ditch effort, Ellie brought up her bowgun and pulled the trigger, uncertain whether or not there was anything in the barrel. The bowgun bucked, though, and the second of the Cluster rounds she'd loaded blasted out of the muzzle. The shell even managed to connect to the cleft of the creature's scalp, and a spattering of explosions lit up the creature's back.

But the creature barely even slowed down or deviated from its course at all. Ellie managed to push herself another foot or two, but was far too slow to get completely out of the way. She put in one last-ditch effort to jump out of the way, but by then the creature was on top of her.

"Damn you to hell, Nax," she managed to curse, before the creature crashed into her.

* * *

Levin could only watch in horror as the Barroth smashed headlong into Ellie. Somehow or another, his partner's bowgun swung up between the gunner and the monster's scalp, and the Ludroth-produced weapon splintered to pieces as the Barroth collided with her. Metal parts, gears and springs flew in all directions as the weapon fragmented, getting reduced to debris in a moment. The destruction of the weapon seemed to absorb a small fraction of the impact, but the blow still struck Ellie with a force that shattered her armor and sent scales and feathers scattering across the mudflat.

The bowgunner was sent flying across the murk of the Barroth's stomping grounds, sending a swell of mud into the air as she crashed back into the ground. She seemed to tumble forever, before finally smashing into the base of a tree that was growing near the stream. She finally came to a halt then, flopping limply to the ground at the base of the tree, one side of her sinking halfway into the mud as the other side lay loosely over the exposed roots of the tree.

She wasn't moving.

Levin couldn't move, could barely feel or hear his own heart beating. Shock and horror began to overwhelm him completely, and another cold and devouring feeling began to grow from that. The Barroth grunted triumphantly at the sight of the downed bowgunner, and began to work its way over to her, wading through the mud almost nonchalantly. Inside, Levin felt something snap.

Before he realized what he was even doing, the great sword user was on the Barroth, making the creature actually give a start in shock at the sudden appearance of the hunter. Levin could feel searing, blinding rage fueling him, sending cascades of burning red power through him. His great sword was out of his sheath in a flash, the weapon swinging around and crashing it into the Barroth's thick legs. The impact of the metal blade was so heavy that the creature's leg was knocked completely out from underneath it.

The Barroth howled in pain as it dropped to the ground, crashing face first into the mud below it. It howled in anger, using its small forearms to push itself up. But Levin's blade was already swinging around again, the enraged great sword user's fury pushing him into an onslaught of brute force attacks, and before the monster could get up, another impact from the sword ripped into the Barroth's thick neck, and another soon after up and across the creature's chest and arm.

Levin's attack continued, blow after blow and slash after slash. Fury was so consuming him that he was almost literally seeing only red, the pure, searing energy coming out of the great sword enveloping him to the point of almost complete all-encompassing control. Swing after swing came crashing down on the Barroth's body, merciless strikes that grew no kinder as the creature squealed and howled in agony from the damage.

Finally, though, the Barroth managed to kick the great sword user in the chest, sending him backwards several feet across the mud. But Levin abruptly swung his sword down, turning it into a brake that forced him to a halt when he slammed it into the mud. As the Barroth pulled itself back up, finally, the great sword user pulled his blade out of the murk and swung it around at the monster again. The Barroth twisted around quickly bringing up its scalp to act as a shield, and Levin's weapon clanged loudly against the monster's forehead. Levin hardly felt the ricochet at the moment, though, and forced down the weapon down on the creature's skull again and again.

The Barroth grunted with each strike that the great sword user brought down on the beast's head, and Levin could feet his blade growing duller and more dented with each impact, but he kept striking over and over. Eventually, the Barroth's head began to drop lower and lower to the ground with every strike. The monster actually began to grunt and strain from every hit, its feet beginning to slide as the sword came down on its head.

Eventually, the monster's weariness reached such a point that its head actually dropped into the mud and the creature grunted in surprise as muck covered the Barroth's face. With the creature's eyes covered, Levin snapped his weapon up and behind his back, putting every ounce of energy and force into his focus, and brought his great sword down in one heavy, crushing blow.

With a ripping, shattering sound, the creature's scalp exploded in an eruption of bone and mud, the rugged crown bursting into dozens of pieces and spraying across the mudflat. The Barroth screamed in agony as its scalp was destroyed, tumbling backwards across the mud and tripping up over its own feet and tumbling to the ground. It pushed itself up again quickly though, panic making it faster on its feet, though clumsier. The creature's feet nearly slid out from under it on the wet mud as it backpedalled away from the great sword user, dipping and patting his head as though in disbelief that its trademark crest was now gone.

Levin charged after the creature, roaring in anger as his blade skittered along the ground behind him. The Barroth continued to retreat further and further back, though Levin somehow managed to keep pace. As he neared, the Barroth suddenly twisted around, bringing his club around in a wide arc to catch Levin. But the great sword user, completely neurotic with rage, twisted his own weapon around to block the tail, and the appendage caught full on against the blade of the sword, cutting deep into the creature's tail nearly halfway through.

The Barroth howled in pain as its spinning grinded to a halt, the weight of Levin and his weapon stopping the creature flat. The creature's head snapped back and forth, trying to look behind it and free itself from the blade is was impaled on, but Levin swung the blade down to the ground, taking the clubbed tail down with it and crushing it into the dirt. With a ripping tear and a spray of blood, the rest of the tail was shredded off, and the Barroth was sent stumbling away.

Nax attempted to step in to help around that time, but Levin was too pissed off to slow down. His sword swung repeatedly, from the side, from overhead, from below, crashing into the Barroth again and again and sending the creature tumbling back in pain and fear. The monster made several attempts at striking back, but Levin's red-radiance assault was too fast and unforgiving for the Barroth to retaliate at all, and after a minute or so, the creature tumbled over, splattering into the mud with a weak cry of agony.

It tried with one last desperate attempt to kick the great sword user away, but Levin blocked the attack with his blade before pulling his sword behind him. The searing red light grew to its highest intensity yet, before the Lost hunter pulled his weapon over his head and crashed it down onto the Barroth's neck, tearing through flesh and bone with a ripping, crushing sound. The creature let out one last strangled cry of pain, before slumping over into the mire, tongue lolling as its mouth slowly filled with mud.

Nax was laughing excitedly as Levin released the hilt of his weapon, leaving his blade wedged inside the creature's throat. The lancer came over to congratulate him, but Levin turned and pushed past the man, leaving his weapon behind and sprinting over to where Ellie lay unconscious, dropping to the ground next to her.

"No no no no no…" Ellie was not in good shape. Several streaks of blood lined her head and chest, and her right arm was twisted at a horrible angle. A half-circle of bruised and battered skin lined where the Barroth's scalp had smashed into her. Her breathing was also ragged and strained, making Levin ache in fear with every worn out breath she took.

The great sword user felt as though his heart was being torn in two at the sight of his beloved in such a state. Pain and fear flowed through him like a tidal wave. The violent whisper that haunted his mind was now a bloodthirsty roar, screaming vengeance and hate so loudly that he could almost hear nothing else. He didn't even try to quiet the voice down.

Levin could tell already that whatever wounds she'd suffered were far past any sort of first aid he knew or could hope to give her; with a ginger touch, he slid his arms through the muck under her and lifted her up. The fear of loss and the pain at seeing the woman he loved in such pain were so powerful at the moment that Levin didn't even turn to recover his sword before taking off at a run to get back to the Guild camp, where trained Felyne medics would no doubt be waiting in case of an eventuality like this.

He was halfway back to the camp by the time he had a glimmer of realization and noticed that Nax was running beside him, carrying Levin's blade awkwardly across him back along with his lance, and Ellie's broken bowgun slung under his arm. He was giving Ellie a pitying look.

"A shame this had to happen," he said. Levin was to intent on cradling Ellie and keeping moving to reply, so the lancer continued. "The creature deserved the fate it received, don't you think? No need to answer, I can see it in your eyes, my friend.

"I have a proposition for you, if you care to hear it. These monsters deserve to be hunted, all of them, no matter what the Guild says. If these creatures are allowed to run free, they'll only work to hurt other hunters, or even civilians outside these zones. You've got talent and the desire to kill; I can see that much from what's left of the Barroth. If you like, we can hunt together until your girl here is better, with some of the other good hunters that share similar ideals. This kind of injury will take weeks, if longer to heal. With your strength and brutality, you could become an indomitable hunter, with the training and guidance my friends and I could give you.

"I… I shouldn't leave Ellie," Levin managed to mutter. "I can't, she's… she's…"

"She'll be fine," Nax assured him, though Levin thought he heard frustration in the man's voice. "The doctors in Loc Lac are the best in the world, I'm told, and the Felynes that hang out at the tents know their stuff to keep her alive and safe until she gets back to the city. But think about it, my friend, do you think she'll want you just lazing around waiting for her to wake up? I doubt it. You should spend that time improving yourself, so that the next time you're hunting together, you can defend her properly. And you'll have some time to kill all the monsters you want.

"And lastly, one thing you should know about. Your goal, to take down the Alatreon? It's not so bad a desire as the cowards in Loc Lac believe it is. Not to me and my friends. No, to us, the creature is just another threat, though powerful. It's something I would love to help you with! The challenge of it! The prestige! If you can prove your strength, to me and to my friends, I'm sure that we'll be able to join you in your quest."

"…Fine," Levin replied, hearing the whisper in his head howling and laughing in glee and excitement. "I'll hunt with you. To get my revenge."

"Not for revenge, my friend," Nax smirked victoriously. "That's something you must learn with me. You hunt for the challenge of it. For the feeling of dominance. For _fun_. That's all hunting is; the joy of killing your opponent. You'll learn, my friend."

"Whatever," Levin replied, still running for the camp. The whisper in his head was giggling maniacally at the prospect.

'_They will give us our vengeance! We will use them to slaughter the beast!'_

Yes, Levin agreed, anger seething through him. We will.

* * *

Nat stumbled as the crimson-armored guard shoved her roughly into her cell. She barely even felt pain as her knee was skinned against the hard stone floor, though she doubted it would matter anyway, with all the pain-numbing potions surging through her veins. All her attention was focused on keeping her emotions in check, on just barely holding back the sobs that threatened to break out of her throat at a moment's notice. But her head snapped up again as the door of the room opened again.

She gasped in surprise and relief as another pair of guards tossed her partner Kim into the room unceremoniously as well. The lancer stumbled a few steps, on the border of falling to the ground, but Nat leapt forward to catch her friend, just barely managing to keep the both of them upright. With an unsteady step, she slowly worked her way over to the small bed in the room, trying to get her friend to lay down. As Kim fell onto her back, Nat caught sight of tears streaming down her partner's face. The bowgunner was forced to bite her lip, keeping down her own tears from showing. She forced herself to look away from her friend's face, glancing over the rest of the woman's body in search of injuries.

A large gash, freshly stitched up and bandaged, crept up the side of the lancer's weapon arm, and another similar wound was patched up on one of her legs. Both seemed to be well cared for; that was the only positive thing she could find about this hell hole, the doctors were the best she'd seen, though it only made Nat angry to think that they were working for these bastards. The bowgunner had wounds of her own, cared for just as well, but she was doing her best to ignore the pain and focus on her partner. But her eyes snapped to Kim's face as the lancer grabbed her arm, a pained expression on her face.

"Master! They… he… argh! He's…"

"He's fine!" Nat said, cutting her friend off. "He's fine. They wouldn't let any real harm come to him. He's… he'll be okay. He's always okay."

"But he…"

"He's fine!" Nat snapped. Nat whimpered a bit at the outburst, and Nat lowered her voice to a more soothing tone. "He's fine. He has to be. I… I promise."

"We… they made us… ooooohhhh… I had to… I had to! Oh damn it… what have I done?"

"I know! I know. We had to do it. They made us! We had to do it. To survive. It's their fault, not ours! Never ours. We… we had to do it…" Nat gritted her teeth together as the feeling of warmth crept down the side of her face. Kim's sobbing had gotten the better of her, and now salty tears were starting to work their way down the bowgunner's face. And try as she might, she just couldn't force them to stop.

Loud voices began to work their way through the bars on the door. Two arguing voices. Nat quickly bit her lip again, wiping rapidly at her eyes. She wouldn't let them see her like this! Dammit, she wouldn't allow them to see her weak! Kim was too far gone into her crying though, but understood the look Nat gave her, quickly turning to face the wall. Only a truly sharp eye would be able to spot the occasional shake or hear the gasping sobs, but the people who ran this place were hunter's, so they had to be careful.

Nat finished wiping her eyes, before pushing herself awkwardly to her feet and slinking over to the door. It was an effort in itself to do so, with a rather painful burn etched across her legs, but she managed to stay upright, finally leaning against the iron door frame. She pressed her ear up against the bars, listening to the conversation, hoping for something she could hear to use to escape. Something. Anything!

"Why did you do that to them? It was too much!" Micah's voice, Nat realized. She blinked in surprise. Was he actually defending them? "You nearly killed them! We agreed that we weren't supposed to do anything like that for… a long time!"

"It wasn't my decision," another voice laughed, one Nat didn't recognize. A surprisingly cold, wicked voice. "It was the choice of our good and generous benefactors."

"You're making excuses!"

"We promised them a place where they could fulfill their desires and amusements. They told us what they wanted to see, and we gave it to them. An oddity, I'll admit. So many consider this world a more civilized, good natured world that ours, yet how quickly these men and women descended into animals, demanding blood. Perhaps they're not so noble as they think, wouldn't you say?"

"That's not the point! You're going to get them killed! It's too… hm. It's… too soon." Micah's voice sounded strained. "If they die… then we lose their titles. They're two of the most well-known rookies in the country right now. What do we gain by… losing them before we've truly gained all the publicity we want?"

"Perhaps you're right." The second voice sounded amused. "It would be a shame to lose such good hunters so soon. Very well then. We'll pull the two of them out of the fight for a while, or at least out of the more… recent shows. Some simpler and safer."

"Good," Micah sighed. "That's good."

"Not that the rest of our volunteers will be free of our new exhibition, of course. The benefactors have had a taste. They'll want more, I guarantee it."

"But…"

"Come on now, my boy. Trust my judgment. You do still trust my judgment, don't you?"

"I… yes. Yes. Fine. Keep this new thing going."

"Good to hear. You'd best get back to work, my boy. There's much to do."

"Right, right," Micah muttered. The sound of footsteps echoed away, and Nat kept as still as she could as silence filled the hallway outside. After a few moments, she heard Micah sigh, then approach the door of the cell. Nat winced and backed away from the door. She could feel the hunter standing on the other side of the door, looking in.

"Just so you know, Richard is alive," he said quietly. Nat felt a wave of relief go through her, and a particularly loud sob could be heard from Kim, though it was gone in a moment. There was silence for a moment before Micah continued. "Just so you know, I… I didn't want this to happen. I didn't want you two… any of the hunters to go through with that. It probably doesn't mean much to you, but I'm… I'm sorry."

With that, Nat could hear footsteps trail away from the door. She quickly hurried over the bars on the door, glancing out. There were no guards; the people who ran this place had gotten wise to the fact that she and Kim could trick the guards into opening the door. The hallway was empty. A wave of nausea and weariness washed through her, and she tumbled back over to the bed, lying down on the edge of the bed next to her partner. The pain and dismay at their predicament began to sink in again.

With a moan of misery, she finally allowed herself to cry.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Please Review! I gave myself a lolz while writing the first bit of the chapter. Accidently made a typo writing "killed" instead of "kissed" in a certain place. When I reread the section, I almost fell out of my chair laughing. I kinda wanted to leave it, actually, just to see what reactions I'd get out of you lovely readers. Go back and read through the first part again if you like; trust me, you'll know the spot.**

**Got myself a FictionPress account recently (you know, the site that's just like this one, but for stories with fully original content instead of ones taking notes from… let's call them "sources of already-copyrighted inspiration"). If anyone's got any suggestions for non-fanfictions that they've found, hit me up and I'll check them out. Though, one thing that made me go "huh" in confusion was the "Manga" section on FP. How does manga get posted as an original content written-word story? If it just means that it's 11k+ stories that use emotional terms by describing things a "sweat-dropping" or other such nonsense, it just means that's a section I'll be avoiding. I am curious (and morbidly fearful) of how many vampire stories/bit-lits there are. The romance and fantasy sections are suspiciously highly numbered compared to the rest…**

**Finally I got a new desktop! Yay! Problem was, it didn't initially come with Microsoft Office, so I couldn't really write anything for a few days. Needed to wait for my parents to let me borrow their disk so I could install it. Had plenty of time to reinstall Minecraft, though…**

**Reading: _The Path of Daggers_ by Robert Jordan  
Playing: BF3, Minecraft (lots and lots and lots of it; new computer to play it on, you see), Mass Effect 3 (also lots)  
Listening: Relient K, Modest Mouse, Anberlin, All Time Low, Blind Guardian, OK Go, CAKE, Cage the Elephant, Bright Eyes, Barenaked Ladies, The Bravery**


	26. Waking Up

Waking Up

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. All the characters in this story are mine._

"You think he's up for the challenge? This isn't no babysitting club, Pugnax."

Nax grinned confidently at the man sitting across the table from him. "Oh, don't worry about it, Van. I've seen too many hunters during my time here in Loc Lac to not be able to pick out which hunters have the potential to become something great. And this Levin fellow, he's got it… Well, he's got something. I could see it in the few hunts we've gone on together. There's something in him that truly feels euphoria during a hunt. Just what our little group likes in its members, no?"

He leaned back as the other hunters as the table glanced between themselves uncertainly. He was at his own favorite hunter's bar, a more upscale place for higher rank hunters; better than the hole in the wall place in the South District that Levin enjoyed staying at. The small cluster of ragtag hunters around him were a hard bunch; nearly a dozen hunters that Nax had met over the course of his near four years as a Journeyman hunter. Each of them had earned a place at this table, showing extreme skill and experience out in the field, as well as the rapturous enjoyment they felt hunting and killing monsters. To any man and woman here, the thrill of the hunt and the kill was the greatest joy in life.

"He's not so dedicated to the hunt as you think he is, Nax," a woman in the back, Ara, spoke up. She was a shrewd, calculating woman who enjoyed finding the flaws in arguments. "I saw the pair of you come back from a Gobul hunt once, and that boy of yours made a beeline away from you. Towards the hospital I saw. And don't think I haven't asked around this Levin of yours. He's a hunter, but he's a bit of a naturalist."

"Oh?" one of the other hunters asked mockingly.

"Indeed," Ara replied with a smirk. "Seems he's rather fond of telling stories of mating dances and nests and habitats and other boring nonsense. Not exactly the kind of thing expected of hunters in our little group, now is it?"

"Don't you worry about that," Nax replied with a grin. "I'm still working on training him in the ways of our group's proper procedures. It seems that he's rethought his position on monsters' need to exist ever since his girlfriend was badly injured by a Barroth. Such a shame."

"I heard about that," Van, the man across from Nax said. He was a large, chiseled man who enjoyed using a great sword far more than anyone else at the table did. The hunter had a long swath of matted brown hair that was about as close cropped as you could get when cutting your hair with your own knife. He wore his scars like medals, and had a penchant for bragging that far exceeded any of the other hunters that sat around the table, though none would call him vain. He was incredibly skilled; he'd earned his rights to boast. "Direct hit, with only Qurupeco armor to save her. Smashed her bowgun to all hell as well, too. I heard she's been unconscious for three weeks now."

"A real pity," Nax replied, doing his best to sound sincere. These men and women were cold and ruthless hunters, but many of them were sentimentalists when it came to camaraderie. He doubted any of them would be very kind if they'd learned what he'd done, so he'd avoided speaking of Ellie's… accident when at all possible. Keeping a low profile was essential.

"Would she have made a good addition to the group?"

"No, definitely not. If Levin had naturalist tendencies, she had them worse. She told me herself that she might have considered becoming a researcher in the field if she didn't need to get famous for some reason. It might sound cruel of me, but he'll be a better hunter without her around."

Several of the other hunters grumbled at this, but none raised any suspicions toward the lancer. Nax hadn't liked removing Ellie from the equation, but Levin showed such promise, such anger and fury towards monsters, and such wonderful joy at the prospect of slaying monsters, Nax couldn't resist trying to recruit him to the group, no matter the… costs. Especially with the young great sword user's ultimate goal of taking down the Alatreon. How could Nax ask for more in a trainee? Besides, the end result had only increased Levin's aggression, so Nax counted that as a win.

"I also heard the boy's got some… personal issues with the Alatreon," Ara said, leaning back in her seat. "A noble goal, to take down the bane of hunters. Trying to set up another motion to go out and find the beast to kill it, are you Nax?"

"It's quite the goal, isn't it?" Nax replied. "To take down the ultimate challenge? To kill the unkillable? To hunt the unhuntable? Am I wrong or out of place in my desires?"

Van laughed, a look of hungry desire crossing his face. "Not here you're not. No, the thought of taking down such a legend? Glorious. The Guild might never think so, but you're among comrades here. If we knew where the beast nested, we'd already be planning for the attack."

"So we're agreed?" Nax asked. "He can join our little group?"

Van humphed a laugh. "Perhaps. Give your boy a few more weeks of work, and we'll see what kind of person he is then. A meager three-star isn't worth our time quite yet. We'll see what he's capable of when he's got some real experience under his belt."

"Fine, then," Nax shrugged. He'd been expecting as much. No one joined this hunting group without extreme analysis. The hunters in group nodded in agreement, and several began to get to their feet and walk away. But before Nax could get to his own feet, Van motioned for him to stay seated.

"Something I want to ask you about real quick," the man said. "You heard any… odd rumors recently?"

Nax raised an eyebrow. "You'll have to be more specific than that. What kind of odd rumors?"

"I've got a friend in the Guild," Van continued quickly. "He's been informing me about odd happenings. Good guy. Anyway, he told me recently that there's some poaching organization that been causing… all kinds of trouble in the area recently."

"What kind of trouble?"

"Bad stuff: Killing dozens of monsters outside the rules."

"That doesn't sound so bad," Nax muttered.

Van smirked. "I didn't think so either. But it gets bad. They're capturing even more monsters than they're killing. They're even hearsay of them robbing nests, stealing eggs, that kind of thing. Worse of all, rumor has it that they're actually finding and kidnapping hunters."

Nax's jaw actually dropped in shock for a moment, before he caught himself and straightened his face up. "To what end? Hunting monsters is one thing, but kidnapping? Why? What are they after?"

"No one's certain, not yet," Van muttered. "But… keep your eyes open. It seems that they're looking for well-known or experienced hunters. You've been making a bit of a name for yourself recently, and your pet Lost boy, if not famous, is at least a bit infamous for publicly wanting to hunt the Alatreon. Keep your eyes open."

"Right…" Nax muttered. Van nodded, getting to his feet and walking away, leaving Nax to his own thoughts.

Capturing monsters and eggs? How odd. Normally hunters doing such things were caught pretty quickly; the only goal to capturing monsters would be to sell them to rich folk or arenas willing to take a risk, buying monsters under the table. But pulling off such things were risky, so many people needed to be trusted to stay quiet. The poachers were generally a non-issue, but there was the buyer, the transporters, the caretakers of the monster, even the people selling traps and other materials to the hunters knew that they were looking to capture something. And then there was anyone who happened to see them transporting the monster to wherever they wanted it to go to take into consideration…

And then there was the whole kidnapping issue, which made the lancer shiver at the thought. To pull off something so sinister… Nax wasn't the most noble of hunters, and had done his share of dirty deeds, but still.

But to not have gotten caught yet, meant that these hunters were good. But what were they doing with all these eggs and captured monsters and hunters? Nax shook his head. He could wager some guesses, but that was about it. He'd think about it some more in his spare time, while keeping an eye out for anyone coming after him. He wasn't as famous as some, but he had made a bit of a name for himself, so he'd keep a wary eye out for these poachers.

In the meantime, though, he needed something to hunt with Levin. He quickly made his way to the hunting board, glancing over the dozens of hunt requests in search of something… fun. Royals and Qurupecos… no. Jaggi? Definitely not… Barroth? Could be interesting. They hadn't fought one since Ellie's… accident, but it might be interesting to see how it affected the great sword user. Then his eyes landed on one particular hunt request, and a wide grin spread across his face, and the lancer tore the paper down.

"Now this looks fun," he chuckled.

* * *

Pain. Lots of it. The feeling of aching, constant pain seemed to be everything as Ellie slowly regained consciousness. Although, the closer she got to clearing her head, the pain seemed to grow duller, more tolerable. Though, a long line across her chest still retained the same torn feeling in did the rest of the time. It was tight, too… maybe a bandage?

Nax.

The name popped into her head as she got closer to being able to wake up. She was having trouble remembering though. Something about the name bothered her as it tumbled around in her head. He was… a lancer. Agnaktor armor. Hunting… fanatic. Something about him, though… argh, she couldn't seem to remember.

"Ah. I think she's waking up." A voice. Familiar. Kind. Friendly. Close. Sitting next to her? She strained in effort to wake up, to open her eyes. But damn, it was bright. Finally, though, she managed to crack an eye open.

A hospital. She was in a hospital, no doubt. No other place had tiles like that for the ceiling. And the smell… painkillers and body fluids. Now that she was awake, she could really feel the binds of the bandages winding around her body. Her mind was still pretty groggy, though she couldn't really tell whether or not that was from her injuries or the painkillers in her. The voice. She remembered, there was someone next to her wasn't there? She glanced around, finally catching sight of a familiar face grinning down at her.

"Thank goodness. I was worried you might never wake up," Kerrigan sighed in relief.

"Kerry?" Ellie muttered. Her voice seemed raspy. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking after you, of course," the other bowgunner said with a smile. "Me and Harker have been doing our best to keep an eye on you, waiting for you to wake up, whenever Levin's not here."

"Where… where is he?" Ellie ground out.

"On his way, most likely," Kerry replied, leaning back. "He and that new hunting partner of his, Pugger or something like that, have been going on hunts almost constantly since you here infirmed. His last quest was just a Royal Ludroth, so he should be back sometime today."

"He hasn't been here?" Ellie asked sadly.

"No, he's been here, but… Your injury, it really hit him hard. He spends every moment that he's not out hunting here, waiting for you to get up. The problem is, I'm not sure… whether or not it's good or bad that he's out hunting rather than waiting for you to wake up. From what I can tell, he blames himself for your injuries…"

"It wasn't his fault," Ellie muttered automatically. She remembered taking the hit, though vaguely. Levin was too far away to have helped. Though, Ellie couldn't recall why she hadn't been able to dodge properly… she'd been sluggish for some reason, but why?

"I know, I heard the story, but he still feels responsible." Kerry smirked at Ellie. "I suppose such things go hand and hand when you're in a relationship with someone."

Ellie felt her cheeks flush a little, and smiled at the other bowgunner. "You heard about that, did you?"

"I did," Kerry smiled. "Though, I'll admit Levin didn't act very excited when he told us about it. Seemed to only make him feel worse. Though, that's why I'm glad he's still going out hunting a little. If he wasn't, he'd probably have spent the last few weeks in this room moping over you. But…"

"But what?" Ellie asked, worried at the tone.

"I don't… I don't know what to make of that man he's hunting with," Kerry admitted. "This… Pugnax? I think that's his name."

Ellie's memory tweaked a little at the mention. "Nax. He's… He… Urg, I can't remember."

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know… I don't really remember too much about the hunt, but something… something about Nax is… I don't know. I just feel… frustrated, or something, whenever I think about him."

"That's understandable," Kerry sighed. "He's a very aggressive, convicted sort of person. Thoroughly enjoys hunting, but I feel like he's too addicted to hunting, you know. I've heard about the types of hunters he spends the rest of his time with, and they're just as obsessed with hunting as… Nax. I don't feel like he's a very good choice for Levin to spend time hunting with. It just seems… wrong."

"Yeah," Ellie muttered. She felt uncomfortable, so she shifted slightly, sending a couple shoots of pain down her body. At the reminder, she glanced down at her body, seeing the lines and lines of wrapping that encircled her body. Ugh, just looking at it made her hurt more. "How long before I recover?"

"Six broken ribs, a broken arm, nine pulled muscles, a few dozen broken blood vessels and a heavy concussion to top in all off," another familiar, excitable voice replied. One of the nearby curtains suddenly whipped to the side, revealing the tall man that Ellie had grown to like during her Hunter's Exam. Harker grinned at her, with a calculating and creepily studious look in his eye. "I have to admit, the Loc Lac doctors deserve some praise. When I read your chart, I never imagined you'd be doing quite so well as you are right now."

"Hello Harker," Ellie replied with a grin. "You're here too, huh?"

"But of course," the long sword user replied with an overly dramatic bow. "How could I refrain from showing up when I heard a friend of mine was injured? And I couldn't just trust the work of some unknown doctor, considering the extent of your injuries. I've made certain that the work they've done has been nothing less than pristine and professional."

"I'd hardly trust you further than a doctor," Ellie grinned. "I don't exactly want to be dissected or anything like that."

"Oh, come on now, you wound me, madam. I wouldn't dare to use you as a personal experiment. After all you are a friend."

"And I forbade him from doing it on threat of… many, many undesirable things," Kerry interjected with a smirk.

"That too. But the friendship issue was the primary deciding point."

"Deciding point?" Ellie asked, raising an eyebrow. "You were considering it, then?"

"I like to keep my options open. But that's beside the point. The main point is that you are recovering surprisingly well. The doctors have said that you'll be recovered in perhaps a week or less. Not bad considering the extent of your injuries. Your recovery rate is fantastic, truth be told. Not unbelievable by any stretch of the imagination, but commendable to say the least. Perhaps if you'd be kind enough to volunteer yourself once you recover, I could try to test whether or not…"

"Not right now Harker," Kerry cut the madman off.

"Hm, yes, right. Later then."

A sudden bit of noise came from the hallway, voices raised, and footsteps sounded off, heading for the entry into the small hospital room. A blur of brownish yellow shot into the room, and Ellie's eyes landed on Levin as the great sword user burst in. For a split second, Ellie could see an immense look of despair and misery in her partner's eye as he looked at her, but the moment when he realized that she was awake, and the look vanished replaced immediately by a look of immense look of relief and joy. In a flash, the great sword user had crossed the room and was pulling Ellie into a tight, relieved hug. The embrace bit painfully against Ellie's injuries, but she didn't mind at all, wrapping her arms around the great sword user's neck and pulling him in tighter.

"I'm so sorry," he muttered over and over. "It's all my fault. I… I should've…"

"Oh, knock it off," Ellie whispered. Harker and Kerry had prudently turned their heads politely. "It wasn't your fault at all, so don't you dare blame yourself for what happened. If it's anyone's fault, it's mine. I must've… stopped paying attention or something. Or Nax."

"What about Nax?" Levin asked, pulling away from Ellie; Ellie wished he hadn't.

"I… I don't remember," Ellie replied, frowning in thought. "I must have been irritated with the guy or something. I don't know… I heard you've been hunting with him while I was… unconscious."

"Yeah," Levin replied. He sounded ashamed with himself. "I didn't want to leave your side, but… every second I saw you just lying there I felt like I was going crazy. Eventually Nax convinced me that I needed to go out hunting with him to keep my mind occupied. I didn't want to at first, but…"

"I convinced him to," Harker said. Ellie raised an eyebrow at the long sword user. "I've studied depression for a couple hours, and sitting around brooding or spiraling into a self-destructive sort of mood is rarely a good idea. So we agreed between ourselves (and Lady Kerrigan, of course), to keep at least one watchful eye on you over the course of your infirm. Though… I must say, that was before I realized that Levin here had…"

An angry look suddenly came over Levin's face, and the great sword user glared coldly at Harker. The long sword user simply met his gaze, a smile hiding just behind the poker face he presented to Levin. After a few moments of tense silence, Levin seemed to blink in surprise, before another look of guilt covered his face and he lowered his eyes. With a defeated sigh, Levin slumped into a nearby seat, burying his face in his hands.

"Something strange has happened to your lover, Ellie," Kerry said quietly. Ellie felt herself reddening and Harker giggled in amusement. Kerry frowned in confusion for a moment for nodding in remembrance. "Ah, that's right. Harker said that wasn't a good word to use for couples. Had poor translation or something. What was the word, again? Boyfriend? Kind of a bland word if you ask me…"

"What's wrong, Levin?" Ellie asked, forcing herself to look at the great sword user and away from the laughing Harker.

Levin was quiet for a moment, before clenching his fists at his knees. "I have to hunt them down, the monsters that did this. I have to. I need to get stronger, better, so that I can fight better, so that I can… keep you safe. So that I can get good enough to fight the Alatreon. I can't afford to let myself slow down anymore!"

"What are you- Levin, I thought you liked the wilds. You were the one that taught me how to appreciate the way monsters lived in the world!"

"They almost killed you Ellie! I can't afford to lose you! I can't afford to lose anything! I have to be stronger than them!"

"Levin, what…"

"This is the issue we were talking about," Harker said. "Levin's become a little obsessed with hunting and fighting monsters."

"It's not an obsession," Levin growled. "It's a desire to improve myself. These monsters need to be hunted. I've got to hunt them…"

"You're claiming that you need to fight them. Need is usually used to dictate something required to survive, or else something that the declarer is, as I said, obsessed with. Am I wrong?"

"You're being too vague about it! There's more to it than that!"

"We've had this argument a dozen times since we met up with him again," Kerry said, leaning forward so only Ellie could hear her. Levin and Harker continued bickering between themselves, going off on some argument that Ellie wasn't sure either of them realized was aimless. "Every time we see him, we've tried to bring him back to how we remembered him from the hunter's exam, but… every time he comes back from one of his hunts, he's just as bad as before, if not worse. We thought it was because his hunts , fighting monsters, was causing him to get worse. Harker said something about aggressive tendencies, and… testosterone or something like that, I don't know, but… I have, um, a suspicion."

Ellie didn't need much time to guess. "Pugnax?"

"Yeah," Kerry nodded. "Me and Harker don't really get along with him. He's a good hunter, from what I've seen, but… I don't know, he just seems to really enjoy hunting way too much, and always seems to try and pull Levin into the same mindset. I don't have any proof, but I think while the pair of them are out hunting together, he's trying to unravel what me and Harker are trying to fix."

"Maybe," Ellie replied. "But… something happened just before the Barroth hunt. Levin…"

"Oh, right," Kerry said with a shiver. "The Alatreon business, right?"

"Yeah. Something happened before the Lost got sent here. Some bad blood got sown between Levin and the Alatreon. He doesn't really remember what happened, but whatever it was, it's left him borderline possessed when it comes to hunting down and killing the thing."

"That's a dangerous idea to talk about, Ellie," Kerry said with a pained expression, leaning back in her chair. Ellie glanced over at the two boys again; somehow or another, the two were arguing about Diablos for some reason. "The Alatreon is a dangerous subject, and forbidden to hunt for a good reason. People just don't… want to go looking for the thing, because they know that if they fail, the backlash will be more than they can bear. The only people who actively seek the creature out are people that are stupid, or have an overpowering ego, or insane. Or…"

"Or if they have a grudge?" Ellie finished. Kerry glanced over at Levin.

"Yeah, I guess," she replied sullenly.

A clicking sound caught Ellie's ears, and she turned as the door to her hospital room open. The others turned as well, as Nax walked through the door. The lancer glanced at the three standing hunters, grinning at Levin and trying to keep the same face with the other two. Then he caught sight of Ellie, did a quick double take, and gaped in shock.

"You're awake!" he exclaimed, stunned.

"Yes. Finally it seems," Ellie sighed. That tweaking feeling was back again. The sight of Nax made her feel… something, but for the life of her, she couldn't figure what it was. Gah! This was annoying.

A look of worry crawled over the lancers face, mixed with a note of… was that fear? Ellie couldn't tell for sure. After a moment or two of silence, the lancer blinked in surprise, though. He frowned in uncertainty, before finally asking, "Are you, um, all right?"

"I'm not in the best condition, but I'll live to fight again," she replied, rubbing her sore chest. An odd look came over the lancer's face, and he looked at her studiously.

"So, the Barroth hunt? What happened back there? You really took a hit."

"I… don't remember," Ellie replied. That tweaking feeling was back again. "I just… got dizzy? Maybe I tripped or something. I'm not sure. I just… couldn't dodge the charge for some reason."

"Hm. Bad luck." The lancer seemed lost in thought for a moment, before putting on a sympathetic face. "Well, it's good to see you awake again. Levin here's been pretty miserable without you up. Hopefully you'll raise his spirits a bit. Goodness knows he's been beating himself up constantly during our hunts together."

"Which he'll finally be able to take a decent break from ," Kerry said. "With Ellie awake again, he'll no doubt want to stick around here until she's fully recovered."

Now the lancer's expression changed to an obstinate one. "Oh, come on now. The girl took one of the heavier hits a Barroth can dish out! She'll be infirmed for weeks to come. If I've learned anything about injuries during my time as a hunter, it's that waiting around for others to heal doesn't accomplish anything! He should be out there with me, honing his abilities so that something like this won't happen again!"

"She only woke up a few minutes ago, and you already want to drag Levin off on some dangerous mission? Give the pair of them some time together, for goodness sake. You've had him for three whole weeks, after all."

"Oh, you're one to talk about danger," Nax snapped. "You think I wouldn't figure out who you are, _Lady Kerrigan_? I thought I recognized your name when we first met, had to ask around a bit to figure it out." A sudden look of fear came over the bowgunner's face at the words, and the lancer smirked. "That's right. You don't like hearing people talk about what you're really known for, do you, miss 'Companion Killer'?"

"Miss what now?" Harker asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, you didn't tell them?" Nax asked in mock surprise. "Kerrigan here is well known in Loc Lac and a lot of other cities as a veritable harbinger of death and pain to a hunting partner. Nearly every hunter she's partnered up with has come back from their hunt together either horribly injured or in a coffin. Every time, a change in the weather that benefitted the monster, she says, or a weapon that breaks at a bad time, she says, or someone tripping up at an unfortunate time or someone getting sand in their eyes when they get charged or someone not being fully prepared. She says. And worst of all? Over half of her hunts that she takes part in have a monster appear, seeming out of nowhere, without warning, that simply tears her team apart."

"That's not…" Kerry tried to cut in.

"What's the tally up to? Thirty two hunters come back to Loc Lac, not able to hunt anymore from injuries? How many dead? You know what people say about you? That with so many hunters coming back like that, maybe it's not just bad luck or coincidence. Maybe it's happening on purpose."

"No! I wouldn't do something like that!"

"So you say," Nax replied, before turning to Harker. "But maybe your partner here can tell a different story. Tell me, Harker, how many times have you gotten injured working with Kerrigan here?"

Harker had a stern look on his face at the argument, but at the question he put on a contemplative look. After a moment of thought he replied. "Sixty seven visits to the hospital over the course of our relationship. One hundred seventy two broken bones, eighty nine sprains, forty three burn wounds, varying from first- to third-degree, and about seven concussions."

Nax had clearly been expecting an answer, but not one nearly so extensive or detailed. Ellie was surprised as well; the way Harker acted, and the way he'd fought during the hunter's exam, you would think he'd hardly ever been injured. Yet the lancer stood before them, having gone through more injuries than probably both she and Levin had experienced combined. Now that she looked though, she realized that the collar of his armor was just barely covering up some painful-looking scars…

"And what about surprise monster attacks?" Nax asked, pushing on.

Once again the long sword user paused in thought. "We've completed… eighty nine missions together. Out of those, we've been surprise attacked by seventy eight monsters. That includes seven Diablos, ten Rathians, and six Rathalos."

"There, you see? Surely you'd be better off without some misfortune magnet." A miserable expression came over Kerry's face as the lancer glared at her. "Wouldn't you be better off without some cursed woman tailing you around, pulling you into hellish situations like those?"

"Of course not."

"That's right you… wait, what?"

"Why would that matter to me? I adore the surprise and randomness of the wilds. Where's the fun in studying the natural world if you don't find something strange that catches you off guard every now and then? The surprise, the oddity, the totally incomparable situations and how the monsters, and hunters for that matter, react to such situations. If the Lady Kerrigan did, in fact, have such an ability, or curse, as you put it, I for one would revel in her company, not flee from it. Besides, while I'm not one to believe in such things as coincidence, I also am not one to believe in such things as bad luck or curses or any of that other blather. Whether or not Lady Kerrigan has an odd tendency of her teammates getting wounded, or whatever you're accusing her of, I'm going to continue hunting with her as long as she'll allow me. Because I enjoy her company, you understand, not just because it's interesting to study monsters during surprise attacks… though, I must admit, that actually makes the deal all that much better for me. As for my injuries? Well, I'm not one to blame others for my own mistakes. I won't lie and say that my methods of studying monsters are safe, no, far from it."

"You'd willingly stay with someone who pulls monsters in to attack you?" Nax asked, shocked.

"Why not?" Harker grinned. "Besides," he continued, rubbing his head sheepishly, "as Lady Kerrigan can no doubt attest to, most of our unfortunate encounters with unintentional monster battles our more often than not my fault. And, well, though it was just a taste, Levin and Miss Eleanor have both seen what kind of things I do when I'm out on a hunt. If anyone is a source of extreme misfortune, I must admit, it's more likely me than her."

Ellie nodded at the words, and Levin smirked. They both remembered the chaotic battle at the arena. Kerry seemed relieved that the long sword user's answer, and not just a little bit joyful.

"Two walking disasters," Nax muttered, shaking his head. "Go figure. Fine, court death if you like, it's your funeral. Levin, can we just go? I've got another hunt for us to go on, and I'd like to head out before the last sandship takes off."

Admittedly, there was a moment where the great sword user's face flickered to that obsessed, murderous look he'd had when talking about hunting earlier. But just as quickly, it was gone, replaced by that tired look he had when he was trying not to think about hunting. He glanced over at Ellie, and the look on his face softened a little.

"Sorry, Nax, but… I'm going to stay with Ellie for a while. I'm not going to leave her again until she's healed at the least."

"A shame to hear," Nax said, clearly putting a convincing tone in his voice. "I think you'd really enjoy this next mission. I thought you might be ready to take a step up for a better challenge, so I grabbed a really fun-looking mission. A Rathian that lives several miles to the north of the Flooded Forest hunting grounds."

Suddenly Levin had an interested look on his face, and Harker had an intrigued and ponderous look as well. Kerry was scowling at the man, clearly irritated at how quickly the hunter had brushed off the dirt he was throwing on her name earlier.

But now Ellie's full attention was on the lancer. A Rathian? The queen of the earth herself? One of the wyverns, the veritable banes of her existence and source of every nightmare she'd had in the last two years? And Nax wanted to drag Levin out to hunt one of them while she was still bedridden? He wanted to go off and hunt the one thing, the one single type of monster, that she detested the most, that she most desperately needed to prove herself by fighting and killing? And Nax thought he was going to go without her? No! Not a chance!

"You're not going to go on this mission, Levin," Ellie quickly snapped, catching the great sword user and the lancer off guard. "At least, you're not going without me."

The lancer was caught off guard again, though Levin clearly understood what Ellie meant. "Say what? You want to go… you can't just join up with us, Ellie. It's not…"

"You. Are. Not. Hunting. A. Rathian. Without. Me."

"You're not going to win this argument, Nax," Levin said, a smirk crossing his face with the familiar look of amusement he used to wear constantly. "Miss Ellie here has a certain desire to bring down Raths that you're not going to be able to argue against. And I'm not about to argue against her when it comes to the wyverns. If one of us is going to go out and fight a Rathian, the other will as well."

"A personal vendetta, perhaps?" Harker asked, fascinated. "Does this extend from personal trauma, perhaps, or just a lofty goal you've set for yourself? Some sort of incident of…"

"Harker, too much," Kerry snapped, and the long sword user blanched sheepishly.

"Look, Ellie," Nax groaned in frustration, "I realize that you clearly have some… deep seated desire to go out and drop a Rath, but you're injured, and not exactly in the best condition to go out wyvern hunting. And this mission is really only available for so long, so if Levin and I don't take it now, then…"

Without a single moment of hesitation, Ellie's fists planted against the base of the bed and she lurched her feet out of the bed. Levin moved to stop her, but she snapped a glare at him, freezing him in place as she continued to work her way out of the hospital cot. Spikes of piercing pain shot through her body, as her arm and ribs cried out, begging her to stop the movements, acting up despite the painkillers she could still feel coursing through her body. But she pushed on despite it all. Levin had fought on against a Lagiacrus despite who knows how many injuries, so she sure as hell wouldn't be held back with a Rathian on the line to be fought. She knew she always made sure Levin was fully healed before they headed out on a hunt again, but… Broken ribs wouldn't slow her down, recovering wounds wouldn't slow her down! Not now, not against a Rathian! She was not going to miss this opportunity for anything!

She forced herself not to flinch, forced herself not to show even the slightest sign of weakness or pain as she got herself to her feet, standing up straight in front of the lancer. She realized that she didn't exactly look menacing as she was, nearly a head shorter than Nax, un-bathed for three weeks, and still dressed in one of those flimsy hospital gowns that the passing of who knows how many years hadn't seen fit to get rid of. But she still glared down the lancer, daring him to even _think_ of mentioning that she wasn't fit enough or well enough to go out fighting anything, wyvern or no. Levin wasn't buying it at all, though. Harker seemed amused and speculative, and Kerry looked uncertain, but neither of them clearly liked the idea of Ellie up and moving around.

Nax met Ellie's glare uncertainly. He clearly didn't like the idea of Ellie tagging along with him and Levin on a hunt, though if it was because she was injured or because of some other reason, Ellie couldn't tell. He looked pleadingly at Levin and Harker to help him argue his case, but Levin, despite enjoying hunting with the lancer, was on Ellie's side to start with. And Harker… Harker never seemed to get on anyone's side with anything, just deciding to stand there with the same grin on his face, gauging and studying the two hunter's reactions rather than intervening.

Surprisingly, it was Kerry that intervened. "Ellie, I know that you must really want to go after this Rathian, but you're injured. You can't just charge off hunting something so nasty as a Rathian while you're injured. Those are something that you absolutely have to be at your best when you fight one." Ellie wanted to glare at the bowgunner for the betrayal, but looking at Kerry's face, she could tell that her friend was really worried about her, and was more concerned with her well-being than she was with Ellie fighting her ultimate challenge. Nax was nodding in satisfaction at the words, though, making Kerry grimace at having had to take the lancer's side.

"I can't just walk away from this, Kerry!" Ellie replied, trying to sound confident rather than desperate like she thought she did.

"Ellie, you might have to," Kerry replied sadly. "I don't know how much you remember about your fight with the Barroth, but… your bowgun is not in good condition. Your injuries might have been much worse, but apparently when the Barroth attacked you, your bowgun got in the way. There's… there's not much left of it."

"More scrap metal than weapon, I must say," Harker interjected pityingly. "I've always wondered what the inside of a bowgun was like, the design and the workings of it, but I couldn't bring myself to try and do anything with what was left of your weapon Miss Eleanor."

"No…" A wave of sudden despair, an immense sense of loss, overwhelmed her. Her bowgun was gone, one of the few things she owned in the world that had some sort of sentimental value to her. It was the only reminder she'd made for herself, the one thing she'd had to remind her not to fall too deep into the desire to hunt monsters, the reminder that she needed to separate herself from the monstrous poachers that had butchered an entire group of Ludroth to steal their eggs. She'd cheated a member of the Guild into getting her the materials, true, but still… It had been the best weapon she had at the moment as well, her other bowgun reduced to shrapnel in a Lagiacrus' mouth.

But she couldn't afford to lose her opportunity to fight and kill a Rath! Not now! Not just because of a damaged weapon! "I've got… I've got a sword and shield that I can use," she argued. "I'll use that if I have to. It's a Gobul-based weapon, but…"

Kerry sighed, making Ellie stop short. "It's not only that, dear, but your armor's torn up as well. The Qurupeco feathers, hard as they are, were shattered all to hell when you came back. To start with, your Quru armor was oddly designed, and a hit to the chest was dangerous in the first place. I hate to tell you, sweetie, but it doesn't look like you'll be able to go off hunting for, well, anything, until you get some better armor."

Ellie grimaced at the words. Not until she got new armor? But she wouldn't be able to get new armor until… until… wait. "Wait. How long was I out again?"

Kerry frowned. "Just over three weeks, I think?"

Ellie frowned, calculating the time. Three weeks, plus a few extra since she and Levin had gotten to Loc Lac… she'd needed to go to the desert that once for materials… and she'd had to make some deals with older hunters for Volcano materials (the Guild wasn't going to let her and Levin head to the fiery hunting grounds quite yet, not until they'd gotten their fourth stars)… Once she tallied up the time, though, she smirked victoriously at the other hunters around her. "That's not a problem anymore. I've got another set ready and waiting for me."

All the hunters in the room raised an eyebrow of surprise, even Levin. The great sword user frowned in thought at the words, before a look of recognition at the words. "Oh! You mean…"

"Yes," Ellie smirked triumphantly. "My Lagiacrus armor should finally be done by now. Armor, better armor, is in my possession."

"Wait. _Lagiacrus_?" Nax asked, stunned. "How did you get… doesn't that require good materials from the Volcano?"

"I made some trade deals with a few of the older hunters that hang out at the Dual Horn," Ellie admitted. "The older guys that hang out there don't like to go off chasing some monsters. They're good, really good hunters, but they don't have the endurance anymore to chase a Qurupeco around the desert for a day and a half anymore. So… since I needed Volcano ores, and they needed Quru stuff, we traded."

"That's… that's not legitimate!" Nax cried. "Hunters are supposed to go out and find their own materials! What kind of hunter trades for their goods?"

"A pragmatic one, apparently," Harker giggled. "Just in time to use it, it seems. How fortunate for her, eh?"

"Yes, very," the lancer muttered. "Fine, I guess you can tag along, though… you should be careful not to get injured again. Stay a little more out of the way, huh? It'd be a shame to have to bring you back to Loc Lac on a stretcher again."

"Perhaps we could tag along as well then," Harker spoke up. "A Rathian will be easier to take down with more people, don't you agree?"

Nax opened his mouth to argue, but Kerry beat him to the punch, putting her hand on the long sword user's shoulder and shaking her head. "Sorry, Harker, but that's not going to work. The Guild only allows four people on a hunt at once, remember? The patron that requests the hunt has to pay a set amount to each hunter that participates, so if they sent too many people out to hunt a single monster at once, they'd have to pay an obscene amount to pay off the hunters. Not to mention it's unsportsmanlike. They don't allow more than four unless the monster's really, really nasty."

Nax seemed pleased with the realization, but Harker didn't look happy at all. "Well, one of us should go with the three of them. I don't feel comfortable leaving Ellie to the dangers of the Flooded Forest as she is. She and Levin were excellent hunters back at the hunter's exam, and I have little doubt that they've both improved in the time since we've last seen them, but… her injuries are nothing at all to shake a stick at. I'd like to keep a weather eye on her myself until I'm convinced she's improved. Not to mention I know you'd like to keep a close eye on her as well."

"Well, it's not going to happen," Kerry said. "Not unless… hm."

"What?" Nax asked.

Kerry was silent in thought for a moment, before she turned to the lancer and smirked. "Nothing at all." With that, she turned back to Harker. "You go with them, Harker. Make sure Ellie takes care of herself, okay?"

The long sword user raised an eyebrow at the bowgunner. "And what, pray tell, will you be doing, Lady Kerrigan?"

"I'll find something to keep myself busy with, don't you worry," Kerry replied. Harker looked doubtful, but shrugged in acceptance at the bowgunner's words. Then the huntress turned to Ellie and leaned forward, lowering her voice. "Take it easy, sweetie. If you're fighting a Rathian, you'll need to be at your best. Try to make sure you keep Levin sane, and I'll meet up with you guys as soon as I can, okay?"

"But how will…" Ellie sputtered to a halt when the bowgunner raised a finger to her lips to shush her and winked. What was she planning, Ellie wondered? But she didn't have time to ask as the bowgunner quickly turned, walking out the door after giving Levin and Harker quick smiles.

"I still don't agree with this," Nax muttered in frustration. "But I suppose it's clear that you're not going to let me and Levin go on this mission on our own, are you?"

"Not a chance," Ellie replied.

"Though Miss Eleanor may not exactly trust me to the full extent that I'd like her to," Harker added, "I'm not going to leave her alone until I'm sure she's healed. I'm sure Levin could look after her, but I doubt he has the proper medical knowledge to do so."

"I could say the same for you," Levin muttered.

"As someone who spends time studying monsters, rather that killing them mindlessly, I find that having an ample knowledge of medical information comes far more in handy than you'd think."

"Whatever," Nax sighed. He turned and glanced between the three other hunters in frustration, before facing Levin again. "The next ship that leaves for the Flooded Forest area takes off in a couple of hours. I'd like to leave on it. Try and get there on time, even if… even if one of these other two are late." With that the hunter snapped around, taking off through the door before any of the other hunters could get another word in. Levin sighed in frustration, shaking his head.

"Nax doesn't care much for researchers or environmentalists. If I had a zenny for every time in the last few weeks that I've heard him go off on naturalists… But never mind. Harker, do you think you can meet up by the docks quickly?"

"I'll be ready before you are," the long sword user replied. "You've got to go all the way back to your housing, not to mention the smithy district. You'd best be nimble, my friend."

"We will be," the great sword user replied. Harker quickly made for the door after bowing dramatically in farewell. With that, Levin turned back to Ellie and looked at her worriedly. "Are you sure you're up for this, Ellie? I mean, you just woke up. I know you really want to take down a Rath, but… if you get injured again, and I'm not able to protect you, I…"

Ellie quickly stood up again, pushing through the pain again (It wasn't so bad as it had felt before. Still there, but bearable.), and striding over to the great sword user. With the sternest look she could manage, she glared up at the taller man. "I'm going to say this once. I'm not going to back down from this, and we are going to be just fine. Got it?"

Once again, that pained, tired expression crossed Levin's face, and it seemed like he was struggling with something for a moment or two. But eventually his grin returned, and he looked down at Ellie caringly. "Right. You're right. We can do this."

"Damn right we will."

A look suddenly came over Levin's face, a sly and devilish smile that reminded Ellie a lot more of how the great sword user used to act before the whole Alatreon issue came up. His eyes still had a bit of a strained look to them, though… But with a slick motion, Levin slid forward pressing his lips to hers and pulling her tight against him. Ellie was taken by surprise, but quickly moved to reciprocate the action, swinging her arms around her partner's neck and pulling him tighter. It was several minutes before either of them felt compelled to stop for air, at which point Levin was smirking wickedly at her.

"I've been waiting three weeks for the chance to do that," he muttered. "But I don't suppose it would be good to miss the sandship, doing this, as much as I'm enjoying it."

"No, I suppose not," Ellie replied sadly. "But, once the mission's over, I'm sure we'll have reason to celebrate properly. So; until then?"

"Yeah, until then," Levin replied. "Now let's get out of here and go get that armor of yours. How long's it been since one of us had to sneak out of a hospital anyway?"

"Not since the Lagiacrus fight, I think. I just hope the armor I get is a little less revealing than my Qurupeco armor…"

"I hope you won't hold against me for hoping otherwise, my dear Miss Ellie."

* * *

"Oh, sweet mercy, this feels weird," Ellie muttered.

"What's up?" Levin asked, dropping the lid on the chest filled with Guild-provided hunting goods. The hunters, all four of them, had arrived at the northernmost hunter's camp in the Flooded Forest, a well-lit site with a crackling campfire that lay under a massive waterfall overhang. A thin (for the rainforest at least) creek rolled past the campsite, which was where Ellie currently stood, standing ankle deep in the water.

The hunting grounds were a safe area for hunters to seek out monsters to test their mettle against, or to capture monsters at the request of researchers or merchants, but the four hunters were preparing to make their way outside the grounds, where everything was unstable and there were no guaranteed certainty about where or when certain monsters would attack. But apparently a Rathian had set up a nest up there, and was coming down to nearby villages to devour herd upon herds of Aptonoth, leaving the farmers of the area endlessly frustrated. Apparently, the creature looked rather worn for the wear, according to the reports, though whether it was from hunters or other monsters uncertain. Either way, no matter the creature's experience, the four would be going after it. With luck, the monster had only fought one or two hunter groups; with the intelligence the Raths possessed, any more than that and the wyvern might be too learned on how to deal with hunters.

"It's… I don't think my feet are getting wet at all," Ellie replied, kicking around a little at the water. She could feel the cold of the liquid that swirled around her, but none of the dampness she'd come to accustom herself with when journeying through the Flooded Forest. "I was told the armor was really watertight, but this is way more impressive than I thought it would be. It's like I'm just floating through the water."

"Not as good a view though."

"Oh shush."

It was true, thankfully. The armor Ellie and Levin had gone to pick up from the smithy district of Loc Lac was a far cry different than the Qurupeco armor she'd made for herself back in Boma Village. It might have been due to the fact that Sophie wasn't the one making the design, too. For the first time Ellie felt like she was actually wearing armor, rather than a fancily designed outfit. The armor felt solid, actually having greaves and gauntlets, with extra faulds around her waist and a set of long shoulder plates that hung like metal sleeves over her already armored hands and arms. The helmet seemed like a bit of a flagrant design though; the scaled helm left her face mostly uncovered, and two long horns stretched from the back of the helmet to the small of her back. Were they supposed to be menacing? Because that was the only purpose Ellie could think of giving the appendages. Though, the suit was rather snug on her, very form-fitting. Ellie had little doubt the armor would have been more pleasing to the eye had the scales and plates not been layered as they had been.

After she and Levin had managed to sneak her out of the hospital (which had proven far easier than any effort they'd made when injured under Orson's care), and gone to recover her armor from the smithy district, the two had made their way back to the Dual Horn Oasis, where Lynn, as well as several of the older hunters the two Lost had gotten to know, were pleased to see her back on her feet. All of them had been younger, reckless hunters at one point, though, and very few were fooled by the 'got-released-from-the-hospital-early-going-on-a-hunt-the-doctors-said-it-was-fine' shtick that the pair of them tried. Lynn had looked just about ready to grab Ellie and force her into bed rest, but she'd heard about Ellie's issues with the Raths, and though clearly not pleased, begrudgingly did nothing to stop the two from collecting their weapons and potions and other goods.

Another wave of misery had washed over Ellie when she'd gotten to her room. The remains of her bowgun and armor had been brought to her room during her time in the hospital. Springs and bolts, shattered feathers and torn leather, all of it showing how massively damaged her armor and weapon had been left. Unwashed bloodstains on the Qurupeco armor showed just how badly she had been hit, and the reminder made her wounds spike with pain again, and for a moment or two she wondered if she should still go out on the hunt. But the feeling was gone in an instant, and she continued readying herself for the battle.

She felt increasingly nervous as she prepared for the fight. She'd come to terms with the Raths having a beautiful existence, and knew that it was futile wanting to kill them all, and after seeing what kind of life and compassion the creatures were capable of, as well as the intelligence and reasoning that they possessed. She respected them and had some fondness for them, though she was lax to admit it to herself. But there was still the fear to deal with, the all-encompassing nightmares that continued to haunt her dreams on a near-daily basis. If she could only manage to take one down, to prove that she was stronger than one, then she could shrug away the fear, knowing that the threat of the monsters was gone, or at least no longer so overwhelming.

Her Lagiacrus armor was primed and ready, the best thing she had at her disposal to deal with the Rathian. She'd seen several fights with the dragons, and participated in at least one, thought that battle had ended disastrously. But she had gotten stronger, faster, and just generally better, or at least she thought so. She could take a Rathian down. She could! All she had to worry about now was whether or not her Gobul-made sword and shield were good enough to make an impact on the wyvern's thick scales and guard her from the creature's powerful attacks.

Once Levin had gotten his own goods ready, the two headed out, intent on getting to the docks long before the ship took off. Nax would be there before anyone, Levin told Ellie. The great sword user told her that he rarely saw the lancer out of his armor, and he was rarely unprepared to head out to the wilds to hunt some creature. Any creature. If he wasn't out hunting something, it seemed he was preparing to go out of a mission. The man's life rotated around the hunt, it seemed. There was nothing else that had any meaning for him.

Sure enough, when the two Lost hunters arrived at the sandship docks, Nax was there waiting for them, with a sour look on his face. His expression was explained a moment later, when the two caught sight of the eternally good-humored Harker standing nearby. Ellie was mildly surprised by the long sword user's appearance; Harker's weapon was new, or rather it appeared that he'd improved his old one. The weapon, once a Gobul-made weapon, called the something-Boneblade (Ellie couldn't remember) looked a bit sleeker and shinier. The long sword user's armor was still a mess of various colors and materials, clearly a mash up of five different armor sets. Ellie had wondered where he'd placed the orders for the armor; as far as she knew, a majority of the smiths in the city had a policy of only doing full armor sets.

Nax had only spared a quick moment to glance the sword and shield user over and blandly complement her on her armor before insisting that the four of them board the ship to ensure their passage on the journey to the forest. It was still a good hour before the ship was set to leave, and Ellie really had no desire to be any closer to the dust and sand-filled desert quickly, but the lancer was in a bad mood and his voice was adamant, so the three Lost hunters boarded. Ellie had proceeded pretty much immediately to below decks, perfectly intent on hiding away from the sand that filled the air for as long as she could.

The journey to the hunting grounds once they reached the far side of the sand sea was quick, luckily for them. Nax seemed to be in a miserable state the entire journey, and Harker was on Ellie constantly, making certain she was in a fit condition with every thought on his mind. Levin's mood remained constant, caught roughly between Nax telling him to think about the upcoming hunt, and Harker's flippant personality and jabbering, and Ellie's less than pleased attitude towards the sand around them. A change in atmosphere couldn't come fast enough.

The Flooded Forest was raining as per the norm when they arrived, a near constant deluge that come down on them. But Ellie's mood had improved considerably since leaving the desert, and Nax's enthusiasm at the impending battle had made him feel better as well. With all three of the other hunter's disposition getting better, the murky and confused attitude that Levin tended to sport began to fade a little, revealing a little bit of the humored young man he used to be, excluding his tired and strained eyes.

They'd gotten to the camp fairly early in the afternoon, so the three of them had decided it would be best to try and at least get their bearings on where the Rathian they hunted could be living. Ellie knew that the wyvern nests tended to be in the far northern area of the forest, on the other side of the thin ravines that wove their way through the higher elevation areas. Ellie and Levin had tended to avoid that area of the forest for that exact reason, both of them secretly wanting to try their lucks against a Rathian, but not willing enough to risk doing it with just the two of them, or without the Guild's permission. After the thinly veiled threats that the pair had gotten from Jonathan after the Ludroth incident, neither of them wanted to get near the Guild's bad side, especially as two of the first Lost hunters.

So after getting their things together, and checking their maps for the routes that they wished to take in search of the Rathian's nest, the four hunters headed out, intent on finding the nest as soon as possible. The journey to the northern side of the hunting grounds was a long one, and the group hoped to find the nest long before the sun went down, giving them time to take down the monster before losing the sun to help them see. The clouds covered any moon or starlight, rendering the night pitch black; none of the hunters had much desire to fight with torches in their hands, or worse, fight by the light of whatever fires the Rathian managed to start.

As the hunters pushed out to the north, they had to go around a large lake, where Gobul and Ludroth tended to collect, Gobuls in the south, with Ludroth in control of the caves to the north. They were still just barely inside the hunting grounds territory, when the loud, spastic sound of battle began to roll over the waters of the lake. The hunters realized that they were actually approaching the sounds as the sight of flashes and roars became clearer and more pronounced as they approached. Ellie and the other hunters began looking between each other, uncertain as to whether or not they could or should interfere. Nax and Levin both looked eager to get in on the fight, though, despite Ellie and Harker's misgivings, though the long sword user clearly would not have minded if they stopped long enough to watch the battle unfold.

But as they got closer, the sound of battle began to dwindle, the bangs and explosions slowing down, and the roars of the monster trickling down to whines of pain and fear. Suddenly, the sight of blue light lit up the clouds over the battlefield that they were approaching; lightning, or electricity, Ellie realized. Perhaps Thunder rounds, or maybe a shock trap? Either way, it sounded as though the battle was wrapping up, meaning the four hunters could go check out the situation without worrying about interfering with anything.

The final sounds of struggle led the hunters through a thin copse of trees, where a stream led through the thick undergrowth to a small pond. Burn marks and cuts in the ground showed signs of the battle, and long pools of blood coagulated on the edges of the pond, dark red smears that bordered on black when missed with the goopy mud and mire of the swampy water. And right in the middle of it all lay the bodies of nearly a dozen Ludroth, as well and the beaten and battered body of a Royal Ludroth. The leader of the harem of water serpents was still alive, despite the mayhem the battle had seemed to imply, the male Ludroth was twitching spastically, tranquilized and lying flat on its belly in a shock trap. The creature's mane was completely burned off, its crown was shattered, its tail had been severed (blasted off, by the looks of it), and its claws were all broken off as well. No small wonder the creature was captured, not dead.

"It's about time you four got here. What, did you get lost on the way here or something?" Ellie blinked in surprise at the familiar voice she heard, and her jaw dropped at the sight of a familiar face that strolled around the body of the fallen creature. It was Kerrigan.

"You!" Nax cried, disbelief overpowering any other emotion in his voice.

"Yes, me," Kerry replied, a smirk on her face.

Ellie could only gape in surprise at the sudden reappearance of the other bowgunner. How had she beaten them there? And downed a Royal in the same amount of time? And for that matter, Ellie realized, when had Kerry gotten that new armor set? Her old set had been a Rhenoplos set; it had taken some asking around to figure that out. But this new suit seemed split in half; had she taken a page from Harker's book? From the waist up was one type of armor, jagged spikes lining most of the edges of the pale yellow suit, with two massive horns as shoulder pads making clear that the suit was obviously made of Diablos materials. From the waist down, however, the armor was made of a much looser material, a pale white leather that was mixed with a sturdy scale-like material. So two different types of armor; not so ramshackle as Harker's mess of color and material, but still. Her bowgun was just as odd, a collection of… Diablos again… Barroth?... and red… Rathalos? She had managed to take down...?

Levin seemed to be of the same shocked mindset as her, his eyes snapping back and forth between the half-dead Ludroth and the bowgunner. Harker, however, began giggling in amusement.

"So this was your plan, Lady Kerrigan. How devious of you! I've always suspected that I might rub off of you a little, but I never expected it to occur so quickly. And that armor! You always told me that it was better to use a full set, rather than a collection of multiple armors, yet here you stand, heeding the suggestions I offered to you on armor selection."

"Well it's not like any of the smiths in Loc Lac gave me a choice otherwise!" Kerry argued, though her reddening face belied her embarrassment. "I've looked everywhere, and I've never found a single smith in the whole city that could make greaves or boots from the Diablos materials! And the materials were taking up space, anyway, so I figured I might as well get something out of the deal. Why do you think I traded those horns we got for Barioth goods in the first place?"

"Barioth armor?" Ellie heard Levin mutter. Uh oh. Dangerous terrain…

"Why are you here!" Nax suddenly shouted, cutting off Harker and Kerry's conversation and pulling all attention to himself. "You said it yourself; there's only four hunters allowed on a single quest!"

"Yes, I did," Kerry replied calmly. "So, rather than waiting for you to return, I decided to go ahead of you. A friend of mine had sent me a request recently asking for me to recover some Ludroth sponge for his village, so I figured now was as good a time as any to go ahead and do the mission. The quest parameters gave me a couple days here in the forest to finish up, though, so… it seems that I've got some spare time to hang around."

"That's not… how'd you get here before us, though?"

"I hitched a ride aboard a trading vessel that left about… fifteen minutes after I left the hospital. Not all Guild missions have to be traveled to on Guild-owned ships you know."

"But you can't just join this quest!"

"I'm not planning to. However, I do have some time to kill, and what do you know, people are here that I can kill it with. So I figure I'll just go with you guys and keep you company. And if a Rathian happens to show up, well, a hunter is allowed to kill a monster in self-preservation, aren't they?"

"But you… you can't… ah, damn it all! Fine! I don't even care anymore. Levin, I don't know how you put up with these weirdoes you call friends."

Levin merely shrugged in reply as the lancer stormed off, shoving his way past the fallen Royal Ludroth and on through the woods towards the north. The great sword user watched as Nax slowly worked his way through the thick woods, before glancing back and forth quickly between him and where Harker was congratulating Kerry on her deviousness. A look of uncertainty flickered across his face for a moment.

"Hm," That was the only sound Ellie heard him produce, before the great sword user began to tail after the lancer.

"Ah, yes wonderful!" Harker exclaimed, tailing after Levin and the irritated Nax. "Off on a true adventure! You know this is the first time I've been on a quest with anyone other than Lady Kerrigan, if you'll believe it."

"I'm sure they do," Kerry replied, rolling her eyes and grinning as well. "You coming, Ellie?"

"Yeah, I am," Ellie replied. She hadn't liked the look that had come over Levin's face just a moment ago. How much had the great sword user changed in the last three weeks? She couldn't let him… deteriorate. Not like this. She had to bring him back to how he used to be. With Harker and Kerry's help, they might be able to do something during this mission, but if the damage done by the Alatreon on her loved one's psyche ran as deeply as her own issues with the Raths did, or even worse…

She sighed, pushing off to tail after the other hunters. No use worrying about it now. All she could do was try her damnedest to help Levin recover… and with things like Rathians, poachers, battle-lusting hunters, and the Alatreon standing in her way, keep the pair of them alive at the same time as well.

* * *

**Author's Note: Please Review!**

**Short chapter is short. But for those of you who are thinking, "WTF. All this time for such a tiny chapter?" Allow me to explain! The truth is, when I started this chapter, I thought it would be a lot shorter than it was. When I write, I do it in bits and pieces, rather than chronologically, before filling in the gaps at the end. But before I knew it, I was at 25k words, with who knows how many more to go? So I cut it in half, finding a good middle point just when Kerry showed back up, and used that as the end of one chapter. The rest is mostly written already, so look forward to a 15k word chapter up here in a few days!**

**A reminder to my faithful readers (all three of you), I still accept OCs to put in my story, of any shape and size. If you'd like to see your character pop into MHLC for a few scenes or more, let me know and I'll see what I can do. I did receive a new character request from Noxramus the Almighty not long ago, and his character should appear in a couple chapters. Just to prove that I love you all. **

**Also, I have a new favorite word! It's "Ghoughpteighbteau tchoghs." A cookie to any who can guess what it means and its pronunciation without using Google or some other search engine! Other fine words I enjoy include "defenestrate" and " ." My only regret is that there'll probably be no room for me to use these words through the course of my story. Well, maybe I'll be able to use defenestrate… seems like a word Harker would use in proper circumstances.**

**Reading: **_**The Path of Daggers**_** by Robert Jordan, **_**Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter**_** by Seth Grahame-Smith (…no really, this exists, I swear)  
Playing: Mass Effect 3, BF3, Minecraft  
Listening: The Bravery, All Time Low, Anberlin, Blind Guardian, Sufjan Stevens, The History of Rome Podcast, Radical Face**


	27. Predictions

Predictions 

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. All the characters in this story are mine, except Richard Jr. who belongs to Hoenn Master96._

"Damn it all!"

Levin head Nax continue to curse violently as the five hunters tore through the trees of the forest, diving and weaving through the thick, clustered trunks of the tall trees. Both she and the lancer had their shields up and ready, taking the lead as the other three hunters tailed behind them, rushing through the woods to follow. The sound of thick, flapping wings thundered around them, bouncing between the trees as the hunters rushed through the woods. Every once in a while, a barely noticeable shadow darted through the thick canopy of the trees, or a roar or a growl echoed through the forest; each time, to Ellie, the roars seemed more and more like laughter, mocking them as they tailed the creature through the trees.

A flicker of light above them, and both Ellie and Nax pulled up their shields instinctively. Just in time, too. A lance of fire shot down through the thin cracks in the leaves, smacking into the earth and spraying liquid fire in all directions. Ellie had to crouch close to the ground to get her shield low enough to block a majority of the flames; some of the blaze licked against her ankles, but nothing strong enough to burn her through her armor (damn, but she loved this Lagi armor!). Levin, Harker, and Kerry all moved to duck behind trees as the flames shot past. The trees absorbed a massive amount of the flames to their trunks, but the water-soaked lumber was barely affected at all, only blackening the bark a slight bit and spraying the blaze in all directions.

"Damn it, why isn't it coming down?" Ellie heard Levin shout. "We've been tailing it for almost an hour now and the damn thing doesn't even seem tired from flying!"

"Rathians can fly for hours and hours on end," Harker shouted in reply. "For all we know, it could stay airborne for another few hours. Besides, the trees are too thick for it to land here anyway."

Another growling laugh could be heard from over the treetops, and the Rathian soared away from the hunters again, circling and weaving through the air mockingly, going just quick enough to keep its distance from them, but slowly enough to tease them into continuing their chase.

"We've got to pull back for now!" Kerry called out. "It's got too much of an advantage right now!"

"What are you talking about?" Nax growled. "We can't just run away! You've got a bowgun on you! Just… shoot it out of the sky!"

"I can't just shoot blindly, you moron! Without a clear shot, all I'm doing is giving away our position!"

"Then what good are you, dammit!"

"I don't see you doing anything helpful either!"

A thick crunching sound caught the hunters' ears, and the two bickering hunters looked up just in time to both leap out of the way as a massive tree limb dropped out of the canopy, smashing against the wet ground and sending a splash of water in all directions. Ellie's eyes shot up to the treetops again, and she spotted a massive winged shape working across the massive tree limbs, making the thick trunks of the trees creak and groan at under the weight of the creature as its feet worked across the upper branches. Then the shadow paused for a moment and the sound of wood being ripped apart sounded again, and yet another thick limb tumbled down through the leaves, nearly catching Levin as the great sword user dived out of the way. Damn it, but this Rathian was tricky!

"Stop arguing you two!" Ellie growled as Nax and Kerry turned to hurl insults at each other yet again. "We've kind of got more pressing issues to deal with right now." Nax glowered at Ellie's rebuke, clearly just only snapping off his next remark. Kerry at least had the sense to look ashamed at the words; though she still snapped a glare at the lancer when she thought Ellie had been facing the other way.

The longer the hunt went on, the more Ellie seemed to wish that one or the other was gone. The two had started off the journey in bitter silence, choosing to ignore each other during the course of the hunt. But both Ellie and Levin had agreed that having the two in such poor attitudes would be worse for the rest of them than anything else, and Harker had hesitantly agreed when approached about the whole thing (he didn't seem to like Nax all that much more than Kerry, though at the same time, Harker didn't seem to really dislike the man either; he always seemed to study people rather than judge them). So she and Levin had pushed the two non-Lost hunters to try and get along with each other. Needless to say, the effort had ended poorly. Now the two were arguing openly whenever the chance presented itself. Ellie would've preferred the option to blame Nax for the bickering, due to the whole 'Companion Killer' nonsense, but Kerry was making no effort at all to reconcile with the lancer.

Ellie wished she had her bowgun with her, as she ducked out of the way of another pillar or fire that dropped from the canopy. Kerry may have been hesitant to fire without a clear shot (she'd used up a bit of her ammo fighting off the Royal Ludroth and its harem), but Ellie wouldn't have minded firing off a few rounds at the sky to at least get the Rathian from pestering them so bravely. So how were they supposed to fight the creature or ward it off without Kerry shooting?

"Miss Eleanor!" The sword and shield user turned at the sound of Harker's voice, and yelped and fumbled in surprise as a small yellow shape flew towards her. She just barely managed to get a hand up to grab the object instinctively, nearly dropping it as it tumbled around in her hand for a moment. When she steadied herself, she realized she was holding a weirdly-designed, makeshift tube of thin metal, and she could just barely feel a gummy substance sliding around inside of it. The top of the tube was capped with a handmade lid, with a fuse wired into the top that looked like it had been stolen from the back of a ship's cannon.

"What in the heck is this?" Ellie asked, glancing at the long sword user, who smirked at her.

"It's a flash bomb!" he replied excitedly. A bland look from the female Lost compelled him to continue. "My own personal design, you see. It's made from the glowing fluid sacs of a dozen or so flashbugs, with a pinch of gunpowder thrown in there and a few other… fun ingredients. Just light it and throw it and it'll go off just like the ones you buy from the shops!"

Ellie eyed it uncertainly, and the long sword user gave her a pained expression, that she honestly couldn't tell whether it was honest or not. "Oh, come now, Miss Eleanor. Do you really think I'd ask you to use an item that I hadn't tested out myself to its fullest extent?"

"Would you?"

"Well… perhaps… I'll admit that much. But not with a Rathian looking over us as she is now! Just trust me!"

Ellie gave one last look down at the makeshift canister, before another thick tree limb dropped from the sky, sending Levin and Nax both scrambling backwards from the sharp edges and broken splinters. The sword and shield user grimaced, but tightened her grip on the bomb. The leaves were probably too thick to really blind the creature, but it would make the damn thing wary, which was at least something. Her eyes darted to the skies, where the huge shadow of the Rathian bobbed and swayed as it happily worked to pick the next branch to break, or the next gap to shoot a lance of flame through. Ellie quickly reached for the cap of the flash bomb, and yanked on the primer. Immediately, a blaze of sparks sprayed from the top of the tube, a flickering shower that most bombs used as a countdown indicator. With a heaving swing, Ellie swung the tube up and over her shoulder, hurling the canister into the treetops. She shouted a quick warning to the others, before raising her arm to dull the impending light.

What she had come to expect from normal flash bombs was something similar to a sudden and powerful strobe light flashing in your face in a dimly lit room. The jury-rigged item Harker had given her was like the sun exploding behind her eyelids in the middle of a cloudy, moonless night. Despite having warning of the impending flash, despite squinting her eyes, and despite hiding her face behind her shielded arm, the bomb seared into her eyes like nothing she'd ever seen before. Her eyes immediately slammed closed, and her body instinctively pulled itself into a crouching fetal position, her arms pulling themselves around her head in a desperate attempt to hide her eyes from the painfully bright light.

Somewhere in the back of her perception, she could just make out the sound of a powerful screech of pain, and the wrenching, tearing sound of wood being ripped and torn apart. Ellie cursed. The sound of wing beats had stopped! The Rathian was actually dropping out of the sky, and here the five hunters were, just as paralyzed from the flash bomb as the Rathian was. Ellie desperately forced herself to her feet, making an attempt to prepare to attack as quickly as she was able, but her feet gave out from underneath her as the Rathian crashed to the wet ground, shaking the earth enough to take away Ellie's foothold on the damp earth.

Ellie felt several moments of fear envelop her when she realized how close the Rathian was, but it was gone not long after, when the terrified howls of the Rathian reached her ears, as well as the sound of desperate flailing that the wyvern was making. She could make out the other hunters muttering in frustration as well, with Harker rattling off ingredients to himself, clearly frustrated at the results of the flash bomb. Ellie pushed herself to her feet again as she heard the creature moving around, on its feet again and smashing wildly into nearby trunks and anything else that lay near the forest floor. Despite the wyvern's clear amusement at its air superiority earlier, the sudden loss of its eyesight had left it terrified. Ellie wondered exactly how badly affected the creature had been; the jungle canopy had been thick, so if there was a chance that the Rathian's blindness would wear off before the hunters'…

The flailing of the Rathian suddenly paused, and Ellie tensed in fear. Had the creature regained its eyesight again? Damn it, she could just barely make out vague shadows at the moment! But the wrinkling sound of the wyvern's leathery wings caught the sword and shield user's ears, followed by the thumping sound of the Rathian pushing off to take flight again. But rather than sounding angry, the wyvern still sounded absolutely terrified, and the creature's wing beats seemed just as frantic as its growls. Ellie could just make out shapes now, and was able to see the wyvern working its way back up into the air (damn, but it looked big from where she was standing). Clearly the Rathian didn't entirely have its vision back, either; it wasn't able to go straight up into the air, and bumped and jostled against the trees and branches it met on the way up into the air. The bright sun made it more challenging to keep sight of the creature, but it wasn't that hard to hear the sound of wings going higher and higher, before the creature pushed off and the sound of flapping got further and further away.

It was running! No, that was being too bold. Running implied that they were beating it at all. It was retreating, that was all. It had been taken too much by surprise, and was pulling back to recollect its wits. Likely back to its nest, wherever that was. With a sigh of relief, Ellie allowed herself to lean back against a nearby tree, giving herself time for her eyes to heal up.

"Dammit Harker!" Ellie heard Nax curse. "What the hell was that?"

"Too much gunpowder, that's what that was," the long sword user replied. The two hunters were speaking from a distance, meaning they were likely still blinded. "Also, clearly that one was too tightly packed. I'll have to remember to keep the cap a little looser with the next one I make… Well, at least the Rathian's gone."

"Why did you chase it off, though?" Nax shouted in reply. "It took us forever just to find the thing, and now it's gone! We don't know where its nest is either!"

"We're better off," Ellie said. She could practically feel the lancer opening his mouth to give a rebuttal, so she quickly continued. "The thing was giving us hell the whole time, and looked perfectly fine with continuing to fly until it got tired and flew off for food, or until we were cooked well done. Kerry was the only one that could've hit the thing, and she couldn't get a clear shot. So unless you were planning on hurling your lance at the Rathian…"

"Fine! Fine, fine, I get it." There was a moment of silence, and Ellie could hear the other hunters shuffling around. "So, um… can anyone else see yet? I had my shield up, and there's nothing but white in my eyes."

"My visions coming back a little," Ellie replied, squinting a little as though it would actually help her. "I can see… shapes. I can tell where the trees are, and I think that really bright spot is the sun, but other than that, nothing."

"Better than me," Kerry spoke up. "I might as well be blind right now. I had my eyes wide open and everything… Harker, how many times have I told you to use mandated items on hunts? This kind of thing is why you get so many injuries during our hunts together."

"Hey, it worked on that Diablos we took down, didn't it? I'll get the mixture right next time."

"I think my vision's almost back." Levin's voice this time and the sound of footsteps working their way towards her. "I was on the far side of one of the trees at the time, and I think that helped me a little."

The footsteps stopped only a few feet from her, and Ellie felt Levin's hand on her shoulder. "You alright?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied. But just as she said it, a biting pain cut into her chest and sides. Despite how strong and durable her armor was, the Lagiacrus materials really did nothing to help her with injuries she'd already sustained. Even without looking, she could tell that some of the wounds on her torso had probably broken open again during the chase of the Rathian. She'd need to have Kerry help her with her bandages later. She'd have to keep quiet about it, though, since neither Levin nor Nax really wanted her traveling with injuries… But she'd apparently failed to hide a wince, because Levin hand tightened on her shoulder worriedly.

"We should take a break," he called out to the others.

"What!" Nax cried. "Are you nuts? As soon as we've got our vision back, we've got to get after the Rathian! It'll lead us right to the nest!"

"So you saw which way it flew off to?" Levin asked. "Because I didn't. I couldn't see at the time." Nax didn't offer a reply, but frustrated grumbling was about as good a reply as any other.

"A rest would be a good plan," Harker said. "We have little other options until our eyesight improves. Besides, the sun is getting lower in the sky, and while I have no qualms with traveling during the night, I have little desire to do so with the ire of a Rathian looming over our heads."

"Go talk to Kerry," Levin whispered, leading Ellie back towards the others. "She probably won't mind keeping your injuries quiet from Nax, if that's what you're worried about."

"Thanks, Levin," Ellie replied, instinctively scratching at the painful wounds. The injuries hadn't been bed at all until she'd started exerting herself when the Rathian started coming after the hunters. Ellie's vision was good enough by now that she was able to make out Kerry's armor out from the shape of the others.

Once the rest of the hunters had managed to recover their eyesight, the five of them made their way to higher ground, where there was less water for them to have to wade through. After they'd set down, inside a small clearing with several rocks and boulders that they could rest against, Ellie and Kerry had gone off into the forest a little ways, giving the two an opportunity to change Ellie's bandages. Luckily, neither Nax nor Harker bothered to ask where they were going, Harker poring over some of his notes, and Nax simply trying to avoid talking to Kerry at all.

"Goodness, dear, how did I let you convince me to let you go on this mission? If I had wounds like this, I'd be hesitant to leave my bedroom, much less go out and hunt a Rathian." The bowgunner emphasized her point with an exceptionally tight pull of her bandages.

Ellie winced at the pull, and felt herself shiver a little. She was naked from her shoulders to her waist, with her armor laying on a thick nearby tree trunk. She'd needed to remove the whole chest plate to allow Kerry to get to her injuries, and her friend hadn't been pleased with the sight. Blue and black bruises lined the majority of her chest, and there were still a few points of precarious scar tissue across her torso, the same ones that had broken open again during their run in with the Rathian. It wasn't anything that couldn't be patched up, but Kerry was still not pleased.

Ellie really wished that the five of them could've started their hunt off a little better. Besides the bad blood that seemed to be brewing up between Kerry and Nax, it hadn't helped that the lot of them had been surprise attacked by the Rathian as they worked their way north through the forest. Normally, they would've been able to see the creature coming, or heard it when it had gotten really close. But the constant cloud cover of the Flooded Forest area made spotting an oncoming flying monster a challenge under any circumstances, and a sudden rainstorm stopped the hunters from even hearing the creature's powerful wing beats. Ellie wasn't sure whether or not the Rathain had been as caught off guard by the sudden appearance of the hunters as they had or not; they'd hardly actually seen anything of the creature over the course of the fight, what with the creature hiding above the canopy and pelting them with fire the whole time.

"I couldn't just pass up a chance to fight a Rathian," Ellie replied through tight breaths. "It's something… it's just something that I have to… Ow! Jeez, that's a little tight!"

"Suck it up, sweetie," Kerry replied with a smirk. "This little wound of yours will be really detrimental to you and to the rest of us if one of your scabs breaks open again. I plan on making sure that doesn't happen, so if you've got any complaints about comfort, you can deal with it, or I'll knock your butt out and the rest of us can finish the quest on our own, whether you have issues with the Raths or not."

"Hmph, you wouldn't… Ow, ow, ow! Ok! Ok! Fine! Not so tight!"

"Attagirl," Kerry laughed, patting her handiwork. The bandages wrapped tightly around a better portion of Ellie's torso, leaving little skin available to be shown. Not that anyone would see what skin was available to be seen; her armor would be going on as soon as possible. She didn't need Harker or Nax seeing her naked from the waist up. As for Levin… well, not in the middle of a hunt while he was half mad at least. "Just be sure to keep track of them. If you feel any of them loosening, you let me know. I'll tighten them again for you. And just to be sure you aren't trying to trick me… I'll be checking on you again later today or tomorrow morning."

"Can't you just trust me?" Ellie asked, as she picked up her armor and began to work it on.

"I do trust you, sweetie," Kerry replied. "But you're a hunter. And you have issues with the Raths. So, in this case I'm going to have to keep a weather eye on you. And if you don't like that, I can get Harker to do it…"

"No! No, you'll be fine. Perfectly fine."

"I thought you might think so," Kerry laughed. "Now come on. Let's get back before Harker or Nax get suspicious."

"Wait Kerry, I…" Ellie paused as the bowgunner looked at her expectantly. Ellie wasn't certain how to continue; she'd had something buzzing around in the back of her head for the last day. "I was wondering… about the whole, um, 'Companion Killer' thing." A pained expression crossed the other female hunter's face, and Ellie immediately backpedaled in panic. "I mean, you don't have to! I don't believe a word of it! But it's just, it seemed to bother you a lot and, um, I don't know, I was worried about you, and I… I don't know… um."

"No, it's alright," Kerry replied with a sad smile. "I don't enjoy talking about it, but I don't mind telling you about it if it worries you. It wouldn't be the first time that I've been asked about it by someone who's worried about it."

"I'm not worried about it! I just… It seemed to bother you so much, and I was worried that you…"

"I'm fine. It's something I've had to deal with for a while, and… I'm used to it. It just means that I don't usually travel with other hunters. It's a little lonely having a reputation like that, but… I've gotten accustomed to the way people treat me.

"I guess it started when I was still an apprentice. My hunting master trained me on a large plain, one that sat right between the desert and a forest. It was a really lovely, but very harsh sort of place, with monsters from the desert and the forest both traveling through in search of food. In that area, it wasn't that uncommon for all sorts of monsters to show up at the strangest times, and always creatures you might never expect in a grassland. My master, Min, said it was the perfect place to train a hunter, because it taught them how to react under pressure and surprise, taught them how to stay on their toes, and how to always, always prepare for any eventuality.

"Right after my hunter's exam though… my master took me out on a celebratory hunt. We were going to take down a few Royal Ludroths, or Qurupecos or something. You know, something fun and easy that we could do together to bolster my hunter's rating just a little bit. But while we were out… we were surprise attacked. Well, not attacked exactly, but… while we were traveling towards the desert to pick off a Qurupeco we were chasing, we got caught up in a brawl between a Rathalos and a Diablos. We managed to kill the Diablos as we ran from the battle; Master Min was always supposed to be the greatest shot in the world when it came to shooting off explosive rounds. Took the ankles right out from under it and got a Crag round in its eye. But before we could get away completely… Master was hit dead in the back with one of the Rathalos's fireballs.

"I don't know if… if her armor was on wrong, or if it was just old, or if the Rath just got a lucky shot, but… the fire burned her. Really, really badly. The entirely of her back torso and legs were covered in third degree burns. It destroyed her hunting career entirely. The doctors all assured us that she'd heal, but… that was six years ago now, and she's still healing from the burns. She's made a life toughening up the town guard of her hometown these last few years, but when I visit her, I can tell that she misses the hunt desperately. Despite the reputation I've developed, she's never blamed me a second for what happened to her. Though… I can't exactly say the same for myself."

"You can't…"

"If you're going to try and tell me that I can't blame myself for what happened, you're wrong. Out of all the people who've been hurt because of this damnable curse of mine, I blame myself the most for what happened to her. She was rather well known at the time, so news of her injury spread pretty quickly. At the time, people just said it was bad luck, that I was just the tragic progeny of a disabled bowgunner. It was painful enough just being that. I went from nothing to my third star in just over a month; I couldn't bear to stay near Master Min as she was, so injured and broken, so I made every effort to get out of there and to Loc Lac as soon as possible.

"Once I got to the city, though… things only got worse. When I arrived, I… I found allies. And made some friends. Good, fun people to hang out with and go out hunting with. But the first time we went on a hunt together... it was a Qurupeco hunt, and we were almost done. But just before the bird dropped, a Barrroth appeared out a nearby mudflat. We didn't even see it coming until it had run down Joshua. By the time we'd recovered and managed to fight the thing back, Elena and Geoff were both really badly injured as well. It was only luck I'd managed to dodge the thing successfully, or maybe it was just tired after charging my partners. But somehow, after the thing limped away, I found out that I was… unharmed. Just completely unharmed. The others… only Elena had any chance of recovering to hunt again. Joshua died on the way back to Loc Lac. Geoff lost an arm; completely smashed to pieces.

"That was when people started whispering about me behind my back. First my master, then the hunters I went on my first hunt with. Not many people paid attention to the rumors at the time, though, and I was able to make a few more friends, go on a few more hunts with other people. But things kept going wrong. My partners kept getting injured, sometimes getting crippled from their injuries. In the worst cases, though, someone would die. And it just kept happening, and just wouldn't stop. Eventually, people began to think I was cursed, or began to have suspicions about me. People began to avoid me. Though by then… I had long since realized that I _was_ cursed, and had made an effort to avoid people on my own. And that's how it was for… years."

"But why does it happen? And why do they blame you for it? Why do you blame yourself for it?"

"I just don't know," Kerry replied. "I don't know if it's fate or the work of a greater power or if I'm just unlucky. But if it's a curse, then it's the cruelest one imaginable, and if it's coincidence, then I'm the most unfortunate hunter in the world."

"But you're not calling these monsters down on people or anything. You wouldn't. You volunteered to help Levin watch over me when I was unconscious, for crying out loud."

"I know I wouldn't," Kerry sighed. "I'd give anything to get But for some reason, it just happens. No matter what I've done, the same thing always happens when I go on a hunt. People just end up… getting hurt or dying. That's why I've stopped going on hunts with people almost altogether. For the last two years, I made an effort to avoid any and all the other hunters I possibly could."

The two sat in silence for a moment. Ellie mulled over what Kerry had told her. How had the bowgunner managed to put up with what she'd gone through, for all those years? Every friend, every ally you made during the course of your time as a hunter, either getting disabled or killed whenever they go out hunting with you? Ellie had to admit, she wouldn't have had the courage or willingness to keep hunting if that were the case; the guilt likely would have overcome her long, long ago. Yet, for some reason, Kerry had kept hunting, resigning herself to a solitary life of doing so. Yet…

"Why?" Ellie asked abruptly. When Kerry looked at her questioningly, Ellie shook her head and elaborated. "Why did you decide to start working together with other hunters again, I mean? When we met in Orage Dell, you and Harker had been hunting together for… a while, I guess. And now, now you're here, with me and Levin, and even Nax. If you were so afraid of hunting together with other people, what changed?"

For the first time since the start of the conversation, a happy and veritably wistful expression crossed the bowgunner's face. "To be honest? Harker happened. I met him in the Flooded Forest, not long after he… awakened? I'm not sure how you Lost refer to it. I'd only heard a few rumors about the whole issue at the time, since I spent more time hunting than I did keeping up with the news. He'd caught sight of a Royal Ludroth and its harem, taking part in their nest caretaking. He thought it would be a good idea to go in for a better look, without a sliver of fear, or a second thought as to whether it was a good idea or not."

"That sounds like something he'd do," Ellie agreed.

"Well, I was on a Gobul hunt at the time. I was making my way through the marshes, when I see him in the middle of the nesting grounds, holding up an egg and studying it. He hadn't even realized that the Royal and the other Ludroth had returned from their fishing, and were less than pleased to see him there. I had to rush into the nest and blow away over a dozen of them before I was able to drag his idiotic butt out of there, and even then it was by the skin of our necks. Once we were safely away, I tore into him, berating him for being so foolish, for not thinking about his own safety, for… well, I yelled at him for a while. He just stood there, listening calmly the whole time. Then at the end, when I was completely out of breath, he up and tells me that he wants me to teach him how to hunt, just like that. Of course, I immediately turn him down, thinking he's nuts (and in retrospect, he really was), but once I get him back to Loc Lac, he just started tailing me around, asking me over and over and over to become my apprentice.

"Eventually, it got to the point where I just couldn't take it anymore, curse or no. So I agreed, telling him that if he managed to survive a hunt with me without panicking and showing decent intelligence, I'd continue to train him. Just a few Jaggis, nothing really big, you know. Just to hassle him a little. But when we went on the hunt… it was just like it had always been. He was doing well enough, though he was a little awkward with the sword and shield I'd loaned him. But right before we managed to cap off a herd of Jaggis we'd come upon, we were suddenly set upon by a pair of Qurupeco mates, whose territory we had apparently been infringing on. I had never panicked so much as I did right then, thinking I'd knowingly dragged a rookie to certain death.

"But without a second thought, Harker simply laughed at the surprise attack then dove in headfirst toward the pair of monsters. I, as well as the two Qurus, were so taken off guard by the abrupt, confident charge that he was cutting into one of them before we could respond. Luckily, I was able to recover faster than they were, and was able to fire on them quickly enough to damage their mobility. The battle after that was hectic, but Harker was quick enough on his feet to keep away from the birds' explosions. We didn't managed to kill either of the birds, but they were both taken so off guard by our fighting back, that they booked it out of there not long after the fight started.

"I was about ready to berate him again for what he'd done, for diving in headfirst so foolishly. But I was still tired, and I was able to do was ask why he'd done it. Without a single moment of hesitation, he told me that he knew that, after seeing the skill I'd displayed fighting the Royal Ludroth and its harem, I had more than enough skill to scare away the pair of them, while keeping him alive at the same time. Something about… reaction times and accuracy percentages. I'm not sure how he could've been so certain about such things, but… he was just so confident in my abilities, with zero question that the pair of us would come through. I hadn't had someone display such confidence in me in so long, I… I just felt really happy.

"Despite my reservations to continue our hunting together (I still had my fears considering the curse), I said I'd go on another hunt with him, to further test his abilities. I told him he was too rash, and I needed time to evaluate his abilities. Honestly, though, I just hoped he was someone who would be able to… I don't know. Uncurse me. But nothing really changed in the end. Every time we went on a hunt together, something unfortunate or dangerous would happen, or a monster we hadn't been hunting would pop out to surprise us. But he always took it in stride, actually getting excited to see something sneak up on us. Sometimes he got injured, sometimes badly, but he never seemed bothered by it. In fact, he seemed to revel in the whole thing. There was one point where he actually seemed excited to find out what would pop out of the woodwork on us next. And the entire time, he always acted like I was the greatest thing that ever happened to him, despite the surprise attacks and injuries he inevitably sustained. I just couldn't… I just couldn't bear to run away from him like I had with all the other hunters I'd met over the years. Eventually, I did formally accept him as my protégé, and we've continue on as such, until he became an official hunter, at which point he just became, well, my hunting partner."

"Maybe Harker is your curse removal," Ellie grinned.

"Maybe," Kerry smiled. "We still get surprise attacked more often than not, and we both usually come back from hunts with injuries. But it never bothers him. He loves it more than anything else. I've never been happier hunting since I've met him. My only fear now is that the luck Harker seems to have won't be shared by you or Levin."

"I don't believe you're cursed or anything of the like," Ellie replied. "But… maybe us Lost are just lucky or something… in certain ways, I mean. Other ways, not so much. I'm pretty positive that me and Levin will be just fine. Nax, though… well, he's got that shield of his, and if all else fails, he could use a bit of humility added to his personality."

Kerry laughed at that. "Yeah, he really could, I'll agree with that. Maybe sticking around the Lost is really the answer to getting rid of this curse of mind."

"Positive thinking. That's good to see," Ellie said. Then she smirked, a sly smile crossing her face. "Though I must admit that I'm curious about something. You seem to be very fond of Harker… so it leaves me to wonder exactly how fond of him you really are."

To Kerry's credit, she managed to maintain a straight face at Ellie's words, though her face colored a fair amount at the clear accusation. The bowgunner simply smiled in reply. "I like him enough to keep his company, despite his eccentric tendencies. Is that enough of an answer for you, Ellie?"

"Considering how eccentric Harker is, I suppose it is," Ellie smiled. "Not many people could very well put up with his company for very long, and considering how long you've been in his company, and for such extended periods, there must be some powerful feelings behind your desire to hunt with him."

"Well, you enjoy hunting with him, too," Kerry argued.

"True enough. He's interesting, and a lot of fun to talk to, I'll say that much. But… I wouldn't want to hunt with him constantly, and only with him. I don't think I could deal with his weirdness for that long. The only person I've enjoyed the perpetual company of is Levin, and… well, you've seen how that turned out, haven't you?"

Now Kerry really did turn red, and she coughed uncomfortably. "You know, the boys are probably getting worried about us, we've been gone so long. We probably should be getting back."

"Dodging the issue, eh?" Ellie laughed. "I guess I can let you off this time. But don't think I won't try and figure things out with you later, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," Kerry muttered. "Let's just go, okay?"

Ellie nodded, clicking together the last couple of straps that held her Lagiacrus armor in one tightly-bound piece. She got to her feet, stretching to test her mobility and the restrictions of the armor and her wounds, then turned to follow Kerry back towards the clearing the boys were in. When they got back, Nax was talking to Harker, much to Ellie's surprise. Even Levin had a stunned look as the two got on.

"What do you mean, you don't like the arena?" Nax was asking incredulously. "You spent two hours earlier telling me how much you adored the unpredictability of weird hunting situations. How much more unpredictable do you think a hunt can get than the amazing battles that the Guild set up for you to fight?"

"Hm. Perhaps," the long sword user replied. "But it simply doesn't appeal to me. There is nothing so wonderful and informative as the unique and unusual occurrences that happen in the wilds that monsters create and take part in. And to see a Diablos and an Uragaan fighting together, or against each other, against a hunter would certainly be something fascinating, of that I have no doubts. But I could only truly enjoy it if it happened naturally, in some place where the desert meets the volcano area. At the arena… well, it may be random and unique, a one of a kind of battle experience unparalleled to any other, but it is only a staged thing at the arena."

"But it's such a challenge! Such a powerful, original fight! You'd be hard pressed to find a half dozen hunters in Loc Lac that have fought a challenge to match it!"

"Perhaps. Perhaps. Yet if that's the goal you seek, then for me, it's simply not challenge enough."

"Not…" Nax stared at the long sword user with a flabbergasted expression. "Not challenge enough? What kind of hunts are you searching for? What sort of challenges could possibly match up to fighting a Diablos and an Uragaan at the same time?"

"Simple. Fighting a Diablos and an Uragaan at the same time in their natural habitats, or somewhere closeby." The lancer stared at the long sword user incredulously, and Harker continued. "Let me explain. There's a reason that I don't care to fight monsters in the arena ever, and that's because the hunter always has a bit of an advantage. Maybe not in strength or size or speed, but no matter how tough a monster is or how many of them there are, in the arena they're out of their element, like a fish out of water. Where's the fun in fighting monsters if they aren't at their prime, in a place where they know how to use the world to their advantage? A Diablos can't dig as quickly through dirt as it can through sand, and an Uragaan truly loses the real advantages its rolling gives it in the tight quarters of the arena. I study monsters as they are, at their best. The arena doesn't offer that pleasure to me."

Nax stared at Harker, an uncertain look on his face. "I must be honest. I can't tell whether or not I respect you as a hunter. On the one hand, you seem to appreciate a good, challenging hunt, but on the other hand, you refuse to accept taking a challenge that isn't natural. I don't know what to make of you."

"I get that a lot," Harker chuckled.

Levin noticed Ellie and Kerry returning, and straightened up a little as Ellie plopped herself down next to her. He grinned at her a little, then turned back to Nax and Harker. "So where do we go from here? It's getting late, and as much as I'd like to get this Rathian killed as soon as I can, I don't think it's a good idea for us to stick around here, waiting for the thing to recover and come back for us. I mean, I want the thing dead, but I don't think we'll do very well if we fight it on its terms."

"I wouldn't mind fighting it under any circumstances," Nax replied proudly. But at the looks from Kerry and Ellie, the lancer glowered in frustration. "But I suppose this particular Rathian is a little too fond of flying to fight effectively here. We would be better off finding a better spot to hunt the thing. Perhaps at its nest, wherever the damn thing is."

"In the meantime, we'll need to find somewhere to stay," Ellie said. "If we were closer to the hunting grounds, we could find a campsite, but we're a little too far away for that right now. Does anyone know whether or not there are any caves around here that we could stay in?"

"I don't know of any," Nax admitted. "There's a few caves in the area, but most of them are nests for Ludroth or other monsters. I wouldn't mind clearing one out for the night, but its finding one that could be a problem… plus, the Guild's been cracking down on Ludroth hunts outside hunting grounds recently, so I doubt they'd appreciate us doing that. Damn sticklers."

The group sat in silence for a minute or two, uncertain how to proceed. Every once in a while, one of them would look towards the sky, worried that the Rathian would return at any moment. Then all of a sudden, Harker gasped in thought. "Ah, I just recalled. Lady Kerrigan, I recall you mentioning that you thought there was an unmarked village on the map in this area, didn't you? I'm certain you mentioned it to me at one point or another."

Kerry blinked in surprise at the mention, but an uncertain look crossed her face. "No, Harker. I don't think it's actually there. I mean, it was something I just thought I saw, not what was actually there."

"What did you see, exactly?" Levin asked curiously.

Kerry grimaced, clearly unhappy with being put on the spot about… whatever it was Harker was putting her on the spot about. After a moment of uncertain silence, the bowgunner continued. "A few times when I've been hunting in this area of the Flooded Forest, I sometimes could swear I've seen smoke on the horizon. Like cooking fire smoke, or smithy smoke. You know, signs of civilization. But every time I've gone hunting for the source of the fires, I've never been able to find wherever the smoke has been coming from. No village or even signs of campsites. I always think my eyes are playing tricks on me, but I still sometimes see the smoke in the distance and go searching for the source again."

"Sounds bogus," Nax muttered, earning a scowl from Ellie. Kerry shrugged at the accusation though.

"I know, I know. I can't even decide if what I'm seeing is real or not myself. But I still try to find it every time I see the smoke."

"There's no sign of villages or anything in this area according to any of the maps I've seen of the area," Nax said. "We're better off looking for a cave of some kind to spend the night in, Ludroth or no. If not that, we'd have to hide under a tree truck or something, and I have no intention of staying out in the open, thank you very much."

Ellie sighed. She wanted to agree with Kerry, but seeking a source of smoke that Kerry herself didn't know the source of? That was a shot in the dark if there ever was one. As much as she didn't like the thought as clearing out a Ludroth cave, it was their best bet for getting a safe sleeping spot.

Before she could speak, though, Levin shifted a little next to her and spoke up. "Where did you think this hidden campsite or village or whatever it was is, Kerry?"

"I don't really believe it exists…" Kerry said quietly, "but every time I've looked for it, I've always ended up tailing the trail to the head of a river to the east of here. There's a spring at the peak of a big hill over that way, that sends waterfalls and rapids down the side of the edges. It's quite something to see, to be honest, but I always go thinking I'll find someone camping at the edge of the pond there, fishing for food or something, but I can never really find the source of the smoke."

"Waterfalls?" Levin asked. A speculative look was on his face, and Ellie wondered where he was going with this. "Are there caves in the area too?"

"A few," Kerry replied. "I've checked those too, though. They're all empty as well. Why?"

"Just thinking there might be something hidden there that you hadn't thought of," Levin replied. "I remember, the last time me and Ellie had to deal with a Rathian, there was a landmark kind of like the one you described. And the cave the thing was nesting in was…"

"…hidden behind a waterfall!" Ellie finished. "I'd almost forgotten about that!"

Kerry and Nax looked unconvinced, though. The lancer was frowning at the words. "You want to risk traveling a distance in hopes of finding a village hidden behind a waterfall? That's kind of nuts, if you ask me."

"Well if nothing else," Levin replied, "Kerry said there are caves over that way, so there'll be someplace we can stay if all else fails."

The lancer grunted in irritation, but shrugged in acceptance. "Fine, whatever. Just don't blame me if we get attacked by something nasty for listening to the Companion Killer."

"Oh, shut up, Nax," Kerry growled at the lancer.

The five hunter took off again, watching the reddening sky as the sun slowly worked its way further and further down in the sky. Once again, Kerry and Nax were in a fowl mood with each other, but the pair of them had apparently decided on giving each other the silent treatment, rather than shouting at each other, thankfully. The group of them didn't have far to travel, but there wasn't that much time in the day left, so they had to move quickly. But thanks to the cloudy sky, the forest got darker a lot faster than normal, and the hunters were forced to pull out torches, and hustle a little faster.

About an hour later, a loud rumbling could be heard reverberating through the trees, the sound of the dozen or so waterfalls that poured down the large hill where the five of them were headed, Kerry informed them. Sure enough, in the distance through the tree trunks, a large hump in the earth could be seen.

"I still don't really think we'll find anything worthwhile," Kerry was saying as they finally broke through the trees of the forest onto a flat, open wetland covered mostly in mud and small grasses. The mound was right in front of them, just as Kerry had described; a rocky uprising in the earth with mist and waterfalls pouring down the sides, showing where the fountain at the top originated. "I mean, I realize there could be a cave behind one of the falls, but I'm pretty sure I would've seen signs of some kind if a hunter or something passed through the area."

"I say we just look for a cave or something," Nax cut in. "I'm the only one here with any skill at fighting at night, so I'd really like for the us to get… um… oh, you've got to be kidding me."

Ellie turned to follow the lancer's line of sight, and her eyes landed on a large waterfall that was cascading down one of the nearby rock walls. It was one of the wider falls that Ellie remembered seeing, stretching across almost a hundred straight feet of length, crashing down into the rocks below. From there, the water surged into a churning sort of rapids, that continued on through the forest off towards one of the rivers that wound through the forest. As for the waterfall itself, it seemed normal enough, but Ellie realized that, in the darkness of the cloud cover, the waterfall seemed to stand out a little more than the others. It seemed to be glowing a little… Then Ellie realized what that meant. Light was being emitted from behind the falls, a warm light from the coloration, like the light from a fire or fires. Which meant life of some kind, perhaps a campsite or something of the like.

"Ha! Seems you were right all along, Lady Kerrigan!" Harker laughed. "Signs of life if ever there were any!"

"I guess so," Kerry replied, a happy look on her face. "Should we go in? I'm actually kind of excited to find out what's waiting for us in there now that I know that what I didn't think exists, actually does."

"Knowing your luck, there'll be a Rathian in there waiting for us," Nax grumbled.

"Oh, shut up and let me have this one, jerk."

"Quit arguing you two!" Ellie shouted, jumping into the lead. "With luck, it'll be warm and dry in there, and honestly, with all the nights I've spent avoiding the dampness of the forest trying to sleep through the night, I really would sleep under a Rathian for a dry place to sleep."

With that, Ellie took the lead, heading towards the lit up waterfall. She was barely joking at all when she claimed that there wasn't much she'd risk for the sake of getting a warm, dry sleep in the forest area. The only thing she liked less than waking up soaked to the bone in the Flooded Forest was waking up covered in sand in the desert. As she approached the falls, she realized there wasn't a path behind the water, though… she'd have to push through the waterfall to get to whatever lay behind. Well, she could dry herself off inside, she decided. She wanted to be warm now. With a quick glance towards the others, making sure they were still close behind, she stepped into the crashing water.

Ellie pushed her way through the torrential deluge of water that blocked of the cave hidden behind the falls. For the first time, she really got a feel for the difference in her new armor; despite the onslaught of white water that smashed onto her head and shoulders, the liquid seemed to just slide around her, the armor allowing her to slide through the water as though it was a shower, not a waterfall. In a moment, she was through, and could hear the other four hunters behind her struggling to push through the falls. She quickly wiped the water out of her eyes, somewhat wishing the helmet had more of a face shield, before glancing around the cavern she'd entered and gaping in surprise.

She had expected an open cavern, with a skylight, or perhaps even a few glowing gemstones or something of the like, with a camp in the middle or something. She'd seen stuff like that before. What she hadn't expected was to find a veritable village clustered underneath the cavern ceiling, almost a dozen pint-sized huts clustered around a large bonfire in the center of the cave. The houses were just barely taller than Ellie herself, like a miniaturized version of Boma Village. Except, rather than humans, the village was filled with Felynes. Dozens of the small furry creatures were clustered around the fire or meandering around the village, going through the day to day work Ellie recalled seeing in any other town: carrying water, bartering, joking around, and shopping.

"Oh, wow." Ellie turned, seeing that Kerry had managed to get through the falls, and was glancing around the tiny village in awe. The three guys weren't too far behind, Levin and Nax glancing around in confusion, while Harker's eyes lit up in joy and excitement.

"A Felyne village! How rare!" the long sword user giggled. "Oh, I've wanted to visit one of these! So curious! Do they resemble humans in their methods? What is their society like out here in the wilds? Do they have their own hunters? So many questions to ask! Where should I begin, I can't even decide!"

"Calm down, Harker," Kerry said soothingly, placing a hand gently on the madman's shoulder. "This is their territory, and they may not want us here, so…"

"We've been expecting you, nya…"

Ellie glanced down in surprise at the sudden voice, and saw a wizened-looking Felyne standing in front of her, holding itself steady with the smallest cane the Lost hunter thought she'd ever seen. "Expecting us?" she asked, surprised. She glanced up, and finally realized that the Felynes had barely reacted when the five of them had waltzed into their home. Several were looking at the hunters with interest, but in catlike manner, a majority of them simply took note of the five of them, figured them to not be a threat, then moved on with their work.

"Indeed, indeed," the older Felyne chuckled. "Five hunters, all of them bearing different weapons, three men and two women. The first to enter would bear the skin of the Lagiacrus, and the last the skin of the Agnaktor. Does that not define the five of you, nya?"

The five of them glanced around each other in shock. Ellie had been the first one in, for sure, and looking back, she realized that, like the Felyne had said, Nax was in the back, just behind Levin.

"You saw us come in?" Nax said, a disbelieving but slightly frightened look on his face. "You saw us come in, right?"

The old Felyne chuckled again. "Well, I was standing here when you entered. I would've seen you come in, nya… but then, I haven't seen much of anything in years and years." Ellie looked closer and realized that the Felyne was telling the truth. The small cat creature's eyes were narrow, but Ellie could just tell that the old thing's eyes were faded and white; the Felyne was utterly and completely blind. "Not much of a chance for me to make up stories of predictions when I can describe the lot of you despite being blind, eh?"

"So, how did you know we were coming?" Kerry asked, sounding slightly awed.

"It wasn't me that knew you were coming, if that's what you're asking," the old Felyne grinned. "I was merely told you were going to be coming, like the other Felynes here. I was also asked to bring you to the one who made the prediction. Would you follow me, please, nya? He's been waiting for you for over a week now."

"He told you we were coming a week in advance?" Levin asked, glancing around the other Felynes nervously and with a touch of distrust. "We didn't even know we'd be taking this mission until yesterday afternoon. How would…"

"You'll see, you'll see," the Felyne chuckled, before turning to head into the village. "Just follow me, and you'll find out what you want to know."

The five glanced at each other uncertainly once more, before Kerry took the lead and followed the Felyne into the small village. Ellie was caught off guard a bit by the other bowgunner's expression as the other four tailed after her; for some reason, Kerry had a very awed and expectant look on her face. Was she a fan of fortunes and other such stuff? Ellie didn't care much for such things, or even really believe in it, but… well, she supposed there were others that might, and by the looks of it, Kerry might be one of those people.

The old Felyne lead the five hunters through the village, hardly a long walk at all, since the five of them were able to cross the town in only a quick minute. All of the hunters were curious expressions on their faces, though Nax certainly made no attempt to hide his disdain at the idea of following the cat around, grumbling the whole way. Harker seemed amused by the whole thing, but had an expectant look on his face, if not doubtful. Levin seemed as bipolar as ever, an irritated look on his face most of the time, but for some reason the great sword user had a worried look on his face. As for Ellie… admittedly, she was intrigued, but didn't know what to expect.

Finally, the old Felyne led the hunters into a hut larger than most of the others. "_Guest House"_ was written in a sloppy scrawl over the door, which surprised Ellie; she hadn't thought the Felynes would be so accommodating to visitors. Though as the old Felyne led them through the door, even Ellie, the shortest of the five, was forced to duck a little bit to get into the hut. Harker practically had to kneel to get inside.

The room was dark as they entered, despite the crackling fire in the center of the room, forcing Ellie to pause a moment to let her eyes adjust. But what she finally saw once she could really see again took her by surprise. She'd expected another Felyne, perhaps a female or some other sort thing. She had the image of an old gypsy woman in his head or something similar. But instead, on the other side of the fire in the center of the room, sat an old, _old_ looking Wyvernian. Every one of the short creatures Ellie recalled seeing had an aged look about them, but this one seemed simply ancient, with wrinkled, hard skin and tufts of grey sideburns stretching down his face. And weathered as well, Ellie realized. The Wyvernian sported a collection of rugged and worn traveling clothes, and his face had a tired, rough, bedraggled look about him, like he'd been roughing it in the wild for his whole life. The only thing on the creature's body that seemed solid and in good condition was a short, fully iron walking stick he held across his lap.

"Right on time," the Wyvernian muttered, glancing around the five hunters. "I almost thought you'd be late, but…"

"You're the Veggie Elder, aren't you?" Kerry cut the man off breathlessly, before sputtering to herself in embarrassment. "I'm sorry, it's just… you're a legend! You can see the future!"

"In certain circles, I suppose," the Veggie Elder grinned. "There are those that look up to me, claiming I am a… prophet of sorts. But most people don't take what I say or claim seriously, and believe me to be a fraud, or simply mad… am I not correct, Pugnax?"

Ellie turned in surprise, and realized that the lancer behind her had a dark scowl spread across his face, and was glaring at the Wyvernian in anger. "You are right," Nax growled, "though I don't know how you know my name. Most people think you're crazy. Most people think you're a psychotic creep that suckers hunters out of their treasures in exchange for junk. Prophesy? Pah. Anyone can make a lucky guess at one point or another."

"How dare you!" Kerry hissed, turning on the lancer. "The Veggie Elder is a prophet! You don't know anything!"

"Lies! That's all this conman does!" Nax shouted back. "He tricks people into giving him rare materials and other goods, for junk! He's gotten dozens, if not hundreds of hunters! That's all he's good for, suckering people!"

"He wouldn't!"

"I would, actually," the Veggie Elder interjected, pulling a gasp from Kerry. "I am old, very old, and as little as I'd like to admit to it and despite my best efforts, my mind is continuing to deteriorate. Every now and then I'll find myself doing things I shouldn't have or saying things I shouldn't have."

"You sucker people out of their hunting goods… because you're going senile?" Harker asked, sounding slightly amused but earning a sharp look from Kerry.

"I'm not sure what exactly that word means, but it sounds like you know what you're talking about, Harker," the Wyvernian sighed. The long sword user raised an eyebrow, clearly surprised the Veggie Elder knew his name, but the grin remained spread across his face. "Essentially, every now and then, I'll believe that something I possess is worth far more than it actually is, and try and convince hunters I meet to trade rare goods for them. It's not been something I've been proud of, but I've been trying to keep myself from falling apart for the sake of higher purposes."

"What higher purposes?" Nax scoffed. "Finding a different, wealthier hunter to sucker out of his or her hard earned materials and resources?"

"No, simply… telling certain people things that they need to hear." Then the old Wyvernian turned his head to pointedly look at Levin. "And occasionally helping people that have gotten themselves in over their heads. It's been a while, Levin."

Ellie noticed the great sword user wince visibly as the Veggie Elder pointed his attention at him, before a very distraught sort of expression crossed his face. "Yeah, I remember you," he muttered darkly. "I never caught your name before… when I met you. Though I doubt your name is actually 'the Veggie Elder.'"

"My name has been gone from my mind for more years than you've been alive, I think. Though I have little doubt you would not have sought me out, even if you'd known who I was," the Wyvernian said with a sad smirk, pulling a small pipe out of one of his many pockets, as well as a pouch of tobacco. "You were in, shall we say, less than ideal control of yourself at the time, and not if very good physical condition either. It's understandable that you'd want to try and forget that day."

"You know the Veggie Elder?" Kerry asked Levin, sounding awed.

"We've… met," Levin replied sourly. "He got me to Loc Lac after… after…" Levin seemed to be struggling, a confused and uncertain look crossing his face. Ellie wasn't certain where Levin was supposed to be going with his thoughts. She tried to recall what Levin had told her about what had happened before he got to Loc Lac, but didn't recall the great sword user saying all that much about that past except for…

"The Barioth?" Ellie suddenly asked, before realizing what she'd asked. A pained expression crossed her partner's face at the mention, and Ellie knew she'd struck gold. "_He_ saved you from the Barioth that almost killed you? He… how did…"

"Not the kind of person you'd expect to fight off a nasty monster, eh, lassie?" the Veggie Elder smirked. "I'm short, and I'm old, but that doesn't mean I can't keep myself alive, and occasionally keep others alive as well. I do live out in the wilds, after all. Wouldn't still be alive if I didn't have some pepper in me."

"But… a Barioth?" Ellie had seen a Barioth in action only the only, but the things practically flew across the ground, even outside their native habitats. Ellie was scared to see how nasty the beasts were out in the Tundra, where they had the natural home field advantage.

"I'm tougher than I look, though admittedly that's not saying much. I found the lad getting beaten pretty badly by a Barioth while I was heading south towards warmer climes. Only just managed to keep him from being killed, but… well… The strain of his injuries left him…" The old Wyvernian paused, glancing over at the great sword user again, and though Levin had a pained expression on his face, he made no motion to stop the Veggie Elder, but turned his face away from the other four hunters. After a long moment the Wyvernian continued. "He was delusional and ranting, screaming profanities and other raving shouts. His wounds, compounded with… whatever happened to him before being pulled here from wherever you Lost came from, left him broken and maddened."

Both Ellie and Harker's faces fell a little at the mention of madness. Ellie wasn't sure whether or not Harker had come to terms with his own madness, but they both knew what it was like, being part of a civilization that was collectively known for having a very loose grip on their sanities. Ellie only just barely had a handle on her own madness, having to constantly keep a reign on her perception while out in the field; losing control of her focus still had the occasional effect of sinking her into the hyper-focus without her wanting to, tending to create more problems than help. Harker's madness was less immediately life-threatening as far as Ellie could tell, but still consistently led the long sword user into trouble. Ellie glanced towards Levin, who still had a pained expression on his face. It was subtle, but she still noticed when the great sword user's hand went up and pressed lightly against the long, three-lined scar that stretched across his face.

Kerry had a sad look on her face as well; having no small amount of compassion felt towards Harker, as well as the ample amount of time she'd known the long sword user, she no doubt felt sympathy for the Lost in general. Nax had a bit of a tentative look on his face as he looked at Levin now. Ellie wondered if the lancer was having second thoughts about the great sword user now that he was hearing how deep the Lost madness could run.

"Gave the doctors and nurses a scare when I brought him into the hospital," the Veggie Elder continued, lighting his pipe and taking a few quick puffs. "Kept going on and on about fire and destruction, pain and darkness. It wasn't that challenging to figure out which monster he was talking about, and the mention is what scared them the most, as well as his no doubt less than appealing promises to hunt down the creature and destroy it. He wasn't the first Lost to pop into Los Lac, but he was certainly the first to raise a ruckus."

"I… don't really remember too much about my time in Loc Lac," Levin admitted.

"I'd be surprised if many of the Lost that arrived during that time did," Harker said. "For those that appeared first, it was no doubt a very traumatic time. Culture shock, as well as the loss of the comfortable and familiar, can leave people in a panicked and disoriented. It's not… uncommon for memories of a stressful time to be blocked out of memory, or at least buried. I suppose it was a little easier for the Lost that came after the initial groups. By then the citizens of Loc Lac had figured out what to do with us, and the Lost that were here had adjusted enough to help the others cope."

"Hearing it scientifically doesn't really help what we had to go through," Levin muttered, though it wasn't a cold statement, just fact.

"Anyway," the Veggie Elder continued, getting the five hunters' attentions again, "when I got you out of the Tundra, and delivered you to Loc Lac, I felt something about you. It's hard to properly describe, but I only truly get the feeling when… well, when I am required to provide to you what a number of hunters refer to as prophesies."

"Such an honor," Kerry breathed, though the great sword user's eyes looked less excited.

Levin's eyes narrowed on the Wyvernian, the look of irritation and frustration returning to his face. "I don't like the idea of things like fate or visions dictating my future."

"Then consider it advice," the Veggie Elder replied, pushing himself to his feet. "All this feeling does to me is give me the compelling need to tell you something you apparently need to hear. I wanted to tell you what needed to be said back in Loc Lac, but, well, you weren't exactly in the best state of mind at the time. You still don't seem that on top of things right now, if I must be honest."

Levin opened his mouth to object, but the old Wyvernian kept on talking as he walked over to the great sword user, metal walking stick clicking against the wooden floor boards. "Not only that, but, even though I felt I must advise you, I felt that it wasn't quite yet the right time for us to meet. As time passed, and days turned to weeks, then months, then even a year, the feeling began to change, and I felt as though there was more to what needed saying than I thought. As time passed and the day we met again grew closer, I realized that while you were the starting point of a series of multiple people that all needed to hear what I had to say. You were the focal point for over half a dozen people that I would eventually need to talk to. This baffled me, considering the feeling, the need to speak to people usually only comes along once every decade or so, and two within eight years is almost unheard of. Yet, now there are at least eight people I need to talk to as soon as I possibly can."

"But wait, hold on," Levin cut in. "Why wait, then? Why not come and see me while I was in Boma? Or Loc Lac? Why wait until now?"

"That confused me as well," the Veggie Elder replied. "Before meeting you, when I needed to tell someone something, it was immediate. I told them as soon as I found them, but… when you came along, it was as though it was better, no, necessary for me to wait until a better time to tell you what needed saying. I was tempted about a month ago to meet up with you, but I was… advised to not meet you quite yet. So I waited. Until now."

Levin grimaced. He stood silent for a moment, occasionally glancing towards the door as if he wanted nothing more than to run away, or stalk away, Ellie couldn't be certain which. But finally he gritted his teeth and glared at the old Wyvernian. "Fine. Tell me… what I need to hear."

The Veggie Elder sighed, as though relieved at the great sword user's answer. He was silent for a moment, as though taking in his thoughts, or meditating. Finally he exhaled, speaking in a calm monotone. "You seek to change what you cannot, and fight against what you shouldn't. You cannot defeat what you desire to, and you will not find what you seek. Killing will not aid your cause, no matter what you hope or are promised. You must accept this, or suffer greater than you have before."

"That's what you came to tell me?" Levin growled. Ellie was shocked at the great sword user's expression. Her partner was positively seething, fists clenched tight together to the point where they were pale white from the strain. The look her partner was giving the old Wyvernian was positively… murderous. "You came to tell me that my goal… my only goal, is unattainable? That the bastard black monster is unkillable?"

"No! No, no, I'm not," the Veggie Elder replied, shaking his head. His eyes were dizzy and glazed, very unfocused. "If there's one this these… gah, I really don't like calling them prophesies either. If my… advice has proven to be anything over the years, it's that they tend to be very, very vague and have multiple interpretations. I won't say it doesn't mean what you think it means, but I won't say it does either."

"Then what else could it mean!" Levin shouted. "How else should I interpret it? That the Alatreon is truly invincible? Truly immortal? That I'll never have the chance to end its damnable, cursed life?"

"I don't know," the Veggie Elder muttered, sounding weak and shrunken. Then his eyes hardened a bit and he looked up to meet Levin's eyes. "But… I do know this: Everything ends, Levin. One way or another, everything ends, no matter what fate or fortune dictate."

The look of fury on Levin's face abated slightly, but only slightly. He continued to glare at the Veggie Elder for a long moment, before cursing at the top of his lungs and swinging his fist at a nearby wooden column, splintering the frame with a long, spindling crack. With an abrupt turn, the great sword user stalked out of the hut, nearly tearing down the fabric barricades as he forced his way back into the open area of the Felyne village.

Ellie could only stand frozen for a moment, stunned at what had just happened. Levin's goal had been to take down the Alatreon, and the Veggie Elder had just shattered his hopes of doing so… or had he? The man himself said the 'advice' or whatever was never what it seemed to be, but… never the less. The other three hunters seemed just as confused as her, though Kerry seemed painfully torn about the whole thing. Harker and Nax didn't seem to know what to think in the slightest.

But her dedication, her love for Levin won over in the end. She glared furiously at the old wyvernian, who said with a pained, miserable expression on his own face. He deserved to feel so bad, Ellie thought. Without another word, she tore after the great sword user, blowing through the remains of the curtain door. Outside, the great sword user was nowhere to be found, but the sight of irritated or shoved over Felynes left a trail behind, leading around the side of the village and even further back into the cavern. The further back Ellie went, the greener and greener the cave seemed to get, with grass and brush sprouting up from the ground as she got a few dozen yards away from the ring of huts. A few small trees even began to sprout up in the thin dirt that lined the rocky ground.

That was where Ellie found Levin, sitting limply against the trunk of one of the thicker trees of the cavern. There were signs of his vented frustration in a dozen places: ripped tree limbs, torn grass, shredded bark. His great sword was half-embedded in the very trunk of the tree that Levin was slumped up against, rammed at least half way through the tree and stuck there for now, likely deep enough to have killed the tree.

Despite Ellie's rush to catch up with the great sword user, Ellie was hesitant to approach. But when she got close enough, Levin reached up and grabbed her hand, squeezing tightly. Ellie didn't need any more motivation, and quickly sat down next to the great sword user, whapping her arms around his neck and pulling him into an embrace.

"Something's wrong with me, Ellie," Levin muttered, and Ellie pulled him tighter. "I can feel it… something deep inside, eating away at me, eating away at my sanity. I wanted to kill him. The Veggie Elder. I wanted him dead. Something he said, I don't know what, made me just want to strangle him, to tell him to shut up."

"The Alatreon," Ellie whispered, before kicking herself mentally for bringing it up. But Levin only shook his head.

"Not even that. I don't know what it was, but… it wasn't about the Alatreon, it was something else the man said, but I can't remember, not even a little bit. It's something I can't remember, something deep inside that won't show itself or go away, and I wanted to kill him for it. I'm afraid Ellie, that if I remember… what's hidden, I'll lose everything. But if I don't remember, it'll just… just keep eating away at me until I fall apart. I don't know what to do."

"We'll figure it out Levin," Ellie told him. "Somehow or another we'll figure this out. You helped me recover from my own madness, and I'm going to help you recover from yours."

"I don't know if it'll be that easy, Ellie. It took something powerful to help you get over your desire overbearing need to kill monsters. The Raths may have some beauty to their lives, but I don't think the same could be said about the Alatreon."

"Maybe not…" Ellie replied. "But… we'll figure something out. I know we can."

"I hope so. But he keeps taunting me, and… I have to find him. I have to kill him! He has to pay for what he's done!"

Ellie couldn't bring herself to say anything else. What else could she say? So she simply clung tighter to the great sword user, wishing she could do more for him. Levin had somehow sunken himself into a blind need for revenge against the Alatreon, though what he wanted revenge for was unknown; Ellie doubted that it was for the entirety of the creature's crimes, because Levin's anger seemed far too personal to just be that. And it wouldn't be for sending Levin here to the hunting world, he seemed to be enjoying himself here, despite recent events. So what had happened?

She couldn't bring herself to ask, though, with the great sword user in such pain and anger. He seemed too confused as it was to know anyway, always bouncing back and forth in his personality, uncertain what to do half the time. There had to be something that he could remember though, but that would have to be saved for a later time.

For now, she would just do what she could to comfort him as the night wore on.

* * *

The next morning found Ellie woken up by the brightening of the room, as the Felynes of the village lit the lanterns in the room to welcome the day. As her eyes peeked open, she realized that she and Levin had fallen asleep under the mangled tree that she'd spent the night trying to comfort him under. Somehow the pair of them had managed to doze off, despite the less than comforting words the Veggie Elder had offered Levin the previous day. Levin still had a pained expression on his face, even while sleeping, which tore at Ellie's heartstrings.

A just-barely-large-enough blanket covered the pair of them, Ellie realized. Images of Felynes and Shakalaka and miniature, cute caricatures of monsters covered the blanket, possibly a bit of hospitality offered to the hunters from the Felynes of the village, despite the pair of them passing out far from the public center of the village. Ellie would have to find and thank whichever Felyne had been gracious enough to offer them the comfort, despite Levin's outburst at the Veggie Elder, whom the Felynes seemed to revere.

Ellie tried to get up without waking the great sword user, but Levin was awake at the slightest motion, blinking to adjust to the changing light. His expression was still confused and distraught, but seemed more in control of himself, if only a little. The two got to their feet, stretching themselves out. Ellie's guess of the Felynes' hospitality proved true, when a pair of them appeared from a nearby house bearing plates of food for them (admittedly, it was a pile of cooked fish, but still). The two thanked the Felynes , who were happy to know their food had been good. Before leaving, though, the pair of cats told the two hunters that the other three were preparing to leave, waiting for them at the guest house where the Veggie Elder was still staying.

Ellie glanced in the direction of the guest house, and turned to look at Levin. As she'd suspected, though, the hunter seemed torn about the idea of heading back to where the Veggie Elder was staying. Eventually the great sword user just shook his head. "Go ahead and tell the others we're ready to go," he said quietly. "I don't think I could handle seeing… that man again."

Ellie nodded in reply, not willing to risk Levin's already precarious sanity with another conversation with the Veggie Elder. So the great sword user said he'd wait outside the entrance to the Felyne village, so they could meet up as the lot of them left the village. Ellie accepted the idea, and the great sword user took off back towards the waterfall, while Ellie made off towards the guest house once again.

She wasn't happy to see the Veggie Elder first thing as she approached the guest house, but Harker, Kerry, and Nax were waiting outside the building as well. Harker and Kerry both had worried expressions when Ellie strode up to the house by herself, and Nax had an angry and belligerent look on his own face. The Veggie Elder himself had a pained expression on his face, though from guilt or something else, Ellie couldn't tell.

"Levin's doing… alright," Ellie told the other hunters as she approached. "Though he's not exactly pleased with anything that he was told yesterday."

"I didn't aim to please," the Veggie Elder muttered sadly. "What was said, had to be said, no matter how little I wanted to say it."

"Whatever," Ellie replied. "Anyway, he's waiting for us outside the village, so we can get going anytime. If we're going to find this Rathian, wherever it is, we'll need to get going as soon as we can."

"I'm all for that plan," Nax said, pushing himself to his feet. "I want to try and find this wyvern as soon as we possibly can. We've wasted enough time here listening to so-called prophets tell people what they can and can't do."

"Oh, be quiet," Kerry growled. She still seemed to be defensive of the Veggie Elder, though it was clear she was torn about the whole issue. "You don't know anything about the Elder. You're just being stubborn because we wouldn't let you try and talk to Levin after he took off yesterday."

"Whatever, Companion Killer."

A pained expression crossed the bowgunners face, and Ellie was caught off guards when an angry expression actually crossed Harker's face. The long sword user opened his mouth, but before he could say a word, the Veggie Elder spoke up, cutting off the impending argument. "If you seek the Rathian, you'll find it to the north of here. Through a crack in the earth and a cluster of trees, and finally across a basin of stone, and you'll find the creature's nest at the peak of a broken people's monument."

Ellie blinked in surprise at the words. North? There wasn't much up there but thick, tightly packed forests. A few smaller creatures lived in that area, as far as Ellie knew, but without the smaller large monsters like Great Jaggi living in the Flooded Forest, there really wasn't any sort of threats in the area except for larger packs of Jaggi or Ludroth that worked their ways through the trees. But a monument? What was that all about?

"What's that, another prophesy?" Nax scoffed.

"No," the old Wyvernian smirked. "Just the truth. I've been to that nest before. The basin it sits in is quite the sight to see, and I decided to visit it a year or so ago. Got jumped by the Rathian while I was there, and only just made it out of there by the seat of my pants. Nearly lost my pants, actually; had to put the flames out while I was running."

Nax opened his mouth to interject, but Kerry cut him off. "We're grateful for the help. We might not have found its nest without your help."

"Yeah, thanks," Ellie muttered. She appreciated the help, but was still displeased with the Veggie Elder for the previous day.

"One last thing," the Veggie Elder said, pushing himself up to his feet. "I didn't mention this yesterday, since… well, it just didn't seem appropriate at the time. But, the truth is, as I mentioned last night, there are a multitude of people that I am compelled to speak to, and from what I can tell, the four of you are all people on the list of those I must speak to."

"Really?" Kerry asked, sounding excited. Then her face fell a little at the memory of what Levin had been told. Harker seemed wary as well, but interested, and Nax was downright disbelieving. Ellie didn't really care to hear what the old Wyvernian had to say, but if he actually was some sort of "prophet"… she could just ignore him if she didn't trust what the old man told her.

"I suppose I'll start with you, Miss Kerrigan," the Veggie Elder said, walking over to the other bowgunner and looking up at her. Kerry admittedly looked excited, but it was no surprise after Levin's "advice" the previous night that she also wore a little bit of fear in her expression as well. The old Wyvernian inhaled softly, then began to speak in the same deep monotone as before. "You fear the repetition of the past more greatly than anything the present or future offers to threaten you. You must face the death you fear. Trust your instincts and gut above all else, and live to lead the dead."

"I don't… what? I don't understand." Kerry looked flabbergasted. "What do you mean, 'lead the dead'? I don't get what you're talking about."

"And neither do I," the Veggie Elder replied. "I never do until it comes to pass. But that's all I can tell you. I apologize for the vagueness of the whole thing, but I really can't do much else to help you. Now, as for you, Pugnax…"

Nax blanched as the Veggie Elder turned to approach him. "Hold on now. I don't want any of your nonsense. You just keep your…"

But the old Wyvernian had already stopped in front of the lancer, and was taking a deep breath. Nax sputtered to a halt as the Veggie Elder began rumbling out yet another prediction. "Your humanity slips ever further away from you. Do not lose sight of yourself, or risk becoming the monster you hunt. Do not reach to far, do not let your reach exceed your grasp, for if you climb too high, you will certainly fall."

Nax stared dumbly at the Veggie Elder for a moment or two before scoffing scornfully. "This is what I was talking about. Stupid. You think my desire for glory and honor will be the end of me? You think I'd become like the monsters out there? I knew this was pointless. If you want to keep talking to his hack, you can go ahead. I'm going to go wait outside the village with Levin."

And with that the lancer stormed away, shaking his head at the whole thing. The Veggie Elder sighed and his head sank. Kerry looked insulted, but couldn't seem to think of anything to say. None of the Veggie Elder's 'predictions' were anything at all what the hunters thought, or hoped they'd hear. Harker looked surprisingly thoughtful, head tilted to the side in contemplation. Was he thinking about what the Veggie Elder was saying, trying to translate the words? Or just curious as to what his own prediction was going to end up being? Or was he just contemplating the possible… medical properties… of… powdered… Gobul… lanterns? Ellie shook her head. She was better off not trying to predict Harker's thoughts.

"As for this one…" the Veggie Elder muttered, making his way over to Harker and glancing the long sword user up and down. The old Wyvernian failed to finish his sentence, however, staring at the hunter intently and with such a look of confusion and bewilderment that it seemed like the old man was looking at an alien or something else just as mystifying. "What… are you?"

"A hunter?" Harker replied simply, a small smirk creeping across his face. "A member of the Lost? A scientist?"

"You are… chaos incarnate," the old man breathed. Ellie couldn't tell if the man was afraid, or awed, or… something else. Harker seemed to have left the Wyvernian completely mystified, though Ellie had to admit she had felt similar feelings upon first meeting the other Lost hunter. Harker was… unique, ecstatic, high-energy. Harker was… Harker.

"I can't see, well, anything about your future," the Veggie Elder muttered, shocked. "Every moment you exist, things… change. Your very future is a blur, your existence an enigma. Every second I think an appropriate message is available for me to tell you, it vanishes to be replaced by another, then another, than another."

"Good," Harker grinned, shocking the old Wyvernian and pulling a gasp from Kerry. "_Fate_, or whatever you consider dictates our actions and _destinies_ (another concept I don't care for), is not something I wish to have controlling my life. I make my own choices, I choose my own paths, and I won't let you try and convince me that there are only one or two results my actions can possibly end with. You can keep your fortunes and soothsaying to yourself, thank you very much."

"Harker, be… be respectful," Kerry told him, though it didn't sound as though her own words convinced her.

"No, it's alright," the Veggie Elder replied with a small smile. "I don't expect belief from anyone, much less those with such dedication to the sciences as this one. You'd be surprised how challenging it is to convince one of thought that chemistry and other such sciences do not solve how some things are explained. I don't even expect people to continue to have faith in me after hearing the things I have to say to them."

"But… I would never…"

"Never is such an inconvenient word, Miss Kerrigan. Just when we think things can never, and will never change, that's the moment when they do. Such an odd twist of fate, even if you don't believe in the concept. Wouldn't you agree, Harker?"

"For once, I think I do," the long sword user grinned. "Entropy is quite the powerful force in the universe, after all."

"Yes, yes, whatever that means," the Wyvernian chucked. Then he began to work his way over to Ellie, and glanced up into her eyes. There was a moment of thought, before the old man muttered to himself. "Ah, a tricky one. One of those types… If you'll excuse us, Miss Kerrigan, Harker. It seems Miss Ellie here is one of those people that take a little while to read properly. It would probably be better it the two of you waited out with the other two hunters in the meantime. This could take a while."

Kerry and Harker both opened their mouths to retort, but Ellie cut them off. "Could you guys? I'm worried about Levin, and with Nax being the only one out there with him…"

"Oh, right," Kerry muttered. Harker nodded in agreement. Neither of them still cared much for the lancer, it seemed. "Let's go Harker. Levin's probably still sore from yesterday. Let's get back there before Nax tries to spin his prediction to help him get Levin more on his side."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Harker agreed. "Less of a chance for the man to get him riled up I guess…though I don't think anything we heard will really help us convince the poor guy to feel better. Maybe I can keep him occupied with what I've discovered about the medicinal properties of powdered Gobul lanterns…"

"Maybe… something different," Kerry sighed, as Ellie gave Harker a confounded look. "Catch up once you're done, Ellie. Maybe your prediction will make more sense than ours."

"Maybe," Ellie replied, though she doubted it. As the two other hunters made their way towards the edge of the village, Ellie turned to face the old Wyvernian with a sigh. "So, what do you have for me? Trying to think of the most vague and confusing way to phrase things as you possibly can?"

"No, but… If you continue to follow Levin as he is, he will leave you to die." Ellie stared dumbly at the Veggie Elder for a moment, stunned to silence. "This is the closest thing to an actual lucid prophesy that I've ever given to anyone, the most clear and precise vision I have ever witnessed, and I know for certain that it will come to pass. You don't have to be a soothsayer to see that the boy's mind is going, that he's slowly falling further into the madness of revenge and anger. You can try to save his sanity, and perhaps you'll succeed, but I'd get away from him if I were you, for the sake of your life. He'll leave you behind, so…"

Ellie's hand shot out before she even thought to stop herself, and her fist connected with the old Wyvernian's jaw and sent the elder skidding back across the porch of the guest house. The Veggie Elder's old and bent body slammed up against the wall of the hut, and several nearby Felynes yowled in shock and dismay. But Ellie didn't notice, and was already standing over the Veggie Elder, screaming down at the old man in fury.

"No! No! You are wrong! You lying, despicable, sack of filth! You don't know Levin! You don't know him at all! He would never… argh! You sick bastard! I should have known you were a lying, deceitful hack from the start! You don't know anything about either of us! I hope you rot in a Gobul's belly for eternity for ever thinking such a thing!"

The Veggie Elder didn't say a thing or retaliate in the slightest at the verbal barrage, and simply gazed up at her sadly, a thin trail of blood dripping down from a break in his leathery skin. With a final scream of frustration and anger, the Lost hunter wheeled around, stalking away from the fallen Wyvernian and ignoring the glares and shouts of anger from the village Felynes. She was too furious to care at the moment.

How dare he? How dare he make the assumption that Levin would leave her to die! Did he think she didn't know how precarious her partner's sanity was at the moment? Did he think she didn't fear that he would completely fall apart one day? But Levin had never, never gone so far as to forget his love and compassion for her. Every moment he was with her, she could feel his sanity trying to piece itself back together, trying desperately to hold himself together for her! And he protected her during hunts, even when she told him to keep his own safety paramount! To even consider implying that the great sword user would leave her behind to die was… idiotic! As much as she hated to admit it, she should have listened to Nax; the old bastard was a lying scumbag.

But as she worked her way through the waterfall leading back out into the forest, a cold feeling a fear began to creep over her. The old Wyvernian had sounded so certain, so absolute in his belief… but no. She wouldn't accept what he'd said, no matter what people said about the man. Levin wouldn't do something so cruel. Even with his slow decent into madness, even with this anger and hatred towards the Alatreon and, more recently, monsters in general, he genuinely cared for Ellie, and that wouldn't change. She couldn't afford to believe otherwise. She'd stay with Levin, no matter what happened, no matter what threats loomed over the pair of them.

As she pushed out into the forest again, catching sight of the other four hunters she traveled with, she realized that telling any of them what the Wyvernian had told her would likely be a very bad idea, especially Levin. She'd keep what the Veggie Elder had told her to herself, even if it was a total fabrication. Nax still had a sour look on his face, and Harker was talking to Levin about who knows what.

"What did the Veggie Elder tell you?" Kerry asked as Ellie approached the others.

"He… couldn't figure out what to tell me," Ellie replied. "Whatever it was that he wanted to let me know, must have gotten, I don't know, clogged up in the jumble that is his mind."

"Tumbled about in the memories of the past and future," Harker chuckled. "Dancing out of grasp along the synapses and highways of the senile and deranged mind of the mystic. Maybe his grasp on the future decided to go back to where it came from, instead of lingering around where it shouldn't be in the present."

"Excuse me?" Kerry asked, confused.

"Apologies," Harker laughed. "The concept of the future always makes me feel a little poetic. You know, I wonder if I could convince the old goat to donate his body to science, to let me dissect him when he finally kicks the bucket. It would be fascinating to take a peek at the connections and structures in a brain that apparently acts as a receiver for memories of the future, rather than those of the past. Maybe there's a synapse or two that allows one to perceive past three dimensions and into the fourth, or even fifth. I'd have to be careful not to cut the wrong place, though…"

Kerry gaped at the comment, and Nax, sitting nearby, had a look of horror on his face. Levin looked disturbingly amused, though, and Ellie could only shake her head in dismay. This madman was making it really easy to dodge the truth, thankfully. "Harker, I think you've sidestepped curious and gone straight on to psychotic."

"You're probably right," the long sword user sighed. "Best keep my thoughts on the natural world, rather than the metaphysical. Save that fun stuff for my waning years. I've got too many experiments on my plate at the moment, and the old man would probably outlive me anyway, considering how long his species lasts."

"I wouldn't mind helping with that," Levin chuckled under his breath.

"We're getting off track," Nax spoke up, still shivering at the thought of dissecting the dead. "Whether or not this so-called 'prophet' can see the future or not, he claimed to know where the Rathian's nest was through experience. He claims to have been there before. Now as a soothsayer, I think the old conman deserves to get run out of any town or village he enters, but that Rathian's been dogging us the whole time we've been in this forest. He may be senile and crazy, but I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. I say we go find this basin or whatever it is."

"How oddly charitable of you," Kerry replied drily.

"Oh, shut up. I just want to find the Rathian so we can finish this hunt. This monster's pissing me off, and I want it good and gone. Though I hope I'm not hunting with you guys when the old cheat comes back to give Ellie there his little prediction. I've seen enough of the guy in the last day to last a lifetime."

The hunters nodded to each other, clearly having no desire to stick around the Felyne village. None of them had truly enjoyed meeting the Veggie Elder, except for Harker, who still seemed amused by the whole idea of prescience. But as the group got their bearings and prepared to head north, Ellie realized that Levin was looking at her intently. She met his gaze with a ill-humored grin, but the great sword user just kept on staring at her as though… as though he knew what the Elder had said. Or at the very least that she'd been told something. The great sword user's eyes bored into her, and Ellie could feel herself growing more and more nervous at her partner's gaze. But eventually Levin shook his head, turning away from Ellie, and the sword and shield user shivered. She knew he'd try to corner her about the issue, sooner or later.

So the hunters set out across the forest, heading north as advised, and doing as they had the day before, avoided the waters and the rivers, so no Gobuls or Lagiacrus would be able to sneak up on them. As Nax had told them, the further north the lot of them went, the denser and denser the thick forests grew, until finally the towering trunks grew so thickly and so tightly knit, that the five hunters were forced to trail their way through the woods single-file, Ellie being pushed into the lead so she could use her short sword as a machete and cut her way through the dense foliage. It was a good thing that several whetstones had been brought to the forest between the four blade wielders in the party, because the Lost huntress was forced to stop and re-sharpen what felt like every other minute.

There were a few tight moments on their trip to the alleged basin. At one point, a small collection of Ludroth popped out of a pond that the group trekked past. The fight shouldn't have been all that hard, but with only a few scarce feet of land with which to maneuver, the battle became hectic and messy, with all of the hunters needing to be careful not to harm any of their comrades. Levin and Harker had the worst of it, both with weapons that required a lot of room to swing. But the fight was over quickly enough, and the group was left gasping for breath, glad that the fight was over. They made sure to avoid any and all water sources after that.

After what seemed like the whole day, light finally began to filter through the broad leaves of the Flooded Forest, giving hope to the hunters that there might be an opening up ahead, which would allow them at least a little bit more versatility than creeping around and over massive tree roots. Anything was better than the current situation; the hunters didn't know what this basin was supposed to look like, but if it was at least ten feet wide, they'd be happy.

Ellie gaped in awe, however, as they entered a broad, open area. She'd expected something like a glade, or some other type of clearing, but what the five of them found was something completely different. The basin was at least fifty feet wide, thankfully. The ground was green, not because of grasses or ferns or bushes, but because of a thick, soft mossy sort of organism. What was especially odd, was that under the thick moss wasn't dirt, but rather thick, tiled stone slabs, which could be seen every few dozen feet or so in places the moss wasn't fully growing. The entire basin was completely floored with the stones, each elaborately designed with creative images and hieroglyphs, the same Ellie remembered seeing in the tower on Echo Island, as well as the ruined wall they'd seen on their trek home after the Lagiacrus attack.

But the stone tiles weren't the main thing that caught the bowgunner's attention as the five hunters strode into the open area. Ellie had thought the basin had been filled with scattered trees as they had approached, towering structures hardly visible through the thick foliage of the forest, but she found that the shapes had actually been pillars and spires, giant stone creations that jabbed at the heavens from the ground all the way to the tops of the surrounding trees.

More pillars and towers stood in tall procession, from the side of the basin that the far end, which Ellie realized had to be over half a mile long. Thick vines and even a few of the thinner trees spiraled up and around the pillars. Several stone arches stretched across the basin from some of the pillars, creating deep shadows that lined the floor of the area. Some of the arches had fallen, though, leaving huge walls and barriers across the floor, like barricades or something of the like. Huge, thickly grown trees stretched out to the sun from the tops of the archways, covering the bottom of the basin with even more shadows.

The group of hunters walked in awed silence out into the area. Levin's frustrated and conflicted expression calmed down a bit, a look bordering on serene covering his face, though his eyes still had a slightly frantic look about them. Harker seemed frantic to the point of jitters, clearly desperate to tear through the massive ruins in order to study the designs and writings. Kerry had a firm hand on his shoulder, though, making sure he wasn't about to bolt off to plant himself against one of the pillars to study it until he needed to be dragged away; but she had an awed look on her face, and her eyes were on the towering arches. Even Nax seemed to be impressed to silence with the fantastically designed towers stretching to the sky, though he tried to pick up the others' pace to get to where they were going a little faster.

If Ellie thought that the arches and pillars were impressive on their own, though, it was nothing compared to what awaited the five hunters at the far end of the basin. The pillars slowly began to disappear, and as the hunters rounded a large trio of elaborately designed pillars at the far end of the basin, a massive and immense temple rose out of the earth, a wide, pyramidal shape whose bases stretched at least a quarter mile on each side. Massive marble blocks, at least as tall as Ellie herself, made up a majority of the pyramid, piling up to a high point at the top. A thinner strip of smaller brick went up the center of the pyramid in two precise, parallel lines, a staircase that stretched all the way to the structure's pinnacle. As they approached, Harker breaking off from the other four in a dead sprint for the base, Ellie realized that the elaborate writing she'd seen on the pillars had been taken to the next level on the pyramid, with highly precise writing and pictures sketched over every single block, on every visible surface. So much so, that Ellie realized that as she approached the back of the pyramid, she noticed that the very floor of the basin that led up to the structure had similar writings, a long string of pictures before her seeming to describe some tale about a Lagiacrus and a Rathalos.

"Any sign of the nest around?" Nax asked, glancing around with waning interest on the architecture or ruins.

"Not one to enjoy the scenery?" Kerry asked sardonically, while keeping an eye on Harker. The long sword user had pulled a small notebook out one of his pockets, and had his nose planted against one of the thousands of stone making up the pyramid, glancing back and forth between the little book and the symbols on the wall.

"I'm all for looking at pretty buildings," the lancer replied sourly, glaring at the bowgunner. "The arena and the Loc Lac tower are some of the most brilliant and fascinating structures I've ever seen. However, I have little love for tourism when the likelihood of a monster dropping out of the sky to eat me is as high as it is in a place like this. Times like these, I think I'd like to focus on battle rather than enjoying the view."

"We've got time," Harker muttered with certainty. The other four hunters gave the man uncertain looks, which the long sword user either sensed or was used to receiving, because he motioned vaguely behind him. "The nest is on the south-westernmost pillar of those three in the center. The branches and twigs are still flattened and pressed, which means that the creature was here… sometime between thirty minutes to an hour and a half ago, and Rathians tend towards two hour scans of their territory, if not longer, depending on the size of their territory. Like I said, we've got some time."

The four other hunters… well, three other hunters (Kerry just rolled her eyes) glanced up at the said pillar. Sure enough, there was an unnatural bramble collection at the top of one of the pillars, clearly circular and very definitely a massive nest of sorts. Nax grumbled of frustration at the long sword user's observation, and Levin just shrugged non-committedly and wandered over to a pile of shattered pillars and sat down against one of them. Ellie tailed close behind, plopping herself down next to the great sword user. Kerry and Nax continued to glare at each other, snapping comments and insults at each other every now and then, but not coming near to blows like they had before.

"He told you something, didn't he," Levin muttered quietly. It wasn't a question. "Something you didn't want to hear, just like me."

Ellie only paused for a short second. "Yeah, he did."

"Are you going to tell me what he said?"

"…There's no need. He was lying. I'm sure of it. To think I thought he might actually be legitimately psychic… gah, I'm an idiot."

Levin glanced over at her. He looked so tired. "Are you sure he was lying?"

Ellie met his gaze, before leaning over and kissing him. He blinked in surprise at the action, but reciprocated in kind after a short second. When she finally pulled away, the short sword user was grinning. "I'm sure he was."

Levin raised an eyebrow, but smirked and shook his head. "Whatever you say, Miss Ellie."

"You two look like you're having fun." Ellie glanced up as Kerry approached, wearing a look of mild relief. "Sorry to interrupt, but I really needed an excuse to get away from Nax. Damn it, but he's insufferable!"

"He's not that bad once you get to know him," Levin argued.

"He did seem nice enough when we first met," Ellie admitted, making Kerry cross her arms and put on a sulky expression. "But, after a while… I don't know, something about him just feels off to me. I just… can't bring myself to trust the guy. Every time I see him, I just feel… not angry, just… I don't know, I just want to avoid him."

Levin shrugged at the comment, but Ellie could tell from the look on the great sword user's face that something about the words bothered him, even if only a little. But the look was gone in a moment, replaced by the sour, angry look that had consistently returned to his face if he was quiet for too long. The look he got when he had too much time to dwell on the Alatreon, or some other monster that held his ire. She needed to try and find something to distract him…

"Now this is interesting," Harker suddenly muttered, rubbing a hand along one of the hieroglyphs.

"What is it?" Ellie asked, picking herself up and walking over from Kerry towards the long sword user. Levin made to get up as well, but a torn expression crossed his face, as though he was both curious and uncaring simultaneously. Eventually, it appeared that he couldn't seem to make up his mind, and was stuck standing up, but head half tilted to hear what the other hunter said. Nax had a disapproving look on his face, but didn't say anything.

"I've been looking over these images for months now, writing down anything and everything I can learn of the Middles. Most of what they write about is general information of monsters and methods of survival, or how to hide, or even how to hunt. It's my opinion that they were most likely the predecessors of modern day hunters. It's truly fascinating, really, to see how the carryover of our world to this one came to be. Devastation, likely followed by a very tribal sort of society, supporting itself with the remains of our technology. After that comes rebuilding as people begin to figure out how to survive, before the reemergence of civilization appears. I've come up with several captivating theories about how the government of humanity must have transferred from the democracy it was to the republic it is now, actually. I think that with the appearance of monsters, likely odds are that there was a stint of anarchy for…"

"But?" Ellie cut the hunter off. Harker blinked in confusion. "What interesting thing did you find?"

"Ah! Yes! I found something here that I've never seen mentioned before in any of the other archives of history I've seen before! As I said, most of what I've found has been about this civilization trying to survive the monsters in the world and rebuild the world that was lost, no pun intended. But this… this is something different."

"What's it say?" Levin asked, curiosity finally getting the better of him.

"Well, knowing what it _says_ is one thing," Harker replied. "Knowing what it _means_ though… that's the troubling part. Translating is tricky. They have symbols for objects, and the names of monsters and locations are mixes of the objects, see? Rathalos is fire-sky-wing, as seen with these three symbols. As such, Rathians are fire-earth-wing, Lagiacrus are lightning-ocean-snake, so on and so on. Even Loc Lac is called horn-oasis-wall. But this collection of symbols here? They aren't familiar, and I can't for the life of me figure what it means. Life-sleep-stone."

"Life-sleep-stone?" Ellie asked. "I don't get it. A rock that heals? That puts you to sleep?"

"Is it a monster?" Nax asked, suddenly interested. "I've heard of creatures that can put you to sleep, but I'd never refer to any of them as 'rock-like' or anything. Perhaps some beast that hasn't been seen before? That would be fun."

"That's what's bothering me," Harker sighed. "It's probably not a monster, since the Middles liked to draw pictures of monsters. Nothing on this wall but Rathians and the occasional Gobul. And I think I saw a Lagiacrus on the other side somewhere around the back. I've scoured any resource I've been able to find involving monster hunting goods and materials, and for the life of me I can't seem to recall anything that might be what they're talking about. And trust me, I've looked through more books than you can imagine, even some I probably shouldn't have."

"Oh, yeah," Kerry growled, a tone of extreme irritation seeping into her voice. "This idiot broke into one of the restricted sections of the library in the Loc Lac tower. Nearly got us both arrested!"

"If they really wanted people to stay out, they would've put more between the public and private section than a rope with a 'Do Not Enter' sign tied to it. Besides, I talked the librarian out of getting the authorities involved, didn't I?"

"Only because you talked too quickly to keep up with!" Kerry groaned. "If she'd been able to get a word in edgewise, I'd still be trying to afford bail for you! You're just lucky she was too dumbfounded to get your name. And they added your face to the No-Entry list!"

"Nonetheless!" Harker grinned. "I managed to read through a few interesting things before she found me. A lot of in depth notes on rare and dangerous monster goods. Like this interesting material they found in the Tundra, a rare ore called Dark Matter. A dangerous name, if you compare it to what had earned the title back in our world! I only got halfway through the research, which was frightening just to glance through, with…"

"Harker," Ellie said, snapping the long sword user back to reality.

"Right. Anyway, nothing mentioned about a stone that puts people to sleep or heals. Lots of liquids and occasional sound waves, but stones? Not so much. I've got some theories, but… nothing sound. The Middles seem to fear whatever life-sleep-stone is, but they were enraptured by it. This entire wall is dedicated to it, whatever it is. They studied it, they worshiped it, they feared it, they tried and failed to destroy it. I don't quite understand what's going on or why this life-sleep-stone is so important, and it's leaving me frustrated."

"You can't figure _everything_ out, Harker," Ellie said with a grin.

"I can try, dammit. The only thing I can really find that might explain the whole issue is right here. For some reason, the life-sleep-stone seems to be continuously referred to as blue. Or 'the Blue," sometimes. The two titles seem to be synonymous in some places, though why they'd emphasize the color over anything else is baffling. If it were me, I would've…"

A familiar, repetitive thumping sound suddenly filled the basin, and Ellie felt herself cringe. She knew that sound. It still haunted her dreams sometimes. Her eyes flew towards the skies, snapping around to stare through the random gaps in the trees, scouring the blue skies for some sign of the monster she knew was approaching. The other hunters in the group were glancing around as well, worried looks in their eyes, though Harker looked more frustrated than anything else, apparently intent on finishing decoding whatever was written on the wall of the pyramid before the creature showed up. Kerry had to drag him away from the wall so the group of them could prepare for the oncoming beast.

An echoing roar carried over the treetops, reverberating around the stone ruins. The five hunters pulled away from the towering pyramid as a dark shadow wove through the perpetual cloud layer that hung over the forest. The structure had no openings or shadows in the midday light with which to provide cover or hiding place, so the hunters tore off for the vine and tree covered pillars, each of them hiding behind a different one so as not to give away their positions; the blade wielders stayed close to the nest, while Kerry pulled back a bit of a distance.

The rumbling of the Rathian's growls grew ever louder as the creature approached, wing beats thumping over and over like the drumroll of the world's largest snare. With each beat, Ellie could feel the tension inside of her growing, tightening to the point where it felt like if the creature took any longer to get here, she'd scream in frustration. Though she'd made a point of trying to pull Levin back from the idea of killing every monster he came across, she felt like a hypocrite now, since… well, she needed to kill this wyvern. She had to. Had to!

Finally, when the sound of wings flapping felt as though it was shaking the very earth below them, a dark shadow passed right over the center of the basin, weaving slightly like a snake slithering around. The frequency of the flapping increased suddenly, though, and the speed that the shadow moved across the ground slowed dramatically, as the monster came in to land on her perch. A wave of dust cascaded off the pillar as the giant wyvern landed, right on the pillar of her nest.

Ellie gaped in shock. She'd only seen the creature from a distance, and from the shadow the creature put on the ground as she passed the hunters by, but… when Ellie had described the Rathian as massive, she had only meant it as compared to herself or the other hunters. However, the green wyvern that landed roughly on the stone pillar was easily half again as big as any of the other Rathians that the sword and shield user had ever seen in her life. It was also easily bigger than most of the Rathalos she'd seen as well, making the Lord of the Sky she'd seen in the valley of flowers back in Boma seem like a runt in comparison.

And the wounds… no, Ellie couldn't call them that. More like battle scars. Marks of experience. The Rathian was absolutely covered in them. Nicks and cuts were on every scale of the creature's body, excluding the dozens and dozens of plates that were completely shattered or broken off. One of the horns that crowned the wyvern's head was completely sheared off, while the other stretch long and back across the creature's neck, long and curved.

But the strangest thing, Ellie realized, was that the Rathian seemed… rusted. No, that wasn't the right way to say it. It was as though the Rathian was becoming… cleaned? With a start, the huntress realized that there were a few mismatched scales on the monster's body, gleaming plates that seemed a shining gold in some places, and others that seemed to be a soft shade of pink, oddly enough. But why were the scales different colors? Had a hunter pelted the creature with tracking paint? That wouldn't explain the tint of golden color, though…

"What the hell is this, Nax!" Ellie jumped at the sound of Kerry, hissing violently at Nax. The lancer turned, giving the bowgunner a smug look. "Are you insane?"

"I told you this mission was a challenge," Nax whispered back. "Where's the fun in fighting a normal Rathian?"

"What!" Ellie cut in quietly. "What do you mean, 'normal'? How is this Rathian not normal?"

"This Rathian is old!" Kerry replied angrily. "Decades, maybe even a century old! Once a wyvern reaches a certain age, their scales begin to molt into something harder, more durable. With Rathian, that generally means it takes on a gold or pinkish hue. So, this dumbass lancer intentionally brought us out to fight an older, tougher, more battle-hardened monster!"

"Where's the challenge in fighting a normal Rathian? If we're able to take down a truly powerful creature, just imagine the glory we'll receive!"

"Are you kidding? You and I are the only ones that have managed to beat one before! The other three haven't…"

The bowgunner yelped in surprise as a lance of fire suddenly shot past the arches that the three of them hid behind, searing across the finely decorated stone and catching fire to the layer of moss and vines that covered the floor of the basin. Licks of flame kicked up from the burning vines as the wave of fire cut off, ending the onslaught of heat. A low rumbling sound echoed across the basin; the Rathian was growling at them, but to Ellie it sounded like laughter. The sword and shield user peeked around the corner, meeting eyes with the monster. Even the creature's jaw seemed tilted up in a grin. The jig was up, the Rathian knew the hunters were there.

The creature's head twitched back in a familiar motion, and the three hunters that were clustered together immediately bolted. Sure enough, a massive fireball tore out of the monster's throat, searing across the ground towards them and smashing sideways into the stone pillar they had just been standing behind, sending out a shockwave that nearly knocked Ellie to her knees. Another gust of air sent her skidding sideways as the Rathian lifted off the pillar, taking to the sky with a challenging roar to the hunters.

Nax seemed ecstatic at the impending battle, laughing maniacally as he whipped out his lance, swinging it around and pulling up his shield to face the flying wyvern as it took off and began circling around the basin. Levin and Harker pulled themselves out of their own hiding spots as well, as the wyvern began spitting bursts of flame down behind their pillars as well. The long sword user was nimble, able to get out of the way before the flames arrived, but Levin was forced to cover himself with his great sword to avoid the brunt of the blaze.

The wyvern would have continued pestering the two Lost hunters from above, but Kerry had recovered from the initial attack, and pulling the sights of her bowgun skyward, fired a trio of rounds skyward, huge shells that carried immense weights to them. Three rounds burst from the barrel of the bowgun, though only two of them hit the creature, and only in the beast's tail. The other one soared right past, soaring through the leaves of the trees that loomed over the canopy of the basin. Nothing happened for a moment, and Ellie realized what exactly Kerry had fired.

Sure enough, after a quick moment, the two shells that had landed on the Rathian's hide, right over the creature's leg, erupted, enveloping the monster's side in fire. Ellie expected the creature to drop out of the sky, but rather than roaring in pain or falling like a rock out of the sky, the monster merely dipped a little, shaking its leg in irritation before picking the pace of its wing beat up to keep itself aloft. Immediately, its eyes began snapping around in search of the aggressor that had dared to fire upon it. It found Kerry almost immediately, giving proof to its experience by recognizing the sight of a bowgun when she saw one.

Immediately the creature tore through the air towards the bowgunner, knocking Ellie back a little from the gust of air as it passed. Kerry's weapon was back over her shoulder in a moment, as she turned and bolted from the approaching beast. Ellie readied her weapon, ready to chase after and attack the creature when it landed, but as it chased the bowgunner, the Rathian simply swooped low to the ground, swinging its teeth and claws down at Kerry in an attempt to bite or slash into her. Kerry was forced the duck and dive constantly if only to avoid being caught by the slightest touch of the creature's pointy parts.

Nax suddenly charged past Ellie, intent on assaulting the Rathian with his lance. The lancer managed to get up and under the creature as it tailed after Kerry, but despite his numerous attempts to jab at the monster, the Rathian managed to hover just a touch out of the weapon's reach and forcing Nax to keep chasing after the monster. Eventually, the Rathian became annoyed at the lancer's persistence and swiped its tail at him; the bladed tail only ricocheted off Nax's thick shield, but it still forced the hunter to screech to a halt in order to defend himself.

Levin and Harker were approaching cautiously from behind the creature, and Ellie followed suit, trying to come in from the side, holding out her shield defensively. But even surrounding the massive wyvern, the creature was still airborne, making it impossible for anyone except Kerry to feasibly attack the creature. The others could probably get the Rathian with a strong upward swing or leap, or attack the creature's tail as it dipped closer to the ground, but the creature kept twisting around in the air abruptly, not allowing any of the hunters a solid strike at the beast. And the whole time, the Rathian kept her focus on Kerry, succeeding in preventing the bowgunner from using her ranged attacks effectively. And every time the hunters tried to tighten the circle on the beast, the creature spun around quickly, sending gusts of fire aimlessly at the lot of them to push them back.

Ellie cursed to herself as the battle dragged on. The Rathian continued to hover just over the ground, and just out of their reach for a quarter of an hour, though with the beast heckling them with flames and threat of teeth or claws, it felt like hours. The Rathian just wouldn't. Come. Down!

"Can you hit the thing's wings?" she shouted towards Kerry.

"I don't think so," the bowgunner replied. "I think the thing's fought a bowgunner before. It's keeping to close an eye on me for me to hit it, and the only way I'll have a solid shot is to get closer, but every time I push forward, it ducks away from me."

"So what do we do? How do we get it to drop down?"

"Aim for the pillars!" Harker suddenly shouted from the other side of the Rathian. The long sword user was getting pushed back against one of the walls of the basin. One of the towering pillars that lined the edges of the basin was only a dozen or so feet away from the young man, a teetering structure that was nocked crookedly compared to the others. But why would Harker…

Kerry, however, seemed to have been working together with Harker long enough that she didn't even hesitate at the long sword user's request. In a fraction of a second, the shells in the chamber were removed, to be just as deftly replaced by Crag rounds, before a series of blasts sent the rounds rocketing across the battlefield. The heavy rounds smashed into the column, wedging themselves deep into the cracks and crevices of the pillar, and after a moment, the fuse ran out and the shells detonated with a loud, thunderous explosion. Flames washed over the edges of the pillar, catching the Rathian by surprise and making its head dart around in search of the blast.

But the explosions, while not having been close enough to damage the Rathian, was plenty powerful enough to leave send rippling cracks along the edges of the column. Dust and stone fragments splintered out as the pillar began to break apart, and Ellie could just make out the upper half of the pillar beginning to tilt away from the main portion of the column. The Rathian, irritated with the sudden explosions, turned back around to face Kerry, an angry look in its eye. The motions of the creature's wing beats seemed to shift a little, as it prepared to work its way over to the bowgunner to retaliate. But just before it began heading towards the bowgunner, an especially loud cracking burst out, echoing around the area. The Rathian turned in curiosity, just in time to see the upper part of the pillar break off from the rest and topple over, coming crashing down right onto the creature's back.

With a howl of pain and surprise, the Rathian dropped out of the sky, several tons of ancient carved stone pulling it down to the ground. Levin and Nax had to dive right out of the way, as the wyvern hit the stone floor with a resounding thud. A howl of pain was pulled from the wyvern's throat as the remainder of the debris crashed on top of it, covering the wyvern's shining and multi-colored scales with a thick layer of dust and debris.

Ellie found herself grinning excitedly. Finally, a chance to attack! Without another moment's hesitation, the sword and shield user leapt forward, intent on testing her blade on the thick plates of the wyvern. She could see the other blade users doing the same as well, perfectly willing to take hold of the opportunity presented as much as she was.

But the Rathian lashed out almost immediately upon seeing the hunters approach, wings swinging and waving, sending them backwards. It twisting around as well, getting back to its feet and sending the bladed club of a tail around and at them, occasionally smashing the club into the ground in an attempt to smash one of the hunters into pieces. Ellie's shield might have kept her from getting smashed into the ground, but only Nax would be able to properly approach the creature without the threat of getting smashed into little pieces by the monster's powerful strikes. And the lancer was certainly making an effort of it, pushing forwards towards the creature and deflecting the strikes the monster sent his way.

However, the Rathian began to realize the lancer was making traction, and leapt back away from him. Nax braced himself, preparing to charge, but a moment later, the wyvern's head twitched and the back of its throat lit up brightly. A split second later, a gush of flame burst from the creature's neck, enveloping the lancer in blazing flames, completely engulfing the man but swelling around the solidly made shield. Ellie prepped herself to move forward, but the Rathian caught the slight motion, and with a quick turn of her head, sent the same flame at her, forcing Ellie to leap away; her shield was simply not big enough to deal with the massive wall of fire that was tearing towards her.

"Lady Kerrigan!" Harker shouted, though this time there was a smile in his voice. "Again, please, if you will!"

Ellie glanced up as the sound of bowgun clicking reached her ears. Sure enough, the creature, unbalanced as it was, had stumbled backwards towards yet another of the stone pillars. Another couple of gunshots sounded off, and the Rathian watched in confusion as the rounds once again soared harmlessly past it. Then a look of realization crossed its face, and it twisted its head around to face the pillar behind it, just as the Crag rounds detonated, blasting apart the pillar right down the center.

The Rathian howled in pain as the pillar toppled down, stone and other rubble smashing onto its back and smashing scales and plates in all directions. The creature toppled over painfully, one wing crumpling beneath in at its side smacked into the stone walkway. Ellie watched excitedly as the creature fell; finally, a chance for the group of them to attack! Her feet twitched in anticipation as she prepared to rush. The last remnants of the column were still toppling down onto the wounded beast, making it too dangerous to approach quite yet. But the debris began to reduce in frequency, and as one of the staccato of thunderous thumps and slams dwindled down, Ellie rushed forward, tailed closely by Levin and Harker. Nax was still on the far side, and Ellie could practically hear him groaning in frustration; the only parts of the creature he could get to were the beast's crumpled wing and the monster's heavily armored spinal column.

Dust and smoke clogged the air around the Rathian, making it a challenge to see the monster's hide very well, only a faint sign of green showing through the fog. The first few swings the sword and shield user deflected off the creature's remaining plates, making Ellie worried that she might have wasted her chance to attack. But finally, one of her swings caught a less armored part of the Rathian's body, she could feel the pull of blade on flesh. Immediately she focused on the spot, cutting and gouging at the weak point. She could hear the loud sound of metal on scale or flesh coming from other points in the fog, and the Rathian howled in pain at the onslaught. The continuous sound of gunfire could be heard as well, though sporadically, since Kerry couldn't see her target very well.

Suddenly a bolt of pain snapped up Ellie's arm, as the Rathian's free wing flailed wildly, catching her in the shoulder and knocking her completely back and out of the dust and smoke. The monster continued to swing and writhe around, howling and screaming in fury at the assault. A moment later, the sounds of grunts of pain could be heard through the fog, and Levin tumbled out of the dust, the wyvern's tail snapping like a whip after him, the bladed club at the smashing into the ground and twisting wildly. Harker was far behind, ducking back and away as the Rathian's feet kicked out at him.

Nax was still jabbing his lance down in to the creature's wing, when a grow of searing red light began to emit from the area of the Rathian's head. Ellie yelped out a warning to the others, turning around and bolting in the other direction. Levin and Harker were moving away already, having caught sight of the light. But the shout caught Nax off guard, and the lancer instinctively raised his shield in defense. But his lance was still jabbed into the Rathian's wing, partially embedded in the earth beneath, effectively pinning the appendage down. The lancer attempted to pull his weapon out of the earth, but with his shield up, his maneuverability was limited. As the glow from the Rathian's mouth grew brighter, Nax grew increasingly frustrated, until finally he was forced to release his weapon in favor of protecting himself.

And he was just in time too, because at that moment the Rathian let loose a massive blast of fire, twisting its head around wildly in an attempt to burn one of them, any of them, with the massive wave of heat. The searing blaze tore across the stone earth, a billowing wave of fire that licked the coattails of the hunters as they dove to get out of the way. The fire ripped around the field like a wave of water, catching the loose moss and vines that littered the floor of the basin ablaze, spreading the fire even further as the Rathian flailed around wildly in an attempt to get the hunters away.

Finally, though, the creature managed to find a foothold again, and awkwardly pulled itself upright. However, Nax's lance was still holding down the creature's wing in the ground. The Rathian howled in irritation and fury at being held down by the weapon. The enraged creature writhed around, tugging desperately at the pinning weapon in an attempt to escape. The glow in the monster's throat appeared in the back of its throat again, and another wave of fire burst from its mouth as it tugged desperately on its wing.

Ellie and the others (Nax excluded) were keeping their distance from the wyvern as it writhed around, sending flames in all directions. Ellie wondered if the creature's flame sac could run empty, because the monster was unleashing enough fire to raze the entire basin twice over, it seemed. Or did age make the monster's flame sac grow larger, allowing it to send more fire more often?

Suddenly, Ellie felt an arm grab her shoulder, pulling her back. She yelped in surprise as she realized that Levin was dragging her back from the Rathian, though she couldn't guess why. As she turned to question her partner, a loud, booming crunch shook the earth from where she was just standing. She snapped her eyes back around, and saw the massive trunk of a tree lying where she had just been standing. The tree was a broken shell of what it once was; it was nearly completely burned through, the ends of which had been reduced to a near charcoal condition.

For the first time, Ellie glanced around the battlefield where they had been fighting the Rathian, and realized just how powerful the Rathian's flames had been. The forest, spending years under the near-continuous torrent of rain, was nearly completely soaked through, making lighting a flame with the twigs and branches that were torn off of them nearly impossible to light; most hunters that planned to stay longer than a day had to bring their own dry wood to cook their dinners and keep themselves warm with. But as the sword and shield user looked around, she realized that the Rathian's flames had been so hot and enveloping and far-reaching, that the fires had woven their ways around the edges of the pillars that lined the sides of the basin and seared through the thick trunks of the trees, completely burning through the bases of the trees into cinders. Dozens of the trees that grew out of the damp earth had been burned through, dried out and lit on fire. Around them, despite the absurdity of the idea, the Flooded Forest was catching fire, flames shooting into the air and clogging the already cloudy sky with a dense black smoke.

The Rathian continued to flail and howl, gusting flames in all directions as it tugged against the lance that pinned it down. More trees and bushes were lighting up with each crane of its flame gushing head, and the hunters were forced to exert nearly all of their concentration and stamina just trying to keep out of the way of the constant barrage of lumber and fire that came from both the Rathian and the collapsing trees. Countless times, it seemed, Ellie just barely managed to slide out of the way before one of the massive trunks gave way and came crashing down onto the tiled stone floor. The other hunters in the party were in similar circumstances, and only Nax seemed to be avoiding the limbs with ease, staying close to the Rathian in an attempt to retrieve his weapon and staying behind his shield to avert the flames that the creature launched his way.

Finally, though, with a wrenching sound like the sound of tearing leather, the Rathian ripped the lance out of the ground, slitting a long, bloody line through its thick wings that extended all the way from the bones at the tip to the end of the flap. Nax's lance was sent flying across the battlefield, with the hunter in close pursuit to retrieve it, clattering across the stone floor and through the licks of flame that were coming up from the burning vines and moss that littered the floor. The lancer managed to recover his weapon, but nearly dropped it, since the Rathian had coated the thing with flames on more than one occasion.

Finally free, the Rathian immediately began beating its wings wildly in an attempt to get airborne, but the massive tear in its wing had unbalanced it, and the effort sent it tumbling awkwardly into one of the columns. Without its ability to take flight, the creature began to panic even more, and more and more blast of fire shot from its mouth in all directions as fear began to overwhelm it. Ellie continued to watch the creature cautiously, desperate to find a sign of weakness for them to rush in and finish it off, but the sound of Harker's voice caught her attention over the howls of the Rathian and the roar of the flames around her.

"We've got to leave!" the long sword user shouted.

"No!" Ellie cried. "We're so close!"

"The forest is burning!" Harker replied. "Look around you!"

Ellie did so, and was shocked at the sight. The trees, caught aflame by the Rathian's fire, were burning hotter than ever, catching the trees around them in the blaze. Before the hunters had realized it, the entire forest around them was catching fire, fighting against the moist timber to continue burning away at the trees, continuing to spread.

"We have to run, or risk getting trapped here!" Harker shouted. "Forget the Rathian! If you die, it won't matter whether or not you managed to kill it!"

"No…" Ellie groaned. She was so close! An ancient Rathian, almost dead by her hand… Levin had heard the conversation, and looked ready to argue, but looking around, he couldn't bring himself to complain against the choice. As much as he wanted to finish the fight, he wouldn't allow himself to die before going up against the Alatreon. Kerry looked frustrated as well, but was clearly more concerned with survival that anything else. "Just a few more shots! Please! We can finish it off, I know it!"

"Give it up, Ellie!" Kerry said, slinging her bowgun over her shoulder and grabbing Ellie's arm. "We can do this again later, but for now we need to get out of here! There's no point to slaying this thing if the forest cooks us alive!"

Ellie growled angrily, cursing, before finally sliding her sword back into its sheath. "Damn it! Fine, let's go!"

"We'll find a different one to kill, Ellie," Levin said, pulling his sword behind his back. "Maybe come back for this one later, but… wait, Nax! Nax!"

Ellie turned, realizing for the first time that the lancer was still pushing his way towards the raging Rathian, pushing aside the flames that rushed towards him with his shield.

"Damn it, Nax!" Levin shouted. "Pull back! We've got to get out of here!" But the lancer seemed deaf to the world, continuing to force his way through the blaze towards the Rathian, a laugh of gleeful intent coming from his mouth as he closed in on the creature.

"We don't have time for this!" Harker shouted. "Any longer, and we won't be able to escape from this gulch! Someone go in and drag his butt out of there!"

"The flames are too much!" Kerry replied. "If we try and get close, we'll just get cooked!"

Ellie glanced over towards the lancer, cursing at the man's actions. He had a shield, he'd probably be able to finish the Rathian… but escaping from the area while it was on fire would be a different matter altogether. Ellie may not have liked the guy, but they couldn't just leave him to die. Without waiting another moment, Ellie tightened the straps on her shield and rushed towards Nax, despite the shouts of warning from the other four.

Ellie pushed forward, intent on getting Nax's attention, and dragging him away from the Rathian if need be. But the going was rough, with Ellie having to pull up her shield every other second to block away the fires that the Rathian launched at her. Her Lagi armor was already sooty and black, and the panicked flames the Rathian was letting loose now was only making things worse. But she was moving faster than Nax was, gaining on the lancer as he pushed closer to the monster.

But right as she approached, an enormous tree branch came crashing down, nearly smashing down on her and Nax. Ellie flinched painfully as some of the burning brambles smacked wildly against her shoulder, nearly knocking her to the ground. But Nax didn't seem to notice at all, still laughing excitedly and pushing closer and closer to the wyvern in front of him. Ellie nearly gaped in shock. He hadn't even cared about that? How was she supposed to convince him to run if he didn't even notice his surroundings?

She cursed to herself again. She was running out of options. No diplomatic choices remained, only brute force. Ducking back as another wave of fire slammed into her shield, Ellie rushed forward the last few steps to the lancer, and with a sharp lunge, smashed her shield into the back of Nax's helmet. A cry of pain and surprise rose from the lancer, and a loud clanging sound echoed across the basin from the impact. So caught off guard, the blow knocked the lancer to his knees, sending him stumbling and reaching his hand back to the base of his skull.

Something reverberated in Ellie's memory for a moment at the action. Deliberately attacking an ally? Why would that… now wasn't the time for that. Without wasting any time, she roughly grabbed the lancer by the arm and began dragging him towards the other hunters, just barely ducking under and away from the still flowing flames of the Rathian.

Levin and Harker met her halfway, grabbing Nax from her and double timing it away from the wyvern and towards the entrance of the basin. About halfway there, Nax began cursing and screaming, demanding to be let go to continue fighting the Rathian. Levin and Harker looked at each other uncertainly, still dragging the lancer as he struggled, but Kerry came up from the side and swiftly smacked Nax across the head with the butt of her gun, stunning the lancer again.

"I've wanted to do that for a while," Kerry grinned, as the five of them made their way into the thin forest path their taken into the basin, desperate to get away. The sound of the Rathian roaring and sending waves of flames everywhere continued to echo through the trees behind them, tailing them and haunting them like a howling banshee as they made their escape.

The forest was burning and the Rathian continued to set more and more fires as it panicked. The five hunters were all injured to the point where they could just barely run still, and Nax, their mission signer, might have gotten a concussion from the blow to his head. Ellie looked behind her towards the pillar of black smoke rising into the sky and looked miserably at Kerry.

"We've failed this one, haven't we?"

"I'm afraid so, dear," Kerry replied sadly, as they continued to run through the forest.

Ellie cursed. Again. She'd failed to kill a Rath again. Next time. She absolutely had to do it next time! But for now, all they could do was run back to their camp and head back to Loc Lac.

* * *

"What do you mean the mayor isn't in town? Where is he then?"

Richard Jr. sighed in frustration as the local Guild rep shrugged in uncertainty. He'd been working on the case Jonathan had given him for over a month now, scouring the villages in the area around the Flooded Forest in search of some sort of hint as to the location of the poachers, or something, anything at all about them. But for the most part, he'd come up with nothing. The lack of information was actually even more frightening a prospect than anything else at this point; either it meant that the group was simply so skilled that they were able to cover their tracks completely, or that they had enough wealth and influence to pay or intimidate anyone who might possibly be willing to give up information to him.

Or the poaching group wasn't anywhere near the Flooded Forest at all, which would irritate Richard to no end if it turned out to be true. But he had to agree with Jonathan's analysis after spending time in the area. There were so few poaching reports in the area compared to the rest, despite the forest being a prime hunting ground for several types of monster. Lagiacrus, Gobul, Rathian… well known monsters, and popular as well. No, the poachers were here, Richard just needed to find them.

"I'm really sorry about this, sir," the Guild rep said sadly. "I don't know if you know this or not, but Mayor William is actually a well-known merchant lord in this area. He oversees the transport of most hunters' goods that are sold in this part of the country. It's to be expected to for him to be out on business every now and then in order to make sure his business keeps booming. Besides, he has family to visit in Loc Lac as well, so he's out of town at least once a month."

"Curses," Richard muttered. The mayor of the large village Newbark was one of his last hopes in the area for information. The man was supposed to be one of the more well-informed people in the area. Jonathan had sent him reports that more hunters were disappearing. They weren't vanishing any faster than before, but the kidnappings weren't slowing down either, which was making Richard angry. He just couldn't seem to move fast enough! "When should the mayor be back in the village again? I'd like to talk to him."

The Guild rep grimaced a little. "I… couldn't tell you, sir. His travels have taken more time recently, so he's been out of town for up to a week at the most. He just left yesterday, though, so…"

The Guild rep ground to a halt as Richard sighed again in frustration. A week. An entire week to wait for information. He couldn't afford to wait that long with things going on as they were. "Do you at least know where he is exactly? A nearby village or something to that effect?"

"I couldn't say for certain," the Guild rep admitted. "He goes a lot of places on account of business. Though… I suppose it's known that he headed west, which is odd."

The tone of the Guild rep's voice caught Richard's ears. "Odd? Why?"

"Well, there's not much left to the west of here except the hunting grounds. Mayor William always used to tell people that he didn't like trading to the west, since the distance required to go around the hunting grounds took too much time to be profitable. But I guess he must have found something to sell in the far villages to take a chance at it."

A twitch of impulse tweaked through Richard's mind at the words, and he glanced intently at the Guild rep. "If I may ask, what kind of… hobbies did the mayor have? Any recreational activities or… guilty pleasures?"

To his surprise, the Guild rep chuckled. "Actually, we used to joke with the mayor about that. He's a bit of a gambler, I guess you could say. Nothing dangerous to his prosperity or anything, no really big wagers. A game of cards here, a race there. But he always said he just couldn't bring himself to leave Loc Lac or any really big hunting city without going to the local arena and placing a few bets. Nothing really big, no more than a few dozen zenny per wager, but he always used to call it that, a 'guilty pleasure'. Used to be a hunter for a while back in his younger days, I recall. It's how he got his contacts in the business. Why do you ask?"

"Just curious," Richard muttered. "I appreciate you giving me your time."

"Sorry again," the rep replied.

Richard turned away from the Guild booth, and began striding away from the Guild booth with a concerned look on his face. A mayor, a well-known and wealthy man in these parts, with a gambling habit and a penchant for visiting the arena. And making visits to a previously unvisited area in recent months. The long sword user shook his head. Coincidence, perhaps? The man was known for being generous to those that needed it, promoting monster welfare and the preservation of nature in general. Not exactly the first person to be suspected of condoning the illegal killing and capture of monsters, much less the kidnapping of high-name hunters. Richard had already hit up the wealthier people in the area that were known for requesting "pet" monsters, or had rumors of under the table dealings ghosting their names.

But…

Richard's things were lying outside the bar that the Guild booth, just a small satchel with various traveling sundries. He grabbed it as he passed by, quickly jogging towards the other side of town. Making his way through town, he took note of a pillar of black smoke weaving its way up to the sky, a clear sign despite the endless grey skies of the rainforest. He considered a forest fire for a short moment before shaking his head at the thought; as wet as this area was, you'd be just as likely starting a blaze here as you'd be in the middle of the Tundra during a snowstorm with a couple of twigs.

As he approached the town wall, he grinned when he spotted a small caravan saddling up to leave. He hastily walked over to the lead caravan, where an older looking man was giving orders to the others, preparing the team to leave.

"Excuse me," Richard asked. "Are the lot of you taking off?"

"We are," the man nodded. "Got a fresh load of herbs, silks, and a few hunting goods that needs to get to other villages. You looking to hitch a ride?"

"Perhaps," Richard said. "Which direction are you heading?"

"West, actually. Going to be heading towards the hunting ground, then turning south to head around the lower half of it. You interested? We could use a hunter to keep the nasty critters at bay. The Ludroth breeding season is getting close, so the beasties will be pretty feisty."

"Count me in," Richard grinned. The man nodded, and motioned the hunter to a wagon in the middle of the caravan that wasn't completely full, where the long sword user would be able to stay and rest. As the convoy worked their way through the wide city gates, Richard pulled out a map from his satchel, unraveling it on one of the boxes in the wagon. A scattered series of X's marked most of the eastern side of the Flooded Forest hunting ground, spreading up and down the north and south a bit as well.

There wasn't that much to be seen on the western side, he noted as he glanced over the map. Not ten miles past the far side of the Forest, the thick trees began to dissipate into a rocky, flint hills area. Not much lived over there. Scarce trees, rocky soil that prevented decent crop growth. Even monsters didn't want to live there, save the Bnahabra and the Altaroth, whose hives could feed off very little. A few villages were snuggly fit into the nooks and crannies of the stone, but for the most part, anyone that lived out that way lived in the surprising abundance of old civilization ruins that sprouted out of the ground. Towers and broken buildings popped out of the ground like weeds pushing through the smallest cracks of a rock; anywhere you'd think no one would ever live, that's where you'd find a stone room hidden away in the shadows, filled with doodads and whatsits that nobody could make sense of or get to work.

But something was there. Something important. Richard's instincts were telling him so. He leaned back up against the crates in the wagon, turning his head to glance out the front of the cart to where the Flooded Forest began to loom closer.

Something had to be there.

* * *

**Author's Note: Please Review! And holy crap did I get OC requests aplenty. I'll do my best to get them all in, though I can't be certain where or when quite yet.**

**My characters really don't have good luck with Rathians, do they? I think everyone has some monster or another that they just can't stand fighting, or they just have miserable luck against. For me it was the Lagiacrus. Bastard always dropped me at least once when I was fighting it with that damnable double-electric-hip-check attack, no matter how awesome my armor was. Me and my buddy Bobby spent hours tearing up Rathians, though, and it shocked us when this HR 400 something said they hated Rathians since they were the only thing that could kill them anymore. It was hilarious to us because we could two man the Double Trouble mission without much hassle at all, with almost any weapon choice between the two of us. We preferred to use double switch-axes, but once you know the moves, you can do it with anything.**

**I think it might be obvious to my readers, but I think that my favorite part of writing these stories is the act of imagining and writing out the description of the places my characters visit, and the battlegrounds they eventually duke it out with monsters at. There's just something about landscapes that makes it so alluring to try and paint a pretty picture using only the base vocabulary you have tumbling around inside your brain. **

**Finally, I've been watching a lot of odd Youtube videos recently. And by odd, I mean studies and speeches given by psychologists and other such people that have spent their time researching and studying the human mind, as well as how people react to certain stimuli, as well as questions of morality and humanity in the human psyche. It's all been very interesting, but after writing this chapter, it made me wonder if it affected the story as I was writing it…**

**Reading: **_**Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter**_** by Seth Grahame-Smith  
Playing: Minecraft (been playing the Technic mod recently. Time-sucker ftw!), Battlefield 3  
Listening: Sufjan Stevens, The History of Rome Podcast, CAKE, Laurena**


	28. Breaking Mentalities

Breaking Mentalities

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. Many of the characters in this story are mine, but Noxramus belongs to… Noxramus, and Richard Jr. belongs to Hoenn Master96.  
Also: 40k words! Longest chapter yet! Prepare for a long read!_

"Heard you got your butt whooped by one of your partners Pugnax, for being a big old fool while fighting a Rathian." The lancer turned angrily to the voice, to find Ara behind him, smirking mockingly at him. "Quite the humorous story floating around our circle. How'd you manage to pull that off? I could've sworn that you'd gone on a couple successful Rathian hunts with a few of us, so you messing up is quite the conundrum. And also quite the laugh."

"Oh, shut up," the lancer growled at the other member of his hunting circle. He'd just gotten away from his normal hunter's bar with a mission request, and had been hoping to avoid any of the people that knew him; especially the ones that had an ear for embarrassing news. "My teammates got cowardly at the end of the hunt, got scared because a few fires got set by the wyvern and decided to book it out of there, even though the creature was almost dead. One of my teammates hit me with a surprise attack in the back of the head and dragged me away before we could finish the thing. Damn weak little runaways…"

"A fire? In the Flooded Forest area?" the woman laughed at the thought. "What was it, a campfire? You couldn't start a fire big enough to cook a meal in that area!"

Nax grimaced. "I won't lie, the fire might've been a little worse than that. I suppose the blaze was big enough to raise concern. When we got back to the hunter's camp in the northern section of the hunting area, the Felynes were saying that there was a pillar of black smoke back from where we'd come. They were likely exaggerating of course, but there was a bit of a bonfire going. Nothing to run away from, but still something worth noticing."

"And still you ran away."

"I did no running," Nax growled. "I would've had the creature dead to rights had my teammates not dragged me away. Even if they'd left me by myself the Rathian would've been dead and gone, and me here with a pile of scales as trophies."

"Excuses," Ara laughed. "Perhaps that rookie of yours isn't quite the hunter you made him out to be?"

"Hmm, perhaps," Nax grunted in acquiesce. "But, I've got one thing that should prove whether or not he's got the ability, and the mindset to truly join or group or not. If he lets me down this time… well, there are other hunters out there. I'll regret losing a man so openly adamant about tracking down the Alatreon, though."

"And what, pray tell, kind of mission will you be testing him on this time?" Ara asked, continuing to smirk. "Going to lose to a 'Los this time? Or possibly flee from a Gigginox?"

"Not quite," Nax grinned, pulling a mission paper from out of his pouch and handing it to Ara. "I imagine this little beastie will provide all the challenge needed. And I'm certain he won't want to run from this fight, no matter the circumstances."

Ara quickly glanced the paper over and whistled, impressed. "Nasty critter you're going after. But I thought that area was off limits?"

"The Guild ban is off as of today, actually," the lancer smirked, taking the paper back. "Hunter traffic to that area is still being kept to a minimum, but… I happen to be a personal friend to a fairly influential merchant lord that lives there, and when something nasty pops up, I'm usually the first on his request list. So me and Levin… and likely that damn Ellie woman since he won't want to go without her, though I'm loathe to allow it, will be heading that way as soon as we can. And this time, those other two nuisances won't be around. I've made sure of it."

"Sounds like fun," Ara grinned. "Though, I wouldn't mind finding out what kind of hunter that Harker fellow you mentioned is. He's building up a reputation around town as a walking disaster. Makes that pretty little bowgunner he travels with seem like a good luck charm. Surviving who knows how many hunts with the Companion Killer herself? That takes skill. Or durability. Or luck; it doesn't really matter which. Perhaps you aimed for the wrong Lost, Nax. If I weren't so busy at the moment, I might make an attempt at seeing how good he really is."

"Ha. If you thought Ellie was too much of a naturalist to join our circle, he's far worse. He enjoys the hunt, but enjoys studying the monsters more. How foolish." Nax glanced down, then, realizing that Ara had several satchels around her feet. "Busy, huh? You going on a distant hunt or something?"

Ara smirked slyly. "Or something. I'm actually moving away from Loc Lac for a while. I was offered an… intriguing job elsewhere, and it won't be a short one. I'll likely be gone for a month or so, feeling out the work. If I like it there, I'll send for the rest of my things; if not, I'll be back to laugh at your failures some more, don't you worry."

"What kind of job?" Nax asked, curious.

"That's… classified," Ara grinned wickedly.

"Secret Guild work?" Nax pursued.

"Not exactly."

"Hm. Lots of hunting, though?"

"Of course," Ara scoffed. "I wouldn't have accepted otherwise. Now quit pestering me. I'm not supposed to talk about it… though, maybe if it's up you're aisle, I'll suggest you to my employers. I think you'd enjoy the job, once you decide to give up on hopeless rookies."

"We'll see," Nax replied.

"Well, so long," Ara said. "I'll keep an ear out for your failures. Tell Van goodbye for me if you see him. This job request was very… sudden."

"Yeah, all right." With that, the woman turned and strode away, her bags in tow. Nax frowned at the woman's back as she left. A secret job that wasn't for the Guild? Not many of those… especially not long-term ones. Sometimes a merchant's 'pet' escaped its pen and the wealthy one would want it taken out discreetly, but that usually only took a week or so. So what kind of job would Ara have gotten?

Nax shook his head. No sense thinking about it. He doubted that, whatever it was, Ara would stay to long. He'd known her long enough that she had too severe a case of wanderlust to ever stay still in one city or town for too long.

But no sense thinking about that now. He had a mission to take Levin, and Ellie (damn it) on. And this time, this time he was certain he'd hook Levin in for good. Even if he had to take drastic measures again…

* * *

_Snap._

"See, your eyes are twitching too much. Sporadic motions, quick loss of focus, erratic thoughts and frantic mood swings."

Levin glowered at Harker. The long sword user sat across the table from him and for almost the first time since the pair had met was not grinning. The pair of them were still recovering from the hunt with the Rathian, and were letting their armors air out a little, so Harker was wearing his casual clothes today; the mix of designs was no less a color coordination disaster than his regular armor set was. But he wore glasses instead of goggles now, and certainly looked the part of madman that Levin had come to think of him as. Ellie and Kerry sat next to the two of them, eyeing the pair of men warily.

The four of them were at the Dual Horn Oasis at the moment, sitting on the far side of the room and away from the small crowd that was in the bar at this time of day. Lynn was sitting on the other side of the bar, pouring drinks for the other customers. She was keeping an eye on the four of them, though. Harker and Kerry had made a request for room and board at the Oasis, and the big woman was taking her time sizing the pair of them up to make certain they would be allowed to stay there. Levin and Ellie had some worries, however. For two reasons: Firstly, rumors of Harker's less than pristine reputation as a tenant had spread, even throughout the Lost District, so there was little wonder that the landlord was a little fidgety about letting the long sword user stay in her apartments and risk blowing up a wing of the inn. The second, a little more personal; upon meeting Lynn for the first time, Harker had been absolutely flabbergasted by the woman's size and build, and ever since, the long sword user had been pestering the innkeeper to study her metabolism, habits, workout regimen, physical capabilities, etcetera. It was actually a little creepy. And Kerry had been giving off some very powerful vibes of jealousy; Levin even _admitted_ to not being a perceptive man, so if he could sense it…

But, back in the present, somehow or another, the crazed scientist had convinced Levin to study his particular madness. Levin hadn't exactly been forthcoming about the… complete details of his madness, even when the long sword user had pressed him for information as there were still a lot of things going through his mind that he didn't really want to admit to himself, let alone tell others about. He wasn't skilled enough to pretend that he didn't have any madness at all, he could admit that much. But Harker had pushed hard about questioning him about his problems, and he'd eventually given in and agreed, if for no other reason than to end the torture of Harker's constant pleas for information. The man had asked dozens, maybe hundreds of other Lost for the opportunity to study their madness, but obviously many had refused. Harker had seemed desperate for data, and Levin had been pulled into offering it, which was why the great sword user sat across from the man while the other man scribbled into a little notebook.

Levin grumbled in frustration. He'd been sitting here for maybe thirty minutes, and all Harker had done was stare at him, and occasionally snap his fingers at Levin's face, making the great sword user jump every time. In the back of his mind, the aggressive whisper was growling in agitation. They'd been resting from the Rathian battle for three days now, held back from going out again by the Guild officials investigating the fire in the Flooded Forest. They were ready for the next mission. They should be out hunting already.

_Too long waiting! Should've killed it! Go back and kill it! Finish the Rathian! Grow stronger! Kill the black beast! Reduce it to cinders! It will suffer for its-_

_Snap! _Levin jumped as the long sword user's fingers clicked in front of his face again. Levin glared at him, but his anger dissipated instantly. The whisper continued to rage, but its voice slowly dimmed as Levin's weariness at the thing's existence grew prominent in his mind. Harker continued to stare at Levin for another long moment or two, but after a moment he frowned sadly.

"Whatever you've got is not pleasant, my friend," he muttered, scribbling into his notebook. "Madness, in the case of the Lost, is generally relative: Big, small, prominent, miniscule, good, bad. They come in all sizes from what I've seen. For example: from what I've seen, Miss Eleanor over there has some… overactive, semi-self-controlled, reverse Attention Deficit Disorder. As for me, well, there's obsession, overconfidence, desperation for knowledge, a few similar focus issues like Miss Eleanor has… the list goes on; bits and pieces of good and bad, big and small. But you, my friend, you got the big, the prominent, and the bad, it would seem."

"Like what?" Levin muttered. Derision and frustration lingered in his mind, but the feeling of fear seemed the most dominant in his head. He didn't exactly trust every single thing the other man said, but… Harker always seemed well-learned. How correct was he really?

"I can't be certain what it is you have specifically, though there are several possible maladies that fit the bill," Harker replied simply. "Simple paranoia is one of them, as well as hypersensitivity. Bipolar disorder, feelings of constant distrust, extreme aggression. Possibly schizophrenia. Some symptoms of multiple personality disorder as well. Hearing voices, that kind of thing."

Levin flinched a little at the words, and saw Ellie put a hand to her mouth in worry out of the corner of his eye. Harker didn't seem to notice and pressed on. "The last few are unlikely, though. Possible, but I'm not so learned to be able to make a definite diagnosis… I'll need to raid the medical section of the Guild library again when I get the chance… What worries me most isn't really what your maladies are though."

"They don't worry you?" Kerry asked, shocked. "Seemed like a dangerous list to me… I mean, Levin, you're a wonderful, fun person, but… I mean, I don't…"

"It's fine, it's fine," Levin muttered. He knew she meant well, and was worried for him and Ellie and Harker.

"It's not that I don't worry," Harker replied, "it's just that other things worry me more so. Predominantly, the blue light. You two remember that, don't you?"

Levin and Ellie both nodded. The blue light, the mysterious gleam; the power, whatever it was, that had lulled the Lost to sleep then carried them here to the hunter's world and dropped them so unceremoniously off. That light. Every Lost knew of it, even if speaking of it had become somewhat of a taboo in the Lost District, like a bad luck charm.

"What worries me more than anything else is that light," Harker said seriously. The tone sounded foreign for the man's voice. He always seemed so amused, so much enjoying the way things were, that worry seemed like an abomination to the three other hunters. "It sends people into a sort of suspended animation for countless years, then wakes them up randomly only to be burdened with a seemingly random madness of one kind or another? How? Why? I'm all for the randomness of the universe, and all the other fun stuff entailed in quantum physics and chaos theory, but with so many people having undergone the same thing… It has to be intentional. But who or what did it? And, to what end?"

_The Alatreon!_ The whisper was howling again. _It is to blame! Its purpose is inconsequential! The beast must die! It must suffer!_

"Would finding out the answers possibly lead to a cure of some kind?" Ellie asked hopefully.

"Unlikely," Harker sighed. "Or at least, the odds are abysmal. Damaging the human mind is easy. Fixing it, though… not so much. Healing doesn't work by compounding ills, I'm afraid, so whatever caused this malady in the Lost is likely not something that is reversible. Forgive me for saying so Levin, but… whatever is tumbling around inside your head, will likely be there for, well, a long time, my friend. Possibly until the day you die."

With the goals he'd set for himself, Levin thought, he doubted he'd live very long anyway. He'd take down the Alatreon, that was for certain, even if it meant going down with the ship to do it, but, beyond that… The thought was depressing, but… well, hearing Harker's "diagnosis", had left the great sword user in a very defeatist sort of gloom.

"You all look down," a voice spoke up. Nax's voice, Levin realized. In the back of his mind, the aggressive whisper began to giggle excitedly. Unsurprising, since the lancer was only around when he was planning to lead him off on some hunt or another. He was the whisper's favorite person, most likely. "Lucky for you, I've got just the thing to cheer you up, my friend. I think you'll really like this little gift of mine."

"Another monster that'll you'll almost get killed fighting by not paying attention?" Kerry scoffed. "What are you going to do this time? Almost drown fighting a Gobul or a Lagiacrus? Fall into quicksand chasing a Diablos? Get buried under a rockslide tailing a Royal Ludroth through caves?"

Nax glared at the bowgunner, but smirked. "Actually, it's something more… fun. We're going off to fight and kill a Barioth."

To Nax's pleasure, the bowgunner's jaw actually dropped at the words, and the other three at the table looked no less surprised by the man's words. "You're joking," Kerry muttered. "They're not letting people into the Tundra right now! There's still a ban on hunter travel… hell, there's a ban on any travel at all to that area!"

"Not anymore," Nax smirked. "The ban was lifted you see. Just today, actually. But traveling up north is still being kept to a minimum. Luckily for me, I happen to be in pretty good graces with a rather influential man from up in that area of the world. And wouldn't you know it, turns out he's got a little Barioth problem in the works, and he's called for me personally to help him out with his little problems."

"A Barioth?" Levin asked. Cold, painful memories threatened to come to the surface. The three lined scar that crossed his face seemed to ache at the mention of the creature. Unconsciously, his hand went to face and etched across the old wound. Nax grinned at the motion.

"Yeah, I thought you'd like that, my friend. Apparently one of the white drakes has been raising hell for my contact's transport business, and he'd like us to take care of the beast. Normally, a Barioth would be a little too much of a challenge for someone of your ranking to be allowed to go on, but when you're accompanied by a hunter of higher rank, the Guild has a tendency towards being a bit more… lenient."

"That's how you managed to get them out on that overpowered Rathian mission?" Kerry asked, shocked.

"Of course. How else would hunting masters be allowed to take their apprentices out on the hunts that they do? Skilled though they may be, they have yet to prove themselves to the Guild, which is why they need the 'guidance' of a higher ranked hunter."

"Then me and Harker will have to go with you, then," Kerry growled in reply. "Maybe you've forgotten, but I am a registered four star, despite my… less than notable social status among other hunters."

"Not this time, Kerrigan," Nax growled at the bowgunner with a grin. "I may not have done well with my sign up for the Rathian hunt, but I've made certain about this one. The only ones going on this hunt is me and Levin and Ellie. I've set up the mission parameters so that only me and two others will be allowed to participate in this mission to the Tundra, and those two's names already fill the slots."

"That can be done?" Harker asked, mild surprise in his voice.

Kerry grimaced at the question. "Yes… though the use of the option is rare to say the least. It's used primarily by the Guild to pretty much force hunters into balanced groups when several teams are sent out to take down an especially dangerous monster or elder dragon. Though, the option is available to hunters, and it's not unheard of for them to use it as a method of keeping… undesired hunters out of their group."

"Exactly," Nax smirked. "And let me mention that the Guild isn't allowing anyone out to the Tundra that isn't signed up, and even then, they're not going to allow many hunts at all until they're certain the area's completely, utterly, undoubtedly safe. Maybe you were able to sneak around the loopholes of the Guild's design for the Rathian to join up on the last hunt, but let's see you try and get a mission in the Tundra to follow us this time."

Kerry grimaced at the words. Clearly she didn't like the odds of getting a mission. "That doesn't mean I'll fail if I try."

"Try all you want then," Nax smirked. "You manage to convince the Guild to let you tail us up there on a hunt, you'll deserve to hunt up there with us. But I doubt you'll be able to move that quickly, though. The first and only ship out to the Tundra for the next couple days takes off in a couple of hours. I doubt you'll be able to find a mission and get the Guild's permission to head out with us in time. You'd be better off waiting for the three of us to return. I'm sure with Levin's enthusiasm and the information my contact has, we'll be back before you can even get a Guild rep to dream of offering you a Tundra mission."

Kerry glared angrily at the lancer's smug attitude, and hissed a foul curse under her breath that made Levin blink in surprise. He didn't think he'd ever heard the woman curse before. Nax seemed pleased with himself at the woman's frustration. Kerry continued to scowl at the man for another long moment, before turning and making for the door.

"You're actually going to make this foolhardy attempt?" Nax asked mockingly. However, he flinched in surprise when the bowgunner turned and shot a sly, menacing grin at the man.

"You're not the only one with contacts in the Guild," the woman said quietly. "I may not be popular with other hunters in this city, but the Guild workers have no such fears of working with me, since they're not out in the field with me. You think you're the only one that finds it helpful to have a few friends in the bureaucracy rather than in the field? That's dangerous thinking, Pugnax."

And with that the bowgunner turned around and strode out of the room. There were several moments of silence that followed the woman's leaving, most of which consisted of Nax's face jumping between emotions, from confident disbelief, to fearful uncertainty, to downright anger and back again to the start before shuffling through them again. The silence was eventually broken as Harker scooted his chair away from the table, pushing himself to his feet.

"I should probably go after her," the long sword user shrugged with a grin. "Though she's normally very calm and collected, Lady Kerrigan does have the tendency to act recklessly when she gets fired up. I've never heard about her having any high-profile contacts in the Guild, but… well, I doubt a solitary woman such as her could've advanced herself as well as she did without a few well-placed allies."

Harker gave a quick look at Nax, and smirked before looking back at Levin. "Remember what I told you Levin, and try to keep control of yourself. Try not to let your issues get the better of you, my friend. And if you do start hearing voices… try not to listen to them. They rarely give good advice from what I hear."

Nax blinked in surprise at the words as Harker walked away after Kerry, turning and giving Levin a confounded, and slightly worried, look. "What was that about? Voices?"

"Apparently Harker's taken it upon himself to put himself into the role of my psychiatrist," Levin replied. "He seems to be interested in how the Lost's… mental issues work, and he's taken me on as a bit of a guinea pig."

"A guinea what? No, never mind." Nax shook his head. "That man seems to enjoy giving himself titles with a lot of 'ists' at the end of them. How many of them has he actually earned, though?"

"Couldn't tell you," Levin shrugged. "But he really is the best available man for the job, when it comes right down to it. I guess it goes along with that one phrase, what was it… In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king?"

"A depressing thought," Nax muttered.

"Especially when the one-eyed man is as much of a loon as Harker is. He's a good guy, but… Never mind. Now tell me, what's all this about a Barioth?" Levin asked eagerly.

Nax smirked at the great sword user's enthusiasm. "There's not much information on the mission available right now; my friend up north usually doesn't send many details and I don't ask for them. He tells me he's got a hunt for me to do, and I'll show up and do it. Likely, the beast's been causing some trouble for the transport wagons that carry goods to and from the north, and we're being called to kill the monster or at the very least convince it to reduce the size of its territory."

"We'll kill it," Levin replied simply. The aggressive whisper laughed excitedly in the back of his mind.

"I thought you might want to," Nax grinned.

"Are we good enough to fight off a Barioth, though?" Ellie asked. Levin glanced in surprise at his partner, and the sword and shield user shrugged. "No offence, but… I've seen how fast the Barioth can move when agitated, and, well, let's be honest, I'm the only one here with the foot speed and mobility to keep up with the thing. Both of you have weapons that are way too heavy to keep up the pace with one of those things."

Nax glared at the words, but puffed out his chest and crossed his arms proudly. "That won't be a problem. I've taken down enough of the things to know that it's possible, if not a bit of a challenge. Besides, where's the point of a fight if not for the challenge of the battle?"

"For the benefit of the mission requester?" Ellie challenged. "To keep the monsters contained where they won't cause trouble? General public welfare?"

"Means to an end," Nax shrugged flippantly. "More importantly, though, I've heard about Levin's… issues with the white drake, and I thought that this would be as good a time as any for the three of us to help him get over that little hurdle."

"And we couldn't do that with Kerry and Harker around?" Ellie asked in irritation. Levin frowned at her words. It was odd… admittedly, Nax wasn't fond of Kerry in the slightest, but to deny that she was a good hunter, one that would help them well against the Barioth, was a little bit foolish. Levin did want to feel as though he'd taken down a Barioth with as little aid as possible, but he wasn't completely suicidal.

"You saw how well me and Kerry got along," Nax growled. "A Barioth is a challenge that requires a lot of coordination to take down. You think me and her would be able to get along well enough to work together like that? We'd be just as likely to kill each other as the Barioth would. Besides, like I said, the Guild really isn't letting many hunters head to the north right now. Getting a hunting group of four would've been the best I could do, and do you really expect Kerry and Harker would've been content with one of them going out hunting while the other waited behind? Trust me, it's better off this way. I've been doing this for a long time, Ellie. Longer than you. Maybe you should start trusting my judgment, like Levin."

Levin grimaced at the words a little, turning away from the lancer. The man was wrong, if only a little. It wasn't Nax's judgment that Levin had faith in, but rather, his strength. The man had, above all else, experience that far outpaced his and Ellie's. It was that which Levin had gambled himself into following; the man's judgment was downright abysmal if Levin thought about it. Too focused on hunting to pay attention to his surroundings… he and Ellie had drilled themselves into focusing on their surroundings until it was second nature, but Nax seemed to have focused completely on strength and durability. Ellie caught his expression and grinned a little, making Nax believe he'd won the argument.

"Good to see you agree. Now, we've got a little more time to prepare for this hunt than we did last time, since the ship for the north won't leave for several hours still. But don't be late, it's the only one that's going to leave for half a week, and I really don't want to wait that long."

"Understood," Levin nodded. Ellie waited a moment or two before nodding as well, and the lancer nodded in satisfaction. Without another word, the man abruptly turned and walked towards the door, willing to let the pair of them prepare at their own speed. Once the man had left, however, Levin saw Ellie give him a worried look.

"Are you sure you're… ready for this, Levin?" Ellie asked. Levin scowled for a moment, but the expression was gone in an instant.

"I don't… I don't know, honestly. But… this is something I have to do. Somehow or another, I have to take this monster down."

The sword and shield user scooted closer to the great sword user and wrapped her arms around him comfortingly. "I understand. We'll take this thing down, no matter what it takes, okay?"

"Yeah…"

"And after that, we'll go after the Raths."

"Right."

"And after that…"

The Alatreon. Levin's fist clenched at the thought, and the sword and shield user pulled him tighter. They would take down the beast, one way or another. Someday. Somehow.

* * *

The ship that they arrived at to ferry them to the north was oddly shaped compared to the rest of the ones that the hunters had ridden on to take them off in all other directions. Rather than a smooth, sturdy ship with a deep bow, the ship that they were getting aboard was sleeker. From what Levin could see of the bows of the other ships that were designed for the north, most of the ships that were propped up for repairs had the entire front of their ships covered with metal sheets, as well as having a lines of blades, arching across the edges of the bow, and one massive spear that jutted straight out of the front.

"What's all that about?" Ellie asked curiously, pointing at the veritable horn of the ship.

"It's an icebreaker," Nax shrugged, making his armor clank at the motion. Levin sometimes wondered if the man ever took his armor off to clean it or anything; the lancer never seemed to have his armor off, ever.

"Icebreaker?" the sword and shield user said, gaping in shock. "But… this is a desert. How would… That doesn't make any sense."

"Yeah, it's an oddity, I've been told," the lancer said. "The desert of Loc Lac continues all the way up the mountains that line the far north. A lot of ice walls and glaciers sit on the mountain sides, and some break off into the sand sea, so some ships are built a little tougher to help get through, or even break up the ice that gathers on top of the sand before the rocky 'coastline.'"

"That doesn't seem like it should be possible. Then again, I never would have imagined that monsters like the ones we hunt would ever have existed in the first place either…"

"You Lost really do seem to be shocked by a lot of what you see in this world. How bland and lifeless was this world the lot of you came from in the first place?"

"It wasn't so boring as you seem to think it was," Levin muttered. "But it was safer, that much is certain."

"Too safe if you ask me," Nax scoffed. "If even half of the stories the Lost tell are true, you guys got wiped out when the monsters showed up and started causing trouble. You got too complacent with things, sounds like. You weren't prepared."

"How do you prepare for something you don't didn't know even existed?" Levin growled. "How do you prepare for the boogieman?"

Nax opened his mouth, likely planning to question Levin as to what exactly the boogieman was, but apparently decided against it, choosing rather to take himself below deck to wait for the ship to reach land again. Ellie looked as though she might join him, looking warily out at the sifting dunes, but chose instead to stay with Levin on deck.

The journey to the north took them well into the late afternoon. The ship, despite the extra weight of the iron spears at the front, darted swiftly across the sand, making excellent time as they pressed further into colder climates. Levin was surprised as how quickly the temperature dropped as they worked their way north, and how the desert continued to stay a desert, despite the cooler weather. Admittedly, the climate remained just as arid and dry, and Levin and Ellie both continued to drink out of the water barrels to keep themselves hydrated. Colder weather the further north they went, but there was still no water in the air at all. No wonder the desert continued all the way to the icecaps of the north before fading to stone and rock.

And it was exactly as Nax had told them. As the ship continued on, towering, looming mountains began to appear off in the distance, as well as sheer rock walls that created a veritable wall along the northern edge of the desert. White pillars of snow and ice coated the tops of the landmarks, making the shapes appear as jagged teeth on the horizon rather than mountains. Levin blinked in surprise as they got closer, massive bobbing shapes diving in and out of the shifting sands. Icebergs, the great sword user realized as they approached and passed the massive white chunks of ice, floating lazily through the fine grains of sand just as easily as if it were the cold waters of the arctic. Neither he nor Ellie could think of anything to say as they approached the shoreline, only watch in awe and wonder as they weaved through the indomitable pillars to the sky.

Just before the ship docked, the two Lost hunters watched as a massive slab of ice dropped off on of the cliff faces along the shoreline. Gusts of wind pushed a rush of snow from the tops of the peaks out over the sand, mixing into the soft sands and making the fine powder even brighter on the eyes. A loud cracking caught the pair's attention as the ship hands called out to those on shore, pulling their attention to the massive wall to one side. An eerie groaning and creaking echoed across the sand, lasting for several minutes before a massive wall of ice splintered off of the side of a glacier than crept down the side of one of the mountains. It was almost hypnotic watching the thing fall through the air, filling the area with painfully audible silence before the ice crashed into the sand, sending a wave of fine grain into the air. The powder was so fine in this area that the iceberg actually sank under the sand for a long moment, before bobbing back up to the surface and beginning to sway into the motion of the currents.

Beyond the sand sea, along the shoreline, lay a small village that seemed to serve only as a carry over for those moving beyond the towering peaks to the scarce villages that waited further to the north. However, despite the small size of the village, Levin did notice that the place was quite upscale for its size, and most of the people that traversed the streets seemed fairly well-to-do for themselves, despite the area's complete lack of farming area nearby or anything other than a few well-maintained docks.

"There aren't that many other villages or ports for a long way down the shorelines, are there?" Ellie suddenly asked.

"Not really, no," Nax replied, raising an eyebrow at the question. "Why?"

"Well, it's just that I can't imagine this town getting so wealthy without having either some really rare goods to sell, or having a really tight hold on the area's trade. If there aren't any other port villages for a long distance, then… well, if merchants want to get stuff through the area, the locals can really be tight-fisted hands at the grindstone and what can the merchants do about it?"

"I… suppose," Nax muttered in confusion. "That's not really something hunters need to think about all that much, though."

"Maybe, maybe not," Ellie replied thoughtfully. Levin glanced at her curiously, and the sword and shield user grinned slyly. What was she thinking about? The great sword user was tempted to ask, but Ellie had that sneaking look on her face that she wore every now and then, the one that meant that even if he asked, she wouldn't tell him anything until she'd done whatever it was she was planning, so the great sword user was forced to shrug it off.

Unlike most of the more southern villages, the small port town didn't seem to have any sort of wagon train leading out through the mountains. Not at the moment, anyway; apparently, with the combination of the Alatreon warnings, followed by the Barioth attacks on caravans, most of the domesticated Aptonoth were safely squared away in barns and stables, waiting for news of the roads being cleared of the more immediate threats.

So they were forced to walk, which was not a pleasant prospect, considering that the snow banks between the port and the village Nax was leading them to were over ankle deep at the shallow points, and it likely only would get worse the further they went.

Although, for an area that was supposed to be highly dangerous, the Tundra seemed to be a realm of utter serenity. The land was completely pristine, a blanket of snow coating the earth as far as the eye could see in a layer of fine white powder. Thick, stubborn pine trees seemed to sprout up and reach for the sun everywhere, from the flattest of earth to from the sides of the most precarious cliff faces. Even flowers and flora were able to break through the layer of snow, their long and sinewy stalks allowing their small, brightly colored petals to catch the light of the sun when it occasionally broke through the clouds.

The road they walked was just barely visible from the blanket of snow. The dirt and gravel road had apparently been piled up high, allowing travelers to make it out despite the snow; the path could be seen as they traveled through the mountains as an upraised, winding bump in the earth that worked its way through the peaks and crevices of the northern mountains. Every once in a while, though, the hunters would tense as a whopping monster call echoed through the valleys and snow banks. The howls seemed more like the haunting calls of a banshee than anything else to Levin, since they seemed to just appear out of nowhere, echoing around them quickly before vanishing into silence just as fast.

"Baggis," Nax muttered in frustration as the sounds died away. "Little bastards are a pain in the butt. Especially here. They blend in so well, and know the area more completely than any hunter does. Not to mention there are dozens of caves and caverns that run through the mountains and ice for them to sneak through. We should move quickly. I don't mind killing off a dozen or so of the things, but I really don't like trying to move around in this thick of snow. Besides, we should be pretty close to the village."

Levin and Ellie both nodded, pressing on behind the lancer as the man continued on through the deep snow to the north. Nax wasn't kidding when he'd said they were close; just over the next couple of hills, the great sword user could see a few spiraling pillars of smoke, sure signs that there was some town of some kind not too far away. Which was good: very, very good. To be honest, he felt as though he was freezing to death in the cold weather, but he wasn't really worried about himself so much as Ellie. His thick coat was pretty warm in the first place, and was taking in a lot of heat from the occasional rays of sunlight that pierced the clouds, and Nax's armor seemed to actually be emitting heat somehow. But Ellie's armor was not so forgiving to the sword and shield user. While Levin's armor was mostly warm blubber and hide, Ellie's was all scales and plates, neither of which held in heat very well.

Levin found himself glaring at Nax's back. The man had denounced them bringing along any hot drinks, claiming that they would only slow them down, that they could buy some when they got to the village, that they wouldn't need them until the headed out on the hunt, that they'd be fine on the way from the port to the village. Damn him! Even as they walked, Levin pulled himself closer to the sword and shield user, making an effort to try and warm her with his own body heat, but not succeeding very well. They needed to get to the village…

A flicker of motion caught Levin's eyes, and he turned his head quickly to the source. He found himself looking at a broad patch of ice that stretched across a river, the runoff from the snow that melted at the tops of the towering glaciers and mountaintops. Nothing seemed out of place, though… but Levin could've sworn he'd seen something or other. His eyes skimmed the area, trying to find some sign of motion or sign of something having passed by the area. Nothing came into sight immediately, though, and Levin wondered if it had just been his imagination. Maybe the cold was getting to him, or else… There! The same movement. A shadow, quick as a flash, darting across the ice. It was… big, Levin could tell that much. Immediately, his eyes darted to the sky, searching desperately for some sign of… whatever it is he had seen. His hand went to the hilt of his great sword, and the other two hunters with him caught the motion.

"Levin, what's wrong?" Ellie asked worriedly, her eyes darting around and her own hand reaching for the hilt of her sword.

"Something… above us, I think," Levin muttered quickly, eyes still scanning the sky. "Something big. I saw its shadow on the ice a moment ago. I don't know what it is, but I think it's nearby, watching us."

The hunters stood in silence for a long moment, scouring the skies for some time. Soon, however, Nax and Ellie began to fidget. Finally, the lancer turned back to Levin. "Are you sure you saw something? I'm not seeing or hearing anything in the air, and if it was really as big as you seem to think it was, it would've made a lot of noise flying over."

"I don't… I thought so. Maybe my eyes are playing tricks on me. The snow is really bright, and it's pretty cold out here…"

"Ah, Pugnax!" a voice called out as the hunters neared the village. Levin turned to look as a man, a hunter, more precisely, suddenly made his way around one of the rocky hills, making his way towards the three of them. The hunter was about the same height as Levin was, though a little more slender than him. But what caught Levin's attention about the man more than anything else was how… blue the man was. There really wasn't another way to describe him. He was wearing a deep blue leather and metal armor; Baggi armor, the great sword user realized. The sword and shield that the man had strapped to his side seemed to be made of the same material, with the same blue coloring about it. The man's eyes were blue as well, a dark color like that of the ocean, and even his long dark hair seemed to have a slight bluish tint about it. As he approached, he grinned brightly at the three hunters in greeting. "I was wondering when you'd show up."

"Ah, Noxramus," Nax replied with a grin. "I thought you might be up here. But how did you know I was coming? I thought old Noi was trying to keep this Barioth mission under wraps."

"He was, and he is," the blue-armored hunter, Noxramus, replied. "But he's not the only merchant that's been suffering losses due to the beast, and anyone with a brain in their head knew that once the Guild opened up the Tundra to hunting again, he'd be putting a call out to hunters to come and slay the damn thing. I mean, I could've done it myself, but… well, I've never had good luck with those drakes, so I avoid hunting them myself. And anyone who's known the old man longer than a couple hours knows that if he's going to call on someone, it'll probably be you. I don't know how you got in so good with Noi, but it's really paying off."

"I've done him some favors," Nax replied simply. "How about you? I didn't think they were planning on letting three stars up this way without signing on with a four star. How'd you get up here?"

"I was actually still here when the ban went up, and couldn't get a ride back to Loc Lac," Noxramus replied with a shrug. Levin was surprised at the admission; the man didn't seem too bothered to have been trapped in the frozen north. "I'm no fan of all the ice and snow, truth be told, but the Baggi mating season was right around the time the Guild banned travel to the north. So I figured, someone's got to stay behind and keep the Baggi numbers in check, it might as well be me."

"Still out to try and take out as many as you can, huh?"

"For as long as I can," Noxramus replied, a sour tone in his voice for a moment. Then he turned to look at Levin and Ellie and grinned again. "But who are these two with you? You've yet to introduce us, Pugnax."

"Ah, right," Nax said. "This is Levin and Ellie. They're a pair of hunters that I've been hunting with recently. They're both pretty good… if a little violent at times."

Noxramus laughed. "We're hunters, Pugnax. Violence is in our nature. We beat up monsters, go home, tell a few stories, get drunk, the beat up each other. Violence is just part of the deal. Anyway, it's wonderful to meet the two of you, and I hope you enjoy your stay in Hearth. Now come on, all three of you. You'll have all tomorrow to hunt your snow drake, but for tonight, you'll likely meet old Noi and get the rundown on the Barioth."

"It's nice to meet you Noxramus," Ellie replied, smiling at the man.

"Yeah… good to meet you," Levin said with a nod. Something about this Noxramus guy… Levin couldn't place it, but there was something about him that seemed familiar. Not in the 'I've met this guy before' sort of sense, but something else. It was just something the great sword user could feel, though he couldn't describe it.

"Well, come on then, the lot of you," Noxramus grinned. "We've got to get the three of you to go see Noi and Crezent. They'll want to talk with you before you head out. Although, you may only really be talking to Crezent the whole time, what with Noi spending a lot of his time doting over Sami these days."

"Sami?" Nax asked, as Noxramus began leading them into the little town. "Who's that?"

"Oh, you haven't heard? Noi is a father for the second time. A pretty little daughter, wouldn't you know it. He's been showing her off to anyone that gets within a mile of him."

"Another child?" Nax asked. "Really? Crezent's almost… what twenty-five or so by now, and the old guy's gotta be pushing sixty, and his wife's no younger. I'm surprised they had a kid so late on in years, and here in the Tundra no less."

Noxramus laughed at the words. "Of course they did. This is the Tundra, after all, Pugnax. What else are people supposed to do on cold nights during a snowstorm?"

To the sword and shield user's delight, the lancer visibly blanched at the words, before shaking his head. "Gah, you're terrible, Noxramus."

"I try my best," the man replied. "Now let's get into town. I don't want to spend the rest of the day out here in the snow, thank you very much."

* * *

"Isn't she just the loveliest thing you've ever seen, Pugnax?"

"For the hundredth time, yes, yes she is, Noi. Now can we get down to business already?"

Noi rolled his eyes at the hunter's persistence. "You should relax a little bit, Nax. The Barioth will still be there whether you leave for it today or tomorrow. And so late in the day, you likely will be leaving tomorrow. So you've got time to chat."

"You were always the one rushing me the times in the past that I've come by to help you with these missions, and now you're telling me to relax? You've changed. Having a daughter did this much to you?"

"Having a child changes you, Nax," Noi replied. "You become protective, proud, and completely obsessed with the strangest things. Ask my wife, she'll likely tell you I acted very much the same when Crezant was born. Perhaps in a few years I'll be the same businessman I was when we met, but for now, you'd best accept that I've changed."

"Ugh, fine," Nax grumbled. The merchant laughed at the man, earning a glare from the lancer, though it was a half-hearted look.

Levin glanced back and forth between the two men. The pair seemed far too different to ever get along, even in the name of business. Perhaps the merchant really had been a different man before Sami was born. Noi was a larger man, in the sense that he was tall and very broad. He didn't appear muscular enough to be a hunter, but it was clear that he'd made a living from hard work and strenuous activity, and had kept up his physique in his later years. He was very hairy, with thick black hair covering his head and arms, and a large bushy beard spreading over his jaw. He was constantly smiling happily, crooning over a small girl that he cradled in his arms, a frail little thing with a puff of hair just as midnight black as her father's. Levin could easily imagine the man as a veritable Saint Nick once his hair started to go white, but if he was fifty or so without a sign of grey… jeez, how long did people in this world live for?

The three hunters had been led by the hunter Noxramus to a large building in the center of the snowy town. Hearth, as it was, sat settled in the shadow of a large mountain, right up against a large incline that stretched up from base of a small valley to about halfway up the mountainside. The large house that Noi and his family lived in was a spiraling building that crawled up the side of the cliff. Half a dozen warehouses connected to the main building by short hallways, making the building spread out to about the same size as some of the larger inns that Levin had seen in Loc Lac. The rest of the village seemed to stretch out from the large complex, like the roots of a large tree.

The room Noi had led them to when they arrived was a living room of sorts, centered around a crackling fire, which had been a much appreciated bit of hospitality for them. Though they never would've admitted to it, Ellie and Nax both had armor that was really not suited to the cold weather. The rest of Noi's family sat in chairs on the other side of the room next to the merchant himself. His wife, a woman named Mu, did look a little more aged that him, with a long braid of blonde hair lined with streaks of white. She seemed awfully amused by the actions of her husband. She had been the one to greet the hunters at the door, and had been set and ready to offer the three of them a small feast, cooked by herself, before Nax had gently told her that they'd like to meet up with Noi as soon as they could. Clearly the lancer had dealt with her before.

Next to her was a younger man, with dark hair, Noi's son Crezant, dressed as properly as his father was and sitting tall in his chair. Unlike the rest of his family, he wore a very stoic expression, watching Nax, as well as Ellie and Levin carefully, judgingly. It wasn't a condescending look, just a studious one, trying to determine what kind of people they were, and whether or not the three of them were worth his or his family's time. Though Levin couldn't understand why he was giving the same look at Nax; hadn't the lancer been working for the family for a while now?

"If you must demand that we get down to business, then fine," Noi sighed, leaning back in his chair. He quickly passed little Sami to his wife, before turning back to the hunters. In a short moment, the man's facial expression changed, matching the one his son wore, but harder, stronger, clearly bearing the weight and hardness of the many more years of experience that he'd accumulated. Here was the man that Levin could see working with Nax on a regular basis.

"The Guild doesn't allow very long explanations on their mission request forms," Noi began seriously, "so allow me to explain the situation properly. You know this Nax, but for your comrades here, my business ships many things to the southern cities that can only be found in the north. Icethaw seeds, Stormsender seeds, Gracium, Isisium, even a healthy supply of archeological goods like Dragonbone Relics. A lot of call for other things as well, non-Guild requested goods. The list is long and is growing daily, and my company is one of the few in the Tundra, since not many entrepreneurs are willing to try and make a living on trade with a base in a place as unforgiving as the north. Which is why, when something gets in the way of goods transport, it's a bit of a big deal that needs to be dealt with as soon as possible."

"Makes sense," Ellie said. "And if you don't get your transports moving again, those few competitors of yours may start stealing your business?"

"Exactly," Noi grinned. "You've got a head for business on your shoulders, Miss Eleanor. Anyway, it is as she said. When something gets in the way of transport for the northern trade companies, it can prove disastrous to business. Needless to say, when we started receiving word that a Barioth was attacking our caravans a month or so ago, we knew we had to work quickly. We had a little bit of time to prepare and gather information, since trade was cut to a minimum due to the… Guild ban. All the companies in the Tundra had to slow down, not just us, so the losses have been minimal so far, but with the ban being raised, we've had to move quickly. Our mission request was on the first wagon train we sent to Loc Lac after the attacks started. It's good that you were available in the city when the ban dropped, Pugnax."

"I figured there'd be work here," the lancer replied. "I doubted that the hunters that live in the Tundra area or got stuck here would be enough to drop all the problem monsters that popped up. Besides, my friend Levin here has a personal desire to take down a Barioth himself."

"Just the team for the job then," Noi nodded. "Now then, Crezant has been gathering information on the damage the Barioth's caused our caravans. What have you gotten, my boy?"

The merchant's son seemed to sit up even straighter as his father brought the hunters' attention to him. "Well, it's definitely acting territorially, though we're not certain if it's new to the area and is trying to cut out a place for itself, or if it's one that's been here a while and is just expanding its territory. Hopefully, the first option, considering the territory it seems to be claiming."

"Why is that?" Levin asked.

"Because," Crezant replied, "if it's not, it means that one of the older Barioth in the area is raising a fuss, and that's something nobody wants. The old ones can really cause trouble in their own right, and if you're looking to go out and fight it, it may be more trouble than you want to deal with. The older ones know the lay of the land better than any other monster in the Tundra. The Baggis keep to their hunting paths, the Gigginox to their caves, but the Barioth travel everywhere in search of food. They'll know the terrain of the area better than anything out there, and are perfectly fine with using the knowledge to their advantage. There's only a few of the old ones, but they're still a big problem. If they're losing to hunters, they can run. If the hunters find their nest, they know a thousand other places to hide. There's nothing harder to find in the Tundra than a Barioth that doesn't want to be found."

"Is it even possible to chase it away from its attempts at expansion if it decides to run, then?" Ellie asked.

"Yes, of course," Crezent nodded to the sword and shield user. "Barioths are a pragmatic sort of beast, from what people have found. If you can't kill it, and you keep pestering it, it'll get irritated eventually and back off. Better if you kill of course, but if you can't…"

"We'll kill it," Levin cut in with certainty. The aggressive whisper in the back of his mind laughed wickedly in agreement. "We will."

"Well, it's good to hear you so confident," Crezant said, raising an eyebrow. Why was he looking at the three hunters so suspiciously? The whisper growled in anger at the man's distrust. "But… if you're going to chase a Barioth around the Tundra, you're going to need more than conviction. You'll need direction and an eye for the Tundra."

"I've been here enough times to know my way around," Nax argued indignantly.

"Not enough times to match how well the Barioths know the Tundra," Crezant replied. "That's why I'm requesting that the three of you take the hunter Noxramus with you on your hunt. He's spent months and months here in the north, scouring the area. Mostly for Baggis, I'll admit, but with what we have at our disposal at the moment, he's the best we've got."

"We're fine enough on our own!"

"I'm sure you would be, Nax," Noi said comfortingly, through the tone of professionalism was still strong. "However, this is a matter of speed. We need this beast dropped or chased away as soon as possible. You might be able to find the beast quickly on your own, but you'll be faster with someone that knows the area better."

"I don't-" Nax sputtered.

"Nax, I like you, but let me make this clear," Noi said, his voice darkening. "You are going to take Noxramus with you on this mission. This is not an option. I need this creature gone, one way or another, and it needs to happen immediately. You're a good and respected friend to this family and a better business partner, but there are others available that are willing to hunt this beast quickly and effectively, rather than clinging to their pride. Understood?"

The lancer grumbled at the accusation, but sullenly nodded in reply. "Fine. I suppose it will be faster that way."

The merchant grinned, pleased. The other three members of his family continued to sit nearby, clearly used to hearing Noi take complete and utter control of a conversation. Mu didn't look pleased at the man acting so serious around the newborn, but was apparently used to it. "Good to hear. Now, you should leave early in the morning, of course. I'll send word to Noxramus to prepare for tomorrow's hunt. No doubt he'll want to gather his traps together."

"He still does that?" Nax sighed. "I'm all for preparedness, but hauling a dozen traps or more into the field is overkill… and heavy, too."

"I'm not one to question a hunter's methods, Nax. Whatever works is fine by me. Now then, since business is done, shall we get to dinner? My darling Mu makes a mean Popo stew, as I'm sure you'll recall."

Levin blinked in surprise as the lancer suddenly blanched, a look of terror crossing his face before vanishing in a flash. "Um, yes, I recall. Er, does your wife also still prefer the taste of those peppers and spices her homeland produces?"

"Of course," Mu smiled, pushing herself up with Sami to her feet. She smirked wickedly at the lancer, pulling a giggle from the little girl in her arms. "You grow up on the islands in the ocean, you learn to love the local taste, and nothing tastes quite like the spices of my homeland. Why? Would you prefer I tone it down a little? I never knew hunters were so fragile in terms of taste buds."

"No, I was just… uncertain about whether or not Levin and Ellie would be able to handle it. Their members of the Lost you see, and I wasn't sure whether…"

"Oh, we'll be perfectly fine," Ellie cut in, giving a sweet but devious smile to their hostess. "There was a lot of spicy and strong food back in Boma Village, and I was personally a big fan of a local special sauce the Felynes used to cook… I can't remember what their word was for the secret ingredient, but I know back home they were called ghost peppers. Levin wasn't a big fan of them, but he liked everything far better if it was covered in a layer of garlic."

"My kind of people!" Mu laughed, and Nax stared at the pair of them in shock. Crezant had a shadow of a smile dancing on the edge of his mouth, just barely containing the humored look he had. Levin merely shrugged and smirked.

"I had my own bottle of garlic extract that the Felynes made up for me. Forgot to put it in my pack before leaving though, sadly enough. Can you believe I can't find anywhere that sells it in Loc Lac?"

"I like these two, Pugnax!" Noi laughed. "You should bring them with you here next time I call you for a job."

"Yeah, next time," Nax muttered painfully. Clearly the lancer was no longer fond of the idea of him having a toe in the door with one of the more influential men in the northern area of the hunting world.

"Come with me, the both of you," Mu said to the Lost hunters. "I want to make sure your meals are good enough for the two of you. Wouldn't want to make it too blond, now would I? Maybe the two of you can show me some recipes they use down that way while you're at it…"

* * *

"Good morning, the lot of you!" Levin glanced up from the front porch of Noi's massive house and watched Noxramus stride up to the wooden planks through the snow. The great sword user blinked in surprise as the man approached. The man was practically a wind chime. Four or five of the delicate metal monster traps dangled from the sword and shield user's belt loops. From the clinging and clanging coming from the pack on his back, Levin guessed that there were probably just as many bouncing around inside. Levin wondered how the man managed to carry so many, or better yet, why. Levin barely had space in his pouch to carry more than two or three of the metal things without running tight of space with all the potions and other goods he carted around during a hunt.

"Good morning, Noxramus," Ellie said. She was sitting next to the great sword user, and pushed herself to her feet to meet the approaching fellow sword and shield user. "Nax wasn't kidding. How many traps are you planning on taking with you?"

"As many as I can carry," the man shrugged in reply. "I like to be prepared. Especially considering how much I dislike fighting Barioth… you're lucky Noi and Crezant pay so well, or you'd never see my butt getting close to this hunt of yours."

"Yeah, but there's such thing as being over prepared, you know," Nax said. The lancer was standing against the doorframe, an impatient look on his face. "All that weight on you, you might as well strap another sword and shield to your belt."

"Now there's a thought," Noxramus replied, a mock contemplative look crossing his face. "My sleepy-knife is pretty useful in a hunt, but maybe I could bring my poison one out with me as well… It seems Miss Eleanor here has the paralysis option covered for us." As the lancer shook his head in dismay, the sword and shield user laughed. "Oh, don't act like that. I've heard tale of hunters rolling whole barrels of gunpowder and other explosives out into the field to take down the tougher-skinned opponents. If that's par for the course for some people, than bringing a few spare traps is perfectly fine by comparison."

"Whatever," Nax sighed.

"So you guys sleep well?" Noxramus asked. "I hear the beds in Noi's place are pretty nice compared to the rest in the town. Treats the hunters that do his work well."

"The beds were nice enough," Nax replied. Right on cue, a loud groan rolled out of his stomach, and the lancer winced in barely controlled pain. "Though… I can't say that I slept well. The missus is still unforgiving when it comes to cooking, and these two weren't helping any with their suggestions."

"Yeah, you gotta watch out for that. You'd think you'd be used to spicy stuff by now, as many times as you've come and done work for Noi."

"I would've been fine, if these two hadn't made it worse!" Nax complained. "Please, let's just get out of here. Any longer and Mu will pop out and offer us lunch, and I don't think my guts could handle that. Now let's go find this Barioth before the day gets any further on."

"Fine by me," Ellie replied with a shrug. "Though really, Nax, you were so impolite, declining Mu's kind offer at giving us leftovers to eat so we wouldn't have to survive on those nasty rations the Guild gives us. Such a caring woman."

"I hate you for reasons I never imagined I'd hate a person," Nax growled. "Let's just go."

"Onwards, then!" Noxramus said cheerfully. "We'll be heading south along the road you three rode up on. Keep your eye out for a trashed wagon or cart on the side of the road, and we'll start our search for the Barioth there. Any sort of destruction of the like should be certain sign of the beast."

"That's a very dark bit of tracking work," Levin said, getting to his feet and striding out into the snow to follow Noxramus as the sword and shield user marched into the lead.

"Well, with all this snow falling so often, it's really the best way to do it," the man shrugged in reply. "I mean, if it were Baggis or something, there'd be a pack's worth of prints to tail after, but Barioth are solitary creatures, so… they're little harder to deal with."

"Whatever you say, Nox," Levin replied, earning an odd look from the sword and shield user.

"He does that," Ellie grinned, as the man opened his mouth to reply. "You'll get used to it, whether you really want to or not. Trust me."

The other sword and shield user frowned for a moment, then shrugged. "Fine by me, I suppose."

Nox hadn't been kidding about the covering of tracks due to the snow. As the hunters headed south along the road, Levin had expected muddy, messy remains on the gravel path from where the group of hunters had walked while approaching the town. However, sometime during the night, though Levin had no idea when, a flurry of snow had fallen. It _must've_ fallen. How else could the tracks haphazardly strewn across the road so completely vanished over the course of the night, leaving only a weaving white hump to show where the road was?

The weather was sunnier than it had been the previous day, with only a few sparse clouds coating the skies. Even then, the weather was still frigid, making Levin have to hug his shoulders to keep warm. At least this time, though, they'd brought along an ample supply of Hot Drinks. After dealing with the cold air on their way to Hearth, both Levin and Ellie had brought along plenty of the jingling red bottles, their own pouches filled enough that they clanged and rattled around nearly as much as the multitude of traps Nox had dangling off his belt. Both he and Ellie had downed one each immediately upon heading out, not wanting to deal with the cold air like they'd had to yesterday, and thankfully, the drinks seemed to do exactly as they advertised. Upon downing the smooth potion, the stuff had poured through their veins, warming them from the inside like a warm flame was crackling softly inside their chests. It made the cold weather bearable, but Levin was worried that the substance might act like the potions that the Guild sold, numbing the effects but not really helping that much in reality. Was he going to get back to Loc Lac thinking he was fine just to learn that he had frostbite?

The four hunters continued down the road for a long while, searching the roadside for some sign of Barioth attacks on the side of the path. For Levin, Ellie, and Nax, though, it was mostly a short sightseeing trip through the Tundra, since none of them really knew how to track through the thick snow. Nox seemed perfectly content to act as tour guide to the area for Levin and Ellie, who'd never been there before, but no matter how excitedly the man showed off the area and its landmarks, to Levin, the area really never seemed to change beyond one snow bank following the next.

Suddenly, though, about an hour after setting off, Nox suddenly called the hunters to a stop, and motioned off to one side. The three other hunters followed the gesture, but none of them could tell what the sword and shield user was aiming at. The man huffed and rolled his eyes, and pressed through the snow off the side of the road, making a beeline for one of the dozens of snow piles that lay just off the road. Without a word, the man began digging through one of the piles. Sure enough, after a few seconds of digging, several wooden planks and the shredded remains of cloth covering and tarps appeared from under the powder. Upon realizing what Nox had found, the other three hunters rushed forward, working to help uncover what proved to be the remains of a wagon, as well as several boxes of mixed hunter's goods that had been carried inside. The remains of an Aptonoth corpse was found buried not too far away from the broken wagon; torn apart, half-eaten and frozen to the core.

If the hunters had been in the forest, Levin could've been able to track the movements of the Barioth, wherever it had gone. But here in the Tundra, with so much snow and ice, there were no signs of tracks or anything, not that Levin could see, at least. Ellie seemed to be just as lost as he was; Nax appeared to be acting as though he knew what he was doing, but his expression was just as frustrated as Levin's and Ellie's. But Nox was on top of things, used to the landscape, and had a sharp eye for the area. After a minute or two of scouring the area, the sword and shield user pointed them eastward, claiming the Barioth had left a faint, but visible trail behind. Levin couldn't see it, but the other man seemed to know what he was doing. So the blue-colored hunter took the lead once more, pushing the four of them off through the snow and ice.

The hunters continued their way along, eventually running across yet another river that poured down from the high peaks of the mountains and glaciers. Nox pointed them upstream, following the rushing water towards the source. Levin spent most of his time watching the water rush past as they journeyed on, taking note of how the ice layer on the top of the water slowly became thicker and sturdier, working its way towards becoming a completely solid sheet of ice.

Then a motion caught his eyes. Immediately, his eyes darted to the source, and the great sword user felt his heart sink. It was the shadow again, the same one from before. He hadn't imagined it! Or… maybe it was all in his mind. Was it all in his mind? He stared fearfully at the dark shape, studying it for a long moment, before finally coming to a realization. The shadow wasn't coming from above, but below! It was something under the ice layer!

"Ellie," Levin urged quietly, motioning to the ice. "Do you see that?"

The sword and shield user turned, looking where the great sword user had motioned. She looked concerned for a moment, then confused. With a confounded look, she turned her attention back to Levin. "See what?"

Levin's eyes shot to the ice, and he felt his jaw drop in despair. "The shadow! I saw it again! I'm sure of it! I know it was there! But… it was under the ice, not above it…"

Ellie frowned for a moment. Then she turned to Nox as he lead the group of them onwards. "Hey, Nox… are there any really big fish or water creatures in the Tudra?"

"Hm? No, not really. I mean, there's a few pretty big trout that work their way upstream once a year, and every once in a while you'll see a Pin Tuna or some Goldenfish. But other than that, nothing much worth talking about. Why? You a fan of fishing or something?"

"No… just curious." Ellie turned her attention back to Levin and a worried look crossed her face.

"I swear it was there!" he hissed. "I can't… I mean, my eyes wouldn't play tricks on me twice. There must… there must be some reason I'm seeing these shadows."

"Maybe… maybe a group of fish just clustered together at just the right moment. Or a cloud passing at just the right time. I'm sure there's a reason, Levin."

"Yeah. Right. There's got to be a reason. Some… weird reason that I just haven't thought of. There has to be." Ellie continued to give the great sword user a worried look, but the other two hunters were pressing on, and the pair of them were given no time to ponder how or why the great sword user was seeing shadows

As the four hunters worked their way through the snow, through the tall crevices of ice, a sudden sort of whooping, barking sound began echoing around the walls. Baggis, Levin realized, recognizing the haunting sounds from before. He still remembered Nat's fight against the creatures back during the hunter's exam. Immediately, the lot of them tensed, eyes darting around in search of the source of the sound. Levin's hand reached for the hilt of his great sword, and he could see Ellie and Nax doing the same. However, Nox's blade was out in a flash, and there was a violent glint in his eye as he scanned the corners and paths that led to them, clearly ready to leap at anything that came towards them.

The howls continued to echo around the hunters for a minute or two, and Levin constantly expected the monsters to come around the bend at any moment. But after a while, the sounds grew dimmer, and dimmer, until finally the path they followed was silent once again. The four still waited another few moments before allowing themselves to relax. Levin glanced over at Nox curiously as the man sheathed his blade and pushed to continue them forward to where the nest awaited.

"You seemed awfully on edge there," he said. Nox turned at the words, kept Levin's gaze for a moment, then nodded simply and turned to face ahead once more.

"I don't care for Baggis," he said. "I've fought enough of them to know that they can pop out of the smallest of cracks and surprise you, so when I hear that barking, I get a little edgy. But to be honest, I don't really need them to attack first to go after them. I'm always ready for the opportunity to take the beasts down a pack or two."

"Why is that?" Levin asked. He saw Nax sigh in irritation at the mention, but ignored him. Ellie seemed interested as well, walking a little closer to listen in, and Levin pressed on. "What makes you so adamantly dislike them?"

The sword and shield user paused for a moment. "Losing your family to them tends to do that to you."

"You lost…" Levin winced in pain. It seemed like something, a tiny little bug, was digging its way through his mind, pulling on his memories. Loosening things, making things unravel. But what was working its way to the surface?

"Yep. Mother. Father. The both of them were taken out by a Great Baggi." Nox turned back to Levin and grinned at the great sword user's expression, mistaking it for guilt. "Oh, don't feel bad about asking. It's been long enough that I'm not grieving anymore, and you're not really bringing up haunting memories or anything. I'm over the pain and moved on to recovery. And my method of recovery is… well, the armor and weapon ought to show how I've been going about finding my peace. I imagine you and your little miss there will feel better when you're wearing Alatreon and Rath armor, respectively. If you can find someone that can work Alatreon scales anyway…"

"But… your family…" Ellie said sympathetically.

"Like I said, I'm fine now. I'm sad about it, but I'm going on with my life, alright?" Nox smiled broadly. "I'm sure you're trying to do the same, right?"

"Something like that…" Ellie replied.

"Yeah… something like that…" Levin muttered. The bug was still digging around. Something was coming to light, pulling itself up to the surface.

Nox smiled, accepting their answers, then turned back and motioned dramatically off towards a cave the four were approaching. "There's our camp for the night. It's a quaint little hovel I've spent the night in for many a hunt in the past."

"What!" Nax sputtered in surprise. "I thought we'd reach the nest today! We should find and kill it as soon as possible!"

_Kill it kill it kill it!_ the whisper agreed in his mind. _Kill it now, kill it quickly!_

"We should, and we could," Nox replied with a shrug. "But I'm fairly sure I know which Barioth we're going after. It's an older one, and the beast has its nest wedged on the far side of a lake. The recent heat… well heat by the Tundra's definition, has started melting the ice of the lake in the late afternoon. We'll have about the same chance as falling through as we would getting across. We could get to the nest in time by going around the lake, but we'd arrive at dusk, and trust me, if anyone knows anything about monster hunting in the Tundra, it's that you hunt whatever you're after in the day. Night battles suck. Barioths have insanely good night vision, and other monsters like Gigginox don't even need eyes to whoop people's backsides. We'll head out in the morning, when the lake is fully frozen over again from the night's cold and we have at least as good vision as the monster we hunt. Trust me, we'll be better off."

"Gah, fine," Nax replied, shaking his head and pushing off through the snow towards the cave. "Am I the only one with the courage to fight something at night?"

"I wouldn't call it courage, but he's certainly got something," Nox muttered quietly, winking at Levin and Ellie. Ellie giggled at the jab, and Levin managed a smirk, but the bug was still digging, and something was forming up in his head. And as Nox turned, taking off after the lancer, what he'd said began to coalesce in Levin's mind, and the shattered pieces of Levin's memory that the bug had unearthed began to work themselves back together.

As he followed Nox towards the cave, the pieces finally snapped into one cohesive memory, which flowed through his mind immediately. Levin nearly seized up as the images and sounds flashed through his head, and only barely kept himself from falling into the snow. But he did stop short, and brought his hands up and covered his face, a wave of misery washing over him.

"Levin. Levin! What's wrong?" Ellie was already next to him, clinging to his arms, a worried look on her face.

"I remember… I can remember now," Levin muttered in pain. "The Alatreon. It took then from me… it… it's keeping my family from me."

Ellie gaped in shock at the words. "Your family? But… how would… why would it want to…"

"Hey, you two!" Nox shouted at the pair of them. "You're holding us up! I mean, I don't mind if you want to camp out in the open, but I promise you guys that the cave will be warmer!"

Levin glanced at Ellie, who seemed torn at the moment, but Levin shrugged in resignation and motioned them towards the two other hunters. "We'll… we'll talk about it once we're settled in for the night," the great sword user muttered, putting up a false smile. "Once we're alone, then we can talk, alright?"

Ellie kept her eyes on Levin for another moment, before nodding reluctantly. "Alright."

Levin nodded, and the two of them tailed after the other two hunters. Levin felt a cold feeling in his chest. Seething anger was welling up inside of him, while being just barely balanced by the overwhelming sadness he was feeling. He couldn't do anything to the Alatreon now, damn it, but he had to vent somehow. Maybe telling Ellie what was going on would help.

But if not, tomorrow's hunt certainly would.

* * *

"I don't remember much. But I remember the fires. There weren't any stories like monster sightings or anything like that. Life was just like it had always been. No real dangers in the world like the ones there are now, just the regular dangers of other people. I was visiting my family at the time, two parents and a younger brother, out in the town in search of something to do, I can't remember what. It was outdoors, though, somewhere in the middle of the city, someplace crowded and with a lot of people."

Levin really didn't know what he was saying, and he really didn't have any order of thought to his words. He just rattled off the words as they came to his mind. He sat across from Ellie, on the far end of the cave Noxramus had led the troupe of hunters to. The other two men sat a dozen or so yards away, near the campfire. Both of them had been curious as to what Levin and Ellie had needed to talk about, but a couple of stern, meaningful looks from Ellie had encouraged the two to keep their distance.

Ellie kept her eyes on his face with a worried look in her eyes. He'd heard her story about what had happened to her before being caught up and brought to the hunter's world, at least twice. But though Ellie had asked about how Levin had ended up in the hunter's world, Levin had never been able to answer; not due to the fact that he didn't want to, but because he simply couldn't remember. Whenever he'd tried, his memories had eluded him, remaining just out of reach. Now that he had them back, though, he wished he'd never gotten them back in the first place.

"The memories are… fuzzy. I still don't remember much. But what I do remember is… horrifying. One moment things were normal, just as they always were. The next… fire, explosions, black lightning falling from the sky, rivers freezing over and shards of jagged ice dropping from the sky. Everything around us just began to fall apart or die trying to get away. Nobody knew what was going on. Entire buildings were destroyed in seconds. Entire blocks in minutes. Hundreds, thousands of people were dead, killed in only a few minutes." Levin paused painfully. "There weren't any faces. Nobody was recognizable. There were only… charred bodies, burned remains.

"Somehow… my family and I were still alive, somehow still among the scarce few that were burned away in the explosions or ripped apart by the lightning or pierced by the raining ice shards from the sky. We were cowering under… something, an awning or a bridge or something like that. But there was a building that had been hit and was coming down. We had to move or the rubble would have dropped down on us. So we started to move away from the cover we had, trying to get away and to a safer place."

Levin sighed and grimaced, before continuing. "We tried to get to a subway tunnel. We made it halfway across the street when… when we heard it. A powerful, earth-shaking roaring. It stopped us in our tracks, right there out in the open. It was like nothing we'd ever heard before, rattling the few windows that remained intact. Then… through the smoke and fire that clogged the sky, I saw it drop out of the sky. The Alatreon.

"It was terrifying. I don't… really remember what it looked like, really, just a massive black creature dropping out of the sky. It wasn't even flying or anything, just… dropping like a rock, right towards us. It hit the ground like a meteor, and the entire road… splintered, like glass. Everything around us just broke apart. Then there was a wave of fire, and everything just… lit up. Gas lines and cars just erupted in flames; it was like hell on earth.

"I think… the next part is really vague, but there were… flashes of light, and then… and then… The next thing I know, the thing is standing over me, laughing at me, mocking me. It told me, it told me that, that if I really wanted my family back, I'd have to fight him for the right to do so, that if I wanted to see them again, all I had to do was challenge him in battle, to find his hideaway and go against him. Then he told me that… that I was like an ant to him, that all humans were like bugs. If I wanted to challenge him, I'd have to wait, wait for… for when I would have a chance to, to even amuse him a little. Then he… I don't really remember but… he started laughing and… the blue light. I remember the blue light."

Anger began to seep through him again. "He's been… he's been mocking me, in my dreams, ever since. Taunting me, hurting me. I can't... I can't just let it go. I have to get my family back. I have to see them again. And if hunting down and killing the Alatreon is the only way to do it, then I'll do it without hesitation, no matter what rules or mandates the Guild has set. I have to. I _have_ to."

He clenched his fists in anger in his lap, rage going through him. Ellie didn't say anything at all, just continued to look at his face with a worried expression. Without another word, the sword and shield user got to her feet and walked over and sat down next to him. She didn't say anything at all, but reached her arms around him comfortingly. It was all she could do at the time, and really it was all Levin needed at the moment. They were both the same, both damaged by the effects of monsters ruining their lives, and both of them sought nothing more than to find what they'd lost when they'd been carried to the hunter's world: their families.

_You forget_. The softer whisper slid through his mind like a flash, dancing on the edge of his perception. _You forget too much_. Levin blinked in surprise. Forget what? He was just beginning to remember.

_You've forgotten so much, but how much do you really want to remember? Do you hunt the beast for the sake of what you've lost? What you hope to regain? Or is it for vengeance? _

_We will kill the black beast!_ The aggressive whisper shot into focus. _No matter the reason, the creature has to die! There is no other option! Intentions don't matter, not with this!_

_Intentions always matter._ The aggressive whisper growled at the gentler one's words, but the whisper was gone once again, hidden away in Levin's mind again. The angry whisper seethed in frustration at the vanishing, but after a few moments the whisper began to fade into the background again as well.

Levin grimaced, pulling Ellie closer. Every time he thought he was getting things together in his head, things seemed to fracture apart even further. He had to try and hold himself together. He had to keep himself sane. He had to last long enough to kill the Alatreon.

* * *

The four hunters took off again just as the sun was cresting the mountains in the morning, which meant that Levin, Ellie, and Nax were up long before Noxramus. With so many mountains, the sun actually rose long after the three Loc Lac hunters were used to.

Levin had wondered how he'd feel upon waking that morning. He feared that he'd be in a condition a lot like that which he'd been in after Ellie had been injured; a blind, unforgiving rage. But instead, it seemed that the feelings of anger inside of him had changed into a cold, furious anger rather than the blind rage he was used to. Maybe it was because he knew why he was always so angry, or maybe because his emotions had proper aim now rather than a wild flurry of random rage. He didn't know what the reason was, but it didn't matter. He was going to fight and kill the Barioth, and then he was going to do the same to the Alatreon.

Nox continued to take the lead, weaving the hunters through large icy crevices and occasionally through bright tunnels that cut through the glaciers that sat quietly upon the towering peaks. As they walked, Nox explained to the other three that the Barioth they were heading towards, whose nest they were going to meet the beast at, was one of the older creatures that roamed the Tundra area. After the near disaster that was the Rathian hunt they'd had, Ellie was worried about their chances, but Nox ensured her that it wasn't as much of an issue. Barioths didn't live nearly so long as Raths did, so while age was a good indication of strength with the white drakes, it wasn't nearly so bad. The Barioth would be stronger than average, but nothing unbearable.

After an hour or so of walking, the group of hunters were finally getting closer to where Nox claimed the drake's nest was located. The four of them ran across a rushing river, journeying downstream from the upper sections of the mountain. Chunks of ice churned along with the water as it run downhill, bobbing and bouncing along with the current.

"The nest should be right at the mouth of this river," Nox told them. "The Barioth has its nest set in a cave on the shore of the lake that feeds it. We'll have to be careful, though. If it comes down to a fight on the ice, the creature will have the advantage with its claws able to hold onto the surface of the lake. I mean, Nax, you'll probably be alright with your armor, but the rest of us, not so much. Now, when the thing starts attacking, I'll set down a few shock traps to hold the monster in one place. Best not to use pitfall traps on the ice, bad idea."

As the sword and shield user pressed on up the hill, he pulled several various traps he'd brought along with him, and held them out for the others. "It's best if we spread these out a little. I try to avoid hunting Barioth, but from what I've heard, they're pretty sharp. If it sees one of us setting down traps, it'll keep a sharp eye out to make sure it doesn't do it again. So if we each have traps, and put them down individually, we should be fine."

Once again, Levin was impressed at Nox's seemingly infinite pockets, as the man pulled half a dozen shock traps from his pouch and his buckles, passing them around to the other hunters. The shock traps were more disc-like than their pitfall counterparts, and made of brightly polished copper. A bright blue gemstone rested in the center of the mechanism, an impressive stone that Levin had only seen occasionally, a massive, well-polished Lagiacrus crystal, bigger than most of the other such gems that he'd seen scavenged off of the water snake's body. Well, he'd seen a massive gemstone called the Lagiacrus sapphire up for sale at an auction house once, an enormous stone that the auctioneer had referred to as an "unparalleled carve." Levin had believed it too, with how magnificent the thing looked.

However, when Nox had approached the lancer with a pair of traps, Nax had shaken his head in refusal. "I don't believe in using traps. Where's the fun in taking a monster down if you just shock it and pound on it while it's trapped. I'll let you guys put them down if you want, but that'll be your prerogative, not mine."

Nox frowned at the words, but shrugged and shoved the gizmos back into his pouch. "Your loss, I guess. You're the most armored hunter, so it'd be easiest for you. You're not exactly the most mobile one here, so… have fun trying to catch the damn thing when we can't put down anymore traps. Even if we get its claws, it's still the fastest monster I've ever seen. But if you really don't want to, we should press on, the lake where the beast nests should be right over this next hill."

Levin and the others slowly worked towards the peak of the hill, and glanced over. It took the great sword user's eyes a moment to figure out what he was looking at; the endless white of the frozen Tundra made it hard to differentiate what was what without taking time to look closely at things, but eventually he was able to figure out the landscape. The lake ahead of them was a good quarter mile across, frozen full over, with large snow drifts along each shoreline but one. The far bank of the lake had a few dozen yards of shoreline, before the flat land spiked sharply up in a rock wall, a steep incline that wouldn't be impossible to climb, but definitely wouldn't be easy. It hardly looked stable, with entire piles of stone showing where rockslides of avalanches had pulled entire swaths of the mountainside down to the lake line. A place to avoid, clearly.

Finally, each side of the lake sported some source or release of water. To the hunters' left was a massive tower of frozen water, a waterfall completely stopped in time by the cold weather. Levin could just make out the sound of water cascading from on high to the lake below from behind the tower of frozen water. On the right was a large break in the ice, where the water drained away from the lake by cascading out a crevice into a large river that weaved and snaked its way off into the distance.

"Completely frozen over," Nox muttered, staring at the lake. "Be sure to keep a sharp eye on your footing, guys."

"Wait!" Ellie suddenly hissed. "I think I see something coming out of the cave."

The other three hunters' eyes immediately darted to the shadowy entrance of the cavern. Sure enough, from the depths of the cave, a hulking but lithe form stalked out of the shadows, coming out into the sunlight of the bright Tundra. Levin felt himself begin to shake at the sight of the creature, the pristine white fur that lined the beast nearly making it vanish in the brightly lit snow surrounding it. Thick leathery scales lined the body wherever fur didn't grow, and two massive orange tusks, as well as dozens of similarly-colored spikes, lined the creature's body from its ears back to its long, powerful tail. The Barioth, feared drake of the snowy north. It was even bigger than Levin had thought it would be, a massive creature that truly did seem to earn the title as master of the north.

The creature, massive as it was, tilted its head to the left and right as it glanced around, sniffing the air, testing, in search of signs of threats to its territory. Fortunately, the four hunters were downwind of the creature, allowing them to remain concealed. Levin was worried that, between his yellow armor and Nax's red, the Barioth would simply catch sight of them, but no sign of recognition seemed to cross the creature's face as it moved around. Content with its surroundings, the drake strode out further into the open, glancing around to decide where it should head out to hunt.

As it got nearer, Levin caught sight of something he hadn't noticed before: the Barioth was actually injured on its face. A long, painful looking slash etched one side of the creature's face, a jagged tear that stretched up from the monster's jaw up to the peak of its skull. The wound went right between the monster's eyes, creating a bright pink scar. Levin felt his hand reach up to his own scar, the three pronged injury that had decorated his face since his arrival in the hunting world. Such a similar injury… was haunting.

Then a biting pain tore into his head. A Barioth with a scar across its face… the image made old memories, once forgotten, spark once again back to life. Memories of pain, of the Tundra at a time when it was the purest white from a blizzard…

* * *

_He was just barely alive, at the moment. Blood was oozing down his arms from the claw wounds that lined his arms and chest. He was half-delirious at the moment, his vision was swimming. The only reason he wasn't in worse condition was because the blood and injuries that the beast inflicted on him would only freeze before any of the blood could be lost._

_The damned monster… he just couldn't hurt it! Its skin was too thick; its speed was too great! Nine times out of ten, the creature was a dozen yards away, leaping and diving in circles around Levin before he could blink. And when the monster charged in to slash at him, if Levin managed to even touch it, it was like hitting a wall, and the beast didn't even seem to feel the blows. It only leapt back again, before rushing in again to cut into Levin again. It wasn't even trying that hard, either. The longer the fight went on, the more lax the creature seemed to get, ceasing its dashing around, and slowing to a romp of sorts, though still drastically outpacing Levin. _

"_I can't… I can't die… I've got to kill it… I've got to… kill the black beast…" He could barely breathe anymore. His injuries made it hard to move anymore, and the frigid cold air tore through his lungs like fire. He could barely see straight anymore. His skin was turning blue and black from frostbite. _

_He was going to die, and there was nothing he could do to save himself. _

_No! He couldn't give up! He had to keep fighting! He had to kill it! He had to kill all of them! The creature was moving in again, and Levin pushed forward to meet it… _

_And his legs promptly gave out. His feet barely made it a few steps before his strength was gone, and his legs simply stopped moving. He still had inertia, though, and Levin tumbled forward, dropping painfully to his knees, just barely managing to keep himself upright by luck. He felt panic settling in, desperately trying to get his legs moving, but they simply wouldn't reply. He glanced up towards the Barioth. The creature was right in front of him, towering powerfully over him, eyes boring piercingly into his own. The creature was absolutely massive, a huge beast of lithe muscle and power. Its fangs and claws were sharpened from years of battling, their edges clear and deadly._

_He was going to die. The beast lowered its body a little, and raised one of its clawed wings, intent on finishing the job right here and now._

"_I don't… I don't want to die… No…"_

"_Back, beast!" _

_Levin blinked in surprise at the sudden words. The monster was taken aback as well, eyes darting around for the source of the sound. Levin was barely conscious enough to see it, but he just barely made it out when a small but incredibly fast shape darted out of the blinding snowstorm towards the beast. The creature just barely had enough time to flinch in surprise as the flash of steel snapped out from the shape, a sliver of a blade jabbing forward and cutting straight across the beast's face, from the jaw on one side of its face to the ear of the other side, sending a spray of thick red blood across the pristine white snow on the ground. _

_The monster howled in pain and shock, stumbling backwards from the sudden assailant and raising a paw to wipe the blood from its face and eyes. The attacker dropped to the ground and quickly moved between Levin and the monster. Levin thought he was still hallucinating at the sight. The… person, whoever it was, was shorter than he was even while on his knees, with a greenish leathery face, and… pointed ears. _

"_A… gnome?" he muttered._

"_Eh?" the thing replied, turning a moment to face Levin, despite the monster howling angrily at him. "My name? That'll have to wait, boy. I doubt this beastie here will give us time to introduce ourselves. Later, perhaps? I need to talk with you about… things, anyway." _

"_I don't… I have to…" _

_And with that, Levin slumped forward, slipping into unconsciousness. He didn't feel much more after that, except hearing his savior make a worried exclamation, and some warm fabric cover him. But moments later, there was only darkness._

* * *

"That's it."

"What?" Levin glanced up, seeing Ellie looking at him in confusion. "That's what?"

"That's the Barioth," Levin said. "That's the same one that attacked me when I… woke up. I know it."

"How can you tell?" Nax asked. "All the monsters look alike to me…"

"The scar. The one on its face. I know it's the one. The… the damn Veggie Elder was the one that gave it that scar. I remember."

"That old conman?" Nax asked skeptically.

"Oh, the old guy?" Nox asked. "Yeah, he comes up north every now and then… we see him in Hearth once a year or so. But… man, I know the Wyvernians can be real beasts as hunters, but the couple times I've seen the Veggie Elder, it seems like a stiff breeze would end him. Or rather, he didn't seem… stable enough to fight any monsters."

"Ain't that the truth," Nax muttered.

"I've got to fight it," Levin growled. The whisper in his head laughed excitedly, urging him to charge, to main, to destroy the Barioth. "I've got to kill it."

"That was the plan all along," Nox said. Then he smirked. "Good to see you getting into it, though."

"Do we need to know anything else?" Levin asked impatiently to Nox, and the man shrugged.

"Not really. Lay some shock traps and watch your footing and aim for the claws, but other than that…"

"Then let's go."

The Baggi-armored hunter looked at Levin for a moment, then grinned wryly. "Fine by me."

Levin's eyes turned to face the Barioth again, as the drake's eyes darted around the field in search of trespassers. Its ears twitched and twisted with the wind, as its snout flared and sniffed for some sign of life around that wasn't something it wanted around. After several seconds, a gust of steam shot from its nostrils as it huffed in acceptance, apparently not sensing the four hunters that lay watching and waiting. The creature turned and stalked back towards its den, certain that it was safe, and disappeared back into the darkness of the cavern.

The hunters waited a few moments before pushing themselves over the hill and making their way down the other slope towards the frozen lake. Levin, Ellie, and Noxramus each had a shock trap in their hands, ready to set them down at a fair distance from each other. Levin kept a watchful eye on the darkness of the Barioth nest, ready to move if even the slightest motion came from the cave. He waited until he was a good twenty or thirty yards away from where Ellie was, near the center of the wide lake, before stopping and moving to place the shock trap.

The machine worked similar to how the pitfall trap did, with a small latch on the top that you twisted to charge the crystal on top. Levin did so, and quickly dropped the contraption to the ground, wincing as it clattered softly on the ice and backing away from the trap. The small device slowly began to hum, the sound growing louder and louder over time. Then, with a soft click, several small clasps on the side opened, and a cluster of thin tendrils snaked out, spreading out across the ice and spreading the area of the trap to over a yard wide. After a moment, Levin could make out little sparks of static popping out from the wires as they filled with current, making it so that anything that touched the tendrils or the trap itself would feel the full voltage of the Lagiacrus crystal.

Levin glanced over to the other three hunters, noting that both Ellie and Noxramus had successfully placed their own shock traps, and were backing away as theirs unraveled as well. Nax was advancing steadily towards the cave entrance, shield ready and lance presented forward, clearly intent on taking on the Barioth with or without the aid of the traps and eager to get to the fighting. Levin's hand went instinctually for the hilt of his sword, and he slowly began to follow ready to lure the Barioth out of its home and into battle. If they could catch it by surprise, that would be for the best, to take it down quickly.

He glanced around one last time as he began his approach to the cave, and realized that Ellie had a worried look on her face as she glanced back and forth between the three traps that had been laid on the ice lake. They were too far away for Levin to simply ask what was wrong, but the sword and shield user quickly started motioning her hands back and forth between her ears and the traps, frantically gesturing between them.

Levin cocked his head, and blinked in realization. He hadn't been paying attention, since he'd set down his trap first, but now he could tell that the traps were actually making far more noise than he'd thought. When his own had been turned on, he hadn't thought much of the noise since he'd been standing right next to the thing. But now that he was a little ways away, he realized that the traps' humming sound was making far more noise, the sound traveling much farther than the great sword user had first realized. Even the furthest one that Nox had set down was audible from this distance, just barely heard over the wind. But if he could hear it, even with his hood over his head, then certainly…

A deep rumbling sound caught Levin's ears, and the great sword user's eyes darted back to the entrance of the cave. Hidden, just barely visible through the gloom and the shadows, Levin could just barely make out two furious, glowing red eyes glaring out at them.

A flash of white blasted out of the shadow of the cave, a blurring rush of fur and claws tearing towards the hunters. Nax was caught off guard by the sudden assault, and was sent reeling backwards as the creature tore past him, the spines along the beast's arm clipping the man's shield and knocking him back. Even as the monster continued past him, it snapped its tail to the side right as it passed, clipping the lancer a second time with the spines on its tail as well, sending the hunter onto his backside.

Levin swung his blade around sharply when he realized that the Barioth was charging right for him, ignoring the other hunters and focusing on the great sword user for the moment. He held his blade out like a wall, but the creature's weight and speed smashed into him like a freight train, and his feet couldn't keep a grip on the ice below him. With a yelp of shock, the great sword user found himself sliding back across the ice, waving his arms wildly. It only took a moment for him to regain his balance, pulling his sword back around to defend, but as he was doing so he realized that the monster was already sprinting around behind him, rushing in to strike out at his exposed back. Levin twisted frantically, but the creature's speed was unmatched, and the massive blade was only able to deflect the oncoming paw slightly, and the jagged claws tore at the great sword user's side, shredding lines through his armor.

The creature's onslaught continued, even as Levin tried to pull away and recover. The Barioth refused to let up even slightly, swinging at the man with its claws and wings, smacking blow after blow against the large metal blade. Levin was having trouble just staying upright, with the slick ice below him, and he could feel desperation starting to sink in as the creature pushed him further and further back.

But before the Barioth could land a truly debilitating blow, it yelped in sudden surprise and pain as both Ellie and Noxramus managed to catch up with the creature, both swinging their blades down onto the monster's flank; each hunter had come at the creature from opposite sides, leaving the monster surrounded, its eyes darting back and forth to figure out where to go. However, rather than swinging out at one of the hunters, the Barioth instead coiled itself up, then shoved itself up and backwards several yards into the air. While airborne, the beast beat its wings a couple of times, pushing itself even further, before landing gently on the ice several dozen yards away from where the three hunters were still clustered together.

For the first time since the battle had started, the Barioth was actually holding still. Its bright red eyes snapped back and forth between the hunters as the creature growled menacingly at them. The numerous sharp claws that lined the beast's paws and wings scratched at the thick ice, getting traction as it kneaded the ground. Levin and the other hunters tensed as the monster stared at them, as though deciding which of them to go after first. Then its eyes landed on him, and narrowed slightly. The rumbling in the creature's gullet seemed to grow louder and more dangerous. Levin met the glare, but a feeling of uncertainty crept across him. Did the monster actually recognize him? Did it remember how it had tried to kill him all that time ago?

Then the beast's eyes darted to the side as a rush of red surged at him from the side, Nax charging headlong at the beast from the side. The Barioth leapt to the side, the point of the lancer's blade grazing one of the monster's wings and creating a line of red blood on the drake's body. The lancer continued to chase after the creature as the Barioth backed away from the hunter, dogging it closely and not allowing it to get back on the offensive. Nax continued pushing and pushing, continuing to hassle the monster further and further until the pair of them began to approach the far end of the lake, where the snow banks began to grow higher. The Barioth barked angrily at the lancer, hoping to scare him, but to no avail. Levin and the other two hunters chased after the lancer and the monster, trying to catch up and help the man out.

With a growl of frustration, the Barioth pushed itself even further away from the lancer, and the man tailed after it excitedly, lance ready to keep up the attack. But the creature seemed to grow larger as the hunter approached, like it was expanding from the inside, while at the same time lowering its head and chest closer to the ground. Nax continued to charge as the monster continued to grow, until the man was only a few scarce yards away from the Barioth. Levin heard Noxramus try to shout out some kind of warning, but the lancer was too close by then. With a powerful blast of air, the Barioth abruptly expelled all of the air in its lungs, sending a blast of wind at the lancer. The gust was powerful enough to pick a large collection of snow and ice flakes and send those flying towards the man.

Nax stumbled back as the wind, as well as the collection of ice and snow, slammed into him. He fell painfully onto his back. But the ice and snow was wet and sticky, and even as the lancer moved to push himself to his feet, the stuff began to stick tightly to the man's armor, freezing the metal plates together where they stood. The red armor began getting covered by a thick layer of white, and still the Barioth's lungs were expelling air, continuing a spray of snow at the hunter. The lancer attempted to get his shield up, but the joints in his arms were freezing up, so he was forced to desperately scoot away from the monster.

The creature's breath cut off almost immediately as the lancer tried to increase the distance between them. With a bark of rage, the Barioth, leapt forward to give chase. But just as quickly it slid to a halt, as the other three hunters approached, ready to get back in the fight and between the creature and Nax. The Barioth scooted back again, keeping its distance, and once again seemed to expand outwards. All three of the hunters moved to defend themselves, but rather than another blast of ice and snow like they expected, the Barioth unleashed a bellowing roar, one that shook the very ice below the lot of them.

Levin's skull was still vibrating as the roar began to dim. His hands had instinctually gone to his ears to block the noise of the roar, leaving his open to attack. The very second the roar cut off, the Barioth was off again, tearing across the ice towards him, Ellie, and Nox. The creature tore past Nax, who still was struggling to scrape off the thick layer of ice that had accumulated on his chest plate and torso, and went straight towards Noxramus.

Levin moved to help intercept, but was caught off guard when Noxramus suddenly yelped in panic, scrambling away from the monster and diving out of the way as the creature tore past. The Barioth slid to a halt a good dozen yards past the sword and shield user, twisting and clawing at the ground as it hurried to turn around. The man scrambled back to his feet, turning and backing away from the creature as it approached again. The Barioth lunged again, its claw lashing out and meeting the man's shield, sending him sliding back several yards across the ice. With each lunge the creature took at the man, he stumbled ever further onto the defensive.

"What are you doing?" Nax shouted, finally hoisting himself up and brushing the last of the ice off of himself.

"I… ow! I'm not very good at fighting these things!" Noxramus shouted back, sliding out of the way as the Barioth tried to sink its long teeth into the man. "But I can keep out of its way, and I can… do… this!"

The Barioth was getting confident at the man's awkward ducking and diving, and took a particularly strong lunge at the sword and shield user. The man dropped towards the ground though, holding his shield up, and ducking low enough that the creature leapt right over him. The white drake craned its head in surprise, twisting its head around to keep its eyes on the hunter, but it failed to keep track of where it was going. As it landed on the ice, its momentum kept it going across the ice, right into one of the thick wires of one of the shock traps.

A blast of bright blue light lit up the surface of the lake, as all the energy accumulated in the Lagi crystal ejected out of the gem, thought the wires, and into the body of the Barioth. Cold, searing voltage ripped through the monster, pulling a pained howl from the creature as the current tweaked the monster's muscles into a state of complete and total paralysis. Every muscle on the beast's body twitched and writhed wildly as the voltage continued, its head and neck dropping towards the ground in pain.

"Now!" Nox shouted, pushing himself back to his feet and rushing towards the downed creature.

The other hunters needed no further motivation, as the blue-colored sword and shield user rushed forward to attack the monster. He and Ellie were the first of them to reach the drake, taking their blades and cutting at the monster's claws and wings, trying to cut or shatter the beast's ability to keep its traction on the ice. However, even as the pair began cutting, even before Levin or Nax were able to get to the beast, even with thousands of volts of electricity tearing through the monster's body, the Barioth was somehow able to twist and force its body around. As Ellie and Noxramus cut and stabbed at the white drake's spines, the monster's wing blades snapped open and closed, beating them back. As Levin approached from the creature's rear, the monster's tail snapped up and down sporadically, the spikes at the end crashing down and piercing through the ice, all while the monster was twitching too much to move or turn.

But Levin's anger towards the creature was building, the red energy from his blade starting to pour through his body. Despite the tail swiping at him, he continued to rush the monster, ducking between the monster's tail swings and charging for the drake's wings. The wing blades snapped out as he approached, but the great sword user slid out of the way in time to avoid it. With a strain of effort, Levin pulled his blade up and around his back, bringing the blade down towards the monster's wing.

But right before the weapon smashed into the creature's body, the blue electricity that seared through the monster's body abruptly fizzled out, and with a sharp motion, the white drake moved its arm away from the hunter's attack. However, the motion wasn't entire fast enough, and the edge of the blade just barely caught a few of the spines that lined the beast's wings, shattering them apart and sending pieces spraying across ice. The blade was also close enough that it dropped down on the monsters claws as well, shattering them as well.

Levin grinned victoriously as the black bone shards clattered across the ice and made to pull his sword back to attack again. However, as he glanced up at the Barioth to see its expression, he found the creature's face inches in front of his face, right before the white drake head-butted him in the nose, sending the young man stumbling back and clutching his nose in pain. Then he doubled over again as the monster swung its wing at him, strong-arming him in the chest and sending him tumbling across the ice.

A yell of attack echoed across the ice, and Levin cracked an eye open to see Ellie throw herself at the Barioth's face, sword flashing in the sunlight as she slashed at the beast's exposed nose and eyes. As Levin pulled a potion from his pouch, the wyvern yelped in surprise at the sudden assault, stepping back hesitantly as the blade snapped at it. Lines of red blood opened up along the creature's body and shoulder, the beast stumbling back with each cut, flinching with each swing of the blade. With a growl of frustration, the creature's head snapped forward, trying to head-butt the irritating hunter again. However, Ellie had seen the monster's attack earlier, and her shield swept up, and she shoved it forward as well, smashing it into the drakes head as the beast rushed forward.

The resonating clang of the two connecting objects shook the air with a powerful, piercing ring. Both hunter and monster were thrown off by the attack. Ellie stumbled back a bit, shaking her arm in pain. The Barioth stumbled back as well, shaking its head and tumbling slightly from dizziness and stunning. Levin and Nax rushed in, not wanting to waste the opportunity. The Barioth recovered fairly quickly, though, its claws slashing out to smash at the flat of the blade and knock it aside. Its focus on the great sword user, however, allowed Nax to get in close, jabbing at the drake with his spear. In a couple quick thrusts, a half dozen puncture wounds covered the beast's flank, making it howl in pain.

The Barioth growled angrily, and twisting its body around in a complete circle, snapped out its wing blade out at the hunters. Nax was prepared and had his shield up in time to block, but Levin was caught in the shoulder and was sent skimming across the ice from the powerful blow. The lancer moved to attack again, but the beast snapped its attention back to him, and before the man could reach him, inhaled a little, before blasting a quick burst of air across the ice floor, sending another spray of ice flakes and snow at the lancer. Nax stumbled back, cursing at getting coated in ice again.

The Barioth's eyes darted back to Levin, narrowing as it prepared to attack. But from the side, Noxramus ducked in, cutting quickly at the white drake's tail and legs before jumping away as the beast's attention snapped to him angrily. The man smacked his shield a couple times as he backed away from the beast, loud rattling noises that echoed easily across the ice. As the Barioth lunged at him, the sword and shield user ducked away, pulling the creature further and further along.

"Come on, stupid monster! Come follow me!" he yelled obnoxiously.

Levin finally realized what the man was doing, trying to pull the monster in to another of the traps. Slowly but surely, the creature was following the blue hunter towards the second of the bright copper shock traps, little by little. Each swing the monster took was another couple yards. The other hunters caught on as well, and tailed after the man and monster, preparing to strike. The second trap, the one that Nox had placed, was on the far side of the frozen lake, near where the thick ice broke apart, the churning water below tearing apart the frozen surface and carrying the pieces downstream. The trap was a good dozen yards away from the edge, but it was a long march, luring the beast step by step towards the waiting copper contraption.

Finally, the hunter reached the trap, hopping over it as the creature's claws dogged his coattails again, catching nothing but air. Triumphantly, the sword and shield user turned, pointed the edge of his blade at the creature mockingly. "Come on! You've almost got me! What're you waiting for, an invitation?"

The Barioth growled furiously, its claws scratching the ground angrily as it prepared to lunge. But right before it leapt at the sword and shield user, it paused for a fraction of a second. Noxramus cocked his head in confusion as the monster stood there, staring at him. Then the creature's red eyes darted down at the frozen lake, and stared straight at the shock trap, before glaring at the hunter. A frightened look crossed the man's face when he realized that the Barioth had seen through the trap.

One of the Barioth's arms snapped up, and the sword and shield user flinched bringing up his shield defensively. But rather than striking out at Nox, the white drake swung its arm straight down into the ice floor. The claw smashed straight through the frozen cover, shattering a wide area that spider-webbed outwards. The creature snapped its arm out and quickly pushed itself up into the air, and with a beat of its wings pushed itself up and over the three hunters that had been tailing close behind it.

Levin snapped around to face the Barioth as it swept up behind them, but a shout of panic pulled his attention the other way. The ice that the Barioth had shattered was still breaking apart and the hole was growing wider. In a moment, the breakage had swept far enough to go under the copper trap, and the metal contraption dropped below the surface, sending a wave of electricity through the water below, blue light flashing up from below for a moment before the thing fizzled out. But beyond that, Noxramus stood, teetering and just barely keeping his balance. The ice was even breaking out from under him, the shattering and cracking sending him tumbling backwards closer and closer to the edge where the lake ran off into the river.

Both Levin and Ellie turned, ready to run to help the man, but before either of them could move, the last of the ice between where the Barioth had struck and where the river began erupted into pieces, and the sword and shield user dropped below the surface. The water was clear, so they were able to see the man as he pulled himself back to the surface of the freezing water, but just as he broke the surface, the current of the river caught onto him, and the man was swept below the surface again, his figure carried away by the rushing river downstream.

Levin made a motion to go after him, but a shout of warning from Ellie just barely caught his attention. He turned abruptly, pulling his blade up, just in time to catch the Barioth's claw as it smashed into him, clipping his weapon and letting its claws tear through his side. The blow sent him sliding back across the ice, nearly toppling him over, but he was able to recover and duck out of the way at the creature leapt at him again, wing blade swinging towards him and nearly smashing into his face. The fresh wound ached, but he was more concerned with the creature attacking him at the moment rather than recovery.

They needed to go after Nox, to make sure he was alright, but the Barioth was on a rampage at the moment, and he doubted it would allow any of them to leave so easily. The monster continued to rush them wildly, even as Ellie and Nax burst into the fight to help fight it. Levin wasn't sure how the Barioth managed to keep going, so strong, with such bottomless energy. It didn't show even the slightest signs of growing tired. Blow after blow the hunters took from the beast, with the occasional parry or counter from the hunters, yet with every wound the beast took, it only seemed to fight all the harder, with more fury than before.

Nax's attack pattern was as it had always been, a blind, brutal rush to assault the creature with all his strength. Meanwhile, both Levin and Ellie knew they had to finish the fight fast if they were to go after Noxramus. Without words, the pair of them knew that they had to try and pull the white drake over towards where the last of the shock traps sat on the ice, the charge still making the gizmo hum and vibrate quietly on the ice. They had to be more subtle than Nox had been though; his abrupt method had proven far too dangerous.

It took over five minutes to pull the monster's attention bit by bit towards where the last trap lay. With Nax acting as a brute force, without care for tactics or consequence, the two Lost had to act more aggressively than they normally would, trying to keep the drake's wyvern on them rather than the lancer. But finally, they were only a few yards away, trying to keep their eyes on both their footwork, as well as where the Barioth was striking at them. Finally, Ellie took the initiative, swinging her blade and cutting into the beast's other wing, smashing several of the spines that lined the creature's wing.

With a roar of fury, the beast turned on the sword and shield user, charging after her as she dived away from the beast. The creature was still able to turn more sharply than any other beast Levin had ever seen, despite having its claws and spines broken in several places. And it still wasn't showing any signs of slowing down. As the creature chased after Ellie, the young huntress led the beast so closely to the trap, that when the creature lunged at her, the sword and shield user leapt into the air, and the impact from the drake's claw knocked her over the trap with the beast tailing behind.

Another howl of pain ripped through the air as the electricity of the trap ripped through the creature's body, wracking its body in temporary paralysis. Yet, for some reason, even though the voltage of the trap was just as powerful as the first, the Barioth seemed to be struggling even harder to escape it, and the trap seemed to have little effect. The three hunters only managed a couple strikes on the beast's torso wings, and one solid hit from Levin upon the drake's tail, before the Barioth summoned enough strength to bring its paw up and smash it down on top of the trap.

In panic, the three hunters leapt back, afraid of the ice breaking again. However, the blow, while having shattered the shock trap into indistinguishable pieces, had only cracked the surface of the ice like a broken mirror, but had not broken all the way through. Still, the hunters stood on edge, uncertain whether or not it was safe, giving the Barioth plenty of time to recover and tear after them again. With no more traps left on the field, all the hunters could do was struggle to keep alive and damage the drake cut by cut. And the battle had been long, and it wasstarting to wear on the three of them.

The panic began to set in when the white beast struck out at Nax, and rather than taking the blow and pressing forward like he normally would, the blow made the man stumble backwards and drop onto his backside. Levin and Ellie were so stunned that the pair of them were frozen for a moment. Neither of them had ever seen the man worn out so much that he hadn't been able to block an attack. Seizing the opportunity, the beast's fangs shot towards the man's head, intent on smashing his head with its tusks, but the lancer managed to pull his shield in the way, deflecting the blow and managing to get to his feet before the creature's wing shot out, beating against his shield again and again.

"Drop a trap!" Nax shouted, weariness and mild fear in his voice, as the creature smashed into him again. Levin cursed and fumbled for his pouch. He still had one of the shock traps that Noxramus had given him! But how could the Barioth still be so nimble? They'd broken its claws! They'd paralyzed it twice! And still it darted around with only the slightest hint of slipping or sliding! Where was it getting its energy from, this boundless desire to slaughter the three of them without mercy or hesitation? Where was it getting the strength to keep on fighting so relentlessly? Fingers cold and numb, he finally found what he was looking for, the awkwardly shaped metal mess that was the trap. As quickly as he could, he pulled the contraption out and sharply twisted the latch at the top, before dropping down and wedging it onto the ice.

Then, with a sinking fear, he realized his mistake. He'd gone and grabbed the wrong type of trap, and had activated one of the pitfall traps he'd brought from Loc Lac rather than a shock trap that Nox had offered him. And on this ice, it would… The great sword user leapt back in surprise as the machine unraveled, sending its metal tendrils off in several directions, sharp spikes and needles cracking down into the ice and trying to burrow through the frozen lake. The spikes were wired up to press and press and press until they wedged themselves into the ground, so as the net began to unravel, the points continued to force itself down into the ice, wedging themselves further and further into it.

Levin scrambled backwards as one of the stakes made headway, piercing through the thick frozen lake, sending a web of cracks and breaks in every direction. The breaks stopped after a few short feet, but a moment or two later, another of the wedges broke through, splintering the ice even further. Then another piece of ice broke, and another, and another. Levin was on his backside from his feet slipping out from underneath him, and was forced to crabwalk away from the cracking and breaking ice, trying to get out of the radius of danger as several fragments of ice broke out, dropping down into the water, as strands of net shot out, spreading out across the tendrils. A popping sound echoed from the gizmo as the Saturnian's cage popped open, and the fat, squirming bug dropped out of the trap into the water. Levin thought that the little thing would drown, but through the clear water he could make out the worm sink to the sand at the bottom, before wriggling through the silt and disappearing into the cold soil.

Neither Ellie nor Nax had noticed Levin's mistake yet, though, and both were trying to pull the Barioth's attention and get the creature to charge in the direction Levin had set the trap. Levin tried to call out to the pair of them his mistake, but was too focused on keeping himself away from the spreading break in the ice to do anything but scramble away. The further he got, the more ice dropped out from under the trap, plunking into the water below and sweeping away with the current towards the river only a few dozen yards away.

Ellie had the Barioth's attention at the moment, and was ducking and diving out of the way as the beast came after her. The clanging of the creature's claws on her shield was like the constant ringing of a massive bell. The sword and shield user was the most nimble of the three hunters though, and was nearly able to keep up with the creature, even managing to slip her sword out at the beast and cut at it every now and then. Cuts and gouges opened up with each swing of her sword, leaving lines of red blood pouring out onto the ice. At the moment, she was managing to do more damage than either Levin or Nax had managed to do. The Barioth was growing more and more enraged with the sword and shield user, howling furiously as she slipped back and forth out of the creature's way. With a bellow of fury, the beast pawed the slick ice below it, gathering a foothold. Ellie quickly danced to the side, sliding herself between the monster and the ever enlarging hole in the ice. How had they not noticed yet? The shattering ice sounded like a rumble of explosions to the great sword user. Then he caught sight of Ellie's face; she was in that damnable… what did she call it? Hyper-focus mindset? And Nax was almost always too focused on the battle to notice his surroundings.

A blast of snow kicked up as the Barioth blasted towards the sword and shield user. The hunter remained stationary for a moment or two as the creature charged towards her, so long that Levin was certain that the beast would smash into her. But at the last moment, her center of mass dropped and the sword and shield user leapt to the side and roller out of the way, sliding just under the monster's outstretched wing at it struck out at her. The Barioth's head twisted around, trying to catch sight of where the hunter had gone to, as it sunk it claws into the ice to slow down. However, right at that moment, it caught sight of the widening hole in the ice, and a look of panic covered its face. At the same moment though, for almost the first time since the start of the battle, the Barioth actually slipped up on the ice. As the monster dropped its claws down to skid to a halt, one of its claws failed to find traction, and one of its legs slipped out from under it, keeping it sliding straight towards where the trap was still making a mess of the frozen lake.

The creature tried desperately to avoid dropping into the ice, but wasn't able to slow down enough to avoid it. The Barioth howled in terror as it nearly avoided slipping into the hole in the ice, just to have another massive chunk drop out from underneath it, dragging the massive white beast under with a massive splash. For a moment or two, the creature remained under the water, and Levin could see the beast struggling around under the surface. Then the beast burst up from the water, gasping for breath and grasping desperately for the jagged edges of the ice, trying to get out of the frigid water. For a moment, Levin thought the creature was going to make its escape; however, before it could pull itself up and out, the creature suddenly snapped back into the water, getting dragged back down as it legs tangled in the thick rope and sifting sands, unable to get a proper foothold to escape, and its foreleg claws not sharp enough to clamp down on the ice. The monster struggled desperately to stay above water, but was only just barely able to do so.

Levin found himself gasping for breath as he pushed himself back to his feet. The ice breakage had stopped its spreading, and the Barioth was trapped. Had the trap been set up in a normal way on the ground, the creature might have been able to free itself after a few moments. Had he gotten a shock trap out like he'd intended, he would've had only a few scarce seconds to attack the thing before the paralyzing electricity of the Lagi crystals inside wore out. But… from the looks of it, the creature was stuck good and proper, with no solid foothold below and without the ability to pull itself out with its forelegs. With the way things were, the hunters had all the time they needed to kill the thing where it stood.

"Not bad, my friend, not bad," Nax laughed as he approached the downed monster, who o barked threateningly at the lancer. The man scoffed at the futile threats though, smirking victoriously at the monster. "A little unorthodox, considering the danger of using a pitfall trap on the ice, but… well the results speak for themselves, I suppose."

"Are you okay, Levin?" Ellie asked as she approached as well. "Sorry, I sent the Barioth your way without realizing you'd put down the wrong trap."

"Yeah, I'm fine," Levin replied, brushing himself off. Then his attention turned back to the Barioth, still struggling desperately to free itself from the trap. Instinctively, his hand went for the hilt of his sword as he eyed the creature. Finally, they'd managed to bring the creature down, and they could finish it off.

Nax grinned at the great sword user's expression, and motioned to the struggling beast. "It's all yours, buddy. Hurry up, now, we've got to go off and find Noxramus, wherever the hell he washed off to."

Levin glanced over to Ellie, and the sword and shield user nodded. Ever since the pair of them had started hunting together, there had been a few times when they'd had a monster dead to rights in a trap of some sort. It always felt awkward and unfair to them when they knew they had won, and all that was left was the… execution of the monster. For as long as they'd hunted, whenever a time like that had cropped up, they each needed someone to tell them it was fine to end it that way. "It's all right. You've earned this one, Levin. Go ahead and finish it off."

Levin nodded, and unsheathed his great sword, striding around the trapped creature towards its head. The monster seemed to realize his intentions, and began to struggle even more frantically than before. Levin always felt pity for them in cases like this, but… his mood soured at the sight of the monster's scar, the one that matched his own, and the pain the monster had caused him. The nightmares it had left him with… he wouldn't regret taking down this thing, even like this. Especially when it was causing so much trouble for so many people.

As the white drake continued to panic, Levin pulled his sword back over his head. The anger he'd felt at the creature's treatment of him came roaring back all at once, and he felt the vengeful whisper in the back of his head shouting furiously at him telling him to do it, and the great sword user felt the overwhelming red energy searing through him, like fire that only made him stronger. He could feel the power pulling out of and around his weapon, making it sharper and heavier, and strengthening his own power. The whisper in his head seemed to only laugh all the louder, as his rage and hatred seared through him, enveloping him and making the whisper seem all that much clearer… Levin ignored the voice, though, and prepared to smash his blade down into the creature's skull. For a moment, the creature went silent, in the face of its impending death…

And Levin stopped. He blinked at surprise with himself. Why had he decided to… Then he realized. In his overpowered state of mind, he'd heard something… out of place. The aggressive whisper was bellowing in rage, demanding he finish the beast off, and he nearly did so, but… the sound echoed into his ears again.

"What was that?" he muttered, looking around. He couldn't focus on the monster in front of him; something about the sound he heard… was distracting. It was like… a yipping sound, he thought.

Nax tilted his head up to the wind and frowned. "I don't hear anything, Are you stalling again? Because I don't think that…"

"Wait, I hear something too," Ellie cut in, her head cocked to the side and her eyes darting around. "Some squeaking sound or something. A whining sound or something like that…"

"What does it matter? We need to finish the Barioth off before it…"

"It's coming from the cave!" Ellie said. She was right, Levin realized. The sound, whatever it was, the source was the cave that the Barioth had made its home in. The same high-pitched whining sound continued to echo across the field, just barely audible enough to make out. Ellie seemed to have greater perception than Nax, because the lancer still looked suspicious about the whole thing, but after a moment or two, a look of recognition crossed his face.

"Damn… I hear it too," he muttered. "What is it?"

Levin glanced at the Barioth. The creature was still silent, but began growling at him menacingly once it saw the great sword user's eyes on it. Levin squeezed the hilt of his blade, and the voice of the aggressive whisper strengthened again. But the sound coming from the cave reached his ears again, and for a moment, a cold, terrifying thought filled his head. He thought he could hear the other whisper for a moment, though it only spoke one word before vanishing into the back of Levin's mind again, too quickly for the hunter to make out what it had said. He should finish off the creature before determining the cause of the sound… but… something, some chilling speculation, kept him from doing so. The Barioth had always put itself between the hunters and the cave when they were close to it, and when they'd gotten a distance away, it had always tried to pull them even further… With a quick motion, he sheathed his blade and made his way towards the cave entrance.

At the movement, the Barioth suddenly began howling furiously at him. At the same time, he heard Nax grunt in surprise, as he and Ellie took off after him. "What are you doing, Levin? You've got to finish the Barioth off! I was certain this was some big issue for you!"

"I can't… not yet," Levin muttered in reply, not slowing down.

"Levin, what's wrong?" Ellie asked, catching up and matching his pace. "If we don't finish off the Barioth, it might get free, and then… why are we going to the cave, Levin? Do you recognize whatever it is that sound is?"

"No… I don't."

"Then why are…"

"I think it… it might be… I have to make certain, Ellie, I have to check."

"Check on what?" Ellie asked, exasperated. But Levin didn't reply, making a beeline straight for the Barioth's cave, fearful of what he was going to find inside the creature's home. All the while, the monster itself flailed wildly behind them, trying to escape with more desperation and fury than it had ever shown before.

The cave was about as dark as it had looked from the outside, and Levin could barely see a few yards in front of him without having to hold still for a minute or two without moving to let his eyes adjust to the blackness. All the while, the howls of rage from the Barioth continued to echo from behind them, over the sound of Nax's grumbling, the sound of Ellie attempting to light a torch she'd had enough foresight to bring, and the dim sound the hunters could still hear coming from the back of the cave. The sound was getting clearer, despite the haunting sound of the Barioth's howling echoing around them, and despite still not having his eyes fully adjusted, the great sword user strode forward into the darkness anyway, making his way towards the source of the sound.

Ten yards in or so, he stopped, as a burst of light lit the cave around him. He turned to see Ellie holding her torch high. Letting her eyes adjust to the sudden brightening, the sword and shield user was squinting in pain, shielding her eyes a little from the glare. But what caught the great sword user's attention wasn't the sudden light, but the rapid series of squeaks and whimpers that filled the room at the sudden brightening of the cavern.

Levin turned abruptly, glancing down at the ground below him, where the sound was originating from. His heart sunk at the sight. A couple steps in front of him was a massive pile of torn fur and blood. It took Levin a moment or two to get past his initial revulsion to realize that the stack was a collection of the skins of maybe a dozen or more Popos. The furs appeared to have been taken off the downed monsters by the Barioth itself, a surprising amount of precision put into the effort, though not on par with the work that could be done by a skilled hunter with a carving knife; still impressive though, Levin didn't think he'd ever seen such work done by a monster before… But inside the pile of furs lay five small bundles of snow white fur, squeaking and whimpering in fear and surprise at the sudden light and the appearance of the three mysterious figures invading their home.

"Babies," Ellie gasped. "Barioth puppies. Kittens? Whelps?"

"It had children to look after," Levin muttered. "That explains why it was so intent on keeping us away from the cave…"

The little creatures couldn't have been much older than a month or two old, Levin thought looking at them. The tiny things scrambled away towards the opposite side of the nest at the sight of the hunters, barely able to run on their tiny little wings. They looked as though they had barely been walking for long, meaning they couldn't have been very old at all. Noi had told the hunters that the Barioth attacks had begun only a scarce few weeks ago, so… were the little things really so young?

_What will you do now?_ Levin blinked in surprise. He hadn't heard the gentler whisper in his head for a while… not since before Ellie had been injured by that Barioth. But what did it mean? He tried to… grasp at it, to pull more from it, but the existence had withdrawn into the recesses of his mind again, somewhere where Levin couldn't find it. He could feel it though, hovering just out of range, waiting… for something.

"They're… adorable," Ellie whispered, striding forward to stand next to Levin. The pups squirmed and tumbled away as the sword and shield user drew closer, bringing the light of her torch over them. Levin had to admit she was right. For things that would eventually grow into the sleek, dangerous beast that was the Barioth, they didn't seem all that different from a litter of kittens or puppies at the moment.

"They are," Nox muttered. "Shame they'll have to die, though."

"What!" Ellie turned on the lancer, glaring in shock at the words. Levin continued to stare at the little things, watching them scurry around the nest, though he might've done the same had Ellie not beat him to it.

"Think about it!" the lancer growled. "These are dangerous creatures! They may look nice and cute now, but just imagine what they'll be like in a year! In two years! They're children of one of the oldest and most dangerous Barioths in the Tundra right now, a beast that has terrorized the locals and killed hunters for decades! Five more of such things? How long do you think it'll be before they start doing the same? And they'll have the strength to do just as bad!"

"They're just infants!" Ellie shouted. "That's monstrous!"

"And one day they'll be just as terrible! You think they'll show mercy to young humans they run across in the future? As hunters, we can't afford to let something so dangerous stay loose! These creatures are the same things that almost killed your boyfriend there, remember? You think he wants them to live and do the same to another hunter?"

Ellie's eyes darted to Levin's face, a look of sudden fear in them. "No. Levin, you couldn't…"

The great sword user winced at the words. The creatures were so small, so fragile, and yet… He could still remember so clearly, how the beast outside had tormented him, played with him, so easily and callously. How he'd just barely managed to survive with his life intact. How much pain he'd suffered by the hands of these creatures! He wanted to smash them all! To crush them under the heel of his boot! To shred them apart with the edge of his great sword! But still…

"You see the necessity, don't you?" Nax pushed, grabbing the great sword user's shoulder. "The world would be better off without them! Safer! They're just monsters, they don't deserve pity! Right? You agree with me!"

"Don't put words in his mouth!" Ellie snapped. Rage seeped through her face, a furious look aimed right at the lancer. "Kerry was right! All you're doing is trying to warp Levin to your own bastardized mindset of hunting!"

"I'm only telling the truth!" Nax growled.

"No!" Ellie's open hand reached for the hilt of her sword instinctively. Both Levin and Nax's eyes widened at the motion. "I'm not going to let you do this to them, you bastard. Levin, you have to…"

With a sharp motion, the lancer's arm snapped out, and the man's fist cracked Ellie right across the jaw, sending her stumbling backwards before smacking into one of the cave walls. The huntress teetered for a moment, before tumbling to the ground, stunned, and the torch she had been holding tumbled to the ground, making the shadows of the hunters dance up to the ceiling from ground.

"No!" Levin cried out, as both whispers in his mind flared to life, fury and worry overwhelming his senses. He turned on Nax in rage, but the man caught him off guard by raising his hands in surrender.

"Wait! I'm sorry! It was in self defense!" he said quickly. "You saw it right? She was going for her blade, Levin. She wasn't ready to deal with something like this. I only stunned her for a moment, she'll be back on her feet in no time, I swear it!"

Levin glowered angrily at the man, then turned to make his way to Ellie. He was cut short when the lancer grabbed him by the shoulder though. Levin was wound up, though, and the sudden contact made him turn abruptly, catching the lancer's wrist and squeezing it, pulling it down and clenching it to the point where the lancer winced in pain. Nax kept Levin's gaze though, intently staring the great sword user down.

"We don't have time to wait for her Levin," he said quietly. "You think we have long to finish off the pups before the mother gets loose? Barioth are wily Levin, she'll get free soon if we don't hurry. You got to take care of the little ones."

Levin blinked, so surprised that he released the lancer. "Me? But… I…"

"It's got to be you," Nax said, a soothing tone to his voice. "You're the one who hates the monsters, right? You were the one that got tossed around by the mother out there. You suffered, you were beaten, you were nearly killed, remember. It's your place to wipe these pups out. It is your right. Don't you want revenge? Don't you think you deserve to put this monster through the same sort of pain you've had to go through? Don't you wish you could show your superiority to this beast in every way? To feel truly dominant over it?"

Levin felt himself grow colder and angrier the more the lancer went on. He was right! The Barioth deserved to die! It and its ilk! This creature that had made Levin suffer so much! The lancer grinned at the great sword user's expression. With a careful motion, the man motioned Levin back to the nest.

"That's right, you do. Now, you can make this quick, since they are just infants. But this is needed. In this world of hunting, there is a need to be strong. There is a need to be cold. And in times like this, there is a need to be ruthless. You can be ruthless, I can tell, and if you do so, then you can be truly strong. Now's your chance to show your strength. Get to it."

Levin nodded slowly, drawing his blade and walking back over to the nest. The little Barioth pups still tumbled around, trying to keep as far from the hunters as they could. In a moment, Levin stood over the group of them, looking down on them as anger seared through him. Monsters needed to be taken out, especially ones as dangerous as these ones… the great sword user unsheathed his weapon, holding it out over the little things.

"Go ahead," Nax urged. "Prove your strength! Prove you ruthlessness! Get you vengeance by getting vengeance on the monsters for what they owe you!"

What they owed him! The bastard black monster had taken his family from him! Monsters had taken his family away! He'd do the same to them! He'd return the favor! He'd…

_You would return the same favor that the Alatreon offered you?_ The softer whisper had returned again. Yes! He would crush the monsters! A family for a family! With a growl, he pulled his sword behind his head, and felt the searing red energy flowing through him, empowering him, making his rage swell to even greater intensity. He prepared to bring the blade down to crush the small pups…

_So you'd commit the same crimes that the black beast did? That's your idea or revenge? _

Levin froze at the words. Commit the same crimes? No, it wasn't a crime to do this, it was… it was… what was it? It was just a monster… it was just…

_You claim to hate the Alatreon. You say its deeds are unforgivable. That it deserves the worst punishment for its sins. Yet you prepare yourself now to sink to its level, taking away this Barioth's family. Worse yet than that. The creature claims it will return your family to you. Will you be able to do the same for this Barioth? Will you? _

"I don't…" Levin muttered. Nax narrowed his eyes at the great sword user.

"Finish them off Levin," he ordered. "Do it already."

_Who's the unforgivable one now, Levin? Could you face your family after doing this? Could you face Ellie? Would she even want to look at you after this?_

The blade dropped from Levin's grip, the weight of the weapon sinking it into the tightly packed soil and leaving the blade protruding out of the ground at a tilted angle. With a sigh of defeat, the hunter's limbs dropped to his side. He stared at the pups in the nest tiredly.

"I can't do this," he muttered.

"What?" Nax growled. "Don't just stop! Crush them! Prove your strength! Your determination! Your ruthlessness! This creature tried to kill you! Its children will one day try and kill other hunters!"

"I can't!" Levin snapped. "I can't do this anymore! I can't be this… murderous, merciless, monster hunting drone you seem to think I can be! I have to kill the Alatreon! I have to be strong! I have to be as good and as skilled a hunter as I can possibly be! But I'm not going to make a monster of myself just to kill one! I'm not going to kill these Barioth pups, Nax!"

Nax's eyes darkened, and the man muttered several foul curses under his breath. A look of extreme aggravation covered the man's face as he looked at Levin, soured with a feeling of immense anger. With a growl of rage, then man's face turned to the pups, and he stepped towards them, reaching for the hilt of his lance. "Fine then. If you won't do it, I'll show you what it takes to be a real hunter!"

"No!" Levin cut in, jutting an arm out in front of the lancer. The man glared at Levin with a look that could've melted steel, but Levin met the gaze intently. "You can't kill them!"

"No, _you_ can't kill them!" Nax snapped. "Some of us hunters actually have the determination and guts to do what's needed. To be _real_ hunters. And you are not going to stop me! These Barioth pups will die, and there's nothing you can to that will stop me."

With that the man pushed past the great sword user's arm. Searing anger tore through the great sword user, but for once it wasn't the aggressive whisper that began bellowing at the growth of the burning feeling, but rather the normally softer, gentler voice that raged at the lancer's decision. Without thinking, Levin's arm snapped out and grabbed the hilt of his blade, still wedged into the cold soil of the cavern floor. He twisted his torso around, ripping the tip of the blade out of the ground and swinging the entire great sword around at lancer, broadside first.

Nax actually yelped in surprise at the motion, but his instincts kicked in quickly and his shield sprung up, pulling between his chest as Levin's blade. The blow was powerful enough to send the lancer skidding backwards a few yard towards the entrance to the cave, and the impact of the two metal objects rang out like a gong, clanging a loud, vibrating sound that shook the walls of the cavern. The Barioth pups began squealing in terror at the sound, and Levin could make out the mother Barioth howling in fury outside the cave. But the great sword user's attention was entirely on Nax, as the lancer eyes seared brightly with fury.

"What the hell are you doing?" Nax asked, infuriated.

Levin swung his sword forward, pulling it into an aggressive stance. "It's not that you can't, Nax. I'm not going to let you!"

The man's lance was out in a flash, and he pointed the tip menacingly at Levin's face. "Don't you dare threaten me, Levin! I have more experience than you can dream of. I've slaughtered beasts more dangerous than you can imagine! How challenging do you think a single rookie hunter would be for me to take down?"

"How about two!"

From the side, Ellie darted out of the shadows of the cavern, blade flashing towards the lancers large shield. Nax was caught off guard by Ellie's reappearance, but the tension between him and Levin had left him tense and sharp. The man's shield rose up, moving to deflect the sword, but the sword and shield user's swing was a feint, and the huntress snapped her blade back, bringing her shield around instead. The smaller metal shield was able to twist sharply around the lancer's larger and bulkier shield, and with a rattling clang, the huntress smashed it into Nax's faceplate, snapping off several of the small spikes that covered the shield and sending the lancer tumbling backwards, skidding out of the cave and into the bright sunlight, with Ellie and Levin close behind.

Levin blinked as his eyes were forced to readjust to the bright sky and snow. The sound of the Barioth's furious howling was still echoing across the ice field, but as Nax came tumbling backwards back into the open with the mewling and crying of the Barioth cubs still coming from the shadows of the cave, the white drake's shouts and howls diminished, as she glanced in confusion between the hunters.

The lancer was back to his feet in a flash, holding his shield up defensively and tensing his lance arm, prepared to strike the pair at a moment's notice. Levin strode forward, holding his sword tightly. "Back off, Nax! Give this up! I don't want to hurt you, you've been a good partner and mentor to me, but I'll fight you if you keep trying to hurt those pups! We're going to leave this place, and leave the Barioth to her cubs."

"Perhaps you will, but not me," Nax growled. "I'm not so weak as you! The creatures may not be big, and they may not be a threat or offer any challenge, but this is a job, and I'm not going to back down. As for you not wanting to hurt me… I'm not so sure that I share the same sentiment anymore Levin. Get out of my way or I'll strike you down!"

"No," Levin said simply.

Ellie nodded and grinned at his statement, before adding to it my snapping at the lancer. "Not a chance, you bastard!"

Levin could feel the man glaring furiously at him, and his voice dropped coldly. "So be it."

Nax's lance snapped out so quickly that Levin barely had time to move his sword to parry the blow. The motion was awkward; Levin had never needed to defend himself from such a small target. Physical warfare with a massive beast that was trying to sink its teeth into you was one thing, but trying to dodge or deflect something so small and agile was another bit of work altogether. The lancer's weapon and shield were two completely different entities, while Levin's was one massive hunk of metal. Keeping himself defended with such a massive weapon was pretty simple with something big and bulky, but keeping up with Nax as the man jabbed at him a couple more times? Not so easy.

The lancer was able to stay safely behind his shield as he jabbed at the great sword user, and Levin was forced to keep in a defensive position as the other man pressed him further and further back. Fortunately for Levin, while he couldn't exactly break through Nax's defenses very easily, he did have the strength and weight to push the man back, even if only a little. When Ellie pushed forward again from the side, trying to get in through the man's shield, the hesitation allowed Levin a long enough delay to pull his sword from blocking into a wide circular swing, bringing it around in a full arc and smashing the broad side brutally against Nax's shield. Even with his thick shield and cleated boots, the impact of the great sword against his shield was enough to send the man skidding back across the ice a few feet. But the lancer leapt forward again almost immediately, and Levin was forced to jump out of the way to avoid the jagged tips of the trident-like weapon.

But Ellie dove in then, sword flashing and cutting down at the lance, knocking it off balance and sending the point into the ground. With a few quick flicks of her wrist, she smacked the side of her blade against the man's helmet, rattling his skull and pushing him back even further across the ice field. But as she pressed her attack, Nax surprised her by sweeping his lance in a low arc, catching her up at the ankles and dropping her onto the ice with a thump. The lancer snapped his sword up, holding it over the sword and shield user, dropping it down towards her. Ellie was just barely able to pull her shield up as the jagged edges of the trident smashed down onto it. The shield rang like church bells as the lancer jabbed at Ellie repeatedly, clanging over and over off the metal plate before Ellie finally managed to roll out of the way of the onslaught. The lancer tailed after her, raising his weapon to strike again, but Ellie kicked out at the man's legs, forcing him to jump away from her and give her a chance to get back to her feet.

As Nax pushed forward, trying to get after Ellie again, Levin swung back into the fight, rushing towards the lancer, red energy searing through him. He brought his blade up and over his back, dropping it down on the lancer, who just managed to swing his shield around to block the blow at the last second. The effort didn't save him from harm completely, however; the force of Levin's sword hit the metal wall so hard that the iron and monster materials of the guard bent violently against the force, rending the thick shield with a nearly foot long tear before stopping. Levin pressed forward as Nax was forced to pull back again, bringing his sword around behind him again and dropping it down.

Nax was smart enough to dodge this time, though, leaping to the side out of the way as the massive weapon dropped. Before the weapon even hit the ground, the lancer jabbed out, and Levin felt a piercing pain tear through him as the barbed trident sank into his shoulder, cutting through his armor like it was nothing and breaking through his skin just as easily. But even as he cried out in pain, the great sword user's blade slammed into the ice, making the frozen lake shatter apart around it. Just as quickly as it had come, the lance was gone as Nax leapt back and away from the spiderwebbing surface.

"You lunatic, you'll sink us all!" the lancer hissed. "Are you completely mad?"

"I'm Lost, remember?" Levin grinned wickedly, quickly pulling out a potion and downing it. As the pain numbed, he heaved his blade back up out of the ice and back into attack stance. "We're all insane, didn't you know that?"

"Clearly," Nax growled, before stabbing his lance out again and forcing the great sword user to defend.

Ellie rushed forward again, this time pressing a little more carefully. Nax's eyes darted back and forth between the two hunters as they began working to flank him. But Nax seemed to be more skilled than either of the hunters gave him credit for, and was able to aptly fend the pair of Lost off as the pressed against him. On the one side, Nax was able to fend off Ellie's blade and shield thrusts with his shield, managing to keep her off of him despite her agility, and fending off Levin with his lance by jabbing at him constantly, forcing the great sword user to use his weapon as a shield or risk getting impaled again. Any other choice would leave Ellie to fight the man himself.

But Levin had to curse his luck. Nax was a far better hunter, and more ruthless person than he had ever given the man credit for. Both he and Ellie, while trying to take the lancer down, were holding back to avoid killing or maiming the man. If injuring him was what it took to stop him, they were willing to do so if necessary, but… in comparison, Nax didn't seem to be holding back at all while fighting the two Lost hunters. Where Levin and Ellie were using the flat edges of their weapons, and in Ellie's case the side of her shield as well, Nax wasn't hesitating at all to use the full point of his lance to try and stab into them, aiming for open areas and even vital spots on their bodies. He seemed perfectly content with killing them, or at least mutilating them for getting in his way. Levin might need to move a little faster if he wanted to keep the lancer from going too far, or else he and Ellie might end up…

Nax's lance suddenly shot out at an odd angle, catching Levin off guard. Rather than jabbing out at Levin's chest or legs, the man's weapon headed right towards the great sword user's feet instead. Levin leapt back instinctively, moving his legs out of the way as the lancer's trident pierced into the ice under his body. The great sword user shouted in surprise as the strike shattered the frozen lake below him, and one of his legs dropped out beneath him into the frigid cold water before he could react quickly enough. The water made the great sword user seize up from the cold, shock making him freeze for a long moment and nearly drop his sword. He glanced up in fear, afraid that the lancer would use the opportunity to finish the great sword user off, but instead the other man used the moment to focus his full attention back on Ellie, who found herself getting pushed back again by Nax's higher defense and longer reach.

Levin pushed himself to get free of the ice, but despite the thick and warm armor he was wearing, the cold made it hard to move at all without him wanting to break down shivering. Ellie was losing ground quickly, but despite his desperate attempts to move faster, the great sword user just couldn't. It took nearly ten seconds to will himself to pull his leg out of the water, though to him it felt like an hour.

Ellie was putting up a good fight, despite the lancer pushing her back. Though Nax's defense was far greater than hers, even with a massive tear in his shield, Ellie was by far the faster and more nimble of the two, allowing her to move quickly and easily out of the man's way when he attacked. Even with his shield, Ellie was able to jab her sword around the man's metal wall, smacking it repeatedly against the man's helmet and arms, making Nax grunt in pain or irritation each time. She even managed to get around the man entirely once or twice on occasion, smashing her shield against him and almost sending him tumbling to the ground on several occasions.

But Nax was adapting quickly, adjusting to the sword and shield user's speed and maneuverability slowly but surely. Each moment, each strike from Ellie did less damage, or proved more challenging to break through the man's defense. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Levin thought he could see into Nax's mask, and thought he could see the man grinning wickedly. She was managing to keep out of the man's attacks for now, but soon enough, if Levin didn't hurry up, Ellie would…

Suddenly, Nax surprised the sword and shield user, and Levin as well. With a sharp rush forward, the lancer did something Levin had never seen someone of his weapon specialty pull off before: a blunt thrust with his shield reminiscent of Ellie's own shield bash. The female hunter's own shield was up in time to catch the impact before it smashed into her chest, but the lancer was heavier and stronger than she was, and the impact knocked her back, making her flail a little uncontrollably. Nax rushed the advantage, and snapped his lance around in another sweeping arc under the woman's legs, dragging them out from underneath her again and dropping her onto her back once more.

Ellie scurried to get out of the way before the man's lance could swing around again to strike out at her, but once again the lancer surprised her. Rather than pulling back a little to jab again, the lancer rushed forward to tower over the sword and shield user, something neither of them saw coming since it put Ellie well inside the man's attack range, making it impossible for the man to pull back and jab at her with his weapon. However, it did leave plenty of space for Nax to bring one of his legs up and drop it sharply down on one of Ellie's legs.

A loud snap echoed across the ice as the sword and shield user's leg broke, and her eyes bulged in shock at the sudden pain. The thick Lagiacrus armor scales took away a lot of the damage that would have been done, but Nax's cleated boots nearly completely took away that advantage. With a pained scream, Ellie unleashed a violent string of curses, clenching her leg desperately and trying to pull herself away from the man that had just snapped her leg.

Levin was still too much in shock to shout in rage as he normally would have at the brutal action, but the moment of forced calm offered him the opportunity to see something he otherwise might have missed. It was always a challenge to make out the lancer's expression through the thin slits in his helmet, as well as around the man's shield at same time. But for a moment, Levin could see the man's face clearly, and the sight of it made him shiver in fear. After having to battle his teammates, after breaking one of his former partners' leg, the man wore a look of utter ecstasy. Was this really the person Levin had wanted to become a mentor and partner to him?

The lancer took another step towards Ellie as the sword and shield user tried to scoot away from him, but by then the shock of the cold had worn off enough, and Levin was able to move again. Levin didn't bother pulling his weapon into a ready position, choosing instead to simply push to his feet and charge headlong towards the lancer, holding the hilt of his sword and allowing the edge of the blade to drag along the surface of the ice, leaving behind a screeching, grounding sound as he tore towards the lancer.

Nax turned around as Levin approached; the great sword user's charge not exactly an effort in subtlety. He looked confident as he raised his shield to block, but if the power of the red energy that had been coursing from the core of the great sword had been powerful before, the rage Levin felt at the moment felt like the former had been only a drop of water next to a surging river. The ice under his blade seemed to rip like torn leather under the weight and sharpness of his blade as it cut across the surface of the lake.

Once the great sword user was within striking distance of the lancer, Levin swung the blade, letting the edge of the blade take the lead rather than the flat side had like before. The attack was haphazard though, and Nax was able to block it easily. However, before the blade could ricochet off the shield, Levin snapped on of his hands up to the flat of the blade and pushed violently against the side of his weapon. The continued burst of strength caught the lancer off guard, and the man's traction on his boots suddenly gave way, allowing Levin to push the man back, sending him sliding backward across the ice. And just as abruptly, Levin stopped pushing, surprising Nax again and making him tumble backwards, trying to regain his footing.

This gave Levin time to bring his weapon behind his back again, sending the powerful energy through the blade again, before swinging it up and down at Nax. This time, though, rather than blocking, the man had the intelligence to jump back rather than blocking the assault; his shield already had a massive tear in it from one of Levin's heavy attacks, it didn't need another. But the attack wasn't going to slow down just because the lancer was gone, and the blade smashed down into the ice with such force that the resulting break splintered out almost a dozen yards, sending a small pond's worth of ice below the surface and leaving a massive hole in the ice. Nax's eyes darted uncertainly at the hole in the ice and growled in irritation at the great sword user, jabbing his lance out at the great sword user but meeting only iron as Levin parried the blow.

Levin kept pushing and pushing, swinging destructive attacks one after the other at the lancer, leaving massive dents in Nax's solid shield or holes in the thick frozen lake. The lancer was forced to stay on the defensive, constantly leaping out of the way and backing away from the great sword user. In only a few minutes, Levin had backed Nax back towards one of the rock walls near the cave, close to where some of the rockslide remains sat. And even then, Levin kept pushing.

"Give up already, Nax!" Levin shouted as he smashed his blade into the other man's shield again.

"Not a chance," the lancer growled in reply. The man jabbed out again, aiming straight for the center of Levin's chest, but the great sword felt light as air at the moment, and the Lost hunter was able to block the strike with each.

"This can only end two ways, Nax! Either you give up or I drag you broken back to Hearth!"

Even through the slits in the man's helmet, Levin could see the other man smirk, confusing him a little. All at once, Nax abruptly dropped his spear and reached for his pouch. The motion had been so out of the blue, that Levin didn't even move until the man's hand had emerged from his pouch, revealing a bulky shape about twice the size of a fist. Levin realized that it was actually a very small barrel, with a small contraption on the end attached to a fuse. He'd seen one of those before!

"I think I'll take the third option," the man laughed. "I kill the monsters, and you get buried!"

Before Levin could move to stop him, the man yanked the fuse on the little bomb, and hurled it back over his shoulder. The man seemed to pick up in speed then, dropping down to grab his lance before dashing to the side along the base of the hill. That's when Levin finally realized the man's full intentions. The bomb had landed right at the base of one of the rockslides, just underneath one of the larger boulders. And Levin was standing right at the base of the whole thing.

The bomb went off with a small blast of fire and heat, vaporizing a small area of snow and ice surrounding it. But the explosion blasted apart a small boulder that was lodged at the bottom of the hill, shattering it completely and spraying Levin with shards of stone. But more importantly, the stone had been a loadbearing stone, and after a few moments of shocked silence, some smaller rocks began to tumble down the hill, followed by bigger ones, then even bigger ones. Levin turned to move out of the way, but he'd hesitated for too long, and his great sword, the shock of Nax's plan making the strength of the red aura vanish, was far too heavy and bulky to carry away very quickly.

The first of the large rolling stones smashed into the broad side of his blade as he slung it over his shoulder, sending Levin toppling forward and just barely letting him keep his balance. The impact was powerful, winding him almost entirely, but the great sword user continued to stumble forward, as the cascade of rumbling rocks grew increasingly louder behind him. The second was a smaller one, crashing into his shoulder and sending him reeling to the ground in pain, followed quickly by the third, a longer stone that caught him in the ankle, pulling his feet out from under him while sending a sharp pain up his legs. Levin was brought painfully to his knees, his legs too injured to hold him up steadily.

His eyes darted to his rear, where the massive collection of rocks and boulders continued to barrel towards him. As quickly as he could, he swung his sword up into a defensive position, wedging the tip of the blade into the ground behind him and pressed up against it, hoping that the thick metal would be enough to keep the great sword user from getting hit too hard. Though Levin began to doubt the leverage his plan had when the first few large stones smashed against the flat of his blade. The impact was jarring enough to rattle the great sword user's teeth in his skull, and nearly sent both him and his weapon toppling over anyway. And he really didn't like the aching and straining sound his blade had made upon impact.

Blow after blow smashed into the great sword, each loosening the blade from the precarious wedging into the ice and soil of the near shoreline. The rumbling of the stones grew into the thunderous, deafening roar of smashing stones and torrential slamming. Every few seconds, one of the stones would come at the Levin from an angle, hitting him in the legs or the arms. Each time, the great sword user thought the pain was enough that he'd finally broken a bone or two, but each time his body managed to stay upright, surviving just another second or two longer, just one more stone.

Then Levin heard a particular tremor, some dreadful sound that, while exactly the same as the other crashing sounds, seemed to tweak at his instincts, pulling the strings of his sixth sense. Though it terrified him to do so, he braved the edge of his weapon, taking a cautious glance over the hilt of his blade, despite the hundreds of rocks whizzing past his head each second. And there it was, a massive, rolling boulder easily the same size or bigger than an alpha male Aptonoth. And it was rolling right for him.

Despite the cascade of boulders and large stones rolling past him already, Levin knew he had to move. He waited patiently, or as patiently as he felt he could afford, searching desperately for an opening in the onslaught of the rockslide. But he didn't have time to afford to wait, with the massive boulder bearing down on him, and heaved his blade out of the ground at the first lull in the rush, dashing out of the way of the massive stone. He just barely made it. He could just barely feel the breeze of the massive steamrolling rock as it rushed past him, nipping at the edges of his coattails and nearly catching him under its mass.

However, in the massive shadow of the enormous boulder, Levin had been completely unable to see a smaller boulder barreling along behind the other, one that paled in comparison to the first, but was easily just as tall as Levin himself. The great sword user brought up his sword desperately, attempting to block, but didn't have nearly enough time to plant the tip into the dirt. With a sickening crack and an explosion of pain, the stone slammed into him.

For what felt like a lifetime, Levin could only feel pain and see blinding white light as everything erupted in agony. He could feel himself tumbling across the snow and ice, though the feeling was like a dull whisper compared to the deafening roar of his chest and torso. He didn't even feel himself slide to a halt. He didn't even hear the sound of the landside anymore. All he could feel was the pain in his body. It was only on the edge of his consciousness that he was able to feel the sting of cold on his lips, the smooth but frigid texture of glass pressing against his mouth.

_Drink! Drink if you want to live!_ The calmer whisper, Levin realized. What did it mean, drink? _Just do it! You have to get up! You have to stop Nax!_

The feeling of liquid entered his mouth, sliding to the back of his throat. Instinctively, he tried to swallow, whatever liquid it was that was entering his body. He didn't have the thought processes in his mind to really care at the moment. The liquid was cold as it worked its way to his stomach, a sweet taste that Levin hadn't had on his lips since… since… he couldn't remember. It was his contingency bottle, he realized, the last of the honey potions the fishermen from Echo Village had offered him before leaving. It had lain at the bottom of his pouch for… months now, forgotten. But how had it gotten to his throat? It had been in his pouch, and he doubted anyone nearby had done it, Nax especially. Had the voice… controlled him? Moved his body for him? But how had…

_Don't question it, not now! You have to get up! He's coming! Get up! GET UP!_

"Levin, get up! Please!"

The great sword user's eyes snapped open at the sound of Ellie's voice piercing into his mind, and a shadowy figure stood over him, weapon raised. Without thinking, Levin struck out with his blade lying down, the hilt just barely felt in his palms. The lancer was caught off as the edge of the weapon swept towards him, stumbling back in surprise. But Levin's swing didn't connect. Why? He'd been close enough… now wasn't the time. His body aching at the effort, Levin twisted around and pushed himself to his feet, turning to face the other hunter and pulling his weapon around.

But then his grip loosened and the hilt fell from his hands. What little energy he had vanished in an instant and he dropped back towards the ground, pain and searing agony tearing through him. He only managed to keep himself from tumbling face first onto the ice again, dropping to all fours and using all his effort to keep himself like that. He coughed in pain as the cold air bit into his lungs, and a red mist sprayed onto the ice under him.

Ribs broken, shoulder broken, one of his arms close, if not broken as well. How his legs were still intact he couldn't guess. Each note of injury was like a bolt of lightning in his mind, the pain earthshattering. How was he still conscious? How was he still alive? Even with his body like it was, he still stiffened a little as the shadow of his former partner strode up to him, the point of his lance skimming the ice. Levin could hear Ellie screaming in rage at Nax, worry at Levin. He couldn't make out her words, but he could make out Nax's.

"I didn't think you'd still be alive," the man scoffed. "Color me impressed, you're more durable than I thought you'd be. Good. I'd hate to see you not see the consequences of your mistakes. And there will be consequences for this, Levin. That, I promise you. I suppose this is the end of our little… scuffle. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some dangerous creatures to kill."

Levin coughed violently, spitting blood, and the ache of his broken ribs racked his body. He grabbed desperately for the hilt of his blade as Nax turned and walked towards the entrance of the cave. With a swing, he brought the blade to bear, finding it surprisingly light. Then he glanced down at the blade and gaped in shock. The rocks that had fallen earlier, that he had just barely blocked against, had shattered his blade across the middle, leaving a long, sinuous line of jagged steel about a foot from the hilt. The remainder of the blade lay in pieces a dozen yards away, worthless to him.

Hopelessness washed over Levin, and the great sword user dropped to his knees, pain and misery overwhelming him. His broken blade wedged into the ground, keeping him upright. He couldn't push on. He couldn't stop Nax from killing the pups of the Barioth. He heard Ellie begging with the lancer off in the distance, trying to get to her own feet as well, but failing.

_You have to save them_, the soft whisper urged. _You have to!_

"I can't… I don't, I don't have the strength to…"

Suddenly, from behind him, a painful, mournful howl bawled out across the ice field. Levin turned, and saw the Barioth, broken claws still frantically tearing at the slippery ice in an attempt to get upright again and save its younglings. Levin glanced under the ice, where the creature's hind legs tore desperately at the fine sand below, trying to push up but lacking the friction, and the nets of the trap thoroughly keeping it down. As Levin looked at the creature's face, he saw something he'd never seen in a monster's face: despair and horror. Its desperate love for its pups was making it howl out, terror at the thought of losing them completely overwhelming it.

If it was free, then maybe… No. That was suicide. It would kill them for threatening the pups at all. It was madness to think such a thought. But…

_Can you live with the guilt?_ The whisper was there only a moment, probing, questioning, then it was gone just as quickly. Could he? Could he live with letting the innocent pups die? They were only monsters, but… How would that make him any better than the beast he hated, toying with those who couldn't fight back? Nax was only a dozen yards from the cave entrance.

He turned painfully, his decision made, and worked his way over to the Barioth, using his broken blade as an oar to pull himself to the shattered hole in the ice. The Barioth saw him approaching, and her eyes flared furiously and her teeth bared viciously. But Levin still worked closer, fighting the pain he felt in his chest. Just before he got to the edge though, the blade slipped and he fell face first onto the ice. The Barioth cocked its head curiously, though its eyes still darted desperately between Levin and Nax. Levin pushed his head up, only high enough to meet the monster's eyes. The cold red eyes met his and stared into him.

"I'm sorry," Levin muttered. The Barioth eyed him in surprise. "For everything. I don't know if you understand me, but… Please, if… if you stop him, don't hurt Ellie. Let her live. It's all I ask."

With that, Levin shoved the hilt of his blade toward the break in the ice. The monster flinched back at the motion, but the broken weapon simply dropped into the water, wedging into the net and sinking quickly to the sand. The Barioth glanced down in surprise and confusion for a moment, before realization dawned. The creature's hind leg snapped to the hilt, planting it right underneath as a foothold, then pushed powerfully against the weapon. The net craned, but the sword held firm, giving the Barioth solid ground to stand on. With a blur of motion, the creature was out of the water, and in a blink, the only remainder that the creature had been there at all was a wet footprint in the thin snow layer and a cloud of snowflakes that the Barioth had kicked up.

Levin had never seen something move so fast. He doubted he ever would again. Nax was at least a hundred yards away. The Barioth was halfway there in a second. The sound of its approach caught the lancer's attention, and he turned. He only had a fraction of a second to register surprise and move his shield a little before the fanged wyvern slammed into him like a massive, white cannonball, blasting Nax off of his feet and through the air.

Levin had heard rage and fury in the voices of monsters as they attacked before, but most of those incidents were due to the creature being angry at getting beaten, or the hunters infringing on its territory. The sound of pure wrath that ripped from the Barioth's throat as it smashed into Nax was one of the most terrifying sounds that Levin had heard in his life. The creature ripped into the lancer with such ferocity, swinging its claws at the man and brutally continuing to assault him.

Sparks flashed, and the sound of clanging echoed across the icy lake with each furious blow the Barioth sent at the lancer. The creature was a blur of white speed, darting back and forth around the lancer as he tumbled and tried to get back to his feet. With every turn the lancer took to bring up his shield between him and the Barioth, the monster had darted around to the other side of him, claw or fang snapping out and smashing against Nax's side or arm or leg. Grunts of pain and frustration and even panic could be heard coming from the lancer as the Barioth tore into him.

But despite the initial impact of the assault, Nax somehow managed to recover from the blow, pulling himself back to a defensive position and managing to get his shield between the beast and his body. The Barioth continued to push and push, knocking the lancer further and further away from the cave entrance. Even when the Barioth leapt around to circle around, Nax had caught himself enough to turn and face it again quickly enough. But despite the Barioth's assault, if anything could be said about the lancer, it was that he knew how to defend.

But the Barioth was striking the hunting with such insane ferocity that it was no surprise that Nax just kept getting pushed further and further away from the nest, and kept taking hits as the monster dashed around his side and striking from the blind slide. Levin realized not long after that that the Barioth was actually pushing Nax closer and closer to him… or was the lancer intentionally headed his way? The great sword user strained, trying to get back to his feet before the dueling pain arrived, and managed to get to his knees as the pair got closer.

Levin looked up again, just as the pair charged each other again, striking out at each other at exactly the same time, the Barioth with one of its claws and the lancer with his spear. The two edges slid right past each other, and Levin thought he heard the sound of clanging as the two glanced off each other. With two grunts of pain, the Barioth's claw slid around the lancer's shield and smashed into his chest, right as Nax's spear pierced into the creature's lower chest, sending a spray of blood across the ground. The two dropped back from each other from the injuries, glaring each other down for a moment. Then the Barioth lurched forward to charge again, and its legs gave out from underneath it, sending it tumbling to ground. It groaned in pain, pushing to get itself back to its feet. But its injuries from battling were too much, and it was too weak to keep fighting.

The lancer made a motion as is to move forward and finish the creature off, but stopped and turned instead to look at the hole in the ice where the monster had formerly been trapped. He glanced it over quickly, before spotting the remained of the great sword wedged in the bottom of the sand. He cocked his head for a moment in thought, before realization kicked in and he turned to face Levin, flipping his face guard up. He wore the most furious face Levin had ever seen on a human, but Levin, though he couldn't push himself any higher than a kneeling position, met the glare with one of his own, refusing to show any more weakness than he already was.

"You did this?" Nax asked coldly. Then his voice leapt to a roar. "You freed the monster? You let it loose to kill me? What kind of sick bastard are you?"

"The kind that doesn't kill monster pups," Levin growled in reply. "I don't butcher helpless creatures for the sake of money or just to feel superior to them! I won't sink myself to your level!"

"My level? My level! You think you're better than me? Higher than me?" The lancer pointed the edge to the spear at the injured Barioth. "I am the only one still standing! I fought off the Barioth! And you! And your damn woman! I have fought both monster and man and walked away on top! I am the one standing as king here!" Levin kept a fierce expression as the lancer began to pace around him, standing between him and the hole in the ice. With a flick of his wrist, the man snapped the tip of his spear to press threateningly against Levin's throat. Levin winced a little, but kept his gaze on the lancer's face, refusing to yield. "I thought you had the strength, the will of mind and the love of hunting to be a truly great hunter. But I was wrong, it seems. You're just too sentimental. Someone tries to hunt something you don't want them to, and you try to kill them. Perhaps I should return the favor, and we'll see how the odds stack in your favor, Levin."

"Don't you dare hurt him!" Ellie growled from where she lay. She attempted to push herself up to her feet, but couldn't find the strength either, her broken leg proving too harmed to hold her weight.

"Pitiful," Nax muttered condescendingly. Then the spear pulled away from his neck and Nax leaned in towards Levin. "No. I'm not going to hurt you. Or kill you. But I am going to ruin you. I'm going to kill this Barioth, then its pups. And you'll watch the whole thing, see how a real hunter does his job."

A flicker of motion caught Levin's eye, and he turned for a moment to the source. It was the shadow again, surging just under the ice, dancing back and forth across the ground. Levin forced his eyes away; it didn't exist! Just a figment of his mind! There wasn't anything there!

"After I kill the monsters," Nax continued, turning and striding over to the hole in the ice, "I'll drag you all back to the village and tell Noi how you tried to kill me, going against his request. He's known me long enough to listen to what I say, and with his influence… well, if you never hunt again, you'll be truly the luckiest man I've ever met. Most likely, you'll spend the rest of your days rotting in prison. Your dreams of finding and killing the Alatreon will be gone, as will your stupid woman's desire to kill a Rath. Say goodbye to your hopes of vengeance, Levin."

The shadow moved again, darting ever closer… no! Ignore it! "You can't…"

"What can't I do?" Nax laughed. "You don't have the power to stop me! You're just one of the Lost! You barely have the right to be a hunter! People will throw you away like nothing!"

The shadow swelled forward, ceasing its crisscrossing and bolting immediately straight towards Levin and Nax. It didn't exist! It didn't exist! It careened to the side at the last moment, heading straight to the hole in the ice. Nax caught the fear in the eyes and grinned wickedly. "Face it, Levin! You have to more chances! No more hope! There is nothing is the world that can stop me, be it man or monster or…"

A deluge of water burst up from the hole in the ice behind Nax, the massive, enveloping shadow stretching up out of the water into a massive, bulging dome shape. Nax turned in shock at the sound, eyes gaping wide as the dark shape grew massive out of the water. The dark shape split sideways across the middle, a rippling, creasing tear that revealed dozens, perhaps hundreds of pointed teeth. Pale yellow eyes popped out above the jagged mouth, and with a hissing and clicking sound, countless piecing spikes lanced out across the body… wait…

"A Gobul?" Nax sputtered in shock. "You've gotta be…"

The lancer couldn't finish, because in the moment of shock he felt, the creature dived towards the man, who still stood only a few feet from the edge of the water. Nax panicked, trying to bring up his shield, but the monster's massive maw wrapped entirely around the iron barrier, stretching all the way over the man's head and under his chest. Then the massive jaws snapped shut, the teeth clanging loudly as they sank down on the hunter's armor.

Shouts of pain and fear could be heard echoing from the Gobul's mouth as it pulled the lancer off his feet. It snapped and chewed on the hunter, a look of frustration covering its face as it tried to bite through the thick plate armor Nax wore. It shook its head once or twice as the lancer tumbled around inside, as though trying to shake the thick armor loose from the hunter's body. But after perhaps a minute or two, the creature clearly got sick of trying, and it leaned its head back. With a sickening, rather gruesome sound, the Gobul hocked up the lancer, sending the spit and slime-covered man back onto the ice, his armor dented, and his shield bent to the point of almost complete uselessness. Nax himself groaned in pain, a few small holes in his armor oozing blood, but otherwise just tossed around.

"Levin, run!" Ellie cried. Then the Gobul turned to face Levin. His armor was clearly not so thick as Nax's, and he was far too weak to run away. The creature growled in amusement, clearly happy with the easy meal it was going to get. It flicked its lantern stalk happily as… wait, the creature's lantern was missing. Then Levin realized how damaged the creature was. It was so beat up from other battles; scars and other wounds, burn marks, and its lantern was completely severed away. It seemed to be growing back, but….

The Gobul scooted forward menacingly, and moved towards Levin, eyeing his mean hungrily. Then its eyes landed on the great sword user's face. Suddenly the creature paused, glancing the great sword user up and down and studying him oddly. Then it blinked in shock, and let out a terrified squeal, a sound that Levin didn't think he'd ever heard any monster make… ever.

The monster's feet slipped out from underneath it as it awkwardly as it tumbled backwards, trying to get away from the great sword user. Its eyes darted back and forth, before landing on Ellie. It tilted its head again uncertainly, before squeaking even louder in shock. Its eyes darted in terror between the two hunters, its feet slipping and sliding awkwardly below it. Finally, it abruptly spun around and bolted for the hole in the ice, and once again becoming a shadow under the water. The dark blot that was the Gobul shot away from the hole, taking off towards the river at the end of the lake and vanishing completely from sight.

"What… I don't… what just happened?" Levin heard Ellie mutter. The great sword user turned and worry finally got the better of him. He strained himself to turn and push himself to his feet, before hobbling painfully towards Ellie and dropping next to her.

"Are you… are you alright?" he asked as pain filled his chest.

"Yeah, I'm… I'm fine," Ellie replied wincing as the great sword user reached into his pack for bandages and other dressing. Ellie grabbed his arm, though, stopping him, before reaching for her own things. "But this is nothing. Look at you. Oh, damn it, you've got to stop moving, you took a boulder to the… everything."

"I'm alive. That's enough for now," Levin grinned wryly, wincing through the pain. Ellie glowered at him as she forced a potion to his lips and made him drink. The numbing feeling was soothing, and for a moment Levin felt like he might be okay. Eventually. But he continued to grin. Somehow he'd won. "But it doesn't look like either of us will really be hunting all that much for a while. Any more letters back to Boma with stories like this, and Orson will come to Loc Lac himself and whoop our butts for careless hunting. Ugh, wait, he might bring Marshall with him, too… I think I'd rather fight another Barioth…"

Ellie blinked, turning in surprise as she was wrapping a bandage around one of the great sword user's arm. "Did you just crack a joke? I haven't heard you really do that since…"

A huff of wind suddenly rushed across their faces, along with a foul, blood-scented smell. The two turned abruptly, and gasped at the sight of the Barioth towering over the pair of them. The creature had somehow recovered, the wounds given to it frozen closed by the Tundra's chilling winds. A powerful paw settled down on either side of them, and the creature's bright yellow eyes bored into the pair of them intently, judging them. Its eyes landed on Levin, and it leaned in, eyes boring into his. Its eyes narrowed, and it got even closer, inhaling deeply and smelling the great sword user.

As it pulled back, it frowned uncertainly, growling a little under her breath. But its eyes dart towards the hole in the ice for a moment, then it turned back to Levin again, tilting its head in thought. Then pulled back and unleashed a deep, bellowing roar right into the hunter's face. Levin felt as though his ears would explode, nearly passing out as the roar dimmed to silence. The creature's eyes bored into Levin's for another moment or two, before it huffed one last time and turned around, stalking away back to its cave and her pups, leaving the two Lost hunters clinging to each other and shivering in fear where they sat.

As the creature faded into the shadows of the cavern, the sound of footsteps from behind them caught their attention. The two turned awkwardly, just as the sight of blue and grey armor crested the hill on the far side of the lake. Gasping for air, Nox rushed down the hill towards the lake, soaking wet and sword drawn. He slid to a halt next to him, eyes darting around defensively.

"Are you guys alright?" he gasped, then reeled at the sight of them. "Holy hell, you two look like crap… I just heard the Barioth roar, it's still around, isn't it? Where is it? I'll distract it while you guys somewhere safer, okay? If you move quickly, we can…"

"Wait, wait, wait," Ellie said, stopping the other sword and shield user short. "It's in the cave, but don't go after it! It's got pups, and… and we just need to leave. It's weak, but we're not going to kill it."

Nox cocked his head at the words, though he still seemed on edge. "Pups? Really? Little ones?"

"Very young," Levin affirmed.

"I see," Nox muttered. "No wonder it was so protective of its territory. And it let you live?"

"Let's… let's head back to the village, please," Ellie sighed painfully. "We'll tell you what happened on the way. It's… a long story."

"Right, right," Nox replied, glancing cautiously at the cave entrance. "So will you need me to carry you, or…"

"You get Nax," both of the Lost hunters barked at the same time, making Nox wince in surprise.

"Uh, right," he said. He quickly hurried over to the downed lancer, hoisting up the unconscious man's arm over his shoulder and helping to drag the limp body back in the direction of the village. Levin glanced over towards the remains of his shattered weapon, then shook his head in regret. No sense trying to recover the pieces. A good part of it was underwater, and there were too many pieces to pull together. Besides, he needed to help get Ellie back to Hearth, and in their condition, it would take all the strength he could muster. As he helped the sword and shield user back to her feet, holding her up, Nox came up to them, dragging Nax alongside. "Let's get going quickly. I want to get off this ice and back to the village to get you two fixed up ASAP, and it'll be slow moving with so many injuries."

"Right," Levin nodded, hoisting Ellie closer. She had to hoist him just as much, even with her broken leg, making the effort awkward, but neither of them really felt like complaining.

"Now, tell me… what the hell happened here?" Nox said, heading off towards the Hearth.

Levin sighed and glanced over at Ellie. He didn't think he could talk that much anymore. Luckily, Ellie still could manage a story, and began speaking to the other sword and shield user. "Honestly, I'm still a little confused about it, but…"

* * *

"These two assaulted me during the hunt! I was doing my job, my work for you as a hunter, and just because they disagreed with my methods, they saw fit to attack me!" Nax glared furiously at Levin and Ellie, his arms crossed in disgust.

"They were just pups, you bastard!" Ellie growled in reply. "We weren't going to let you kill them! Besides, we were just trying to knock you out! You were the one that was trying to gut us with your lance!"

Levin grimaced as the two hunters glared furiously at each other. He'd be up there, standing next to Ellie and helping her argue the case, but at the moment he was sitting on the floor, leaning against a small pillar, his injuries no longer allowing him to stand at all. A couple of medics sat near him, fussing over his wounds, occasionally trying to convince them to let them carry him off to the medical wing that was attached to Noi's expansive building, but Levin persistently refused them, his drug-addled words slurring as he told them to leave him where he was. As for Nox, the man stood in the back, keeping his distance from the argument; even with what Levin and Ellie had told him, he'd been uncertain about which side to take, and chose instead to wait until the lancer had an opportunity to speak for himself.

The four hunters were back at Hearth, in Noi's house. There had been a rush to get the four of them to safety when the town guard had spotted the group of them limping and dragging each other through the snow. The four of them had quickly been hurried through the thick snow of the village, pushing to get them to the medical wing. They'd been working up the stairs of Noi's complex, though, when Nax had regained consciousness, and upon catching sight of Levin and Ellie, had got into a fit of rage, trying to attack the pair of them while screaming profanities galore at them. The city guards and medics weren't prepared for the hunter's sudden rush of anger, and Noxramus had been forced to step in to keep the man from causing any more injury to anyone than had already been inflicted.

The lancer's words and accusations had been flung often and loud enough though, and by then, the news of the hunters' arrival had reached Noi and the rest of his family. The merchant and his son had shown up with just enough time to hear both Nax and Ellie condemning each other of all sort of things before the old man had stepped in and demanded that all four of the hunters be taken into one of the nearby rooms to sort everything out, which was where the lot of them, as well as Noi and his family, sat now.

Noi had a look of extreme consternation on his face as he glanced back and forth between the two arguing hunters. Crezant stood next to his father's chair, the same blank but studious look on his face that never seemed to leave his face. Mu stood holding Sami not far away, the child seemingly blissfully unaware of the gravity of the arguing happening in the room, and the mother a look of extreme frustration on her face.

"It's our job to kill monsters, big or small," Nox was shouting at the sword and shield user. "You can't just choose to cower away when something doesn't fit in with the way things should be done, and you're damn well not supposed to get in the way of someone who's willing to do what you're not. Just because I'm not so weak as you doesn't mean you can stop me from doing my job!"

"Just because you like to feel powerful by smashing down helpless monsters doesn't mean the rest of us do, and it doesn't mean the rest of us would let you!" Ellie shouted back. "Killing monsters is one thing, but killing infants is another!"

"You really think it was best to leave them alive? How many humans do you think those infants will kill when they're older? How many people will have to die before the Guild finds it necessary to put out a call for hunters to go out and kill them, just because you got all mushy over some little furry things that look all puppy-eyed at you?"

"Don't you try to act all high and mighty! You act like you wanted to kill those pups because it was the right thing to do, but I've seen enough of you to know that you wouldn't be killing them because you _should_, you'd be killing them because you _could_!"

"Now listen here you little-"

"Enough!" The two hunters froze as Noi's voice boomed out, a powerful and commanding voice bringing the argument to an abrupt halt. The man rose, his presence pulling the attention of the room to him as though he was the only thing in the room. Ellie and Nax shrunk away slightly at the outburst as the man glared in cold irritation at the both of them.

"Now," the merchant growled, "the both of you have been bickering at arguing with each other since the moment you hunters were brought back into the building. Everyone in this room has heard both sides of this story a dozen times over already! You've given us plenty of time to hear out what you've to say. Now I think it's time for me to make my decision."

The man paused, glancing between the two hunters, as well as down at Levin. "I can see all sides of the story, and I can understand the reasoning you each had. This is not as easy of a choice as it would seem. On the one side, I see Pugnax, a valuable and trusted hunter in this house, who has persistently proven himself to be a competent hunter, completing all missions we've offered him to the fullest extent. On the other hand, though, we have two other hunters, who have declared his tactics to be too, how to put it, unethical to follow through on. The pair of them are not as highly ranked as Nax, but they seem to be decent people from what I've seen of them so far."

Nax opened his mouth to argue, but a sharp look from the merchant shut him up. "I'm not playing favorites here, Pugnax, no matter how valuable a business partner you've proven to be to me over the last few years. What I'm searching for is whose decision was the best one, and I will not have my decisions falsely clouded, even if it's because you are a friend to me."

The man stopped speaking for a moment and collected his thoughts. Then his eyes darted over to Nox, who raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "What say you, Noxramus? You're the only other hunter here, and you've been in the village long enough to be just as much of a friend to us as Pugnax. You've heard their viewpoints. What's your opinion on the matter?"

"Well," Nox shrugged awkwardly, "I can understand both of their reasons. I have gone on egg smashing missions for the Guild. It's sometimes necessary for the… herds to be thinned in order to keep the monster populations from getting too out of control. Only a week or two ago, I took a Guild request to go smash a few dozen eggs out of the Baggi nests to the east of here. Such things are not… particularly unheard of or even looked down upon by Guild standards. However, after the creatures are born, or hatched, the general tendency is to leave them be until they reach the age at which they can be declared a threat to humans. Also, when it comes to Barioth, while tending to be highly aggressive monsters, they are merely highly territorial, and it's rare for them to take up a nest close to civilization. I only hunt them very, very rarely, but when I have to, it's usually a hell of a trek just to get to their stomping grounds. So… while taking down or warding off the Barioth may have been a priority, killing the little whelps would probably not be necessary. I'm with Levin and Ellie's decision on the matter of the pups, though I'm not sure how that works with the choice of not finishing off the mother."

Pugnax glared at the sword and shield user, but the other man refused to meet his gaze. Noi nodded at the words though, a thoughtful look on his face. Then he turned to his son, Crezant. "And what say you, my boy? You've handled just as many monster mission requests as I have over the last few years, and you've got a powerful head for business. What do you think about all of this?"

The son's face was just as impassive as always, and the young man glanced around the hunters, before his eyes landed on Pugnax. "I'll have to side with our concurrent ally on this one, father. If what Noxramus says is true, then it is likely that the young Barioth pups, when grown, will settle themselves to a nest far from human habitation, and far from the opportunity or possibility to hunt and kill human beings. However, there is a chance, even if it is only a chance, that they will settle nearby a town or village, and raise trouble for any civilians and hunters dwelling in the area. I'm no monster expert, nor am I a member of the Guild. However, while it no doubt is a challenge to decide whether or not to kill the younglings of a monster, the bottom line, the long term problems must be considered. Though the pups may not be a threat now, one day they may very well be, and the question must be asked as to whether the risk of lost human life is worth maintaining personal ethics over. I understand the value and worth of time, objects, and commodities, but… putting a value on human life is beyond my capabilities, and it's not something I desire to attempt."

"A wise thing to say," Noi nodded. "There is incalculable value in human life, and it's not something that can be so easily ignored." Then the merchant turned, surprisingly, to his wife. "What about you, love? I've trusted your advice more than any living person in the world. What do you think of this situation?"

"I would've let the little things live," Mu replied simply and quickly. "I'm a mother of two, husband. I know how desperately a woman can act when her children are threatened. Now, I don't know how dangerous these children may get later in life, but I don't believe you should kill them just because of what they _may_ become. Their mother may be a fierce and feared creature of the frozen wastes, but killing them for that reason alone? It would be the same as executing a child because one of their parents was a murderer. I appreciate the concern held for possible loss of life, but I cannot in good conscious agree with Pugnax's decision. I respect his decisions as a hunter, but this decision is not one I can approve of as a mother."

"Understandable," Noi replied. "Now then, one last thing. I've heard everyone's views on this whole thing, but I still need to hear one person's opinion. Yours, Levin." The great sword user blinked in surprise as the merchant turned on him. "You've been rather silent due to your injuries, but I'd like to remedy that. Pugnax mentioned your… disdain towards Barioths, and if what I've heard from these two arguing comrades of yours is any indication, you have a rather powerful dislike for this Barioth in particular. You've fought against a monster like that, yet you chose to let it and its kin live. Why?"

Levin was quiet for a moment. "This Barioth tried to kill me when I… got here from where I came from. Before I started this hunt, there was very little I wanted more at the time than to find this monster and take it down. I wanted… revenge for the damage it did to me, for the fear it made me feel. I needed to kill one in order to… in order to lose the fear and anxiety I felt about the monster. But… recently I've come to grow very concerned about finding my family. It's become a rather powerful motivator in my mind. So when we went out to kill the Barioth, I was very focused on vengeance against the creature, but once I realized that that the creature had a family of its own… I just couldn't bring myself to do anything to it or its pups. And when it came down to it… I couldn't bring myself to let anyone else do anything to them either."

Noi nodded at the words. He was silent for a moment, before turning and striding back over to his seat. He slumped into his chair, a struggling expression on his face. His eyes darted between the people in the room, as he continued to think about what had been said. Finally, he sighed. "This is a challenging decision, to say the least. However, I have made my choice. It pains me to do this, but… forgive me Pugnax, but I must side with your comrades on this issue."

"What! You can't!"

"Yes, I can," the man replied. "I apologize for this Pugnax. Had you caught me a month or two ago with this same mission, I would have easily decided this choice in your favor. But… I've changed a bit, since my daughter was born."

"Your daughter?" the lancer growled. "Your daughter is the reason you're turning your back on me? The reason that you're throwing away the word of someone who's been your friend for so long in exchange for a pair of Lost rookies?"

"You're not a father, Nax. You cannot fathom what that's like. It's been some time since Crezant was so young, so some of the memories had been lost, but… since she was born, I've felt overprotective, worried for her, scared for her. Though I don't like how dangerous this Barioth is… I understand the feeling of needed to protect your progeny, the unstoppable need to keep your children alive and safe. So, I must side with them. I must allow this Barioth to live. You must try to understand, Pugnax."

"I understand plenty," Nax said, his voice low. "If that's the way it's going to be, if that's how easy it is for you to turn on me, then clearly you can do without me."

"Pugnax, please…"

"No! I don't want to hear it. I won't stick around here if this is the way I'm going to be treated. You want to leave monsters to their own devices, let them run wild and kill who they want, just because they're too small to do anything yet? That's on your head. Monsters are threats, and they need to be killed. That's the way of the world, and no amount of kind thinking or empathy will change that. I am going to go back to Loc Lac, where real hunters are. If anyone tries to stop me, they'll find out how sharp my lance really is."

With that the lancer turned sharply, stalking out of the room towards the exit of the house. The door of the room slammed shut behind him, and all that remained in the room was silence. After a long moment, Noi was the first to move, pushing himself to his feet.

"Come on, then," he muttered, motioning to the two medics that were sitting near Levin. "What needed to be discussed here is done. The boy and the girl are injured. See to it that they get to the medical wing as quickly as possible. There are some other things I must discuss with them, but I can talk while we walk."

The two medics acquiesced quickly making Levin lie down on the stretcher they had laid out and hoisting the great sword user into the air. Ellie hobbled next to him as they carried the young man out of the room and down the hall, Nox stepping forward to help her move with her broken leg. Noi and his family followed behind, the large merchant striding tall next to the Levin as he was carried away. As they walked, Noi glanced down at the young man.

"With the Barioth still alive, it is likely that the creature will continue to cause trouble for my shipments. Your defeating it in battle won't change the fact that it has territory to defend and pups to raise. I've made the decision to not pursue the creature's death, nor that of its ilk, but it's a costly decision for me. I've even lost the trust of a competent hunter that I've created a strong business partnership with."

"I'm sorry," Levin muttered. "I didn't mean to…"

"I know you didn't," Noi said sadly. "I didn't want to lose Pugnax as a friend and partner. It was his decision to leave my employ. I would hire him right back if he simply asked for work. However, his pride as a hunter seems to have… driven a wedge between the two of us, and that's not something that's so easily mended. And with him gone, that only leaves Noxramus there as a constant hunter in our village. And even he might leave once the Guild opens the routes to hunters again."

Levin opened his mouth to apologize again, but the merchant held up a hand to silence him once more. "However, if you are willing, and if you heal quickly enough, there is something you, and your companion there, may be able to do to help me, should you feel able and willing."

"What's that?" Ellie asked as Nox pulled her closer to the conversation.

"Let me ask you something first," Noi said. "When you told me about your fight, you mentioned that, after releasing the Barioth from a trap, the creature was given the clear opportunity to kill you. Instead, you claim, it chose to leave you be, returning to its next and allowing the four of you hunters to go, even Pugnax who was the primary instigator trying to kill its pups. This story is… true, yes?"

"We wouldn't lie about something like that," Ellie replied.

"I'm sure you wouldn't. However, this story does provide certain… interesting implications. Very rarely do monsters choose to let hunters live after fighting them. It's hard for hunters and monsters to develop a, shall we say, trust between them. However, if what you've just described just happened, then perhaps it is true for the pair of you. Perhaps this Barioth has determined that the pair of you are not something that it wants to kill."

"You mean the Barioth won't hurt us if it sees us?" Levin asked.

"To an extent, possibly," the man shrugged. "It's been said to happen every now and then, a hunter and a monster creating a bond or familiarity with each other. Most of the time it's just a mutual understanding; the monster allowing the hunter to pass through its territory unmolested, while the hunter chooses not to hunt and kill the monster. That might be the case here. Perhaps it was a one-time thing. Perhaps it is completely complacent when it comes to the two of you. Likely, though, provided you don't delve too deep into the Barioth's territory, or threaten it in any way, the beast will choose to let you be."

Levin and Ellie stared at the man in shock. Such a thing was possible? Thinking back, Levin recalled that the Raths that lived on Echo Village's island never attacked the locals without a good reason, but he'd never thought it could apply to a single person…

"So, what is it you want us to do?" Ellie asked.

Noi grinned at the woman. "Simply put, once the pair of you have recovered, I would like you both to act as bodyguards for my transports. The Barioth is the primary problem, and if you two act as escorts, perhaps the creature will be more hesitant to try and attack them, or more willing to let them pass by."

Levin frowned. "Is this… really something you're… _asking_ us to do? Or is this more of, well, compensation for not killing the Barioth?"

The merchant smirked a wicked smile. "It can be either. That depends on you. I need to get my supply wagons moving again, no matter what it takes. Of course if you choose to do this voluntarily, you'd be compensated. I don't expect you two to do this for nothing. A quick hunt is one thing. A venture like this is something else."

"And how long would you have us do this?" Levin asked uncertainly.

"Only until the Guild fully opens up the Tundra to hunters again. During that time you'll act as escorts between here and the port. After that, you're free to return to Loc Lac, with whatever spoils your time here has provided. Not to mention the confidence of a merchant who appreciates your business, and will likely call on you again, if you so desire."

"And… um, how long will it be before the Guild block lifts?"

The merchant glanced over to his son, and the young man pause for a moment in thought. "If my contacts are any at all accurate with their information, then… the ban on travel should be lifted in about a month from now."

Both Levin and Ellie gaped at the words. "A month?" Ellie gasped.

"That's correct," the young man replied. For a moment, Levin thought he saw a ghost of a smirk on the man's face. "Think of it like a vacation. If the Barioth is truly benign towards you, then things should be relatively easy for you. Well, there are the Baggis and Gigginox to deal with, but after dealing with a Barioth, those shouldn't be too much of a hassle. And by then, perhaps the Barioth will have figured out that it would be better off for both sides to just leave the caravan alone."

Levin groaned and glanced at Ellie. The sword and shield users sighed in frustration as well. "I guess… bodyguard duty wouldn't be too bad."

"Maybe not," Levin agreed sullenly. "I suppose keeping guard of transport wagons for a month is a fair way to make up for not killing the Barioth. Though… I'm a bit lacking in a weapon right now."

"I'm sure something can be arranged," Noi replied. Then he turned to his wife and grinned. "Now then, love, perhaps I can help you cook dinner. I'm sure our new business partners would like something better than hospital food while they are infirmed."

"I'm sure they would," Mu smiled, bobbing Sami up and down and making the little girl giggle. The woman gently patted Levin on the shoulder as they walked. "Cheer up now, Levin. Though this may not be the greatest introduction into working with my husband, I assure you that you'll be treated well, and you won't regret it."

"I hope so," Levin grinned wryly.

"I'm sure things will work out, Levin," Ellie said softly. "I mean… probably."

"Yeah… probably."

* * *

Metal clanged and rattled as a shadowed figure stumbled through an alleyway, the smell of alcohol wafting off of him as he tumbled into trash bins and knocked over wooden boxes, spilling trash and sundries across the dirt and sand of the pathway. The man grumbled , seething anger dripping from his voice through the drunkenness. The man dry heaved painfully into the garbage piles, the sound being covered up by the raucous noise and cheering of the hunters and other rabble rousers in the bar next to him, the sounds that could be expected pouring into the streets at night in Loc Lac. The man's cursing was drowned out by a peal of laughter that burst out of a nearby window.

"Damn them… damn them both! How dare they treat me like this! I was… I've killed more monsters than they could dream of, and they throw me down! For a couple weak little brats that… that think… I'll kill them. I'll crush them, both of them!"

"Quite the fall you've taken, haven't you, Pugnax?"

The man's eyes snapped up, darting around the alleyway. Despite the alcohol and other depressants coursing through his veins, his years of reflexes as a hunter were still as sharp as ever, and he scoured the darkness in search of the source of the voice, it took only a moment for his eyes to land on an shadow that started to work its way out of the corners of the pathway. The lancer tensed slightly as the shape approached, but relaxed as the man who worked his way around the corner came into sight. A short, pudgy man. Hardly the sort of person that could be a threat to the trained hunter. He was old… old enough to have a head of greyed hair and beard, and well to do, if his clothes and walking cane were any indication. The old man smiled at him comfortingly, even as the hunter lay in the gutter, wiping vomit off his chin and dented armor.

"Word has traveled fast about the incident between you and your two compatriots out in the Tundra, Pugnax," the man said with a sorrowful smile. "It seems that the other hunters in the city are torn as to who's to blame for the whole incident. Some say it's your fault for trying to assault a helpless nest of cubs, for being a merciless killing machine that enjoys taking out monsters for the sake of taking them out, and you have no cares for circumstances or compassion. Some say it's the other two's fault, for going against orders and attacking an ally rather than killing a potential threat, and forcing an honest merchant to cancer a mission request rather than taking care of the monster. But I suppose one of the biggest issues being raised at the moment is the moment is the fact that two Lost hunters teamed up against a highly ranked, non-Lost hunter. With all the fuss being raised over the Lost these days, it's no surprise how much antagonism is popping up on both sides of the issue. You can really see people splitting up and arguing over who's in the right and wrong when it comes to your little disagreement with your… former hunting partner Levin."

"So I've seen," Nax growled, more slur in his voice than he wanted. "Half the people that recognized me bought me a drink out of pity, and the rest wanted to throttle me for wanting to kill the damn pups. But I guess the question is, which side of the argument are you on, old man?"

The man sighed; Nax couldn't tell if he was doing it for dramatic effect or not. "I'll be honest. When I first met that boy Levin, I came to the same conclusion that you did, that the young man had the natural violent tendencies to become a great, ruthless hunter. I tried to get him into the swing of things as you did, though my methods were different. However… judging by how your most recent hunt with him went, it would seem that we were both wrong about him. Perhaps he will become a great hunter, but not as good a one as we wanted him to be. He's simply too… sentimental to meet the expectations we've set for him. I imagine that lady friend of his and those two other hunters he spends time with are little help either, I'll admit that much, and they simply care too much to leave him alone. Good try on your attempt at getting the girl out of the picture, by the way. Very subtle."

A cold feeling seeped through Nax at the words, and he found himself staring wide eyed at the man, who sat scratching his beard in thought as he sat down on a toppled barrel near the lancer. He knew! How did he know? No! No. He was just guessing! He had to be!

"What are you talking about?" Nax said quietly. "Ellie took a hit from the Barroth. I had nothing to do with…"

"Oh, come now," the man laughed. "Don't take me for a fool, boy. I thought I smelled a plot the moment I heard the young lady had been so badly injured, against only a Barroth with two other hunters with her. So I snuck into the hospital she was infirmed in to investigate properly. You'd be amazed how much information you can get from doctors for such a small amount of zenny. And how unsuspecting they are of foul play between alleged allies. That injury on the back of her head was so easily looked over compared to the rest of her injuries, wasn't it? So easy to write of as just another wound from the Barroth's heavy hit. But to the trained eye, it was quite clear where the wound really came from."

Nax shivered, in fear he realized. The man was treating this whole thing like the pair of them were talking about the weather, instead of the living or dying of a fellow human being and the attempt at taking another's life that Nax had made. Who was this man, to act so… callous?

"What do you want with me?"

"Oh, my boy, I think you've misunderstood," the man chuckled in delight. "I'm not here to threaten, to blackmail, or extort. I'm simply here to ask you a couple questions."

"And what questions are those?" Nax asked with a scowl.

The man leaned back and smiled at Nax, a humored look on his face. "I'd like to ask you about what it was like, fighting not against the Barioth, but rather, against the very companions that you went on the hunt with. When you had your disagreement with Levin and the girl, the argument you had with the two of them wasn't merely oratory, was it?"

"How did you…"

"Now don't ask me to reveal my secrets, my boy. Perhaps one day I'll fill you in on what my sources are, but for now… well. Tell me a story. Enlighten me about what it was like to duke it out with a hunter, not a monster."

Nax stared at the man untrustingly, but slowly began speaking, beginning with when Levin pushed himself between Nax and the pups, baring his blade at the man to ward him off. The lancer continued to speak, regaling the tale as both Levin and Ellie had turned on him, bringing their blades to bear when he had refused to back down from his decision to kill off the Barioth pups. He recalled the desperate fight, how he'd bashed his way through Ellie's defense, breaking the woman's leg, and broken Levin's great sword under a rockslide. He found himself growing more and more excited as he told his tale, gesturing and motioning, replicating the thrusts and jabs of his spear as he told the story. It had been arguably one of the most challenging fights of his career, going toe to toe with two people that shared the same skill, if not as much experience, as he himself.

He found himself realizing that, as exciting as hunting any monster was, duking it out with other hunters, other humans, creatures that were just as armored, just as sharply equipped, just as intelligent and just as able to adjust to new problems. Monster intelligence could only go so far, but… fighting against other hunters had been a rush like none he'd felt before. And to have come out on top, to have proven himself superior… if he could battle and defeat truly skilled hunters, those that were even higher ranked than him, those that had fought and killed the greatest of beasts, then he would be…

"So you enjoyed yourself, then?"

Nax blinked. He'd nearly forgotten that he was talking to old man. "I wouldn't say I enjoyed myself…"

"Oh, come now," the man laughed. "I could see the expression on your face. You were a man meant to be a gladiator, not a hunter."

"A what?"

"Never mind, never mind. Now, I do have one more question for you, my boy."

"What's that?" Nax asked, slightly uncertain.

"How would you like to come work for me?" the man smiled. Nax blanched at the words, and the older fellow chuckled in amusement. "Not what you expected to hear, eh? But nonetheless, I'm fairly certain you're just the kind of man I'd like working for me. Quite certain, actually. You've got dedication to your craft, as well as conviction, and to top it all off you revel in your work. Yes, I think you'll do just fine. How about it, my boy?"

Nax paused for a moment, but curiosity was getting the better of him. "What kind of job?"

The man smiled and began to explain. As he continued, Nax began to feel the same excited sensation he'd had while he had been describing his battle against Levin and Ellie, the surge of battle lust and enjoyment of violence began to well up through him again. What the old man was describing to him was something he'd never imagined existed in this world of hunters as he'd seen it for people like him: rapture. As the old man finished, Nax found himself gasping in excitement.

"You've made such a place?" he asked in awe.

"I have. And there's a place for you in it if you're willing to join up."

Nax laughed ecstatically. "Where do I sign, old man? I want to join as soon as possible!"

"Good to hear, good to hear," the man smirked. "There's no signing, and you can start as soon as you are able. It's wonderful to see such enthusiasm for your work, and I think it'll be a pleasure to work with you. And please… call me Moloch."

Nax grinned at the old man. "The pleasure is all mine, Moloch."

"Old man," a deep voice rumbled through the air.

Moloch turned as a large man suddenly swooped into the alleyway behind him, followed closely by another, shorter one. Both had hoods covering their faces, and both wore woolen cloaks over an odd red alloy armor that Nax didn't recognize. Nax tensed at the sight of the bigger man. He was absolutely massive! Yet, he had barely made a sound as he'd slunk around the corner. What kind of man was this? And the other… well, if he was alongside the other man, he must have been something else as well.

"Ah, Filcher. Micah," Moloch greeted the pair. Nax raised an eyebrow. How did Moloch know these men? "I didn't expect you for a while yet."

"There's news you'll need to know about that made its way here from our informants," the shorter man said. Micah, Nax assumed. "We thought it best to get it to you as soon as we could. Besides, it looked like your talk was wrapping up, so we decided to step in."

"Ah, very well, very well," Moloch said, pushing off with his cane to work over to the two hunters. "Let me hear it." Micah shot an untrusting look in Nax's direction and the old man laughed. "Oh, just say it. I'm sure Mister Pugnax here won't be adverse to hear whatever it is you've got for me. After all, I can be certain he's the type of man to join our ranks."

Micah continued to stare at the lancer for another moment or two, before shrugging in acceptance. "Very well. News has it that the Guild's on our case. Have been for a while, it seems."

"That doesn't surprise me," Moloch replied.

"Yeah, maybe not," the larger man, Filcher, growled. "But one of their dogs has been sniffing around for our trail. And he's getting close. Your little false trails and distractions and payoffs weren't enough. Word has it that he's working around the southern side of the Flooded Forest hunting grounds. He'll find the home base soon if he's left to his own devices."

"Then you'll just have to make sure that he _isn't_ left to his own devices," Moloch snapped sharply, making the large hunter wince and glare at the older man. "If he's such a nuisance, get rid of him before… no, that won't work. The Guild will know he vanished in the Forest… no, bring him in. Once we've got him, we'll deal with him our own way, and lead the Guild on a goose chase once we're done with him… perhaps they'll find what's left of him in the Volcano area, or in the forests to the west of here…"

Then the older man gave Nax a contemplative look, and a sly grin crossed his face. "An idea just occurred to me. Why not test our new recruit by taking him with you to find this dog of the Guild?"

"Boss," Micah cut in, "I don't think that…"

"Now, now, my boy, there's no need to argue. I'm sure our boy here will be useful enough. He's been openly active on the Guild's roster for a while now, so I doubt that they'll suspect him of being one of us now. And since he doesn't know much about us yet, he'll be able to get in close without giving too much away. Wouldn't that make things simpler?"

The larger man grumbled. "Perhaps. But perhaps it's an unnecessary risk as well. Fighting against a comrade that turned on you is one thing, but openly going after an unsuspecting person is another. He might not have the guts for it."

"Oh, I'm sure he'll do fine," Moloch grinned, turning back to Nax. "How about it, my boy? You've tested your steel against a pair of rookie three-star hunters. How about seeing how you fare against someone of a better caliber? Someone more your level? Can you imagine the thrill of it? The challenge?"

Nax found himself grinning widely, a gleeful, excited feeling creeping through him. "Moloch, I'm certain I'm just the man for the job."

"Glad to hear it," Moloch smiled. "Glad to hear it."

* * *

**Author's Note: Please Review! Sorry for the long wait, but I hope the chapter length and story developments make up for it though. Props to anyone who knows where Noi and Crezent and Sami and Mu got their names. Also, to Noxramus, I hope I did your character justice. I realize your character wasn't great at Barioths, which is why he left the fight early. Don't worry, though; if you'd like it, he'll be back for another round of hunting later against another nasty beastie…**

**Seems Levin's finally on the right path to getting his mindset right. Good for him. I'm rather proud of this chapter. I've been looking forward to writing it since chapter 3. And also, for those of you wondering, yes that is the same Gobul from chapter 19. Seems he's traveled quite far in his own adventures. **

**I'm thinking of making a DeviantArt profile for TLC, and any future works I do. I've already got a profile, but it's under a different name and I don't feel like changing things or confusing people, so I might just make a DBG profile. There's nothing on my other profile but a massive favorites gallery and about five really old embarrassments as far as submissions are concerned. What do you guys think? **

**I'm really hoping that the Wii-U comes out with a new version of Monster Hunter sometime in the future. I'm not planning on buying one of those consoles until then (or maybe another Smash Bros.). But if it does… holy crap I hope it's fun. I've never been a great fan of handhelds (Gameboys excluded), which is why I never played 3G or any of the other handheld MH games, but here's hoping for another console MH game. I really wish Capcom had released that one MH game for the 360 in the US…**

**Lastly, future chapters may get… sporadic, being as my life has recently gotten a bit more complicated than I'd like it to be. Sorry about that, but things happen, and I will be trying to keep up the 1k+ words a day promise. **

**Reading: **_**Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter**_** by Seth Grahame-Smith, **_**A Clash of Kings**_** by George R.R. Martin, **_**Dresden Codak**_** by Aaron Diaz  
Playing: Minecraft, BF3, The Secret of Monkey Island Special Edition  
Listening: Gorillaz, Elton John, Sufjan Stephens, Band of Horses, CAKE, Billy Joel, Eve 6, Hot Hot Heat, Flaming Lips, The Darkness, Fun, Mika, Badly Drawn Boy, Band of Horses, Dropkick Murphys, Lucky Boys Confusion, Eagle Eye Cherry, Gorillaz, JET, Gotye, Avenged Sevenfold**


	29. Darkness in the Ice

Darkness in the Ice

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. All the characters in this story are mine._

"I think I'm actually getting used to the cold wearing this."

Ellie glanced up as Levin approached her from the rear of the caravan and smiled. "Glad to hear it. I was kind of surprised when you decided to get a new armor set while we were here, and I know from experience that your Ludroth coat was really warm. How's that armor suiting you, anyway?"

Levin shrugged, twisting his body around. Ellie cocked her head at the sight. It was so odd, seeing her partner wearing something besides that dull yellow coat he'd sported since the pair of them had met. In the last couple weeks that the two had been in the Tundra working for Noi, Levin had spent a better part of his spare time collecting materials off of the monsters in the area for a new set of armor. Where he had once he had worn a dull yellowish coat, the man was now dressed in a cool blue and grey suit of Baggi armor.

The pair of them were currently striding through the snow banks of the frozen passes that worked through the mountains between Hearth and the sand sea port. As Noi had told them, they'd spent all their time since they recovered going back and forth between the two towns, playing guard dog to the caravans that made their way to and from the ocean and the village. It hadn't been as easy as Noi and Crezant had let on though; it seemed that Baggis really enjoyed attacking the caravans that worked through the mountains with a fervor bordering on lunacy. Luckily, Noi had been able to conjure up a great sword for Levin to use, made from Great Jaggi and Great Baggi materials, one that had been owned by a former hunter that had worked for the merchant before retiring to warmer climates. Levin didn't care much for the old weapon, but it had given the great sword user plenty of time to gather materials for his armor, and both he and Ellie had materials to spare that they could sell back in Loc Lac. And when he wasn't doing other work for Noi, Nox was there to help them out; killing Baggis seemed like the man's primary passion in life.

"It feels… bulky, compared to the sponges," he muttered. "Lots of leather and bone plating, and not nearly as warm as before."

"You kind of needed the upgrade though," Ellie grinned. "You've had that old coat for, what, almost two years now? The thing was falling apart at the seams. I think even a regular Baggi could've shredded it apart without much effort, and then where would you be? No Ludroth in the area to pick up more materials off of."

"Yeah, I know that. It's not that much tougher than my old armor, though. I'm going to miss the bonuses of my old suit, though."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, when Silph made it, he told me that the suit would make it easier to block and dodge… and let me absorb more hits. It was a lot of that mystic power mumbo jumbo that seem to go hand in hand with monster materials; I don't know how it works."

"Maybe we'll ask Harker if he's headway on that topic next time we see him," Ellie smiled. Then she laughed. "You know, if we have an extra hour or so on our hands to listen to him prattle on about it. I know the armor I'm wearing should allow me to swim a little better, and it's supposed to… I don't know, somehow make any elemental weapons or ammunition I use more powerful. I haven't really had the opportunity to fight a monster in the water in a while, though…"

"You could take a dip in the river if you're so curious," Levin smirked. "I hear that's a bit of a hobby in this area, to brave the frigid waters. Though, the locals tend to do it in their bathing suits, rather than full suits of armor. I wouldn't be adverse to the first option, if that's your pleasure, however."

"Up yours Mister Levin," Ellie said with a glare. Though she was grinning as she said it; she'd missed this laid back, good-humored side of Levin's personality. Despite the poor circumstances that had found the two of them where they were, working under Noi in exchange for not taking down the Barioth and her pups, she found that she was very happy about the whole thing. She had the old Levin back… well, mostly. He still had nightmares, and every now and then she saw his eyes glazed, as though listening to something that wasn't there. But if it was like Harker had told them, then that may prove to be something the great sword user would have to deal with for the rest of his life. But if that's what it took to get her Levin back… "So what strange and awesome powers does this particular armor set offer you?"

"Not entirely sure," Levin admitted. "It's supposed to resist the cold and icy weather a little better, though I haven't noticed a difference. Nox keeps telling me that he feels like capturing monsters is a touch more prosperous for him when he's wearing it, but he couldn't explain why. And the smith that made it said that it was supposed to, I don't know, make me more focused or something."

"More focus?" Ellie asked. "So it's not something I need then. I've got too much focus, so if I put in on for a fight, my head would probably explode or something."

"I think he meant something else," Levin smirked. Then he leaned in close and lowered his voice. "But if we ever find ourselves in a position where you'll need to… borrow some of my clothes for warmth, I'll remember to keep something besides this on hand. Just in case."

Ellie felt her ears reddening at the words, and she turned, smacking the great sword user in the chest. Her partner laughed and held his hands up to block, moving to get out of her swinging range as quickly as he could, though the deep snow made the chase a challenge for the both of them. But the pair of them were laughing as they did it, earning a few rolled eyes from the drivers of the wagons. The men and women of the wagon train were smiling, though, the time with Ellie and Levin as their escorts giving them all time to become friends or acquaintances of the hunters. They knew what kind of relationship the two had, and what kind of teasing the hunter would give his beloved.

However, as they hurried through the snow, one of the older drivers held his arm out to the pair of them, cutting them to a halt. The two paused, looking at him curiously, and the old man glanced up, motioning towards the mountains above them. Ellie turned and glanced up, and shivered. Above them, on one of the towering cliff tops that lined the sides of the pathway, stood the Barioth, glaring down at the caravan, studying it. Levin was quiet for a moment, then nodded to the old driver and turned to head out a little ways away from the caravan. Ellie tailed behind, but kept a bit of distance between herself and the great sword user. She needed to stay close to the caravan, just in case. And she needed to stay close to Levin. Just in case.

Levin worked his way out until he was a good twenty or thirty yards from the caravan, then looked up to face the Barioth. The creature turned her gaze on the hunter, eyes cold and calculating, and the great sword user kept it. The Barioth eyed him carefully, sniffing the air a bit. The entire caravan was quiet and unmoving, uncertain and fearful how things might develop. But after a long minute, the Barioth blew a quick breath, before turning around and vanishing out of sight into the distance.

The entire caravan, hunters included, sighed in relief as the great sword user turned to return to the caravan. This was the third time the Barioth had appeared, before turning away at the sight of Levin, but tensions still ran high each time. Noi and Crezant's description of the Barioth's actions were proving to be correct so far, but no one was certain if or when the beast would change its mind on the issue of letting Levin and her pass through its territory unscathed. The moment that happened, if it ever did, would mean a lot of trouble for everyone involved.

"We should be fine now," Levin told the old driver as he returned. "No sense sticking around here any longer at least. We should try to move out of the drake's territory just to be sure."

"Right, right," the man muttered, before turning and shouting to the other wagons. "All right folks, double time, now! I want us to port in good time! 'Less you want to stick around and see if that Barioth will come back, get your Aptonoth and Popos moving!"

The other drivers needed no other motivation, and with shouts of encouragement to their pack animals, the cluster of wagons began their march to the south. Ellie and Levin glanced at each other, nodding wordlessly, and Ellie turned and hurried on, making her way towards the front of the caravan while Levin made his way to the back. The number of wagons had grown in number since they started their work, Noi growing more and more confident with the more successful trips the pair of hunters managed to lead. Several of the merchant's business partners that used the same trails actually had started sending a few of their own wagons to tag along with the two hunters as well (after providing Noi with payment for the borrowed use of his hired hunters, of course).

Luckily for everyone, it wasn't that much further to the port town on the shore of the sand sea. After another couple hours of trekking, they finally came into sight of the town, where only a couple of trade ships sat waiting for goods to carry. The town guards nodded in welcome to Ellie as she and the first couple wagons rode through the gates of the village. This village depended on the trade of the Tundra merchants just as much as the merchants themselves did, and everyone was glad to see the hunters helping the wagons safely along again.

"Looks like we're safe now," the driver of the lead said with a grin. "We'll get things unloaded as soon as we can, little miss, so we can be on our way back to Hearth with all the imports we need. In the meantime, why don't you and that boy of yours treat yourselves to a few drinks at the bars? Ain't nothing for the both of you to help us with while we're in switching cargos."

"Might have to do that," Ellie grinned. "Let us know if any news from the Guild comes in, please?"

"You got it, little miss," the man nodded, snapping his Aptonoth's reins into motion and leading them to the docks.

Once Levin caught up with the sword and shield user, the pair of them headed off to the local tavern. The place was also where the local Guild representative was, a lean, irritable man with trim black hair, who spent most of his time drinking at the very bar he worked behind. Ellie and Levin both avoided talking to the man, having only spoken to him once, to pass on information to the Guild that they would be staying in the Tundra under Noi's employ until further notice. So, the two hunters moved to the other end of the bar, trying to avoid him.

"There's hearsay that a few more hunters are going to be heading up this way soon," Levin told Elie as they sat down. "Apparently, the Guild rep over there's had to be weaned off the liquor by the bartender to get his job done, filing the paperwork to cover the mission specs."

"What kind of missions?" Ellie asked. "More bodyguard work for transports? Or monster killing runs?"

"Couldn't say. I haven't heard of any monster problems from the wagon drivers or Noi, so maybe this is a Guild mandated thing or something. Or maybe another wealthy merchant is hiring hunters to bring in pets."

Ellie glowered at the thought, remembering the incident in Echo Village. "You think we could convince the hunters that take that mission to turn around and tell their hirer to go to hell?"

Levin grinned. "We could certainly try I guess. Though, depending on the monster, we might just let them go and give their master his precious pet. After all, maybe some idiot thought it would be a fantastic to have a pet Gigginox nestled away inside some pen or another. After all, no other wealthy man would have one, so it must be a wonderfully unique and clever idea."

Ellie laughed at the thought. "Yeah, I suppose that if that's what they're after, I'm sure it would be fine to let the hunters go about their business."

"And what, pray tell, will you do if the ones who are doing the Guild's work happen to be acquaintances of yours, if I may ask?" The two hunters turned abruptly at the familiar voice, and found themselves face to face with…

"Harker!" Levin laughed. "What are you doing here?"

"Just as you were saying, I fear," the man grinned. "I have come to the dreadful, frozen north in order to aid the Guild in its mysterious work. After all, it was the only way Lady Kerrigan and I could make our way up this far in order to find the two of you. It seems the threats the lovely woman made about having friends in the Guild proved true."

"Kerry's here too?" Ellie asked, glancing around the room. "Where is she?"

"Unfortunately, our benefactor, a researcher working to the beck and call of the Guild, has requested that she remain at his side while he unloads the goods he needs from the ship we rode in on. The man allowed me to check out the tavern, though, when we saw that a caravan was arriving out at the docks. I was hoping that meant that the pair of you were here."

"But how'd you know that we'd be in this town?" Ellie asked. "I didn't think that Nax told either of you where the three of us were going. Oh, um. I mean… Pugnax isn't here anymore actually…"

Before she could continue, though, the long sword user raised his hands, signaling her to stop. "I fear that there is no need for you to explain, my dear Miss Eleanor. It seems that the report that made it to the Loc Lac Guild, as well as the… less than glamorous story spread by your former hunting mentor, has spread throughout the entire city of Loc Lac like wildfire. I fear, my friends, that by now every person in Loc Lac, and countless more beyond, know every detail of your falling out with Pugnax. It's not going over with the populous very lightly."

"That… doesn't sound very good," Levin muttered.

"Yes, things could be a little more peaceful, I'll admit. However, the argument between you and Nax isn't really the defining point of the issue. Rather, I'm afraid to say that the primary issue is that you two, a pair of Lost, challenged the decisions of a native, and consequently won. People are not sure how to deal with this. I'm afraid the issue was still in hot debate when last I left the city, but hopefully things will have cooled off a little by the time the four of us return to Loc Lac."

"Wait, what?" Ellie asked. "The four of us? What are… how long is this mission you and Kerry on planning to take?"

"It doesn't really matter," Harker grinned. "Lady Kerrigan and I are planning on staying with the pair of you until the Guild ban is lifted. Besides, the researcher behind our mission says the work he needs to do up here may take a while to accomplish."

"What kind of mission, exactly?" Ellie pressed.

"A material hunting mission," another familiar voice said. Ellie turned and smiled at the sight of Kerrigan striding through the bar towards the three Lost. She had her bowgun slung over her shoulder as per usual, as well as another massive object wrapped in cloth. Items for the materials hunt, perhaps? Ellie didn't have time to ask before the bowgunner came over and hugged her tightly. "It's good to see you in one piece, dear. I'm so sorry we weren't able to help you deal with that bastard Pugnax."

"It's not your fault, Kerry," Ellie replied. "The way Nax did things, this was bound to happen sooner or later."

"Yeah, but we should've been there to help you. You shouldn't have had to deal with him alone."

"It's fine, Kerry. Things turned out… about as well as they could've, all things considered. We might have been able to stop him a little quicker, but the results would've been the same, I think. Either way, people would still be going on about how a couple Lost countered the decision of a higher level non-Lost."

"Maybe so," Kerry said, releasing the sword and shield user. "But it would've made me feel a little better about the whole thing."

Ellie grinned, then glanced at the large object hanging over the bowgunner's back. "So what's that thing there?"

Kerry smirked. "Oh, this? This is a delivery. Me and Harker picked up a couple things in Loc Lac that needed to get delivered to the two of you. As for this thing, before we left for the Tundra, we got stopped by a rather… irate Wyvernian that asked if we knew Levin. We told him we did, and the guy asked that if we were heading to meet the two of you, that we take this little thing to him. Seems your boy there forgot to go pick it up after we got back from the Rathian mission. It's not good to keep smiths waiting for you to pick up what you request them to make, Levin."

Levin frowned in confusion at the words, before his eyes widened in realization. "You mean…"

"That's right," Kerry grinned. She pulled the object from over her back and held it out for Levin to take.

The young man did so quickly, pulling the object out of the cloth and grinning broadly. Ellie actually whistled, impressed. Her partner pulled what Ellie assumed to be a switch axe out of the satchel, a large blue contraption made of Lagiacrus scales and plates, lined with bright orange and red spines down the back side of it. Small machinations filled the inside of the weapon, from what Ellie could see through the holes in the side, reaching all the way to what looked like the chamber of a bowgun, resting just at the base of a long hilt. Around the handle of the weapon, two small bottles were tied with rope, and the little things clinked softly against one another as Levin hoisted the blade in his hands.

"I'd almost forgotten about this thing," Levin grinned. He spun the blade around lightly in his hands, getting a feel for it. "Wow, I'd forgotten how light these things were."

"Light?" Harker scoffed. "Surely you jest my friend. Your new toy weapon there weighs almost four times as much as my own blade! I don't know how you put up with it."

"I just like having some oomph behind my hits," Levin replied. "I'm not so nimble as you or Ellie, so I like my strikes to have a little more impact than other weapons."

"I see," Harker replied. The man's smile suddenly faded, though, and in a flash, the man stepped forward, planting himself right in Levin's face. Ellie's partner flinched back in surprise at the sudden rush, and found the long sword user staring intently at his eyes.

"Um, Harker, what…" Levin sputtered, backing off a little.

"You seem more in control than you were when last we spoke," Harker said. "How did you do it? There's still some twitchiness, but… you also seem to be in a better mood than the last time I saw you."

Levin grinned wryly. "I've come to a few personal conclusions recently, and I think they may have helped me out a little bit."

Harker frowned uncertainly, but nodded at the words. Then he grinned again. "Well, I suppose that explanation will work as well as any other one. Though, if you allow me, I'd like to give your psyche another once over, see what sort of tweaks your mind has gone through."

"You're not going to do that snapping thing again, are you?"

"I could… but I've thought of some new methods of testing that I'd like to try out if you'd let me. They shouldn't hurt… not too much, at least. And I made the chemicals myself, so I'm certain the results will be wonderful!"

"No… no, I don't think I'd like that. I think I'd rather spend another week in the hospital, thank you very much."

"Come now, Levin! It shouldn't be too bad, and we'll have plenty of time since we've got two whole weeks to spend here in the Tundra. You're not afraid of needles, are you?"

"Gah! Stay away from me!"

Ellie laughed as the great sword user (switch axe user now, she supposed) tried to back away from Harker, with the long sword user tailing close behind, intent on getting Levin to participate in his strange experiments. As the two continued to argue with each other, Kerry came up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder and lean in to whisper in her ear.

"This is for you," she said quietly, pulling a small white envelope and passing it to the sword and shield user. Ellie took it and glanced at the cover, realizing that it was a letter from Marshall, back in Boma Village. Her eyes widened at the sight, and she clutched the edges nervously.

"You mentioned… sending a letter to your master back in Boma, once," Kerry said, her voice still low. "To ask about what your Levin was like when he arrived in your village. Your innkeeper had that and said you'd want it."

Ellie stared at the little packet of paper nervously. So long… it seemed like it had been so long since she had sent that letter to Boma, telling Marshall about Levin's breakdown, hoping that the old hammer user could offer some sort of insight about Levin. She'd heard about Levin's reputation in Boma before the hunter had seen his first Rath mating dance. The locals had claimed he was… brash and reckless. They'd been kind with their words, Ellie had since realized. If she didn't know better, the young man had been like he had been after Ellie had been injured by the Barioth, if not worse. He'd gotten better after seeing the dance but… he'd lost control of himself before, couldn't it happen again?

"Thanks, Kerry," Ellie said quietly, sliding the letter into her pouch. "I'll read it later."

"Right," Kerry nodded. She glanced over at Levin curiously. "So is he really doing better?"

"As far as I can tell," Ellie replied. "He's laughing more, talking more, joking more. He's teasing me a lot more, which is kind of irritating, but I've still really missed it." Ellie could feel her face reddening a little as her thoughts got away from her. "He's also being… um, more affectionate than before, though… well…"

"Really?" Kerry asked, a sly smirk crossing her face. "How affectionate?"

Though she was embarrassed, Ellie felt herself grinning as she replied, remembering the phrase Noxramus liked so much. "This is the Tundra, Kerry. People have to keep themselves warm at night somehow."

"You dirty girl!" Kerry laughed. "Well, I suppose that's one way to make sure the boy keeps his thoughts on you rather than on hunting."

"That's what I was aiming for," Ellie said quietly, feeling her face redden even further as the bowgunner hugged her in congratulation. "Though, I'd like it if not _all_ of his thoughts were geared that way. And it's not like I didn't want him to… um, I think I'm getting off topic."

"No, please continue," Kerry giggled. "I'm intrigued."

"What about you?" Ellie replied, turning on the bowgunner. "Have you gone beyond giving your own partner anything more than dreamy looks when he's not looking? Surely you've at least told him how you feel, right?"

To Ellie's pleasure, Kerry's face turned just as red as Ellie imagined hers had been only moments ago. "I don't… that's not… he's just my hunting partner and apprentice, Ellie."

"I don't believe that for a moment," Ellie smirked, glad that she had managed to turn the tables on the bowgunner. "You may like hassling me over my relationship with Levin, but I can return the favor, _Lady Kerrigan_. Don't think I don't see the way you look at him. And don't think that I don't see the way _he_ looks at _you_."

"He's just being respectful... and he's a gentleman."

"Maybe so, but you can't really expect me to believe that you don't have any other feelings for him," Ellie said with a grin. As Kerry sputtered in embarrassment, the sword and shield user slunk closer to the other woman and lowered her voice. "And just think: now's the perfect time for you to be a little bit more aggressive. After all, like I said, it does get very cold up here in the frozen north. Wouldn't you like a way to keep warm at night?"

If Ellie thought that the other woman had been embarrassed before, it was nothing compared to now. Ellie had thought that the term 'beet-red' was a metaphor, but Kerry's face was bright red at the words. For a woman that was as attractive as she was, 'Lady Kerrigan' had a very innocent mind when it came to the vulgar, at least when it came to her own personal actions. And she was very attractive; Ellie was able to admit that much, with her curvy body and long red hair. She'd felt a surge of jealousy when Levin had eyed her when they'd met at the hunter's exam, but had cooled once she'd seen how close Kerry and Harker were. We'd she'd asked the great sword user about the bowgunner once, Levin had said that Harker was a damn lucky man to have a girl like Kerry (of course he'd said it teasingly, to get a rise out of Ellie, which had worked). Yet here the bowgunner stood, twiddling her fingers in embarrassment at Ellie's words; the sword and shield couldn't help herself, she enjoyed teasing the other woman so much.

She leaned forward again, grinning and continuing to keep her voice low. "It would be easy, with a guy like him. You could just tell him that you wanted to… conduct a thermodynamics experiment. Do a study in heat exchange, something like that."

For a moment, the bowgunner actually had a contemplative look on her face, and Ellie had to hold back a snicker. However, upon seeing Ellie's expression, Kerry's face returned to a bright crimson, and she shook her head in embarrassment. "I couldn't do that… he wouldn't… I mean, Harker wouldn't be…"

"I wouldn't be what, Lady Kerrigan?" Harker asked, approaching the two huntresses. Kerry squeaked in surprise at the long sword user's abrupt approach, but was able to smooth over her expression fairly quickly, though her cheeks still were tinted red a bit. Levin was right behind Harker, a sour look on his face aimed at the long sword user.

"Nothing important," Kerry said quickly. "But shouldn't we be hurrying back to our benefactor? As much as I'd… like to talk more with Ellie, the man seemed to be in quite the hurry to get out in search of, er, whatever it is he's here in the Tundra to look for."

"Hmm, perhaps you're right, Lady Kerrigan," Harker shrugged. "He did seem to be quite enthusiastic about this mission."

"What are you guys looking for, anyway?" Levin asked.

"I'm afraid I don't know," Harker shrugged. "The researcher we were hired under is being awfully tight-lipped about the whole thing."

"Well, who is he?" Ellie asked. "What kind of person is he? What does he do?"

"That would be me," a voice said from the entrance of the bar. Ellie blinked and turned towards the voice. The bespectacled man that stood in the doorway was about the same height as Levin, with black hair that was pulled back into a short braid at the base of his neck. He looked tired, very tired. But it was the strong, determined look on his face that made Ellie realized that she knew the man, and Levin did as well by the sudden gasp the great sword user released.

It was Farren, the researcher that had worked under Saul during Ellie and Levin's egg hunt at Echo Village.

"I wish I could say it's nice to see you again, Levin, Ellie. However, considering the circumstances of our last meeting, I have little doubt that you view me in less than decent regard."

"Of course we don't," Levin growled. "It's because of you that we were tricked into trying to steal eggs from a Rath nest."

"By association, I suppose that may be true," the man nodded. Harker and Kerry both had confused looks on their faces, glancing back and forth between the two hunters and the researcher. "However, while I deeply regret being forced to lie for Saul, that whole debacle was neither my plan nor something I even desired to do at all. My superiors demanded that I help the man with his request, and if I wished to continue my work, I had to do so, or else lose my funding."

"Funding for what?" Ellie asked angrily. "What could be so important that you'd be willing to help a bastard like Saul steal eggs?"

The man was silent for a moment before speaking. "I work in a lab under the Guild tower, testing formulas for the goods that the Guild puts out for hunter consumption, as well as testing various other materials and concoctions to make certain as to their safety and quality."

Levin glanced in confusion at Harker, who had an intrigued look on his face. Then he shook his head and looked back at the researcher. "What does that mean?"

"Well… for example, at the moment, I'm studying possible formulas for a more effective or less-addictive potion, among other projects. Seems addiction rates have been on the rise in the last decade or so, and the Guild would like that to slow down. As you can see, it's very important for our work to continue, as for that, I fear we must rely on the Guild's benefactors to provide funding, which is why we… why we are motivated to provide for our benefactors' less savory requests. I spend most of my time testing out new materials that are brought in though, make sure they're safe to use or produce. Take your weapon there for example, that switch axe."

Levin glanced at his new weapon uncertainly. "What about it?"

"My research group was the one that designed the phials you use," the researcher said, motioning to the clinging bottles tied to the blade's hilt. "We spent years testing mixes of metals and glass, making sure we produced the most sturdy one we possibly could. With all the raw energy those bottles contain, we didn't want to risk anything less, or else we'd risk the thing detonating during the middle of a monster battle."

Ellie shot a glare at Levin. She knew he'd been hiding something when he'd been describing how the switch axe worked! The man had a guilty look on his face as he scratched his head awkwardly, trying to avoid the sword and shield user's gaze. Finally he turned back to the researcher. "Then, what are you working on now?"

Farren was quiet another moment, thinking, and opened his mouth to answer, but he stopped as the bar doors opened again and one of the wagon drivers from the caravan entered the tavern. Upon spotting Ellie and Levin, the man strode over and motioned to the door.

"We're ready to take off, you two. The carts are all loaded and ready to go, and we're hoping to be back to Hearth before nightfall, and we're sure as hell not making the trip without you, boy, not with that Barioth still out there."

Ellie grimaced at the poor timing, but Farren raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Hearth? That's actually where I need to head. The leader there, Noi, knows the area fairly well, and I'll need his advice in order to make sure that we don't spend too much time wandering around aimlessly. It would be easier if my bodyguards here and I traveled with you rather than on our own… unless you still feel enmity towards me and would prefer not to. I can promise you two, though, that this time I'm here on my own accord, rather than at the beck and call of someone else's desires."

Ellie glanced over at Levin questioningly. Neither of them cared for Farren, considering how he'd lied to them. But if he had been forced into doing as Saul told him to, like he said… Ellie could understand why he didn't want to lose his funding, considering how important his work seemed to be, what with him making potions better. But how could they be user that the man wasn't lying to them this time? He'd helped to rally the locals of Echo Village to get rid of Saul, but…

"I guess it's fine," Ellie finally decided. "By me, at least. What do you think, Levin?"

"I guess I don't mind," her partner replied. "Though, I will want to hear about what you're looking for and why. And I'll want to keep an eye on you myself."

Farren nodded in acceptance. "That shouldn't be an issue. However, I'm planning on accompanying these two hunters into the wild during my search for materials. So, if you're planning on keeping me company, you'll have to get the permission of your current employer to do so."

Ellie grimaced at the words. Noi was a good employer, but was harsh about keeping his schedule with the caravans. She wondered if she or Levin could even get the man to consider the possibility to allow them to accompany Harker and Kerry out on their mission with Farren… the odds were slim, but there was still a chance, Ellie supposed.

"Fine, whatever," the sword and shield user muttered. "I don't see any reason for you not to tag along. You'd have to get to Hearth one way or another, and I suppose it would be faster if you came along with us."

"Just be sure to watch out for Barioths on our way there," Levin smirked as he made his way towards the door. "There's a fairly nasty one that's been watching the roads in this area recently. So keep your eyes open. If you see one, it could mean big trouble."

The researcher frowned, a worried look on his face at the great sword grinned, working his way out the door back out into the open. Harker, however, had an excited grin on his face at Levin's words.

"A Barioth? Really? How wonderful! I've always heard their tusks made wonderful stimulant when ground into a powder! Or maybe it was a depressant… or an aphrodisiac? I can't remember, it seems."

"You should probably look into that before running any tests on the stuff," Kerry sighed, leading the long sword user out the door of the tavern. "I don't think you want to make a mistake with those kind of things."

Farren scowled at the door as his two hired bodyguards walked outside. He stood silently for a moment, before turning to Ellie. "I've signed on a strange group of people to protect me, haven't I?"

"Maybe after two weeks with us as your guards, you'll be used to us?" Ellie grinned walking to the door.

"I highly doubt it," the man replied, following after.

* * *

"So you managed to create an arrangement of mutual trust with the Barioth? Fascinating."

"Something like that, I guess," Levin replied to Harker with a shrug. The long sword user had a small notebook out, writing down the story Ellie and Levin were offering to the man on their so-called 'relationship' with the Barioth.

"A mutual understanding that the pair of them have tried to kill each other and failed, more like," Ellie said with a grin, making Levin roll his eyes.

The four hunters were sitting outside of Noi's merchant complex, waiting for Farren to finish talking with the man about… whatever it was the two needed to talk about. Noi had actually been the one to ask the hunters to leave, once Farren had requested the use of Ellie and Levin as additional bodyguards for his time in the Tundra. Business talk and all that; nothing the hunters really wanted to be a part of.

"But still, creating mutual empathy with a monster is rare, even for locals who have spent their entire lives here in the hunting world," Harker said, leaning against a nearby wall. "Such things are highly uncommon. You mentioned that Echo Village place, with their benevolent Rathian and Rathalos, but similar cases like that are sparse. Monsters tend to be some of the most unruly creatures I've ever seen, especially towards humans. The wealthy always claim they've made a 'pet' of certain beasts, but all they really have is a big, dangerous trophy in a large, very sturdy cage. Now, I've heard of some people or hunters that have actually managed to train and keep monsters as trained pets, usually some of the simpler-minded monsters like Jaggi of Ludroth, and of course people have managed to domesticate Aptonoth as pack animals. There are even some rumors of people having tamed and ridden wyverns, Raths to be specific… but I'm fairly certain such stories are hearsay or just outright made up."

"If such things were possible, I doubt that there'd be such a fear of them in the world," Ellie muttered sourly.

"Imagine if it were though," Levin grinned. "Can you picture it? People weaving stories of 'Eleanor the Great: Wyvern Rider!'"

"That would be quite the tale," Kerry grinned. Ellie smiled at the words as well. It was a nice thought, having such skill that she could tame a Rathian or Rathalos, though she still was sure that she'd prefer just killing them over trying to train and raise one.

As she and Kerry continued to talk between themselves, Ellie watched as Levin waded out into the snow, hoisting his new weapon over his shoulder. The man hadn't had much time to practice with the new blade since he'd received it, the trek back to Hearth taking precedence, and he wasn't so bold as to try and ward off enemies with an untested weapon. But now he had time, and began swinging the weapon around in its base 'axe' mode. He certainly seemed to be swinging the blade quite quickly compared to how quickly he swung his great sword, which Ellie supposed was natural after hoisting around such a heavy weapon for so long. The motions seemed a bit awkward for the man at first, considering he was going from a longer weapon to a shorter one, and from a sharper weapon to one that was more blunt (at the moment, at least).

After playing around with the 'axe' mode for a while, the hunter finally decided to slide in one of those phials he'd been given. Ellie was still untrusting of the strange things, holding so much power inside of a small glass bottle. Harker and Farren had both professed the sturdiness of the clear material, but both had also been clear about the impending detonation should the phials break or even so much as crack. But as her partner slid the phial into the chamber and clicked the bolt into place, and a wave of energy rushed over the weapon, quick spikes of blue electricity crackling over across the scales of the weapon as the phial sent energy through it. The sparks vanished momentarily as the charge equalized inside the chamber, but even just knowing that the energy was there was enough for Ellie to eye the blade in awe.

Levin hoisted the weapon again, giving the axe a few good swings with the charged phial inside. Nothing seemed different than before, as far as Ellie could tell, but a moment later, the hunter pressed a small toggle at the edge of the hilt. A rush of energy burst from the phial, and the small machinations inside of the weapon spun to life, pulling the jagged spines from the rear of the axe up and around the peak, latching into place just above the axe portion. In just a short second, the weapon seemed to have switched over from one weapon to a completely new one. Now the hunter seemed to be back in his element, swinging the switch axe far easier now that the weapon shared the shape and style of the sword he was so used to. Each swing and thrust of the blade grew more confident as he progressed, getting more used to the feel of the weapon.

However, right as Levin was getting into the full swing of it, the mechanical blade hissed violently, and in mid-swing the weapon began whirring back into its axe form. The hunter was thrown off by the abrupt change, and tumbled backwards when the shift threw off his balance, landing him awkwardly in a large snow bank.

"What the hell?" Levin muttered, as Ellie found herself giggling loudly, a layer of powder covering her partner as he pushed himself back to his feet. "I didn't push the button! Why the hell did it… oh, wait."

"Problems, Levin?" Ellie laughed, pushing off through the snow towards him. After the hunter brushed himself off, he reached up and ejected the power phial from the chamber, letting it roll around in his hand. Ellie blinked in surprise at the sight; where the bottle had once glowed from the inside with a pale blue light, the strength seemed drained from it now, barely letting off any light at all. "Is it broken? Already?"

"No, no, just… out of charge," Levin muttered. "I was just caught off guard… I thought the charge would last a little longer than it did. These phials slowly recharge themselves over time, pull… energy out of the atmosphere, or something like that. Umbre wasn't very clear about that; I'm not sure he really knew how it worked himself. But give it a minute or two, it should have power again. But I guess it's set up so that when the power's getting low, it automatically switches back to axe mode."

"Weird," Ellie said. Then she paused in thought. "Wait, it recharges itself? Shouldn't that be used as like, a generator or something? I don't know about you, but I'd really like to have electricity instead of candlelight, thank you very much."

"I'm afraid such a use is unfeasible, Miss Eleanor." The sword and shield user turned as Farren walked out of the complex, with Noi and Crezant close behind. "The substance inside the phials doesn't recharge quickly enough to provide an amiable source of energy, not to mention the stuff is highly unstable in large quantities. Well, more unstable in large quantities. So I'm afraid use of the energy phials in going to be minimal outside of things like the switch axe or other small application things."

"Too bad," Ellie muttered. Then she glanced at Noi. "So… are we going to be allowed to accompany our friends on their mission?"

"It seems you will," Noi replied, though he had a look on his face that showed he didn't like the idea. "Our caravans have, admittedly, been pulling double time over the last couple of weeks to make up for the losses we incurred during the Barioth's attacks, so we're almost back on track with our work. We can afford to let you and Levin accompany Farren for a few days. Besides, our drivers need rest from loading and unloading, and we'll need to check the wagons for damage, what with all the use they've seen recently. However, I want the pair of you back in three days or less. We may be catching up with our backlog, but we're not there yet."

"Alright," Levin nodded.

"Normally, I'd keep the pair of you on track, but…" Noi shot a worried look at Farren. "Considering what this fellow's after, I do suppose that it would be better for the two of you, as well as Noxramus, to keep him alive and well. You'll be heading deep into Baggi hunting territory, and he knows that area best."

"Nox is coming too?" Levin asked, surprised. He gave Farren an untrusting look. "What the hell _are_ you taking us out to find?"

Farren frowned at the question. "Two things, truth be told. The first is to investigate a series of strange lights that have been seen appearing in caves and other places across the Tundra. A few hunters reported sighting a strange glow when scouring the area for monsters, before the Alatreon attacks cut off access to the north. Normally, we'd attribute the sights to the Aurora, but for one, it's the wrong time of year; second, from the reports, the light seems to be coming from underground, rather than the sky, which requires investigation. It might just be a trick of the light, bouncing through the ice and glaciers, but it would be better to be certain."

"And the second thing?" Ellie asked.

"The second…" Farren said nervously. "The second is as I said before, material acquisition. However, the issue is what we're looking for is extremely dangerous, and must be handled with extreme caution. It is a very rare ore, only found here in the Tundra, referred to only as 'Dark Metal'."

"How dangerous! Exciting!" Harker giggled excitedly from where he sat. "I've read about that stuff! Such terrible things you seek, Farren!"

"And how would you know what Dark Metal does?" Farren asked, eyeing the long sword user accusingly. "That information is highly guarded by the Guild. Not just anyone is allowed to know what the stuff is; we try to allow knowledge of its effect to the fewest hunters possible. Where exactly did you hear about what the substance does?"

"I read it somewhere," Harker replied with a grin.

"Isn't Dark Metal cursed?" Kerry asked, a fearful tone to her voice. "Doesn't it… kill people that get too close to it? I've heard it takes people's souls from their bodies if they're foolish enough to touch it…" Farren raised an eyebrow at the question, clearly not expecting the words. Ellie frowned; she'd forgotten that Kerry had a tendency towards superstition and a belief in the supernatural. The man shook his head and shot a look at Harker.

"Well, you may not want to tell them, but I have no such obligations to hold the information from them," Harker said.

Farren glared at the long sword user, but the man simply grinned in reply. "Fine. Dark Metal is a very rare substance, a dark black ore that seems to… absorb the cold of the Tundra. The material never gets above sixty degrees Fahrenheit, even when left under the desert sun for weeks on end. It just seems to eternally emit the feeling of the Tundra. If kept out of the sun, the material will almost always be below freezing. There are also theories that the temperature of the metal goes up and down as the seasons of the Tundra change, no matter how far from the far north it gets, but… well, it's only a theory.

"However, there is another effect the metal has, one that is more dangerous than its temperature. No matter what temperature the material has, when any living creature touches bare flesh to the ore, it… well, it's not a very precise or scientific way of saying it, but the metal drains the life force of whoever touches it. However, that's the only way I know to describe it. Several months ago, right after the cold season ended a young hunter came across the stuff and tried to collect it for his own use. Three minutes of contact with the ore put him into a coma. Had he not been found by a pair of Felynes working their way through the area, he likely would have died in the snow."

"To the people of the Tundra, as well as many people that only have heard of it, the metal is considered to be cursed," Noi told the hunters, staring poignantly at Kerry. "It's a dangerous thing to see in your path. People act like just seeing the stuff is bad luck. They swear that it is the essence of death. I don't believe in that nonsense myself, but… that metal can be deadly, so I suppose the superstitions aren't entirely unjustified."

"And we're planning on… collecting some?" Kerry asked. "How? Why?"

"I've brought along some special satchels with me," the man replied. "They should be able to hold a fair amount of Dark Metal without any of the… side effects that would come with handling the material. The bags are lined with metal, so physical contact should not happen, unless the bag gets torn. As for the why… we're doing it _because_ it's a very dangerous substance. There have been rumors of some hunters and smiths that have found ways to mold the ore into personal weapons, though those that have are hesitant to reveal how exactly they did it. Several of my coworkers have ideas on how to make the ore safer for hunters to use, so I'm planning on collecting as much as I feasibly can. It's a sturdy, powerful metal, so with luck, we'll be able to find a way to make it viable as a weapon, or even armor. I have some experiments of my own to try as well, more… chemical than physical. More so to do with altering the metal than method of smithy work."

Ellie nodded at the words. "Well, I guess it doesn't sound like you're doing anything too terrible. And I can't think of any ulterior motives you might have…"

"How trusting," the researcher replied wryly.

"After the last time we met, can you really blame me?" Ellie returned.

"No, I suppose not," the man replied.

"So when do we head out?" Levin asked.

"As soon as possible," Noi cut in. "I want the pair of you back and sending out caravans as quickly as feasibly possible. I've sent news to Noxramus that he'll be accompanying you into Baggi territory. If that doesn't light a fire under his ass to get here as good as possible, then he's either lost his mind or he's dead. As soon as he gets here, I expect the lot of you to leave. It's only late afternoon, I'm sure you can make some miles before nightfall."

"The confidence you show in us is unparalleled," Levin muttered sarcastically.

"And it will only grow stronger once you return and finish your work as caravan guards," Noi smirked. "I suggest you stock up on the Hot Drinks I've provided you. You'll be quite chilly for the next few days."

* * *

As Noi had pretty much ordered them, once Nox showed up at the merchant's compound, the five hunters and the researcher made their way out of town, heading out the eastern gate of the city in the direction of where the Guild reports had said the blue lights had been appearing. Noi and Crezant's information also said there were one or two Dark Metal mining spots between the village at the caves, though their exact locations were somewhat vague; the superstitious view of the ore by the locals usually made it so when some was found, the immediate area was considered too cursed for anyone to risk getting close to it.

Nox seemed pleased upon meeting Harker and Kerry, excitedly introducing himself to the pair when he had arrived at the compound, though not able to really speak with them until getting out of town, what with Noi chasing them out, telling them to hurry along with their mission as fast as possible. The three of them seemed to get along great for the most part, though Harker's personality seemed to baffle Nox just as much as it did anyone else, with his deranged enthusiasm and odd questions. But it wasn't until they were a couple miles out of town that Nox finally told them something that caught the long sword user and bowgunner off guard instead.

"You're one of the Lost?" Kerry asked. "Really?"

"Truly," the sword and shield user laughed. "I woke up in the Tundra with about a dozen others, somewhere to the south of here."

"I thought almost all of the Lost that came out of the Tundra got caught up in the winter freeze," Harker asked solemnly. "Levin over there is the only one I've met that managed to survive the Tundra, and that was only because he was saved by the Veggie Elder."

"Yeah, I heard about that mess," Nox replied sadly. "I hadn't heard of anyone surviving that weather either; caught me off guard when I heard Levin had managed to keep himself intact through it. No, me and… the others I was with actually woke up several months after that incident from what I figure, during the summer months when the Tundra is a little more bearable to trek through. There were… losses, but a few of us were able to find a hunter's camp to stay safe at. Once a hunting group came along and found us, they helped us get safely to Hearth, where we'd be taken care of until we could travel to Loc Lac. I think a few of us chose to stay in Hearth, though. I think the thought of traveling across the sand sea disturbed them too much to want to travel. They work around the village doing odd jobs for Noi based on what they did back home."

"You don't really see too many Lost outside of Loc Lac, I guess," Kerry nodded. "I guess most of them try to meet up with the rest of their kind as soon as possible. The only ones that I've really seen outside of Loc Lac are either the ones that have become hunters, or I guess the rare ones that don't want to travel to Loc Lac and just want to stay in one place. I remember, there was a Lost doctor that started working in Sentry Oasis, that used to take care of Harker when he was still my apprentice."

"Ah, yes, Doctor Yvonne," Harker said with a grin. "Brilliant woman. I learned more from her about medicine than from the hundred or so books I read at the Guild library. I've become very proficient in self-treatment thanks to her."

"If only because you never seemed to learn how to avoid trouble," Kerry muttered. "She probably learned as much from you as you did from her, what with you coming in every other day with a dozen new injuries for her to try and fix up."

"Yes indeed. It was lucky she was so very good at her job. But I don't think she liked me very much, as I recall…" Harker trailed off.

"That's because you'd be out of the clinic she set up hours after she'd treated you, when you were supposed to stay for several days!" Kerrigan chastised him.

"If she didn't want me leaving and continuing my research on the desert monsters, she would've tied me down. She learned her lesson right there at the end though."

"What exactly did she do?" Ellie asked.

"Tied him down," Kerry laughed. "With chains. Big ones. She used the same chains that the Guild transports use to hold down Diablos and Rathian between the village and Loc Lac. Had his bed moved ten feet away from any of the walls and tables so he couldn't grab something to break out with. He didn't have any more opportunities to break free again after Yvonne went that far to hold him down."

"Yes, she was especially irked. I think she was getting vengeance for me, ah, disorganizing her medicine supply the last time I had come by."

"She was ready to tear your head off for that."

"For moving around some medicine?" Levin asked, surprised.

"Yes," Harker nodded. "Miss Yvonne had a Lost madness of her own to contend with, a rather powerful case of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Everything had to be in exactly the right place, turned in exactly the right direction, no exceptions. So when I, ah, 'borrowed' some medical goods for my experiments, I may have knocked a few things over when I heard her returning, causing her to throw a bit of a fit. Needless to say, she had little forgiveness or pity to offer me the next time I came in to have my injuries examined, thus the chains."

"Well I thought it was funny," Kerry said with a laugh.

"Sounds like you all had some interesting times before becoming hunters," Nox laughed.

"Surely you have some interesting stories to tell, Nox," Kerry said.

"Nothing so off the handle as you guys, maybe," the sword and shield user said with a grin. "I trained in a fishing sort of village when I was training to become a hunter; a ways south east of here along the coastline near the plains. There aren't many land monsters in the area except for Jaggi and Qurupeco, really, but there are a lot, and I mean _a lot_ of monsters that live in the ocean in those parts. Spent a lot of time hunting monsters in the water. Got pretty good at it too. Gobuls, Royals, you know, that kind of thing. I had a… bit of a bad run in with a Lagiacrus once, though; didn't turn out as well as the story Ellie and Levin told me. I thought I could take it on but was way out of my league. My hunting master pulled my ass out of the fire that time. But I tell you what, that incident scared me straight. All those teeth and that lightning? Scary stuff. I can't even watch an arena fight with one of those things anymore, no sir."

"That doesn't sound that bad," Kerry said. "Back when Harker was my apprentice, he got in all kinds of trouble with the locals of the town."

"Well," Nox said sheepishly, "I… did have a bit of a reputation. Not sure whether it was just bad luck or general clumsiness on my part, but it seemed like lots of the things I did in the town I was trained in tended to result in, um, how to put it… complete and utter chaos?"

"Sounds like Harker," Levin said with a grin.

"Maybe so, but his work was intentional for the most part, it sounds like. As for me, it seems like every time I'd try to help cart a wagon through town, or roll barrels down the streets, or even make my way from the smithy to the item shop, things just seemed to go wrong; destructively so. Eventually, it got to the point where people just told me to stop helping entirely, so that nothing would go wrong or break. I don't even want to think about the barrel bomb incident… Not to mention the reputation I got when I was drinking."

"Oh, those are always fun," Levin laughed.

"Yeah, until women start leaving the bar when you walk in," Nox said with a huff of frustration. "I had a bit of a reputation for being… um, I can't think of the right phrase. Is 'touchy-feely' descriptive enough?"

"Good enough to encourage me never to drink with you," Ellie said. "I get enough of that from Levin when he's drunk, so… erm. Never mind."

"Now _that's_ an interesting bit of information," Kerry laughed as Ellie blushed and Levin smirked. "But I think Nox's actions were a little less well-received than that."

"That's what the general consensus in the town I trained in was," Nox sighed. "It even got to the point where I didn't really drink again until I got to Loc Lac. Then I went to Hearth to hunt Baggis, and I've been stuck here a while. I've avoided causing a, um, mess of anything in the village, but… er, I think the women of the town are starting to figure out what kind of guy I am when I drink, which means I should probably cut back a little."

"Probably a good idea," Levin laughed.

"As much as you seem to be enjoying your conversation," Farren cut in, "I must ask you, Noxramus, whether or not we're close to our destination."

"Pretty close, I think," Nox replied, looking around the surrounding area. Ellie realized that they'd entered into a far… stranger area of the Tundra than anything they'd seen before. There seemed to be far less snow in the area, but lots more ice somehow, and somehow the area around them seemed like a mountain and glacier had been blended together, with ice and rock twisting together in odd spiral and stripe patterns. The result ended up creating a lot of change overs in the path they walked from stone to hard ice back to stone again, forcing the party of six to constantly watch their footwork as they walked.

"The area around here's pretty odd," Nox said, pointing to the odd formations. Harker was practically drooling at the sight of the strange formations, and was obviously desperate to study the surrounding area. "I can't even begin to imagine how this area of the Tundra came to be, but from what I can tell, a lot of minerals and ore and other stuff that are usually pretty rare got pushed to the surface when… when whatever did this to the area happened. So where hunters would normally be hard pressed to collect Gracium or Isisium, it's actually a lot easier in this area of the Tundra."

"Sounds like a veritable gold mine," Ellie said. "I've looked at the maps though. Not many people come this way very often. Wouldn't all the ore be sought after by the hunters that need them?"

"You'd think so, but... this place is a bit of a maze, and people have a tendency to get lost inside pretty easily," Nox explained. "And besides, with all the superstition surrounding Dark Matter, it's no wonder that people try not to come here if they can avoid it. I've come here enough times during my time in the Tundra to know my way through a little bit of it, but what I've mapped out so far probably only scratches the surface of the true labyrinth that the place really is. We'll just be going far enough to find the first ore vein we can find. Any further, and we risk getting lost. With luck we'll find what we need there."

"And if we're unlucky?" Levin asked.

"Then we leave this cave and look for another one. I'm not planning on spelunking in uncharted areas, thank you very much."

"Ah, where's the fun in that?" Harker laughed. "Just think of what mysteries could be found! Perhaps more of these geological formations lie buried in the earth, simply waiting to be found! Or something better! Perhaps a unique monster's nest or something of the like? It's such an exciting thing to think about!"

"And what good will all that be if you're not able to return to Loc Lac and show off your research?" Kerry asked, making the long sword user frown in disappointment. "I thought as much. You can come back and explore the caves on your own time, but right now we're working for Farren."

"As you wish, Lady Kerrigan. I suppose I should finish learning about Dark Metal before turning my sights elsewhere, after all."

"I'm not sure how I feel about that…"

The group followed Nox carefully through the tunnels as they worked their way lower into the earth. It was strange, seeing how the earth and ice blended together so oddly. They never needed to even light torches, with pale sunlight coming through the ice above them and filling the cavern with a pale blue light. It was a good thing Nox knew where he was going; the place was just as much of a maze as he had said, with other paths branching off in a dozen different directions every hundred feet, it seemed.

Ellie watched in awe at how quickly the color and formation of the stone around them changed, as she saw patches of iron and machalite appear, sliding up the walls of the caves. Somehow, though the six of them didn't seem to be going deeper into the earth, many ores that were normally very deep in the earth were appearing quite commonly in the walls. Even small collections of the pale colored Tundra ores, Isisium and Gracium, seemed to be rather common in this area. Ellie would have to remember this place when she needed ores later on in her hunting career.

All of a sudden, Nox drew the group to a halt, glancing around. Ellie realized that the walls seemed to have shifted from dark and rocky to a pale, brighter color. She realized that the walls were practically filled with the pale white and pale blue colors of the rare metals of the Tundra. She'd never seen half as much of the ores over the course of her entire hunting career, and yet this one single room seemed to be absolutely made of the minerals. Thick stalagmites of the ore actually sprouted up from the ground, while dozens of jagged icicles hung down from the ceiling.

"This is as good a place as any to dig, I guess," Nox said, looking around. "I'm not really sure where Dark Metal usually shows up, since I've never gone mining for it before. But this place is pretty rich in minerals, so if there's a place for it to pop up, this'll be it. All we have to do is dig around and hope to find some."

"And if some is found, remember that you must be very careful with it," Farren told them. The researcher quickly reached into his pack and pulled out a folded, thick leather bag, lined with thin metal plates. "I've seen the effects of continued exposure to the ore, and none of them are pleasant. I've got a satchel here lined with plating that should be able to carry the metal without the effects seeping through the bag."

"Sounds good," Nox said, reaching for his pouch. The hunters began spreading out a little, pulling out their picks and searching for a good place to start. "I wouldn't exactly feel safe trying to… oh, dammit."

"What's wrong?" Levin asked.

Ellie realized that the other sword and shield user was scratching his head with a very sheepish expression on his face. "I um… well, I, er, I may have forgotten to bring picks with me."

"Seriously?" Levin groaned. Ellie could understand the feeling. Over the time she and Levin had been working with the man escorting the caravans back and forth, they'd long since realized that he had a bit of a problem with remembering to bring certain things with them on hunts. Occasionally it was whetstones, now and then he'd slip up and forget his potions, and once he'd even gone so far as to forget to pack extra Hot Drinks in his pouch during one of their trips. "The one thing we need on this mission and you slip up with it? I mean, I'd get it if you forgot extra rations or hell, even potions since this isn't exactly the most dangerous mission, but picks? Really?"

"Hey, we can't all remember everything," Nox argued, though he clearly seemed embarrassed about the whole thing.

"Not to worry, Noxramus!" Harker said happily. "Luckily for you, I happen to have several extras with me. And all of them are ones I've made myself!"

"Yourself? That's impressive," Nox said with a smile. Then he noticed the worried looks on the other hunters' faces. "Erm, are you, uh, sure they work?"

"Of course! I mean, I haven't tested them or anything yet, but I've dismantled the Guild mandated ones before, and I'm certain I've replicated the design perfectly! I think my creations should actually be an improvement on the originals if I do say so myself! Please, give it a try, I insist."

The blue hunter looked uncertain as he accepted the gizmo from the long sword user. The thing wasn't as sleek as the ones you normally bought at the stores, but it looked surprisingly solid for something that Harker had put together. Nox pressed the activation button, and the thing unraveled as per usual, though the movements of the thing seemed clunky and odd. Nox spun the thing around in his hand, searching the thing over for signs of imperfections, but could seem to find anything. He held the axe up to the nearest wall, where a chunk of ice covered a long vein of ore, and took a swing at the wall. The pick cracked into the ice, smashing off a bit of it and sending it clattering to the ground.

The hunters seemed pretty impressed with the pick, and Harker seemed pleased with the results. But as Nox pulled back to take another swing, the mechanisms near the head of the pick suddenly seemed to detonate, and the entire pointed tip of the tool blasted off the handle of the gizmo, soaring across the room before slamming into the opposite wall and imbedding itself several inches into the ice. Nox immediately dropped the handle and backed away fearfully as the other hunters stared in shock.

"I'm done!" the man yelped. "You can test the rest yourself. I'll just… I'll just sit the rest of this mining venture out, thank you very much."

"Ah, too bad," Harker sighed. "Maybe I wound the springs too tightly with that one… Hm, well I'm sure one of these has to work."

Ellie grimaced as the long sword user pulled out another of the unwinding tools out of his pack, and she quickly turned to find her own ore vein to mine into. Levin and Farren seemed to have similar thoughts, moving to put distance between themselves and the madman. The sound of another pick detonating followed her, and she jumped as a volley of metal parts clattered past her, with Harker's frustrated muttering following behind. She quickly made her way around one of the walls, finding a place where the ore was about chest height, allowing for decent access. Levin found his own place not far away, swinging his own picks against a vein that lay underfoot.

The stone and ice of the Tundra proved to be more of a challenge to dig through than Ellie had thought it would be. She'd brought along three of the collapsible picks with her, and chiseling through the top layer of stone and ice ended up breaking the first one she'd pulled out. However, she could see a large wall of some ore or another just behind the next sheet of ice, and she was determined to get through to it. With a grunt of effort, she smashed her pick into the wall, right at a cracked area, trying to take out as much as she could with one go.

Ellie yelped in surprise as a massive chunk of ice suddenly gave way under the swing of her pick. She quickly dropped back away from the wall as the large sheet of ice and frost crashed to the floor, shattering on impact and sending a wave of frozen shards across under her feet. Ellie grumbled in frustration, brushing the ice and snow off her greaves as she looked down at her pick. She realized that the disposable thing had been torn in two in the last swing, and the woman tossed the useless thing away irritably. Kerry was looking over at her at the sound of the collapse, but Ellie waved her off, calling out she was fine. But the bowgunner had an odd look in her eyes, and lowered her own pick to walk over to Ellie.

Ellie blinked in confusion, turning back to the wall she'd been digging against, and gaped in surprise. The rocks and ice that had come loose with Ellie's last pick swing, revealing a long sheet of ore protruding from the stone. But what was most stunning was the appearance of the ore itself. Ellie had been expecting a black-colored type of material by the name of the ore, but she hadn't been prepared to see something so bleak and consuming. The Dark Metal ore seemed to somehow… absorb all the light around it. To call the substance 'black' was not nearly a powerful enough description; the rock was like… the definition of emptiness. Nothingness. Ellie felt as though if she touched the substance, she would be pulled into it, like a black hole or some endless void. If what Farren and Harker had said about the ore was true, perhaps touching it really was like that, with its effect of draining the life out of people.

"Pure, untouched Dark Matter." Ellie turned as Farren approached. "Quite the find. Though, perhaps the term 'pure' isn't the right word to use when describing such a dangerous, poisonous material. I'd avoid touching it with bare flesh, Eleanor, unless you want to end up unconscious on the floor in a matter of seconds."

"Right, right," Ellie nodded. She glanced at her arms; not much worry about that happening with her full-body armor. "So um, do I just mine it like normal or…"

"It should be fine to do so. The ore's just like any other material you mine, you just have to be careful around it."

Ellie nodded and turned back to the wall, pulling another of the disposable picks from her pouch. She took a precursory swing at the collection of ore, testing the strength of the metal. Her pick jerked wildly upon striking, nearly knocking the sword and shield user onto her back, cursing. Gah, this stuff was hard! She'd dug iron and Machalite out of the walls of ore veins, which had been a challenge, but this metal had to be twice as hard as either of them. Ellie gritted her teeth, pulling the pick over her shoulder and swinging it down on the vein. This time, the ore gave way a little, ripping out of the rock. A few small chunks of the black ore dropped to the floor, small jagged pieces that clacked across the hard ice.

Ellie glanced down at the pieces that had broken free. Such a small amount. As it was, it didn't seem as dangerous as the entire vein did. Cautiously, she reached down, picking up one of the shards and rolling it around in her hand. Almost immediately, she dropped it again, as a frigid, painful feeling seemed to creep even through her armor. Quickly, she pulled her glove off to examine her hand, and shivered at the sight. Her entire appendage was shockingly pale white, with the arteries and veins standing out brightly against skin. Ellie realized that her hand was somewhat numb, hardly reacting to her attempts to move it. But the color was coming back quickly enough, and the tingling feeling, though uncomfortable, meant that she was getting the feeling back in her hand.

"This stuff really is dangerous…"

"No kidding. That looks like it hurt." Ellie jumped at the sound of Levin's voice, her partner leaning over her shoulder. The hunter smirked at her surprise, earning a glare from her. The other hunters seemed to be halting their own efforts, collecting what they'd found and working their way towards where Ellie's vein was. Levin motioned to the pick, lying on the floor where Ellie had dropped it. "Want me to take a few swings for you while you recover? I'm pretty sure this vein of yours is the only one we're going to find here."

"Yeah, sure," Ellie replied, shaking her hand as the pins and needles continued to creep up and down her fingers. "I think it's going to be a little bit before I can do it myself, I think…"

"I thought as much," Levin replied, picking up the tool. "We might have to take turns, anyway, if this stuff is as hard as it looked. Let's see if I can…"

The switch axe user swung the pick at the vein, cracking it against the wall. He didn't seem to have any more luck than Ellie did, breaking through the thick material, once again only breaking off a few scattered shards of the stuff. That didn't seem to bode well for the hunters, since Levin had quite a bit more physical strength than Ellie after spending his time swinging around a great sword. If he couldn't break off much more than that per swing, collecting enough of the stuff for Farren was going to take a while.

And it really did. Levin was able to go at the ore vein long enough to pick off several handfuls of the black material before needing to stop and rest. Farren had been pleased though, claiming that the difficulty of the mining meant that the collection of Dark Metal was very untainted, which was good for him, if not for the hunters that were mining it. Ellie did some mining on the ore once her hand had feeling again, though her picks didn't last very long against the hard surface of the vein. Harker took a swing at it after Ellie was done, using one of the personally-made picks he'd brought along with him. It worked pretty well for a few swings, knocking off one really good chunk of ore, but it broke rather quickly, and rather explosively, sending springs and shards of metal flying in all directions clattering across the ice floor.

Kerry was the last one to take a swing at the ore, since Nox had neglected to bring his own picks. Levin was preparing to take another go at it as the bowgunner stepped up, figuring that they'd be at it for several more hours before they got enough Dark Metal to satisfy Farren. However, on the first swing, Kerry's blow smashed apart several chunks of stone and ice, and managed to dislodge a large chunk of ore that was roughly the same size as Ellie's items pouch, and weighing a good ten pounds. The second swing smashed against the ore vein and another couple chunks just as large broke free as well, clattering across the ground. Ellie and Levin and Nox gaped in shock at the collection of ore that the bowgunner carefully scooped into the bag Farren provided, before she grinned at the Lost.

"I'm fairly good at mining," she said. "The village I trained in had some fairly rare ores in the area around it, so I spent a lot of time working the mines for iron ore and Machalite."

"Okay, that makes sense," Ellie muttered. "But that rock was hard as hell! How'd you break it so quickly? And with the same useless picks that we were using?"

"Lady Kerrigan is being modest," Harker said with a grin. "Despite her pleasant-on-the-eyes appearance, my dear hunting partner here is quite physically powerful. I imagine hoisting around that heavy bowgun of hers has given her more than plentiful strength for things like this. She could probably wield that great sword you used to hoist around, Levin, without all that much effort, I think. She's dragged my butt back from more messy missions on several occasions at a pretty healthy pace on many occasions."

"Lucky for you, eh, beanpole?" Levin laughed, leaning down to pick up the bag of Dark Metal, dragging the open bag awkwardly over to the last few shards of ore. "Good thing she's strong, 'cause all you got going for you is your speed and dexterity. I saw you when you were helping unload the caravan back in Hearth. You were having a bit of trouble as I recall, even with some of the lighter stuff. I'm pretty sure even Miss Ellie's stronger than you in terms of strength."

"Eh, maybe so," Harker replied. "But then, strength isn't the only thing needed to become a good hunter. If it was, I'm fairly sure every local in the world would be capable of being a hunter. Whereas, somehow or another, I have what it takes to go out in the name of the Guild and take down the monsters that threated the safety of humanity in general."

"So all it takes is to be half-crazy with a penchant for mad science and creating abominations of chemistry using monster materials in your spare time?" Nox asked with a smirk. "That would make the Guild pretty interesting if you ask me, though I'm not sure how people would react to so much crazy in one place. A hundred people like Harker in one place, though… kinda scary, and I haven't even known him that long."

Ellie laughed at the thought, walking over to help Levin pile the last of the Dark Metal into the bag, picking the scraps up off the ground and quickly piling them into the bag. She had to move quickly to avoid feeling the painful touch of the ore, but after knowing what to expect, it was easier to avoid losing feeling in her hand this time through. There was a good thirty pounds of the ore in the bag when they were done with it, though, and Farren seemed satisfied with the haul.

"This should be plenty," the researcher said happily. "It's lucky you managed to find such an ample vein, Miss Eleanor, or it might have taken us several days to find all the ore we needed. No doubt Noi will be pleased that we made such good time. With this we can make a quick trip to those caves where the glowing lights were seen, figure out what's causing it, I'll take some notes, and we can make our way back to Hearth in good time, even with the Dark Metal weighing us down a bit."

"That's good," Levin nodded, trying to hoist the bag. It was heavier than he'd expected though, and the hunter tripped up a little and bumped into the wall behind him. "Ow. This stuff is really heavy. This is going to take some effort to-"

"Levin, watch out!" Nox suddenly shouted.

The switch axe user blinked in surprise, eyes darting around in search of danger. But Ellie caught what the other sword and shield user had seen: Levin's bump against the wall had loosened some of the icicles hanging from the ceiling of the cave they were in, and some looked perilously close to falling right down on the hunter. Immediately both Ellie and Nox rushed forward, grabbing Levin by the arms and pulling him away from the dropping ice blades.

But they weren't quick enough, and one of the sharper blades of ice crashed down, striking into the switch axe user's shoulder, tearing through the armor into the man's flesh and making Levin cry out in pain, dropping the bag of Dark Metal to the ground. The impact also made the man's legs buckle, and Ellie beloved partner dropped to the floor as the rest of the icicles fell and smashed on the ground around them. Ellie quickly rushed forward, holding herself over Levin and swinging her shield above the both of them, deflecting a pair of ice lances that would have dropped right on top of her partner. As the last of the icicles clattered across the floor of the cavern, Ellie finally turned back to check on her companion.

"Levin, are you-"

The sword and shield user's breath caught in her throat at the sight of the switch axe user. His face had gone a deathly pale, and his face looked like he would pass out, or vomit, at a moment's notice. The veins in his neck and throat seemed to stand out brightly against his skin. Immediately, fearfully, Ellie recognized the symptoms, and her eyes darted to the man's injured shoulder, where a trail of blood poured out from the wound. Sure enough, somehow when Levin had fallen backwards he had landed on the still-open bag of the Dark Metal, and a small, pencil-sized chunk of the ore had wedged itself right into the wound where the icicle had struck him in the shoulder. Immediately Ellie grabbed for the black ore, yanking it out of the wound and dropping it to the ground before pulling the switch axe user off of the bag and onto the ice floor.

Ellie winced as she glanced at the bag of Dark Metal; most of the ore had been painted with a spray of blood that poured out the switch axe user's shoulder from the impact of the icicle. The frigid mineral seemed to grow even more frightening to look at as the blood spread across the ore, changing it from an inky, terrible blackness to one of dark, ominous crimson with the same bleakness hiding just behind. Ellie turned away, forcing her attention back to Levin's injury, and removing the icicle from his shoulder.

By then, both Harker and Farren were next to the switch axe user, the former pulling gauze and other bandages from his pouch, while the latter took a place behind Levin to aid Ellie in removing the spike from the wound and quickly pour a potion down the hunter's throat. Levin was shivering quite a bit from the injury and the effects of the Dark Metal, not even making any sounds despite his wounds. After a quick look, the researcher motioned that the icicle, though sharp, was safe to pull out, though he ordered Harker to be quick with the bandages to prevent excessive blood loss. With a quick yank, the ice spear was pulled from Levin's shoulder, pulling a strangled gasp from the switch axe user, but Harker was quick with his hands, pulling open the scale chest plate to reveal the naked injury, and the bandages were on, gauze looping around the injuries a scarce moment after the removal of the ice.

If Ellie had every doubted Harker's words of being good with battlefield medicine, she believed them now. Though the work was rough, and something that would need further looking at upon returning to Hearth, the injury was stopped and covered very quickly, and there was hardly any sign of blood coming through the gauze. But Levin was still very pale and gaunt, shivering from the effects of the Dark Metal, if not the bite of the cold around him. He seemed to be improving a little from before, but still seemed very out of sorts, trying to struggle to his feet.

"Stupid… damn ore," the switch axe user muttered. "This kinda injury shouldn't slow me down. Damn it, that… that Dark Metal is soul-sucking. It's so cold… can one of you hand me a Hot Drink or something?"

"That's not a good idea, Levin," Nox suddenly said, catching Ellie's hand as she was reaching into her pouch for one of the aforementioned bottles. "I've seen some people that have come in contact with that ore. Hot Drinks won't help you, not with this. You'll just be wasting them, bottle by bottle. I'm afraid to say the best way is to simply wait out the effects until they wear off."

"There's got to be something we can do though," Kerry said worriedly. "Can't we start a fire or something?"

"Might be tricky with all the ice," Nox replied. "But we can try. See if we can't find a patch of rock or dirt or something where we can use to start a fire on. You know, to avoid melting the floor beneath us. That would be a little counterproductive, I think."

The other three hunters moved away from where Levin struggled to lean against the nearby wall. Ellie stayed near him, while Farren hurried to close the pouch of Dark Metal before such a thing could happen again. Ellie's eyes fell on the bag a moment before the researcher closed it, and she frowned in confusion. She was certain that she'd seen the ore covered in the switch axe user's blood before, but seeing it now, the stones seemed positively pristine, as though they had just been pulled from the vein a moment earlier, with only blackness and not a single drop of the crimson color. But for a fraction of a second, Ellie thought she saw a spot of blood on one of the buried shard of ore, but the metal seemed to… absorb the life fluid into itself, somehow sucking the blood into the pores of the ore and leaving the exterior of the metal clear. Ellie shivered at the sight. That couldn't have happened… she must've just imagined the ore covered in blood earlier after seeing Levin injured.

For some reason, she found Levin smirking as the others were off finding wood. He even was chuckling to himself lightly, despite his shivering and gaunt expression. Ellie looked at him worriedly. Was he hallucinating or something? She didn't exactly know the full extent of Dark Matter's effect on people; and did the ore have different effects on the Lost? She couldn't guess, and really didn't want to find out, with such a dangerous material. She carefully leaned over her companion, looking at him searchingly.

"Are you okay?" she asked worriedly.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," he replied, grinning. "Well, I've been better, I'll admit. I haven't felt this bad since… ah, since I go poisoned by that Gigginox back during the hunter's exam. But I'm feeling better, bit by bit. I guess the effects of the metal don't last long. Next time someone asks us to go out in search of Dark Matter, knock me out if I even think about agreeing."

"I'll remember that," Ellie smirked. "But that doesn't seem like enough to make you smile."

"Yeah, I guess not," Levin replied. Then he took a quick glance around the room, seeing where everyone else was, before turning back to Ellie and smirking. "It's just that, when they were talking earlier about finding a way to warm me up besides using Hot Drinks, I couldn't help but think of a couple things you could do to warm me up, though they might not be things that we could do with the others around. Just a fun thought that had some appeal for me."

Ellie's arm shot out, slugging her partner in the arm almost on pure instinct, making Levin laugh, even if it was a weak one. Ellie felt her ears burning at the words, but was grinning all the same; if he could make lewd suggestions like that, he obviously couldn't be too badly weakened by the Dark Metal.

"Too much, my dear Miss Ellie?" Levin laughed as the sword and shield user huffed indignantly.

"Just a touch," Ellie growled. But she glanced over as the other hunters were trying to light the fire, then turned back to Levin and lowered her voice. "However, if it'll warm you up a little, perhaps there is something I can do for you, if you don't mind the others seeing, that is?"

To Ellie's great pleasure, her companion actually reddened at the words. "You… you can't really mean… I mean, we shouldn't… you're joking, right?"

Ellie smirked victoriously. "Come on now, Mister Levin. Mind out of the gutter. What kind of girl do you think I am?"

"You… jeez, Ellie, you really know how to catch a guy off guard." Levin laughed quietly and grinned affectionately at her. "Just when I think I have you pegged…"

"I surprise you?" Ellie cut off, before leaning in to kiss him. Her partner jumped a little at the sudden show of affection, before reciprocating. The embrace lasted for several seconds, before the sword and shield user reluctantly pulled away, grinning at Levin's stunned expression.

"Well, that certainly warmed me up a bit," he admitted sheepishly.

"I'll bet it did." Ellie flinched at the sound of Nox's voice and turned to find the other sword and shield user strode up behind them. Ellie worriedly glanced behind him, but found Harker and Kerry still working to start up a fire on the ground, with poor success. "Oh, don't worry, I won't tell them. Though, if you need an excuse for more private time to yourselves for anything… _more_, I'm sure I could think of a decent cover story that would give you an hour or so for personal time. Or perhaps you'd want more time than that?"

Ellie found herself sputtering incoherently, face burning bright red at the words, before Levin put an arm around her shoulders and waved off the other hunter. "That won't be necessary, thanks."

"Suit yourself," the man grinned. "I came over to see how you were doing. It's looking like we're not going to be able to light a fire here. With you suffering from the aftereffects from the Dark Metal, it's probably best that we find a safe place to stay the night, and we'll head off towards the caves where the lights were seen tomorrow, provided your injuries aren't too terrible. Think you can make a trek a couple miles to a safer place than this?"

"Yeah, I should be fine," Levin replied, trying to push himself to his feet. However, his legs gave out from underneath him, forcing Ellie to catch him and support him as Levin clutched his injured shoulder. "Okay, maybe I'm a little more drained than I thought I was… but I should be able to get to a safe place. With a bit of help, of course."

"You sure?" Nox asked skeptically, getting a nod from Levin in reply. "Alright. There's a fairly safe cave not too far south of here. It's out of the Baggi's hunting area, and I've never seen Giggis or anything else going through them either, so it's probably our best option."

"Sounds good enough for me," Levin replied, letting Ellie help him stay standing.

"Let's head out then," Nox said, leading the group out of the cave.

* * *

Micah glanced up as the door in front of him slammed open. He glared as a pair of guards hobbled through the door, carrying some sort of large satchel between them. He was in one of the side rooms that he'd claimed for himself, reading one of the many hunting manuals that he'd managed to collect from Loc Lac the last time he'd visited the city, and every single guard knew that during the evening hours he spent his time reading through them, and was not to be disturbed. He'd made _sure_ they knew.

But he blinked in surprise as Filcher strode in behind them, the towering man forced the bend over to get through the door. Micah had heard that the man had recently returned from his… 'mission' with Pugnax, so he'd known the man was back at base, but what caught the long sword user off guard was that the man's thick arm was in a sling, and one of his head had bandages wrapped around it, covering one of his dark eyes. The man's weapon was still slung over his back, and despite the durable materials that the weapon had been made out of, a good number of dings and scratches lined the weapon. His armor was in no better condition, several breaks and cuts covering most of the thick metal alloy.

"You look like you had fun," Micah smirked. The large man growled in reply, motioning the two guards to set whatever they were carrying on one of the many stone slab tables. The two obliged quickly, and with a sharp look from Micah, quickly vacated the area. Once the pair were gone, the hammer user glanced down in frustration at his injuries.

"The boy we went after wasn't fooled by the story the Boss wove together for him to tell. Nax and I had to resort to harsher measures," the man muttered, slumping into one of the room's chairs. Micah gave the man an odd look, and the bigger man grunted. "Nax. Pugnax said he preferred to be called that. I didn't care either way. Anyway, this Guild man, Richard, I think, he figured out that he was being fooled before we were ready to take him down. Nax was supposed to head out with him, waiting for the moment when he was vulnerable before signaling me, and then I'd come in and we'd take him down. The man knew it was coming though, and went along with it. I think he wanted to try and drop us both and drag us back to the Guild for questioning."

"How'd he catch on?" Micah asked.

"Who knows? Maybe the story the Boss whipped up wasn't strong enough to work. Maybe the man was sharper than we gave him credit for. That wouldn't surprise me; the man asked a lot of intelligent questions when Nax introduced himself at the inn we caught up to him at."

Micah waited. He'd worked with Filcher long enough to know he wasn't done yet. "But?"

Filcher scowled in anger. "But… I think Nax decided not to try very hard to convince the Guild's dog that he was a friend. I think he wanted the story to fail. I think he wanted to try sinking his teeth into fighting another hunter again. No sneak attacking, no backstabbing, just a head on assault. He's a reckless, dangerous man, that one."

"But the Guild man's no longer a problem, right?"

Filcher smirked wickedly. "Not anymore. He put up a good fight, though. I haven't been hurt in a pitched battle in… a long time now. It was fun to fight someone with real skill for a change. I think Nax might've taken a little more damage than me, but he's pretty quick with that shield of his. Good thing too: he may have died if he hadn't been. I think the dog's blade had some kind of poison on it; felt like I was catching frostbite or something when he nicked my arm. I'll need to look into that when I've got some time on my hands… Anyway, Nox may have wanted to be the one to drop that Guild man something fierce, but… heh, I had the pleasure of hitting the dog in the back of the head with my hammer after he broke my arm. Thought I was out of the fight for a minute or two. Now _that_ was a satisfying feeling, I'll tell you that much."

"I'm sure," Micah muttered, shaking his head. Murderous, violent monsters. That's all he was surrounded by. Why couldn't Moloch afford to hire people that were more down to earth? More… sane? People though the Lost were mad, yet every single one of the locals that had been hired made Micah feel like he was in a psychological institution, trapped with the inmates. "Where's… Nax now? The infirmary?"

"No," Filcher replied. "Well, sort of. Whatever was on the dog's blade hit Nax pretty hard on the way back. Looked kinda sick to me, but he kept claiming he was fine. Guess we'll see. Our… coworker, Lilith, has decided to treat the man herself, as an opportunity to introduce herself."

Micah grimaced. "That psychotic banshee? Why? She's more apt to pour poison in his wounds than helping him heal… Actually, that kind of thing would be merciful for her. Didn't you tell her that the Boss wanted Nax to work with us? Alive?"

"I did. Don't worry. She's just heard the rumors about his… particular enjoyment of armed combat with other hunters, and thought she'd set out to size him up herself. Birds of a feather stick together, or something like that. I have to admit, the pair of them share the same enthusiasm for such work, though the boy is a little quieter about it out when the fights actually going."

"That's not encouraging," Micah groaned. Then he glanced over at the satchel the two guards had brought into the room, and his eyes caught on an ugly splotch of red that was spreading across the material from one side. At the sight he jumped in realization, much to the amusement of Filcher. "That… did you… is that the Guild man you went after?"

Filcher laughed. "No, no, though I'm surprised he's still alive after I hit him in the head as hard as I did. Thick skull or something, or maybe that old Rathalos armor of his is more durable than the modern design. They don't really make armors like they used to… No, that corpse there is another, shall we say, _gift_ your little pet down in the cell blocks left behind during another escape attempt."

"What?" Micah gasped. "Nat? But… how? We've moved her and Kim to the strongest cells we have! The ones we don't even use for humans! And Richard is in another cellblock entirely! How did…"

"Couldn't tell you, boy," Filcher smirked. "Though, with fire like hers, I wouldn't mind seeing what she could do in a real fight. I caught her off guard when we brought her in, but perhaps she's a different kind of threat in battle now that she's been here awhile… Almost made it to the gates, her and her partner. Met her coming back from our mission, me and Nax did, my arm in a sling and the one we grabbed slung over my shoulder. Had to help the guards knock her out. If I'd been a few minutes later to come back, we might've had a real crisis on our hands, what with two escapees."

Micah groaned, dropping his face into his hands. This woman… out of all the psychopaths in the building, one of the only two sane people in the base was proving to be the biggest threat to their security.

"The Boss is getting antsy about those two," Filcher said, catching Micah's attention. "Wants to get rid of them, one way or another. They're proving too much of a liability, he says."

Micah stared at him. "Why are you telling me this?"

The big man shrugged. "Thought you might want to try and convince him otherwise, before he made his decision."

"Why? You don't like me."

"No, I don't. But… I know what kind of person you are."

"You don't-"

"But I do," Filcher cut him off. "You try to hide it, you try to be discreet. But I've seen it. Every one of the Lost has a type of madness, and I know what yours is. Possessiveness."

Micah sat stunned. How did he know? He couldn't… "That's not…"

"Not what it's called? Maybe that's not the right word for it. I don't know the right words for these things, but I know that's what you are. I've seen it. That sword you carry around. We've got hundreds of them, just like it. But you won't let anyone else use the one you use, even though there's a pile of them in the storage rooms. Same thing with your armor. Your food. Your books. Your room. Everything of yours. If you've claimed it, no one else can touch it, sully it, or even look at it if you had your way. That's what you've done with those two girls, haven't you? You've… claimed them, in your mind. You respect them, are intrigued by them, and maybe you're even attracted to them. That's why you don't like the old man using them for some of the bigger things. Even if it's him, you don't want them getting tossed around, not like the others we've brought in. That's why you make excuses for them, cover up for them, try to keep them from getting pulled in too far. Isn't it?"

Silence filled the room, and the two stared at each other. Micah felt sweat sliding down his face. Damn it! How had he been figured out? Damn this Lost madness! He hadn't been like this before… the damnable blue light!

"Again… why would you tell me this?" he muttered. "What do you gain from this?"

Filcher shrugged. "A favor, maybe? I don't know. Mostly, though, you're a decent hunter, and a passable partner. I don't like hunting with Lilith, and Nax is proving to be no less of an irritation. You're the easiest of them to hunt with, that's all. I figure if something happens to those two, it might… effect your work in the field. So I thought I'd fill you in. I don't want to spend the rest of this job out in the field with those two lunatics just because one of those girls met a messy end."

Micah was silent for a moment. "I don't…"

Before he could start, though, the hammer user got to his feet and strode to the door. "If you're going to thank me or something, save it. I'm doing this for myself. Just go do whatever it is you do to keep those girls alive. And try to be… I don't know, less crazy or something. I don't like depending on your sanity to keep a decent ally around."

"Right…" Micah muttered, as the man began to walk through the door. Then he remembered the body on the stone table. "Um, aren't you going to…"

"Body's your mess to deal with. After all, it was your pet that caused the trouble. I've got other work to do, anyway."

"Like what?"

Filcher turned and grinned wickedly. "I've got to go wake up our new recruit. I'm sure he'll be… delighted to know he has family here. I'm thinking of chaining the older one to the wall across from the younger. After all, our base is just the place for a reunion, don't you think?"

Micah grimaced as the man turned away and walked off laughing. He frowned as he looked again at the bloody bag in his room and shook his head. "Psychopaths… An entire base full of them… Just wonderful."

* * *

**Author's Note: Please Review! This story is now working its way onto deviantArt! I decided to use my old profile (username is almanorigin), and just put all the old crap into storage. There's an old story I wrote… 2007 I think. It's worthless, but I'll leave it there. Posting a new chapter every Thursday there until it gets caught up with FF, then I'll post a new chapter on both sites when they're done.**

**Trying to make slightly shorter chapters that come out more often, so I avoid massive walls of test like the last chapter, which explains this chapter. It almost ended up being really long like chapter 28, before I realized it was getting along in words, so I found a cutoff point in the middle (this seems to be an increasing problem for me). The next chapter is already 9k+ words along, so expect it sooner than this one came out.**

**I hate to do this, but it seems that I must close OC submissions. I've simply received too many to put any more in the story, considering that the story has a set number of story arcs remaining. I suppose that I could put characters in as passerby, or people who get one or two paragraphs of mention, but I really can't do anymore than that. Sorry, folks, but the opportunity is over. Beyond the posting of this chapter, no more OCs will be accepted. **

**It seems like every few months, I roll on back to reading **_**Hoshi no Samidare/The Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer**_** by Mizukami Satoshi all the way through again. It's proven to persistently be my favorite manga to read right after **_**Full Metal Alchemist**_**. I've said it before, but anyone who hasn't should really find a website to read it on and do so (my suggestion: tenmanga .com).**

**Every once in a while, I have a tendency to question whether or not I'm a decent writer. However, when I'm feeling that way, I have a way to make myself feel better. I go to a meme website called Fandom Base every couple days to look at nerdy art and other stuff, and the moderator has a weekly thing going on, aptly named 'Bad Fanfic Friday.' As you may have guessed, this is where he finds a really poorly written fanfic suggested by the viewers and posts the first few paragraphs (or just one paragraph when the writer forgets how to indent) on the site, as well as a link to the full thing. I rarely follow the link, but just reading what's posted is a sure-fire way of pulling my self-confidence back up when I'm feeling down. Any other writers out there should give it a try. This week's was a Twilight/Harry Potter crossover fic with ample Mary-Sue-ness emanating out of every pore; I'm sure you can imagine the full quality of the work on your own from there.**

**Reading: **_**A Clash of Kings**_** by George R.R. Martin, **_**Hoshi no Samidare/The Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer**_** by Mizukami Satoshi  
Playing: Minecraft, Mass Effect 3, BF3  
Listening: CAKE, Gotye, Fun, Radical Face, Modest Mouse**


	30. The Lost Awakening

A Lost Awakening

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. All the characters in this story are mine._

"Hy tink hyu've been drinkink a beet too moch dees days, Marco. Mehbe hy should cut hyu off, hey?"

Marco sighed, and then grinned slightly as Lynn snapped the mug he'd been drinking out of from under him. He didn't feel like he'd had very much at all, but he'd been at the Oasis for several hours now, and that pleasantly soothing, tipsy buzz had long since passed into the haze of real drunkenness. "I'm sorry, Lynn. Things have been, um, hectic recently on the council. Zhanin is getting bolder with his proposals, and is getting better at figuring out what can and can't get passed through."

"Ho, yez, hy've seen his vork around de city," Lynn sighed. "Vhat vas dot last ting he sent through de council? Someting abott the Hive houses?"

"A height limit," Marco groaned. "Zhanin's having his so-called 'experts' claim that the buildings the Lost are constructing aren't structurally sound, and they shouldn't be allowed to go any higher than they are without further testing. It's just some way to keep Lost from living here. With so many Lost, and none of the other districts allowing them to live elsewhere, the only thing they can do is build up. And if we can't do that, then the Lost will be forced to leave the city. No doubt that's what Zhanin wants."

"At least all of dem have somevhere to live now, hey?" Lynn sighed. "Vhen de last rush of dem came along, dey had to put all de Lost in dose shpare varehouses the Guild had. Dot vas messy, made a lot of dem really sick. If the council vants to be shtubborn bot not lettink de Lost into the odder areas ov de city, dey could at leasht make sure dey can build enoff buildinks so dey all haf a place to live, hey?"

"You'd think so," Marco agreed, his voice slurring. He shook his head a little, trying to shake off the fuzziness of the alcohol. Lynn dropped a glass of water in front of the man, and he thanked her. "Though, this decision might come back and bite Zhanin in the butt. Despite him having most of the merchants and wealthier folks in town rabbling against the Lost, a lot of them seem to have… interest in some of the structures the Lost are able to build. I wonder how the bastard would react knowing that, let's see, maybe half of his so called support have been purchasing Lost contractors under the table for the last few months now."

"Heh, de vanity ov the vealthy is what's keeping the Lost goink," Lynn chuckled. Then she paused for a moment with a thoughtful look on her face. "By de vay… ven I talked abott the Lost gettink sick, it made me tink of sometink."

"What's that?" Marco asked, rubbing his eyes. The drunkenness was starting to wear off, much to his displeasure.

"Dere aren't a lot of doctors in dis district, are dere?"

"Not really, much to my disdain," Marco sighed. "Never have been. Doctors can be pretty well paid, so why would they bother with a poor area of town like this one?"

"Den vhy not get de Lost to be doctors or sometink? Or get dem workink on Guild vork or sometink. Dere vas a boy here a veek or so ago dot seemed like he knew a fair bit abott doctorink and odder shtuff like dot. Sheemed to be confusink a lot of de locals vith his vords too, hey? Maybe hyu could get de Lost workink on shtuff like dot, see if dey ken do anyting to help."

"They'd need Guild backing to sell things like that, though. And medical licenses are strictly controlled by the Loc Lac council."

"Hy'm sure de Guild vouldn't mind de help if de Lost are able to help out vith medicine. Hyu're still friends vith old Stergo, hey? He sheems to like de Lost preddy good. Hy tink if hyu talk vith him, he might be villing to hire some ov de Lost, even if he's got to do it onder de table."

"Yes, maybe," Marco muttered, looking thoughtful. "The old guy never cared much for the council's way of doing things. But… if the Lost can prove themselves to be effective alchemists, there may be greater call for them to be allowed to apply for official permission. There are lots of businesses that would be perfectly willing to hire the Lost, with or without the council's good graces, but others will want what's offered with official approval from the council, and will press to have the Lost allowed to apply. As for medical licenses… the Medical Guild is completely separate from the council, but they're always wary about foreign treatment methods. There's still some bad blood between them and the Wyvernians over their choice of medical utensils; for some reason, they think a doctor should make their own tools, rather than standard design. For untested people like the Lost, and with the less than pleasant reputation they have…"

"Dey'd need to be motivated by de council… or jost vun of its members. Vich hyu are. Zhanin ken't be de only vun vith... vhat did he call dem, connections? Surely hyu ken find some vay to motivate dem to gif de Lost a chance."

"I don't exactly have the funds that Zhanin does, though. But there are a few doctors that may be able to help me, though their peers consider them to be a little… odd. I'm not sure how well they'll be able to convince the Medical Guild that the Lost are worth looking into. I'm not sure what I'd tell the council if they cornered me about it, though."

"If dey ken gif the Lost a chance, den mehbeh tings vill get a leedle better in dis district. It vould sholve a few odder problems, too, if de council raises a fuss abott it. De Guild's got lotsa alchemy labs all over de place, hey? If dey prove dot dey're good at de potion-y shtuff, dey may move to odder cities, and dot vould make room in de district, vouldn't it?"

"Hmm… you may be right," Marco nodded. "And if the Lost start seeing that they're opportunities outside the city, they might be more willing to venture to places other than Loc Lac. That would reduce the number of Lost in the city, and likely reduce the animosity between the locals and the Lost… it's a very long term plan, though, and who knows if it'll work fast enough. But it something to work with…"

The councilman paused in realization, before turning to give Lynn an odd look. "You know, that's the fourth time you've given me good advice like this."

"Heh. Poppa alvays said hy vas a shmott gurl," the innkeeper grinned.

"Yes, but I can't help but wonder…" Marco trailed off as Lynn raised an eyebrow, patiently waiting for him to finish. Then he shook his head. "Ah, never mind. Maybe if you're so smart, you should be on the council instead of me. You seem to be more on top of things than I am."

"No vay," Lynn laughed. "Hy'd end op killink doze odder fools hyu vork vit for beink such… such… Hm. For not beink as shmott as me, hey?"

"Hm, I suppose," Marco grinned. "Though it'd be quite the sight to see you throw one of Zhanin's lackeys out of the council room for getting you angry."

"Vouldn't dot be sometink, hey?" Lynn smirked.

"Yes. Oh, and… if you have any more ideas like that, let me know, would you? I could use all the help I can get with this whole Lost issue, and you're the… 'shmott' one, after all."

"Don't mock," Lynn warned with a grin. "Hyu don't vant dese ideas to dry op, hey?"

"No, I hope not," Marco laughed. He turned in surprise as a sudden crashing sound. Looking across the room, he caught sight of Logan, looking sheepish over a shattered couple of beer mugs. A few of the older hunters at the table were laughing nervously, looking worriedly at Lynn, who was glaring at the group of them. "Your boy… ah, your _ward_, seems a bit penchant for breaking things."

"Dem it," the woman muttered. "He's been tryink to help vit de vork around here a lot more deze days, but… he geets zo distracted by de hunters in de room. Und like hyu said, he's got disaster in hees blood."

"Destined to become a hunter in the future if you ask me," Marco said. "Messy and destructive… if I didn't know you'd taken him in, I'd say he takes after you. I remember meeting you when you first became a hunter… calling _him_ messy, destructive, that's the pot calling the kettle black."

"Oh, shot op. Hyu ken laugh, bot hy gots to clean op after heem…"

"You need help, nya?" Marco looked down to see a pair of brown and white Felynes looking expectantly up at Lynn. The innkeeper waved them off in the direction of the mess, and the two took off obediently to clean up the mess.

"I didn't think Felynes hung around the Lost District these days," Marco noted.

"Ja, dey veren't too fond ov all de Lost beink afraid ov dem. All de fear und panic de Lost showed vhen dey saw de Felynes valkink around… eets no vunder all of dem left for odder districts. But vith de vay tings have been goink vith the Lost gettink better at dealink vith livink here, a few of dem have started movink back to de area. Doze two dere vere curious abott de 'Lost hunters' dot live here, und applied to vork for me. Not like havink a couple dozen around to take care ov de hunters like hy hyused to, bot… it's a shtart."

As the pair of Felynes worked to clean up the glass and beer covering the floor, Logan walked over to the bar with a sorrowful look on his face, Lynn watching him sternly. "Sorry, m… miss Lynn."

The innkeeper sighed at the boy. "Eet's fine, boy. Jost… try to be more careful, hey? Don't vant hyu gettink hurt or notink."

"You're not mad?" the boy asked hopefully.

Lynn's eyes narrowed. "If hyu tink hyu not goink to be punished, hyu got anodder ting comink. Go get de mop. Hyu geet to clean de east wing hallvay for breakink doze mugs, hey?"

"Okay," the boy replied sullenly, sulking off towards the broom closet. Marco watched him go with a curious eye.

"Is it a challenge raising him?" he asked. "This isn't exactly the most noteworthy place for children to grow up in."

"Eet's definitely a challenge," Lynn sighed, watching as the young boy struggled to pull the cleaning supplies out of the closet. "Hy vish Oswald vas shtill around, times like dis. He vas alvays better vith the childrens. Hy alvays just shcared dem off."

"I'm sure you'll do fine," Marco said. "Logan's not afraid of you or anything. If he ever looks like it, it's only because you're raising him. I was always afraid of my mother, if only because she was the one to hand out punishments when I did something wrong. You'll do fine, if you just try to raise him right."

Lynn grinned appreciatively. "Und here hy tot hy vas de vun givink out advice here. Mehbe hyu've earned anodder drink, hey?"

"Much obliged, Miss Lynn, much obliged."

* * *

It was painful for Ellie to wake up the following morning, with the frigid air of the Tundra weighing her down. A small crackling fire and a thin blanket that just barely fit in her pouch were not nearly enough to keep out the cold of the frozen, unforgiving north. Admittedly, the cave Nox had led the six of them to was deep enough to get them out of the wind, but the naturally cold temperatures were still far worse than any other place she'd been in her life.

She cracked an eye open, looking around the cave, a blend of pale white and grey stone mixed with the pale blue light flowing in through the entrance of the cave, refracting through the ice and creating a shimmering wave of color across the walls. It was a lot nicer to look at then it had been when they'd stumbled in by the light of torches the previous evening, helping Levin along as he recovered from the effects of the Dark Metal ore. Most of the remainder of the last night was lighting a small fire after checking for Giggi in the cave, eating a quick meal of rations, then going to sleep after deciding on shifts.

Her eyes darted over to Levin at the thought. The switch axe user lay huddled up against the wall next to her, leaning slightly against her. Ellie sighed in relief at the sight of her beloved's face; the effects of the Dark Metal had apparently worn off, his face having regained its former color, though his cheeks were flushed from the chill of the cold. His eyes were closed, but were twitching slightly, showing signs of the man dreaming. Ellie wondered if it was a nightmare or not; she knew Levin had still been having those, from what she'd heard him muttering in his sleep on occasion.

Ellie perked up at the sound of humming rolling through the cave, and turned her head to see Harker twiddling around with a few random things he'd pulled out of his pack. The long sword user had been the one to get the last to get watch, though Ellie was sure that for Harker, the job would hardly be as boring for him as it was for her. His mind always seemed to be moving, never standing still.

"Are you going to get up, or do you plan on staring at me for a little while, Miss Eleanor?" Ellie blinked in surprise at the man's words, wincing as the long sword user turned and smiled at her.

"How'd you know I was awake?" Ellie asked quietly.

"Breathing rate, mostly," Harker shrugged. "I've been measuring breathing rates of people as a side project for the last couple months now. Turns out you can tell a lot about people when you study their breathing habits. For example, your sleep was likely dreamless, am I correct?"

Ellie's eyes widened slightly in surprise. "Yes, I suppose so. I don't really remember dreaming anything, at least."

"I thought as much. Your breathing was fairly level over the course of the time I've been on watch, usually indicating a normal sleep. I've been able to tell what the others have likely been dreaming as well. Levin and Nox both are having fairly sporadic, random dreams, nothing meaningful or such, just normal dreamland nonsense. Lady Kerrigan and Farren, however… the locals of this world have faster metabolisms than the Lost do, and that makes it tricky to be certain. Farren seems to be have some sort of… memory recollection of some kind, I can't really tell what, specifically. Lady Kerrigan, though, seems to be dreaming about… something exciting, perhaps a hunt of some kind. Something she finds enjoyable, that's for sure."

"Um… exactly how many side projects do you have?" Ellie asked, carefully pulling away from Levin, trying not to wake him up. The switch axe user shifted a little as she pulled away, but remained asleep as she stood up and stretched, before she walked over towards the long sword user. She quietly sat down close to the fire, pulling a Hot Drink out of her pouch to fight off the cold. "I've heard you say that about a dozen times about a dozen different things since this mission started, and even more on other trips we've been on."

Harker paused in thought, tilting his head and moving his lips as though counting them one by one. He was silent for several moments, before nodding to himself and putting a confident look on his face. "Unless I am mistaken, though I do not believe I am, I currently have one hundred sixty seven side projects and experiments ongoing at the moment."

Ellie coughed violently at the words, the warm potion catching in her throat and making her gasp for breath, nearly spitting the red fluid into the fire. Harker smirked at her as she covered her mouth, trying to muffle her coughs to avoid waking the others in their party. "You… one hundred of them?"

"One hundred sixty seven," Harker corrected.

"I… you…" Ellie stammered. "How do you keep track of them all?"

"With these, of course," Harker replied, pulling out the notebook he kept in his pouch and tossing it to Ellie. The book looked worn to Ellie, though if she knew Harker, it was probably not that old at all. She flipped it open, glancing through the first few pages and blinking in surprise. Each page was practically filled, line after line coating the pages with notes, observations, and questions to a dozen and a half different things, with small but elaborate sketches lining the sides and tops of the pages. Images of anything and everything were shown on the sides, from monsters and their biological structures to alchemical mixtures and the speculated chemical compounds of said creations.

Ellie flipped through the pages, glancing over the elaborate designs and notes, skimming across the questions and theories Harker had written down in the notebook. Finally, she got to blank pages, where the madman had indeed written several pages of notes on his study of eye movements during sleep. Several sketches of the makeup of the human eye were scattered around the page, designators pointing out important or noteworthy muscles and nerves. Ellie had to admit she was very impressed. She always had thought that Harker's reach for knowledge traveled far beyond the grasp of his actual intelligence, but from the contents of the notebook, the man clearly was far more intelligent than Ellie had ever given him credit for.

"That's not the only one of those notebooks, in case you were wondering," Harker told her. "I've got perhaps a couple dozen of them filled out completely back in Loc Lac. One of these days, I'll need to find the time to take everything I've written down and separate them into organized locations. Maybe I could hire someone to be my assistant…"

"Couldn't Kerry help you out with that?" Ellie asked.

"Of course, I would love her help with such things," Harker replied enthusiastically. "However… I enjoy the partnership I and Lady Kerrigan share at the moment, and… Well, I'd hate to try and change what I have with her by asking her to work under me, rather than the way things are now. I very much enjoy her company as we are, and have little desire to risk losing that."

"I see," Ellie replied, slightly disappointed in the response, as she skimmed through the remaining blank pages of the notebook. About halfway to the end, though, her eyes caught something scribbled on one of the pages. She quickly flipped back and her eyes caught on a pair of pages, both drawn on in the long sword user's art style.

Rather than notes coating the page in writings and questions and thoughts, two pictures had been drawn, painstakingly and precisely. The first, on the left, was a portrait, meticulously accurate, of Kerrigan's face and shoulders, her hair hanging loosely behind her. The face in the drawing was smiling happily, a soft expression for the woman that seemed to hold some other subtle emotions. The other drawing, on the right, was a full drawing, showing Kerry once again, sitting idly in the grass with her full armor on, bowgun and helmet lying on the ground next to her. She had a water bottle in her hand and was staring off into the distance, an idle, thoughtful look in her eyes as though she was contemplating some mysterious thing that Ellie couldn't comprehend at all. Ellie wondered if Kerry knew that Harker had these drawings in his notebook. Both pictures were detailed and thorough, not something that could've been done quickly or without the woman herself present to pose; Harker's mind was pretty good, but Ellie doubted his memory was good enough to do this kind of thing from scratch.

"I don't suppose these are any indication of your enjoyment of her company?" Ellie smiled as she turned the book to face the long sword user. However, much to her disappointment, the man hardly reacted at all, though Ellie thought his cheeks might have colored a little (it could just have easily been the cold). But after a moment, the man simply smiled at Ellie, a sly but somewhat melancholy expression.

"I've always been an obsessive sort of man, thanks in no small part to this Lost madness issue," he said simply. "I have an absolute need to recover as much knowledge as I possibly can, and I can't help but search out and gain as much information as I can. So it should come as no surprise to you that I have the same desire to learn about Lady Kerrigan just as much as I want to learn about everything else."

"That can't be all there is to it, though, is it?" Ellie asked. "These pictures have too much detail, too much… care put into them to be just a search for knowledge. There must be more to it than that."

"Trying to play matchmaker, Miss Eleanor?" Harker laughed. "Perhaps you should leave such things to play out as they will in their own due course. If there's one thing I've learned from being in this world, it's that trying to enact your own will on the natural course of things rarely ends well."

"But surely…" Ellie paused as the sound of shifting was heard behind her. She turned catching sight of Farren sitting up to stretch, waking up first of the four others. Harker smiled at Ellie.

"I suppose we should end this conversation here, shouldn't we Miss Eleanor?" Harker said. Ellie grumbled in reply.

"Damn it all… why are the two of you so damn stubborn?" Ellie cursed.

"Pardon?"

"Never mind…"

Levin, Kerry, and Nox woke up not long after Farren did, their training as hunters willing them to wake up with the sun. The six of them quickly ate their rations quickly, wanting to get out in search of Farren's mysterious blue light as quickly as possible. Harker was quick to act as though their conversation had never happened, though he was so social and forthcoming, that Ellie doubted whether the conversation had even mattered to the madman at all.

The group took off not long after they'd eaten, setting out further east with Nox once again in the lead. They were able to make good time, since Levin seemed to be fully recovered. Whatever the effects of the Dark Metal were, it seemed as if the ore hadn't been in contact with his body for long enough to have truly lasting effects. Ellie thought he still looked a little pale to her, but he seemed vibrant and strong, and ensured the others that he felt well enough to travel. Most of the others, especially Farren and Harker, seemed uncertain, but Levin's enthusiasm for the six of them to head out seemed to encourage them that he was well enough.

The path the hunters needed to take today took a more northerly direction than it had the previous day, with towering rock walls and glaciers forcing the six of them to weave back and forth in a zigzag pattern through the mountainous region. The sun was fully covered by clouds as well that day, making moving forward a bit of a challenge with the constantly falling snow. But Noxramus seemed to know the way through the area fairly well, cutting them through overhangs and short caves, getting them out of the snow and making their trek just a little easier. Which was all well and good in Ellie's opinion; the weight of the Dark Metal satchel left Farren gasping after a couple of miles, so the hunters had to switch up the burden of carrying the bag between themselves every once in a while.

As they traveled, Ellie realized that the group of them were going uphill, leaving the stone and dirt behind and starting up the side of a large glacier. Looking around, the sword and shield user realized that, somehow or another, they were climbing a truly massive glacier that stretched all the way from the peak of the mountain to the base of it, engulfing the entire side of the mountain in pale blue ice and snow. Huge craters seemed to pepper the mass of ice as well, but as she passed by one of said holes, Ellie glanced down, realizing that the gaping opening was instead a massive cavern opening, cutting deep into the side of the glacier and sloping down to a series of caves below. In several of the caverns, melting ice rushed past below in frigid rivers that swept below them, white rapids that swirled and churned dozens of yards beneath them.

Ellie found herself getting worn out as the group of six pressed on, Nox leading them ever further up the slope of the mountain. After a couple hours of constant trekking, Ellie looked down and realized that they'd climbed up nearly a third of the mountain; the others in the group, Nox included, were looking worse for the wear as well, showing their weariness.

"Alright, we're here," Nox said, pointing to a nearby cavern entrance, much to the great relief of the others in the group. The hole in the ice was much smaller than some of the other entrances inside the glacier, but it still was at least three times Ellie's height, and wasn't nearly such a precarious slope down under the ice. There also wasn't a cascade of water at the base, which was good; Ellie didn't feel like swimming to this light source they were looking for.

"Word has it that people have seen the side of the mountain glowing," Farren told them as they began working their way down into the glacier. "Likely odds are that whatever's creating the light is bright enough to carry through the ice sheet, giving off said glow. With luck, we'll be able to find the source without too much hassle."

"I wouldn't bet on it too much," Nox said. "This ice can play devious tricks on the eyes. If there's a place in the Tundra where it's easy to get lost, it's here. There's a pack of Baggis that claim this territory, with one nasty big leader, using these caves as their nest. I've tried to find the source a couple times, but… well, it's hard here. Watch where you walk. A single wrong turn could send you going the complete wrong direction, and with the reflections and mirages the ice creates, it's easy to get mixed up."

Everyone nodded in consent, and the group of them tightened up as the six of them made their way down into the glacier. Ellie had thought they would need torches as they delved deeper into the cavern, but the ice of the glacier turned out to be far more translucent than she'd thought it would be, and the light of the sky, even with the cloud cover, easily filtered down to them, lighting their path with ease. Nox hadn't been kidding about the tricks of light, either; as she looked around, Ellie could make out her own reflection staring back at her from inside the ice walls, as well as images of the others in her group from a dozen different angles. She could see why the Baggis could hide here so well.

As they trekked further into the mountainside, Ellie realized that the light around them wasn't coming down from the ceiling so much anymore, and had been replaced by light coming up from underneath them, a pale blue light that seeped up from the core of the earth. Was it below them, Ellie wondered? Or was the ice tricking their eyes into thinking so? Maybe the lights were above them?

"Hey Nox, are those lights below us?" she asked. The blue hunter, still leading, shrugged uncertainly.

"Couldn't say: Maybe. These walls are tricky, so… perhaps. Too many bouncing lights to be sure."

"Do you know, Harker?" Ellie asked the long sword user. Maybe he had studied light refraction or something…

"I'm afraid I can't be certain myself either, Miss Eleanor." Ellie blinked in surprise. The long sword user's voice seemed awfully faint for some reason. She quickly turned around, and realized with a shock that Harker wasn't behind her. At all! Neither was Kerry, or Farren!

"Harker, what…" she blinked in surprise as the long sword user suddenly appeared out of the corner of her eye, but a fraction of a second later, she realized that it wasn't him at all, but rather a near-full-body reflection of him bouncing off the ice. "Harker! Where are you?"

Levin and Nox, still with her, turned sharply at the words, searching around for the hunter and getting confused by the tricks of light as well. The long sword user, or at least the image of him, frowned uncertainly, glancing back at a shadowed fake of Kerry, before replying. Ellie could just barely make out his voice, a tone of confusion in his voice. "We're right behind you, Miss Eleanor. What are you-"

"Wait!" the voice of Kerry cut in. The woman's arm appeared over Harker's shoulder, grasping the air in front of them. "She's not… damn it, this is one of those illusions! We… we must've followed a reflection instead of the real thing!"

"Oh dear… that's troublesome," the long sword user muttered.

"Do you remember taking a turn somewhere you shouldn't have?" Nox called out. "We haven't really deviated from the main path that much."

"Ah, there was a left turn about a hundred yards back or so," Harker replied. "It might have been there, I think."

"Okay then, try and backtrack a little," the blue hunter replied. "We'll meet you there in a few minutes."

"Very well," the long sword user said. "Give us a little bit and we'll… ah… Wait a moment."

The long sword user suddenly turned his head, eyes focusing on… something or other. Then his eyes widened and a wide grin spread across the man's face. Without another word, the image of the man suddenly vanished as the hunter dashed out of sight, chasing after whatever he had seen.

"Harker? Harker!" Ellie called out. "Damn it! Kerry?"

"He's running off somewhere!" the voice of Kerry cried. But the words were getting dimmer, and Ellie was having trouble making them out. "I think he's…" But before the bowgunner could finish, her words vanished to silence.

"Damn it," Nox growled, turning and stepping off in the direction they'd come. "Come on, then. Let's hurry up and try to catch up to them."

Ellie and Levin chased after Nox as the men led them back up the icy slope of the cavern, before finding the turnoff that Harker had mentioned before. Ellie had been surprised; she hadn't even seen the path when they'd passed by, it blended in so well. But she didn't have time to appreciate it, pressing on after the long sword user and the others quickly. As they ran down the path, Ellie was glad to hear the sound of Harker's voice becoming audible again. It sounded as though the man was laughing about something. It was another hundred yards, though, before she could make out what the man was saying at all.

"Yes, yes! Look at it! Isn't it fascinating?"

Ellie followed Harker's voice warily, trying to follow the curve of the ice walls as carefully as she could. The pale blue, semi-transparent ice cast ghosts and shadows in their refractions and reflections, and the pale blue light that seemed to emanate from the walls, growing brighter and brighter, certainly wasn't helping things. Levin and Nox were close behind her, looking just as lost as her.

"I always hated these caves," Nox muttered. "As much as the Baggi love this place, I can't stand following them in here when they escape through these tunnels. It's so… trippy, and hard to navigate. I think there's something special about their eyes that allow them travel through this glacier without their eyes playing tricks on them. Harker's a… scientist or something, right?"

"Yeah… or something," Levin replied carefully.

"Maybe he'd be willing to study the Baggi eyes for me. I mean, I have no qualms collecting them if that's what he needs; rather, it'd be a pleasure to do so. You think I could ask him to-"

"I wouldn't if I were you," Levin cut the man off. "Chances are, he'd get distracted halfway through and try to make an explosive out of them, or something like that. Or maybe into something worse…"

"Endless explosives created from Baggi eyes?" Nox said with a smirk. "You act like that's a bad thing."

"Maybe not, but you haven't known Harker as long as me and Ellie have," Levin replied wryly.

Out of the corner of her eye, Ellie caught familiar shapes dancing through the reflections of the ice. It was vague and broken, but she could just make out the jagged shapes of Kerry's armor through the ice, as well as the brown leather coat that Farren wore. There was the occasional jumble of random colors as well, which Ellie assumed was Harker's mess of armor. With a goal in sight, the sword and shield user pressed on, picking up her pace as she took the last couple of turns. Finally, though, she turned the final corner and spotted Harker, Kerry, and Farren, the real ones this time, not just shapes created through the ice. However, before she could call out to the three of them, she gasped at the sight of what they were standing in front of.

Harker stood at the edge of a large incline, a long sloping drop that dipped downwards into the ice, creating a large, crater-like hole in the ground that stretched almost a hundred meters across in what appeared to be a nearly perfect circle. It was like someone had taken a massive scoop out of the floor and ceiling, leaving a massive dip in the ice above and below them. However, the most prominent sight in the room wasn't the odd dip in the roof and floor, but rather, what caught Ellie's attention instead was the massive blue crystals, enormous glowing stones sprouting up from the earth and down from the ceiling. The gemstones were like massive flowers, large and darker bases growing up from the floor or down from the ceiling before branching outwards in a distinctly petal-like formation. Each separate "bloom" hoisted a dozen or so of the glowing petals, filling the wide room with the powerful blue light. There were dozens, hundreds of the crystals, filling the room, each of them glowing brightly from the inside with a powerful, cool blue glow.

But though they certainly were lovely gemstones, Ellie couldn't help but feel uncomfortable around the crystalline structures. At the sight of them, she'd felt a shiver run down her spine, and an eerie feeling seemed to be growing in her gut, some feeling she couldn't define. As she pressed on into the room, the feeling grew stronger, but she still couldn't tell why.

"Aren't they wonderful?" Harker asked as the three hunters caught up with him, Kerry, and Farren. The bowgunner had an awed look on her face as she glanced around the wide room, her eyes darting back and forth between one stunning crystal flower to the next. Farren had a speculative look on his face similar to Harker's, though far less excited.

"They're beautiful!" Kerry gasped, glancing around the room. "Is this… is this the source of the blue lights you've been looking for? Are these what makes these caves so bright?"

"So it would seem," Farren replied. "I suppose this answers the question of what was creating the strange lights in the caves. There must be more of these spread out through other caves as well." The man walked forward and placed a hand against one of the crystals. However, he immediately winced and pulled back.

"Cold?" Ellie asked, walking up to stand next to the researcher. Levin and Nox both wandered up to the field of crystals as well, looking around in awe.

"No… well, yes. Maybe," the man muttered in reply. "It's… challenging to describe. It feels frigid from the cold of the Tundra, but at the same time, I can feel… no, I can _sense_ some feeling of warmth emitting from inside the crystal. It's a strange feeling to say the least."

Ellie frowned at the words and approached one of the other crystalline structures. It wasn't sapphire, she could tell that much; the gemstone was cloudy all the way through, like it was filled with a thick fog all the way through. It reminded her of the crystals they'd plucked off the back of the Lagiacrus. Organic… was that the right word? She could barely see an inch into the stone before the cloudiness of the crystal hazed her vision completely. The fog of the crystals was odd as well, very swirly and twisting; it played tricks on her eyes, and every few seconds she had to blink a few times, the haze seeming to move and coil slowly inside the crystal. She held out her hand to the glowing rock, hesitating only a moment, before pressing her fingers to the hard surface. Like the researcher had, she flinched back, a biting cold snapping at her fingers from the crystal. But, again like Farren, she could sense that there was some sort of warmth seeping through the stone from deep inside, emanating out from deep within the crystal.

"Isn't it fascinating?" Harker asked, approaching another of the crystal flowers. He pressed his own hand against the stone, but, unlike Ellie and Farren, held it there for several moments before pulling back, his glove covered with a layer of frost. "Bioluminescent gemstones, producing an internal heat while seemingly absorbing the cold from the Tundra, growing like plants rather than jewels. How strange… and I don't recognize this stone type either. Its geological makeup is like nothing I've seen before either. It's not a type of quartz, or gemstone, really… I wonder what kind of stone it is. The addition of monsters to the world shouldn't have created new types of crystal and stone… could it have? Intriguing…"

"Look at this one," Levin called out from one of the nearby stones. The switch awe user was standing near the 'petal' of one of the further crystals, gazing intently at the center of the stone, trying to look through it. Ellie and Harker worked their way over to him, looking into the same crystal that he was. Ellie blinked in surprise at what she saw.

"There's… something at the center," she muttered. The petal that Levin was looking through was a little less cloudy than most of the others. Ellie still couldn't see all the way through it, but could make out a little further than any of the rest she'd observed. At the core of the crystal, there seemed to be a large dark shadow, some multi-colored object of some kind. More gemstones, perhaps? Was this large blue crystal some sort of precious stone incubator, perhaps?

"Perhaps we're looking at the source of the crystal's internal heat," Harker speculated. "Some geological thing or another than lets off a lot of heat, perhaps? Or perhaps… ah, maybe these are some kind of reverse geodes, with gemstones growing on the outside of the rocks rather than the inside? I wonder if I could cut through the stone to get to the center… does anyone have any remaining collapsible pickaxe on them or anything? I'd like to try and chip off the exterior layers and see what the inside of the thing are like, and maybe take some samples back to Loc Lac to study if I can."

Kerry humphed at the words though. "Chances are, though, that if you can feel the warmth through all that crystal, wouldn't whatever was at the center of the stone be too hot to carry?"

"The possibility of personal combustion is not reason enough to put a damper on science, my dear Lady Kerrigan. Though, I am impressed at your knowledge of heat transfer, my dear."

The bowgunner reddened a little at the compliment, but smiled at her hunting partner. "I've spent over a year hunting with you, Harker. Did you think none of all that science-y talk would wear off on me at all?"

"Ah, of course. You always were quite sharp, Lady Kerrigan." Ellie grinned at Kerry as the bowgunner's face brightened even more.

"I find this quite curious, though," Farren said. "These crystals must have taken years, centuries to properly grow and develop properly. Yet reports of the glowing light only began to reach Guild ears around a couple months ago. There were no signs of rock slides or shifting earth, so that means that these rock formations have been accessible for some time now. This can only lead us to the conclusion that, somehow or another, these crystals have only begun glowing as they are recently. But what circumstances bring about this glowing effect? Some… rare geological occurrence, or something else entirely?"

"Um, guys?" Nox called out from the deeper down the incline. "As intriguing as these crystals are, I'm afraid to say we may have other issues to deal with here soon… ones with sharp, pointy teeth, it seems."

Ellie followed the sound of the other sword and shield user's voice, Levin and Kerry close behind. Harker remained behind with Farren, continuing to study the crystals intently, now wanting to leave so quickly. Upon working her way around one of the larger crystals, the woman found Nox standing at the center of dip in the ice, standing right in the center of an enormous ring of ragged sticks and fur. Dozens, maybe hundreds of egg fragments lay scattered around the area as well, and dozens and dozens of blue-gray scales littered the ground nearby.

"This is definitely a Baggi nest," Nox muttered, scouring the area around the nest intently. "I've been wondering where this one was for a while now; could never really find it in that maze of caves back there. But… damn it; I never imagined it would be this large. Most Baggi nests are only a third this size at the largest; the Great Baggi in charge of this pack must be leading a small army if the nest is this large. This place looks recently occupied, too. It looks as though the alpha and its pack are just out hunting at the moment. If we stick around, they'll likely be back soon. This looks like it'll be a good opportunity to pick off a few of the bastards, take a sizable piece out of the Tundra's Baggi population."

"We're not here to kill Baggis, Noxramus," Farren said, coming around the corner and looking at the nest remains.

"Maybe _you're_ not," Nox grinned, "but I doubt that will make much of a difference to the Baggis when they come back and find the lot of us here in their nesting grounds. If you want to stay and study these crystals very long, then we're going to need to prepare ourselves for the monsters' return. You can ask them nicely to leave us alone if you think it'll work, but I'll meet them with my sword bared if that's all the same to you."

As if on cue, an eerie whooping sound began to echo through the large open room, followed by a symphony of higher pitched calls barking out in reply to the original call. Nox quickly glanced around the room, trying to determine where exactly the sounds were coming from, which of the dozen tunnels leading out of the room that the monsters were coming from: the dozen or so side tunnels connecting to the room made the task very hit or miss. Then he turned again to Farren, who had a worried look on his face. "Looks like you might have less time to study those rocks than we thought. You'd best find a hiding spot, Farren, and quickly."

The sounds of the Baggi calls grew more aggravated as they got closer and closer; apparently the creatures had caught wind of their scents and were pressing in to attack. The five hunters hurried to prepare themselves for the impending attack. The group of them worked their way over to one of the room's corners outside the dip in the floor, helping Farren drag his things to a safe place. The satchel of Dark Metal was heavy as ever, but they managed to get the bag over to where the researcher was planning to hide as well. After that, the hunters tried to set up in hiding places under and behind the edges of the crystals, near where Farren waited, intent on guarding the man against the oncoming rush of monsters.

It was nerve-wracking, waiting impatiently for the Baggis to arrive, while all the while the sounds of the yapping Baggi echoed around the room, growing progressively louder and louder as time went on. Each passing minute made Ellie more and more certain that the monsters were finally in the room with them, but still the calls seemed to grow louder with every passing minute.

Suddenly though, Ellie noticed Kerry's eyes darting around the room nervously, a look of confusion and uncertainty on her face. "What's wrong?" Ellie whispered nervously.

"Do you hear that?" the bowgunner asked, eyes still darting around. "Something's breaking… or cracking or something. Where is it coming from though?"

Ellie cocked her head, listening. It took a moment to make out anything besides the constant whooping sounds coming from the Baggis. However, eventually she was able to make out something different in the ambient noise of the room, like Kerry said, a soft but audible cracking, breaking sound, like the sound of a mirror or glass slowly shattering. Ellie glanced around warily. Where was the sound coming from? It was nearby, but for the life of her, Ellie couldn't figure out exactly where…

Then Ellie blinked in surprise, as a clattering noise suddenly rattled across the floor at her feet. She glanced down, and realized that there were shards of crystal bouncing across the floor a few feet away from her. Her eyes widened in realization as several more of the shards suddenly dropped from above, clattering away across the floor in front of her. In shocked realization, the sword and shield user glanced up, looking at one of the large crystalline structures that hung from the ceiling above her. Her eyes scoured each of the petals, before spotting what she feared to see: one of the massive crystal offshoots, the one farthest from the base of the precious stone, was cracking apart, breaking off somehow from the rest of the crystal structure. With a loud, ripping sound, the massive break tore across the rest of the crystal, and the large crystal broke free, dropping from the ceiling towards her.

Yelping in fright, Ellie dove out of the way of the oncoming crystal, just barely getting out of the way as the massive, glowing stone smashed into the ice below her, splintering the frozen earth below. As Ellie scooted away from the large gemstone, the crystal teetered for a moment or two before finally tilting over and smashing onto its side, just barely missing crushing Ellie's leg.

The sword and shield user sighed in relief as Levin rushed over from his own hiding place to check on her. "You okay?" he asked worriedly. "Geez, what happened?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine," she replied, grunting as she pushed herself back up to her feet. "The crystal just… dropped. I don't know why."

"But why would it drop?" Kerry asked quietly. "None of the other crystals look like they've broken, so why would this one?"

"Bad luck, maybe?" Ellie grumbled.

"Hey, guys," Nox muttered. "I think… we may have tipped off the Baggis."

Ellie cocked her head and frowned. The room was silent, dead silent. The Baggi pack must have heard the crash, because the sound of yipping and whooping had snapped to a halt. Or rather, had become more infrequent. Where the calls had once been frequent, almost constant, now the calls came only every ten or twenty seconds or so, calls of… organizing, flanking. The Baggis knew where the hunters were now, and they were consolidating themselves to strike effectively.

"We've got to get ready," the other sword and shield user said worriedly. "There's a lot of them, for sure, and their leader seems smart. We may need to-"

"What is this, what is this? This should not be happening…" Nox paused at the sound of Harker muttering to himself in concern. Ellie looked over and realized that the long sword user was standing over the crystal that had nearly dropped on her, a look of worry and concern on her face.

"What's wrong?" Kerry asked. "Did something…" However, her question ground to a halt as the other four hunters looked at the crystal structure. With shock, they realized that the odd stone was… shrinking. No, not shrinking, but… melting. From the sharp point of the stone, the crystal was breaking down like ice to water, a layer of viscous coating the stone as the whole thing began to dissolve away. Ellie watched in awe as a pool of melted crystal began to spread across the ground below them, streaming down towards the center of the dip in the floor. Some of the stuff washed across the sword and shield user's boots, but it didn't seem to stick to her at all.

Ellie realized that the cloudiness of the crystal was vanishing, and whatever was in the center of the stone was becoming clearer and clearer to her. She found herself forgetting about the approaching Baggis; her eyes focused completely on the melting crystal. Suddenly, Kerry gasped and stumbled back away from the crystal, her eyes wide in shock and terror. Ellie's breath caught in her own throat, and she found herself completely frozen as the shape at the center of the stone became fully visible.

It was a person, a human being floating listlessly at the center of the crystal. Ellie felt a wave of horror wash over her as the shape of the person and the smaller details became more focused. It was… a girl, a young woman. She couldn't have been much older than fifteen or sixteen years old, with a youthful but worn-out face with short-cropped blonde hair. She wore what looked like an old, battered hoodie, torn in several places, as well as blue jeans and dirty sneakers in just as bad condition. Burn marks and soot covering the rest of it, as though the girl had just rolled across a campfire or escaped from a forest fire.

The hunters and Farren could only watch in confusion as the crystal continued to melt, waiting uncertainly as the rest of the stone dissolved away, sliding down the icy slope to the center of the room. At long last, though, after several minutes, the last of the crystal slid off of the girl's body, somehow leaving her completely dry; not a trace of the crystal goop remained on her, as though she'd never been coated in crystal in the first place. No one of them could bring themselves to move, and could only stare down at the girl as she lay on the ice floor.

Harker was the first to snap out of the stupor, rushing forward to check and see if the girl was alive or not. Farren was not far behind, reaching out to check the girls pulse. At a single touch to the girls neck, the man blinked in surprise. "I don't believe it… this girl is still alive."

"She… she's a Lost," Levin muttered in shock. "She has to be. But this is… how… these crystals… are these the things that… that brought us here from where we came from?"

"Her heart is beating very slowly," Harker murmured seriously. "It's picking up speed though, getting back up to average beats per minute. The crystals… it must have acted as some sort of… hibernation chamber. Halted metabolism, frozen in time for… years. Unbelievable… I've considered hundreds of ways for the Lost to get from our time to this one, but I never imagined that such a thing as this could be possible…"

"The blue light." Ellie turned at Levin's words, and found her beloved staring with wide eyes at the crystals. Ellie's jaw dropped in realization. She'd been put off by the color of the crystals, and something had irked her about them, but… now she realized that the eerie light the crystals put off were indeed the same color of the light that had carried them from home to the hunter's world. She didn't really remember waking up that well but… had she really been inside one of these crystals? Had she…

"The crystal did that?" Kerry asked. Her eyes darted around the room. "Then… does that mean that… that the rest of the crystals in this room, all of them have Lost in them as well?"

Ellie's eyes darted around the room in shock. There were dozens, no, hundreds of the crystals scattered through the room. And there was a chance that each of them might carry a member of the Lost inside of them? With a twinge of fear, Ellie remembered the story she'd heard over a year ago, when sailing to Boma Village; stories of Lost waking up in the Tundra and freezing to death, their bodies found months later. Would all these people suffer the same fate? She couldn't allow that!

She nearly jumped a foot in the air, though, when the girl on the floor suddenly coughed violently. A string of gasping and wheezing followed close behind, as the girl twisted and writhed painfully on the ground. Harker continued to hold onto her, keeping her from harming herself as she gasped for air, trying to breathe. After a few seconds, she spun around and vomited up a spray of the liquefied crystal, emptying her stomach onto the ice floor. That was followed with several more seconds of gasping, before the girl finally pushed herself around and opened her eyes.

Immediately, her expression changed to fear, her dark brown eyes darting back and forth between the six people standing over her. She twisted and thrashed wildly, trying to break free of Harker's grip and screaming at them. "Where am I? Who are you people? Let me go! Please, let me go! Where am I?"

"You're safe! Calm down!" Harker replied sharply, keeping his grip on the girl's arms. "I'm not going to hurt you, I promise!"

"Please, calm down miss," Farren said, crouching next to them. "I'm a doctor… of sorts. I need to make sure you're alright. You've had a… traumatic experience. I need to make certain you're okay!"

"No! Who are you people?" the girl screeched. "Why… why are you dressed like that? Where am I? Leave me alone!"

Ellie glanced down and winced a little. She realized that waking up surrounded by five people wearing armor probably wasn't a good thing. Hers and Kerry's were probably the worst, all plates and jagged edges; Levin and Noxramus weren't that bad, all blue and grey leather, but Harker's mash-up of a half-dozen different things probably wasn't helping either. The sword and shield user blinked in surprise as Kerry suddenly pushed forward, squatting in front of the girl, who flinched back at the approach. But the bowgunner reached forward, and placed a hand softly on the girl's shoulder.

"It's all right," Kerry said soothingly. The girl was still breathing sharply, scared, but she stopped screaming and struggling for a moment, a look of confusion in her eyes. "We're not going to hurt you, I promise. We only want to make certain you're alright. You've been brought here from very far away, so you may be afraid, but don't worry. My friends here… they're from the same place you are, and we can help you in any way you need us to. Okay?"

The girl was silent for a moment, eyes still darting fearfully between the six people around her. Finally, though, she nodded slowly. "O-okay…"

Kerry smiled gently, an odd thing to see on a face surrounded by the plates and horns taken off the hide of a Diablos. "That's a good girl. Now please tell us, what's your name, sweetie? Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"

"No, I…" the girl stammered. "My… my name is Marie. I… it's very cold here."

Ellie frowned, realizing that the girl had been shivering for a while now, and immediately reached for her pouch, and pulled out one of the many Hot Drink bottles she'd brought with her. She passed it quickly to Kerry, who uncorked the thing and held it out for the girl, Marie, to drink. The girl looked at the bottle untrustingly, fearfully; Ellie had to admit the thick red fluid did not look very appealing.

"It's all right," Kerry cooed softly. "It'll keep you warm, I promise. You'll feel better instantly. Please. It's too cold out here for you to go without it."

Marie hesitated for a moment longer, then nodded, accepting the bottle and drinking from it slowly. After a moment or two, the girl's face relaxed a little, warmth and color flooding her previously pale face. With a smile, Kerry nodded encouragingly at Marie. "Well done, dear. Don't worry now, you're safe, and we'll make sure you-"

Suddenly, a loud whooping sound filled the cavern. And the calls were close, very close! Levin and Nox cursed, and the hunters' eyes began darting around the room. The Baggis! Ellie cursed herself for forgetting that the creatures were still out there, and closing in on them with every passing moment. Marie's eyes were darting around again, a look of confusion and terror reappearing on her face.

"I'm afraid to say it, Kerry, but I think we're not as safe as you think," Nox muttered, pulling his sword from its sheath. Marie's eyes darted to the weapon, and she gasped in horror, covering her face in fear.

"He's got a sword! Why? Why does he have a sword? What was that sound? What's coming? Why aren't we safe? Oh no oh no oh no no no no… not monsters. Not more monsters…"

"Get her to one of the corners of the room, Kerry," Levin said, pulling his switch axe over his shoulder and glancing around warily. Marie began jabbering in fear at the sight of the large weapon, but Kerry pulled her close and quickly helped her to her feet. "Keep an eye on her and Farren. The rest of us will run interference for the Baggis. If it's just one pack, we should be able to fight them off with four of us, without much hassle."

"Right," Kerry nodded, quickly helping Marie over to one of the far walls, with Farren close behind, the researcher hoisting his large satchel of Dark Metal over his back. A large rend in the ice edged a couple yards into the wall of the room, allowing a spot for Marie and Farren to huddle against the wall as Kerry guarded the entry. The girl gasped as the bowgunner unraveled the weapon from over her back, the large weapon a very intimidating thing to behold.

Once again, Ellie, Levin, Harker, and Nox set themselves up, preparing to defend the two civilians from the oncoming Baggis and their leader. Ellie tensed up as the sound of Marie muttering in fear echoed into her ears, and her grip tightened on the hilt of her sword; she had to protect this girl!

The sound of Baggis began to increase in frequency and enthusiasm as the sounds grew closer, the creatures growing more and more excited as they closed in on their prey. Even the deeper howls of the Great Baggi seemed to grow more bloodthirsty as it got closer, egging on his minions. Marie seemed to be getting closer and closer to full panic as the sounds got closer, the sound of her hyperventilating getting louder. Ellie tensed even further as shadows of blue and grey began dancing in the reflections of the ice.

Suddenly, a hissing sound caught Ellie's attention and her head darted to the side. She immediately found herself looking into the eyes of a Baggi, the blue and grey creature coming up to her mid-torso. It had its head cocked back and its mouth open, the back of its throat collecting a large blob of the pale blue sleep-inducing bile the creatures were known for. Instinctively, the huntress swung her shield arm at the monster, smashing its face against the crystal she was hiding behind and gouging into it with the sharp Gobul spines that lined the metal plate. The glob of blue goop sprayed messily against the blue stone, the cold of it making the gunk harden and freeze in moments as the monster tumbled away in pain.

The monster howled out of anger and pain, shaking the lines of blood off of its face and leaping back away from Ellie. It began hissing angrily at her again, and the sound of more bile collecting in the back of its throat could be heard. Ellie quickly pulled her shield back into a defensive stance, ready to block the oncoming goop. However, as the creature cocked its head to spit at her, a large stone smacked against the beast's head, sending it tumbling back and making the bile splatter harmlessly to the ice below it. The Baggi barked in anger, eyes searching for the source of what struck it. Ellie looked incredulously at the stone as well, and blinked in surprise when she realized that it was a chunk of the glowing blue crystal.

Remembering what had happened earlier, Ellie immediately jumped backwards, just in time as another of the massive glowing crystals broke free of its base and came crashing down to the floor, smashing the surprised Baggi underneath its weight. A splash of blood sprayed against Ellie's shield as the sharp edge of the stone cut through the monster's body, tearing the beast apart top to bottom. Ellie tumbled back awkwardly as the crystal teetered for a moment before tilting over and dropping towards her, the long side smashing into the ground only a few feet in front of her.

Ellie paused a moment to catch her breath from the surprising last few seconds. She heard Levin calling out her name, asking if she was okay, and waved her hand, signaling she was fine. However, as she was waving, another flash of blue caught her eye as yet another Baggi rounded the massive crystal she was using as cover, leaping on top of the glowing gem and charging across it towards her, teeth snapping wildly. Ellie swung her sword awkwardly, panicking at the sudden attack; but the swing was too soon, and the huntress knew it would miss the Baggi's chest by several inches.

However, the Baggi's feet suddenly gave out from underneath the creature, and the monster tumbled a bit, its head bobbing as it tried to regain its foothold. But the motion dipped its head forward slightly, just enough for its face to get in the way of the blade. With a sharp cut, Ellie's blade seared through the monster's leathery skin and tore into the beast's eye, killing the Baggi almost instantly. Ellie hadn't been expecting the blade to connect, so at the weapon's abrupt stop, the huntress lost her own footing and tumbled onto her backside. The Baggi's corpse tumbled down next to her, slumping to the ground, its blood pooling together with the first one and streaming downhill to the center of the room.

"You okay?" Levin called out.

"Yeah, I'm fine!" Ellie replied, gasping for breath. The shadows of Baggi were dancing everywhere now, and Ellie heard Nox let out a battle cry on the other side of several of the crystals, the sounds of Baggis barking and howling not far behind, as well as the sounds of battle. She looked back at the fallen crystal; how had she managed to kill the Baggi? It should have been the perfect opportunity to sink it's teeth into her, but…

Then she noticed how slick the surface of the crystal was becoming, how droplets were forming on the sides of the stone and sliding down the sides. The crystal was liquefying, just like the last one! The gem was slowly becoming clearer as well, and the shadow inside was looking to be another Lost just like the first one.

"Harker!" Ellie called out. "Help! I think another one is waking up!"

The long sword user was next to her in a flash, watching as the second crystal slowly melted away, revealing the person inside bit by bit. The mad scientist watched with a note of fascination in his eyes, but a look of extreme worry seemed to be the predominant expression on his face. A squawking caught the two hunters' attention, as a pair of Baggis leapt over the top of the crystal structure the pair of them stood behind. Ellie readied her sword, but the long sword user's speed proved far superior to her own, and his blade snapped out of its sheathe and cut out at the monsters' chest, gouging both of them open from a distance several yards from where the hunters stood, a distance Ellie wasn't capable of with her own weapon on even the best days. Another pair dashed around the corner, and Ellie struck out at them, thrusting her blade into the throat of the first and smashing her shield against the second's snout. While the second teetered back, stunned, Ellie pulled her sword from the carcass of the first and swung it down into the first's side, piercing the monster's heart and killing it.

The sound of fighting was starting to fill the room as the corpse of the Baggi dropped from Ellie's blade. Nox was shouting excitedly from wherever he was, the sounds of Baggis screeching and barking in pain coming from his direction. The sound of the other sword and shield user's laughter seemed borderline… maniacal, making Ellie shiver a little from the noise. Ellie could see Levin, though, and the switch axe user was surrounded by over a half dozen of the little beasts; he was fending them off well enough, though, his weapon in sword mode and swinging wildly at the beasts with speeds he wouldn't have been able to manage with his old great sword, each connecting swing letting off a blast of electricity that sent the struck Baggis flying, killing them either by blade or by voltage. And the concussive bangs of Kerry's bowgun echoed through the room every second or two, tailed closely by the sound of a Baggi screeching in pain.

"Don't worry, Miss Eleanor," the long sword user said encouragingly, scooting closer to the crystal. "You keep fighting back the Baggis, and I'll get this one to safety once they're awake. Two new Lost shouldn't be that much different than one to protect. I'll get back to helping you three once Lady Kerrigan has them hidden away safe and…"

Harker was cut off as a deeper howling sound emanated through the room. Immediately, every Baggi Ellie could see froze where they stood, tilting their heads to the sound. The moment of wait was enough for each hunter to take down one or two of the creatures; the sound of Marie panicking at the sound could be just barely heard above the loud call. Then the sound cut off, and immediately the horde of Baggis that had been filling the room changed their movements completely, each of them leaping around in circles around the hunters, darting around them rather than charging in to attack, leaping in every couple seconds to nip at them before pulling away to avoid the hunters' attacks.

Ellie found herself getting pushed back by the still oncoming hordes of Baggis, sliding against a having trouble attacking the beasts now that they weren't charging in as recklessly as they had been. But what was with these numbers? She'd chased off several packs of Baggis that had attacked the caravans she and Levin had escorted between Hearth and the port, but she'd never seen the monsters come out in such numbers. This was the nest of creatures, to be sure, but still, she'd attacked Jaggi nests before and the monsters hadn't had half as many numbers as the Baggis seemed to have gathered in. With every one she brought down, another pair seemed to slide out of the shadows and charge in to attack, and none of the other hunters seemed to be faring much better. Levin and Harker were taking them out in greater numbers, with their longer reach, but each had quite a few more monsters around them than she did.

Out of the corners of her eyes, she occasionally caught sight of a much larger shape slinking around the room, its reflection bouncing around the icy walls of the cavern. The Great Baggi was in the room, somewhere, but keeping out of sight, waiting for the right time to strike.

Ellie glanced down at the newly fallen crystal that Harker was still standing over; her own battling had carried her several yards away from where the thing had fallen. Over half of the stone was gone, and Ellie could make out the shape of an older, middle-aged man, with streaks of white in his hair and a rugged, close-cut beard. He looked fairly well-built, and was wearing a long coat and had a rusty old rifle clutched to his chest. Ellie realized, though, that the man's arm, clutching tightly to the weapon, was the only arm he had. The other cut off just above the elbow, wrapped up in a pile of gauze and bandage. There were still blotches of red covering the bandages, and it wasn't completely tied together, either. Had he been… put to sleep while someone had been trying to heal his wounds? Harker would have his hands full getting him across the room to where Kerry was watching over Marie; Farren should be able to make sure the man's wounds were taken care of properly once he was there.

Suddenly, yet another crashing sound echoed through the room, and Ellie's heart sank. She could hear the sound of Nox, somewhere in the room, still laughing insanely. Suddenly, she could hear Levin cursing over the sounds of the yipping Baggis. "Damn it! Guys, another one of the crystals dropped over here! I think… ack! Another one's breaking off too! I think all of these are waking up!"

Another crash followed the man's words, sounding off yet another of the massive rocks breaking away from the shoots they'd been attached too. A couple howls of pain echoed through the room, signaling that the falling stone might have dropped down on a couple of the Baggis. But there still seemed to be an infinite amount of them, coming out of the walls and the cracks in the ice. But the Baggis weren't Ellie's biggest worry, but rather, the splintering and cracking of the crystals, and the waking up of the Lost nestled within. Even as she smashed her shield against the face of an approaching Baggi, she could see cracks beginning to spread along the edges of the very crystalline structure that she stood next to.

A panicked, pained screaming suddenly could be heard over the din of the room. Ellie turned in surprise; she didn't recognize the voice. But she caught sight of Harker standing over the second of the Lost that had… woken up. The man was flailing wildly, trying to crawl away from Harker, while at the same time trying to swing around the rifle he held with his one arm. The stub of his other arm was starting to bleed again, though, and Harker was desperately trying to calm the man down to treat his wounds, as well as trying to keep the Baggis coming after the both of them fended off. When the man finally noticed the little monsters surrounding them, he began to panic even further, giving up on trying to hold the gun properly and simply grabbing his weapon by the barrel and swinging wildly in all directions trying to hit anything.

Harker was trying desperately to calm the man down, urging the man to relax so that Harker could care for his injuries, but the long sword user's armored appearance, as well as the oncoming and persistent Baggis, made the man nearly blind with terror, lashing out at anything that moved. The blood from the man's arm was flowing increasingly faster, the man's panic starting to loosen the already poorly-applied gauze and wrappings on the remains of his arm. The commotion was attracting more and more Baggis, making it a challenge for Harker to keep the creature fended off while also trying to attend to the newly awakened Lost.

Suddenly, the long sword user's arm snapped out, and his fist cracked across the older man's jaw, stunning the paraplegic. One wide sweep of Harker's blade followed close behind, cutting into a couple of the Baggis and sending the rest leaping back. As the new Lost wobbled, dazed, Harker grabbed the man by the scruff of his collar, and began dragging the man away from the encroaching Baggis toward where Kerry stood defending young Marie and Farren. The long sword user had to slash back at a couple of the monsters that tried to follow him; the length of his blade was great enough to keep a majority of the little biters at bay, while those that braved too closely were slashed. It didn't take long for the long sword user to drag the man over to where Farren was pulling out some medical supplies so he could help the man. Marie was cowering in the corner, frozen stiff in terror as the calls and howls of the Baggis and the sounds of battle echoed around the room.

Ellie had to duck out of the way as one of the crystals dropped off the structure next to her, the gemstone immediately beginning to haze and melt away. Ellie cursed loudly. The crystals were falling faster and faster with each passing minute! There were, what, five more of the stones melting away right now, and only four of them were up and able to try and help whoever woke up? And there were still more and more waking up, and the Baggis still seemed endless! And from the sound of it, Nox seemed to be completely maddened over on his side of the room, and didn't seem to be in an entirely sober state of mind. That left only her, Levin, and Harker to deal with the newly awakened Lost… how were they supposed to help them with all the Baggi around though? It seemed…

"Ellie! Behind you!"

The sword and shield user quickly spun around at Levin's shout, pulling up her shield to block. However, she'd been expecting a Baggi to be flying towards her, rather than a much larger maw slamming into her shield and knocking her back. A loud bark of anger roared at her as the leader of the pack, the Great Baggi, rushed around the side of the crystals, stepping over the fallen stones and snapping wildly at Ellie. The creature's frill flared wildly as the monster snapped at Ellie, fangs flashing and scratching against the hunter's shield. Ellie found herself getting blasted further and further back, the pack leaders size and violent aggression catching her off guard and forcing her into a defensive fight.

The creature howled wildly as Ellie pulled back, a fury and frustration clear in its eyes and tone. For the first time, Ellie realized that the onslaught of Baggis actually seemed to have slowed down a little bit. Had they actually finally made a big enough dent on the size of the pack to finally force the leader of them all to make an appearance? Yet the room still seemed filled to the brim with the ankle-biters; even with the appearance of the pack leader, the Great Baggi had a veritable army continuing to pour into the room, tearing wildly at the hunters.

The Great Baggi was much bigger than she'd thought it would be when it finally showed up. She'd seen the one that Nat had fought during the hunter's exam, but that one had to have been about a yard or two shorter than this one was, and this one was easily twice as big as the largest of the Great Jaggis that she'd taken down near Boma Village. Thinking about it, Ellie supposed she should've realized the beast would be exceptionally large, considering how tough it would have to be to maintain control of such a large pack. And still it slid through the crystal structures without the slightest sign of difficulty or hesitation, slithering around giant gems after Ellie like a snake through the brush, tailing after her without slowing even as she danced and ducked away from its attacks.

But eventually, Ellie managed to pull back away from the creature long enough to get her bearings straight once again, twisting around and under the edges of one of the dozens of crystal flowers, until she was able to pull far enough away to bring her blade to bear properly and prepare for the creature's oncoming attack. The Great Baggi rushed after her in a berserk rage, fangs flashing in the pale blue light as it snapped its teeth at her. But Ellie's sword leapt out as it charged, slashing across the monster's face, leaving a large gash up the beast's jaw and cutting a piece out of the monster's frill. The monster yelped in pain, but surprised Ellie by continuing to attack, twisting its body around and swinging its thick tail at the huntress.

The impact was powerful, sending Ellie sliding backwards across the ice and nearly making her lose her balance. But the monster was nimble on the ice, and was able to leap forward across the slick surface, tailing after her. Ellie quickly waved her sword in front of herself, trying to ward off the creature from continuing its assault. To her credit, the monster slid to a halt, but not in hesitation; the second it did so, it cocked its head back a little, and Ellie could hear a gross gurgling sound welling up from inside the monster's throat. Immediately, she pulled up her shield to block, right before a massive blob of pale blue gunk sprayed out of the creature's gullet.

The glop smashed against Ellie's shield, oozing around the edges of the metal wall. Ellie shook her arm wildly, trying to get the vile substance off of her before the stuff could really start affecting her; she could smell the powerful chloroform effect of the bile seeping through her as the thick scent of it washed over her. She stumbled a bit, coughing as the virulent smell seeped into her, stumbling a bit as a wave of nausea and weariness hit her hard. The Great Baggi seemed to grin wickedly at the sight of the sword and shield user stumbling, and leapt forward, twisting its body around and smashing the huntress in the shield, easily breaking through her weakened defensed and slamming into her chest with its thick tail and sending her tumbling painfully across the ice.

Ellie struggled to get herself back up to her feet, but despite the pain in her chest and arms, the effects of the monster's spit was strong, and Ellie was having trouble getting the strength to bring herself back up to her feet. Several of the small Baggis danced around her excitedly, snapping at her and trying to get in to finish her off. Ellie waved her sword arm wildly, the drunken swings not finding a connection, but enough to keep the little monsters at bay. However, one of the ankle-biters managed to get through as Ellie's swings became slower and more reckless, one of the braver monsters leaping forward and sinking its teeth into her wrist. Ellie cried out in pain, and she swung her shield out, smashing the Baggi in the snout, making it loosen its grip and sending it skidding away from her.

Ellie could feel a line of warm blood eking across her arm. Most of the Baggi's bite had been deflected by the thick metallic scales of the Lagiacrus armor the huntress wore, but the little monsters were stronger than their Jaggi cousins, and several of the little creature's fangs had broken the skin. The monsters were getting more and more excited at the sight of Ellie losing strength, the effects of the blue bile still seeping through her and making her weaker and weaker. She tried desperately to wake herself up, to get herself back to her feet, but she just couldn't concentrate long enough to do so, or work up the strength. She grimaced at the sight of the Great Baggi bearing down on her, the beast confident that now was the time to strike. Ellie looked around, hoping for help, but none of the other hunters were in sight, and the sounds of battle still raged in all corners of the room. She held up her shield awkwardly as the Great Baggi closed in, hoping to slow the creature down long enough for the bile to wear off for one of the other hunters to catch sight of her situation. The Great Baggi seemed to smirk victoriously at her , and lunged at her, jaw open and fangs gleaming.

Suddenly, a flash of blue and wave of maniacal laughter flew at the Great Baggi from the side, slamming into the massive pack leader from the side. A spray of dark blood gushed out from the Great Baggi's side as a flash of steel tore into the monster's hide. Ellie and the Baggis surrounding her gaped in shock at the sight of Noxramus plowing into the side of the pack leader, sword tearing into the monster's thick hide while his shield hand swung over and clamped down on the beast's frill as he stabbed into the Great Baggi's flank. Ellie's eyes widened at the other sword and shield user's expression; the man had a borderline psychotic expression, with a wide, fanatical smite plastered across his face as he ripped into the Great Baggi's body.

The pack leader howled in pain, shaking wildly in an attempt to shake the hunter off of it. However, whatever grip Nox had on the Great Baggi's frill, it was more than enough to remain clinging to the monster as it bucked and shook. Its attempts to dislodge the blue hunter seemed futile, however, as Nox continued to laugh and stab into the monsters body repeatedly. Almost immediately, the Great Baggi tumbled away, shaking wildly. The Baggis were close behind, tailing after their panicked leader, trying to get after the man that was attacking it.

As the monster and its followers tumbled away, Ellie forced herself back to her feet, trying to shake off the lingering feeling weariness that the Baggi's bile had left behind. However, before she could do anything, a pained cry tore across the room, yet another voice that Ellie didn't recognize. Her eyes darted around, the motion nearly dropping her on her backside again with the drowsiness of the goop still affecting her. The sound of panicked screaming could be heard just on the other side of several of the other crystalline structures, and well as loud, violent cursing coming from Levin. Ellie turned to check on Nox, but the hunter seemed to be holding his own, crawling all over the pack leader and continuing to swing his blade into the beast's flank.

Ellie leapt over and around the nearest of the crystals, vaulting over one of the fallen stones holding more Lost inside; the effort was challenging with the effect of the goop still wearing off. The pair of gems nearest to her were getting clearer, the two sleeping people inside appearing vaguely in the form of two hazy shadows, meaning there wasn't long before they would be completely melted; but someone else was awake by the sounds of it, and as much as she wanted to help Nox take down the Great Baggi, getting the awakening Lost to safety took priority.

As she turned the corner around the next of the crystal structures, she caught sight of a rather messy scene. On the ground, pressed against the base of one of the crystal flowers, were a pair of Lost, one boy and one girl, siblings by the looks of them, twins unless Ellie missed her guess. Both had the same red hair and facial structures and general height. Both looked as worn and beaten up as Marie and the older man had been. The girl was clutching her arm, holding tight to a wound where blood was gushing to the ground; a bite mark, Ellie realized. Levin stood over the two of them, his weapon in axe mode, trying to wrestle away a Baggi that had firmly clamped its teeth down onto his forearm. With a swing of his arm, he smashed the little creature's skull against a nearby wall, stunning the monster long enough for the hunter to shake it free, before bringing the blunt edge of his weapon down onto the monster's body, crushing it. Several more were circling in, though, the sight of easy prey too tempting for them to resist. Levin rushed to get between the Baggis and the two Lost, catching one of the little monsters' tail swipes on the waist as they leapt at the twins, before knocking the ankle-biters back and smashing one with his weapon.

The other Baggi rushed forward to attack as Levin pulled back to pry his weapon free of the other one. Ellie dashed forward, planting herself between the beast and the two newly awakened Lost. The girl screamed as Ellie swung her arm around, bashing her shield into the monsters chest, sending it tumbling to the ground. With a quick swipe of her weapon, her blade slashed through the Baggi's throat, ending its life.

"Thanks," Levin muttered tiredly.

Ellie nodded, before quickly turned her attention to the two Lost. The pair of them cringed as the sword and shield user approached them; Ellie didn't blame them, since her armor could be quite menacing for those that had never seen it before. But she tried to soothe them, a challenge considering the sounds of Baggis screeching around the room, as well as the sounds of bowgun shots from Kerry, and the Great Baggi roaring in the background, with Nox still laughing madly. And Baggis were closing in again, the little creatures peeking around corners at them and barking threateningly.

Ellie looked around for Harker; they needed to get these two to safety quickly, and hurry up making sure the rest of the awakening Lost were safe as well. A clash of metal and the screech of Baggis, Ellie turned to see the long sword user tearing his way through a small collection of the little monsters. The hunter seemed winded though, as five or six of the little creatures tried to get under the swings of his sword. The madman had wedged himself into a poor location, a closer quarters location where several of the crystal flowers were closer together, making it a challenge for Harker to use his weapon to its greatest effect. The hunter was sharp, though, and as one of the Baggis tried to sneak up behind him, one of Harker's hands went to his hunter's knife, cutting out at the monster and tearing a gash across the beast's face, sending it tumbling away, clawing at its face in pain.

"This can't keep up," Ellie heard Levin grumble quietly. "There's just too many of them, and the new Lost are waking up too quickly. If we don't start scaring them away or kill their leader, this will end… badly."

"No… ow. No kidding."

Ellie turned to look at her beloved, and realized that the man was far more beaten up than he'd been the last time she'd seen him. Besides the new wound on his arm, several other puncture wounds lined his arms and legs, and scratches were all over him. A couple potion bottles were on the floor, signaling that his injuries may have been worse than even what she saw. The man saw the look she was giving him and smirked wryly, motioning to the weapon slung across his back.

"This thing is a little harder to defend with than I thought it'd be. Not very wide, and too much damage could break the machinery inside. I've been… ah, forced to stay on the offensive rather than sticking back and holding them off."

"I see," Ellie replied worriedly. "Harker! Hurry up! We need to get these two to safety!"

"I'm somewhat busy right now, Miss Eleanor!" the long sword user replied in exasperation, cutting down another pair of Baggi and pushing past another three. "Things are rolling downhill a little faster than I feel I can keep up with! There are a couple more crystals over here that are close to being fully melted away, and there are at least five more spread through the room that have broken off and are beginning to melt as well. All the other crystals in the room are looking a bit precarious as well, it seems. I fear we may be in a bit more trouble in a few minutes than we are in right now."

The three Baggis tailed after Harker, following the long sword user towards where Ellie and Levin stood. The two hunters rushed forward to meet them, Ellie catching one with her sword while Levin's weapon snapped to sword mode and cut into the other two, leaving a spray of the monsters' blood splattered across the ground. The two Lost twins cringed and shouted in fear at the violent show, pulling themselves even tighter together in terror at the show of bloodshed. Ellie felt somewhat guilty at so abruptly immersing the pair into the gore of the hunt, but it was either that or let them get even more injured.

"How much more do we need to put up with?" Ellie mumbled.

"It isn't much, but there may be some good news," Harker said, gasping for breath. "The numbers of Baggi coming into the room seem to be dwindling. If the calculations the Guild have on Baggi populations are any at all accurate, then there should be only thirty or forty more Baggis remaining in the pack. I'd ask Noxramus what his professional opinion on the matter is, but… the man seemed somewhat preoccupied the last time I saw him."

"Thirty or forty?" Levin groaned. "We must have taken down twice that many already! How is this Great Baggi in charge of so many of the damn things?"

"It's quite large, it seems," Harker replied. "Baggis are far more respecting of size and strength than their cousins the Jaggis are. The bigger a Great Baggi, the more numbers it will be able to control without losing control of its underlings. It doesn't surprise me that this one has such dominion over its territory, but that it's had time to gather such forces without catching the Guild's attention does."

"Save your respect," Ellie said, as she and Harker helped the twins to their feet. They were obviously reluctant to travel with two heavily-armored unknown people, but the calls of Baggi echoing around the room were a powerful motivator. "If we're going to save all these people, we're going to need that Great Baggi dead. Will that scare off the Baggis?"

"Possibly," the long sword user replied uncertainly. "Though…"

"Though what?" Levin asked.

"Though… with such a large pack, the loss of the leader could just as easily result in a battle for dominance between the remaining Baggi. Or, just complete and total anarchy."

"That's not encouraging!"

"I'm not trying to be encouraging, my friend," Harker sighed. "I'm only being pragmatic."

"More…" Ellie turned at the quiet, fearful words of the girl she was helping move to the hiding place Kerry was defending. "More are coming? No… no, they'll eat us. They'll kill us. No no no no… we're going to die, we're going to die…"

"Like hell we are," Ellie muttered. "We're going to live, one way or another, we just have to-"

The sword and shield user's words cut off as they suddenly stumbled upon another pair of awakened Lost, the last of the melted stone eking away down the incline towards the center of the room. One was a tattered-looking older woman, with streaks of white and gray sliding through her hair, and the other was a little boy, not much older than ten unless Ellie missed her guess. Both were coughing painfully, vomiting up the remainder of the crystal that remained in their bodies and looking around in confusion.

"Oh no," Harker muttered next to Ellie as they both gazed on it shock. "They… they melted too quickly. We should have had a few more minutes. Unless… perhaps the thawing process is picking up speed… fascinating… perhaps the speed in indicative of-"

"Now is not the time, Harker!" Levin shouted, rushing over to help the pair to their feet. The pair of them were showing the same signs of fear as the others had, and the sounds of Baggis returning were getting louder and louder. The older woman was in a state of near panic, though the younger boy seemed mostly confused above all else. "We need to get these two to safety! There are more waking up, and we need to hurry!"

"I fear there may be greater issues to deal with," Harker replied. "It seems that the speed at which the crystals are melting is speeding up. If it keeps going at the current rate, more Lost will be waking up faster than we can deal with them."

"Then what are we supposed to do?" Ellie gasped.

"We might have to take Noxramus' lead in the whole thing. Our best defense may need to be an abrupt, outstanding offence. Finish off the pack leader and its minions quickly and decisively. I'll try and continue gathering up the awakened, of course, but you and Levin will need to go hunt down the remaining Baggis."

Ellie frowned. She trusted Harker, but didn't like the idea of leaving the defense of the awakening Lost to only him and Kerry. As the three of them, towing along the frantic and terrified Lost, reached the corner where the bowgunner was still holding defending them, Ellie couldn't help but feel increasingly worried. Kerry was looking just as weary as the rest of the hunters were, and from the look of her ammo pouch, the woman likely had less than a fifth of her shots remaining. Then what? She'd be forced to beat the monsters to death with the back of her bowgun? She wasn't the type to cower back under such conditions. Farren was actively treating the Lost that were there, taking primary care of the man with the lost arm. What Hot Drinks were available were being passed around, and eventually being drunk after some hesitation.

There seemed to be a couple Lost there that Ellie didn't remember seeing before though. Two small children and a young man about the same age as her sat against the wall, looking around fearfully. One of the children had large makeshift bandages covering one of his legs, and several layers of gauze wrapped around the young man's face, covering his right eye. But where had they come from? A few broken-off "petals" on some of the nearby crystal flowers gave Ellie all the answer she needed. She hadn't even heard them fall from all the battling in the room!

The researcher rushed forward at the sight of the hunters and approaching newly awakened Lost. "Damn it, what are you all doing out there?" he muttered. "Can you not get them here quicker? No. Sorry, I know you're trying but… damn it."

"Harker thinks we might need to go on the offensive," Levin said, talking to both Kerry and Farren. "Make a push and finish the Great Baggi and its pack off. If nothing else, we should be able to kill off the pack leader, scaring off the minions."

"Can you do it quickly enough?" Kerry asked uncertainly. She shot a worried look at the collection of Lost that had gathered behind her. "The numbers waking up are growing larger and faster. If you take too long taking the monster down, the ones waking up would be left wide open."

"I know, I know," Levin growled, a torn look of frustration on his face. "But it's either that a war of attrition with them, and with all the Lost here waking up like they are, that's not something I think we can pull off. Harker will still be hurrying around to pick up new ones that wake up, and he's quick enough to get around the room, but I don't know how long Nox will be able to last, even with his penchant for taking down Baggis."

"I guess so," Kerry frowned. A bellow of anger and loud crashing made all the hunters look worriedly in the direction of the sound. "Then you should hurry up. Nox passed by, clinging to the pack leader not that long ago. He looked… and sounded like he had things under, er, 'control', but it looked like the Great Baggi was putting up a hell of a fight trying to shake him. You'll need to-"

A rumble of footsteps caught the group's attention. A furious howl of pain and frustration bellowed out, closer than they'd expected it to be, right before the Great Baggi itself barreled around one of the nearest crystal flowers, charging straight towards them. But the creature wasn't aiming for them; Nox was still hanging to the side of the monster's flank, laughing maniacally and stabbing into the creature's side. Over a dozen Baggi tailed after their leader, trying to snap at the feet of the hanger-on. The Great Baggi was shaking and bucking, trying to get the hunter loose and consistently failing. Long lines of blood sprayed down the monster's body from the dozen or more wounds that covered the Great Baggi's body from where the hunter had repeatedly stabbed it.

A sudden stab from the other sword and shield user made the Great Baggi stumble from the pain, and the monster tumbled sideways. The momentum carried the monster straight into a wall, slamming up against the ice and stone, with Nox caught right between the large creature's weight and the wall. Even with the man in a state of near insanity, the abrupt collision against the stone made Nox cry out in pain, though somehow he managed to keep clinging to the Great Baggi's frill. For a moment, Ellie thought she could see a look of realization on the monster's face as the other sword and shield user tried to struggle back into a better position. However, the Great Baggi crouched slightly, and once again, _intentionally, _pushed off and slammed its body once again into the ice wall, making Nox cry out again in pain. However, the hunter only continued to laugh, struggling to keep hold and keep stabbing, but the monster pulled back, and for a third time twisted and slammed the hunter against the wall, this time dislodging the damaged man and sending him to a crumpled heap to the floor.

With a bark of success, the Great Baggi leapt away from the bedraggled hunter, shouting to its minions, who danced and hopped around, leaping in to nip at Nox. Ellie stared in shock at the pack leader as the Baggis began to circle around it. Despite the beating, the numerous, terrible wounds that Nox had inflicted on the beast, it still stood, apparently strong, over the remainder of its pack. With a howl of vengeance, it snapped orders to its minions, and several of the Baggis rushed forward to attack the other sword and shield user.

Ellie had thought Nox unconscious, and moved to assist him, but as the creatures came in to attack, the man suddenly twisted to his feet, sword snapping out and cutting into the throat of one Baggi while his shield spun and crashed into the snout of another, sending both knocked back across the ice and making the rest stop in hesitation. A strangled laugh came from the blue hunter's throat as he pushed himself upright, and the twisted, eerie smile Ellie had seen before still graced Nox's face as he giggled, waving his sword menacingly at the pack. He wasn't without damage, though; the beating against the wall had taken its toll. His shield had a noticeable dent in it and his sword was chipped in several places. The man himself had a large bruise on his face, and two trails of blood came down his face from his mouth and his forehead. Ellie could only imagine what kind of pain the man was feeling after such a beating, but the expression on his face showed none of it, only the clear desire to keep massacring the blue monsters.

The Great Baggi snorted angrily at the sight, clearly disappointed in the hunter's continued survival. Then it tilted its head, as though surprise, and suddenly its eyes snapped over to where Ellie stood. The huntress blinked in surprise, then realized that the sound of panicked screaming was coming from behind her. She'd been so enraptured by the battle between Nox and the Great Baggi that she'd nearly forgotten about the newly awakened Lost! All of those younger than her, as well as a couple of the older, were shouting in fear at the sight of the massive monster and its pack. The older man, the paraplegic, was fighting awkwardly against Farren, trying to wrestle his rifle from the researcher's grasp, and a couple of the smallest of them were trying to run, though Harker and Kerry were doing their best to keep them hidden away in the crevice.

Ellie turned back to the Great Baggi, and her blood turned cold as a very sinister… very hungry look came over the creature's face. The pack leader gave a quick look to Nox, who was still laughing wildly as several Baggis tried to get to him, then turned again to the collection of Lost. It paused a moment in thought, long enough for Ellie to reach for her blade, then barked a quick order to its minions and immediately lunged towards the crevice where the new Lost cowered.

At the same moment, Ellie charged. She was not letting him get to the Lost! Ellie didn't know how… _sane,_ Nox was at the moment, but the second that the monster stepped off, he seemed to howl in laughter, ripping through the line of Baggis around him and rushing after the pack leader. The ankle biters were after him close behind though, leaping and biting, trying to bring him down.

At the sight of Ellie rushing him, the Great Baggi barked an order to a couple of its minions, and four of the little monsters immediately branched off, darting straight for the huntress and putting themselves directly in her path. Ellie tried to break through them as Nox had, but their defense was tight, and as her sword cut into one of the little beasts, another lunged at her, smashing into her shield with the full weight of its body and knocking her back. The other two were right behind, trying to nip around her defense before she could recover, forcing her to keep her shield up to deflect their constant wave of fangs and claws. Ellie found her eyes couldn't leave the side of the Great Baggi as it rushed past her towards the new Lost. She could hear Kerry and Harker shouting desperately, trying to calm the panicking people, and saw a flash of iron as the long sword user unsheathed his weapon; but he was too close, too thin, too little to slow down the creature if it tried to barrel past him through to the others…

A battle roar suddenly made the Great Baggi jerk in surprise, as Levin tore at it from the side. Ellie blinked in surprise; how had he managed to get so close so quick? Her beloved's weapon was in 'sword' mode, and the large jagged blades of the weapon smashed into the monster's flank, sending searing lances of bright blue voltage searing into the beast's hide as the blade tore into it. The impact of the blow made the creature stumble, veering off course a bit and away from crevice. The monster was forced to skid to a halt to avoid slamming into the wall, giving the switch axe user time to charge after it, his weapon seeming to glow with contained energy.

As Levin charged, however, the Great Baggi abruptly spun its body around, sending its massive tail swinging around at the man. Levin quickly dropped, ducking and rolling under the appendage as it swooped over his head, before bringing up his weapon again and slashing out at the monster's legs, tearing another large gash across the beast's body. The pack leader howled in fury as loud, crackling electricity shot off the tip of the weapon, once again jolting its body. The monster leapt away as the hunter swung again, pushing itself out of Levin's reach before the next swing could connect. Immediately, several of its minions dove in, teeth flashing as they tried to latch on to the hunter; one managed to clamp its jaw down on Levin's leg before the hunter dropped the weight of his weapon down on it, voltage frying it and sending it skidding across the ice.

Ellie tried to hurry up and finish her own Baggis as the pack leader barked furiously at Levin. Her sword managed to connect with the jaw of one of the pestering Baggis, dropping it to the floor and leaving her room to push past the other two and tail after the Great Baggi itself. But the pair on her were tenacious, and tailed close behind, trying to bite or claw at her before she reached their leader. Ellie realized that nearly all the other hunters had a cluster of the little Baggis circling, and not many more remained other than them. Nox had been encircled by half a dozen of the little things, and another nine or so were snapping and jumping around Harker and Kerry, trying to break through the last defense to the newly awakened Lost. But none were appearing around the corner, and no calls came echoing across the room. Perhaps they really were down to the last dregs of the pack.

But the Great Baggi wasn't done fighting in the least. The creature glared at Levin angrily, the last of the hunters that stood between him and the crevice. The switch axe user managed to break out of the circle of Baggis and began pushing the pack leader back with his heavy swings; each cut would leave a singed gash in the monster's hide as the voltage seeped out of the blade, and even a thin miss when the monster dodged would send a crackle of electricity from the weapon to the monster. Levin was managing to push the monster back, step by step, but didn't seem to be connecting as well as he could've been. At once, the monster suddenly slid to the side of one of Levin's strikes, but rather than pulling back, the monster slid around, pulling its head up to tower over Levin. At the same moment, one of the Baggis suddenly lunged forward, clamping down on the hunter's arm. A sickly gurgling suddenly seeped up from the monster's throat, and with a nauseating hocking sound the monster lobbed an enormous spray of pale blue bile at the hunter. Levin was too distracted by the Baggi to really notice the oncoming spewing, and the size of the blob was too wide. Ellie tried to call out to him, but it was too late, and the thick gunk splattered all over the hunter, as well as several of the Baggis that surrounded him as well. The switch axe user tumbled away awkwardly, the powerful anesthetic effects making him struggle to stay upright. But the effect was powerful; even the Baggi that had been pelted with the bile were having trouble staying upright and awake.

The Great Baggi barked excitedly at the successful assault, and lunged towards the switch axe user, snapping at the hunter as he tried to stay awake. The hunter still had some strength in him, though, and dove out of the way of the monster's fangs. However, the effort of dodging sapped what little energy the bile of the beast had left him, and he found himself unable to push himself back up from his knees as the effects of the spit began to overwhelm him. The Great Baggi still had its strength, however, and abruptly turned, changing a second time at Levin before the hunter could recover.

Ellie rushed forward to try and deflect the strike, but she was too slow, as the monster turned its body to the side, and with the full force of its weight slammed into the hunter. The impact sent Levin skidding across the ice, his switch axe in tow, before the man crashed into the base of one on the towering crystal flowers that sprouted from the ice and stone of the floor. Levin cried out in agony as he struck the crystal structure, and a spray of blood sprayed onto the ice floor as he coughed in pain.

As the Great Baggi barked at the injured hunter, a humored, laughing sound to Ellie's ears, the sword and shield user charged forward, smashing aside the Baggis that tried to get in her way as anger at the monster seethed through her. As the pack leader heard her approach, he turned his head her way curiously, only to receive the blunt of Ellie's shield smashing into its face. Several of the solid Gobul spines attached to the shield broke off on impact, leaving jagged lines of blood dripping down the monster's face where the spines had cut into the beast's hide. The Great Baggi staggered back in pain and surprise, giving Ellie plenty of room to dive in again, sword flashing as her blade cut into the pack leader's hide at the base of the monster's long neck. The creature howled in pain, twisting its head around and smashing its skull against her, sending her sliding back across the ice.

The monster turned and barked furiously at her as she pushed herself upright again, holding her shield up defensively. With a quick shout, he once again sent orders out to his minions, and the Baggis that hadn't been affected by his sleep-inducing bile leapt up at the call, charging once again at Ellie. There were too many this time to simply break through and attack the pack leader, and Ellie was forced to leap back, keeping her shield and sword moving to block and ward off attacks from the oncoming monsters. With the sword and shield user once again occupied, the Great Baggi looked as though he was going to attack her again, but instead turned his attention once again to the crevice where Kerry and Harker were trying to defend against a good dozen or more Baggis.

Ellie screamed in anger, trying to force her way through the minions to where the pack leader was, but the minions were dedicated to a fault, and every motion she made was closely mirrored by the little biters, the Baggis diving quickly into her way and snapping at the holes in her defenses. Ellie called out to the two guardians, hopeful that one of them would catch sight of the approaching monster. Fortunately, Harker caught wind of her shout, and turned to see the approaching Great Baggi. He and Kerry were still heavily surrounded by several Baggis, though, and the long sword user couldn't find the space to break through to slow down the pack leader, despite taking several large swings with his blade to try and ward off the attacking creatures. Each swing of the blade took time, though, and at one point, Ellie saw one of the Baggis slide past the long sword user's reach, making a mad dash towards the new Lost, making one of the girls scream in terror. But the next moment, the creature seemed to peel apart as a blast of Scatter shot from Kerry ripped through the monster's torso, the shrapnel hitting the great beast with enough force to slam it against the ice wall, tinting the pristine clear material with bright blood. This display of gore only seemed to frighten the Lost more, however, but neither Kerry nor Harker had the time to spare for soothing any of them. One or two of the little monsters fell under Harker's blade as they attempted the same maneuver, but still more were quick enough to get out of the way, staying far enough out of the way to avoid getting attacked, but close enough to continue pestering both him and Kerry.

However, unlike Harker, the bowgunner, upon seeing the rushing monster, had no such need to get in close to fight the Great Baggi. As swiftly as Ellie had ever seen her move, Kerry snapped the shells that were inside her chamber out, nimbly replacing them with a pair of much larger shells. Harker, seeing the motion, pushed forward, calling the attention of the attacking Baggis to himself as his blade swiped wildly at them, threatening to cut them down if they dared to move in recklessly towards him. As the ankle biters danced back, the bowgunner's weapon pulled up, aiming at the Great Baggi as it charged. A blast of fire erupted from the barrel of the bowgun as the woman pulled the trigger, launching a massive shell straight at the pack leader.

But somehow, the Great Baggi proved to be far nimbler than his size belied. With a fluidity bordering on snake-like, the monster twisted its body, seeming to slide around the shot as it flew past him, sailing harmlessly into a wall, before detonating and sending a wave of ice and stone clattering to the floor of the room. Kerry seemed to curse under her breath, aiming the second shot as the Great Baggi continued to charge, barking victoriously as it charged, and closing the gap between itself at the crevice to only a dozen yards or so. But with a sharp motion, the barrel of Kerry's weapon pointed upwards, and the bowgun bucked once more as the next Crag round blasted from the gun. The Great Baggi seemed to hesitate in confusion as the shell wedged itself snugly into the ceiling of the room, right in a crack in the ice. After a short moment, though, the round detonated.

A ripple seemed to spread across the ceiling of the room as the wave of fire ripped through the thick ice, shattering the whole spread of ice for several yards and sending a wave of diamond dust shooting downwards like a thousand shimmering arrows, right on top of the pack leader. The Great Baggi screamed in pain as hundreds of the shards pierced through the monster's hide, covering the top of its body. Ellie was reminded of the Rathian she'd fought that once with Harker and Kerry; the Great Baggi appeared as though the scales that ran along its back had been switched with ones of crystal, rather than blue or grey. The beast stumbled, nearly losing its footing as it tried to keep moving. But a massive slab of ice, and several small boulders, dropped to the floor around it, making the monster leap back, trying to avoid being crushed from the falling rubble and shrapnel. The monster was weak on its feet, though, the damage from the ice covering it seeming to have pushed it over the edge, and for the first time in the course of the battle, the monster seemed weak and bedraggled.

A sudden, howling laughter made Ellie jump, and the Great Baggi howled in fright as Nox appeared out of nowhere and leapt at the monster again. Two of the Baggis that had been hounding the sword and shield user tailed behind, trying desperately to bite or claw the hunter before he could reach their leader. However, the pack leader seemed genuinely afraid this time and leapt back unsteadily, trying to put distance between itself and the approaching hunter. Nox only continued to advance though, giggling madly and swinging his sword at the monster as it tried to back away. One of the Baggis behind it managed to land on the man's back though, and the hunter twisted around, trying to grasp the throat of the monster as it tried to gnaw through his armor.

Ellie pushed against the Baggis that were still in front of her, trying to get to the Great Baggi as the monster called out for aid. She'd managed to cut down several more of the little things, but three still remained in front of her. A swipe of her blade caught the jaw of one leaping in to bite at her arm, and her shield smashed against the skull of another, but the last managed to slide through her defense, sinking its teeth into her waist. The thick Lagiacrus scales managed to deflect most of the strike, but the sword and shield user still felt the pain as several of the fangs worked through the gaps in the armor and cut into her flesh, drawing blood. With a swing of anger, the huntress pulled her blade from the head of the one Baggi and dropped it down into the throat of her assailant, forcefully ripping the monster from her side before charging towards the Great Baggi.

The pack leader was still focused on Nox when Ellie reached it, catching it off guard when she brought her blade around and jabbed into the creature's throat with her sword. The Great Baggi was apparently incredibly jumpy though, and at the touch of her steel, the monster leapt back in horror. The motion caught Ellie so off guard that her hand slipped free of the hilt of her blade, and she tumbled backwards, her weapon still wedged into the creature's thick neck. The monster twisted and writhed in pain, trying to twist its head around to pull the blade free, but the movements only worsened the injury, twisting the sword around and digging it deeper, sending cascades of the monster's blood to the floor.

Then the monster suddenly stopped its efforts, its head suddenly snapping around and a pained cry twisting from its gullet. One of its legs began to twitch wildly, followed closely by its arms, then even its neck and head began to spasm. Ellie blinked in shock before realization kicked in; her blade! It was still oiled with the paralysis venom of the Gobul! With the blade wedged into the Great Baggi for so long, enough of the venom had been able to work through the monster's body, leaving it a paralyzed wreck. This was her chance! If she could move in and recover her weapon, she would be able to finish the monster off! However, before she could leap forward, a pair of Baggis leapt in her path, barking aggressively and snapping at her, making her hold up her shield since she had no weapon to fight back with. Ellie could only look on helplessly as the Great Baggi slowly began to recover its functions, bit by bit regaining its ability to move around, first its tail, then its arms, then its head. In a few moments the monster would be able to move again, and this chance to kill it would be lost…

Then another roar of anger surged from the monster's side, and Ellie watched in surprise at the sight of Levin swooping in, fighting through his injuries, his sword held awkwardly in his hands with all his injuries. With a powerful swing, the switch axe user thrust his weapon forward, embedding the point of the blade in the flank of the Great Baggi. The pack leader howled in pain, trying to twist around and snap at the hunter, but Levin only pushed the blade deeper into the monster's hide. Then the hunter reached up the handle of the weapon and quickly triggered some mechanism that Ellie hadn't seen him use before, then quickly pulled his hands back to the hilt, clinging tightly to the weapon.

Ellie watched in awe as the pale blue phial at the center of the weapon suddenly began to glow even brighter than it had been, growing from a pale blue glow to a powerful blinding glow. As the light of the phial grew stronger, a surge of bright voltage tore through the weapon, tearing out the end of the blade and into the Great Baggi. The monster howled in pain as the energy of the weapon grew stronger and stronger, sending screeching waves of pure lightning into the monster, the power continuing to grow until tendrils of voltage began to lance out from the monster to the walls and floor of the cavern. Levin continued to hold tight to the hilt of his sword, even as sparks and lines of electricity leapt back and bit into his own gloved hands; the pain only seemed to make the man press harder against the monster as the power of the phial seared into the beast.

Then, when Ellie thought the weapon could give no more energy without erupting into nothingness, the surge reached its pinnacle, all the energy of the blade leaping to the tip of the weapon and collecting into a singular point. The glow seemed to shrink away for the slightest of moments, collapsing into a tiny point of light the size of a pebble, before the collected energy erupted, an explosive blast of radiant light and heat detonating into the side of the Great Baggi. The blast sent Levin flying backwards, his grip still holding tight to his weapon as he dropped and tumbled across the ice floor. The Great Baggi, however, suffered a far greater injury, the explosion of fire and lightning tearing its torso apart like scissors through paper, as well as sending the monster blasting against the wall. A stain of bright red blood trailed down the wall as the creature toppled to the ground, letting off a mournful death rattle before the beast slouched over, finally dead.

Silence filled the room for a painfully long moment as the collected beings in the room, both human and not, stared at the fallen monster. The hush was broken abruptly by the pained coughing on Levin, as the injured and slightly singed hunter tried to push himself back to his feet, using his weapon as a crutch even as it shifted back to its 'axe' mode. Ellie moved to go help him, and nearly tripped over a Baggi on her way over. She fumbled awkwardly for her weapon, before remembering that it was still embedded in the throat of the now deceased pack leader.

However, the Baggi didn't attack her. Upon seeing her, the little creature simply glanced around in confusion, barking questioning calls to its fellow pack members. Ellie realized that all of the Baggis seemed to be standing still now, as though the death of their leader had left them completely uncertain how to proceed at all. However, a loud and sickening crunching sound caught her attention, and she turned to see Nox, smashing down one of the Baggis and tearing his blade through its throat, the twisted and maddened grin still stretched across his face. Ellie froze, worried, certain that the remaining Baggis would find their will to fight again at the sight of the hunter's assault. But instead of turning to attack the nearest human, Ellie was caught by surprise when one of the larger Baggis turned and leapt, not at one of the hunters, but rather at one of its comrades, one that was only a bit smaller than it was. The smaller one was taken off guard, but retaliated quickly and violently, turning to tear at its assailant without hesitation or remorse.

In moments, the remainder of the Baggis were doing the same, each finding another of the pack and tearing into them, the whole group of them descending into a maddened frenzy of blood and chaos. Ellie hurriedly pushed her way through the battle, shoving aside several of the warring creatures to help Levin to his feet, before struggling to help her beloved partner back through the carnage to where Kerry and Harker stood defending the newly awakened Lost. Neither of the other hunters seemed to be fighting as Harker rushed forward to help her get Levin to a safe place; Kerry was simply standing in place, watching in horror as the pack ripped itself apart. Only Nox remained out in the cavern, laughing madly as he continued to tear through the pack, attacking whichever of the beasts was closest before moving on to the next. As Ellie and Harker leaned Levin down against the wall, Ellie helped uncork a potion bottle as the mad scientist turned to look out among the battling creatures.

"Civil war," he muttered quietly. "I never thought this would be the outcome."

"What do you mean?" Kerry asked nervously.

"Apparently that Great Baggi was the only thing holding such a large pack together," the long sword user replied. "Without it around, the only thing on the pack's mind is… dominance. Even with us here, they feel compelled to fight, to struggle for the right of being the next pack leader. They are desperate for leadership… desperate for control. Did they so fear their old leader, I wonder, to so easily turn on each other the moment he's gone?"

No one could provide an answer, as the pack (and Nox) continued to shred apart the last remnants of the pack. Ellie could only watch on, even as the whimpering and crying of the new Lost filtered into her ears from behind, as well as Farren's attempts at soothing them. In minutes, it was over, the last couple dozen of the Baggis lay dead or dying on the floor. A couple, whether cowardly or intelligent, Ellie couldn't tell, had fled in the middle of the fight, but most had fought and died, and now the room was near empty, except for Nox, who stood gasping for breath in the middle of a pile of corpses.

A sudden cry for help rang out through the cavern, followed quickly by another loud crash of crystal. Ellie blinked, realizing that, even as they'd killed the Great Baggi and fought off the pack, the Lost were still awakening, still finding themselves cold and alone as the crystals broke apart and melted away. But they were still in the middle of the Tundra. How were they supposed to…

"Ellie! Harker! Go find the new awakened ones and help get them here!" Ellie nearly jumped at the sudden barked order she received from Kerry. With a snap, both she and Harker took off, Ellie stopping only long enough to pick up her weapon before chasing after the sobs of the newly awakened. She and the long sword user managed to find another three Lost on their lap around the room, a mother and her two sons, as well as another four crystals that were nearly melted through. Ellie pressed on, helping the three back to the crevice while Harker waited for the rest to awaken.

Upon returning with the new ones, Ellie found Kerry trying to organize things with the remainder of the group. "Farren, do you have enough medical supplies and Hot Drinks?"

"Medicine… perhaps," the researcher replied. "If many more of these… awakened Lost are wounded, maybe not. Hot Drinks are running low, though. We only brought enough for six to be safe, and if all these crystals do indeed have Lost inside them…"

"Got it," the woman nodded. "Levin, how long until you can be up and moving?"

Levin blinked at the woman's abrupt taking of authority, but answered quickly. "Give me, ah… ten, fifteen minutes and another potion and I'll be… better."

"Could you leave the cave and find firewood?"

The man nodded. "That shouldn't be too much trouble."

"Okay. When you can, do that. Ellie can help you with that when you can move again. We'll need to keep these people warm, and a campfire… several of them, will be our best bet."

"Right," Levin nodded.

"And Nox… Nox? Nox!" Ellie turned, realizing that the other sword and shield user was still standing in the same place that he had finished killing the Baggis in. The maddened grin on his face was gone, but the look on his face now was a torn one of what Ellie thought was misery. His hand was settled on his pouch, as though reaching for something inside, but he hadn't found the desire to pull whatever it was he sought out of the satchel. Kerry frowned, but moved towards the man. "Nox!"

Finally, the man seemed to jump a little, realizing he was being spoken to. He began to fidget nervously, hand still clutching his pouch, and he looked around desperately, as though he wanted nothing more than to vanish. "Ah, um, sorry. I'm really sorry. I… I really need to-"

"You need to get back to Hearth and tell Noi what happened so he can send people and supplies to help these people," Kerry cut him off.

"No, I… I mean, sure, but first…"

"Nox, please," Kerry said sternly. She glanced around the pile of Baggi corpses and the man's expression sank. "Whatever… whatever it is you need to do will have to wait. These people need help and you're the only one who knows the way well enough to get back to the village quickly. We need you to be quick while we take care of these people. Please."

The man looked torn, his eyes darting between the dead Baggis that surrounded him and the growing collection of Lost that was gathering in the cavern. His hand seemed to tighten on whatever he was grasping for in his satchel for a moment before he finally loosened his grip and seemed to slouch a bit in regret. "Fine… I'll be as quick as I can."

"Good," Kerry nodded. "Get to it, then."

The man was motionless for only a second more, before turning and darting away, dashing out of the cave. As he turned the corner into the path leading to the surface, Kerry and Ellie shared a worried look, uncertain what to make of Nox's behavior.

"The Lost are… a strange people," Kerry muttered sadly, glancing to the growing numbers behind them.

"Yeah," Ellie nodded. Another crashing sound caught Ellie's ear, and she turned in time to watch several 'petals' of one of the crystal flowers break off, smashing to the ground. The sound of Harker cursing could be heard over the din. Ellie frowned. "I… I better go-"

"No," Kerry stopped her. "I'll help him. You need to help Levin get firewood. Go see if he can't get moving a little faster. We don't… we need to keep people warm."

"Right," Ellie nodded, turning and hurrying over to where her beloved was trying to push himself to his feet. She would worry about… other things later. Right now she needed to help these people, and protect them, until Nox returned with whatever aid he could muster. After that… then what, she wondered?

* * *

"You seem to be sighing a lot recently, Mister Jonathan."

The leader of the IS glanced up in surprise at the words. They'd been spoken by Zhanin's secretary, a comely young woman who seemed very out of place here, considering the man she was working for. She was a bright, optimistic woman with bright honey-colored hair that always greeted Jonathan cheerfully when he was forced to come by and meet up with the councilman. _Her name is… Laura_, Jonathan thought. Usually, he tried to get in and out of this building as fast as possible; the woman seemed like a pleasant conversationalist, but if it meant being in range of Zhanin, Jonathan was afraid he just couldn't spare her the time.

"Your employer in there has been keeping me very busy lately," Jonathan replied idly.

"Oh right," Laura replied with a downcast face. "That Lost, um, 'awakening' in the Tundra (is that what they're calling it?). I heard that the Guild's been jumping through hoops to figure out how to deal with the whole thing. Too many people in Loc Lac's South District already for them to live there, and none of the other districts want to take them in in such numbers."

"Yes exactly," Jonathan sighed. "The council is keeping things in limbo for now by paying the local merchant lord of the area to take care of them until a decision is reached, but… well, it's just a delaying tactic. It's been months since the last 'awakening' or whatever they're calling it, and people thought the last of the Lost had arrived. Now with news that there are… crystals keeping them asleep for centuries before waking them up in swaths, people are worried about how many of them there really are."

"And whether or not they're all… mad?" Laura asked with a sad tone in her voice.

"Unfortunately," Jonathan replied with a nod. "But there's an undercurrent issue that everyone's afraid to talk about"

"What's that?"

"Overpopulation. I know it's already an issue, what with Loc Lac filling up, but… right now, the Lost make up nearly almost a fifth of the city's population. With the hundreds more that are up in the Tundra, we're looking at a group of people that make up a quarter of the city by themselves. We've got humans, Felynes, Wyvernians, even Shakalaka in the city making up those numbers. If we count the Lost as a separate entity of their own, there are almost more of them than any other peoples in the whole city. And that might not even be all of them that there are, if there are more of these crystal collections out there…"

"People will be afraid of a people that are mad having too many numbers to control," Laura finished.

"Exactly."

"Those poor people…" Laura sighed. "They didn't ask for this, yet the people of this city are treating them so terribly. It isn't their fault that all this is happening to them."

Jonathan blinked in surprise at the woman's show of sympathy. "I… I didn't expect to hear something like that from… ah…"

The woman smiled in amusement. "From someone that works for Zhanin? Just because I work for him doesn't mean I share his views and political agendas. My brother lives in the South District, and he brings me nothing but stories of how afraid and mistreated they all are. I've gone to visit the area a few times as well. It's so crowded and clustered together; it makes me feel so terrible when I'm off in the northern areas, where there's so much space with nothing in it owned by the wealthy folks that live there. It's natural to want to empathize with them, once you get to know them. I'm a very good secretary; that's the only reason why the man keeps me on, despite our opposing views."

Jonathan nodded. There was far more to this woman than he'd thought. He suddenly found himself wishing he hadn't been in such hurries to leave the building before, and had stuck around to chat a little. Then, a thought occurred to the man, his underhanded side kicking into full gear. He'd been trying to get a hook into Zhanin for some time, needed some method, some source that would allow him to break free of the man's hold on him. Not to mention he needed information on what the man's plans for the Lost would be before he enacted them. Richard had been good for outside information, but perhaps this woman could be…

A creak caught the man's attention as the door to Zhanin's office opened, and the man himself appeared in the doorway.

"Get in here, now."

Jonathan glared at the abrupt order from the man, but the councilor vanished back into the room too quickly to catch the look. With a grunt of derision, the IS leader pushed himself to his feet, following the councilman into the room. Laura offered him an apologetic smile, but it didn't raise Jonathan's mood very well. Sullenly, the man tailed Zhanin into the office, bracing himself to add another pile of toil to his already staggering workload. As he entered the office, he found the councilman standing next to his window, staring out across the city. Jonathan imagined that the man was looking in the direction of the Lost District as he was doing so.

"I have some concerns about some… recent things that have been happening in the city," Zhanin said. He was angry, Jonathan could tell that much; but then, the man always seemed angry these days. "It seems that the Lost have become far more flexible and capable in recent months. Some of my more subtle plans have failed to pull through. Two weeks ago, I was planning on presenting a motion to increase medical costs of clinics in the South District, due to the high demand and excessive use of medical supplies. However, _somehow_ several members of the Lost had the foresight to apply for Loc Lac approved medical licenses, not to mention that several improved methods of pharmaceutical production have come to light, all provided by the Lost District. With the new provisions provided by the Lost, it would seem that the idea of increasing medical costs there would be unnecessary, all because of something that happened a mere two days before I was planning on presenting my case. It seems the Lost, or someone willing to help them, has been getting the same information that you've been giving me, and using it to aid them."

"Are you implying something, sir?" Jonathan asked, putting on a belligerent face.

"Don't play coy with me, Jonathan," Zhanin growled. "Either you've been going behind my back or you haven't. Either you confess to it or deny it. Don't forget, I have control over you."

Jonathan glowered at the council member. "There are others with the information that I have available to me, Zhanin. There are people who collect the data, there are those that carry the information between people, and there are those that document the data. I may be the leader of the IS, but there are perhaps a dozen other members that have access to all the data that I present to you."

"Well then, one of them is passing the information to the Lost!"Zhanin growled.

"And what do you expect me to do about it? Fire them? For empathizing with the Lost? I don't keep track of my subordinates' political affiliations. I can't help what they do with the information they gather. You may have me on a leash, but the other members of the IS are under no such obligations."

"Damn it! Then what good are you to me?" the man growled, smacking his hand against the glass of his office. For a moment, Jonathan feared the glass would break from the impact. "I have you around to make sure I stay ahead of the news! If you can't keep me posted with this information before anyone else gets it, then…"

"I can't stop other people from talking, Zhanin. Even under the table, classified stuff makes it into peoples' ears one way or another. How do you think you get the stuff I give you? I can't stop other people from following through on their own agendas. You think one of the other councilors, any of them sympathetic to Lost, would let that kind of info pass them by?"

"You mean a fool like Marco?" the councilman scoffed. "And old idiot like him wouldn't know what to do with half of the information you've given to me."

"You think he's the only one out there that's a Lost sympathizer?" Zhanin's eyes widened at the words, but Jonathan kept his voice flat. "If you think Marco's the only one out there with a soft spot for the Lost, it's no wonder someone out there keeps getting the jump on you with these schemes you craft together."

The councilman hissed angrily at the words, and once again his hand smashed against the panes of the window. This time, Jonathan was certain that he saw a thin sliver of a crack peel down the side of the glass, just barely wide enough to make out in the bright sunlight of the desert. Jonathan watched as the man continued to seethe for several moments, before finally unclenching his fist and letting it hang at his side. The man turned, and the leader of the IS blinked in surprise; Zhanin's face was surprisingly calm for what news that had been brought.

"Fine. Perhaps I have been letting my plans grow too complex. Too much thinking takes too much time, and time is of the essence in work like this. Gives too much space for others to maneuver. That's fine. I can work without high attention to detail."

Jonathan frowned. This was not going as he thought it would. He flinched as the councilman turned and actually smiled.

"What do I need all the information you give me for? Oh, it has its value, that's for certain, but all I really need to put the Lost where they belong has just come pouring out of the Tundra. All I need to do is make sure people only hear what I want them to hear, and the Lost… well, I won't need to do hardly anything. Roll a snowball down a hill, and the momentum will cause an avalanche. Everyone else in the city will do it for me." The councilman motioned to the door before turning back to the window. "That'll be all for today, Jonathan. Be sure to bring info to me as per usual. I'm sure it'll continue to help, if only to make sure the… snowball keeps rolling."

Jonathan was silent for a moment, before nodding quietly and striding to the door. In a moment, he was on the other side, face furrowed in frustration. Damn it all! He'd been sending copies of information to one of his informants in the Lost District for months now, trying to counteract the work that Zhanin was attempting to put into place. But no matter his methods, he couldn't stop public fear and outcry. More Lost begging to be let into the city could lead to a general panic, or repercussions for the Lost. That wasn't something a few parcels of data could repel. Zhanin would keep pressing, quietly, subtly now, and with less reliance on what Jonathan offered. The leader of the IS couldn't counter that; the man didn't offer up the details of his plans to Jonathan, not at all.

So how was he supposed to keep the man from carrying out his plans? If only to slow the councilman's work down, Jonathan needed some way to-

"Rough talk?" Jonathan blinked and looked up, catching the eye of Laura, who smiled at him comfortingly. "That man's been on edge for a while now. I imagine he was less than kind to you in there."

"Yes. Less than kind," the IS leader muttered. Then an idea flickered into his mind, and he stared at the woman more intently; Laura seemed to flush at the sudden intensity. Jonathan shot a look to the door, making sure it was closed, before leaning towards the secretary and lowering his voice. "If I may… could I possibly ask, how much do you sympathize with the Lost? Would you be willing to… tell me a few things that might help them out?"

Laura blinked in realization, and glanced over at the councilman's doors and well. Then she leaned closer. "What… what kind of things would you want to know?"

* * *

**Author's Note: Please Review!**

**I've been playing a new game of Skyrim recently, thanks in part to Hoenn Master's story about Cicero, as well as the Dawnguard release. I'd forgotten how addicting that game can get. I'm somewhat tempted to write a short story about my character's encounter with the Daedric Prince Sanguine, one of my favorite quests in that game by far (though if Sheogorath's quest had been longer than 10 minutes, it might have taken the cake instead. Gotta love the crazy ones).**

**Also, I've had to take down the take down the Bonus Content story I had up. Seems it doesn't fit with FF's criteria, and someone's threatened to raise a fuss about it. It doesn't make sense to me, considering I've seen dozens of stories with the same design, but… some people just try to be fickle, I guess. Maybe I'll just answer the questions I get at the end of chapters or something like that.**

**So to Icetooth's question, "How long have you been working on your story?": This story came out in November 2010, and I'd been creating the story for a couple months before I put out the first chapter, so... maybe since August 2010?**

**And Tomaso, "How do you get rid of writer's block?": Spend some time just creating as many outcomes for a situation as you possibly can. I usually run into walls during battle scenes, trying to figure out good, entertaining ways to continue, so I just write down as many different ways as I possibly can for a situation to unfold, and see what ideas unfold. Also, go watch a movie or read a book or something. Maybe something will inspire you or give you a direction to work with.**

**Reading: **_**A Clash of Kings**_** by George R.R. Martin, **_**Winter's Heart**_** by Robert Jordan  
Playing: Skyrim, Minecraft: Tekkit Mod  
Listening: Beirut, Modest Mouse, Radical Face, Fun**


	31. New Missions

New Missions

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. Most of the characters in this story are mine. Kai and Kei belong to SG-Kai. Richard Jr. belongs to Hoenn Master96._

As the gangplank pushed over the edge of the sand ship's starboard side, Levin quickly stepped aside, getting out of the way as a dart of motion shot past him onto the dock of Loc Lac. He grinned as the woman sneezed and coughed fitfully upon reaching the sound stone of the city docks, swinging her arms around and frantically brushing all the sand and dust off of her clothes. After a good minute of said brushing, the woman finally removed the bright bandana she was wearing over her mouth, allowing herself to finally breathe freely.

"I. HATE. The. DESERT!" she grumbled. "Why couldn't the hunter's Guild build their headquarters somewhere else? Like on the plains? Or near a beach, perhaps, someplace nice, warm, and subtropical? Why did they have to put it at an oasis smack dab in the middle of the desert?"

"It's a naturally fortified location, Miss Eleanor," Harker said, coming down the gangplank behind Levin. "Large stone walls towering on all sides, with only a few small, easily defendable areas for monsters to try and assault the city through. And let's not forget that the Loc Lac Tower makes for a fine centerpiece for the whole city, a grand monument to act as a symbol of the Guild's strength and influence. To be fair, it's one of the safest cities in the world, even if the surrounding area isn't as hospitable as other places."

"And this… this is the place we're going to be living from now on?"

Levin turned, glancing at the owner of the voice, Marie. The newly awakened Lost girl was glancing around the city nervously, eyes darting this way and that, looking at anything and everything she could see around them. Levin had to admit, the first real look at the city of Loc Lac with fresh, _sane_ eyes was quite something to behold: A magnificent city in the desert. Several more Lost trailed close behind the girl, eyes just as wide and searching as those of Marie's. There were only a couple dozen of the new Lost aboard the ship coming down into the city, all of them varied in age and size, with each of them looking around with the same awed and uncertain looks that Marie was giving.

"We should've been able to bring more," Ellie muttered, noting Levin's expression. Levin simply nodded in reply; the frustrated and angry feelings he'd been feeling for the last three weeks swelled back up again, threatening to burst out.

* * *

Somehow or another, after the fight with the Great Baggi and its pack, he and the other four hunters had managed to keep all the newly awakened alive, keeping them warm with a several fires, and helping them remain relatively calm long enough for Nox to make his way back to Hearth for aid. It was a challenge to do that much at all, though. The Hot Drinks the hunters had carried along with them on their trip had vanished quickly as more and more of the Lost began 'waking up' from their sleep, finding themselves in a harsh and frozen cavern. He and Ellie had been forced to make several dozen trips out of the cave and back to cut down and haul in as much firewood as they could muster, just to keep the ever-growing numbers from freezing to death, even deep within the caverns and out of the frigid wind.

Levin hadn't known what to expect Noi to send as aid to the hunters, considering the man's stingy personality. So he'd been thoroughly surprised and impressed when seven wagons had arrived at the base of the mountain carrying food, winter clothes, and plenty of medical equipment. It almost hadn't been enough, though. The final tally on the number of Lost that had woken up had ended up being one hundred forty three, and there'd only been a few coats to spare when the wagon of clothes had finally been emptied. Levin had been thankful that Noi was one of the predominant Popo fur merchants in the north; if he hadn't, there might have been ample trouble trying to trek the people back across the barren land to Hearth to keep them alive.

The journey back to the village had been a trial in and of itself. In the wake of the loss of the Great Baggi of the area, somehow or another the other monsters in the area seemed to have known immediately that there was a new shift in power in the area. On the trip back, the caravan of Lost, each wagon filled to the brim with people and dozens more being forced to walk through the snow next to them, was attacked by over a dozen different Baggi packs. Luckily for the worn out hunters, none of the packs were being led by any Great Baggis, but all of them had an especially large Baggi leading the rest of them around and barking orders to the rest of them. Each pack was only consisted of about six or seven of the little creatures, though, and after the mess that was the battle in the cavern, for the five hunters in the group to drop a handful of the monsters was hardly a challenge at all. After several of the new packs had been dropped, Harker theorized that the monsters were remnants of the old Great Baggi's pack; leaderless minions that were now directionless, that had probably been out hunting for food for the group when the battle had taken place. Ellie cringed at the thought; all these Baggis could've been attacking them instead of out hunting for food? How much of a difference could they have made, she wondered, adding another forty or fifty of the beasts to the fight?

Making it back to the village had taken several hours with a good number of the Lost being forced to walk, but they'd eventually made it. Many of the Lost had been wounded, either before awakening or during their trek to Hearth. Luckily, considering the size of Noi's business, there were several doctors and medics in the village, and most of the injured were able to be treated rather quickly. However, several, like the man who'd lost his arm, were at a point where there was very little for anyone to do. Some were paraplegics as well, but other injuries abounded; burn wounds were numerous, from first to third degree, and puncture wounds from teeth and claw marks were commonplace as well. A few of the Lost were blind as well, two or three naturally, but three of them had lost their eyesight from monster-related injuries.

The next week in the Tundra was the most hectic of the hunters' lives. Levin and the others were constantly running back and forth between Hearth and the port, both delivering supplies for Noi's business, and helping bring in goods and food for the Lost. And all the while they were forced to wait patiently for word from Loc Lac on how to proceed with the newly awakened Lost, after Noi had sent a message to the Guild as soon as word had reached him about the whole incident. Levin wished the news would come quicker, but it had been almost a year since a considerable number of Lost had shown up at Loc Lac's doorstep, and Levin had little doubt that Noi's single letter had raised one hell of a storm in Loc Lac all on its own. Even Levin himself had assumed that no more Lost would be appearing out of the wilderness like he and so many others had, and yet… here they were. How many more of them were still out there, soon to wake up, or waking up at that very moment?

In the meantime, while they were in Hearth, other issues had cropped up left and right. Hearth was a pretty good sized village for its location, and Noi's compound had plenty of space for the numerous Lost, and somehow, with a lot of effort and a help from the hunters who worked overtime going out and killing Popos, the town was able to provide additional food for the one hundred forty three Lost that had appeared. There were cases of children without parents or vice versa; most everyone was by themselves or in pairs when it came to knowing each other. In order to keep people safe, they'd had to separate everyone into groups of four or five, so that the young and old and injured were taken care of or watched after. Then there was the work of trying to figure out which of the Lost had a less than stable madness that needed to be dealt with or wary of. The twins that had woken up shared a similar sort of delirium of sorts, that made the pair of them hallucinate at random times, thinking that there were monsters in places there weren't. The older man without an arm seemed to develop a hoarding tendency, desperately needing to hold tight to anything and everything he could get his hands on, and not wanting to share or pass around what he'd received. A few others had anger control issues like Levin, some had kleptomaniac tendencies, some had control issues, a few were random and off the wall like Harker, and there were dozens upon dozens of varying types of mental or psychological issues to be dealt with.

It was all of ten days before Loc Lac's response showed up at the docks, and it came in the form of four Guild representatives, carrying the 'authority' of the city as well as that of the Guild. The group of them put on airs of professionalism and control of the situation, but even Levin, as poorly perceptive as he was, could tell that the men were extremely nervous about the whole situation, uncertain how they'd proceed. Of course, they went ahead and questioned the hunters as they were escorted back to Hearth, with Harker providing ample commentary on the numbers and status of the newly awakened Lost. The other hunters chimed in as well, but just hearing the number of Lost in Hearth, and the condition they were in left a worried expression on the men's faces, even before they arrived in the village. Of course, when they arrived in Hearth and observed the state of the Lost, things didn't seem to improve at all. The numbers and the strain it was putting on Noi and the village itself were not something the Guild men were pleased to see, and the clear cut cases of less-than-stable sanity in some of the Lost were not entirely encouraging for them either.

But the true clincher on the whole situation was how the men finally reacted. Levin and the others had expected a slow but inevitable move of the Lost from Hearth to Loc Lac. However, what they hadn't expected were the men to simply give them a number; not a number of days before they could get the Lost to Loc Lac, or the number of ships they'd send to help haul them out of the North. Rather, they simply gave them a number of Lost that they'd be allowed to return to the city with, and the number they gave was a mere two dozen. Of course, that immediately raised hell with the hunters, Noi, and the Lost that were cohesive enough to understand the circumstances, but the men were adamant about the whole issue. Apparently news of the Lost's arrival had sent waves of worry through the city, and huge efforts had been going through the city in an attempt to determine how many more people the South District could contain before it got too overpopulated to contain. The number they'd concluded with was a miniscule twenty four people. With the numbers of Lost already in the city, there was little to no room in the district left for people without taking time to build new housing in the area. News of a strong front to allow the Lost that could afford it to move into other districts of the city were being raised, apparently, but nothing seemed to be making headway at all, thanks to certain opposing groups of people that existed within the council.

Of course, they told Noi, the merchant would be compensated for taking care of the Lost here in Hearth, and provided with the goods needed to help maintain them. Perhaps he could try to add the people to his workforce, or something along those lines? Some of the Lost had proven to be amiable hunters in Loc Lac; maybe he could train a few of these Lost to do the same? Noi had looked ready to beat the pants off the men for essentially forcing him to take care of the newly awakened Lost, and might have gone so far as to refuse, had his wife and son not stepped in to convince the man that it would be more altruistic (and possibly, eventually profitable) for him, and perhaps doing this for the Guild would grant him access to certain favors that he hadn't been able to receive before. The hunters weren't so pleased with the situation, but at least Noi wasn't about to put the Lost out. Even though most of the Lost would be forced to stay in Hearth, at least they'd be taken care of.

Eventually, though, it came time for Levin and the other hunters to finally make their way back to Loc Lac. The banning of hunter access to the Tundra was fully lifted, and other hunters were able to come up north and do work for Noi and the other employers in the region. Though the four of them (five including Noxramus) held onto feelings of responsibility for the new Lost in Hearth, they knew they couldn't stay. They all had goals of their own to accomplish out in the world, and the work wasn't something that could all be done in the Tundra while watching out for other Lost. But not everything seemed hopeless for the Lost they were leaving behind; some of them had shown an interest in helping the village, and many, especially the ones that had been awake during the 'awakening,' and others that had been walking alongside the wagons and witnessed the hunters warding off the spare would-be Baggi packs, had shown interest in becoming hunters. There weren't many local hunters in town, and less that were of decent rank, but those that did live in Hearth had said they'd work with the Lost to see if any had inlaid talent that could be used in the field. It wasn't much, but it was something.

Nox and the selected Lost traveled with Levin and the others when they'd finally set out to return to Loc Lac. The blue hunter had expressed interest in hunting more with them, but had a bevy of work that was calling for him when he returned to Loc Lac; apparently Noi wasn't the only man he'd created a business relationship with. But he'd promised to look them up again if he found a quest he thought they'd like, or if they brought him a fun-sounding quest he said he'd be fine to join up with them if he had the time. Levin had thought the older man missing an arm would've been one of the Lost that would've traveled with them, considering his injury, but he'd retaliated fiercely to the idea, telling them he'd been a metalworker back in their time, and was fully intent on learning the art of weapon design from the local smiths and using those skills to help the would-be hunters in Hearth. So he and the others watched and waved as the hunters and the twenty-four Lost had hopped in the caravan, the last of its kind making its way between Hearth and the port before the hunters departed. It was odd, finally leaving the snowy area, but Levin would be glad to see different places again, even if the first one was the desert.

* * *

And so here they were, back in Loc Lac, leading two dozen Lost off the sand ship and into a city that wasn't exactly ready for them. The selection process for those that had come with them had been harsh. Only those with injuries too grievous for Hearth's doctors to deal with, or those with an extreme aversion to the cold of the Tundra, were allowed to travel to the city in the desert, where the last few homes and hovels had been cleaned out for their dwelling. Some medics were at the dock waiting to take in the Lost that needed the city's aid, and had them carted away momentarily. Apparently the news of their arrival had preceded them as well, because the entire group received numerous pitying or angered looks from passerby as they made their way into the city.

"Such hateful looks," Marie muttered fearfully. The girl had been selected to travel to Loc Lac due to her extreme weakness to the cold of the Tundra. She'd been bordering on hypothermia or influenza the entire time they'd been up there, even while she was bundled up inside near a fire. It was no wonder she'd been one of the first on the list. "Why are they staring like that? We only just got here."

Levin sighed at the girl's question, but Harker was the one who answered her. "Because though the locals have occupied this city for hundreds upon hundreds of years, the Lost are up and outnumbering them in only a few years. Not to mention they're not just a little bit worried about what we've told them about what happened to our homeland. I imagine a horde of people piling into your hometown scared and afraid and begging for help can be a challenge, especially in our numbers. Not to mention we've completely filled up the South District, and are constantly asking for more space, and are bringing around all sort of new or different technology and ideas that nobody here is used to… The list goes on."

"So where are we staying exactly?" one of the other Lost asked; it was one of the other paraplegics that had woken up without a limb. This one was missing a leg, a middle aged woman named Clara, hobbling along with a crutch behind them, with help from the others. "Not here I hope? If these are the looks I'll be receiving every day, I might have to move back to Hearth."

"No, the South District is a couple miles from here," Levin told them. "There's a housing complex waiting for the lot of you there, where you'll be able to stay as long as you're here in Loc Lac. It'll probably be good if you try and find some sort of job to do while you're around… though, with the number of people in the district, it might be kind of tricky… I guess if you know how to do something that nobody in this world can really do well, or you can improve it, that might help. Otherwise… I don't know, just find some group of Lost doing something you can help with I guess."

The Lost following the hunters mumbled in worry behind them, the group talking to each other and trying to figure out what they could do for a living here in the desert city. Levin heard them throwing out their professions and skills, wondering how well they'd work out in Loc Lac. There were a couple with experience in structure and architecture, but others were just secretaries or office workers. One was a cook, another was a programmer, one was a newspaper writer, Marie was very young but claimed to be an artist of sorts; the list went on, but few seemed exceedingly useful in Loc Lac.

"I'm afraid I'll have to leave you here." Levin turned to face Farren, the man who'd helped keep the Lost alive in the caverns they'd found them in. He still had the heavy satchel of Dark Metal slung over his back, as well as the bag of clothes we'd brought with him to Hearth. Levin had to admit, he had a newfound respect for the man, despite what he'd tricked them into doing in Echo Village. The Guild men that had popped in to Hearth had requested his return to Loc Lac, stating that they'd like him to give his report in person. However, rather than tagging along with them back to the desert city, the man simply tossed them a bundle of papers, telling them that the pile contained his complete report on the situation, but there were still injured Lost in the village that needed looked after, and not enough doctors to do it all. Besides, he (and Harker, he supposed) were conducting research on the remains of the crystals that had held the Lost, and he couldn't exactly do that in Loc Lac, now could he? But when the information had dried up, and he'd gathered as much data as he possibly could, he knew he'd have to go back to the desert city one way or another.

"Thanks for all your help," Levin told the man. "Seriously. Thanks."

The researcher grinned a little at the words, but it faded rather quickly. "I simply did what I needed to. My work focuses on people's survival, so why wouldn't I do what I could to ensure the lives of… your countrymen?"

"Still, you didn't have to stay and help."

"I did what I had to. That's all you do in my line of work," the man replied sullenly. "That's the entire reason the whole… egg incident went through in the first place. In order to save lives as a worker for the Guild, you do what you need to."

"You make it sound like a bad thing," Levin said.

"Sometimes," the man said. He grinned a little. "Perhaps this time I appeared to me rather compassionate and noteworthy, but… I fear the next time you see me, it may be that I'm doing something that your conscience disagrees with once more."

"I hope not," Levin replied. "You seem like a good enough person. Can't you just… choose not to do the sketchier jobs?"

Farren smirked mirthlessly. "Not always. Like I said, I do what I have to in order to help people, even if others will look down on me for it. If not me, than someone else will. There are dangerous things that need fixed or altered, and sometimes it's a hard or dangerous or… unethical path to doing so, but someone needs to do it. Farewell Levin. Perhaps we'll meet again."

"Yeah, perhaps." Levin felt a sinking feeling as the man walked away, heavy satchel in tow behind him. He hoped the man didn't have to do… whatever the Guild seemed to require of him. He wondered how many others like Farren there were, that slunk around doing the work that the Guild didn't exactly enjoy publicizing. He sighed, shaking his head. He had other things to worry about at the moment, and continued to help lead the new Lost through the maze that was Loc Lac.

The changeover in location going into the Lost District was fairly obvious when they reached it; the buildings leapt up in size and design, a clear creation of the Lost's. The streets also got quite a bit more crowded as well, with dozens of people streaming out of the district to wander the city in search of jobs or something to keep them occupied. It had been over a month since Levin had seen the district, and things seemed to be improving a little from the last time he'd been around. The mood seemed to be improved, and a couple of the buildings that had been under construction were finished; the work crews had moved on to other buildings, though. The Lost District always seemed to be under construction.

The housing development that the two dozen Lost were set up to live in was relatively new, and not that far into the district. The size of the rooms was small though, and those living there had to have at least two roommates per apartment. But the landlord of the building seemed to have a tight grasp of control on the whole situation, and led them into their rooms quickly and efficiently, assuring the hunters that they'd be well taken care of, that she had some connections with people who hired Lost, that their food supplies weren't fantastic but she knew how to keep bellies full. What caught Levin off guard was that the woman in charge actually knew his, Ellie's, and Harker's names. When he'd asked, the landlord had laughed about it, saying that there were only about a dozen or so Lost hunters in the world, and very few that were three stars or higher, so why shouldn't they know the names of the local celebrities to the Lost. He and the others were a bit embarrassed about the idea; they didn't exactly consider themselves to be as popular as that, but the woman assured them that they, as well as the other Lost, were very well known, and their exploits were followed with interest, if only by the Lost if nobody else.

Finally they made it back to the Dual Horn Oasis, ready to drop their bags and get some decent rest for the first time in over a month. Levin and Ellie were a little surprised to find that Harker and Kerry were following them, having claimed that they had managed to convince Lynn to allow them to stay at the inn. Levin was glad that they had; he and Ellie had few hunting friends out there, and likely there would be fewer candidates ever since the incident with Pugnax. It would be nice to have friends that were close to them.

As they walked through the door into the bar, they were greeted almost immediately by Lynn, who rushed forward and swooped the two hunters into a crushing bear hug, squeezing them tightly. "Ho, dem it, hy vas vorried abott de two of hyu! Ven I heard abott vhat dot bastard hyu vere huntink vith did… dem it, hy vas ready to knock some heads around, hey?"

"Thanks… for the concern," Ellie managed to choke out. "But could… you let us go?"

"Ah! Sorry bot dot," the woman said sheepishly, releasing the hunters and leaving them gasping for air. "Dere vas a lot of news und shtuff shpeculating abott vhat happened between hyu und dot Pugnax boy, not to mention all de shtuff we've been hearink abott de Lost poppink up in… crystals or sometink up north? Gots a lot of pipple vorried here in Loc Lac, und a lot of Lost are talkink abott it as vell."

"Yeah, it's… quite a story," Levin replied. He looked around, and realized that a lot of the local hunting acquaintances they'd made with the older hunters at the bar were looking on expectantly, clearly expecting the group of hunters to tell the whole story in exciting detail. Levin grimaced wearily. "There's a lot to tell, but…"

"We're awfully tired," Ellie cut in, much to the disappointment of Lynn and the other hunters. "Maybe we'll tell the story tomorrow, after getting some sleep? It's been a rough month."

Lynn harrumphed at the words, and several of the other hunters around them grumbled in disappoint them. Levin knew they were all just acting though; as much as hunters liked to go out and challenge their strength against monstrous beasts, they all loved to hear a good story just as much as they did telling them. No doubt a lot of them had been looking forward to the story of the fight from the two Lost's perspective, but they waited for a month already, they could wait one more night. Once the grumbling had dwindled and it was clear that he and Ellie weren't going to cave to their wants, Lynn shrugged and grinned at the pair of them.

"Hokay, fine, hy suppose de lot of hyu could hyuse a leedle bit of a rest before ve hear your story, hey?" the woman said. Then she looked over at Harker and Kerry, and frowned a little as the long sword user grinned at her. "Und hy suppose dot hy should see your friends here to dere new rooms. Just down de hall from de pair of hyu wouldn't you know eet. Hy got dere shtuff thrown in dere rooms before de two of dem chased off after hyu two into de Tundra. I'll have to make sure de boy dere knows vhat sort of boundaries he'll have to respect if he's goink to be shtayink here… dot gurlie vith him looks like she ken keep a tight lease, though. I'm sure she could keep him restrained if hy asked her nicely, hey?"

"I'm sure I could," Kerry grinned, glancing at the long sword user with a smirk. Harker seemed to deflate slightly at the look, and Levin could've sworn he'd heard the man whimper a little at the look, though he still was giving Lynn very curious, ponderous, and excited looks.

Levin nodded in thanks to their landlord, and wandered towards his room with Ellie next to him. The two split up to head into their room, and Levin almost immediately flopped over onto his beg; damn it, but he'd missed a familiar place to sleep. The crowded rooms of Noi's compound had left him sleeping on the floor most nights of the last month; he'd been perfectly willing to give up the mattress he'd had for one of the injured or young Lost to use instead of him. It hadn't been comfortable, but he didn't regret his decision. That just meant that he'd really, really enjoy sleeping in his own bed tonight. But he really did need to unpack…

Sullenly, he rolled over, reaching into his satchel to remove all the goods he'd brought with him down from the north. Several dozen materials of varying types and uses; scales, teeth, claws, ores, a few rare insect shells, other things like that, a few things he'd need to repair his new armor should the need arise. There were a couple papers and reports, copies of information that he'd gotten from Noi; he didn't know whether he'd keep those or not. They seemed pretty useless to him, but you never knew. Some of the papers were less official and more heartwarming, though. There were a couple hand-drawn pictures that some of the younger Lost they'd helped had given him and the others hunters, little thank you notes that had been drawn by those kids that he'd helped escape the Tundra and get to Hearth. He hoped he had some nails or something; these would be going up on his empty wall.

Finally, he pulled out the last thing in his bag, the worn and ragged, torn and battered remains of his old Ludroth armor. The coat had never been bright and vibrant, but it was obvious that the thing was old and faded from what it had been. He'd had this armor set since… what, about three months after he got to Boma Village? It was probably his oldest possession in the world right now, only matched his old great sword, but the shards of that were scattered across the bottom of a lake in the Tundra. He probably had enough materials left in his goods chest to have it repaired, but… maybe it was just for the best to retire the old thing. The monsters he and Ellie were fighting were getting tougher, and he'd need to upgrade his armor even further sooner or later; the Baggi armor wasn't that much better than his Ludroth armor had been. But upgrade to what…

He sighed wearily. These thoughts would have to wait. Maybe the next monster would be something worth skinning for armor. For now, though, he proceeded to dig through his stuff until he finally found a nail, before carefully sticking it into the far wall. He carefully hung the hood of the coat onto the nail and stepped back. It wasn't pretty, but he supposed there wasn't much else he could do to show honor to his old suit of armor short of buying a glass case to hold it in, but that might be going too far for the ragged remains of a suit of armor.

A knock at the door caught his ear, and he grumbled to himself as he stumbled over. He just wanted some sleep right now for goodness sake. But as he opened the door, he blinked in surprise at the sight of Ellie, smirking up at him.

"I thought you'd be vying for sleep as much as I am," he said.

"Normally, yes, but the person in the next room is being kind of loud right now," Ellie replied, sliding through the door and into the room. "Also, I can hear Harker's voice through several walls, and he was talking to Kerry about some experiment of some kind. Frankly, if he's talking about things like that, I'd like to put a few blast walls between myself and… whatever he's doing in there."

"Fair enough," Levin chuckled. Ellie grinned at the sight of the Ludroth coat and raised an eyebrow at her beloved. "Don't mock. I've been through a lot with that coat. There's a lot of history with it, even if it is old and dingy."

"I guess I did the same thing with my first bowgun," Ellie replied, walking over and touching the coat softly, passing a hand over the holes and tears. "I mean, you know, before I blew it up inside a Lagiacrus' mouth."

"Right," Levin nodded. His partner stood looking at the coat for a few more moments, before turning and wandering back to him. He raised an eyebrow as she smirked up at him. "So what exactly are you…"

He was caught off guard as Ellie shoved him backwards, knocking him onto the bed. Laughing, she flopped down next to him and smirked at him. Leaning forward, she kissed him lightly. "I'm here to make sure we get all the rest we need."

"I don't think I'll want to sleep that much as long as you're here," Levin said with a smirk.

"Well," Ellie said, rolling over and leaning over the hunter, "I suppose that we'd sleep all that more soundly after some physical exertion. And I suppose in order to accomplish that…"

Levin laughed, wrapping an arm around Ellie's head and pulling her in to kiss her again. When he released her, he smirked slyly at her. "Becoming quite the dirty girl aren't you, Miss Ellie?"

"Oh, shut up," his partner grumbled, embarrassment flushing her face. "Just… go along with it."

"As you like," Levin smirked, kissing her again.

* * *

Levin finally left his room almost at noon the next day. Ellie had apparently snuck out of his room sometime earlier in the morning; he wasn't that disappointed with the issue, though, considering that if any of the other hunters that lived there, or worse, Lynn, caught sight of them leaving together, they'd hear no end to it. Sleep still clung to the edges of his eyes as he stumbled into the main bar room, hoping that there was a lot of food to eat at the bar today. Thinking back, he hadn't eaten all that well over the last month either, with food rationed to keep all the Lost fed.

He found Ellie talking to Kerry on the far side of the room. Both were in their casual clothes, cottons and leathers that were sold in Loc Lac. Not much else was sold for civilian use in the city except for silk and linen, but you'd be hard pressed to find such things anywhere near the Lost District. There were a few hunters that had a reputation to afford such things, and sporadic Lost that had hit pay dirt with some talent or another they possessed that they could sell to the rest of the city had the coin for such things, but one thing about the South District was that those that lived here generally attempted to aid the rest of the people living there as well, so thoughts of buying fancy garments were generally forgotten about.

"Morning, Miss Ellie," he said tiredly, slouching down next to his partner at the table.

"Morning, Mister Levin," Ellie replied. "You look tired. You slept all the way to noon and you're still tired?"

Levin opened his mouth to reply, but couldn't think of anything he'd be willing to reply with Kerry around. But the bowgunner caught the man's hesitation and smirked. "Clearly it was because he wasn't sleeping the whole night. I imagine you might have had something to do with that, 'Miss Ellie.' Or am I wrong?"

Ellie reddened at the words, making Levin laugh. He clearly didn't care nearly so much about what Kerry knew as Ellie seemed to. But his partner turned on the bowgunner and glared, lowering her voice. "Oh, shush, Kerry. Don't make me turn this conversation on you."

"Ha," Kerry scoffed. "No matter what you have on me, it's not nearly as good as this."

"You say that now, but I could-"

"You know Harker conducted one of his many experiments last night?" Kerry cut Ellie off. "Decided he wanted to toy around with the vials of Baggi bile he'd picked up in the Tundra. I tried to ward him off the idea, but… well, it's hard to get him to stop when he gets going short of knocking him out, and Lynn was still around, so it's not like I could've just smacked him over the head at the time."

"Um, what's your point?" Ellie asked, confusion clear in her voice.

"Turns out Baggi bile reacts violently when it's mixed with certain herbs you find in the desert," the bowgunner smirked. "Damn near blew a hole in the wall when he mixed it together, and let out a nice big bang and a whole lot of smoke. We had to vacate the room for a while, waiting for the smoke to clear. The entire wing came out to see what the commotion was."

"But we didn't… er, um…"

"My point exactly," Kerry said with a smirk. "You didn't hear a thing. Far too busy doing other things to notice explosions, I suppose? There were a few walls between Levin's room and Harker's, but still. Everyone else came out to see the damage, but not you." The bowgunner leaned back in her seat and grinned wickedly. "I think that tipped off a couple people that there was a bit more going on than sleep in that room."

"Oh, no…" Ellie groaned, burying her face in her hands as all the skin above her neck reddened considerably. Levin couldn't help but chuckle nervously at the words. He felt embarrassed as well, sure, but he figured the other hunters at the inn would figure out the depth of his and Ellie's relationship eventually; he just didn't think it would happen quite so quickly.

"Ho yez." Levin turned to face Lynn as the landlord approached the table, a broad grin across her face. Ellie groaned a second time, and the large woman chuckled, patting her on the head . "Oh, don' be such a leedle baby abott de whole ting. Hy vas tinkink de two of hyu might be like dot, anyvay. De cold of de Tundra is good for geeving relationships a leedle push, hey? Trust me, hy know dis. From _experience_, hey?"

"Oh, lovely, that makes me feel so much better," Ellie muttered from behind her hands.

"Oh, cheer up, leedle gurl," Lynn said, still chuckling wickedly. Kerry had a similar smirk on her face, enjoying the show of Ellie's embarrassment. Finally, though, the innkeeper's face turned a bit more serious, though she still was grinning good-humoredly. "Hyu dere, bowgunner gurl. Hyur boy shtill vorkink on cleaning op his mess?"

"Yes he is," Kerry replied with a nod. "It was nice of you to let us stay, even after he made that mess."

"As long as he cleans op after himself, hey? Vouldn't be de first time hy've had to put op vith a destructive sort of hunter. If he's rilly so messy as hyu let on, though, eet jost means he'll be rilly good vith construction vork vhen he leaves, den."

"Seems that way," Kerry nodded. "I think this is actually the longest we've been able to stay in one place without running off to a different place."

"Hyu've only been here vun night, though."

"I know," Kerry grumbled, putting on a sulking expression, and Lynn put on a worried expression.

"Dot's not exactly encouraging, gurlie," the innkeeper said. "Oh, vait, before hy forget, hy do have sometink hy'd like to talk to hyu abott, all of hyu. A friend of mine vas askink abott hyu earlier dis mornik. Vanted to hire hyu tree und hyu're… eh, crezy friend down de hall for some job or anodder. All of hyu vere shtill shleepink or… oddervise occupied, so hy told him to come back later tonight."

"What kind of job is it?" Levin asked. Ellie perked up a little, glad that the conversation had moved on to… other topics.

"Hy deedn't ask," Lynn admitted with a nonchalant shrug. "Bot he's an old friend of mine from vay back vhen. Und he's vun of doze pipple dot if he says he gots a job for hyu, eets probably a good idea to take de job, hey? Und vhatever he vants hyu to do, eets probably sometink important as vell."

"Who is he?" Kerry asked.

"Hyu'll see later," Lynn replied with a grin. "Hy suggest hyu rest op as much as hyu can. I imagine he'll vant de four of hyu headink out qvickly, mehbe tomorrow mornink or afternoon."

"That's not much time to rest," Ellie said.

"So jost take eet easy today," Lynn shrugged. "Und try ektually sleepink tonight, hey? Und geet hyused to having pipple pop in askink you for vork. Dere's a lot of pipple talkink abott the four of hyu right now, und I imagine dot a lot of dem vill be vanting to see vhether hyu ken live op to de reputation hyu all are buildink for hyurselves. Und it vill only get vorse as hyu get higher und higher ranked. Tree of hyu are shtill only tree shtarred hunters, so tings von't get too rough, but vhen you manage to geet hyur fourth or feefth shtars… vell, hyu'll see vhat kind of vork real hunters do."

Levin didn't exactly like the sound of that, but the innkeeper walked away to tend to Logan before he got a chance to ask anything else. He supposed there wasn't much else to do, though, but to wait and see who this friend of Lynn's was. In the meantime, all he could do was sit around and wait, trying to gather the strength he'd lost over the last wearisome month. So he and the two ladies sat around and talked, and ate, and just relaxed. Harker showed up in the barroom about an hour after Levin did, dirty and weary and covered in soot. Levin supposed the ash was a backlash of whatever sort of bang had gone off in his room as well as the cleanup, dulling the vibrant colors of his mismatched clothes. He certainly looked pleased with himself, though, immediately going into detail about the results of his experiment from the day before. Levin didn't exactly understand everything the man said, but then, he rarely did anyway.

It seemed many of the other hunters in the room had been waiting patiently for the long sword user to appear in the room, because it wasn't long after Harker arrived that a couple of the older hunters approached the four younger hunters at the table, requesting the group of them to tell them about their adventures in the Tundra. The request fostered shows of interest from other hunters and bar-goers in the room, clearly looking forward to hearing a good or interesting story. Of course, only Levin and Ellie had been there for the throw-down with Pugnax, so they'd be the only ones telling the story about that particular fight. Both hunters had been worried about a confrontation with another of the hunters that frequented the Oasis; from what they'd heard, public opinion about whether they or Pugnax were at fault was cut right down the middle. However, most of the hunters in the bar seemed to be on their side about the whole issue. Some claimed that Pugnax's decision was likely the better, but didn't fault the two Lost for their choice to allow the Barioth to live rather than killing it and its young. It wasn't something every hunter was willing to do, they said, and it wasn't wrong to have standards when it came to things like that.

Then came the story of the Lost's awakening. While Harker and Kerry had listened patiently as Levin and Ellie told about their run in with the Barioth and the falling out with Pugnax, now they could add input into the storytelling. Kerry was a rather reserved, realistic sort of story teller, but somehow Harker, despite his tendency towards desiring accuracy in most things, turned out to be a vibrant and excitable storyteller, enjoying going through the whole story, the highs and lows. To his credit, the hunters listening hung to his every word as he recounted the story, arms waving excitedly as he described the fight. For a few minutes, even Levin was intrigued with the man's storytelling, listening intently as the man told about how they'd found the Lost, and were suddenly swarmed by the Baggi pack. But a few minutes into the story, the long sword user essentially passed the baton, giving up the story to one of the other hunters. Ellie took up the role next, going on about the appearance of the Great Baggi, and the rush of Baggis that followed suit.

The story went on for a good half an hour after that, the hunters taking turns telling about what happened next. Eventually, though, they finally reached the end of the tale, with the four hunters, Farren, and a couple dozen Lost in tow as they returned to Loc Lac. While the story of the fight had left the hunters excitable, the end of the story left a sour taste in most of the listener's mouths. All of the people in the room, frequent travelers or dwellers in the South District, were sympathizers or friends with the Lost, so few were really pleased to hear what the Guild's decision was. But though they complained a little, none could really give the Council too much flak for their decision; everyone in the room knew how crowded the Lost District was these days, and how desperately construction teams were moving to creating housing complexes higher and with more space available.

After the story was done, the group of hunters proceeded as they usually did after hearing such a story: start off on their own stories. A few minutes after the four hunters were done with their story, an older hunter gave an obvious lead it to a story of his own, some tale he wanted to tell about a run in he had with a pair of Great Baggis coming after him at the same time. A few of the other hunters laughed, clearly having heard the exaggerated story before, but listened in nonetheless to hear how the man's tale would change this time. Maybe the pack leaders would be leading forty minions each this time instead of thirty, or the leaders would be twice as big as they had been before, or maybe his weapon would break halfway through again, and he'd have to use his knife instead.

"That was a pretty good story there, young'ns."

Levin glanced down in surprise at the voice, catching sight of an aged Wyvernian smirking up at the four of them. He was dressed in the uniform of the Guild, a vibrant red coat that fit him snugly. A bright, golden Rathalos image was stitched into the chest of the uniform, a very fine outfit that Levin didn't think he'd ever seen on a Wyvernian before. He seemed… tough, which was all Levin could think of describing him. Despite his height, the Wyvernian had an attitude of definite strength and ability. Levin couldn't really tell the difference between him and others, like smiths or other such Wyvernians, but this one just seemed stronger.

"I ain't heard a story that good in a while now. Been too long away from the huntin' inns I reckon. I've missed hearin' a good tale, though it ain't too pleasin' 'bout hearin' a group o' hunters set inta each other 'cause o' something' like that. Those kinda stories are always pretty depressin' to hear."

"Hey! Stergo!" one of the other hunters in the room called out, making the Wyvernian turn. "You're just in time! Why don't you show this idiot what a _real_ story is and tell us about that fight you had against that Uragaan and the Agnaktor? That's always a good way to deflate someone's ego."

Stergo turned and laughed. "Not today fellas! I got some stuff ta talk 'bout with these four here. Maybe later m'boy."

A wave of disappointed groans echoed out from the hunters in the room, clearly having been looking forward to hearing a good story from this Stergo fellow. Levin was surprised; he'd never met a Wyvernian hunter before. He'd known there were some out there, but he'd never had the opportunity to run into one during his time in Loc Lac. There were Felyne and Shakalaka hunters around as well, he'd heard, but honestly, he was hard pressed to imagine anything that only stood up to his waist being able to fight and kill the monsters out in the wilds. But he supposed stranger things had happened. He frowned uncertainly as Stergo turned and looked at him and Ellie, a studious expression on his leathery face.

"So yer the ones that're makin' waves with the folks around town are ya?" the Wyvernian asked with a grin. "Some of the first few Lost ta get ta be official hunters, eh? And yer both ol' Marshall's 'prentices, ain't ya? I was wonderin' what the pair of ya looked like. Not as tough lookin' as I thought ya'd be…"

"Um… sorry?" Levin said uncertainly.

"And you," the man continued, turning to Harker, "yer Harker, right? I read the report on how ya got yer third star, fightin' that Diablos. It was quite somethin'. Very inventive. The way ya used the smoke bomb and the shock trap was… unique."

"Much obliged," Harker replied with a grin.

"Yer welcome," Stergo nodded. Then he looked at Kerry. "And you must be this boy's… huntin' master I guess. Nice work, lass, managin' to keep a boy like this alive. I've seen hunters like him before, and it takes a good hunter to keep a one like that reigned in."

"Oh, um, thank you," Kerry replied sheepishly.

Then he gave the four of them a contemplative look. "I also heard about how the four of ya helped out with that awakenin' thing what happened up north. Ya helped keep a good couple hundred of yer other Lost alive in the Tundra and brought info 'bout where the Lost're comin' from."

"Yeah," Ellie replied sullenly. "But we weren't able to bring back as many as we wanted to."

"Yes, a shame, that," the Wyvernian replied, shaking his head. "I s'pose I can understand the Council's reluctance, but ya'd think they'da had the decency ta show a little courtesy to the folks up there in the Tundra. A right terrible place it is up there, s'pecially for people to just appear."

"Um, excuse me," Ellie cut in. "Who exactly are you? And how do you know so much about us?"

"Ah, how rude o' me!" the Wyvernian grinned. "The name's Stergo, as you may've heard. I'm an old friend'a yer innkeeper's. Used ta be a hunter in the day, but've been retired fer a while now and workin' fer the Guild. Managed ta get myself fairly respectable these days as well, don't ya know it, though I can't fer the life o' me figure how _that_ happened."

"You're the one who wants to hire us for something?"

"That's right," Stergo nodded. "Considerin' the work you four have done in the last coupl'a missions ya went on, ya just might be perfect fer what I need. 'Specially with what ya did with the Lost, helpin' them stay alive and the like. Just might need that kinda skill, with the work I'll be needin' ya for."

"Oh, that was all thanks to Kerry," Levin said. The bowgunner reddened a little at the sudden attention.

"Ah, that wasn't anything special," she argued, embarrassed. "It's just… I've gotten a bit of practice with surviving with Harker as a partner. And my old hunting master was a heavy believer in having a solution for every problem. I did a lot of escort missions as an apprentice, and when things went badly… well, you had to learn how to keep people alive."

"Hm." The Wyvernian nodded, seemingly pleased. "In that case, ya might really be just what I need, the lot of ya'."

"What sort of job is it, then?" Ellie asked.

"I 'magine it's not really somethin' ya want to hear, but… There's news that there's more o' them blue lights folks're talkin' 'bout are appearin' elsewhere," Stergo told them. Levin frowned in worry at the news, and the other three hunters all had similar looks on their faces. The Wyvernian noted their looks, and before continuing, glanced around the room, before stepping closer to the table and lowering his voice. "News ain't really been spread 'roud Loc Lac yet, but truth is, there's been another 'wakenin' to the east. Small island off the coast, near that Boma Village you two trained in. 'Bout seventy of 'em woke up there, and got found by some fishermen in the area. Turns out the crystals they'd been sleepin' in somehow got swallowed up by one of them Ceadeus, and the things been swimmin' round with 'em in its belly for… a long time, no doubt. But when they started wakin' up, guess the thing went and beached itself, whether from pain or somethin' else, but they all were sayin' when they woke up, they had ta walk out the things gullet to freedom."

"That's horrible!" Kerry gasped.

"Aye, it is," Stergo nodded. "But there weren't no casualties, far as the reps we sent could tell. Had 'em scour the beastie's belly just ta be sure, I'll have you know. But anyway, there's an effort, a quiet one of course, bein' made to collect 'em all and ship 'em to Orage Dell to stay. The Guild leader there, Polgara, she's putting a tight hold on tha whole issue, makin' sure that when they get there, there ain't a nasty fuss raised over tha whole thing. Course, things might still get nasty. Easy, too."

"Why's that?" Ellie asked.

"The Lost from the island are all causin' a bit of fuss," the Wyvernian whispered, lowering his voice even further. "Same ol' monster fears that the rest o' ya Lost got, but… well, all these ones're spoutin' off 'bout one particular monster they all swear attacked up. One that, ah, 's'not so good to be spreadin' gossip 'bout."

"The Alatreon," Levin said. There weren't any others that could instill such fear.

_Kill the beast!_ Levin winced at the sound of the whisper hissing angrily in his head. The voices had been quiet for the most part since his falling out with Pugnax and his fight against the Barioth. They popped in every now and then to argue, but it hadn't been too hard for Levin to force them down. _Leave the Lost to their own devices, and finish the monster! Crush it with your strength and end it for good!_

Levin forced the voice down with some effort. He could feel the other voice springing up to make its own arguments, but it would just be the same things the switch axe user had heard before, and pushed that one down as well. Recently, the gentler voice had taken to telling Levin to help the Lost, as well as protecting Ellie, which was odd, considering the tenacity and single-mindedness the voice had shown before. Actually, both of the whispers were single-minded in their arguments, making them irritating to put up with. Levin was just glad that they weren't forcing their way into his mind as they had been before.

"Yep," Stergo nodded. "Course, with the… fear o' the beast folk have, you can see why an effort to keep this low is bein' made."

"Obviously," Kerry said quietly. She glanced quickly at Levin. "People… almost everyone is afraid of it."

Stergo nodded, glancing at Levin as well. "For tha most part. But… well, that issue'll make its way to Loc Lac eventually. As fer the four o' ya, I need ya to take care o' another issue needs dealing with. Specifically, dealin' with the blue lights, the one where folk haven't woken up yet, and might be needin' help soon. The reports're a little strange, but if the situation's anythin' at all like what the group of ya found in the Tundra, it could mean there's more of ya Lost out there just waitin' to… wake up, I s'pose. There's a coupla reports comin' from the west, and a really weird one comin' from down south o' here. The one in the south is the one I wantcha ta look into."

"And you want _us_ to go find them?" Ellie asked.

"Aye, I do," the Wyvernian nodded. "Yer the only ones we know with any experience in findin' these 'crystals' you've reported seeing. And though… though some folk don't exactly care for the Lost, nobody just wants ta leave 'em to their fates. Especially considerin' where they're wakin' up."

"Where's that?" Kerry asked.

Stergo grimaced before replying. "In the Volcano hunting grounds region: Specifically, inside the active volcano at the center of the grounds."

Levin frowned at the words. He'd heard that the Volcano area was a rather volatile hunting ground, with great numbers of highly aggressive and dangerous monsters. However, when the hunter turned to look at his comrades, he realized that Kerry had a horrified look on her face. Harker had noticed as well, and he was giving the bowgunner a comforting look. Levin avoided looking at her, deciding it would be best to ask about whatever the problem was later… if ever.

"The Volcano is an incredibly dangerous place," Kerry said quietly. "If… if there are Lost waking up there at all, we'll need to get there as quickly as possible. But… but I'm the only one here that's high enough ranked for permission to go there. Not to mention… not to mention that it was a mess keeping all the Lost safe with five hunters in the Tundra. For a place like the Volcano hunting grounds…"

"Oh, don't ya worry 'bout that," Stergo cut her off. "I'm not so foolish as ta send only four hunters off on a hunt like this. I've got a coupla hunters on the ready to head off with ya to huntin' grounds. They're both a couple stars higher than the three Lost here. The pair of 'em'll be pretty good use for a thing like this, what with the pair of 'em being pretty good with medicine, not to mention their skills'll be pretty good for the Volcano region. They're already over in the area, so yer just gonna meet 'em over there; had ta send a quick letter over there ta make sure the pair of 'em didn't come back this way."

"Is that… is that going to be enough of us?" Ellie asked. "Six of us isn't that much better than five, and it was rough just trying to save the Lost we found in the Tundra. If the Volcano area is more dangerous…"

"We've told a coupl'a villages down in that area ta expect a possible group o' Lost to be livin' in the area if worse comes ta worse," Stergo told them. "The stories o' the glowin' lights ain't exactly like what we sent that Farren fella up to the Tundra to look inta, so it may just be nuthin'. But, in case it is… there're always a good number'a decent hunters up in the area, so if ya really have a problem, you'll just need ta send up a flare or somethin' and someone should come runnin' ta help. News o' the lights've been swirlin' around the southern villages, so if ya really think you'll need help, ya can just pick up a few extras in tha villages down there."

"Quite some dangerous work you have us doing here, Mister Stergo," Harker said seriously. "I'm pleased the Guild appears to trust us, despite us being member of the Lost, but it makes me curious. If the council was taking this seriously, wouldn't they be sending more than a handful of hunters to make certain the Lost they could find would be safe?"

"Because the council ain't so quick as ta make a call for stuff like this," Stergo smirked. "Not sure how much the lot o' ya pay attention ta the workin's o' the council (not that I blame ya or nothin', since that's mighty boring junk), but these days the council's a bit split down the middle. As I'm sure ya do know, there're some folk don't care to kindly fer the Lost, that don't want ta send hardly nobody off to the Volcano. Say it's a waste'a money, sendin' high-quality hunters off ta search for somethin' may not even be there. The rest realize it's a damn fool thing ta just leave the Lost on their own, and want ta send a small army off ta help. Course, with the lot o' 'em needin' majority ta pass a plan, good 'r bad, they're stuck with nuthin' but a waste o' hot air. Ya got some Lost supporters fightin' for ya, but… well, all politicians're good fer is wastin' time. So I just figured, hell with 'em all, if they're not gonna do nuthin' fer the Lost, I'll get someone to do it with m'own damn money."

"That's good of you," Levin said. "But will we get there in time? I've heard the volcano area is pretty far."

"Shouldn't be too much of a problem," Stergo replied. "There's a few quick sand ships waitin' to go that way tomorrow, iffen you think you can be ready by then."

"We should be ready by then," Ellie said certainly. Levin could see the determination in her eyes. IF they were going to be the ones that would be called upon to help the awakening Lost… well, they were going to do their damnedest to do their best to help them. Even if… no, _especially_ if the city council was going to be such a pain about the whole thing. Someone had to do something for the Lost out there.

"Good to hear, young'ns," Stergo nodded. "With luck, the stubborn fools up in the council will be willin' to try and prepare fer the next awakenin' a little better. That might be a little too much ta hope fer, but… well, maybe we'll all be good'n surprised. Rest up, the lotta ya. The Volcano ain't no place fer ya ta be tired in. Good luck to the lot o' ya. Fer all the stuff ya've had ta put up with… well, I'll make sure yer well compensated, somehow or 'nother."

"You don't have to-"

"Ah, but I will anyway, now won't I lassie?" Stergo said with a grin. "Now if ya excuse me, I'ma go see if I can whip a coupla the council member into being a little more generous when decidin' how much help the Lost should be able ta get."

As the Wyvernian began to walk away, Ellie raised an eyebrow and looked in confusion at the other hunters. "He can talk to the councilmembers? How high up in the Guild _is _that guy?"

"We've met the South District's council representative before, remember?" Levin reminded her. Harker and Kerry raised their eyebrows in surprise and some disbelief. "Marco, as I recall. We met him when he came to the Oasis to drink. Maybe Stergo knows where the other council members go barhopping."

"Maybe," Kerry replied doubtfully. The bowgunner stood up then, twisting her body to stretch out a little. "We should try and get all the rest we can before tomorrow. The Volcano… it's not a pleasant place, so we'll need to be as ready as we can possibly be. Get as much rest as you can tonight. The trip is a long one, but… well, we'll just need to be ready. I'm going to my room early. See you guys tomorrow."

As the bowgunner walked away, Levin couldn't help but feel that Kerry was more worried about the trip than any of the rest of them. Harker seemed worried as well, watching as the woman vanished around the corner. A moment or two passed before the long sword user stood up as well, pushing back from the table. "I think I'll head off as well. I'm somewhat weary from spending all day cleaning the cinders off the walls of my room and replacing the windows. The area of the desert to the south of here is somewhat harsh from what I've heard from other hunters, so I may be given the opportunity to study the sandstorms that go through the desert. I think I'd like to be awake for that, if the chance arrives. Quite the meteorological anomaly, those storms are. Well, sleep well, comrades."

As Harker wandered off to his room, passing by the bar and questioning the woman quickly before getting chased off, Levin noticed that Ellie was watching the man with a curious look on her face. She seemed lost in thought for a moment, before an amused smile crawled across her face.

"What's that look for?" Levin asked.

"Oh, nothing," Ellie replied. "Just thinking that those two aren't very honest with each other."

Levin snorted, holding back a laugh. "Harker was right. For someone who gets embarrassed about her own relationship so often, you really do like to play matchmaker, don't you?"

He laughed again as his beloved reddened a little bit. "He told you about that? Dammit!"

"Just let things happen naturally, Ellie. That worked out fairly well for the two of us, didn't it?"

"It took a Lagiacrus destroying half of Boma Village and the both of us almost getting killed to get together, not to mention risking certain doom by leaving the medical hut before Orson wanted us to."

"Ah. Good point," Levin muttered. "Well, still. If the scars Harker has all over him is any indication, a near-death experience shouldn't be too uncommon for the man, so if that's what it takes…"

"But…"

"Let it alone, Ellie."

"Oh, fine," the huntress replied, leaning back in her seat and putting a sulky expression on. "I suppose we should go to bed here soon too. If Kerry's so worried about this place, we probably should be as well. And it's going to be a long trip. I never sleep well when we're traveling…"

"Should I keep you company tonight as well?" Levin asked, grinning wickedly.

For a moment, the woman looked uncertain, before grinning a little. "Fine. But just as company, nothing else, okay? I actually do want to get a good sleep tonight."

"Good enough for me, Miss Ellie." With that the pair of them stood up, making their way to the bedrooms to prepare for the journey.

* * *

The journey to the south of Loc Lac was a rough one, as the hunters left the city the next day. A few miles south of the walls, the sand ship they were journeying on was forced to press through a sudden sandstorm that kicked up, blotting out the sky and making visibility further than a couple hundred feet feasibly impossible. Levin decided to stay above deck, even as the sand and dust tore across the deck of the ship, pinching and prodding his skin as it bit into him. Ellie had escaped below deck at the start of the journey, and Kerry had gone with her, neither of the huntresses caring to brave the howling winds and biting sands. Levin stayed above deck, however. A lot of the deckhands Levin had met before had told him that sandstorms were signs of the elder dragon Jhen Mohran passing through the area, and Levin was curious, hoping to catch sight of the creature as it passed through the area as well, even if only a glimpse. They wouldn't fight it if the monster got aggressive of course, the ship wasn't made for such a battle; if a Jhen popped up and got aggressive, the ship would do its best to book it out of there. Harker was on deck as well, though he seemed far more interested in studying the sandstorm itself rather than possible monsters hiding in the dust; Levin didn't understand how he could even make anything out, but the man sat at the bow of the ship, staring into the howling winds, bandanna over his face and scribbling in his journal.

But the storms calmed eventually, and the ship passed through the flying sands and back into calmer areas. Levin was somewhat disappointed, but at the same time relieved, that they hadn't encountered anything as terrible as the Jhen Mohran in the sandstorm. Levin and some of the sailors had thought they'd heard rumblings in the distance as they passed through the storm, but they'd been sporadic, and could just as easily been the sound of the wind. That, and they hadn't seen any Dalex swimming around, another sign that there wasn't a Jhen in the area. Every sailor Levin had ever met swore that Dalex were as certain a sign of Jhen Mohran as dark clouds were a sign of an oncoming storm.

The port at the edge of the sand sea where the ship landed was a calm sort of area, right on the edge of a large plain that stretched out into the distance, grass and crops waving gently in the wind. Apparently, the flatlands here were homeland to countless Jaggi, Aptonoth, and other smaller monsters, but very little else. There really wasn't enough food for lots and lots of herbivores, and thus nothing for carnivores to really devour either. The biggest threat of the plains here was the Barroth, which fed on the sparse anthills that dotted the horizon, but even those beasts seemed rather listless and peaceful here on the plains; some of the wagon drivers claimed to have had the mud beasts walk right in front of their caravan, giving a uninterested snort at the lead driver, then passing by, uninterested in attacking. It was no surprise that several agricultural villages existed between the docks and the Volcano hunting grounds, with the relative safety of the area. Levin had to admit, it was one of the calmest, most relaxing journeys he and the others had taken in the entire time they'd been hunters. They didn't need to act as guards for the caravan they traveled with or anything, just hopped onto the back of one of the wagons and rode along. The entire group only saw one Jaggi on the way further south, and that one was nibbling on the remains of a week-dead Aptonoth, and didn't seem interested in even giving the humans its attention, much less wanting to attack. The wagon drivers didn't even look twice as they passed, seeing the beast, but ignoring it completely.

It was a long trip, far longer than the hunters had thought it would be. It took them several days to work their way south though the plains, passing through several villages and being forced to wait for the traders to unload and load goods they picked up as they traveled through the villages. The journey north hadn't seemed to take long at all, but this… this was a trek. It wasn't until the third day that the sight of mountains on the horizon finally signaled that the hunters were finally getting close to their destination. A large, dark section of sky seemed to cast a shadow over a section of the mountain range, an inky, dangerous looking storm cloud mixed with ash that loomed over a good chunk of the range. Harker seemed to grow excited just looking at the massive black dome over the mountains.

"It's a permanent cloud that lingers over the Volcano hunting grounds, the result of a volcano that's been active for as long as the hunting world remembers," the long sword told him, when he asked about it. "A lot of ash collects near the peak of the mountain, covering everything within several dozen miles of the mountain. But the ash doesn't seem to spread that far past where the clouds stop. Somehow or another the wind currents that churn the clouds have swirled them into never sending fallout of ash anywhere beyond the hunting grounds. Not to mention that the atmosphere and geography seems to just swell with powerful, unique monsters. It's a fascinating study! I've been desperate to travel here, but Lady Kerrigan has been… hesitant to do so."

"Can I ask why?" Levin asked cautiously. "She did seem a little worried about the area when Stergo mentioned it in Loc Lac."

"I'm not sure it's my place to say," Harker replied. "I'm sure Miss Eleanor has asked, though; I think I heard the two of them talking about it back on the sand ship below deck. But… without getting too in depth, let me just say that she has… unpleasant memories here."

"Ah," Levin replied simply. He knew of Kerry's bad luck when it came to her companions, and had little doubt that there had been an incident of sorts in the past involving the alleged 'curse'. Somehow or another he and the others had managed to avoid the alleged misfortunes that were supposed to be the woman's jinx. They'd only gone on a few hunts with the woman, but as far as they were concerned they would be fine. Harker was still kicking after all, though Levin wasn't sure how good an example the madboy was. But Kerry seemed to be happy with their company, and that was all that really mattered to him and Ellie. Their luck would hold out… probably.

As the caravan finally left the plains and began to work their way into the mountains, the attitude of the wagon drivers seemed to grow tenser, their eyes scanning the tall inclines and cliff walls that sprouted up alongside the sides of the pathways. For the first time since their journey south began, the hunters found themselves wearing their armor, actually walking next to the wagons with their weapons at the ready, preparing themselves for… whatever might pop out of the shadows of the mountains around them.

It proved unnecessary for them to have armed themselves, though. A good day's walk through the canyon brought them to their goal: a large town bordering on being called a city, the oddly named 'Frost Town'. The caravan drivers had sighed and grumbled a bit when the hunters had questioned them as to why exactly the city was named such, and told them that if they really wanted to know, they just needed to ask one of the locals. They'd be glad to tell them all about it, again, and again, and again. The town itself seemed to waver a bit from heat, but not from the volcano as its source. Levin realized that the town was filled with smokestacks, plumes of dark smoke billowing up from the rooftops of the town. Apparently, Kerry told them, the town was a big smith town, where hunters and businesses would bring the ores and materials that were found in the area for smelting. From her experience, many hunters spent weeks in the area, collecting the goods they needed for new weapons or upgrades, so several smiths and other metalworkers had set up shop to specialize in the area's materials, allowing for quick and easy creations.

The hunters quickly made their way to Frost Town's inn, where Stergo had told them to expect to find their hunting partners waiting for them. The streets were well lit with all the fires of the metalworking businesses, as well as the smithy and mining workshops. Surprisingly, there wasn't much smoke in the skies, despite the number of furnaces in the area and the active volcano looming on the horizon. But the smell of burning wood and coal was powerful, giving a powerful smell to the surroundings. And the entire city was hot, from like the heat of the volcano was washing over the entire town. The fires of the furnaces weren't helping, either, smacking into the hunters with waves of heat every time they passed a shop.

They found the inn near the edge of town on the far side, near the boundary of the hunting grounds. A Guild banner fluttered listlessly in the breeze out front, symbolizing the organization's worker inside. A small hanging sign labeled the building as the Broken Blade, a rather… foreboding name for a hunter's in as far as Levin was concerned. But they pushed inside, intent on finding the hunting partners Stergo had picked out for them to work with, and hopefully plan for… whatever they were going to do the next day to hunt for the source of the blue lights that had been seen.

The barroom of the inn was rather small for what Levin had been expecting for one of the primary hunting towns bordering the Volcano hunting grounds; but then, he supposed, there were fewer hunters that managed to get high enough ranked to be allowed into the area. But still, there were only a dozen or so people in the bar, and the place seemed half-full already. The four hunters looked around for their contacts at the tables. There were two of them, that was all they really knew, but there were a lot of pairs in the room, so how were they to know which one was theirs?

"Damn it! You're an idiot! Trying to take that Uragaan's hit with your horn… what were you thinking?"

"I didn't hear you complaining at the time. As I recall, if I hadn't done so, you'd be a sticky red paste splattered all over the ground of the volcano floor. You would've well-cooked too, hot as the stone floor was; A veritable Kei-burger. Would've made transporting you back to Loc Lac fairly easy, I'll admit."

"I would've been fine, moron."

"Right, because a three inch wide blade is sure to block the attack of something that can cause earthquakes. That would've worked out perfectly, I'm sure."

Levin glanced over at the sound of arguing, catching sight of a pair of hunters in one of the corners bickering between themselves. It was a boy and a girl, both with dark hair, sitting across the table from each other and wearing casual clothes. They looked similar; siblings, perhaps? Both had the same black hair, though the man's was cropped short and the woman's hung behind her head in a short ponytail. The man had a bit darker of a complexion, though, and has smirking at the woman as she glared irritably at him.

"Still, what would've happened if you'd damaged your horn out here?" the woman asked, frustrated. "It was a massive pain in the butt just finding someone in Loc Lac that was able to make and improve your hunting horns. How much luck do you think we'll have finding someone in this town that's able to do the same?"

"Well, if all else fails, I can just borrow your long sword or something like that," the man replied. "Or… wait, did you bring your swords with you as well?"

"No, I didn't," the woman replied sourly. "I don't bring my swords with me to the Volcano area. I never do, remember? I mean, if I'd known that we'd get roped into a longer-term job than just going out and capping off an Uragaan, I might've brought my dual swords with me, but I didn't exactly expect to get a letter from Stergo asking us to hang around here for another week. If I had, I would've packed more herbs as well. It is way too hard to find them in this area… and potions are too expensive."

"Maybe we should get around to taking those alchemy lessons we've been reading about. We could just make our own potions then."

"Yeah, but how much would those lessons cost? Let's just wait until the four hunters that are supposed to get here arrive. Unless you know of a place we can go collect herbs near the town."

"It would seem that we've found our hunters," Harker said, grinning at the other three. Without another moment of waiting, the long sword user rushed towards the table, forcing the other three to tag along behind. The two hunters at the table jumped in surprise as Harker suddenly appeared at the side of their table, grinning broadly at the two of them. Levin didn't blame them for the surprise; Harker's smile was laced with madness, and could be a bit disconcerting for someone that wasn't used to it. "The two you must be the hunters we were told to meet here. Are you siblings? You must be. There are simply too many similarities between the two of you to be otherwise. Skin tone, eye color, bone structure… perhaps you could-"

"Harker! Calm down!" Kerry ordered, catching up to the long sword user. "You're scaring them, for pity's sake. Sorry about him. He's a bit… enthusiastic about things. My name's Kerry. We're the, uh, the ones sent by Stergo to help investigate the reports about the blue lights in the hunting grounds."

"Ah! I see!" the woman said, grinning a little.

"Anyway, these two here are Levin and Ellie," the bowgunner said, motioning to the two Lost. "You've already met Harker here. You'll get used to him. Eventually. Maybe."

"A pleasure to meet you all. Now please allow us to introduce ourselves," the man said with a grin. "My name is Kai. This here is my sister, Kei."

"Nice to meet you all," Kei told them with a smile. "I was wondering what kind of people were raising such a fuss with everyone back in Loc Lac."

"I don't think we were really trying for that type of fame, exactly," Ellie said sheepishly. "Things just sort of… happened."

"Things like that usually do," Kai laughed. "Not everyone gains their fame by going out and taking down some massive, challenging monster, and gaining their fame through valiant battle."

"So what weapons do the lot of you use?" Kei asked the four hunter's curiously. "I've been wondering what kind on hunters you four would be. My money's on a sword and shield, two bowgunners and a hammer user."

"Eh, not exactly," Kerry replied. "Kinda close, though…"

"Well, personally, I'm a proud long sword user," the woman told them. "I switch it up with dual swords every now and then, though, but unfortunately I left them in Loc Lac. My brother here, though, uses a hunting horn."

"A what?" Levin asked.

"Yeah, they're not so well-known in Loc Lac as they are elsewhere," Kai said. "You ever see those health flutes, or others like them? Yes? Well, it's like that, but… bigger. And they don't break."

"As easily," Kei finished, making her brother glare at her.

"Oh, how interesting!" Harker said ecstatically. "I've been hearing about those! I've been hoping for the opportunity to study one! I'm so curious as to how the mere wavelengths of sound would be able to actively improve a hunter's fighting capabilities, or actively promote a higher rate of healing in their bodies. Oh, I wonder what other sort of effects could be achieved with certain attunement… perhaps you'd allow me the opportunity to…"

"No, Harker," Kerry cut the man off. "If you want to study the effects of the hunting horn, you'll just have to make one of your own. No 'borrowing' someone else's. I've seen what you do things that you borrow from people that you want to experiment on. I don't think Kai here wants his weapon reduced to metal scraps."

"It would be for the furthering of science," Harker argued. Kai gave the man a worried glance at the words.

"No."

"Ah, fine. As you wish, Lady Kerrigan."

"That reminds me," Ellie muttered. "I need to get materials for a new bowgun soon. I haven't really had one since my old one got broken by that Barroth a few months ago."

"Well, this is as good a place as any to get one," Kai said. "There's lots of ores in the area, and some pretty tough monsters that make for good materials. Hell, if you're lucky, you might even find the remains of some of the bowguns the old civilizations used to make. There's a lot of archeological digs in the area, and some folks have unearthed ancient weapons. They're a little weird-looking, but some of the smiths in the area can fix them up and make them workable. Got some 'oomph' behind them from what I've heard."

"I'll keep an eye out, then."

"Oh, by the way," Levin spoke up, "Stergo told us that if we needed help, we could try and recruit willing hunters in the area to join us."

"Right," Ellie added. "I know you two are… higher ranked than the four of us, but it was a big mess trying to help the Lost we found in the Tundra, even with five hunters around. Six of us is a little better, but still… if there are as many Lost here as there were in the Tundra, and if the Volcano hunting grounds are as dangerous as people seem to think they are, then I'd feel a lot better if there were a few more of us."

"That… that might be a little difficult," Kei said. "There aren't that many hunters around the town at the moment, as you may have seen: A lot of archaeologists, but not many hunters. There was a bit of an incident a couple days ago, and a call went up for hunters to try and kill a pair of Uragaan that had come out of the hunting grounds during a fight over a mate. From what I've heard, the pair of them are still going at it, and no hunter's been able to slow them down or kill one. They're just too focused on each other. One Uragaan can cause a lot of damage, but two? Well, that's a recipe for disaster right there."

"Also, a lot of hunters have been in a rush to capture another notable Uragaan," Kai told them. "Apparently one of the local merchant lord's daughter put up a mission request to capture a certain one of the beasts that caught her attention and is willing to pay a small fortune for its collection. It's supposed to be really… small or something, a midget of its kind. Uragaan get pretty big, though, so I imagine that the definition of a small one would be the same size as a large wagon or something. Anything smaller would be laughable."

"So there aren't any hunters that can help us but you two?" Kerry asked, sounding disappointed and fearful.

"Not really," Kei sighed. "I mean, we might be able to pick up someone that just arrived, or is finishing a mission, but other than that, I don't know what we can do."

"Well… maybe we'll be able to grab someone willing to help when we get to the hunting grounds," Levin suggested. "If they're all there anyway, maybe we'll run into someone willing to help while we're there."

"Possibly," Kai said. "But the hunting grounds are big, and only high ranked hunters are allowed to travel the area freely, so the numbers won't be that high. But there's a chance, so… maybe. Perhaps some of the hunters working on those other missions will give up, and we'll be able to pick them up to help us."

"Sounds like something of a plan," Ellie nodded. Then a thoughtful look crossed her face. "Um, while I'm thinking on it, Stergo said the reports of the lights that were appearing in this area were a little weird. Do you know anything about that? What's so weird about the reports?"

"Oh, that," Kai said, frowning. "I'm, uh, not too familiar with the reports about the blue lights from what you guys found in the Tundra, but… well… it's kind of odd. It seems as though the lights that people have been seeing here in the Volcano area have been, um, moving."

"What? Moving?" Harker asked curiously. "That shouldn't be possible. The crystals the lost in shouldn't be mobile. Or… perhaps they could be. If the stories from Orage are any indication… ah, never mind. That's just speculation."

"How can they be moving?" Levin asked.

"No one knows," Kai replied. "But, when news of what the blue lights were got here, people kept an eye open for them. A couple weeks ago, some odd blue lights were spotted in the southern section of the hunting grounds. A group was sent to investigate, but when they got there, nothing was there. At the same time, news came in of lights popping up in the eastern area. The investigation group tailed after it, only to find nothing, and word that the lights were now in the west. It took them some time to finally find the lights, but they spent hours tailing them through the crevices and valleys of the area. They kept vanishing and reappearing in different places. So as far as people can tell, yes, it does seem that the lights are moving around."

"But… if they're moving, how are we supposed to catch up with them?" Ellie asked.

"Not sure," Kei said. "But… well, all we really can do is just move as quickly as we can and hope to catch up with the lights. It could take a while, though. The team that was sent out to look into the lights in the first place was chasing the lights around for almost a week before they gave up and came back to Frost Town. They'd run short on supplies and couldn't afford to keep tailing the lights around. That might not be as much as an issue for us, since me and my brother know where Aptonoth herding paths are. We can just pick up more food as we need it. Hopefully we won't need to take that much time, of course."

"I don't think I've been out in the wilds for so long at once before, though," Ellie said.

"It shouldn't be too bad," Kerry said encouragingly. "As long as we don't run into any of the big monsters in the area, we should be fine."

"Right," Kai nodded. "The lights were seen at the edges of the interior Volcano caverns, so wherever these lights are moving around, they're not going into the really dangerous areas. It we're lucky, we may be able to find the lights close to the surface of the Volcano, without having to delve too deep into the interior, so there'll be a lesser chance of running into an Uragaan or Agnaktor."

"Good to hear," Levin nodded. "So do we leave tomorrow?"

"Bright and early, now that you four are here," Kai nodded. "Get some rest tonight. We'll be moving around a lot the next couple of days it seems, and the hunting grounds are not the most comfortable place to sleep at night, even at the base camps the Guild has spread around the exterior."

"People keep telling us to get rest," Ellie muttered.

"Wait until you spend a few days out in the Volcano grounds," Kai replied with a smirk. "You'll find the advice is well placed. Wake up with the sun, and we'll meet out here in the bar. Once the ground's light enough to see well, we'll head out and search for these lights, wherever they area. They were last seen somewhere in the northwest, so I guess we'll begin our work there."

"Works for us," Levin said.

"Then we'll see you tomorrow," Kei said, getting to her feet. "With luck, this will be a short mission, without complications. Fingers crossed."

Levin and Ellie broke off from the rest of the group, heading over to the bar to buy a couple of rooms. As they walked, Ellie glanced worriedly at Levin. "Do you really think it'll be as easy as that?"

Levin chuckled mirthlessly. "With the luck the Lost have? Probably not. Maybe with some luck, though, things will go a little more smoothly than they did in the Tundra."

"Hopefully…"

* * *

_Click click click_. Footsteps, someone heavyset. The fat guard, the one with an ego bigger than his gut was. "I'm here, boy. Unfortunately. Don't know why the old man's got me wasting my talents here watching a door and a pile of chains."

"About time." Irritation was thick in the other guard's voice. He disliked the fat guard a great deal; he spent far too much time complaining for his liking. The fat guard was usually late, which made it the evening, the… twenty-eighth day? "What took you this time?"

"There was some trouble in east block again." Richard opened an eye at the words, staring at the ceiling of the dark room from small cot of the prison cell. East block. Where the monsters were kept. Or in some cases, the more rowdy prisoners: Kimberly and Natalie, namely. It had taken a week to listen for their names. The guards spoke the names like they were cursed, if they ever spoke them at all. And if even half of what he'd heard were true, the pair were fighting to escape like a Saturnian out of a pitfall trap.

"The two brats? Damn. How many this time?"

"Six this time." More casualties than usual. Good. "And they also got into the one of the storerooms. Managed to armor themselves up and run rampant through the cages. Killed dozens of the monsters we'd had stored away, smashed countless eggs, and let four of the bigger ones loose in the halls." Ah, so that was why he thought he'd heard the howls of monsters echoing down the hall; for a while he thought he actually _had_ lost his mind.

"Damn… Who stopped them?"

"Lilith." Another cursed name, one that was treated more like one speaking of a waking nightmare than a curse. "Ripped through the monsters laughing the whole time, and then went after the girls. I'm not ashamed to say I hid when those three clashed. I'm not stupid. Guess the banshee's not as invincible as she acts, though. They all walked out of that fight injured. Both of the brats had a broken arm and leg each, not to mention the other breaks all over the place. Lilith's arms were both broken, as was one of her legs, and there was a nasty burn on her stomach. She was still laughing when Micah showed up with more guards to take the brats back in. She was still laughing when they carted her to the infirmary." Well, they were still alive. That was something. Richard doubted they'd stop fighting for something as simple as broken bones, the way the guards went on about them.

"Freaks of nature, all of them. Don't know why Moloch doesn't just kill the pair of them and be done with it."

"Used to be that he didn't do it because of Micah. Boy wants them for himself or something. But it seems like some of the old man's providers have shown an interest in the pair of them, enough to pay good money for them to stay alive and keep up their work while they're here." A pause, then shuffling. A rap on the door. Hm. This infernal treatment again. "He done anything?"

"Not really. Sat up and blathered something weird earlier. Might've been singing or something. Thought I could make out some words, but nothing solid. Doctor says he's getting better, though. Can't find anything wrong with him but… Nothing in that head but rocks rattling around right now, far as I can tell. I guess that Filcher guy hit him pretty hard."

"Yeah, the old man's getting ticked waiting around for him to get fixed. Says if he's not normal in a week or so, he's getting thrown in to feed the Raths." Ah. Well, that settled that. Better start getting his mind back… tomorrow morning, perhaps? No, noon would be more strategically appropriate. Just in time to scare whoever came to force smashed food down his throat. Nothing too threatening, though. Not yet. He still needed a bit more time to regain his strength, after all.

"And the, uh, invalid?" The fat guard asked. The sound of careful walking, and the rattling of metal chains echoed through the room. Richard tensed slightly where he lay. The sound of pained groaning followed suit.

"Nothing either. He refused to eat today, same as yesterday. Bastard passed out a little earlier after a bout of cursing horrible death on me. Used some… very unique swears. I think he picked them up from the Lost before we brought him in or something. His threats are getting, uh, kind of inventive too. And a little disconcerting, I'll admit." Richard couldn't help but smirk a little. Very inventive, indeed. Was it perhaps the influence of the girls that had made his father that way, or the other way around? He was pretty sure he'd never heard his father use such terrible language as he had before… _Mother would've thrown had a conniption if she'd heard such words_, Richard thought wryly. "He won't be a problem for you today. A couple medics will be by in an hour or so to feed the two of them. Moloch says the older one here will eat on his own. He can't just let his son die, now will he? Not with all that cursing from earlier."

"Hm. Guess not."

"Now, if you'll excuse, me, I'm hungry. Have fun."

"Screw you." The other guard chuckled as the sound of iron boots clicking across the floor. The sound faded slowly, and in a moment, the only sound remaining was the heavy breathing of the fat guard. Richard held back a sigh. All this man did was grumble and complain to himself. He'd hoped that would lead to him getting information he otherwise wouldn't, but it was the same whining issues over and over again: the pay was too low, he should be doing something else, nobody respected him, and they should just kill these brats in the prisons and be done with it. It was the same foolish nonsense as always.

_Nothing to do but tune out the man's complaints and wait, _Richard though. Maybe he should take a nap, or think about the alchemical mixtures he remembered, or all the history and science his mother had taught him as a child… the guard's shift would be another four hours, so he had some time to burn.

But the man suddenly shifted around, and the mumbling of the man became more nervous and uncertain than anything else. For a moment, Richard was worried. Was the man planning something? But a moment later the fat guard began muttering to himself. "…shouldn't take too long. The doctors always come about the same time. Bah, don't know why the old man needs such a close eye on these damn prisoners… I'll be fine. It won't take but an hour or so."

The clicking of boots caught Richard by surprise. The man was actually walking away from the cage doors, away and down the hall, leaving his guard duty behind! But why, he wondered? It didn't matter; this was the first opportunity he'd had to really move around since arriving, and he wasn't going to waste it. He waited patiently for another few minutes, making sure he couldn't hear anything out in the hallway just to be certain, before finally allowing himself to push his body upright. The motion was a bit painful, admittedly; he hadn't really moved all that much in the time he'd been there, so his muscles were a bit atrophied. Nothing that a little time and energy wouldn't fix, especially once he allowed the people here to know he'd 'regained' his cognitive functions; but for now…

Richard had played at comatose for… _almost a month now_, he thought. He didn't need them killing him to save resources though, so he'd been pretending at being awake but deranged the last couple of days, singing songs from his hometown and babbling a bit. It seemed he'd have to 'sober up' soon, though; this 'Boss' of theirs was getting impatient about his captured 'dog of the Guild'. Richard didn't care to play their games, and didn't want to take part in their work here. If even half of what the collection of guards he'd overheard had said were true, the Guild and the Loc Lac council would send a small army of hunters and soldiers to bring this place down, and he would love nothing more than to help them along as best he could. But he needed to do more than just escape. Richard needed names: providers, benefactors, politicians. Anyone that had helped get this organization off the ground and out from under the Guild's detection. There had to be dozens of dirty politicians, and Richard needed as many names as possible before he would attempt escape. And, more importantly, there were others here: hunters, civilians, doctors. This Moloch person seemed the type to use them as hostages, should the Guild come knocking. Not to mention his father and his apprentices were still here.

Richard had no small number of vengeful thoughts for that type of man. Many hours of his time in captivity had been spent imagining new and unique methods of punishments he would very much enjoy personally dealing out to the man. Though his sense of compassion and charity would likely stop him from dishing out some of the more… savage sentences he'd conjured up in his head, the ones involving the excessive removals of certain body fluids, he still enjoyed imagining the deaths of the people whose names had embedded themselves in his head. It kept him good and amused and thinking during the long days he'd spent forced to just lie on his cot.

He walked quietly over to the door, glancing through the hole in the door out into the hallway, properly laying eyes on his father for the first time since he'd arrived. The older man was a strongly built man, very powerful, even for his age. The resemblance between him and his son was strong, with similar facial features, physical builds, and the same blue eyes, but the time the father had spent here in this prison had worn on him. His face was haggard and tired, and his hair had since grown long and ragged. They'd gone to great lengths to keep the older man chained down, he wryly observed. Dozens of loops of the metal lines wrapped around the emaciated body, holding him tight against the wall, arms stretched out and up, hanging him high against the wall, as though he was being crucified. Richard frowned angrily at the treatment; he'd heard stories of older civilizations that had treated their prisoners during history lessons, and this was hardly better at all.

"Father," the man called out softly. "Father, can you hear me? It's your son."

The man groaned wearily, painfully, but didn't stir further. Richard frowned in disappointment. He couldn't risk trying to wake his father, or speak louder. Who knows how far this hall stretched, or who could be around the next corner? He couldn't risk making noise. He couldn't give himself away, not yet. And the guards definitely wouldn't offer him the opportunity to speak to his father in private once they knew he was 'awake' and thinking rationally again. How long before the guard returned, or the medic came to feed him and his father? Would his old man wake before then, or would he have to wait for another opportunity?

"You're awake in there, aren't you, 'dog of the Guild'?"

Richard flinched visibly at the sudden words, spinning around as fast as he could. The voice, a raspy, dry sound, had drifted in through one of the windows opening into the neighboring cells. Twenty-eight days, and he hadn't heard a peep! He furrowed his eyebrows in thought. Had someone been in that cell the entire time, not saying a word, and nobody saying a word to him? He didn't even hear food being eaten at all, or anyone telling him to eat…

"Who are you?" Richard asked quietly. He had to be careful with his words, as his deep voice had the tendency to carry if he wasn't careful. "Have you been waiting this whole time, spying on me, waiting for me to slip?"

A pained laughter seemed to crawl through the hole between cells. "I am nothing. None of the guards are allowed to speak to me, because I know too much. If I try to speak to them, they beat me until I cannot speak. I am little more than corpse here, a poorly fed corpse, clinging to life. Moloch fears what I know, but enjoys watching me despair and suffer, so here I remain, broken and weak."

"Who exactly are you?" Richard asked again. "And what is it that you know that would invoke such a punishment from this Moloch?"

"You don't want to know who I am. There is nothing to gain from it."

"Try me. You'd be surprised at what I can benefit from, sir." Even in this hellhole of a prison, Richard tried to maintain his politeness to his fellow prisoner. It was almost all he had available here…

More pained laughing. "I am a monster. Worse than the dreadful creatures they keep in the East Block, but not so much as those that control them. I am the architect of this facility. I discovered, unearthed, and rebuilt this devil's nest. All the hell that this place is exists because of me."

"You… built this place?" Why would the _architect_, of all people, be rotting alongside him in prison?

"No. This prison has existed longer than anything else in the world; a remnant of the old civilizations. I found it, unearthed it, and repaired it. And, great fool that I am, I allowed Moloch to take control of this place, leaving it in his hands."

"That doesn't make you a monster. You were deceived by a cunning coward. Stranger things occur outside these walls on a daily basis, sir."

Another laugh. "Is the smith any less to blame for giving a blade to a murderer? Especially when the murderer has requested a tool with which to kill other humans? Or perhaps an alchemist building a bomb, and then selling it to the highest bidder? No, I deserve this suffering I receive, and wish nothing more than for the earth to swallow this place up, and for me to be dragged down with it."

Richard was silent for a moment. Guilt had enveloped this man whole. Richard could empathize. His own mother had worked as a smith, crafting and selling weapons, and occasionally those very tools would find themselves in the hands of poachers or other criminals. Poachers and criminals that he himself had needed to hunt down and capture… or kill when he had to. Still, his mother had no control over the user of the weapon, only the make and design of it, and like any tool, it could be used to do great good, or be abused to do great damage. This man, whoever he was, shouldn't have to hold himself accountable for the actions of others. To do so would only fill you with misery and weigh you down, much like how the man seemed to be now.

"What… do you know that Moloch fears?"

Silence for a moment. "Death. This structure holds the key to death for all that dwell within. If I were free… I could kill… everything."

Richard stared at the window between their cells. Death? Everything inside this building could be killed? How? Why? What was this place, really? Could it all be a series of traps, blades, and bombs? Thinking, he sat back onto his cot, a grimace of frustration on his face. Looking around, he gave the room another look. Everything seemed solid. The layout of the place was so confusing when he'd first arrived. The walls were nearly completely smooth, with only a few small pinprick holes near the top of the wall. At first, he'd though it was for ventilation, but now… He'd never seen its design before in his life, and now he knew why: the structure was ancient, a fragment of the civilizations that came before. One of the Lost's, perhaps? Or one of the few that came between? He couldn't tell, and, frankly, it mattered little at this point.

Richard opened his mouth to question the man further, but the sound of weak, nervous muttering greeted his ears before he could sound out the first syllable. It was a sound the man had heard before; the other prisoner was bordering on, if not already wallowing in madness. The trapped hunter couldn't help but wonder how much of what he'd been told was true, or even real. After another couple of seconds later, the sounds of the man's mutterings faded into silence, and for all Richard could tell, the man didn't exist anymore, as he hadn't only ten minutes ago. He couldn't even pick out the sound of the man breathing.

How could he use this, 'Death to all that dwelled in these walls'? He couldn't let the prisoners die, nor could he just ignore them. The other prisoner didn't seem to be saying any more. Richard would have to find a way to get more information on this structure somehow. If he could convince the man to say more… but that might have to wait. The man was just barely clinging to any remains of his sanity, and it would take a lot of work to pull him back together again, if at all. And could he do anything about his father's apprentices? Try and stop them from foolishly attempting conventional means of escape? He'd be hard pressed to meet up with them at in another block, the guards didn't seem bribable, and there was no way in heaven or hell he would choose to join this collection of poachers.

For now, he'd need to let them know he was awake now. The leader would likely wish to meet him. Maybe he'd brag about his situation, give away more than he should. That didn't seem likely, though. Information seemed to be tightly controlled here; even the guards didn't know that much. He doubted they'd give much information up to a prisoner, but it was a start. He finally had some goals. Find out what Moloch feared people to know, figure out some idea of an escape plan, collect as many names as he could on the way, kill Moloch (and that hunter, Filcher) if he got the chance… And after all that?

Reduce this hellish prison to ashes.

* * *

**Author's Note: Please Review! Doubled up with OCs this time, as you may have noticed. I still have about four or five OCs to slide into the story somewhere or another, and I should be able to fit them in just fine. I really don't regret my choice to cut off submissions now that I look at how much story is left here.**

**I realized a little way through the start of this chapter that my story is beginning to emulate the book, **_**The Grapes of Wrath**_**, at least in the sense of how the Lost are trying to deal with rough times and how they're treated. While I generally didn't care much for reading books that were forced on me in high school, that one was a really good one, so I'm not all that displeased about it. Also, I really like John Steinbeck as a writer. It's a tough read, but a good one, and I recommend it.**

**Reading: **_**Winter's Heart**_** by Robert Jordan, **_**Crossroads of Twilight**_** by Robert Jordan  
Playing: Skyrim, BF3  
Listening: Fun, Radical Face, Modest Mouse, The Bravery, Gotye, Hot Hot Heat, PSY, The Album Leaf**


	32. Dreams

Dreams

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. Most of the characters in this story are mine. Kai and Kei belong to SG-Kai. Razor belongs to ultimatemh._

_Edited by: Hoenn Master96 (I should have been putting this here for quite a few chapters, it just never occurred to me to do so...)_

It was a struggle for Levin to wake up the next morning. As nice as it had been sleeping in a bed rather than the back of a wagon, getting used to a bed that wasn't his was always a struggle. Even with Ellie lying next to him, he'd had trouble nodding off. But when light began to filter through the room's window as the sun began to rise, he forced himself out of bed in order to get a jump on the day. The next week was likely to be a rough one, chasing after some runaway lights, with only the challenge of leading a good number of Lost out of the area as the final reward.

At least with the developments his relationship with Ellie had given them the opportunity to share a room, which appealed to his sense of thriftiness. Noi had paid them well, but without the constant hunts they'd gone on before meeting Pugnax, he and Ellie had hit a bit of a low point when it came to how much money they had in their wallets. Maybe once this mission was over they'd be able to go out and be normal monster hunters again. Though, with the way they were growing increasingly famous (or infamous, as some people considered them), Levin wondered whether or not they'd be able to get back to normal hunting anytime soon. Maybe one of the other Lost hunters would make some sort of ruckus, drawing the attention away from them, or maybe their fifteen minutes of fame would wear out quickly. Hopefully so.

Ellie woke up as Levin was pulling his blue-grey boots on, wearing some terrible bedhead and blinking painfully at the rays of sun peeking through the window blinds. The huntress had never been much of a morning person, and had grumbled quite nastily at having to get up so early that day, but knowing what the goal of the mission was proved to be enough of a motivator to get her out of bed and suiting up in good time. After making certain they both had their satchels filled with the necessities, as well as a few extra goods they'd brought along for the long mission, the two left the room, heading back to the bar of the inn. Kai and Kei were waiting for them when they came in, as was Kerry. Levin glanced in surprise at the bowgunner's weapon: it was some red mess of parts that he hadn't seen before, with materials made from other red beast that wasn't the Rathalos; an Agnaktor, perhaps? Harker didn't seem to be there yet, which was odd; Levin knew that the long sword user had a tendency to be up and moving before anyone else in their little hunting group.

"Good morning," Ellie greeted the others, sliding into the seat next to them. "Where's Harker at?"

"Morning, dears," Kerry grinned. "Harker is… well, he's trying to make his notebooks fireproof last I heard, though I'm not sure exactly he's going to make paper not burn. I don't think we'll be going all that deep into the Volcano for him to worry that much about it, but… well, he's intent, and despite my efforts, I couldn't convince him to stop or to leave the notes behind."

"We're kind of trying to get out of here quickly…" Kai said. "Why won't he just leave the notes behind? What does he expect to find out there that's worth studying and writing down?"

"With him? Anything," Kerry sighed. "Maybe… he'll find some of the moss that the Uragaans eat and want to sit down for an hour or so to study it. Maybe something else. It's always hard to tell with him."

"So will he be ready anytime soon?" Kei asked.

"Maybe… it's hard to tell," Kerry replied worriedly. "Usually, I can convince him to get back on track, but… sometimes he's just really stubborn about something. I think this is one of those times, I'm afraid, so… sorry. It might be a good hour or more before he can be dragged away from his work."

"Damn it," Kei muttered. Then she sighed and grinned. "Oh, well. Maybe that'll give me and my brother here enough time to find someone in town that sells herbs in this town. Too many people out there that sell those potions, but… nothing quite as simple and workable as herbs. Maybe this time, my idiot sibling here can avoid taking a beating enough so the pair of us can avoid using up so much of them…"

"I'm sorry," the horn user replied sarcastically. "Remind me again, who was the one that thought it would be a good idea to try and block an Uragaan's chin with her face? The speed and damage of a long sword is fine and good, but you can't exactly block an earthquake with it, now can you, dear sister?"

"At least I make sure to take care of my weapon! As I recall, you got your bagpipe a touch too close to the lava during that fight, and the thing nearly burst into flame! A support hunter's not very helpful when his tools are in cinders!"

"Oh, please! Remember that Gigginox mission you forced me to go on with you? Instead of catching it off guard by charging in with a full assault, you wanted to sneak up on it! How did you forget that the damn thing can see in the dark?"

"What! You're the one who tried to blind it with a flash bomb! The things don't have eyes! How do you expect-"

Levin flinched as Ellie nudged him with her elbow, tilting her head towards the door. "Let's get out of here," she said quietly. "I kind of want to explore a little while we're still in town. Maybe there's someone in town who can make a bowgun for me or something."

"Yeah, sure," Levin nodded. "It looks like we've got some time to burn, anyway."

While the two siblings continued to bicker between themselves, Levin and Ellie quickly slunk out of their seats, and worked their way out of the bar. Kerry seemed to be the only one that noticed, but she simply grinned at the pair of them as they walked out, perfectly content to wait at the inn for Harker to finish doing… whatever it was he was doing.

Levin hadn't really had a chance to properly explore the town when they'd first arrived; he was glad for the chance to do so, considering that this city was heavy center of smithy designs, specifically the designs ores found in the Volcano area provided. Though, with all the smiths that had popped up in the area, it was no real surprise that if there was anywhere besides Loc Lac where you could find someone, anyone, that would be able to mold and work with whatever metals you had on you, it would likely be here. At least, that's what the switch axe user had heard from the caravan drivers he'd traveled with on the way down here.

The town seemed shaped very… hive-like. That was the best way that Levin could describe the place. The roads twisted and turned in hexagons, squares, and other shapes as the two Lost hunters worked their way through the town, looking at the shops and signs that littered the area. It was like the concept had been shrunk down to a half or a third of its original size. Four or five or six shops would be clustered together on a single small plot of land, and small roads would circle around them all, winding and weaving through the dozens upon dozens of clusters. It didn't seem to follow a decent pattern like the other cities and towns the hunters had seen; Boma Village had been designed in the circular pattern that was for safety reasons, and Loc Lac and Orage Dell had been designed in the crisscross pattern that seemed to still be popular after all these years, though Orage's system had their roads at angles rather than in lines moving north-south and east-west. Levin imagined that, if he could see Frost Town from the sky, it really would look like a honeycomb, with small roads etching out lines between the mismatched land areas. It seemed to work well, though; with so many smiths in town, the ones that clustered together in the city, most that were on the same plot of land could simply share a chimney stack wedged in the center of the area. As they walked, he and Ellie talked about what they saw sitting on display, as well as what they wanted to see.

"Maybe I can look for someone that can work with switch axes while I'm here…" Levin said as they passed another shop displaying the weapons. He hadn't seen many stores displaying the volatile weapons since he arrived in town, which didn't surprise him, considering their relatively new design, as well as the dangers the weapons possessed.

"Already?" Ellie asked in exasperation. "You've only had the one you have now for just over a month, and that's made from Lagi materials! Do you really need something new already?"

"Just keeping my options open," Levin shrugged. "I mean, it's not like I really have the materials to make a decent one right now, anyway. I… think I might have what I need for a low-level one, that I can build up into something nice eventually, but it's not like I'm going to be replacing my weapon anytime soon. I'm just… window shopping, I guess."

"Well, you better not think about doing anything more than that," Ellie muttered. "If the switch axes I've seen advertised are any indication, we'll need to take down some really nasty beasties for you to get something that compares to your Lagi one."

"Yeah, I saw that," Levin replied sullenly. "The lowest level one above the base design is made from Barroth materials, and, well… I haven't really been enthusiastic about going after one of those since our last run-in with one of them."

"Ah. Right," Ellie sighed. "We're gonna need to get a mission one of these days and get rid of that little issue…"

"No kidding," Levin nodded. "Let's see, besides that… there's a Barioth design, an Agnaktor design, and let's not forget to mention that one guy who swore he could make something really good out of Ceadeus materials or Jhen Mohran goods, though for the life of me, I couldn't guess how he'd get Mohran materials. Most of the goods off of dead Jhens sinks to the bottom of the sandsea from what I've heard."

"What about that really shiny one I saw advertised?"

"The crystal one? Yeah, I need a lot of materials from underwater for that one, and I've… never been fond of underwater mining. I mean, I've taken out a Royal or two in the ocean, but what they were asking for was in the Flooded Forest, and while I'm okay going toe to toe with Lagiacrus and Gobul on land, I'm… less comfortable about messing with them underwater."

"Ah, good point…"

As they walked, they continued to look around, taking note of the various weapons smiths put on display at their shops. There were several weapon types up for show that were less than common in Loc Lac, and though the hunters glanced at them curiously, they really didn't spare them much more than a once-over. Neither of them had the desire to try out a new weapon while they were so busy with Guild work. However, the pair of them did find themselves pausing at one shop that caught the pair's attention. Rather than being manned by a more common-looking smith like an old, wizened-looking Wyvernian, or Felynes, or even Shakalaka, this shop was manned (figuratively speaking) by an older human woman.

She was well into her middle-age, with shoulder length dark brown hair and eyes of similar color. She was wearing unique clothes that weren't exactly common for the Volcano area, from what Levin had seen, but he thought that the baggy clothes belied a fairly strong body. A smith herself, perhaps? The front of her shop didn't have many things on display; a couple long swords, one or two normal swords, a few other random weapons. But there was a bowgun in the middle of the display that caught Levin and Ellie's eyes: It was old, and actually didn't seem like a bowgun at all… actually, it looked to Levin like an old rifle from the time of the Lost… or a blunderbuss of some kind. Ellie seemed drawn to the weapon, and strode over the shop, with Levin tailing behind.

"Heading out to the Volcano, are you?" the woman behind the counter asked in a motherly voice as they approached. "You look a little young, and a little green to be four star hunters. You here with some higher ranked friends, or are you here on special Guild business?"

"Oh, uh, a little of both, actually," Ellie replied. "The Guild has us here on a mission they want us on to complete, but we needed to work with some higher ranked hunters for them to allow us to come here. How'd you know?"

The woman smiled in amusement as she leaned back in her chair and looked at the two of them. "Oh, I've been here a long time. You learn to be able to spot ability and potential when you work as a smith long enough. Some of the truly powerful weapons you can make for people can only really be wielded by the strongest, most dedicated hunters. Anyone too weak or lacking focus, and the power of the weapon can come back and bite the hunter with some nasty backlash. It happens quite often when you see a father or mentor give their son or student a weapon that they can't control." At this, her voice seemed to gain a slight edge, but it quickly vanished when she continued. "So don't be surprised that I can tell that you're not as tough as you're supposed to be, being here in the Volcano area."

The woman's eyes turned back to Levin, and lingered on the switch axe across his back. "For example… that weapon of yours. The switch axe is a very dangerous sort of weapon, not something any smith would build for just any rookie hunter. There's just too much energy flowing through them to just hand them out to anyone. Same goes for long swords, like my son's spare here," she said, pointing to a green- and red-scaled long sword hanging over the back door for the shop, "and even some of the more powerful great swords. Only a lax or greedy smith sends out a hunter with a weapon they aren't sure they can control, and I do my best to be neither."

"What kind of weapons do you make?" Ellie asked, and the woman grinned again.

"Long swords, mainly. I spend a lot of time experimenting with the ores and other metals that come out of the Volcano hunting grounds, and a few other rare ores from all over the place." Then the woman picked up and held forward the old 'bowgun'. "I've also worked with a couple of the archaeologists in the area, and have got pretty proficient at repairing the ancient, beat up weapons hunters bring in every now and then. So, if you find any nice weapon remains, bring them back here. I might be able to something good with them. They're kind of fickle, though, and since they don't really have the variability that other bowguns have, most hunters don't care that much for them. They've got some kick for how much they weigh though."

"Oh, alright," Levin replied. "I mean, I don't think we'll exactly have the time to be looking for such things, considering what the Guild has us chasing after, but… well, if we find something, we'll come back."

"Good to hear," the woman grinned. "Business has been a bit slow recently. Not many people want someone who isn't Wyvernian building them weapons, anyway, not with so many of them around with professional level smithy skills. I'll admit, I'm not the best at weapon building, and I may not have as wide a range as some of the other smiths out there, but there are a few things I can do that not many others can. Heck, I've trained under a few of the master smiths that call this city home. I'm not so bold as to claim to match their skills or anything like that, but still…"

As the two hunters nodded, the woman gave them an odd look. "You two are Lost, aren't you?"

"How'd you tell?" Ellie asked. "I didn't think any Lost had been up here. Er… yet."

The woman grinned at the words. "Not many, that's for sure, but I've seen one or two around. What are the two of your names, if I may ask?"

"I'm Ellie," the sword and shield user introduced herself. "This is my hunting partner, Levin. It's nice to meet you, miss…?"

"Call me Monique," the woman replied. "I think I may have heard of the two of you. Some sort of fuss raised in the Tundra, I think? News takes a while to travel here from the north. Something about an altercation with another hunter, and more about helping out a bunch of Lost that popped up in the area?"

"Um… something like that," Levin replied. "It was a little more complicated than that, but… well…"

"Oh, don't tell me," Monique said, waving her hand dismissingly. "I'll hear the story eventually, and I'm sure the tale will be far more interesting after it's been filtered through a good hundred or so people. Then we'll see what sort of story it's become by then. Trust me, between my son and my husband telling me hunting tales… well, more so my husband. That man loved to tell a good story. My boy was a bit more serious about the stories he told me; he never really elaborated on his tales all that much, but then again, I don't like to hear about the dangerous stuff he's gone through. Anywya, between the two of them, I've figured out how to ferret out the truth in stories that you hunters like to tell. I'm sure I'll be able to figure out what happened after hearing the story from one of the hunters that come through the area. When you come back from whatever you two are doing for the Guild, come tell me the real story of what happened. And if I like what I hear, I may give you a discount should you have something you want me to make or appraise."

"That's the first time I think someone's been so quick to be nice to us after learning we're Lost," Levin said, surprised. "Especially with all the, uh, rumors that have spread about us."

"Well, I have my reasons," the woman said with another smile. "Like I said, I've seen a few Lost, and none of them seemed to be too bad. Besides, I don't feel it's fair to treat people poorly just because there's a bit of a reputation swirling around them."

"Well, thanks, anyway," Levin nodded. "Hopefully the people in Loc Lac will be as generous as you are one day."

"Keep your chin up, young man," the smith grinned. "I'm sure things will turn around sooner or later."

"Levin! Ellie! We're ready to go!" Kei appeared around the corner, eyes landing on the hunters as she came into sight and grinning at them. "It took a while, but me and Kai finally found a place that sold herbs instead of potions. Pretty cheap, too. It was owned by this… earthy sort of guy that called them 'natural remedies' or something. I think he might have been a Lost…"

"Sounds about right," Levin muttered, and Monique laughed next to them.

"That's Kent. One of the, hmm, three Lost that live in town. Came to town a year or so ago saying that Loc Lac was too much of a 'prison of big brother' for his tastes, and traveled here in hopes of promoting some utopian system he was trying to create. Sounds like bunk to me, but he's gotten good and finding rare plants and herbs in the region, so people tolerate him."

"Huh, weird," Kei replied, looking confused. "Anyway, come on you two! Harker finished doing… whatever it was he was doing, and Kerry managed to drag him out of his room. Everyone else is ready by the town gates. We're going to head out towards the hunting ground as soon as we're all there."

"Alright, alright," Ellie replied, beginning to follow after the other huntress, while Monique waved goodbye to the pair of them. However, before they got too far, the sword and shield user abruptly turned, a concerned look on her face. Levin nearly fell onto his backside at the motion, caught completely by surprise. "Wait! Before we go: Monique, why is this place called Frost Town? I haven't had the chance to ask anyone yet, and it'll bother me if I don't know."

The smith blinked in surprise at the question, but laughed a moment later. "Because it snows here," she said simply, still chuckling. All three hunters blinked in surprise at the words, looking between each other in confusion, while Monique shook her head in amusement. "Well, to be honest, it's more like falling ice shards rather than actual snowflakes, which is odd, but people here don't really call much attention to it. This far south, you'll be hard pressed to find anything lower than a mountain peak that has ever seen a flake of snow touch the ground. But somehow or another, here in Frost Town, we'll get a foot or two every few years or so. Nobody knows why. But if you talk to anyone in town about it, they'll all give you a different reason as to why it snows here; they love to make up stories about the whole thing. Some of them even say it's because of me; I'm one of the only smiths in town that can properly work with some of the rarer Tundra metals."

"That's it?" Levin asked, flabbergasted. "It snows here?"

"If you can find any other village near the Volcano that's even seen a single flake, I'll be shocked," Monique replied. "I'm pretty sure this is the only village south of the desert where anyone owns a coat, gloves, or a scarf, simply because of the cold weather. Trust me, it's reason enough. I can't for the life of me figure why it snows here, but it does, and it happens often enough for people to remember it."

"I get that, but… I don't know, I was just expecting something more."

"Well, if you're really disappointed, just ask someone else in town. They'll tell you the same thing, but they'll have a story attached to it, one that they'll swear is the honest truth."

"Right…"

"Alright, come on you two," Kei told them, motioning towards the other end of town. "You can talk to her again, once… once the mission is over. For now, we should get moving. Who knows how long this mission will take? I want to get started as soon as we can."

"Okay, okay," Ellie nodded, following after the other huntress. Monique waved at them as they walked away, towards the southern gate of the city.

Now, the northern gate they had come into the town through was a relatively lax entryway, with large, heavy wooden doors barricading the way in with a couple guards on duty. But the southern gate, however, which was used primarily for hunters heading out to the Volcano, was far more elaborate and solid. The doors were still wooden, but two metal portcullises could be dropped down on either side of the wooden frame. At the same time, nearly a dozen guards stood on duty at the gate, at least two of them appearing to be trained and experienced hunters, watching the lands that lay beyond warily. And for good reason it seemed; beyond the gates, the land darkened from the ash and clouds that lingered overhead, and gained an eternal red tint around it. Grass still seemed to grow in the area, as proven by the grazing Aptonoth in the distance, but it was scarce. As the hunter siblings led the group out of the gate, Levin felt as though he could practically hear the roars and howls of the massive monsters that dwelled in the dangerous realm.

The area surrounding the base of the Volcano was about what Levin had expected of it. The whole area was rocky and smooth, mostly consisting of large rock flats that spread across miles of land. Most of the stone that made up the crust of the earth was normal stone, but a lot of ground that they covered was igneous, remains of lava that had passed through the area at one time or another. Somehow or another, there were actually the remains of trees sprouting up through the random patches of dirt that dotted the land, though most of them were pretty thoroughly dead, with those that were still alive were clinging to life with only the very peaks of them having any leaves. Levin wasn't surprised; with the massive blanket of ash clouds covering the entire area, there was hardly any sunlight filtering down to the earth.

Word of the blue lights said that the mysterious glow had last been seen on the western side of the hunting grounds earlier that day, working its way through the spacious basalt caverns that lined the edges of the mountain itself. So, that's where the hunters would be headed. It was a long trek, and would likely take them a whole day to get there, though; the Volcano hunting ground was enormous, and tricky to cross, with hills and bumps and other pain in the butt terrain. Luckily for them, there weren't all that many dangerous creatures that lurked on the exterior of the volcano; everything nasty stayed inside where the lava flowed. The most dangerous thing Levin saw as they worked their way west was a herd of Rhenoplos, but the herbivores seemed more concerned with chewing on the random patches of grass that they could find then trying to push the hunters out of their territory.

As they trekked, the four hunting partners took the time to get to know the two siblings that Stergo had found for them to work with. Apparently the pair of them had gotten into hunting in order to support their family, specifically their mother, who had some rather nasty hospital bills to deal with. That explained their tendency to purchase herbs instead of potions; they considered Guild-mandated potions to be too expensive, preferring natural healing substances over alchemical drinks. Of course, Harker had spent a good twenty or thirty minutes after that going on about how the pair of them could learn to make their own potions if they felt like it, that he knew enough about alchemy himself that he could teach them to replicate the Guild's formula, though he admitted that after experimenting for a while there was still a forty percent chance that the solution would end 'disastrously', and coming from Harker, that really meant something.

From what Levin could tell, the pair of them seemed to be a solid pair of hunters, though both admitted that they really didn't care for hunting with anyone if the other wasn't with them. Levin could relate; after spending so long working with Ellie as a partner, he felt he'd be hard-pressed to work with anyone else. Well, he wouldn't mind working with Harker or Kerry if Ellie wasn't around for some reason, since he'd gotten to know them pretty well, but he imagined he'd still feel a little lonely about it. He recalled how rough it had been when Ellie was injured and he'd been hunting with Pugnax.

Other than that, the hunters spent their time just talking as they moved on towards their destination, telling stories of their experiences as hunters and their prouder moments. Kai and Kei had some good tales to tell, but Levin was a little caught off guard by the standards and rules that the pair of them set for themselves. For some reason, the siblings set themselves time limits on their missions, and if they couldn't meet the time limit, they'd return to the Guild rep or Loc Lac and abandon the mission. Levin couldn't figure why they'd do something like that, but he figured that it wasn't his business to question it.

Kerry was very quiet as the group of them traveled, despite Harker's attempts at pulling the bowgunner into conversation. Every time the six of them began to travel close to one of the caverns leading into the Volcano's interior, she became increasingly fidgety, nervous about the thought of going into the Volcano exterior. Levin wondered what exactly had happened here to make the woman so nervous about being in the area, but supposed it wasn't his place to ask.

By the end of the day, the hunters had finally made it to the western side of the hunting grounds. They were still a couple miles off from where the blue lights had last been seen, but the sun was going down and the six of them had spent the entire day trekking across the rugged terrain, and they all could use a bit of a break. Fortunately, Kai and Kei knew of an under-hang close by where they could stay the night, a warm place that was away from the Rhenoplos feeding paths, and the overhang was low enough to keep out any Raths or other flying creatures that might pass close by. The only real threat that remained this far from the center of the Volcano was the chance of a vagrant Uragaan popping up, but they'd hear it coming long before it arrived. The area was small, but had plenty of room for them all to be inside. With a large opening, the space dipped down near the center of the cavern, near to where a thick, but old and dead tree sprang up from the earth, twisting upwards towards a small opening in the roof where the last dregs of sunlight filtered through.

"This place should provide us safety for the night," Kai told them. "With luck, the rumors of the lights' location won't be too old for us not to be able to find a trail of some kind tomorrow morning. Or, you know, maybe the lights will actually head towards us or something."

"I think that's giving our luck too much credit, though," Ellie replied.

Suddenly, a loud snapping sound caught the hunters' attention, and their hands went to their weapons. However, rather than the growl of a monster, or the snapping of teeth, the hunters were surprised when the sound was followed instead by a yelp of shock, which came from above them, rather than from around them like they'd suspected. Levin looked up in surprise as a human shape abruptly dropped out of the tree they sat under, and quickly dove out of the way right as the shape crashed into the ground where he'd been standing only moments before.

As Levin tumbled out of the way, he managed to get a good look at the… person who had just dropped out of the trees. The person was a man, as far as Levin could tell, and was a hunter as well, if his armor was any sort of indication, though Levin didn't recognize the make of the design. Some monster he'd never seen, perhaps. It was a deep, dark blue colored design made with thin, polished scales of some sort. A jagged helmet covered the man's head as well, a jagged, pointy design made of the same creature with two small bangles hanging down from the back of the neck. And stretched across his back was a large, dark longbow, lined with dark blue feathers that seemed to be the same color as his armor. The other hunters relaxed a bit at knowing that it wasn't a monster that had caught them off guard, right as the man moaned in pain, and rolled himself over back onto his feet.

"Oh, that hurt," the hunter muttered. Levin cocked his head at the words; the man had an odd accent that he didn't recognize. He thought he'd heard quite a bit while he'd been in Loc Lac, but… was he a foreigner of some kind? "All those years in the Great Forest and I still fall out of trees… stupid Rath. Why can't it just come to ground already?"

"Are you okay?" Kai asked the man. The hunter jumped in surprise, glancing around at the six hunters surrounding him, surprised at their appearance. "That was quite the fall!"

"Oh, jeez! I didn't realize anyone was down here," the man replied. "Sorry… Um, I didn't fall on anyone, did I? Wish I could say that's never happened before, but…"

"No, we're all fine," Ellie told him. Then she glanced up the tree, taking note of the branches that had broken or cracked on the man's way down the tree. "What were you doing up there?"

"Looking for Rath signs," the man replied, pushing himself to his feet and brushing himself off. "I was out hunting that tiny Uragaan that that merchant's daughter wanted, but couldn't bring myself to kill the thing. I didn't want to come back from the hunt empty handed, so I decided to try and see if I could find a Rath I'd heard was in the area."

"Wait, what do you mean you couldn't bring yourself to kill the Uragaan?" Kei asked. "I'd heard the thing was small, but that shouldn't have stopped people from trying to take it out. How small was it?"

The hunter laughed at the question. "Oh, wow, I don't think you'll believe me unless you see it yourself. The thing couldn't have stood taller than five and a half feet tall, and was only about thirteen or fourteen feet long. I mistook it for a Rhenoplos the first time I saw it myself. I just couldn't bring myself to attack something so unique. Though, if I had to think about it…"

"Wait," Harker cut in. "Don't zoologists believe that Uragaan feed off the lichen and moss found in rocks? By that logic, an Uragaan would be far better off being small, considering the amount of food it would need to upkeep its large size?"

"You'd think so," the hunter replied. "But somehow the larger Uragaans just keep getting fed somehow. Some scientists suspect that the beasts actually feed off the ores and minerals that the moss and lichens grow on, consuming all of it rather than just allowing the stones to pass through its body. It's a pleasant idea, and it would make some sense, considering the beasts' size but…"

"No, that might actually work quite well!" Harker said excitedly. "Even despite ores' atomic construction, they're still constructed of all the necessary vitamins and minerals necessary to keep something alive! You'd just need to have the knowledge and experience to know which ones to eat, and Uragaans should have that if hereditary knowledge means anything at all. That and a stomach which is capable of digesting such solid foods…"

"No, that could be possible!" the archer exclaimed. "This is a beast that's capable of rolling through lava and chewing through rock we're talking about, not to mention its body produces several gasses, many of which are flammable. I don't see why it wouldn't be possible for a beast like that to have a stomach which could pull the minerals such a beast needs from the rocks it chews up!"

"Ah! That would actually explain the flammable gases, now that I think about it," Harker said eagerly. "Several of the ores in this vicinity of the world could be mixed together to make a potent explosive or incendiary, so that surely must mean that the creature has the digestive capabilities to break down some of the minerals in the rocks it eats! And if that's the case, then surely it must mean that it's capable of breaking down other rock types as well! I wonder what sort of acids and muscles are required for such things…"

"Harker," Kerry suddenly cut in, shaking her head.

"Ah, yes," Harker said sheepishly. "Seems I got off on a bit of a tangent. But I am surprised! It is so rare for me to find another man with the same interest in the inner workings of monster biology and chemistry as me! Especially one who is not a member of the Lost."

"Well, it's always been a bit of a hobby for me," the archer replied. "Oh, but I just realized that I haven't introduced myself!" With a slight flourish, the man pulled off his helmet, revealing a very young, lean face, and bowed to the other six hunters. "I am called Razor, and it is a pleasure to meet you all. I come from the Great Forest area to the far east of Loc Lac."

"It's nice to meet you… eh, Razor. My name is Harker," the long sword user said with a grin. He paused for a moment as the other hunters introduced themselves as well, before speaking again. "Is that your real name? Forgive me, but it seems odd, even for a foreigner."

The archer grinned slyly. "I said it was what I was called, not that it was my name. But I prefer it that way. Though I am not a blade master hunter, the name appeals to me, so I'll keep using it as long as I'm in the area."

"So you're from the Great Forest?" Kai asked. "That's quite far from here. What brought you this far from your homeland?"

"Adventure, as it is what brings most other hunters to Loc Lac," Razor replied. "Also, I hold an interest in learning about different monsters, and there are only so many near where I lived, so I traveled west in hopes of finding more interesting monsters to see. And to fight them, of course. But if I may ask… from what I've seen, the Guild generally keeps hunting teams in groups of four or less, and yet there are six of you. Are you in two groups of three, or are you all together? And if you are, may I ask why? It seems odd for such a collection to all be together. "

The hunters looked at each other and nodded. This could be the opportunity they were hoping for, collecting some reinforcements for their mission. Kerry quickly stepped forward to speak. In short order, the bowgunner explained to the man the reason for so many of them to be in the area at the same time, to search for the Lost. Razor seemed a bit out of the loop with current events in Loc Lac, but nodded in acceptance at the words. He asked questions now and then, but took the story seriously all the same. It took a few minutes for the woman to go over everything, but eventually she covered the whole story.

"And you see, we were hoping to gather more help while we were in town," Kerry was saying as she wrapped the story up. "But… most of the other hunters were on these Uragaan mission requests that have popped up recently, so we haven't been able to get anyone else to help us on this mission, and the Tundra work was rough with even five hunters…"

"And you're hoping to gather up whatever hunters you run across on your path to help you," Razor finished for her.

"Yes, pretty much."

"Well then, sign me up."

The hunters stood in surprise for a long moment before Levin finally spoke. "Wait, just like that?"

"Sure, why not?" the archer replied. "I'm not doing anything better right now, and people need help. Why would I hesitate?"

"That's very generous of you," Kerry said. "Thank you for your generosity."

"Of course, my dear," Razor replied. Then the man grinned slyly and slunk several feet closer to the bowgunner. "Though… if you really felt appreciative, I wouldn't mind if you'd reward me personally. Perhaps a date with you?"

"But... what?" Kerry sputtered, reddening.

"I don't go back to Loc Lac all that often, admittedly," the archer continued, "but I do know of a few pretty good spots to take a pretty lady. How about it? I promise it will be a wonderful night."

"What!" Kerry gasped, sputtering in surprise. Her eyes darted over to glance at Harker; the long sword user was wearing a surprisingly sour expression on his face. "I don't… um, I don't think... No thank you."

"Are you sure? I'm sure you'll have fun. Unless… you're in a relationship with someone already?"

"No! I mean, no, I'm not, but-"

"Ah, then you have your eye on someone already, clearly. I apologize for my eagerness my dear."

"No, wait! I'm-"

"No need to say any more, Miss Kerrigan. But if things don't work out between you and your interested person, don't hesitate to look me up."

"Um… thank you? I think?"

"Enough flirting there, Razor," Kei told the archer. "We should get rested up for tomorrow. If we can manage to find the source of these blue lights that have been seem in the area, we may have to put some serious effort into chasing them down. They're moving somehow, but we're not sure how or why, and they may be able to move fairly quickly, so running might something that takes up a good portion of our day tomorrow."

"I'll take first watch," Harker volunteered, his normal enthusiasm quickly returning. "I'd like to take a look at this tree while we're here, anyway. I'm curious as to how well such plants grow with such little sunlight and water…"

"Very well," Kai said. "Wake me up for second watch then. Let's get our camp set up so we can eat and get to bed as quickly as we can."

With so many hunters in the group, it only took the seven of them just over half an hour to have collected everything they needed to set up camp, with a small fire in the middle. After that, they quickly ate the rations they'd picked up, then spent the rest of the evening talking. Despite Harker's initial apparent unwillingness to speak with Razor anymore, the long sword user eventually opened up again, enjoying talking with the other hunter, especially after learning how much the archer was interested in monster ecology just like he was. After a few minutes together, the two hunters were exchanging information back and forth between each other, shooting data they'd accumulated back and forth so quickly that the other five in the room were having trouble trying to keep up with the conversation at all.

Kai and Kei spent their time talking with Levin, Ellie, and Kerry during their time getting ready to go to sleep, telling more stories of their time as hunters, though most of the stories to sibling hunters told tended to involve the pair of them mocking each other relentlessly about their mistakes. It was all in good fun though, and reminded Levin of the stories that he heard the older hunters telling each other when they were in the mood, all jokes and pointing out the flaws they made and blatantly telling the parts of the stories that the storytellers tried to skip past themselves.

Though the hunters were enjoying themselves, Levin found himself growing increasingly weary as the darkness set in. With a word to the others, the switch axe user made his way over to one of the corners of the room, leaning against one of the rocks and settling in to sleep. He was surprised at how warm the stones he sat on were, likely a result of the churning magma that was pooled deep in the earth below. Much to his pleasure, not long after he left the campfire, Ellie came over to sit next to him, lying against him as the two of them grew tired. The two of them talked shortly, but their weariness soon overcame them, and the two of them dozed off, the warmth seeping up from the earth lulling them to slumber.

* * *

_Levin gasped painfully, sitting up and trying desperately to inhale. Heat seared into his lungs, however, as he tried to breathe, cooking into his body and drying his mouth out instantly. He realized that the rest of his body was burning up as well, a searing, burning pain that rolled across his entire body. He struggled to his feet, trying desperately to get into some shade or someplace cooler. However, as he got to his feet and looked around, a wave of despair washed through him as his hopes of escaping and cooling off were dashed._

_He was still at the Volcano… somewhere in the area, at least. He stood, alone, on a large flat section of land. The heat of the area was intense, but how could it be otherwise? A massive, surging lava fall poured over a tall incline only a few dozen yards away from him, hundreds of yards of thick, melted stone pooling into a massive lake of molten magma. The pinnacle of a volcano loomed in the background, spitting massive, glowing chunks of rock into the sky constantly, and feeding the lava flow as it continued to erupt. Even the ground itself seeped with heat. Lines of boiling magma crept through cracks in the stone floor, heating the entire area and making the very earth around him glow with a painful heat. _

_But the area wasn't empty at all. The ruins of dozens of machines lay scattered across the edges of the area. Shards of broken metal lay fallen to the ground, ruined remains of flying machines of every type Levin could imagine. Most were the remains of what looked like the airships he'd seen floating around Loc Lac, shaped as though they were designed to sail the ocean, but with long metal propellers to push them through the air; the balloons and rope lines used to keep the large flotillas aloft had long since burned away, as had whatever wooden hull the ships had possessed, leaving only the iron linings behind. Other ships covered the ground as well, some Levin recognized from his time in this world, and others he didn't know at all. However, something that disturbed Levin the most was that he recognized some of the flying machine designs far more than he wanted to; jets and helicopter remains lay ruined off in one corner of the area, the machines worn and melted from the centuries simply sitting there in the boiling heat. _

_Levin looked around desperately, searching for something to use to cool himself off, someplace to hide himself from the heat. Even now he could feel the skin on his body blistering and burning from the intense heat. But for the life of him, he couldn't find a single place of refuge in the area. However, he caught sight of the edge of the cliff face; maybe he could climb down, anything to get away from this damnable heat! He hurried towards the drop off, desperate to get away from the heat before it consumed him. Even as he ran, he could feel the hot ground seeping through the soles of his shoes, burning his feet. _

_However, as he ran towards the cliff, a blast of heat suddenly erupted from all sides. A blast of magma shot into the sky at every point around him, and a wave of ash erupted into the sky, blotting out any view he had of the surrounding area. The wave of ash rushed towards him, and the hunter stopped, raising a hand to protect his mouth and nose from the oncoming rush of ash. However, before the blanket of darkness reached him, the smog seemed to run into a wall, screeching to a halt only a few dozen yards from him, blotting out the area surrounding him in a large circle, encompassing nearly all the flat ground below the lava fall. Levin looked around desperately, searching for some sign of escape, some hole in the circling wall surrounding him where he could escape. _

**It's been a while, boy.**

_Levin spun around, eyes darting around in fear as the voice pounded into his skull. Even as he turned, however, he caught sight of a massive wave of white tear through the ash towards him. He didn't even have time to dodge before the white mass smashed into him, pushing him to the ground. He gasped in shock as frigid cold slammed him down onto his back, a creeping pain that bit into him as the skin on his body began to freeze, ice spreading quickly across his body and pinning him to the red-hot rock below him. Even as the ice continued to cover him, Levin could still feel the burning sensation of the magma seeping up from the ground below him. He was burning and freezing at the same time, and couldn't find a way to escape at all or dull the pain. He realized, however, that somehow or another, neither the searing heat of the rocks below him, nor the biting pain of the ice, were seeping into his shoulder and upper arm for some reason; Levin clung desperately to the soothing feeling, hoping that it wouldn't disappear. _

**Now I can't have you moving around on me, boy. You've proven to be quite the restless hunter when I speak to you, never listening when I speak, only trying to attack me. And while I appreciate your enthusiasm, I am not it the greatest mood to deal with your little whims. Don't worry boy, you'll get your chance to fight me one day, so long as you keep that fire of fury burning in your soul. **

_Levin struggled against the ice that held him to the ground, trying to escape as his skin boiled and froze. But with every effort he made, the ice seemed to pull him down harder. The warmth on his shoulder seemed to fight back against the ice, and even warded off the searing heat, but it wasn't enough to fight off the pain the Alatreon was throwing at him. As he twisted and pushed against the ice, his eyes caught sight of a massive, winged shape strolling through the wall of ash surrounding the area around him, wading through the pool of lava, before the shape actually settled itself down in the molten magma._

**Do you like my collection? **_The voice asked, amused with itself._ **Hundreds of years of your kind foolishly throwing themselves at me, firing their best weapons at me, hoping that their efforts would be enough to finish me off. As you can see, I have survived many attempts at killing me, and here I remain, whole and unharmed. I've even kept some trophies of the more amusing and impressive attempts here. So I wonder, how will you try to do anything at all, so weak and frail as you are?**

"_I'll do it, you bastard," Levin hissed. "I'll kill you, Alatreon." _

_Levin heard a deep, angry growl roll across the area, and a loud smashing sound followed soon after. A splash of magma leapt out of the ash where the creature's shadow sat, showing that the beast had slapped the pool in frustration. _**You will not refer to me as such, boy! That name is the creation of you humans, and I will not allow you to use a name that you weak little insects created! You will treat me with the respect I deserve!**

"_Make me, _Alatreon!"

_A howl of anger bellowed out from the creature, pounding into the hunter's skull as the beast roared furiously. Levin's teeth rattled in his head at the sound, but he ignored it. Eventually, the roar stopped, and Levin could hear the Alatreon growling furiously at him. For a while, Levin thought the creature was going to punish him somehow for his actions, but after a minute or two, the sound of sour laughter rattled through his head. _

**Good, boy. Very good: Trying to infuriate me. I suppose it would be too much of me to expect you to show me respect and reverence, considering the rage and hatred I've made effort to foster in you. It would be… quite the waste for you to just shrink away in cowardice after all this time. No, for all the effort and rage you've put into hunting me, I want to make certain that you find me in the end, so that I can crush you properly, and you can truly feel despair, knowing that even at your best, I am still the greater.**

"_I'll enjoy mounting your head above the Guild hall in Loc Lac once I've ripped it from your body, Alatreon," Levin growled._

_A deep hissing was cut short beyond the veil of smoke. _**Big talk, boy. But I am immortal, eternal, and all-powerful. You have trouble taking down the wyverns you humans refer to as Rathians. What makes you think you'll stand a chance against me? And though I understand you're indignant to show me respect, you will learn to hold your tongue, boy. **

_If anything, the blaze of the rocks below him and the chill of the ice seemed to grow more intense. Levin bit back the pain, trying to avoid howling out. _**Don't forget, boy, that I hold the lives of your family in my control, and their fates hinge on my whims. Do you truly wish to infuriate me further than you should?**

"_Screw you." _

_A moment of silence as Levin fought back against the pain, and the creature began to laugh again, though there was an edge to it. _**You're lucky I'm feeling generous, boy. You're simply too amusing to kill right now, and having incentive seems to motivate you humans quite well, so I won't shatter your hopes for recovering your family quite yet.**

**You've become quite… efficient at irritating me, boy.** _The voice had a note of irritation in it once again, and the amusement in the voice seemed forced. _**I sent that Lagiacrus that I had thrall over to... motivate you further to come for me. However, it seems my attempt at relieving you of this woman of yours, the one you… hmph, **_**love**_**, foolish emotion though it may be, was admittedly premature of me. I did not allow the Lagiacrus enough time to recover from the wounds the pair of you inflicted upon it, not to mention its retained sanity was in shambles. But I was in no small part enraged at its defeat, especially considering that it failed to both destroy that fragile little village of yours, as well as letting that mate of yours live as well. Despite the beast dragging your mate underwater, it failed to drown her! She even shoved her arm down the beast's throat, and it didn't take her arm with it! **

**The entire incident left me completely livid! **_The Alatreon's voice began to seethe with obvious rage, and the pain searing through Levin grew even greater. _**That beast is lauded as one of the most dangerous, terrifying beasts in the world, and it couldn't even take down two weak little humans! He was an embarrassment to his species! **

"_You were reckless and arrogant, stupid beast!" The heat of the rocks under Levin flared up as the Alatreon's anger spiked, but the hunter gritted his teeth and kept shouting. "You underestimated us! You sent a half-dead monster after us, thinking we would just fall underneath it! You look down on humans, but we can outwit you, foolish creature! You call yourself all-powerful , but you couldn't even kill one girl, one half-dead, half-drowned hunter who didn't even have a weapon! You act like you are the supreme creature, but you're not! You're just another monster, just like the rest! And like all the others, I will find you, and I will kill you, ALATRE-" _

**SILENCE HUMAN! **_The creature's voice bellowed out from shadows, and a lance of deep red and black energy lanced out of the ash wall, ripping across the ground before slamming into the hunter and tearing through the ice. The power tore through him like electricity, tendrils of black energy leaping off of his body. Levin had never felt pain like this before, and could only just barely keep from crying out. He wouldn't give the Alatreon the satisfaction! Even as the energy blazed through him, the black beast continued to rage. _**I was tempted to come down to that puny village myself and wipe it out completely, pitiful human! And I would have reduced all of it, all you love to blackened cinders! I would've razed the ground, so for all eternity, nothing bigger than a bug could hope to exist there!**

_Then the energy ceased, cutting off as quickly as it had begun. Levin was left gasping for air on the ground. He couldn't even feel the heat of the rocks anymore, the pain and ache of the terrible energy had wounded him so much… Had that been the dragon element? He'd never seen such a terrible power before…_

**You should be grateful to me, boy. **_The voice was low, filled with barely contained fury._** My desire to… foster you into a decent plaything was all that kept me from wiping everything you know away. Instead, I chose to vent my frustrations elsewhere. It took nearly ten human villages wiped off the face of the planet before I cooled my head enough to stop and see what you were up to again. I was quite impressed, seeing you in Loc Lac, and somehow that delicious rage that once showed such promise had swelled up again! But to my utter disappointment, your little infraction in the snowy realms made your anger fade again! So disappointing! Something in you has changed, boy, and I am not pleased by it. **

_A low, hungry growl echoed across the massive lava pits, and Levin squirmed to look around as a deep thumping sound boomed closer and closer to where he stood. His eyes leapt to the massive shape hidden in the ash; but the Alatreon hadn't moved at all! And this shape, it was… enormous, and bipedal. And… was it possibly bigger than the Alatreon? No, it was easily twice, if not three times the black beast's size? But how could that be? What kind of beast could be so frighteningly huge? A chilling laughter echoed through Levin's mind as the creature noticed where his attention lay._

**Scared of shadows, boy? I suppose I've never mentioned my… minion here. A more loyal, enthusiastic ally I could never ask for. In your human terms, I suppose she would be called my second-in-command. I never expected a female of her kind to grow quite so large, and I expected her to take a fair amount of effort to sway into my service. However, it only took a few simple promises for her to join me willingly, and none of that effort I put into working the Lagiacrus of yours into my control. I was tempted to send my soldier here off to finish off your village for me, but she had… other work to accomplish for me at the time. Perhaps I'll send her to meet you one day, to see how truly strong you've become, but for now, I have… other surprises prepared for you. **

"_What? What are you-" _

**You'll find out soon enough, human. But remember what I sent against you last time, boy. Let's see if you can keep your mate alive this time. It won't be a half-dead, maddened creature this time.**

"_No! No! I won't let you-"_

**There is nothing you can say or do to stop me, human. Enjoy watching this **_**love**_** of yours die, boy. Goodbye… for now. Why not see him off, my companion?**

_Cruel laughter ripped through Levin's head as a bellowing roar ripped through the ash and smoke, coming from the massive shadow. The shape turned towards him, and Levin scrambled away from it as it lumbered towards him, but before he could move, another wave of ice leapt forward and pinned him to the ground again. Once again, though, the ice failed to contain his shoulder, and the hunter was able to free his arm, using it to try and free himself from the rest of the ice. The entire wall of ash seemed to swoop in on him as the massive creature rushed towards him, the shape seeming to blend with the smoke itself until it seemed the entire wall of ash was trying to attack him. And then the enormous mouth of a monster emerged from the smoke, its giant teeth shining in the light of the magma and swaths of gluttonous drool dripping from its maw. Levin quickly raised his block the creature's fangs-_

* * *

-and woke up gasping, clutching his chest in terror. He glanced around frantically, his memory of where he was slowly coming back to him. That's right… he was with Ellie and the others, out on a mission to look for Lost in the Volcano area. Kai was up for his turn at watch sitting near the fire, looking back and forth between the crackling flames and the darkness of the lands outside the outcropping. Ellie was leaning against Levin, sleeping and breathing softly as she slept.

His heart was still pounding like a jackhammer at the moment; he needed to get some fresh air. He cautiously slid his shoulder out from underneath Ellie's head, carefully leaning her back against the rock. Kai gave him an odd look as the switch axe user made his way out of the campsite, but telling the man he needed to get some air seemed to be enough for the horn user to let him by without questioning him too much.

And it was a good thing that he didn't. The moment that the switch axe user had gotten to his feet, the aggressive whisper in the back of his head began raging furiously, shouting constant obscenities through his skull. Each word was pounded through his mind, making the hunter wince with every syllable. Levin's efforts to push the voice down wasn't working all that well either; the raging voice just kept forcing its way back, demanding that he find and kill the beast, as he always had before. With the noise the whisper was making, Levin even wished the other whisper would appear, if only to help push down the other.

_You've got to find it! It hides, it lurks, but you can hunt it, find it, kill it! Erase it from existence! _

"I don't… don't know where it is," Levin grumbled painfully.

_Don't you?_ The voice hissed. _Don't you remember? The beast is a fool! A prideful, monstrous abomination that must be wiped off the face of the earth, but a fool nonetheless! It flaunts its nest, its hovel, before you! Its mistake will destroy it!_

An image from the dream flashed through his mind: a volcano… the Alatreon had shown itself at the pinnacle of a volcano, somewhere. It had claimed the place as… a trophy room or something. Did that mean that he frequented the place often? Or did he make the place his home? Or… or was it all an illusion, a fiction of reality that the creature had invented in order to mock him with it? Levin glanced up, looking towards the peak of the Volcano; thick, swirling ash covered most of the mountain's peak, showing very little beyond what lay two-thirds up the mountain. Large waves of lava swelled down from the peak, but other than that, there was little to no hints as to what lay waiting at the very peak of the mountain.

"It's… up there?" Where else could it be; a mountain with a mysterious, eternal ash cloud, where only the most experienced hunters can travel? Over a hunting ground where hunters were killed often, and it was almost expected for several lives to be lost on a monthly basis in the area. Where best for a dangerous monster to hide then where no one would be surprised to see someone die if they traveled there?

_Now you see. It waits there! It must be! You must climb! You must get to the top of the peak and face this beast, and slaughter it! Bury it in the mountain it claimed as its home, let the realm it claimed as its own swallow it up! It deserves the full measure of your fury! Vengeance must be yours for the crimes it has committed! Blood for blood, life for life! The lives it has taken must be paid for in full!_

"Yes… and my family!" Levin growled. The effect of the voice's influence was beginning to seep into him; he could feel his mind beginning to twist into the aggressive whisper's way of thinking. It always happened when one voice or the other began to gain dominance in his mind, but no matter how much Levin hated that it happened, when it did happen there was little to nothing he could do to stop it if he didn't manage to push the voice out. He just became a replica of the whisper. "I've got to get my family back! If I destroy the beast… I'll get them back! I'll rip the beast to pieces if that's what it takes!"

At that moment, much to Levin's surprise, the effects of the aggressive whisper's dominance vanished. A wave of weariness washed over the man, as the voice cried out in anger and… despair?

_You fool! Do you even know why you fight? Blood for blood! Vengeance is all that there is for us! It is all that remains! The death of the beast is all that matters! It is the only purpose we have left!_

"Wait what?" What did the voice mean? Vengeance was all that remained for him? But he had to rescue his family! The beast still held them in his thrall! "What do you mean? I can't just leave my family behind!"

_All that remains is vengeance!_ the voice roared in reply. _Why don't you remember? It's all that has meaning for us!_

"Then tell me what you mean!" How could this… whisper remember something that he couldn't? What was it that he was supposed to know?

_No!_ With blazing intensity, the whisper's influence surged back into full force, attempting to twist his mind to its way of thinking. The force of the influence dropped the hunter to his knees. _All that matters is revenge! Memories… memories don't matter! Slaughter the beast! Burn it to ash! Killing it is everything!_

Levin winced as the force of the whisper's influence tried to wedge itself into his mind. Feelings of hatred and violence began to seethe through his thoughts, surging through to the surface. He tried to push the voice down, but the rage continued to grow inside of him. He couldn't allow himself to be consumed by this voice's control again! It had happened after Ellie had been injured by the Barroth, and it had nearly destroyed him. He couldn't let that happen again!

But the voice's control was powerful right now, so soon after speaking with the Alatreon. Screams of fury and bloodlust filled his skull as the voice raged. _Find it! Kill it! Tear it in half! It needs to suffer! It needs to know the greatest pain! Find it! Kill it! Kill it! KILL IT!_

"Levin? Are you out here?"

Levin gasped for breath at the words. It was Ellie's voice, echoing out from the campsite. The whisper raged in anger at the interruption, and tried to press harder to gain influence over the switch axe user, but at the sound of Ellie's voice, the gentler whisper swept into Levin's head, pushing against the aggressive one. The other voice never said anything, but simply pressed against the raging voice's influence. It wasn't much, but it was enough for Levin to gather enough strength to force both of the whispers out of his head. Well, not entirely out of his head, but the aggressive whisper was reduced to little more than a haunting echo in the back of his mind, compared to the howling voice before. Still panting from the strain of pushing down the voices, Levin managed to push himself back to his feet. But even as he got himself upright, he turned and saw his partner looking at him worriedly. She didn't seem surprised at his condition, much to his dismay.

"You… had dreams about it again, didn't you?" she asked. "The Alatreon. It's taunting you again, isn't it?"

Levin nodded after a moment. "Yeah… I heard it again. Don't… don't worry about it, though. I'm doing better now. I'm not… I'm not going to lose it like I did before."

"What… what did it say? What did it tell you?"

Levin shook his head. The fight against the whisper, not to mention the nightmare, had left him drained. He sighed, sitting down on the remains of a fallen tree. "Nothing really important or anything," he lied. "He just… felt like mocking me, I guess."

Ellie frowned at the words. "Is that all?"

Levin paused for a moment. "He… may have said something about the Lagiacrus that attacked Boma. He… said that he was the one that compelled the creature to attack our village. And the boat we were on when we were coming back from Echo Village. He told me that, since we managed to kill it without letting Boma get destroyed, he… got angry, and wiped out several other villages to curb his anger."

Ellie winced at the implications. "That's terrible…Was there… anything else?"

Besides the knowledge that the creature wanted Ellie specifically dead? Besides the threat that the creature was planning to send… something after them again? Besides the beast showing off some… massive, terrible creature that could swallow him and Ellie whole without effort? Besides the possibility that the creature had given away some place it frequented? Levin shook his head. "No. Nothing else."

Ellie gave Levin a pointed look of worry and… disappointment? After a moment, the huntress walked over and stood in front of Levin, before looking up into the sky. Levin followed her gaze; despite being night, the sky was quite bright, or rather, the ash and clouds that coated the sky were well-lit by the lava that swept down the sides of the mountain.

"Do you think… there's anything up there at the top?"

Levin was silent for a moment. "No, not really."

Pain suddenly tore through Levin's jaw, and the next thing he knew, he was on his back, blinking back stars that were dancing in his eyes. He rubbed his jaw as he pushed himself back into a sitting position, trying to work the soreness out of it. He realized that Ellie was glaring at him angrily, her fist clenched in front of her as she rubbed it gingerly. Her eyes were… misty, though, holding back tears.

"You… hit me?"

"Don't lie to me!" his beloved shouted angrily. "You think I can't see what you're doing, trying to hide things from me? You've always been hiding things from me like this, always trying to keep your pain and fears from me! Why can't you just trust me?"

"I do trust you!"

"Obviously not! Otherwise you'd tell me everything about these dreams of yours! About your worries, or your fears! If you don't trust me with your fears, how am I supposed to trust you with mine? How am I supposed to tell you that, every time you have one of those dreams…" The huntress stopped midsentence, and Levin leaned forward.

"What? What happens to you when I dream about… the Alatreon?"

"Why should I tell you?" Ellie snapped. "You don't seem to be telling me everything, why shouldn't you get the same treatment?"

"Because I… because I'm afraid for you, Ellie," Levin sighed, defeated. The anger faded a little from Ellie's face, but she kept a stern expression, waiting for him to continue. "There's so much wrong with me, Ellie. The creature… it wants to kill you, just because I care about you. Not to mention my mind is slowly going increasingly insane. If I told you everything that's been happening to me… I'm afraid you'd be too frightened by me to want to stay with me."

The two were silent for a long moment before Ellie turned and sat down next to him. "Levin, I love you. But let me make something clear: If I didn't run off after you first told me you were having these dreams in the first place, I'm certainly not going to run off if things get just a little bit weirder."

"And… what about if I should lose control of myself again, like after you were hurt by the Barroth? What if I get so deep that I can't come back to normal?"

"You brought yourself back once before, Levin. You're strong enough to do it again, and I'll help you if I can."

"But…"

"Levin, please," Ellie cut him off, desperation filling her voice. "Just tell me what's going on. I want to be able to trust you, and I want to do everything I can to help you, but the only way I can help you is if you tell me what's wrong. Please."

Levin sighed and looked at the ground. "Alright, you win, Ellie. I tell you what I saw. I'll tell you everything."

Ellie sat patiently, listening as Levin told her everything he knew, every thought and vision and fear he'd felt during the nightmares he'd had with the Alatreon. He told her about the creature's desire to single out her, in order to enrage him, as well as the creature's story about being able to control other monsters, as well as the massive creature that served it. He told her about the monster's threat, to send… something to attack them, something terrible, sometime soon.

Then he told her about the whispers, the two voices that had appeared in his mind after the first nightmare the Alatreon had sent him. How they fought for control over his emotions and desires, how they constantly argued and bickered, they were constantly overwhelming his thoughts with their own wants. He told her how they had slowly begun changing, growing more intelligent and more persuasive and more powerful, becoming an even greater threat at trying to overcome him. And finally he told her how they seemed to know… something that he didn't know, that they refused to tell him for some reason or another, and how, even though he didn't know what they were or where they had come from, he couldn't help but fear that they really did know something important that he had to find out.

Ellie sat quietly for what seemed like forever as Levin finished speaking, simply absorbing what the hunter told her. Levin had been worried about how she would respond at first, but she didn't seem to show any fear or hesitance when he told her about the two whispers that flittered through his head on a regular basis. Rather, she seemed more worried for him than anything else.

"I wish you'd told me about this earlier, Levin," she said quietly. "Why did you keep it from me?"

"I'm slowly going more and more insane, Ellie. People always say that the Lost are all mad, but I really set the standard. Voices in my head that aren't mine, a legendary elder dragon taunting me in nightmares… Honestly, if you didn't know me, would you want to have anything to do with me at all? I feel more and more like I'm just pretending to be sane, rather than fighting against madness."

"Then I guess we're both going insane, aren't we?"

Levin looked at Ellie in surprise as a scared look crossed the huntress' face. "What do you…"

"I think… I think I'm able to hear the Alatreon's voice, too."

"What do you-"

"Last night, when I was asleep, I dreamed… it was just a normal dream, but halfway through, things seemed to become… blurry. I felt hot, so hot it felt like I was burning. Then I heard… a voice, a dark, terrible voice pounding in my head. I… couldn't make out many of the words, but… it kept referring to someone as 'boy'. The longer the dream went on, I began to see… someplace. It was exactly like the place you described to me, a place at the top of a Volcano, but before I could tell what was going on, the dream stopped, but I don't know why. I think… that's when you woke up."

Levin stared in shock. It couldn't be! Was the Alatreon… starting to haunt Ellie as well? Why? Why would it try to do that? It said it wanted her dead, so why would it try talking to her? But no, Ellie said that she thought it was talking to him… had she overheard their conversation somehow? How had…

"It isn't the first time I'd heard the voice either." A pained look covered Ellie's face, showing how shaken she was by the whole thing.

"What do you mean?" Levin asked.

"I remember… During the dream, I thought I recognized the sound of the… creature's voice. After I woke up in the cave, and found you gone, I remembered where I'd heard it before. I'd heard… laughing, of the same voice, back in the caves around Echo Village, while I was on guard duty. I'd thought… I'd thought it was just the wind or something, but after hearing the voice last night, I'm certain it had to be the same one I'd heard before. I heard it again after the ship had been sunk, and we were walking back to Boma, right before we were attacked by some monsters. I was so caught off guard at the time that I thought it was just my imagination, but thinking back on it now… it must have been the same one."

"But… how? Why?"

"I don't know! It's just… been happening! I can't explain it, but… it scares me. How do you put up with it, Levin? To me, it's like a noisy dream, but if even half of what you've told me it was like for you is real… it's terrible."

"At least you don't have… other problems to deal with," Levin said. "I wonder, though… if you're able to hear the thing's voice… is anyone else able to as well? And why? Or how?"

"I couldn't say," Ellie sighed. "I mean, you could ask Harker about what he thinks, but… I think that we should probably prepare for whatever it is that is supposed to be coming for us. Whatever it is… it might be worse than that Lagiacrus. And then there's the possibility of having to help more Lost while we're here."

"We'll… we'll figure something out, somehow. I don't know how, but… I swear, things will be all right."

"Right," Ellie nodded. A bit more confidence was coming back into her expression and some of the fear and worry fading a little. "Just promise to not keep any more of this secret from me, okay? I've told you that I'll do whatever it takes to help you bring down the Alatreon. We won't be able to do that if you keep hiding things like this from me. Next time I find out you're keeping things from me, I'll beat you senseless. Got it?"

Levin nodded. Somehow or another, the conversation had turned around, and he was thankful for it. He never liked it when Ellie was angry at him. He was still worried about these dreams, sure; more so now that he knew it was… contagious or something like it. But if others could have these dreams as well, it meant that they were… real, not just some twisted delusion of his. And though the thought that a monster was forcing its way into his dreams was a terrifying idea, maybe, just maybe it meant that there was a better chance for this madness of his to disappear once the thing was dead. There wasn't anything guaranteeing it, but maybe there was a chance.

"Got it."

* * *

"Does anyone know what's at the top of the Volcano?"

Kai and Kei blinked in surprise at the question Levin asked as the hunters left the camp the next morning. "Nothing special," Kai replied. "Just the top of the mountain. There have been a lot of expeditions going up there over the years, people trying to figure out how the clouds stay in one place. I mean, many of them don't come back, but that's just part of the danger of the area. But lots of people have gone up and come back, and not really seen anything worth mentioning. Just a whole lotta ash and smoke and not much else."

"Really?" Levin asked, disappointed. He had been so certain… Ellie looked disappointed as well, glancing up at the sky in frustration.

"I've actually climbed up there myself," Razor said, earning a few stunned looks from the others. "It's true! I mean, I only saw the south side of course, but I managed to go as high as I could without bursting into flame. I imagine it'd be quite the view if it weren't for all the smoke. Lots of lava up there, too. Big pools of it, just building up. Makes me wonder exactly how deep the magma goes to spill this much of it out onto the surface."

"What's wrong with the north side of the mountain?" Ellie asked.

"It's impassable," Razor replied. "No footholds, no ledges, no nothing at all. Even Rathalos don't really go up the slope, because there's nothing for them to perch on up there. There might be one or two places to land, but it'd be near impossible to get to."

"I see," Levin nodded. Maybe he'd been wrong after all… but how many other volcanos were there in the country that could appeal to an elder dragon? Or, maybe it really had all been an illusion like he'd feared it might be. Maybe when he got back to Loc Lac, he'd look for a map to see where all the volcanos in the country were. "So where exactly are we going today?"

"Further south," Kei replied. "There are some paths connecting down that way that the lights were seen traveling through. Hopefully we'll catch sight of them without running into anything too nasty. Uragaan tend to use the crevices when they battle each other, or as they search for ores to eat, but we should be able to avoid them pretty well, considering how much noise they make."

"That's good," Kerry said quietly. The bowgunner had a worried expression on her face. "Uragaan are… nasty, destructive creatures. I'd prefer it if we didn't run the risk of coming across one."

"We should be fine," Kai guaranteed her. "And even if one does show up, there are seven of us. Even with three rookies, we should be able to easily overpower it."

"You say that now…" Kerry muttered.

The path they chose leading them south took them into a series of tunnels that burrowed several dozen yards underground. The seven of them had torn off a couple dead branches in order to create a few torches, but they ended up not needing them; a long lava stream trailed next to the thin pathway that led through the earth, winding alongside the seven of them as a constant reminder as where they were.

Halfway through the caves, though, the hunters came across something that caught the Losts' eyes: buried deep within the earth, at least several dozen yards below the surface, dozens of houses were cut into the very walls of the cavern. Paths and staircases leading up to second levels curved up the stone sides of the path, allowing travel to second and third-floor apartments. Detailed hieroglyphs covered every square inch of the walls, detailing… stories, daily life, politics. Levin couldn't really tell what they meant, though there were several odd pictures of monsters mixed in the bunch. Several that caught the switch axe user's attention were of monsters in some large circular object… a cage of some sort, perhaps? Maybe the civilization that came between the Lost's and now had arena battles as well, or something like it.

Other than that, the area seemed fairly cluttered, surprisingly enough. Most of the ruins that Levin had seen during his times as a hunter had been picked clean, either by hunters or monsters or natural causes. But somehow the place was filled with… junk. Well, it very well might have had value to someone who knew what half of it was for, but to Levin it all just looked like piles of scrap metal. He could recognize a couple things, though. Pulleys and wheels and levers and cogs and… lots of things. Kerry had to hold onto Harker's collar to keep the man from plastering himself to the walls and floor and studying anything and everything he laid eyes on.

"Oh, what's this?" Ellie suddenly exclaimed, hurrying over to one of the piles of metal. The other hunters paused in surprise at the outburst, but followed close behind the sword and shield user as she began tossing aside scrap.

A few moments later, the huntress leaned over, grabbing ahold of a larger hunk of metal and pulling. With a grunt of strain, whatever she'd been holding onto came loose, and she wrenched a large… rifle out of the scrap pile. Or at least, that's what Levin thought it looked like; it couldn't very well be that much else, unless the civilization that made it had an odd penchant for design. A long, metallic barrel pointed out the front, and was connected perfectly to a long metallic stone, tinted a scaly green from age, with a powerful-looking rifle scope mounted to the top on the weapon. The trigger for the weapon was very similar to most other bowguns, but the ammunition cartridge was magazine-fed rather than a chamber like most bowguns. But to say the least, the weapon was in terrible condition, and that was being generous.

"Um, dear?" Kerry said. "Why are you picking that up?"

"It's a relic!" Ellie replied excitedly. "I met a smith in Frost Town that told me that she could refurbish old weapons like this. I've had my eye out for one since we left the town in the first place."

"I don't think you're going to be able to have that… weapon fixed up," Kei said. "I've seen smiths turn down just repairing dented weapons, claiming they're hopeless to fix. The state that that thing's in… well, I wouldn't use it as a paper weight."

"Besides, aren't we in a bit of a hurry right now?" her brother asked. "We've kind of got to get after those blue lights right now."

"Then let's go," Ellie replied indignantly, hoisting the weapon up under her arm and walking back to the group. "I'll just carry this with me."

"I don't think you can-"

"I can still keep up," Ellie huffed. "This thing won't slow me down. Besides, I've been meaning to get a new bowgun for a long while now. What better opportunity than now, huh?"

"You… ah, fine, whatever," Kai grumbled, shaking his head in frustration. "But if you start slowing us down because of this, I'm throwing that damn thing off of a cliff, got it?"

"Yeah, yeah," Ellie replied, grinning and shifting the old metal thing under her arm. The other hunters gave the huntress a disbelieving look, but continued on through the cave, choosing to let her do as she wanted.

"Aren't we feeling stubborn today," Levin said, sliding up next to his beloved.

"Yeah, maybe a little bit," Ellie admitted. "But I really need a new bowgun, and it might be a long time before another opportunity to get one arises, with all the hassles we've been going through recently. I mean, yes, I'll drop this thing into a pool of lava the first sign that it's keeping me from helping out any Lost we need to help, but if I can get away with it, I want to try and keep this and get it back to town for refurbishment."

"…Well, fine. Fair enough. Just don't look for sympathy if that pile of rust blows up in your hands."

"Says the man whose weapon will vaporize him if the phial breaks," Ellie replied with a smirk.

"Erm… good point. Carry on, then."

The group continued on through the caverns, eventually reaching an exit leading back out into daylight. The seven hunters followed Kai and Kei's lead through a large crevice that worked its way through the stone landscape that spread out across the southern side of the hunting grounds. Levin had traveled through narrow paths before, but something about these particular crevices seemed especially menacing to him, what with the shear stone walls without any vegetation, the rolling ash and smoke blotting out the sun, and the deep, monotonous rumbling of the volcano churning constantly as background noise. Not to mention that each and every rumble that made the rocky ground shake even a little made the hunters flinch, worried that some monster was coming their way.

It was getting late in the morning when the hunters first managed to catch sight of their target. As they were coming out into one intersection where several dozen pathways connected, Kei suddenly shouted, pointing at one of the paths heading back east. "There! Look!" The hunters were at a high point in the area, and could see a longer distance than before. From around the corner, off in the distance a good several miles away, a bright blue light flared up, sending up bright dancing shadows high against the walls of the massive stone cliff faces that leapt up on each side of the footpath. As quickly as they could, the hunters took off in the direction of where the light had been seen, working swiftly but cautiously through the thin crevice. But even as they rushed to catch the light, they could see the bright color fading from the horizon, the closer and closer they got to the source. Finally, after thirty minutes, the hunters managed to get to the area where they'd seen the lights flash into the sky, and the seven of them were shocked by what they saw.

It was a small valley, with a miniscule pond pooled right in the center of the area. Other than that, there weren't really any notable features of the area, since the tall rock and basalt walls were completely bare. However, at one of the far edges of the area was a sign that… something had been in the area. A bloody red mess, the remains of an Aptonoth and maybe a Kelbi as well, lay smashed and shredded apart, plastered against the wall. Several carrion birds were ripping into the remains of the bodies, perfectly content to devour what they could while no larger predators were around. Huge burn marks coated the ground around the bodies as well, blackening several hundred square feet of ground.

"What the hell happened here?" Ellie asked.

"It looks like a Rathalos went through here…" Kai replied, walking over to the remains and studying them. "Though, there's a lot more fire damage for one single beast, and it's pretty wide spread… Not to mention that these bodies are way more torn apart than Raths tend to leave their food."

"Maybe it was an Uragaan," Razor suggested. "Those gas attacks of theirs tend to leave rather large burn marks on the ground. But they're… well, they aren't carnivores, so I can't think of a decent reason for one of them to make such a mess of these herbivores. Maybe they got between a pair of them fighting over territory or a mate or something?"

"Possibly," Kei nodded. "But then, what would an Uragaan have to do with the blue lights? What would… anything that could do this kind of damage have to do with the blue crystals or whatever?"

"Perhaps…" Harker muttered, earning the other six hunters' attention. "Well, it's just a thought, but if Uragaan are known for collecting ores and other minerals on their backs… couldn't it be possible for one of them to have attached, perhaps, some of the blue crystals to its back?"

"Is that… possible?" Levin asked.

"It should be," Razor nodded. "The Uragaan use a trick to attach explosive stones to their bodies, where they roll around in lava and let it harden in order to affix various stones to their backs."

Harker frowned in thought. "I suppose it's… theoretically possible that an Uragaan found some of the Lost's crystals and thought it might, I don't know, attract a mate. It's an interesting prospect to contemplate, but it leaves us with two rather imposing issues: firstly, that we'll have to go through an Uragaan in order to help some of the Lost, and two, that other crystals may be located near or closer to moving lava. And if my recollection of the luminescence and size of the Lost crystals we saw in the Tundra is any indication, this Uragaan could be carrying up to… three dozen of them on its back. Neither predicament is very appealing."

"No kidding," Ellie muttered.

"I really don't like this…" Kerry groaned. "Uragaans are… not very lucky creatures, not when I'm around…"

"We don't really have much choice in the matter, though," Kei shrugged. "We'll need to help these Lost one way or another, even if it does mean going up against an Uragaan covered in crystals."

"How can we figure out which way... whatever was carrying the blue lights went off too?" Ellie asked.

"Oh! Leave that to me!" Razor said. Without another word, the hunter hurried over to one of the towering walls that stretched up the sides of the area, and began shimmying up the sides of the cliff. It was a good hundred or so feet nearly straight up, but the man was up to the top in a matter of a few minutes. Once at the top, the archer stood as tall as he could, craning his neck and scouring the area in search of some sign of what they were looking for. It took him a couple minutes of searching; for a long while, Levin was certain that they'd lost sight of the lights. However, Razor suddenly began motioning ecstatically nearly directly south. "There! There're more of the lights flaring up that way!"

Almost as fast as the man had climbed to the top of the cliff, he was back down again, and the seven were heading south again. Several intersecting paths made traveling in the direction the archer had seen the lights in challenging to navigate, but luckily there were enough that a new path in the right direction would pop up soon enough. Though navigation wasn't really necessary, it turned out; several monsters seemed to have met the same fate as the two herbivores they'd found earlier. All were torn apart, very messily and supposedly without reason. They looked as though they might have been eaten, or had bites taken out of them, but with all the carrion and scavengers picking at the pieces, it was hard for any of the hunters to be certain.

It took them the better part of an hour to find the place where Razor swore he'd seen the blue lights, and the scene there was stranger than the one before. The location was a cross section of several paths, providing a lot of space, but the entire floor of the area was coated in fresh burn marks and soot. The remains of a large Aptonoth were in the center of the area, once again almost completely removed of the flesh off its bones. This time, however, the flames that had burnt the creature had seared it nearly all the way through the bone. None of the more experienced hunters liked the look of that; neither Rathalos' nor Uragaans had flames powerful enough to do such a thorough job burning through the body of an Aptonoth, leaving the hunters even more confused than they had been before.

Once the group had surveyed the area the best they could, regretfully finding nothing else they could use to figure out what exactly they were chasing, Razor once again shimmied up the nearest wall, working his way to the top and scouring the land in search of more signs of the blue lights. When the man worked his way back down, he told them he'd seen something he thought might be the lights off to the west, but he wasn't certain. Without anything else to be certain of, though, the hunters had no choice but to head in that direction, hoping to find something.

Their next path sent them leaping across large rock flats, broken and torn by time and seismic activity, making a landscape that was very broken and abrupt. They ended up coming out near a small stream that fed a small pond; small was being generous, to be honest. The stream would take a good five minutes to fill up a water bottle. There were a few Kelbi trying to drink there, lapping up what little there was to offer. There were signs that whatever had been laying down the burn marks had been in this area as well, but it was only a small stretch of ash that lined a corner of the area, with a couple Kelbi limbs scattered around the area.

"We're too far behind," Kai grumbled in frustration, scouring a small map he'd brought along, tracing their path. "If the Kelbi over there are willing to take a drink with the remains of one of their herd mates so close, whatever made a mess of it in the first place must be long gone by now. We'll need to move faster if we're going to catch up with… whatever it is."

"Give me a moment, and I'll see if I can catch sight of it again," Razor volunteered. Kai nodded, and a moment later the archer was scurrying up the high stone walls to get a better view of the surroundings. The other hunters waited patiently as the man scoured the area, searching for some sighting of the blue lights. However, as the man shimmied down the rocks again, he had a disappointed expression on his face. "I couldn't see any sign of the lights, or any large monster signs. Sorry about that."

"It's not your fault," Kai sighed. "But it looks like we might be a bit stuck if we've lost track of the lights…"

"Well, what if we tried to get ahead of it?" Kei suggested, earning an odd look from her brother. "No, hear me out. We've been following the lights southwest for the most part, right? And nobody's seen the lights leave the Volcano hunting grounds either. So maybe… maybe we can cut it off in the middle. If we keep heading east from here, maybe we'll be able to catch sight of it or something."

"It's worth trying," Kerry agreed. "There's really nothing to lose since we've lost sight of our target."

"Alright, fine," the horn user nodded. "If nothing else, there's a hunter's camp that way. We can see if anyone's there; maybe someone's seen the lights elsewhere."

The journey east led the hunters into yet another series of caves that twisted and turned through the stone and basalt. The journey proved to be a bit harder this time, with no magma to light their way, and the path they took was harsh and steep, and the seven hunters were forced to take their time or risk harming themselves. There was a small stream that twisted its way next to the path for a while, though, allowing the hunters a place to catch some fish for lunch. Rations were well and good, but tasted bland after a while, and Razor proved to be an adept fisherman, plucking out nearly a dozen fish for them to eat in a matter of a quarter hour, which was quite impressive.

In late afternoon, the hunters finally managed to pass through the rough and rocky caves, and finally entered into a more serene, relaxing sort of area. Coming out of the rock flats, they entered a small, bowl-shaped valley. There wasn't much grass in the area; most of the ground was still purely flat, smooth rock. But there was still enough green in the area for a herd of almost a dozen small- to medium-sized Aptonoth and a few Kelbi to graze peacefully in the area. There were even a few stringy trees sprouting up from the few dirt patches, picked clean of their lower-hanging leaves by the herbivores as they lounged around, nibbling at the food they could find in the area.

A couple things in the valley caught the hunters' eyes, though. At the very center of the valley, for one, a massive rock pillar sprouted straight out of the earth. The enormous stone mass was a good twelve feet thick at the thinnest point. At the very peak, the stone mass branched off into a T-shape, widening out to the sides. Long, sinuous vines hung down from the top, crawling down the side of the pillar, giving some more color to the area.

But what really caught the hunters' attentions wasn't the stone pillar, but rather, the massive stone archways that spread across the far side of the area. The towering structures stretched to the sky, holding up a long stone something-or-other that stretched across the skyline and continued on from north to south as far as Levin could see. The… pathway, or whatever it was, at the top of the archways, couldn't have been much wider than a few yards, but seemed to be more solidly built than most of the things Levin had seen built in the world. There were some sort of specks falling from the top of the walkway, though, Levin could just make them out. Water droplets, he thought.

"An aqueduct?" Harker asked, excited. "Is that what that is?"

"Yes, actually," Kai said. "Good eye. One of the older civilizations built it to carry water from the south of here all the way around to the northern side of the volcano. The city or town that it was supposed to travel to is long gone these days, but the aqueduct they built is still pulling water all these miles to where the city once lay. There's a lake where the city was back in those days, with a lot of geysers shooting up thanks to the volcano, buts it's really murky and dark from all the ash. The creatures that live in the area don't seem to mind that much, though."

"Fascinating!" the long sword user exclaimed. "It must be quite well designed to have survived the years and monsters so well!"

"It really was," the horn user replied. "A lot of people from the towns north of the hunting grounds have made efforts to try and extend the aqueduct all the way to where the towns lay, hoping to use it for themselves, but… well, the monsters in the area really did their work dissuading the architects from getting all that much work done, so the plans kind of fell through."

"What happened to the city that used to be at the end of the aqueduct?" Levin asked.

"No one's really sure, actually," Kei told him. "It was an older city, one that was supposed to be really advanced for its time or something. Archaeologists said that they were part of a group of people that left huge stone carvings across the entire world."

"Me and Levin have seen one of those before," Ellie said. "There's a giant wall of monster pictures plastered up on a cliff wall a little ways south of Boma Village."

"Right, there's a lot of those walls all over the place," Kei said. "They're a really big bit of confusion for researchers all over the place. Lots of people have tried to translate the walls, but nobody's really been all that successful yet. But from what people have found out, they were apparently trying to resurrect the technology and power of the older civilizations… maybe the one you Lost came from. From what they've found, they were getting pretty good at doing it, too."

"But something went wrong," Kai continued. "From what the archaeologists have found from the city to the north of here, some really nasty volcanic eruption or something pulled the entire city under the earth, destroying it completely. At least, that's what people think happened. I mean, it could've been an elder dragon or something, but… well, even the worst monsters leave behind remains of some kind. There weren't any ruins left of the city or anything, it was just… gone. The only reason people know it was even there is because there were so many roads and the aqueduct leading to the same place."

"How very strange," Razor muttered. "There are similar structures of the sort where I come from. There's a story people tell about them that has become a bit of a popular story back home."

"What's that?" Harker asked.

"Well, the story goes that the people that came between the Lost and now were trying to create some plan that would be used to completely wipe out all the monsters in the world," the archer told them. "Legend has it that the monsters… learned what the people were planning, and rebelled for the sakes of their own lives, assaulting the humans all at once and wiping them out. Back home, it's a story that's told in order to teach would-be hunters about keeping balance with nature, but… well, people have been telling that story for generations, so I've always wondered to myself exactly how accurate the stories really are."

"Well, they always say that all good stories are based in truth," Kai said. "So maybe there's something that…"

"Wait! Be quiet!" Kerry suddenly hissed, glancing around. The hunters froze at the words, turning their heads to the sides, looking and listening for whatever the bowgunner had heard. For a moment, all they could hear was the grunting and baying of the herbivores that were grazing in the field. But after a few moments, Levin began to hear something, a deep, powerful thumping sound, one he'd heard several times before.

A rush of wind and a deep rumbling roared past the hunters as a massive shadow soared over them, the deep thrumming of wing beats pounding into their skulls as the dark shape swooped over them. Levin turned to follow the massive shape, and gaped in shock at the sight. Over the seven hunters hovered the most massive Rathian he'd ever seen in his life, almost a half again as big as the one he'd seen nearly burn down the flooded forest. Countless wounds scoured the creature's body, and dozens of points on it had shattered plates and scales, where clear signs of the monster's battle prowess hung like medals on the creature's body. With a couple more flaps of the monster's wings, the Rathian hovered over the massive stone pillar that jutted out of the center of the valley, before dropping down to settle onto the landmark. The weight of the massive creature shook the pillar with a jarring thump that even made the ground under the hunters shake a little, and sent pebbles and clouds of dust toppling down from above.

"A Rathian?" Kei gasped. "But… they're not supposed to come to this area! It's supposed to be too dangerous here for them!"

"Look at it!" Kai replied. "Does it look like danger matters that much to it? Just don't move! We're not here to deal with it, so just leave it alone!"

The hunters instinctively reached for their weapons, readying themselves for battle against this most monstrous of Rathians. However, even as their weapons were drawn, the beast's eyes snapped to glare at them, and Levin felt his blood freeze in his veins. This monster was… powerful and old. Even with seven of them there, the look this creature gave to him felt as though fighting it was certain doom. It had seen other hunters, had faced them in battle, and was strong enough and experienced enough to have lived to this day. What chance did these newcomers here have, even with their greater numbers? The other hunters were just as tense as Levin was, being able to sense the strength of the monster as it stared down at them.

The beast continued to glare at them for several moments, before snorting in disinterest and turning away from them. Its eyes darted to the Aptonoth and Kelbi herds as the herbivores were still trying to funnel out of the few paths that left the area. Its eyes swayed back and forth through the herd, until its eyes seemed to rest on an exceptionally large Aptonoth that was a little bit behind the rest of the pack, lagging behind as it tried to escape the wyvern above them. A soft gurgling sound could be heard as the creature opened its mouth, the clear sign of the monster preparing breathe a blast of flame. However, as the glow of fire began swell in the back of the Rathian's throat, Levin couldn't help but gape in shock, before a blast of flame jetted out of the creature's gullet.

The Rathian's flame was a bright, powerful blue. As the blaze seared out of the beast's mouth, it shot down from the sky like a lance, tearing into the Aptonoth it had aimed at with brutal force, burning through the creature's skin as though it was nothing, sending the herbivore tumbling to the ground dead before it could even cry out in pain. The others of the herd scattered as the blast had struck their fellow herd member, and didn't even spare a second glance as they continued to run, trying their best to get away from the massive wyvern.

Once the Aptonoth was sufficiently cooked, the bright blaze finally cut to a halt. The remains of the body had a familiar appearance to it, blackened to near ash, with the thinner parts of its body reduced to cinders and even the bones were burnt through. However, even though the fire had cut to a halt, bright blue flames remained eating at the grass around the corpse and licking from the burnt body of the herbivore. It took quite a few seconds for the bright flames to finally cool down enough to turn back from the blue color to the brighter yellow and orange color. With a satisfied snort, the massive Rathian pushed off the tall stone pillar, slowly gliding down from its height before landing right on top of the burnt corpse. The impact of the monster dropping down onto the ground once again shook the earth below the hunters, giving credit to the beast's massive bulk. Without giving a second glance to the hunters, the massive Rathian began ripping into the downed Aptonoth, tearing massive chunks out of the beast's flank with its fangs, consuming the beast in bites that would've fed each of the hunters by themselves. The hunters could see how the other bodies had been so thoroughly destroyed; each bite was shredding the body into a bloody mess.

"Don't move, and keep calm!" Kai hissed quietly. "It doesn't… it doesn't look like it's out to get us. Maybe it'll ignore us. Keep a hand on your weapons, but _don't attack_, and maybe it'll just leave us alone."

"Blue flames, though," Razor muttered. "It seems we've found our traveling blue lights."

"So we have," Kai agreed quietly. "Let's just hope we don't have to experience them for ourselves."

"I wonder what sort of flame sac the creature must have to produce such high-intensity flames," Harker asked curiously. Much to the shock of the other hunters, the long sword user began to walk forward towards the eating creature. "Perhaps the sac is smaller, or the flammable fluid is purer… I wonder if I could extract it without damaging it. To eat so much food… of course! You'd need to eat as much to produce such a powerful flame and keep such a large body active…"

"Don't!" Levin yelped quickly, grabbing at Harker's shoulder and pulling him back. Kerry had gotten the same idea, reaching forward and grabbing onto the man's other arm. "Don't do it. The last thing we need is for you to get something like that riled up. Leave it be for now."

The long sword user groaned in disappointment, but stopped where he stood, continuing to eyeball the Rathian longingly, clearly wanting nothing more than to… experiment. It was a good thing they'd stopped him, though, because a few moments later, the Rathian finished tearing into the Aptonoth it had cooked, and turned its head to give a poignant look at the hunters. It kept its gaze on them for another moment or two, making certain they didn't want to cause any trouble, before unfolding its wings and pushing itself up into the sky. The seven hunters breathed a collective sigh of relief as the wyvern slowly gained height, looking around in search of the direction it wanted to go.

**You didn't think I'd let this pass so easily, did you, boy? Prepare yourself! This time I will take her from you, and you will truly know pain!**

Levin winced as the voice blasted through his skull, followed by sinister laughter, making his ears ring from the volume. He quickly shot a worried look to Ellie, and found the huntress rubbing her own ears as though they were buzzing as well. Damn it, not now!

"I'm sorry, what did you say? You shouldn't mumble Levin, I couldn't make out a word of what you said." The switch axe user turned in shock at the words, and found the long sword user looking at him oddly, while Kerry was rubbing her own ear in irritation as well. "Do you need some medicine? Your voice sounds a bit off, my friend."

"Wait, you heard that?" Levin gasped.

"You mumble, so not all of it," Harker replied, sticking a finger in his ear and trying to clean it out. "Odd that you should choose to call me 'boy', though, considering I'm older than you."

"But how did-"

A high-pitched whistling sound piercing through his mind, as well as a screeching howl of pain cut Levin off mid-sentence forcing the hunter to cover his ears to soften the sound. The roar was immediately followed by a loud thump and the earth shaking underneath the hunters. Levin turned to look, and saw the Rathian crumpled on the ground from dropping nearly four stories out of the sky. The beast was writhing in pain on the ground, rubbing its skull against the dirt and clawing at it horns, as though trying to remove… something from its head. Levin felt his heart sink; he'd seen these effects before on the Lagiacrus he and Ellie had fought and killed in Boma.

With a howl of anger, the creature let loose an enormous blast of flame as it pushed itself back up onto its feet. The hunters were forced to dive away as the massive wave of fire swept across the grass and stone, the bright blue blaze searing around the area like a tsunami. Only Ellie was capable of blocking the attack, but even she was unwilling to risk trying to fight back against the flames, and dove away from the creature as the fire swept towards them. Even from the distance the Rathian was at, the force of the creature's strength allowed the wyvern to throw her flames the forty yards of distance between herself and where the hunters stood.

Finally, the flames cut off, and the Rathian clawed the ground menacingly, glaring at the hunters. Levin heard a clattering sound, and turned to see the ancient weapon that Ellie had picked up clattering across the ground into a corner as the sword and shield user drew her weapon. The other hunters were following suit as well, readying their weapons as the wyvern stared them down. The creature glared at them for a moment, but for a brief second, rather than trying to attack, the monster tried to turn away, apparently not wanting to deal with the hunters, but once again, the painful whistling sound ripped through Levin's mind and the Rathian yelped in pain before turning to face the seven hunters once again a look of anger and frustration in its expression.

"Get ready!" Kai shouted as the monster clawed the ground. The next moment, the creature charged, tearing across the ground towards them, and the hunters moved away, bracing themselves to attack as soon as the opportunity arose.

But even as the creature charged, its mouth opened, and fire leapt from its mouth, spreading towards them as it rushed towards them. Levin yelped in surprise as the creature continued to barrel towards them, flame leaping ahead of it like a blazing cannonball. The entire group was forced to dive far out of the way to avoid getting caught by the swath of fire that threatened to envelop them. And the wyvern's reflexes were sharp as well; the Rathian managed to screech to a halt only a few sparse yards past where the hunters had been standing before spinning abruptly to face them once again.

Levin couldn't help but be awed as he looked up at the beast, now that the creature was so close. He'd known that the Rathian was massive just by comparing it to the Aptonoth it had eaten, but standing next to it now really put the thing into perspective. With the beast so close, he could tell that the monster was truly massive; he only stood up to the creature's ankles, for goodness sake! Even the Rathalos he'd seen at the last mating dance hadn't been quite as large as this one! As the monster stamped the ground menacingly, the ground even shook underneath him, ratting the stones and pebbles that lay across the earth. Then the beast craned its neck and a moment later, unleashed a powerful, skull-rattling roar that forced the hunters to wince in pain.

However, even as the creature's roar began to fade away, the crack of a bowgun firing and the twang of an arrow being released could just barely be heard as Kerry and Razor recovered first, both of them far enough away to not be quite as affected as the rest of them. The archer was quick, shooting off multiple arrows in a matter of seconds, while the bowgunner swiftly began firing off her most powerful rounds, pelting the monster with heavy explosives right off the bat. However, the arrows, while some of them did connect to the creature's soft spots, were mostly deflected by the wyvern's thick scales, and the Rathian hardly seemed to feel the detonations of the incendiary rounds at all, shaking them off and glaring at the two ranged hunters in irritation. That's all the monster seemed to consider the seven of them as: an irritation. With a snap of its head, the Rathian snapped its mouth open, firing a blazing blue fireball towards Razor, followed quickly by another shot fired off at Kerry, forcing the two hunters to dive away from the attacks. As the wyvern focused on the two ranged hunters, the other five hunters rushed forward to attack the creature themselves. Ellie took the lead, a look of determination on her face; no surprise there, considering her personal issues with the wyverns. Kei and Harker were close behind, their long swords allowing them far more mobility than Levin and Kai, who tailed along behind the rest of them. The Rathian lowered its head menacingly as the hunters approached, growling savagely.

As Ellie closed in, the Rathian suddenly snapped in a circle, bringing its thick spiny tail around, tearing the bladed end across the ground and kicking up a wave of dust in the process. Levin expected Ellie to pull up and stop as the tail ripped across the ground in front of her, but instead, the sword and shield user put on a burst of speed, and slid instead dashed forward and dove, sliding right underneath the tail instead and planting herself right underneath the creature's belly. As the Rathian slowed her spin, Ellie pushed herself upright again and slashed at the base of the wyvern's tail; however, the effort proved to be rather in vain, as the creature's thick scales, hardened by time, deflected most of the strikes to do little damage. It caught the wyvern's attentions, though, and the beast twisted its head around to try and see her, and stamped its feet trying to catch her underneath.

Though the aggressive attempts at getting at Ellie were unsuccessful, it gave the other four blade-masters time to close in on the beast, and both Harker and Kei were able to begin attacking at the creature with their long swords, while Levin went to help Ellie with the monster's poisonous tail. Kai kept his distance from the beast as it twisted around, snapping irritably at the hunters, only stepping in to take a powerful swing at the creature every now and then. Kerry and Razor continued to pelt the creature from a distance, the archer nailing it with a continuous stream of arrows and the bowgunner reverting to smaller diameter ammunition in an attempt to break some of the beast's thick scales.

Finally, the Rathian howled in aggravated fury, swinging its wings and tail around at the hunters, forcing them to pull back to avoid getting caught by the creature's talons and spines. However, even as they tried to push back forward to continue attacking, blue flames licked from the back of the monster's throat. But rather than spewing blue-hot flames at the hunters themselves, the Rathian tilted its head to aim at the ground before unleashing the blaze; the fires seared outwards from the impact zone, spreading outwards and covering everything within thirty yards of the center with the bright flames, forcing the hunters to leap back even further from the creature. Levin found himself gasping for breath as the intense flames washed across the earth; damn it all, even back away from the fire, the heat seemed to be boiling hot even from dozens of yards away.

Suddenly, a loud, warbling sound echoed across the battlefield. Immediately, Levin felt a sense of… comfort filling him up. The sweltering heat of the Rathian's flames seemed to fade away, replaced by a simple feeling of… coolness. He knew better, but with the soothing feeling filling his body, he felt as though he could've walked straight into the Rathian's flames and not even felt the blaze. He glanced over for the source of the sound and caught sight of Kai blowing into the mouthpiece of his hunting horn, clearly the source of the sudden comfort.

"Keep fighting!" he shouted, removing his mouth from the horn and turning to face the creature again.

"How?" his sister snapped back. "We can barely break through its scales at all! Even the Cluster rounds aren't doing a thing! We should try and run! We weren't hired to take down a Rathian!"

Levin winced as the high-pitched whistling sound howled into his mind again. The bright flames cut off abruptly as the Rathian howled in pain and frustration, before the creature turned to look behind the hunters. Levin realized that it was looking at the cave they'd entered the area from. The monster cocked its head back for a moment, before unleashing a massive blue fireball that seared through the air and smashed into the stone wall above the cavern entrance, throwing a cascade of stone and shrapnel down from above with a thunderous wave of sound. Only moments later, the entire cavern entrance had been covered in a pile of boulders and stone, cutting off their best means of escape in a matter of moments.

"Looks like we really don't have that much of a choice anymore…" Kai muttered.

"Fine by me," Ellie growled, brandishing her weapon at the wyvern as it turned back to face the hunters again.

"Take it slow, then!" the hunting horn user barked to the others. "Give me some time, and I'll be able to get a few more songs out to help of take this thing down. Until then…" But before the man could finish, Ellie took off towards the monster, blade at the ready. "Damn it! What is she doing?"

"She's got some… issues with Raths," Levin explained quickly, charging after the sword and shield user.

"Oh, damn it all… fine! Just try and stay alive as long as you can, and I'll do my best to support you guys from here. Try and wear it down first! The last thing we need is more of that damn blue fire!"

Levin rushed forward to help Ellie attack the wyvern as the creature snapped at her, smashing its snout into her shield and knocking the huntress back. Despite the five blade masters circling the Rathian and looking for an opening in her defense, as well as the two ranged hunters picking at the beast from afar, the wyvern was light on her feet, and quick to counter any attempts the hunters made at putting some solid damage on her. Each time Levin tried to press forward to swing at the beast, a wing or its tail seemed to fly out of nowhere and smash him back, or worse, cut through his defenses and gouge a good piece out of his armor or, worse still, him. He got a couple hits off on the beast's tail, shattering a couple of the thick scales that lined the beast's body, but nothing substantial.

None of the other close range hunters seemed to be dodging the attacks all that much better, either. Levin couldn't understand how the Rathian was managing to do so well against them; an experienced monster keeping up with four hunters was one thing, but five melee attackers and two ranged shooters, and the wyvern was still nearly getting the better of them? Levin would have thought the two siblings would be able to press the beast harder, but the creature could keep up with even them, pressing them back when they came in to attack as well. And the Rathian's thick scales seemed to be absorbing most of the bowgun shells and arrows that Kerry and Razor were putting downrange as well. And the blazing blue fire wasn't helping things, either. Ellie had tried to block a fireball with her shield, but the pure heat of the powerful blaze was more than enough to send the huntress scurrying away after the blast detonated across the flat of her shield, forcing her to remove it and shake it off to get rid of the heat it had picked up.

Ellie's ferocity was noticeable when fighting the Rathian. Levin could tell immediately that the sword and shield user had almost immediately gone into her 'hyper-focused' condition, or whatever she called it, and was pressing herself at the monster more frequently and more aggressively than any of the other hunters. Each strike seemed to strike a weak spot as well, or slid through the cracks of the Rathian's multitude of scales, leaving bright stains of blood on the woman's blade. However, the blade was small, and despite the damage Ellie was managing to do, it wasn't deep enough to do more than make the wyvern angry.

The one that seemed to be doing the best, surprisingly enough, was Harker. The man's speed allowed him to move in on the creature and dodge its attacks with surprising ability. While the other hunters were having trouble breaking through the Rathian's defenses, the long sword user seemed to just slip through them like water through fingers. His weapon wasn't as strong as Levin's or Kei's, but the speed at which he managed to strike out at the creature was enough to deal far more damage than the other hunters were. And somehow, the coordination between him and Kerry seemed to come more prominently into play; as scales and plates fell from the long sword user's blows, shells seemed to appear out of nowhere, piercing into the newly opened weak points. After a few successful strikes, Razor seemed to realize the possibilities available, and the soft spots began getting pelted with arrows as well as Pierce and other shots.

But the Rathian was catching on, and the beast began to focus on Harker more than the other hunters. The long sword user began getting pushed away as the Rathian chased him a little, and focused more flames in his direction. Neither was very good for the man, considering his weapon's general inability to defend with it. The man's speed was enough to keep him away from the monster's charges and physical attacks, but with the beast's complete focus on him, it was wearing him out quickly. Enough, in fact, that as a gust of flame tore past the man and he dodged away from it, the Rathian was able to leap forward and twist around, catching the madman by smashing him broadside with its tail and sending him skidding across the stone and grass. Levin heard Kerry cry out in terror, but a moment later, the long sword user was struggling back to his feet, waving at the bowgunner to show he was all right.

But his bluff faded immediately as his feet gave out from underneath him, and Harker dropped to his knees, clutching his chest in pain. The Rathian growled victoriously at the fallen hunter, pawing the ground. Both Kei and Ellie rushed forward, trying to pull the monster's attentions away from the other long sword user before it could decide to go after the injured hunter, but the wyvern cocked its head back, inhaling deeply, and a moment later, bellowed out another of its powerful roars.

Levin's hands went instinctively to his ears to block out the sound, but paused as the sound of Kai's hunting horn reached his ears first. As the Rathian's roar bellowed out, the sound seemed to dim in Levin's ears, fading out slowly until it sounded more like a loud shout rather than an earth-shaking roar. Levin could still feel the noise vibrating through his body, but it didn't hurt his ears nearly as much as it did before. Kerry was hurrying over to Harker as the hunting horn user's song ended, and Kai began motioning frantically towards the Rathian.

Sure enough, the Rathian was still roaring, expecting the hunters to be deafened by the sound. Levin charged at the beast as it bellowed, sprinting right towards the creature's underbelly and swinging his sword mode weapon in sword mode up at the wyvern's flank. It was a definitely satisfying feeling as the blade of his weapon smashed though the Rathian's scales and tore into the creature's body. The Rathian howled in surprise and pain at the sudden strike, not having expected to be attacked during its roar. The other hunters were on it as well, taking advantage of the opportunity provided them and tearing into the creature.

Kerry was still seeing to Harker, but Razor was pelting the Rathian with seemingly countless arrows, aiming for all the broken plates and scales, and leaving dozens of shafts poking out of the monster's body. Kai had dragged his hunting horn over to the beast and was doing work on the Rathian's legs, while his sister rushed over to help Levin try and lop the jagged green tail off the wyvern's hindquarters. Ellie, however, was pressing her luck, charging headfirst towards the monster's head and cutting into the monster's skull and throat. The monster tried to re-gather its bearings, but the sudden rush of attacking that the hunters made the creature flinch repeatedly as the attacks continued. The Rathian tried to turn and bite into Ellie, but the huntress twisted around and smashed her shield headlong into the beast's face. The impact was enough to practically stun the monster, and the jagged Gobul spikes that were lodged into the flat of the shield wedged themselves into the monster's face as well. The onslaught against both the monster's face, as well as the other hunters' work on the wyvern's leg and tail were enough to keep the Rathian stumbling back in pain, trying to recover itself.

The sound of the hunting horn rang out again as Kai pulled away from the fight for a third time, and suddenly Levin felt as though his physical strength had increased twofold. With a surge of ferocity, the switch axe user continued to tear into the Rathian's tail, with Kei helping him along. Sprays of blood and chunks of muscle began to cover the ground more and more as the pair of them ripped into the stumbling beast's tail, getting closer and closer to lobbing the thing off the monster completely. For the first time since the fight began, Levin felt as though they might be able to finish this monster off without getting worked over too much.

But suddenly, a piercing pain ripped through his gut. The switch axe user glanced down, realizing that there was a jagged spine wedged under his arm into his side. Somehow the Rathian had twisted its tail around completely underneath itself, and had caught the hunter right in between the gaps of his armor. Immediately, a sickening, dizzying feeling filled the hunter as the venomous poison tipping the spines began to seep into his bloodstream. The next thing Levin knew, the tail snapped away, and Levin was yanked off his feet and thrown across the ground as the spine was ripped out of his side, leaving a trail of blood on the stone and grass as he slid to a halt.

Kei was the only one to see the injury, and shouted his name, but a moment later the Rathian's wing swung down to only a mere few feet off the ground, before pulling up again and catching the long sword user in the chest and tossing her across the ground as well, with a few spikes wedged into her arm as well. Now her brother had noticed from her cry of pain, but the next moment after that the creature's wing swooped around, and a powerful gust of wind sent the hunting horn user sliding backwards, leaving only Ellie up close and personal with the wyvern.

And the sword and shield user hadn't even noticed that the other hunters had been taken out, due to her hyper-focus. She still danced around the wyvern's head as the Rathian snapped at her, sword flashing at the beast's neck while her shield bashed relentlessly against the monster's skull. Levin tried to push himself to his feet and call out to her, warning her, but a blast of pain shot through him, and the poison left him nauseous, and he dropped to his knees again, gasping for air. The next moment, the wyvern, now only needing to focus on Ellie, leapt back away from the sword and shield user, eyeing her deviously. Ellie chased after it, single-mindedly wanting to kill the wyvern.

She only managed to stop when Kerry shouted at her in warning, from across the field of battle. The huntress stopped, confused, looking around the Rathian, only now realizing that she was the only one around still fighting against the wyvern. Right at that moment, the Rathian cocked its head back, the familiar, dangerous gurgling sound emitting from the back of its throat. But as the sound continued, rather than just the back of the wyvern's throat, the creature's whole mouth was soon filled with billowing, blue-hot flames that swelled down the sides of the monster's jaw.

"Ellie!" Kerry cried out. "Get away from it! Now!" Ellie was only still for a moment before dashing to the side, trying to get out of the way. The Rathian twisted its head to follow her, but with it gathering its flames, it couldn't quite keep up, and with a howl of rage, the wyvern's head flew forward and the flames jetted out of its maw.

But what flew from the Rathian's throat seemed a massive, rolling wave of powerful fireballs. As the flames smashed into the earth, a wave of powerful explosions blasted into the sky, tailing after the huntress as she ran, ripping through the stone and dirt and upending both. The sword and shield user could hear the wave of destruction following her, and while she was running, tried to twist to the side, holding her shield up in a desperate attempt to block the eruptions that tailed after her. Levin watched in terror as the flames roared after her, coming ever closer. As the distance closed, though, the explosions began to lose momentum, and for a moment it seemed that the huntress might be able to escape the cascading flames. But Ellie had begun running too late, and a moment later a fireball caught the earth only a few scant feet behind Ellie's stride, and the detonation caught her in the back, flames washing over her and sending her flying forward, flames licking off her armor as she tumbled across the rocky ground.

Levin yelled the woman's name in terror as she lay there for a moment, as the Rathian roared in satisfaction. Large craters littered the earth between the Rathian and where Ellie lay, blue flames licking up from the earth, even on pure stone. And the stone was glowing from the heat, heated by the powerful flames to a bright glowing red. But the creature's eyes narrowed as the sword and shield user slowly pushed herself awkwardly to her knees, trying to get back up and fighting again. The wyvern clawed the ground, preparing to charge the huntress before she could recover. Levin quickly scrambled for his item pouch, quickly pulling out and uncorking a potion and downing it as quickly as he could. Even before the effects of the drug kicked in, he was pushing himself upright again and charging across the field towards the Rathian; he couldn't afford to drink an antidote, not yet. The poison dragged him down, made it hard to breathe, and blurred his vision, making it hard to run, but he pressed on. As the wyvern prepared to lunge, Levin swung his weapon up from below the creature, crashing his sword into the Rathian's chest and wedging the point of the blade between two of the monster's plates, making the creature flinch back in pain. Then he reached up, quickly smashing the large release button that Umbre had warned him about using; but if now wasn't the time to use it, he didn't know what was.

Immediately, energy began pouring through the blade to the tip of the weapon. Normally in the switch axe's 'sword mode' energy flowed through the edge of the blade constantly, but upon hitting the release valve, the weapon's energy flow was drastically increased, allowing a massive amount of energy to swell to the tip of the blade, surging out of the point of the weapon and into the very flesh of the monster. The Rathian howled in pain as tens of thousands of volts of electricity seared into its chest and tried to get away, but Levin pressed forward, making sure to keep the weapon's tip wedged into the wyvern's body. He had to keep pressing; the weapon would soon unleash its power. The wyvern continued to squirm, though, writhing around and trying to sink its teeth or spikes into the switch axe user, but each twist only dug the blade further into it. After a few seconds, the searing blue light of the energy pealing from the phial reached its maximum, and Levin felt some mechanisms, safety features and contingency valves, activating.

The switch axe shook in his hands as a massive wave of energy surged to the tip of the weapon, swelling into a single point at the end. The glow continued to increase, until finally the energy gathered burst free, erupting outwards in a massive detonation, ripping through scale and flesh on the Rathian's chest and searing the body beneath burnt black. The blast sent the switch axe flying backwards as well, and with Levin clinging tightly to the grip, the hunters was nearly thrown off his feet as he held tight to the weapon. He managed to keep himself upright, though it was close with the weapon automatically shifting back to its 'axe mode' as well.

But though Levin had hoped that the explosive energy would be enough to critically injure the Rathian, and it had managed to leave a massive wound in the side of the monster, the wyvern didn't seem to be crippled at all, or even limping at all. Rather, as the monster turned to face the switch axe use, the only thing that he could see on the monster's face was rage. Levin yelped in surprise as the creature swung around, swinging its tail at the hunter. He leapt backwards, just barely keeping out of the monsters range, but as his feet hit the ground, a wave of nausea washed over him, and he lost his balance, tumbling onto his back as his vision swam. He gripped his waist, putting pressure on the wound as it began to throb painfully. Blue light began to fill up in the back of the Rathian's throat as it glared at him, preparing to send a wave of flame at him.

But before the flames leapt from the monster's mouth, an arrow flew in from the side, smashing into the side of the Rathian's face and planting itself between two of the creature's plates just under the monster's cheekbones. A fraction of a second later, Kei suddenly rushed forward from the side, her long sword swiping out and cutting into the Rathian's face right next to where the arrow had landed. The Rathian reared back in pain as the jet of fire flew from its mouth, firing into the air rather than at the switch axe user.

Levin forced himself back to his feet, using his weapon as a crutch as Kai appeared next to him, grabbing him and helping him hurry away from the Rathian as it twisted around to rage at his sister. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah… ow! Okay, not exactly. I think I may have been poisoned."

"Right… well, drink a potion and give me a second, and I'll see what I can do about that." The pair of hunters reached one of the far walls of the battlefield and the horn user set Levin down on a rock. As Levin pulled out a potion bottle, Kai reached into his own pouch and removed a long wooden object; a hunter's flute, Levin realized. He'd never really used any of those before. But as he drank down his potion, Kai blew a quick tune through the flute, and a moment later the nauseous feeling from the poison began to fade a little. The feeling lingered, but as the man's song ended, Levin had to admit he was feeling better. "It's not much," Kai told him, "and it's not as effective as an actual liquid antidote, but this flute should encourage your body to fight harder against the poison, and you'll feel better pretty soon."

Levin nodded in understanding as he pushed himself to his feet. He was still a little dizzy, and his vision wasn't clearing very quickly, but he could feel himself getting better, and was sure that he could keep fighting… He dropped to his knees as pain shot from his side again. He'd fight once he got that damn wound in his side patched up… In the meantime, the other six hunters were putting up a hell of a fight again, having gotten the time to recover. Even Harker was moving in on the wyvern again, long sword flashing dangerously in the light. Ellie and Kerry were back on their feet as well, the sword swinger trying to go after the Rathian's underbelly while Kerry was firing rounds at the wyvern's wings.

But the Rathian had realized the dangers of trying to take so many of them on at once, and as they charged, the wyvern spun around, tearing the tip of its bladed tail across the stone and sending up a wave of sparks at the hunters. As the group pulled away from the spray of bright sparks, the Rathian spread its wings, and pushed itself into the air, carrying itself up into the sky several dozen yards above the hunters' heads with only a few quick beats of its wings.

"Shoot it down!" Kei called out, sheathing her blade and diving out of the way as the Rathian swept down to nip at her. "Blow it out of the sky!"

"I can't!" Kerry replied. "I'm out of explosive rounds! All I can do is pick at it!"

"Damn it!" The long sword user cursed. But both Kerry and Razor kept firing at the flying beast, running in to get a better shot before pulling back to reload. The arrows and shots weren't doing as much damage as the incendiary rounds had been, but Razor was letting his arrows fly with such shocking speed that Levin was surprised that his bow could take the strain. Even the Rathian was getting frustrated as feathered plumes began sprouting from the gaps in its scales.

As Razor rushed forward to fire, though, the Rathian swooped in, and with a powerful thrust of its wings, completely flipped in the air, sending its tail swooping up from below. The archer yelped in surprise, leaping to the side as the spines of the tail just barely grazed the sleeves of his armor. Immediately, though, the Rathian spun around in the air, then dipped even lower before a powerful flap allowed the wyvern to pull off yet another flip. This time, however, with the monster so close to the ground, the long spines on the edges of the Rathian's tail skimmed the rocky earth, once again picking up a wave of sparks, and sending them flying at the archer. Razor was nimble enough to pull out of the tail's way, but not out of the way of the spray of sparks, which caught hold on parts of the man's armor, bursting into small flames that the man had to run off to put out.

Kerry was still keeping close, though, constantly pelting the Rathian with shot after shot of ammunition, and the other hunters were waiting patiently nearby, hoping that the next shot would be enough to bring the Rathian down. However, as the bowgunner fired a series of Pierce rounds at the beast, the Rathian quickly turned, pushing itself back from the incoming shots and out of range. Kerry was following close after though, with the other hunters tailing behind. However, as the hunters approached, the wyvern caught them off guard as blue light seared from its throat, and a thick blaze of blue flame burst out, cascading to the ground and smashing into the stone floor between the hunters and the hovering monster.

The hunters chasing the Rathian were forced to jump away as the wave of flame washed over the earth, rolling across the ground towards them. Somehow or another, the Rathian continued to spew bright blue flames for nearly thirty seconds, pressing forward flap after flap, foot after foot. But eventually the flames cut out, and the creature dropped to the ground again, breathing heavily. But as Ellie and Kei pushed forward to attack again, the two suddenly stumbled back, as though the both of them had been pushed back by one of the Rathian's gusts of wind. Levin frowned in confusion; the wyvern hadn't moved at all! What had hit them?

That's when he looked at the ground where the Rathian was standing, and he realized that a massive chunk of the ground surrounding the wyvern, in the area where the monster had sprayed its massive wave of flame, the rocky ground was red-hot, glowing bright from the pure heat of the flames that had been washing over it only moments ago. When the hunters tried to push forward, the intense heat radiating from the glowing rock repelled them, proving too hot for them to pass. And the Rathian seemed to know it as well, a wide grin appearing to spread across the wyvern's face. To cap it all off, the Rathian was standing in the dead center of the blazing area, completely unaffected by the heat.

A second later, the Rathian cocked its head back again, and once again a blaze of flame burst from the creature's mouth. But the fires weren't aimed at the hunters at all; rather, the Rathian sent the flames off to the side of the valley, slamming the flames against the far wall of the area. The wyvern kept the inferno going for a moment, before slowly beginning to turn its head, sending the flame on a path across the valley in a curved line. Levin was confused about what exactly the Rathian was doing, before Kai suddenly cursed, grabbing Levin by the coat and dragging him towards the other hunters and shouting desperately at them.

"It's cutting us off! It's trying to trap us in!"

Levin blinked in surprise at the words, before turning to look at the Rathian again, and his heart sank in fear. Sure enough, the Rathian was leading its powerful blaze in a semi-circular path around the hunters, cutting a red-hot line across the rocky terrain that was effectively cutting off the seven hunters from any of the possible escape routes they could use if things turned for the worse. As the other hunters began to realize this, the group of them tried to make a break around the outside of the Rathian's path. But the wyvern caught on, and to all of their surprise, the monster actually increased the speed and intensity of its flames, and a swathe of fire cut across their path, sending a blazing wall of blue fire leaping to the sky as the Rathian effectively cut off the entire group from escape. The wyvern continued to shoot flames at the earth, waving its head back and forth a couple times over the ground for certainty, before the flames finally cut off. The Rathian was breathing heavily, but the growl in released as it returned its gaze to the hunters was victorious and downright assured.

"Kerry, Razor," Kai muttered worriedly, "it should be out of the stamina it needs to use its flames after all that. We don't have much room to maneuver here. If you can do as much damage as you possibly can before it gets too close…"

Suddenly, the Rathian's head snapped forward, and a huge blue fireball flew from the creature's mouth, soaring through the air and smashing into the base of one of the aqueduct pillars, several dozen yards over the hunters' head. Kai gaped in shock as the blue flames licked up at the sky from the impact zone, and a cold growling sound emitted from the Rathian's throat that sounded eerily like laughter.

"Or not," Kei groaned. "Guess it's just… gonna pick us off from the center of its little oven, where we can't get to it."

"Wait…" The group turned to face Kerry at the sound of the bowgunner's quiet words. The woman was staring up at the aqueduct, a thoughtful look visible through her helmet. Then her hands flew to her pouch, and she began tossing items of all types out of her satchel, letting them fall to the ground as she searched for… something. Then she pulled out a… bone, and… a fish? Levin frowned in confusion. Why would she…?

The Rathian's roar caught his attention as the monster howled victoriously. As the hunters prepared themselves, the beast began striding towards them, almost casually, walking across the red-hot stones like it was nothing. Levin still felt sick to his stomach from the lingering effects of the poison, but he still pulled his switch axe from its sheathe, switching the weapon into a sword. Maybe the creature would get close enough for him to set off an energy explosion again… though he didn't think the phials he had held enough charge.

As the creature approached, Razor pulled his bow taut with an arrow. He didn't seem to have that many left. "Maybe I can hit it in the eye or something," he told the others. "If it can't aim, it might flail close enough for you melee hunters to hit it… just give me a try…"

"Everyone! Move to the sides of the valley!" Kerry suddenly called out. The other six hunters looked at her uncertainly as the woman began messing with her weapon, trying to work… something, but a gurgling sound gave warning to the hunters just in time for them to realize that the Rathian was preparing more waves of blue flame. Levin found himself swaying as Ellie grabbed ahold of his shoulder, pulling him towards the rock walls that lined the edges of the area. The two had to dive as a wave of flames ripped past them, nearly catching them alight and separating them from the other five. The beast roared in amusement, though, and began to chase after them, tailing them and trying to pin them to the walls, more of its searing blaze gushing up from its gullet.

But as the Rathian charged across the red-hot earth, Kerry quickly shoved a round into the chamber and snapped her bowgun up, aiming it up at the aqueduct that trailed across the northern side of the valley. Her bowgun bucked wildly as she pulled the trigger, and a massive shell flew through the air right towards one of the tall pillars holding the whole thing up. The shot's aim was true, and the round connected right at the peak of one of the column, above where the Rathian's fireball had struck. There was a second of wait as the fuse inside ran down, and then the round detonated, sending a wave of stone shrapnel clattering down the side of the wall and taking a chunk out of the pillar that cut almost all the way through it. Several more flaming orbs leapt out from the explosion, colliding with other parts of the column before blowing up as well, blasting even more chunks out of the stone. A loud, creaking groan echoed across the valley for a long moment, before the pillar finally gave way, collapsing in on itself and tumbling down to the ground.

The aqueduct itself somehow managed to remain standing for a moment or two longer, slowly beginning to sag in the middle where the pillar had been taken out. The stone waterway began to buck and sway back and forth as the rushing water contained inside shook the stone path, more and more until Levin wondered how it was still in one piece. Then a rupture tore across the side, and a blast of water burst out of the edges of the aqueduct, just a second before the entire line of stone between the pillars before and after the one Kerry had destroyed collapsed, sending a cascade of water careening down into the valley.

Levin quickly scrambled against the rock wall as the water rushed past him and Ellie, nearly knocking him off his feet even as he clung tight to the stone. He was shocked at how much water the aqueduct had held; he'd assumed water enough for a large stream, but this… this was almost worth calling a river of water! The other hunters were far enough away that they were able to avoid the onslaught of water, but still had to leap back as the cascade rushed past. Even the Rathian's flame wall cut off in surprise as the water rushed down the slope towards it.

"What are you doing?" Kei shouted at Kerry. "Trying to get it wet or something? If that kind of thing worked, every hunter would carry a bucket of water with them when hunting these things!"

"Maybe she thinks it'll be less aggressive after a bath or something," Kai said over the deluge. "Though I don't see how-"

But right as the hunter was talking, the rush of water finally reached the Rathian, sweeping over the red-hot rocks that the creature stood upon. The instant the cool water touched the steaming rocks, the earth seemed to erupt, blasts of steam exploding into the sky as the rocks themselves, rapidly cooled by the water, blast apart into pieces, sending shrapnel and other massive shards of rock blasting upwards from the earth. The Rathian howled in pain and shock as the water rushed underneath her, making the same thing happen right under her chest, sending shards of sharp stone shooting straight up into her underbelly and shattering dozens of the thick scales and plates that coated her body.

The Rathian staggered back in pain as stones ripped into its body and wings from below, white blasts of steam jetted up into the air around it. The creature waved its wings wildly, trying to back away from the shattering earth, desperately beating its wings and trying to get airborne and away. However, the rush of water was fast-moving, and with every pained step the creature took back, the deluge tailed right below it, gushing over the stones of the valley. And with it, almost the entire valley floor visibly glowing from the heat of the Rathian's blue flames, every inch of the ground that the water touched cracked and shattered, sending even more shrapnel up into the Rathian.

Levin gasped in relief as the initial onslaught of the water finally died away; the aqueduct was still churning out a large creek's worth of water from the high pillar where the collapse of the pillar hadn't reached. But he could move now, which was better than nothing. Pulling back from the wall, he shook himself off a bit, stumbling a bit from the nausea. Ellie appeared at his side, a worried look on her face, but he grinned encouragingly and turned back towards the field, grabbing the hilt of his blade.

The battlefield seemed a completely different place now. Where the place had once been a calm-looking rock flat with scattered grass patches spread around, the field now seemed like a crater of destruction. A blanket of thick white steam coated the earth, cutting off any visibility further than a dozen yards or so. The earth itself was torn and splintered, as though an earthquake had gone through and shattered everything in sight. Most of the water had washed away or burst into steam, but several craters that had been made when the water had washed over the area were filled with water, quite often set to boiling as well. Levin could hear Kerry and Harker calling out his and Ellie's names, but though he couldn't see the Rathian through the fog, a pained groaning could be heard clearly above the hissing steam, holding his attention. But Ellie tensed next to him. The switch axe user quickly followed her gaze, and quickly pulled his weapon out as the Rathian's massive shadow appeared from the haze, stumbling towards where the pair of them stood. Ellie held her shield out defensively, preparing for any fireballs the creature might shoot at them as the blurry shape slowly began to clear.

But the monster that appeared from the mist was not the same beast that had been forced to attack them. The Rathian, once massive and indomitable, now was broken and wounded nearly beyond recognition. Nearly all the scales and plates that had lined the creature's underbelly had been shattered completely or entirely removed from the wyvern's body, and the dark, strong flesh and muscle that lay underneath had been seared and charred, despite the monster's natural resistance to heat. The monster's wings had been shredded, with large, gaping holes leaving almost only the frames of the wings behind. Many of the horns and spines that had lined the creature's head were broken off as well, and several of the wyvern's teeth had been dislodged from the monster's jaw as well.

But the beast, somehow, still had a fire in its eyes (and its throat) as it eyed the hunters dangerously. Even with the weariness and pain in its eyes, it still gave off a dominant expression. It was certain that it was going to come out victorious in the battle against them, one way or another. And if it couldn't… well, it seemed damned sure that it was going to do as much damage to them as it could possibly manage. It still growled menacingly at them, clearly ready to keep fighting them, despite its injuries. Levin swung his weapon forward, quickly activating the weapon's sword mode. There wasn't much attack energy left in his phials, but there should be enough left for a few good swings… if the Rathian would let him get close enough to hit her with them. His vision was still swimming a little from the poison; the antidote horn's effects still hadn't flushed his system of all the Rathian's venom. But he could still fight; all he needed to do was…

Suddenly Ellie reached back, planting her palm on his chest and shoving gently. With his injuries, as well as the lingering effects of the poison, the switch axe user tumbled backwards almost too easily, landing on his backside on the wet ground with his weapon clattering down next to him.

"What… Ellie, what are you-?"

"I'm going to take care of this, okay?" She replied with a determined grin. A wild but nervous look was in her eyes as she unsheathed her weapon and aimed it at the wyvern. "I wanna finish this one off myself."

"Are you crazy? You can't just-"

"Sure I can. As for being crazy, I'm a Lost, remember? And it's weakened right now; I know I can do it! This is just… something I have to do for myself Levin. It may be stupid, but it's something I need to do. Besides, I'm the one with a shield here, and you're not exactly in the best condition to be doing much of anything right now. So just… leave finishing it off to me."

"I can't just let you… wait, Ellie!" Before Levin could stop her, the huntress bolted away, running straight towards where the Rathian stood waiting. "Damn it!"

The huntress charged headlong at the Rathian as the creature roared in reply. Levin could hear the worried shouts of the other hunters at the sound, and he called out to them, trying to get their attentions and to get them to hurry. But Ellie was already within battle range of the beast. The Rathian lunged forwards, twisting her head and snapping at the sword and shield user. The huntress reacted quickly, though, swinging her shield around and smacking the monster's head to the side. The tactic might not have worked earlier, but as Ellie had said, the beast was weakened and far easier to beat back.

Ellie lunged forward as the Rathian shook its head in confusion, striking her sword against the monster's skull, smashing against the broken scales and tearing into the beast's flesh. The wyvern howled in pain, stumbling backwards, but Ellie continued her attack, slashing wildly as the Rathian pulled away further into the fog. Levin forced himself to his feet to follow. Even with the threat of the battle, even though the poison was still hitting him hard, he had to keep his eyes on Ellie.

The Rathian swung its wings and struck as quickly as it could, clearly surprised at the sudden aggression of the sword and shield user, and trying to beat her back to recover. But Ellie was relentless, a determined and increasingly confident grin growing across her face as she continued to pelt the monster with numerous sword strikes across the face and neck. The Rathian even tried to fire a stream of flame at the huntress, but a strike from Ellie made the creature flinch again, and all that sputtered out of the wyvern's mouth was a trickle of flame barely enough to light a campfire.

Eventually, though, the Rathian ducked out of the way of one of Ellie's strikes, and with a quick step the beast leapt back several yards, immediately cocking its head back to fire a volley of flames and the huntress. Ellie pulled her shield up to block, but still charged at the creature's face, knowing her chances of dodging were slim. Levin yelled as the creature's head snapped forward and flames leapt from the monsters mouth. But shockingly, the burst of fire only leapt about two feet from the monster's maw, only barely grazing the edges of Ellie's shield as she plowed forward, smashing her shield into the wyvern's snout yet again. The Rathian howled in fury and frustration, snapping forward to snap at Ellie, trying to sink its teeth into her.

But Ellie had momentum going now, and her blade snapped up, cutting across the wyvern's face. The Rathian's head bobbed as the creature stumbled, its head sinking lower to the ground. The huntress leapt forward as the Rathian's head skimmed the earth, shocking Levin by spring-boarding off the monster's snout and leaping onto the top of its head, twisting around the front again, as though she was riding the beast. The Rathian roared in fury, twisting its head around and bucking around, trying to dislodge the huntress from on top of it. As it writhed and snapped, Ellie swung her shield down again, smashing it against the top of the wyvern's skull, stunning the Rathian for a moment. As the monster swayed and staggered, Ellie pulled her sword above her head, clutching the hilt with both hands, and when the Rathian swung up again, the huntress swung the weapon down, sinking it right into the gap between two shattered scales at the peak of the wyvern's forehead.

The Rathian howled in pain as the blade sank into its skull, and began flailing wildly. But the motions only made its situation worse as the blade wiggled and wedged its way further into the monster's skull. The screams of the creature became desperate, and its motions increasingly wild, and a moment later Ellie was flung from the monster's head, and sent tumbling across the ground. Levin hurried over to her as the Rathian continued to flail and sway, screaming in pain. Short jets of flame shot from its mouth as it swayed and twisted around, swinging its wings around trying to dislodge the sword that remained wedged into its skull. But the blade wouldn't come out, and the creature's motions rapidly became increasingly weak and awkward, until finally the wyvern's legs gave out from underneath it, and the monster dropped to the ground, its wings crumbling beneath it.

The two hunters watched in awe as the Rathian's life force slowly drained away. Even in its death throes the monster managed to turn its head to face the two Lost, glaring at them defiantly and trying one last time to send a blaze of blue flame at them. It managed to send a spear of fire at them, though it was only about seven feet long, getting nowhere near the pair of them at all. As the flames fizzled out, for the first time since the start of the battle, a defeated look covered the creature's face, and the monster's head dropped to the earth, and its eyes glazed over as it finally died.

The two hunters were silent for a moment, before Ellie pushed herself back up to her feet, and walked over to the fallen monster, with Levin close behind. The sword and shield user stared at the dead monster as it lay there, standing silent for a long moment, before reaching down and grasping the hilt of her blade, still wedged into the beast's skull. With a couple quick tugs, the huntress pulled the weapon free, holding the blade up and studying the blood that coated the thing before shaking it off.

"Holy crap…" Levin turned as the other five hunters appeared out of the steam, hurrying towards them. Kai was in the lead, and as he stopped in front of the two hunters he gazed in surprise at the sight of the dead monster.

"Are you all right, dear?" Kerry asked worriedly, hurrying over to Ellie.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Ellie replied, grinning at the bowgunner encouragingly. "I think Levin's in worse condition than I am right now. Still fighting off the effects of the poison, I think."

"I'll see to that," Harker said eagerly, hurrying over to Levin's side. "I'd keep motionless if I were you, my friend. I'll have you in peak condition momentarily. This shouldn't be too invasive…"

"I don't feel comfortable right now…" Levin muttered.

"Did you… you finished it off?" Kei asked, looking down at the remains of the wyvern, kicking the edge of the monster's head uncertainly.

"It was weakened," Levin replied, wincing as Harker wrapped a tight group of bandages around his waist. He frowned irritably at his beloved, earning a sheepish look. "Miss Ellie here saw fit to see to the end of the Rathian on her own, much to my great displeasure."

"I regret nothing!"

"Don't be foolish, dear," Kerry snapped, smacking the sword and shield user in the back of the head lightly. "You should've waited until the rest of us got here. I am very proud of you for finishing the thing off by yourself, but it was very risky of you to try and take on the thing by yourself, even if it was weak. You know what they say about creatures that are backed into corners…"

"Where were you guys anyway?" Levin asked. "I was calling out to you guys for a while."

Kerry sighed in frustration. "We tried to get over here faster, but… well, when the water hit the ground, it ruptured the earth pretty badly between us and you, and some of the remains of the aqueduct created a pretty nasty barricade as well, and it took some time to get around."

"Speaking of which," Razor cut in, "if I may ask, Kerrigan, how exactly did you manage to blow up the aqueduct as you did? It was quite a brilliant plan, if I do say so myself."

"Yeah, how did you do that?" Ellie asked excitedly. "I thought you'd said you didn't have any more incendiary rounds left after the . Did you find one buried in your pouch or something?"

"Ah, err, well, I didn't actually," Kerry replied sheepishly.

"What? But… you blew up the aqueduct," Kei said. "You must've had some ammo in your pouch somewhere."

"No, I didn't," the bowgunner said. "Really: I, um… I just… made the shot myself, actually."

"Really?" Harker asked, interest lighting up his face. "During the battle? I didn't see you playing around with such things beforehand… How did you do it? What did you use? And how did you think to use the water to break the stone below the Rathian to fight back?"

"I'm quite curious as well," Razor said. "To make ammunition during a fight… quite risky. I've heard of some hunters that take gunpowder and shells along to make extra explosives during battles, but it's pushing the borders of safety."

Kerry reddened a little at the attention and scratched her head in embarrassment. "Well, err… I thought that spreading water across the ground might… well, react like it did, because of something Harker told me once. I mean, I didn't think it would be quite so explosive, but… Harker told me once about what happened when something cold touched something really hot, thermo… thermo-something-or-other, and since the ground was really hot from the Rathian's flames, and the water was right there, so… I just gave it a try, and it worked, I guess."

"Ah, brilliant!" Harker replied excitedly. "Of course that would work! The natural heat of the crust here in the volcano area, mixed with the heat of the Rathian's flames… yes, of course the rock would become hot enough for such a plan to work! I should've thought of it myself! Wonderful thinking, Lady Kerrigan!"

"It… it wasn't that great," Kerry muttered, embarrassed, but clearly pleased with the praise. "I was just acting out something you taught me… if I hadn't learned all those things from you, I wouldn't have known what to do."

"Ah, you belittle yourself, my dear," Harker said. "You've always been a sharp hunter from what I've seen, I have no doubt you would've figured something out. But what about the Cluster round you fired off? While it's quite impressive that you made another explosive round on the fly during a fight, I don't recall you brining along any empty shells or gunpowder or anything else of the like… So how did you manage to create such a powerful shell?"

"Erm, well, it was actually a guess," Kerry replied sheepishly. "When we were fishing back at the stream, I managed to catch a couple Scatterfish while we were fishing for our lunch earlier. I, um, I remembered something that an older hunter told me once; he mentioned that he'd seen a Scatterfish nibbling on rocks and powders in the area around here, and when he'd accidently hit one with a rock it had gone up in flames. And also, I remembered how you said that some rocks and powders in the area could be mixed together to make explosives, like the Uragaans do. So, um, I kept the stomachs and guts of some of the ones I caught. I thought that I could… could look into it and tell you what I found."

"You… wanted to experiment on the Scatterfish?" Harker asked, stunned.

"A little bit," Kerry replied quietly. "You always seem so excited by the tests you run, so I thought about giving it a try myself. Then the Rathian attacked, and I started to run low on ammunition, so I thought that, since I had something that might explode, it was worth a try. I didn't have any empty shells though… but during the fight, I, um, managed to find a couple bones off that Aptonoth's corpse that I thought I might be able to use as shells, so I picked one up and shoved the Scatterfish guts inside. I was worried it wouldn't fire easily, but it actually came out of the barrel a lot more smoothly than I thought it would."

"You… just like that?" Harker said, his jaw dropping a little. Levin snickered at the long sword user's face; he'd never seen the man look so flabbergasted before. "All this time you've been hassling me about my dangerous experiments, and you, on the fly, put an untested, unmeasured, likely unstable round inside of your bowgun, simply hoping it turned out well?"

"Yes, well… erm, I know it probably wasn't one of the most intelligent things I've ever done…" the bowgunner replied sheepishly. Then her face lit up excitedly, and a broad, ecstatic grin covering her face. "But, my gosh! That feeling when it worked, when the plan I concocted actually came through! I've never felt so excited, so accomplished about something! And the feeling that something I made, something I created myself actually worked exactly as I wanted it to, if not better! It's no wonder you enjoy experimenting with monster goods so much! The satisfaction upon success was amazing!"

Harker grinned awkwardly at the words, though he was clearly pleased at what he was hearing. "Well, I'm glad you feel that way, Lady Kerrigan. Though, if you'd like…"

"Can I help you the next time you do an experiment on something?"

For the first time since Levin had met the man, Harker was actually left speechless. His jaw was moving on its hinges, but no sounds were leaving his mouth. "You… want to help me? With my experiments? Really?"

"Yes! Of course! It was so… _fascinating_, having something like that work as well as it did! I want… I want to try other things like it! You always seem to be so excited about what you work on, and maybe… maybe I'd like it just as much! So… maybe you could let me help you? And you could try and teach me more about all that science-y stuff you talk about. I mean, it might take me a while to figure things out, but I really want to learn more and try these things that you do! So… err, would that work? Could you teach me things so that I could help you with your work?"

Harker stood silent for a moment, eyes wide and mouth gaping in shock. Then the next moment he rushed towards Kerry, grabbing the bowgunner by the shoulders and making the woman yelp in surprise, and before she could do anything else, Harker pulled her towards him and kissed her passionately. For a moment, Kerry had a stunned expression on her face. Then it melted away as the woman closed her eyes and began to return the favor, wrapping her arms around the taller man's head and pulling him closer.

It was almost a minute before Kai coughed notably. Kerry squeaked in mortification and the sound, quickly pulling away from the long sword user, her face reddening deeply. Harker had a whimsical grim plastered across his face as the woman pulled away, but even with so many people looking on, he didn't seem to be embarrassed or remorseful at all. Levin noticed that Ellie had an excited grin plastered across her own face, clearly happy with how things had developed.

"Hmm. Perhaps that was a bit abrupt of me," Harker said simply, though he was still grinning slyly. "But anyway, you asked if I would be willing to teach you what I know, so that we could work together, yes? If that's what you'd like, then I'd be perfectly delighted to do so, Lady Kerrigan. It would be pleasure to have you as a partner both in the field and in the lab. Though, as you already know, my experiments do have a tendency to… react violently. If such danger is acceptable to you, then I'm perfectly content with having you as a partner, my dear."

"That's… that's good to hear," Kerry replied, still beet red, but grinning a little now as well. "I, um, I look forward to working with you, and learning as much as I can."

Razor giggled wickedly at the words, grinning at the two hunters. "And with all that time alone together in whatever you two use as a laboratory, there'll be plenty of time for the both of you to pursue more… interesting and _intimate_ activities, I have no doubt." The archer laughed loudly at the bowgunner began to fidget in embarrassment at the words.

"Well, now that our work here is done," Kei said, interrupting, "we should probably return to Frost Town with our report. I've never… I've never seen a Rathian that could breathe blue flames, so the Guild will probably still show an interest in what we've found, even if it's not a group of Lost we found."

"It's probably for the better that we didn't find any Lost," Kai said. "No offense, but with the fuss people are raising over the Lost back in Loc Lac, it's probably a good thing we didn't find any more of them here. If what you guys told us is any indication, we'd just have to have the one we found set down in Frost Town. It's a nice enough place, but it's a commercial town. I'm not sure how well they'd take with who knows how many Lost popping up needing housing and food."

"You're right," Levin nodded. "It probably is for the best. The way people treat the Lost in Loc Lac… I'd hate have them being treated just as poorly here too."

"No kidding," Kai replied. "Well, let's hurry up and get back. Grab that… old thing you found, Ellie. It's a long haul back to Frost Town from here. Hopefully you don't get tired dragging that thing back with you."

"What about the Rathian?" Ellie asked, looking over at the corpse of the dead wyvern with a greedy expression on her face. Levin didn't blame her; she'd finally had the opportunity to take down one of the monsters that had haunted her dreams. It wasn't a Rathalos, but still… "We didn't exactly come out here to take it down, so…"

"Take what you want," the female long sword user replied. "The Guild will be surprised enough that there was a Rathian in the area in the first place, so I don't think the environmentalists that keep track of the Volcano will really mind us killing it. The old girl took a beating, so I'm not sure how many materials we'll be able to get. But you should be able to get enough for… something. Maybe an armor set or something; that monster is big enough to get quite a few nice things. Go to town, you guys."

Needing no more motivation, Ellie turned and bolted towards the downed body of the Rathian, her hunter's knife already leaping from its sheathe in preparation of carving into the monster. Levin followed close behind, really wanting a piece of the rewards just as much as Ellie did. He caught up to her, and knelt down next to her right as the huntress was peeling away a surprisingly well-preserved green plate from the wyvern's hide.

"So how's it feel?" he asked, pulling his own knife out to begin peeling off scales and plates of his own. The other hunters were working over the creature as well, trying to find good materials that they could take off the beast. "Finally taking out one of the Raths?"

His partner grinned widely. "It feels good. I feel… I feel like I could do anything right now! I've always disliked Raths. They've always… haunted me. And the fact that I managed to take one down is… exhilarating! I mean, it'd feel even better if I managed to take it down all by myself, but I'm not about to let my reach exceed my grasp or anything."

"Don't want to bite off more than you can chew?"

"Exactly," Ellie replied, cutting off the needle-like spikes lining the beast's wings. "I realize that I wouldn't have been able to do this on my own or anything. Maybe one day, though… But at the same time, it's all leaving me wanting… more. It's really not enough for me."

"What do you mean?"

"Well… though I've never cared much for either of the Raths, the Rathian isn't really the monster that gives me nightmares. When I have bad dreams… it's not the green one I see. I don't think taking this particular wyvern down is going to make the dreams I have stop. No… no, I don't think I'll really be content until I manage to take down a Rathalos. Think you'll be willing to stick around long enough to help me out when the opportunity arises?"

"I think so," Levin grinned. "There are a few certain things I find enjoyable about your company, Miss Ellie. Besides… I have my own monster to look for and hunt down, my dear. Though, I wouldn't blame you for keeping out of my affairs when it comes to that. It's not exactly the easiest thing to go after, and I don't think I'll be getting any help from the locals. If they figure out that I'm seriously planning to go after the thing…"

"They won't," Ellie said quickly, shushing him. She sent a worried expression over to the siblings and Razor. Kerry and Harker they trusted, but… locals had a tendency to be jumpy about the Alatreon. Even Kerry seemed a bit edgy about the subject when they brought it up, but her loyalty to Harker and them was enough to keep her on their side. "We'll find some way to go after the beast, without the Guild or Loc Lac stopping us, and we'll – both of us, and Harker and Kerry if they'll help – take down the Alatreon. Somehow. You're helping me with the monster that haunts me, and I intend to return the favor."

"Thanks, Ellie," Levin said, smiling.

"Of course. Now, keep carving! You're not going to have the materials to make anything nice if you let the others take everything good!"

"Ah! Right you are, Miss Ellie!" Levin laughed, before returning to his carving enthusiastically. They'd have problems to deal with in the future. Even if this mission didn't result in more Lost being displaced somewhere unknown, Stergo might call on them again if the need arose, and they'd need to be ready to rise to the challenge. But that was the future. For now, they'd managed to succeed in surviving against and defeating a powerful monster, and deserved a moment to celebrate their victory and reap their rewards.

* * *

"This is to be discreet. I don't want people associating this with any person or party. I just want general discontent, is that clear?"

"Of course, sir. We know what we're doing."

Zhanin eyed the man in front of him shrewdly. He had the appearance of a normal, happy man, middle-class by his clothes. But he was supposed to be one of the best political agitators in the city: 'Supposed to be' being the key phrase. Zhanin didn't know his name; didn't want to know it either. It was better that way. "I certainly hope so, considering how much I'm paying you. Remember-"

"Go around to bars and inns and shops and everywhere there's people, making a drunken fuss about the Lost," the man interrupted, rolling his eyes. "We lost our jobs because of them, they stole our family heirlooms, one tried to stab me for no reason, anything we can think up. And no mentioning what should or shouldn't be done, or which politicians are in the right or wrong. You just want us to rile people up. Trust me, I know how to play this game. I've done it before."

"I just wish I could see how well," Zhanin growled. "Is your work really working? Things don't seem to be going my way from what I've seen…"

"Oh, it's going just fine," the man grinned. "Nothing but complaints to be heard about the Lost in the North District anyway. But if you could see the other districts… there's definitely some rumbling discontent just waiting to make its way to the surface everywhere else in the city. Just give it time, and trust that I know what I'm doing. A few more months, maybe less than that, and things will boil over, I'm sure."

"You'd better be right," Zhanin said with a glare.

"I am," the man replied with a grin. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'll go get my boys busy. There's a lot of town to cover, you know."

Zhanin sat back in his chair with a frown on his face as the man walked out the door with a smile, grinning and stopping to chat with his receptionist. What an irritating fellow. Zhanin hoped he was as good at his work as he advertised. He better be, for his own sake.

The councilman turned, gazing out the broad window behind him down into the city. He always did enjoy this view. It made him feel so very high in the sky. A couple of birds fluttered by the window, darting this way and that, and for a moment, Zhanin felt a twinge of jealousy. He wished his life were so simple as theirs, their cares only extending as far as the next good breeze… but no. He had far too much work to accomplish, far too many things that needed checked on or seeing to. And all of it making sure that the Lost were removed from the city, or worse.

He turned back to his paperwork, but had trouble focusing on the work as he shifted through the notes and documents. It was a cool day in Loc Lac today, which meant it was only warm outside. His office was very comfortable right now, though, and his seat was just as relaxing. He had to keep working, he had so much to do… yet he felt his eyes drooping, even as he picked up another document to study.

It was too strenuous leaning over the work like this, he decided, and leaned back in his chair a little. The words on the paper were too blurry, he realized. He quickly set the paper down, reaching up to rub his eyes, but decided against it; his eyes had been very tired recently, better to not agitate them. Maybe blinking a few times would clear his vision a little…

_A knock at the door and Zhanin opened his eyes. Had he dozed off? No matter; the councilman quickly got to his feet and straightened his suit, making sure he looked his best. The men who came and demanded his attention always took such great measures to look as prim and proper as they possibly could, but then, it seemed that everyone that lived in the northern district did everything they could to look better than everyone else. Zhanin sighed. Why didn't he become the representative of the western district like he'd wanted to? _

"_Come in, the door's open," he called out. The door swung open quickly, and the councilman blinked in surprise; his supporters were usually very cool and collected with their actions. Rather than one of the men that normally came in, pushing their agendas on him, it was a grinning young man that came through the door. _

"_Prettying yourself up for me, father? Has this district rubbed off of you so much? Are you going to speak to me in flowery language as well? I wonder how the others back home would've reacted to seeing you this way, especially considering the penchant for foul language you used to have." _

_Zhanin smiled at the boy, his son Salem before hurrying over to the young man and embracing him. The boy resembled his mother more than anything. Short stature, soft blonde hair and kind brown eyes. Nothing like him, but Zhanin would never complain. "It's good to see you, son. How's life going for you?" _

"_Oh, well enough, well enough," Salem replied. As the two parted, the son turned to look at the window, before quickly striding over to the view. "Sweet mercy, father, this is quite the view. I can't believe you actually got an office this nice. A place like this, you must've had to beat back the other interested parties with a stick."_

"_It was what I really wanted," Zhanin replied, joining his son by the window. "I've always enjoyed heights. It just makes me feel so… free, like I have no duties or responsibilities to deal with, but… well, of course it's a pipe dream, but I plan to enjoy it while I'm here." _

"_You were never meant for politics, father," the young man said, shaking his head. "For the life of me, I swore that you'd end up retiring from your work as a merchant and take up a life as the captain of an airship. Do you know how easy it is for me to imagine you just becoming the pilot of a transport or personnel carrier, and spending the remainder of your golden years just flying around the sky, offering cheap flights to anyone just for the excuse to travel places you've never been before."_

"_You have no right to complain to me about this whole thing, my boy. After all it was your idea for me to get into this line of work. You know how much I dislike politics. And to act as councilman for the northern district of Loc Lac, no less… gah, the men and women who live in this district make such outrageous demands. You'd think I was here simply to make sure that absolutely everything went their way, and damned be the rest of the city."_

"_They're all wealthy merchants or nobles, and nine out of ten of them were born with silver spoons shoved up their backsides," Salem laughed. "Did you expect anything less? I imagine they expected you to cater to their whims, especially considering you're a fairly well-to-do merchant yourself back home. And the whole time, you're actually here to enact your evil, diabolical schemes."_

"Your _diabolical schemes," Zhanin reminded him. "It was your mad idea for me to do this in the first place." _

"_I didn't expect you to actually do it! I suggested – just once, mind you – that if someone with good intentions had the influence to become the representative of one of Loc Lac's wealthier districts, they could use their power to siphon money from the wealthy classes to help the poorer districts. I didn't think anyone, much less my own father, would be crazy enough to actually make an effort to do such a thing. Just think: you could very well be lauded as a hero to the people in a few short years if you keep up what you're doing." _

_Zhanin laughed at the words. "Oh, please. Even if the proposals I make were to go through, which will take some time in the first place, considering the friction they'd receive, no one would consider lauding me as a hero. Politicians aren't considered to be saviors of anything like that. No, I'll be in a footnote somewhere in the council library. You'll be a greater hero than me, my boy. After all, there is no man in the city that doesn't praise a doctor, especially one as charitable as you." _

"_I wouldn't call it charitable," Salem replied sheepishly. "I'm just doing my job."_

"_Working in the South District, charging your patients half what other doctors request for their services, if anything at all, while promoting the growth of the district and requesting support for the downtrodden there from the middle class?" Zhanin asked with a grin. "Sounds rather charitable to me. The people there love you, I heard. Your mother… your mother would've been proud if she could see you now." _

"_Thanks, father. I'm just trying to help people," the young man shrugged. He turned back to the window then, and a rather concerned expression crossed his face. "By the way, father… have you heard anything about recent events in the South District?"_

"_Some things," Zhanin replied. "Not much from that area of town makes its way this far north in the city. A few odd rumors and reports on crime rates, but other than that, very little. Why?" _

"_Have you heard about the collection of wanderers they found out in the desert?"_

"_The, ah, oddly-dressed people that showed up begging for aid and protection? I haven't heard much… rumor has it they're madmen that spent too much time out in the sun. Some of the tales I've heard has them out to be cultists of some sort, though I'm not sure how that conclusion came up. Old Marco volunteered to take them in and provide them housing and food, I'd heard." _

"_Yes, exactly. They've taken up residence in the South District, not that far from my clinic. Marco actually hired me to take care of them and see to their health. I've been spending quite some time with them. What I've seen is… well, distressing to say the least."_

"_What; are the rumors true?" Zhanin asked, shocked. "Cultists? Madmen?" _

"_No, not at all!" Salem replied, shaking his head. "Well, not exactly. They are… less than stable, mentally, from what I've seen. But I don't think it's their fault! It seems to me that their… madness, I suppose it could be said, is a result of stress, or traumatic incidents of some kind. Whatever happened to them, I think it damaged them badly. I'm trying to help them, but… well, it's hard to get a solid answer out of them, and they all seem to be babbling nonsense and jumping at anything and everything they see. They're even afraid of the Felynes that bring them food if you can believe it!"_

"_Really?" _

"_Yes, it's so strange. Whatever happened to them must've been… terrible. But… I've made it my goal to help them, one way or another. Figure out what exactly happened to them. Maybe I can help them, somehow." _

_Zhanin grinned. "Not charitable, huh?" _

_Salem smiled and laughed. "Well, maybe a little bit. Anyway, try to catch a break one of these days and stop by my clinic. I don't think anyone believes me when I tell them you're my father." _

"_You take after your mother too much," Zhanin laughed. "Besides, the son of a fairly well-made man, working for nothing as a doctor in the poorest area of town? I hardly believe it myself." _

"_Well, people will figure it out eventually," Salem said. "So I heard there's a pretty good restaurant opening up down the-" _

_-BLIP-_

_Zhanin blinked and rubbed his eyes. He'd been awake too long these days. There had been a sudden resurgence of those wanderers that had shown up in the desert a few weeks ago. More had popped up in the rainforests to the south of Loc Lac, a much greater number of them than the first wave, and the council had been jumping through hoops to try and provide for them. Several requests for 'suggested aid' from those living in the North District had raised a real fuss, and many of the more influential men in the district had shown up at Zhanin's office, demanding he do something about them. _

_So Zhanin's life had been a bit hectic the last couple days to say the least. He had been planning to take a weekend off one of these days, but… well, that plan had been thrown out the window. He hoped Salem was doing well, though. He'd said that he was the one looking after the wanderers and trying to help them, but… there had been several hundred new ones showing up to take up residence in the South District. Would he have to look after them all? He wondered how well the people down there were holding up with all the new people showing up at their doorstep. More rumors had filtered in about the wanderers, mostly about their apparent insanity and fears. They'd taken on some sort of nickname recently… the Lost, or something like that. Well, whatever they were, they were leaving Zhanin with no small amount of paperwork to deal with. _

_Zhanin glanced up at the sound of voices outside his office door. He shot a quick glance out the window; the sun was just below the horizon. It was very late in the day, and he should've gone home a long time ago. He sighed irritably. This councilmember nonsense was a bigger pain in the backside than he'd thought it would be… but who would be coming to see him this late at night? Most likely another wealthy noble or merchant, coming to puff out his chest and demand that the taxes to help the wanderers be removed, or at least reduced. At least Zhanin had gotten practice at respectfully telling people 'No'._

_But the knock on the door was… hesitant if anything, definitely not the dignified rapping of one of higher class. Zhanin shouted out, allowing his visitor entry, and cocked his head in surprise when a man dressed in casual cottons, hardly what he'd expect to see in this side of town. A messenger, perhaps? Not one belonging to one of the nobles or merchants, that was clear; they dressed their couriers almost as nicely as they dressed themselves. _

"_Mr. Zhanin?" the man said quietly, removing his hat. The councilman noticed that the man was fidgeting quite a bit, and his hands were gripping his hat quite tightly between them. _

"_Yes, that's me," Zhanin replied, getting to his feet._

"_I have… ah… um, well. I have a question, sir," the man muttered. _

"_What's that?" Zhanin didn't like how this man was acting._

"_I'm from the South District, sir," the man said. "Um, got injured a while back, broke my leg during work. Got treated by a good doctor, though. Fixed me right up, and hardly cost me a thing. Doctor… Doctor Salem. When I asked, he told me you were his father. It seemed a bit odd to me, but… well, is he your boy?" _

"_Yes, he is," Zhanin replied. "Why? What's wrong? Is he hurt?" _

_The man grimaced, and his clutch on his hat grew tighter. Zhanin felt a cold feeling crawl through his chest. "He, ah, he was the head doctor in charge of the… well, folks have been calling them the Lost recently. He was, um, looking after a few of the scared ones, the folk that weren't all that right in the head, you know? Some of them weren't, well, completely in control. Prone to, ah, outbursts of sorts, fearful things, you see, and-"_

"_Tell me what happened!" Zhanin snapped, making the man jump. The man was silent for a moment, before speaking quietly. _

"_One of the men that your son was treating, he… he had a breakdown, or something. Thought… thought there were monsters, or something, trying to kill him. He… he grabbed one of the medical tools your son had with him, some sharp thing, and… and…" Silence filled the room, cutting like a knife. "I'm… I'm sorry for your loss, Mr. Zhanin. He… he was a good man, and, um…"_

"_Get out."_

_The man looked up at the words, confusion on his face. "Sir?" _

"_Get out!" Zhanin bellowed. He grabbed the first thing he could see, an old glass jar filled with writing utensils and threw it at the man. It missed, smashing harmlessly against the wall, but the man still jumped and paled. "Get out!" _

"_Yes sir! Right away!" In a flash the man was at the door, ducking as the councilman hurled an iron paperweight at him, leaving a large dent in the door as the man slammed the door behind him. _

_At the sound of the door shutting, Zhanin collapsed, sobbing. "No. No no no no no…" _

_He'd been injured before in his life. Life as a merchant had been rife with dangers. Broken legs, broken arms. Once he'd even had a rather foul run in a Barroth when he was traveling through the desert, that had kept him hospitalized for the better part of a year. But this pain, this biting, gnawing pain… it was as though he was being consumed from the inside out. He had thought he could never suffer greater pain, not after his wife had died, but this… he had never wished before to die, but now, he wanted nothing more than for his life to end, for this wrenching, horrible pain to cease!_

_His son! Why? Why Salem? Why not him? Why?_

_He didn't know how long he lay there, crumpled next to his desk. The sun might've risen and fell again for all he noticed. The only thing he noticed was how, over time, the aching, devouring pain began to change. It cooled, but still burned. It was soft like a wound, but iron-hard. The misery remained, but was eaten away, devoured up by a hungry, desperate emotion. _

_Rage! Seething and hot! And a ravenous desire for vengeance, gnawing at his soul!_

_The Lost! They were to blame! They'd taken everything, all that mattered to him, away from him, and crushed it! They would suffer! He would make sure of it, even if it took him until his last dying breath! He would make them all know the same misery that he'd felt for all this time! He would-_

With a start, Zhanin woke up, sitting straight in his chair.

Dreaming. He'd been dreaming again, of that same fateful day. It was all he ever dreamed about. He reached up, touching his face, realizing that tears had been falling, and damp stains dotted the papers across his desk. He sighed, leaning back in his chair. He'd have to replace them with fresh ones. How irritating.

He closed his eyes again, though, feeling his way into his heart and feelings. It was still there, that burning hatred and hungry lust for revenge, just as bright and hot as it had been that first day, and hard as steel. He would show no softness, no compassion. He would not bend or break. He had work to do, and he would see it through, to his dying day. One way or another.

The Lost would pay for what they'd done, for what they'd taken away from him. He would make sure of it.

* * *

**Author's Note: Please Review! I… may have ganked Ellie's finishing move there from Skyrim… maybe. The MH series could really use some. Also, a chapter ending on a downer. Can't remember if I've done that before. And man, oh man, did this chapter take some time to get written! The action-y parts flew by, but the bits in between just kind of plodded along. But I now have two psycho mad scientists! Excellent! My story also keeps getting compared by readers to certain aspects of the Roman Empire. Not sure how I feel about this, but I'm kind of enjoying it, especially after hearing the entire "History of Rome Podcast" a few months ago.**

**I'm getting a little psyched ever since Nintendo announced the Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate game for the Wii U, that's backwards compatible with the 3DS. Anyone who's read these ANs before know that I've never been a big fan of modern handhelds, but the idea of being able to play a game on the Wii U against someone on a 3DS is pretty awesome. Here's hoping it's just as fun as Tri.**

**After posting chapter 7 on DA, I remembered the website "I Write Like," which was mentioned in the AN of that chapter. I felt that my writing style had changed since then, after 24 more chapters, so I gave it another run with chapter 31 as a base… and got Tolstoy again. I'm going to have to read one of his books and see what all the fuss is about one of these days. **_**War and Peace**_** is a quick read, right? Right?**

**I'm perpetually surprised by how much my story has changed over the time I've spent writing it. Though I've said before that the story have a clear outline, it's actually very vague and allows quite a bit of maneuvering. The story was supposed to be quite a bit more like other MH stories, with the main point of chapters being similar to the others: monster is here, go kill it, odd things happen that further the story. But as it went on, the focus became more and more about the Lost trying to get along, with the monster hunts making it more difficult to do so. I can't say I'm displeased about the changes, either.**

**Reading: **_**Crossroads of Twilight**_** by Robert Jordan  
Playing: BF3, Dragon Age: Origins, Minecraft: Tekkit, Final Fantasy VII (BEST. GAME. EVER.), Black Mesa, Final Fantasy XII  
Listening: CAKE, Fun, Avenged Sevenfold, Hat Chat Podcast, The Sporkful Podcast, Barenaked Ladies, The Darkness, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Mumford and Sons**


	33. Out of the Ice and Into the Fire

Out of the Ice and Into the Fire

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. Most of the characters in this story are mine. Alvis Miller belongs to Charlie019._

_Edited by Hoenn Master96_

"Now remember, ya gotta be careful when usin' this armor, boy. It's good 'n' tough, y'all be able take a good beatin' without havin' ta worry 'bout healin' so often, an' that's good and dandy. But the helmet… well, it'll dull the sound o' roars, but you won't near be able ta hear the sound of any teammates ya got. So keep yer ears open, got it?"

"Yeah, I've got it," Levin replied with a grin. "You've told me a dozen times now. I think if I hadn't caught on by now, I probably deserve whatever beating I receive, don't you think?"

The Wyvernian behind the counter nodded in acceptance, pushing a large box towards him. Levin smiled as he picked up the box, glancing inside excitedly at the brightly-polished green-scale armor. Finally! An armor set worth having! As much as he'd liked his Ludroth and Baggi armors, neither of them had been very good sets to wear, especially considering some of the nastier beasts that he and Ellie had been seeing recently. He had to admit, he'd been getting pretty jealous of Ellie and her bright blue Lagiacrus armor, and how much damage the thick blue plates could deflect. But now he actually had a set of armor that could take a decent beating; a full set of Rathian armor. It had taken nearly every scale and plate and talon and spike that Levin could get his hands on to get all the materials he needed to put it all together…

The thought made him think back to the aftermath of the Rathian battle, as the hunter began to work his way back from the bazaar to the Oasis. After the creature had fallen, the group of seven had wearily made their way back north to Frost Town, trying to skirt away from any of the large monster paths but at the same time trying to take the fastest routes they could; a tricky mix, from what the four more experienced hunters told the three Lost. All of the hunters were beaten and tired (some more than others), and none of them really wanted to go toe-to-toe with anything bigger than a young Aptonoth at the moment. The nauseating effects off the Rathian's poison was still hitting Levin pretty badly, All their weapons were notched and worn, needing maintenance, and Kerry and Razor were both low on ammunition.

Razor himself had abruptly vanished into thin air right as Frost Town had come into sight, oddly enough. As they crested the last hill before getting back into town, the man suddenly simply said, "Well, here's where I take off. It was a pleasure to hunt with you all." The second that the hunters turned to ask him about it though, he was gone, as though he'd never been there at all. The hunters looked around for him, but no sign of where he'd gone or why he'd left. They'd been worried for a little while, but he hadn't seemed to have left for dangerous reasons, so the six of them merely let it go, hoping the man knew what he was doing taking off so early.

A few nervous-looking Guild men had been waiting for them as they arrived at the gates to the town, apparently having been told of their approach by the town guard. The six hunters were hardly through the gate before the Guild workers began barraging them with questions, demanding to know why were they hurt, had they found the source of the lights, and did they need to start preparing for a wave of Lost piling into town? Kai waved them off, telling them that they hadn't found any Lost, but they'd found the source of the lights, and if they wanted more information, they could wait until the hunters were back at the inn and sitting down before questioning them. They were all tired, and they could all use some time to heal from their wounds. But although they told the men to wait for them to return to the inn, the Guild men followed the hunters to the medical building that had been built in the center of town, pestering them for information the whole way. Eventually, as they were entering the hospital, Kai finally gestured the men over to Harker, who seemed perfectly eager to detail the whole mission, even while the doctors and nurses tried to get him to hold still long enough to apply bandages.

Levin seemed to have taken the worst beating out of the lot of them; having had one of the Rathian's spines hit him in the side. Miraculously, it hadn't hit any organs, though Levin had suspected as much considering he was able to walk back to Frost Town from the battleground. Admittedly, Kei, Ellie, and Harker seemed pretty bad off as well while the medics were looking them over. The Rathian's hits had been particularly brutal, according to the doctors, with all of them sporting broken ribs from the monster's strikes on them. The monster's strength wasn't the only oddity that caught people's attention. Harker's mention of the Rathian's bright blue flames had stunned the Guild men so much that they'd immediately sent for a local monster specialist to write down the information and share it with the local Rath expert once he'd returned from abroad. Not to mention the poison that had tipped the creature's tail spines was apparently a bit more potent than the doctors had recalled seeing before from Rath injuries. It took a couple bottles of the more concentrated antidotes the doctors had available before Levin really began to feel much better.

There had been a lot of fuss raised over the condition of the hunters, and the information they'd given about the blue-fire Rathian was shocking as well, the members of the Guild seemed to relax noticeably after being informed that there wouldn't be a large group of Lost appearing at their doorstep requesting housing and aid. A new, more dangerous type of Rathian was certainly noteworthy and worth investigating, but there were plenty of hunters out there that could take down monsters. You could find hunters that would be willing to charge headfirst at a new, unknown threat, but worrying about finding food and shelter for dozens of new people was a little trickier in their opinion.

It seemed that none of the hunters were in dire enough condition for the medical staff to recommend that any of them stay in the hospital overnight. Though, based on what Kerry and the siblings had told the three Lost as they were leaving the hospital, it was likely because the hunters that ended up coming here in the first place were more often than not liable to just get up and walk out rather than staying until they were healed, and the doctors and nurses had long since become jaded to the restlessness hunters tended to display. Levin had been expecting to be forced to stay the night, but then he'd spent a long time in Boma Village getting used to Orson's particular method of… medical encouragement.

When the hunters had arrived back at the inn, they found the place far more occupied than they had left it, with dozens of hunters lounging around, laughing and arguing with one another. Apparently, the two Uragaan related hunts that had gathered so much attention recently had come to a close, with the twin Uragaan mission ending in the monsters' deaths, and the mini-Uragaan's capture. A heavily armored lancer was standing on top of the bar, holding up an Uragaan tail over which couldn't have been much larger than Levin's arm over his head, while others laughed at the sight. A small cluster of hunters off in another corner were showing off their spoils of battle, from taking down one of the two Uragaan that had been duking it out with the other.

It hadn't surprised Levin that the story of their battle with the Rathian had already made its way back to the inn already; with the way gossip and stories traveled with these people, the switch axe user wouldn't have been surprised if people had heard tell of their fight with the wyvern before the hunters had even gotten back to Frost Town. Levin was still feeling the bitter bite of the Rathian's poison, though, and did not feel up to trying to tell the story to any hunter that was interested in hearing it. He still remembered how bad he'd felt when he'd tried to stay awake and active after getting poisoned by the Gigginox back during the Hunter's Exam, and had no desire to try and do so again. So, making his best attempt to not be noticed at all, Levin had slid through the gaps between the tables, making his way back to his rooms. He had heard the sound of Kai and Kei and Harker raising their voices as a couple of the other hunters in the room asked about the story with the Rathian.

Levin had almost passed out immediately when he'd arrived back in his room, only taking the time to take off his armor before flopping into his bed and promptly going to sleep. His sleep ended up being mostly dreamless, though right there near the end, it seemed as though there was a feeling of incomprehensible rage echoing through his mind. Oddly enough, the sound was soothing to Levin. He could tell, somehow, that the sound was some offshoot of the Alatreon's anger that its attempt at killing Ellie had failed once again. Levin had managed to ward the creature's plans once again… or rather, Kerry had, whether she had been intending to do so or not.

Levin had wondered for a while if and when they should be willing to let Harker and Kerry in on his problems soon… Harker likely would be up for the fight, so long as he got to study the body of the Alatreon after, but Kerry had a superstitious streak as strong as any of the other locals in the hunter's world, and Levin wasn't sure how she'd react to the idea of them trying to take on and kill the Alatreon. The locals of this world tended to get really jumpy at mention of the beast, and Levin doubted that Kerry was that much different.

The hunters had left the next day after saying their goodbyes to Kai and Kei, and after Ellie took a moment to hurry over to Monique's shop and drop off her bowgun to be fixed up. The sibling hunters were apparently planning on paying a visit to some family members of theirs after the hunt, off on another direction away from Loc Lac, and were planning to send their report to Stergo with the four heading back to Loc Lac. The hunters wished each other the best of luck as they left, and the siblings told them to look them up if they were ever in need of hunting partners again.

The trip back to the city itself turned out to be surprisingly quiet compared to most of Levin's previous trips out of the hunter city, though Levin and Ellie both knew why that was. Ever since the end of the hunt, both Harker and Kerry had been acting all awkward and sky around one another, Kerry especially. Harker seemed quite amused by the whole development, though he was surprisingly closed-mouthed about it. With Harker… otherwise occupied at the moment, the journey proved to be far more calm and relaxed than Levin recalled having a trip like in a good long time. Though, admittedly, it didn't last all that long. A few miles out from them docking at the Loc Lac, a loud bang made the ship shiver from one end to the other, knocking out a dozen portholes and sending shards of glass sinking into the sandsea. It only took a few seconds for Levin and Ellie to realize where the explosion had come from, and upon bursting into Harker's room, they found the pair of hunters giggling madly over the smoldering remains of… some sort of experiment that the both of them had been conducting. Kerry had apologized profusely to the ship's captain, promising to pay for the repairs, but spent the rest of the remainder of the trip jabbering excitedly with Harker over whatever the hell it was that the two of them had been doing in that room before the bang had gone off.

Once they'd arrived back in Loc Lac, they'd been told to report straight to Stergo, who would be waiting for them in one of the buildings that lay scattered at the base of the Loc Lac tower. Despite the weariness that the hunters still felt from their hunt (Levin still felt waves of dizziness every now and then, and Ellie and Harker would likely have to deal with broken ribs for a while yet), they needed to get all the information they could to the man as soon as they could. Upon arriving, they'd found the Wyvernian in a surprisingly roomy office up in the upper floors of one of the Guild's many buildings.

Of course, it had come as a massive shock when the receptionist outside Stergo's office gestured them in to see the Guild Master. The old creature had laughed quite loudly at the looks on the hunters faces when they'd walked in, stunned that they'd been hired by the Guild Master himself without even knowing who he was. However, the Wyvernian's amusement was quickly cut short as the man's face hardened worriedly, and the man moved abruptly on to grilling the hunters about their trip to the Volcano.

Stergo listened intently as the hunters told their story, going through their arrival in Frost Town, their meet up with the hunter siblings, their first day out into the hunting grounds and their meet up with Razor, then their chase of the blue lights through the valleys and their eventually meet up with the Rathian. The Wyvernian had frowned in thought at their description of the blue-fire-breathing Rathian, but kept silent as they continued their tale of the hunt. Of course, Levin and Ellie had kept silent about the voice and influence of the Alatreon on the fight, but the story of the battle was already strange enough without adding anything to it. After twenty or so minutes of describing the battle with the Rathian, Stergo began asking them questions about anything and everything he could think of, it seemed. The questioning lasted a good hour on its own, with the Wyvernian asking odd and varied questions that the hunters couldn't always seem to answer.

Eventually, though, the Guild Master leaned back in his chair, content with what he'd heard. He'd congratulated the hunters on their work and their survival against the Rathian. He'd told them that they'd done well for a group of hunters that had been sent to a higher-rank area, and fought against a rather nasty beast. He'd thanked them for their work, and told them that if he ever needed them again, he'd look them up. And he'd told them that they'd be paid for their services, though with all the help the Guild was giving to the South District, it wouldn't be as much as usual for a job like this. The hunters had accepted that easily enough, and made their way out of the room, with Stergo leading them out. However, right before the Wyvernian closed the door on them, he grinned, and had promptly told them that since they'd done so well, he'd seen fit to raise the three Lost's hunter's ranks to four star, right before slamming the door in their faces with a laugh. The receptionist had grinned profusely as Levin and Ellie gaped at each other in shock, while Harker giggled excitedly and Kerry congratulated the three of them.

Since then, after recovering from their wounds, the hunters had been taking on other hunts, finally getting back into a normal hunting routine for what was the first time in a long time, which was good, because Levin had been getting pretty close to broke recently, especially after putting in the Rathian materials he'd gotten to a smith so that he could make himself some armor. Ellie had been pinching pennies as well, too, considering the costs of keeping her Lagi armor in good condition. She'd also begun stockpiling bowgun ammunition again, impatiently waiting for Monique to finish refurbishing the bowgun she'd found and ship it back to Loc Lac.

Harker and Kerry seemed to enjoy the influx of normal missions as well, though most of their money seemed to be going to the constant stream of experiments that the two began conducting in Harker's room after they'd returned to the city… among other, more interesting things, Levin assumed. Though, there tended to be a constant stream of pops and bangs coming from the room on a regular basis, and both hunters were seen with singed hair on a regular basis. Lynn also seemed to be in an irritated mood when the two of them were around as well, and word had it that the innkeeper was forcing the two of them to pay for metal wall siding to keep whatever experiments they were doing from damaging the rest of the inn.

Other than that, things seemed to have settled down for the most part… save for Levin's dreams. Levin's nights had become somewhat haunting recently. There wasn't any pain or suffering as had been usual with the dreams, nor any appearances or discussions with the Alatreon. But they still scared him. They seemed like… illusions, or memories of some sort. Most nights, Levin found himself walking through the tattered remains of destroyed villages and towns. He'd spend the entire night wandering aimlessly through a different village each night, climbing over rubble and fallen houses. The ground was always littered with bodies of the dead; burned or singed to the point of being unrecognizable, though Levin could tell that they were of all shapes and sizes. All the hunter could do was look on the remains in misery, scouring the remains of the dwellings for some sign of survivors. And every night, the dreams ended the same way, with a shape, the same massive, hulking form that he'd seen the last time he'd spoken with the Alatreon, lumbering through the smoke and ash towards him. Then he'd wake up, clutching his chest in terror. It pained him to think that he was actually starting to get used to these nightmares night after night.

But at least he was able to keep busy, keeping his mind off the dreams for the moment, like trying to keep his weapon and armor in good condition. He'd just finished putting together a complete Rathian armor set, much to his satisfaction, and was trying to collect the materials he needed to have Umbre make him yet another switch axe. There weren't that many types of the weapon to choose from, admittedly, and many of them required materials collected from much stronger and nastier creatures that he and the others would stand up against very well, but Levin had taken a shine to one of the blades he'd seen that had been referred to as a Rough Edge. Well, not really the blade itself, but he was interested in the dragon phials that came with them, all dark with sinister-looking energy swirling inside. But he'd needed to collect a lot of materials from underwater areas, which had taken a lot of time, especially that damn pearl he'd had to find.

He and the others had needed to take a mission out near the ocean to hunt down a saltwater Gobul to get the opportunity to search for one. How was that thing going to be used in making the switch axe anyway…? But he'd eventually gotten everything he'd needed from the water, though he'd nearly lost the pearl (and his life, for that matter) when the group had been surprise attacked by a rather nasty pair of Royal Ludroth that were fighting for dominance in the area. Levin had never been a fantastic underwater fighter, and had just barely gotten out of the water ahead of the two as they'd chased him to land. The four hunters had been able to take it from there, thankfully, taking down one of the Royal and sending the other one running away. All that, and they'd still had to go out to take down the Gobul they'd been hired to hunt as well.

But now all Levin needed was a gem of some kind, called Light Crystal, which could only be found in the Tundra, so Levin was told. He wished he'd managed to pick some up while he'd been up north, but considering all the other things he'd had to do while up there, he supposed it was understandable that he hadn't had time to grab any. In the meantime, he'd enjoy trying out this new armor of his, wherever the group of hunters decided to go off and hunt something at. They'd decided to take turns, picking where to go in sequence with each other. Harker had been the last one to pick their hunt, asking that they take a trip out into the desert to pick up fire herbs for… some experiment he wanted to do, under the guise of the four of them going out and taking down a Barroth. It was the first time Levin and Ellie had gone against one of the brutes, and it had turned out far better than the previous time. Now it was Kerry's turn to pick their next hunt. Levin hoped it was up north.

As he walked through town, Levin's eyes kept glancing down to look at his new armor. He recalled the Rathian scale necklace he had sitting on his dresser back at the inn that he'd gotten back in Boma. He wondered how the people back in the village were doing. He'd sent a couple letters back to Marshall, though there had been a long time where he hadn't due to all the… problems he'd had to deal with. Ellie had kept up with Mel, he thought. Maybe she'd heard some news from the village… maybe Marshall had taken on more apprentices or something. He'd ask Ellie when he got back to the inn; see what kind of things Marshall had been writing back.

* * *

_Miss Eleanor,_

_While it does please me to hear from you again after so long having the two of you away from Boma Village, and I have enjoyed the letters you and Levin have sent me, it is very disconcerting to hear the news of Levin having issues with his aggression once more. I recall you asking me once while you were still in my tutelage about what kind of person Levin was before you arrived in Boma for your apprenticeship, and I recall brushing off the question without answering. I admit, with him having such a positive attitude towards his life, and the recent blossoming of your relationship with him, I had hoped that there would never be a need for me or him to regale you with stories of the kind of man he was before, but I see now that this may have been poor foresight on my own part._

_I have little doubt, considering the news that has been finding its way here, that you have by now heard about the creature known as the Alatreon. Hopefully, you will also have learned why it was that I did not want to speak of it with you, or why I did not wish for you to speak of it to Levin. It is a fearsome beast, one that seems perfectly willing and capable of destroying villages and towns entirely out of spite. It is also, as I feared, the source of Levin's anger issues. I had feared as much during his time as my apprentice, but I never wished to confirm it, since I knew the implications would be dire. _

_Back when Levin first arrived in Boma Village, he acted similar to how you did when you first arrived in town, except he was easily far worse. While he did share your disdain for monsters, it was a far greater challenge to convince him that it was sometimes better to allow monsters to live, rather than never allowing them to live another day. You'll recall your own disdain with not wiping out the entire Bnahabra nest back on your first hunt. On his own first venture into the wilds, we came upon an Aptonoth nest, and it was all I could do to keep the young man from killing every single one of the poor creatures and smashing all the eggs he could find. _

_His relationships with the other villagers also got off to a rocky start compared to you. His anger and hatred of monsters made him very unsociable with the other villagers, and our village's willingness to live in relative peace with the monsters in the surrounding area seemed to baffle and infuriate him. Most people that tried to associate with him were met with extreme enmity, earning quite a bit of disdain from most of the people in the village. Only Miss Melanie and I were able to really speak with him at the start. With his hatred of monsters in general he also had a lot of trouble even looking at the Felynes and Wyvernians that lived in town, nearly attacking Leif when the two of them first met. It took many hours talking with him to get him to understand that Felynes and Wyvernians weren't monsters, but people just as intelligent as humans. _

_Over the course of his time in Boma, he never specifically told anyone what exactly happened to him to make him despise monsters so much. I don't believe that he himself could remember why either, for that matter. Every time I tried to ask him about why he was so intent on killing all the monsters, he would end up flying into fits of senseless rage, getting angry at anyone for anything, while not being able to give reasons as to why he was angry at all. One consistent phrase he would repeatedly use, though, was speaking in anger about a 'black beast.' There are several monsters that bear a black color that defines them, but the way he described the monster during his fits were quite disturbing, and didn't match the descriptions of any of the other black monsters. I shouldn't have to tell you by now how fearful people get when that particular monster is even mentioned. _

_With all these issues that the young man had, it should come as no surprise to you that for a long while, I considered giving up on him as a hunter, and was seriously considering sending him back to Loc Lac. He was proving to be too reckless and aggressive a hunter to be safe in the wilds, and was creating tension with several of the villagers. However, if there was a single positive attribute that the boy had, it was that he had determination. If I'd given up on him and sent him away, he would have kept on trying to become a hunter, no matter the costs or danger. He may have found another hunting master to teach him how to hunt safely, but likely it would have ended poorly, with him either going out in the wilds on his own and dying without the proper training, or finding a hunting master that would be accepting of his ruthless nature. I did not wish to see him die, nor did I want him to become a hunter that did not care about anything but the next kill. So I continued to try and teach him and get through to him, hoping that, somehow or another, he would see that not every monster out there needed to be killed, or that he would give up on or forget his desire to hunt the Alatreon. Hatred and revenge has a tendency to last far longer than any other human emotion though, and I had little hope for the second issue. _

_Much to my pleasure, Levin did eventually begin to recover from his utter rage towards all types of monsters. To my surprise, it was actually Leif who managed to start helping him recover. The Felyne was just as dedicated to his work as Levin was, and despite the apparent disdain that Levin had for him, Leif was persistent in his work at helping Levin adapt as a hunter. He kept Levin's hut clean, tended to his wounds when he was injured, and made every effort to talk to him, even when the young man was in particularly violent moods. It was a slow process, taking several months, but eventually the two became close enough to be called friends. Likely that was the reason Levin sent him off to take care of you instead, thinking that he could bring about similar feelings in you._

_Levin calmed down quite a bit once becoming friends with Leif, at least in the village. It kept him from having fits quite so often, at least, and Levin began to make a few friends with others besides myself and Miss Melanie. Out in the wilds, though, things were very much the same, the young man desperately trying to kill anything and everything he laid eyes on. However, he seemed increasingly concerned with learning about the monsters he slew, requesting reading materials on monster habitats and actions. He also seemed to be more willing to pass by herbivore herds and continue on to more dangerous monsters._

_As with you, I had great hopes that the Rath mating dance would be able to help Levin overcome his overwhelming hatred of any and all monsters he came across. As it turned out, it did turn out as I expected, though there were complications that I never predicted. After the Rathian and Rathalos took off, Levin managed to stumble his way down into the valley, picking up a single Rathian scale before passing out at the center. I needed to carry him back to Boma on my shoulders. When we arrived back in the village, I took him to the medical hut, where he remained unconscious for almost two days before waking up. When he did wake up, he seemed a different man completely from the one that first arrived in Boma Village, acting much as he did when you first met him. _

_However, it seemed that rather than coming to terms with the issues he had with the Alatreon, Levin had instead completely blocked out the memories of whatever had happened to him in the past. He no longer mentioned the 'black beast' of his, because it was no longer in his thoughts. I tried to ask him about it once or twice, but the questions only seemed to cause him pain. Perhaps a wiser man than I would have been able to help Levin come to terms with the issues he had, but with all my ability as a hunter, helping someone with their personal issues is far beyond my expertise, so I was content with things as they were. I feared that things might take a turn for the worse one day, but I hoped that Levin would be strong enough and intelligent enough by then to come to terms with them himself, or with the aid of others that had befriended him. _

_As much as it pains me to do so, I'm afraid I can do little to help you with Levin, now that he's remembered his anger at monsters. But he is stronger than he was before, and wiser yet as well, and he has you to help him along as well. You've gotten to know him well enough during your time together as my apprentices, and with the bond you've built with him, perhaps you will be enough to keep him tethered to sanity. I don't believe it will be as easy as it was before to help him recover, and I don't think he will be able or willing to forget the Alatreon a second time, but I hope you can find some way to find his empathy towards monsters once more. If anyone is capable of helping him along, it's you, Miss Eleanor._

_I wish I could do more, but I'm afraid that this is all I can do. I hope you'll continue to keep me updated on how things are coming along with Levin, and I wish you the best of luck returning Levin to his former self. _

_Your teacher and friend,_

_Marshall_

_P.S.! Hey, this is Mel! I'm sure Levin will be fine. He was kind of a jerk when he first showed up in Boma, but if he got his act together once, he can do it again! Probably! Not to make light of a serious subject, but in my opinion, if something as pretty and interesting as a Rath making dance is enough to knock some sense into that numbskull, just think how easy it would be to keep him sane if you were to, let's say, make it so that some of the saucier rumors that had been going around about you two were true. (And maybe you could send back a date on when it happens? We have another pool going.) Food for thought. Anyway, good luck keeping him in line! Marshall may be worried, but I'm sure you can keep him on a tight leash. Write back soon! – Mel_

* * *

Ellie sighed wearily as she skimmed through the letter she'd received from Marshall and Mel for what seemed like the thousandth time. No matter how many times she read it, she never really felt better about things. She was glad that Marshall had been willing to inform her about what Levin had been like in his first few months in the hunting world, but… it didn't really help her out at the moment.

Sure, Levin was doing better now, ever since the Barioth hunt had taken a turn for the strange (that had been an odd, if relieving letter to write back to Boma), but even the hunter himself admitted that there was still a lot wrong with him and haunting him. Nightmares and illusions sent to him from the Alatreon, powerful monsters sent to attack him and everyone he knew, voices that weren't his whispering into his mind. Ellie was glad that her beloved was over his bloodthirsty desires to wipe out all monsters he came across, but there just seemed to be so much more trying to tip him over the edge back into madness.

From the information that Marshall had offered her, Ellie wasn't sure whether Levin would ever really get better, short of finding and killing the Alatreon. But despite the confidence that she tried to show when she and Levin spoke of hunting the beast down and slaying it, she couldn't help but feel a cold fear every time the topic came up between the two of them. She knew… she _knew_ that they' go after the monster someday, sooner or later, and likely they actually would be out there searching for it if they had any clue where it could be found. But this was a monster that had both terrorized the people of this world to such an extent that trying to hunt it was actually illegal, and at the same time eluded people so well that not a single person could even guess as to what the creature could look like. And they were supposed to be the ones to take it down? They were fairly good hunters, Ellie was willing to give them that much, but there were so many other hunters that far outshined them that nearly wet themselves at the mention of the Alatreon's name. What chance did they really have?

Yet she knew that Levin would not be stopped for anything when it came to finding his 'black beast.' She'd known him long enough to figure out that he was far too stubborn to stop now. But… there could be a chance that she could at the very least convince him to hold off their hunt of the beast until they were strong and skilled enough to put up a decent fight, at least. She thought she had enough of a hold on him that she could at least convince him of that much, though it would be harder to do so if the elder dragon continued to send powerful creatures after them as it had done before. She had to try though. She would help Levin as long as she could, but she really didn't want the both of them charging out to their deaths.

Of course, it wasn't like the Alatreon wasn't grating on Ellie's nerved as well. Ever since she'd witnessed Levin's dream sent to him from the Alatreon back in the Volcano hunting grounds, Ellie had been having terrible nightmares most nights since returning back in Loc Lac. For her, it was a stream of visions, pictures of ruined towns and villages, reduced to cinders. All she could do during these dreams was wander blindly through the ruined remains, forced to look at the charred bodies of the villagers that had lived there. It was horror inducing, and always ended the same way, with an earth-shaking roar rattling the remains of the huts and houses, and a massive, two-legged monstrosity lurching through the smoke and ash and tearing into the remains of the village. And the dream always ended right as the beast appeared, with Ellie waking up in a cold sweat.

Levin had been having similar dreams, if not worse; Ellie could tell for certain. Sharing a bed every now and then had its fun, for sure, but with it came further worry of her beloved's condition. The switch axe user had nightmares just as often, if not more so than Ellie herself. Whenever she woke up for her own nightmares, Levin was either writhing in his sleep from his own hauntings or was awake already from the nightmares. At least Ellie's bad dreams didn't leave her in pain like Levin's seemed to, though. The hunter always seemed to wake up gasping for air and clutching some part of his body as though he'd been injured.

Ellie had long since suspected that perhaps it was the physical contact between the two of them that allowed her to… share dreams with Levin as she did, slowly being able to connect to the Alatreon's taunting as she was. After they'd returned from the Volcano hunting grounds, Levin had told her that Harker had somehow heard the voice of the Alatreon, though the madman had related the voice to Levin, rather than to anything else. Apparently, Kerry had heard a low buzzing sound as well, and she'd gotten that much just by touching Harker, who was touching Levin. It confused Ellie to no end. Were the Alatreon's mental messages and illusions… contagious? Ellie hadn't been touching Levin when the Alatreon had used its… 'compulsion' to send the Rathian after the hunting group, but she'd still felt the whine and whistle of the monster's control piercing into the Rathian. Was she gaining the ability, or rather the curse, or being able to sense the Alatreon's messages, even when she wasn't in physical contact with Levin? Her dreams when she'd slept apart from him had been sporadic, but there were some bad dreams mixed in… ones that didn't have to do with the Rathalos. Were those offshoots of the Alatreon's influence that she could feel even when Levin wasn't near?

Ellie sighed in frustration. Between all this danger with the Alatreon, as well as everything they'd been trying to do in order to help out the Lost, worries had been piling up almost constantly since the day they'd arrived in Loc Lac. Ellie hadn't imagined when she'd first arrived in Boma Village that this would be where her life as a hunter would take her…

"Hyu've been sighink a lot recently sveetheart. Gots a lot on your mind, hey?"

Ellie grinned as Lynn approached, folding up her letter and sliding it into her pocket. Her hand paused on her waist at the feeling of a second letter that remained safely in her pouch. She'd had the thing in her pocket since before she'd left Frost Town. She'd hurried off just before leaving the town in order to give Monique the old remains of the bowgun she'd found in the hunting grounds, and thankfully, the woman had told her that she was perfectly capable of returning the weapon to its former glory. She'd even be willing to do it at a discount… under certain circumstances.

Ellie had been hesitant at first, considering the way the woman had said it, but before she could reply, Monique had reached into her pocket and pulled out a small letter. At Ellie's quizzical expression, the artisan began to explain: apparently, her son had left on a mission for the Investigatory Squad, some tracking mission of some sort to deal with some poachers. Her boy, Richard, usually sent her letters, keeping her up to date on his health, if not the specifics of mission, and it had been too long since his last one. So Monique wanted Ellie to take the letter, try and find her son, and deliver it herself. Ellie had asked why the woman didn't just ask the IS about the whole thing, but the woman's expression had soured at the words. She made it clear that she didn't care for, or even trust, the organization that had put her son into… whatever situation he was in. Ellie had accepted the woman's request, though she didn't have any idea how she'd get around to pulling it off.

She'd considered going to the IS herself, despite Monique's hesitation to do so, but… considering her own bad encounters with the IS's leader, Jonathan, she'd been hesitant to do so, and so had kept the letter to herself. She'd made an effort to search for information on her own, but few people wanted to offer information to someone pressing into IS business, much less one of the Lost doing so. She'd been tempted to hunt down that one IS member she'd flirted with during the investigation of the Ludroth nest… but she couldn't remember his name. Besides, with her relationship with Levin as it was, it wouldn't be right.

"I'm fine, Lynn," Ellie said. "It's just… things have been weird lately."

"Tings haf been vierd since all of hyu Lost first started poppink up everyvhere," Lynn replied with a smile. "But den, dot's vhat makes tings interesting, now don't it, hey? At least hyu and your boy finally got hyu some time to do some regular hunting. Tings have been good und qviet for a vhile now, which is nice, considerink how messy tings were for a vhile dere, vhat vith all dose new Lost vakink op."

"Yeah, no kidding." Ellie and Levin hadn't been able to hear the news of how the other blue light sightings had turned out until they'd returned to Loc Lac. The news wasn't bad… but at the same time it wasn't all that great either.

News from Orage Dell wasn't all that bad, from what word had trickled in from the city. There had been a bit of a panic in Loc Lac when word of more Lost appearing in Orage had finally made it to the desert city. However, apparently Polgara had cracked down on any panicking that might have occurred in the hunting city. The Guild Master had spent a lot of effort before the Lost had arrived attempting to be sure that there were plenty of housing available for the newcomers to use, as well as sent out requests to all the shop owners, merchants, and artisans of the city, requesting volunteers who might be willing to take some of the Lost under their wings in order to help them get work. The old woman did not want the Lost to be as jobless as they tended to be in Loc Lac. Fortunately, most of the people in Orage seemed to be at least sentimental towards the Lost, because there were plenty of people that were perfectly willing to offer the Lost at least the opportunity to prove their worth.

The other two Lost appearances to the west of the desert hadn't gone so cleanly though. Two towns had been asked to take in the Lost that awakened in the mountain range between the desert and the coast. However, while Orage Dell had been far enough away from Loc Lac to really not have learned of the less than positive reputation that the Lost had been getting, the two towns that lay further inland certainly had, and the requests had been met with uncertainty and disdain. The Lost had been allowed to stay in the towns, but there had been a lot of friction from the locals before they had arrived, and the Guild had needed to put its foot down in order to find a place for the Lost. In total, about two hundred Lost had been displaced between the two towns, all piled tightly into a dozen or so houses per town. Some were given jobs, but most were forced to live off of the goodwill of the Guild. Ellie hoped things would get better for them soon.

"At least there aren't any more Lost appearing," Ellie muttered. "Not that I wouldn't mind seeing more of us around, but… well, with all the resentment people seem to have towards us…"

"Hy gets it sveethart," Lynn replied. "Trust me, nobody hears pipple's troubles like a bartender, hey?"

"Right…"

"Oh, cheer op," Lynn said with a grin. "Tings might not be verra pritty at de moment, but hyu Lost gots a lotta pipple fightin' ta help ya out."

"What about all this talk of people getting riled up in the other districts?"

"Oh, dot," Lynn muttered. "Might be somevun rabble-rousing or sometink… Don't know vhy dey raisink a fuss now. Tings have been gettink less hectic here in Loc Lac for a vhile now… Shouldn't be dot much of a problem, though. De Lost are doink a lot to help demselves, as vell as helpink out de city now. Folks should be seeink dot de Lost aren't bad soon."

"Yeah, but, you're a decent person, and you've got Logan. The rest of the city, not so much…"

"Hmm. Mehbe so…"

The sound of a chair scooting out made Ellie turn to see Kerry pulling out the chair next to her, and the bowgunner smiled kindly as she sat down. "Good morning, dear. Healing up from that Gobul fight well?"

"Well enough," Ellie replied, rubbing her shoulder. She'd caught one of the Gobul's tail spikes to the shoulder during the fight. The wound itself had been superficial, but the paralysis venom had lingered for a while. It still felt a little numb, truth be told, though it was nothing terrible or threatening. "How about you? Is your leg doing better? When that Gobul rolled over it, I thought you'd be out of the fight for good."

"Oh, I'm tougher than I look, dear. A lot of the Gobul's inflated size is from air, anyway, so it wasn't nearly as heavy as it looks. Besides, it may not be as solid as Diablos scales, but Barioth hide is a pretty solid too. Just a little sprain, nothing to worry about."

"Hy'm more vorried dot hyu'll blow hyuself op, sveetheart," Lynn said sourly. "Hyu two got doze metal plate in dot boy of hyu's room installed yet? Hy don't vant anodder hole in de wall, gurlie."

"Ah, um, almost," Kerry replied. "We just need to put in one more, then it'll be done. We're a little short on money though, so I'll get the last plate after my next hunt."

"Mehbe hyu'd be done by now if hyu shpent hyu money on de plant inshtead of de tings hyu're blowink up in dere."

"We don't spend that much on ingredients… I spend more on ammunition, actually."

"Hmm. Fine. Vhen Ellie here told me dot vhat vas goink on between de two of hyu, hy vas hopink dot de two of hyu vould be doink odder tings to take up your time, instead ov blowink up my inn…"

To Ellie's great amusement, the bowgunner reddened considerably. Ellie would've thought that Kerry would've been a little more outgoing about her relationship with Harker, but she supposed that she liked this part of Kerry, so easily embarrassed. "We're not… well, we are, but… no! I mean…"

Lynn laughed at the bowgunner's sputtering. "Heh, dis is fun. Eet's alvays fun to tease de young blood. Hyu should've seen de fun hy had vith Ellie here vhen she und her boy shtarted havink de same kind ov fun. Hyu young hunters are alvays so easy to toy vith bot tings like dis, alvays vorth a laugh."

"What's worth a laugh?" Kerry reddened a bit as Harker suddenly strode up to the table, grinning with a bemused expression.

"Oh, notink much," Lynn replied with a smirk. "Hy'm jest gettink ready to head out. Gotta make sure dot fool boy Logan's not up to no good. He'll make a mess somevhere if hy don't keep my eyes on him."

"Take your time," Kerry muttered, making Lynn laugh one last time as the innkeeper wandered off. Harker raised an eyebrow as he took a seat next to the bowgunner.

"What was that all about?"

"She was teasing me," Kerry replied, huffing in frustration. Harker just laughed though.

"It couldn't be any worse than how I used to mess with you. Better yet, I still enjoy teasing you about things, Lady Kerrigan."

"Yeah, but you don't do it in front of others just to get a reaction," Kerry muttered sourly.

"I could, though," Harker replied, putting on a thoughtful expression. "It might be interesting, a study of natural reactions to embarrassing situations…"

"You wouldn't dare!"

"Perhaps, perhaps not," Harker smirked. "But then, I've always thought your embarrassed expression was rather adorable. I might just do so for fun."

"What is with you and Levin trying to embarrass the two of us for kicks?" Ellie sighed.

"We have to get our amusement from somewhere, Miss Eleanor. Me and Levin just choose to get ours from the flustering of the lovely women we prefer to spend our time with."

"Jerks, the both of you," Kerry muttered.

The three hunters continued to talk for a while, until Levin appeared shoved his way into the bar area, carrying a massive box and grinning excitedly. Ellie rolled her eyes as her beloved spotted them and worked his way over to their table.

"Finally got your Rathian armor I see," Harker commented.

"Yes indeed," Levin replied with a smirk, opening the box and pulling out the helm of the armor set, twirling it around in his hand, looking at it from all angles and grinning all the while. "I finally got an armor set that's better than a little bit of leather or sponge holding up between my ribcage and the full weight of a two ton monster or worse. I mean, you've got your Lagi armor, Ellie, Kerry has her Barioth armor, and Harker… well, I still don't understand what the thought process behind your armor set is."

"It serves its purpose, let's leave it at that," the long sword user said with a smirk.

"And it's about time, too," Ellie said. "He hasn't shut up about waiting for the suit to be completed for the last week. I swear if it had taken much longer I would've hunted the smith down myself and hounded him to hurry up and finish the armor by threat of physical harm."

"I wasn't that bad…"

"Oh, yes you were."

"Well… to be fair, you haven't been much better about how much you're looking forward to getting that new bowgun of yours. You've been just as hard to put up with, I'll have you know."

"I haven't been stockpiling ammunition like you've been buying armor buff and shine, though."

"Well… that's beside the point," Levin replied sheepishly, his face reddening in embarrassment. "I'm just in the mood to go out and test this armor out, truth be told. Does anyone have any ideas on hunts we could go on where I could give this armor a go?"

"Actually, there's a possible hunt I'd like to go on, if the pair of you are willing to join me and Harker," Kerry said. "I need, um, some materials from the Tundra, as it were. Not for an experiment or anything like that, but just for regular upkeep and maintaining my weapons."

Levin grinned at the words. "Sounds fine to me. It's your turn to pick the hunt anyway, and there's actually some ores I want to grab up in the Tundra as well. What kind of things are you looking for?"

Surprisingly, Kerry looked nervous, despite Levin's apparent enthusiasm. "Ah, well, a couple ores, some crystals… and, well, I need some materials from the Gigginox, actually."

Levin flinched visibly at the words, and everyone at the table knew perfectly well why. The hunter's fight against the Gigginox during the hunter's exam had been messy at best, and the monster hadn't even been in its natural habitat. However, much to Ellie's surprise, next to the switch axe user, Harker actually paled a little as well, and gulped visibly.

"Sorry, Harker," Kerry said.

"No, it's quite alright, my dear Lady Kerrigan," the madman replied, "I suppose I'd have to go up against one of those things sooner or later… I think I just would've preferred it to be later to be perfectly honest."

"Wait, what are you talking about?" Levin asked.

"I must admit something…" Harker muttered. "I am… not overly fond of Giggis, truth be told."

"He had an… incident with a nest of Giggis once when he was still my apprentice," Kerry said. "I'm sure the two of you know that Harker has a, let's say, a tendency to injury. Well, most of the time the wounds he gets don't really bother him that much, if not leaving his hospitalized for a while. But the Giggis…"

"Please don't describe it to them, Lady Kerrigan," Harker said quickly. "I'd rather not have to relive the occurrence, as it were. Once was enough for me, thank you very much."

"Right… well, let's just say it wasn't pretty, and Harker doesn't… care for Giggis all that much. He doesn't even want to study them all that much, which should say quite a lot."

"Wow," was all Ellie could find to say. With all the strangeness of the long sword user, she'd never heard of something that the man actually didn't want to look into. There had been several occasions when the man had asked people around the bar (including her, Levin, and Lynn, among others) strange and often awkward questions that occasionally were left unanswered, and sometimes got close to leading to bar fights with the gruffer patrons of the bar. The man didn't seem to have any inhibitions when it came to something he wanted to know about.

"I suppose… I suppose it's due time I learn to get over my fears," the long sword user said. "If I am to accomplish myself as a scientist, I will need to get over this clear disdain I have for these particular monsters. Nasty little things though they may be… I shudder to think about how well I'll fare against the mother of such things."

"Well, I'll be right there with you for that," Levin said. "Trust me, after having it out with one of those big nasties during the hunter's exam… ugh. I'm not going to enjoy this hunt at all…"

"Well, it'll be an excuse to go up and look for your light crystals, or whatever they're called," Ellie said. "And I guess it'll give us a chance to see Noi and Crezant again, and we can see how well the Lost there are holding up."

"I guess that'll be good to do," Levin said. "Hopefully they're doing better than the Lost over west of the desert."

"I'm sure they're fine," Harker replied. "Noi seemed a fairly capable man to me last I saw him, and surprisingly compassionate towards the Lost compared to other men of his posterity. Most men of wealth I've seen, here in Loc Lac if nowhere else, seem rather hesitant about providing aid to our little collection of displaced peoples."

"Yeah, he's okay," Ellie replied. "If not a bit of a slave driver. Maybe this this time we can avoid getting roped into working as guard dogs for his caravans this time."

"Shouldn't be too hard, if we're only going to go visit," Levin replied. "But then again…"

"If you'll excuse me," Harker said, pushing away from the table, "I'll need to… prepare for this little mission we'll be going on. If we're going into battle with a nastiness like the Gigginox… I'd like to be extra prepared. I've got a lot of spare concoctions and bombs mixed up, and I'm not sure exactly what all of them do, I'll admit. But I think the Gigginox will be the perfect test subject for quite a few of them…"

And with that, the long sword user turned and walked towards his room, a wickedly devious grin plastered across his face. Kerry looked at the other two hunters nervously. "That's… not a good sign. I've seen some of the things he's put together. He's got a steel strongbox that he keeps them in, one that he's told me not to shake too hard when I've looked inside. I'm pretty sure I've seen some of them moving, too… Now I'm all for the fun of experimentation, but, well, some of the stuff he's made seems downright dangerous. As in a complete… um… what was the word? Bio… biohazard?"

"That's… bad," Ellie replied. "If he uses those kinds of things on the Gigginox, you might not be able to scavenge the things you need from it. Also, you might want to find a place to get rid of those before something he makes, I don't know, comes to life and tries to eat everybody. I'd suggest the Volcano, next time we're in the area."

"That might be best," Kerry agreed. Ellie didn't like how seriously the bowgunner seemed to be considering the thought of what Harker's experiments might result in. "Well, I'll see if I can convince him to keep from bringing too many of his little creations with him. I'll talk to you later, dear."

Ellie nodded as Kerry smiled and pushed herself to her feet, hurrying after Harker. With a grimace, she looked over at Levin. "Should we be coming up with alibis or something? I keep expecting Harker to accidentally unleash something terrible on the city one of these days, and people will want to tar and feather him and anyone he's worked with."

"We should be fine," Levin replied uncertainly. "But… it might be best if we figure out the fastest way to make a break for the nearest sandship dock, should worse come to worst."

"Yeah, maybe so… By the way, are you okay with this hunt? Harker may have some issues with Giggis, but besides Kerry, you're the only one that's fought against a Gigginox. Are you sure you're okay with trying to go up against it? As I recall, it left you a little worse for the wear."

"I… should be fine," Levin replied. "I managed to keep myself up and fighting against the one I fought in Orage Dell, and this time it'll be four on one. I mean, I'm a little… wary about getting poisoned again. Trust me, try not to get poisoned by the Gigginox. It's not pleasant. But other than that, I should be fine. I'm more worried about what Harker's planning to do."

"That's good to hear, I guess. There seems to be a lot of things up in the Tundra that you seem to have a problem with."

"Yeah, well, now that the Barioth is not really a problem for me, once the Gigginox is dealt with… I guess I'll only have one thing left to deal with."

Ellie nodded. The Alatreon again. Levin had that determined, angry expression on his face. His rage at the beast hadn't diminished at all. In the back of her mind, she recalled the words in Marshall's letter. With the monster taunting him, how long would he be able to wait before losing control again and choosing to go chasing after the monster? How long would Ellie be able to hold him back? And for that matter, would she even be able to hold him back at all?

In the back of her mind, some haunting words echoed through her skull, the so-called 'prediction' that the Veggie Elder had given her. He'd told her that… Levin would leave her… leave her to die. All in his relentless desire to find and kill the Alatreon. But she wouldn't believe it. She couldn't! Levin's urge to slay the black beast was powerful, but… she would not accept that it was all-consuming. He had more to live for than just killing the Alatreon! But if the beast really had his family under its control… no. She had to have faith in him. He wouldn't leave her out to dry!

They'd find some way to take out the Alatreon and get his family back, and they'd do it together, somehow or another. Together.

* * *

The trip up to the north was fairly uneventful, nothing new compared to the last trip up to the Tundra. It was getting close to the cold season again, though, and the sandship needed to far more agile to twist and turn its way through the icebergs that floated and bobbed in the shifting sands. It seemed that there was a lot more of the massive ice chunks in the area than there had been before. Other than that though, there wasn't much different from last time, except for the fact that it was colder than before.

When they'd boarded the ship, Levin had seen that Harker had filled his satchel up far more fully than he ever had before. The clinking and clanking of metal against metal rattled around in the pouch. What worried Levin more than anything else though, was how carefully the long sword user was treating the satchel now, as though he expecting even the slightest jolt to make the entire thing go up like a bomb. What worried Levin even more was how, once when he'd been talking to Harker during the trip, the bag had actually wiggled a little on its own. He didn't even want to guess what sort of concoctions the long sword user had put together for use on the Gigginox. He still remembered the man's attempt at creating a flash bomb, and was pretty sure there were still blind spots on his eyes because of it. He wasn't sure he wanted to be anywhere near the man when he started letting those fly against the Gigginox.

"Ya'd best watch out," the captain of the sandship had told them as they stepped off the gangplank onto shore. "There's plenty o' nasty weather stirring up this time of year. If ya go off huntin' without checkin' the weather, the lot of ya might find yourselves gettin' killed by a blizzard before the monsters even have a chance at gettin' to ya instead."

Sure enough, as they'd traveled further north through the ravines and mountains that led from the port up through to where Hearth lay, the hunters could see billowing clouds and waves of snow dropping down from the sky, when they looked off into the distance through the crags and valleys. Off to the east, some thirty miles or so away, Ellie guessed, a massive wall of white, covered by a billowing wall of clouds, completely blanketed the area. She'd never seen a blizzard of such strength and force in her life. She hoped that the she and the others wouldn't have to deal with anything of the like while they were here in the Tundra. The sun was still shining through the thick clouds every now and then, giving the hunters hope that weather might be decent during their hunt.

A fresh blanket of snow covered the ground when they finally crossed the last hill leading into Hearth, giving the town a very soft, quiet sort of feeling to it. The town had been bustling quite a bit more the last time Ellie remembered seeing it, but then, the last time they'd been there, people had been trying to figure out what to do with all the Lost that had been pulled out of the glaciers. Ellie hoped that things had calmed down since then, and that things were going well for everyone involved, as opposed to how high-strung things seemed to be developing in Loc Lac.

Several new houses seemed to have sprung up from the earth on the edges of the town; sturdy wooden longhouses that seemed specifically designed to hold up against the piling snow that coated the roofs, likely dwellings put up for the Lost. Outside the buildings, young children played in the snow as adults watched on carefully. Ellie recognized a few faces of the children as they rushed around in the snow, but some of them were unfamiliar, likely sons and daughters of the locals rather than the Lost, which seemed to be a good sign. Noise and activity continued to grow as they walked into town, where wagon trains and basic shops and amenities were in the full swing of the day. Ellie had been hoping that there wouldn't be much tension between the locals and the Lost, but here there didn't seem to be any at all.

Noi's compound seemed busier than ever, as the four hunters approached it. Several familiar faces could be seen moving back and forth between the buildings, carrying hides and furs, ores and crystals, busy helping pack up boxes and crates onto groups of wagons that were lining up outside, preparing to ship out to port and send their goods out to Loc Lac. Several of the familiar faces were those of the Lost that had been found and saved here in the Tundra, and those that recognized them right off the bat waved happily, glad to see them.

"Well, the lot of you look familiar." Ellie looked up at the voice, catching sight of Crezant coming down the stairs of Noi's business facility as they approached. "I wasn't aware that father had called for you to do a job for him again."

"Ah, he didn't, actually," Levin replied. "We're just here for a regular material-gathering hunt, and came by to see how the Lost in Hearth were doing."

"That makes since," the young man nodded. "After all, had you been expected, I doubt my father would have left town on other business. He likes to deal with hunter business himself."

"Noi's out of town?" Ellie asked.

"He does go off on occasion, when business requires him to. It would appear that one of his old business partners called him out for a proposition of sorts. As such, since he considers me a trustworthy replacement, I am in charge until his return." The man motioned over to a group of four Lost, loading a dozen or so boxes of Popo furs into the back of one of the wagon. "You asked about the Lost. They seem to be acclimating fairly well in my opinion. Some of them were less than pleased at the Guild's mandate to not allow more of them to move to Loc Lac, and some have expressed loud and vocal disdain of the cold weather we experience here in the Tundra, but nearly all of them are making an effort of integrating into the town. Some have expressed interest in gathering enough money to travel to Loc Lac on their own, however. I'm uncertain about how successful such attempts will be."

"Yeah, that might not work very well," Levin said. "What about… what about the locals? Do any of them have problems with the Lost?"

"Not especially," Crezant replied, turning to stride off through towards one of the other warehouses and forcing the hunters to follow. "There were… concerns about essentially doubling the number of people in the village, especially when considering possible food shortages, but most people seemed perfectly content with the size of the town increasing. There has been some trouble considering this… 'madness' you Lost seem to possess, and there have been some complaints raised, but nothing too terrible has been brought up. The Lost in the town seem to want to keep their own personal issues to themselves, and when someone has a fit or something similar, usually a group of them appear to take care of it themselves. As I said, there are concerns about the whole thing, but as long as any trouble is kept to a minimum, the townsfolk are willing to turn their heads when there is a breakdown."

"But things are going well?" Ellie asked

"So far, but if news of how things are going in Loc Lac are any indication, I fear things might take a turn for the worse one day." At the sour expressions from the hunters, the young man shrugged simply. "It's nothing personal, simply base gathering of information. Issues with the Lost in many of the cities to the south are turning sour for a majority of the towns they dwell in. I cannot allow myself to ignore what has happened, no matter how hopeful others might be of the outcome. Things may be fine now here in Hearth, but even if the people here think things will turn out for the best, I must be sure to prepare for the worst."

Levin nodded, accepting his reasons. As much as he didn't like the thought, he understood the man's reasons. "What… what about the Barioth? Has she been giving the caravans any trouble since we left?"

Crezant shook his head. "Not especially. It's gotten more… aggressive since you stopped acting as bodyguard to the caravans, admittedly, but generally that just means that she's been chasing the wagons out of her area, but not attacking them. Usually one or two hunters, or people in hunter's armor, are enough to keep her at bay. It seems she's developed a habit of ignoring the caravans, so long as the wagons keep to the same path and there is a hunter or two acting as escorts." To the hunters' surprise, the man actually grinned. "Of course, she doesn't give the same courtesy to those wagons that travel on other roads, so our business has been receiving generous payments from other companies in the nearby area for the opportunity to travel alongside our own caravans, for the sake of safety. All thanks to your work allowing the creature and her cubs to live. I never could have predicted that such a decision would result in such profit for us."

"Enough to offer us a reward for doing so?" Levin asked.

Immediately the smile was gone. "No. While the end result ended in our favor, you did go against our initial desires by allowing the beast to live, and that will not be rewarded, not by my hand."

"Fine, fine," Levin muttered, raising his hands in defeat.

"Now, what of you?" Crezant said abruptly, turning on the hunters. "Between my father and myself, things here in Hearth are under control for now. But what are you here for? More of that black metal again?"

"No, no," Kerry replied, shaking her head. "Um, I'm here to try and find a Gigginox to kill for materials, and Levin is here to find some light crystals. But other than that, not much else."

"Ah, well that's convenient," Crezant nodded. "There has been word of a Gigginox having been seen along the road between here and the port. It hasn't been attacking the caravans, not yet. So far it's only been seen taking down Popos that have wandered away from the herd, and the occasional Baggi. However, its motions have been getting a little too close to the roads, and the drivers are getting somewhat unsettled about its presence. If you could get rid of it, that would settle down the wagon drivers quite a bit, and you'd be ensuring the safety of our continued exports."

"Oh, good," Kerry said with a smile. "I'd hate for us to have to search too long for it. And we'll be able to help out Hearth while we're at it."

"Yes, a quick hunt would be preferable," Harker replied. "Less… build up to the fight itself, less time having to prepare to meet up with the creature. But then, less time to think about and prepare for the battle itself… hm. A conundrum."

Crezant raised an eyebrow slightly at the words. "Yes… but to the point, you'll find the creature in the caves near the road leading south. There are many ice caverns that wind through the glaciers in the area, so locating the creature's nest may be no small challenge in and of itself. However, should you keep to the darker locations, it should be relatively easy to find. There are some caverns below a large cliff face that might contain a place that the beast considers acceptable nesting grounds. The creature itself should be simple to take down; reports label the monster as relatively small for its kind, perhaps a new mother for its species. Yes, it would be preferable for the group of you to take the beast down as quickly as possible, before it grows to its full size."

A worker came up suddenly, holding up a clipboard for the man to look over. He did so quickly, giving the man some orders before turning back to the hunters. Specifically, he looked at Levin, and his eyes narrowed slightly. "Of course, being as your work in slaying said Gigginox will benefit this company, I am… _inclined_ to pay you fairly well for killing said creature. Assuming, of course, you actually kill the beast this time. I'm sure we can at least agree on at least that much."

"Yeah, that's fine with me," Levin nodded. "Giggi young aren't nearly so sympathetic of infants as Barioth cubs are, so there shouldn't be a reason for me to want to keep the Gigginox alive."

"Let's hope so. I don't want to need to hire the four of you as necessary caravan escorts for another month if I have to. The Guild representative should be able to give you all the information we have on the Gigginox when you arrive. If you have any other questions about the Lost in town and how they're faring, you can find them and ask them yourselves. Now if you'll excuse me, there is much for me to keep track of while my father is gone. I'm sure you can find your way to the inn yourselves." And with that, the man turned, moving towards a group of workmen and apparently forgetting about the hunters entirely.

"Not a very forthcoming man, is he?" Harker asked.

"Nope," Ellie replied. "You get used to him, though. At least he pointed us in the right direction of the nearest Gigginox."

"He probably wouldn't have even given us that much if the thing hadn't been a threat to Noi's business," Levin said sourly. "He's such an expressionless sort of guy, and cheap too."

"You're one to talk," Ellie said with a smirk.

"Well anyway," Levin said quickly, dodging the accusation, "let's find the hunter's inn. Looks like Crezant's not going to be putting us up while we're in town. Too bad; I was hoping we wouldn't have to pay for room and board while we were here…"

"Thank you for proving my point," Ellie laughed.

"Oh, shut up."

However, as the hunters turned to make their way back into the village, the voice of Crezant suddenly brought them to a halt. "Hold on now, you four! I've thought of something."

Ellie turned in confusion as the young businessman quickly hurried through the snow towards them. Levin frowned in frustration though. "What now?"

"How would the lot of you like to make a bit more money?" The man said abruptly.

"Wait, what?" Levin said, surprised. "Just like that? Doing what?"

"You won't have to do much of anything, Levin," Crezant replied. Then he turned, facing Kerry. "Rather, the work belongs to Kerrigan here."

"Me?" Kerry asked, surprised. "But… but for what? What can I do that the others can't?"

"Am I incorrect in knowing that you were a hunting master previously?" Crezant asked.

"Y-yes. That's right," Kerry nodded. "Though, I've only been a hunting master to Harker here, and... well, that's it. He's the only one."

Crezant frowned, clearly not pleased with the answer and giving the long sword user a distrustful look. He'd had enough time around the man to learn of Harker's eccentric personality. But a moment later he shook his head. "That might be enough. Let me put this simply. Ever since the loss of Pugnax as our primary go-to hunter to call upon when a monster needs taken care of, we've been in the search for a new hunter or two to fill his shoes. My father considers the four of you quite useful, of course, but considering the decisions you made during the Barioth hunt, we feel there might be need of others that could do things you four might not be willing to do."

Levin's face soured at the words, but Crezant continued, ignoring the switch axe user and focusing his attention on Kerry. "As such, since traffic from Loc Lac has opened up, we've kept our eyes on a few hunters of note that have passed through the area, looking for a skilled hunter or two that we might be able to call upon when circumstances require it. Now, my father has an eye for hunters. He's able to pick out the skilled, dedicated ones that stand out from the rest. That's how he got Pugnax into the fold of his business. However, in the last week a hunter has come to the village which I believe may have the skill and dedication to be Pugnax's replacement for us, but since my father is not in the town at the moment, and my skill at determining a hunter's ability in not nearly up to par as his, I'm left with few options. I could simply ask the man to stay until my father returns, and indeed I have done so, but the hunter seems to dislike waiting around for such reasons, and I don't feel I can keep him from leaving much longer."

"So, er, what do you need me for? Convince him to stay?" Kerry asked. "If I don't know who he is, I can't see how much use I'll be."

"Not that," Crezant replied. "Since I am lacking in determining the quality of the man as a hunter, I request that you do so in my place."

"Me? But…!"

"You've taken in a hunter as your apprentice," Crezant cut the woman off. "And, if word from the Guild is any indication, you seem to have developed him into a hunter of some skill, if not one that is somewhat… unique in his methods. This shows that you have an eye for ability of some kind. You've also been a hunter for some time, if the Guild's records are accurate, so you should have fair knowledge in distinguishing a hunter's ability. The hunter I have my eye on has a personality and dedication which I approve of, and likely one that my father will approve of as well. However, what I ask of you is to allow him to follow you on this Gigginox hunt and take stock of his skill as a hunter. It's not something I can ascertain for myself, so I ask you to so do for me."

"I don't see how I can…" Kerry muttered. "Harker's apprenticeship was… unique. I'm not sure how well I could judge this hunter of yours…"

"Come now, you belittle yourself, Lady Kerrigan," Harker said with a grin. "You managed to single yourself out as a decent hunter, despite working in solitary for a long time. I have little doubt that you would have continued my own training if you didn't see some sort of latent talent in me. Especially considering my personal style of hunting."

"You'll be compensated for your judgment," the man said. "Mostly I just need to know if this man is worth calling back to the Tundra at a later date to present to my father as a possible hunter of employ. If you can give me a rough estimate of his value as a hunter, that is all I ask."

"Well… I suppose I could try to give my best guess as to how good he is," Kerry muttered. "I can't promise I'll be very good at it though. I've only taken on Harker as an apprentice, after all."

"That's enough for me," Crezant nodded. "Of course, I'll tack on a bonus onto your pay for your advice. I suppose each of you will have something to say about the man, and I suppose you can all give me some sort of opinion on him. You should be able to find him at the Guild inn. There aren't many hunters there at the moment so he should be easy to find. He's a foreigner, a great sword user from the east that goes by the name Miller. He's somewhat solitary, so you'll find him by himself, most likely."

"We'll look for him," Kerry nodded.

"Good. Now, I've got to get back to work. I expect a detailed report on Miller, Miss Kerrigan. Farewell."

As the man walked away, Kerry frowned uncertainly. "I'm not so sure about this…"

"Ah, you'll be fine, my dear!" Harker said encouragingly. "Besides, you have myself, Levin, and Miss Eleanor here to aid you in your judgment, so you needn't worry yourself too hard overmuch about the whole thing."

"Yeah… maybe you're right," Kerry replied with a thankful smile. "I suppose there won't be any harm in at least giving my opinion. And we'll be getting paid more, so that's something."

"Damn right," Levin muttered.

"Wonderful!" Harker said. "In that case, let's find this fellow, and see if he's willing to join us on our little hunt to take down the… the Gigginox. I'm sure if he's willing to take on such a beast in the first place, he'll be quite the hunter as is."

* * *

The next day was far drearier than the day of their arrival had been. There had been a bit of sun in the sky when they'd arrived in Hearth the previous day, but today the sky was dark and ominous, blotting out the sun so thoroughly that Ellie would've had trouble telling whether or not the sun was even out at all as the group of four left the inn early in the morning. A dull grey light filtering down from the sky was the only sign that it was even daytime at all, though the sky was slowly brightening up. The people she'd talked to at the inn had told them that it would be bright enough to see once the sun was all the way up.

It didn't help that she hadn't been able to sleep that well the night before. The bed at the inn had been surprisingly comfortable, likely making up for it being absolutely frigid outside, but bad dreams had kept her restless most of the night, visions of a towering, treacherous mountain filling her dreams. The dark voice of the Alatreon had flitted along the edges of her hearing as she'd dreamt, a mocking, menacing tone. Seeing how tired and weary Levin had been the next morning had only exacerbated her feelings on the whole thing. By his expression, he'd likely had the same dreams, and likely had heard the voice of the Alatreon during his dreams rather than a dulled murmuring. She hoped that the switch axe user wasn't too badly affected, but as they'd left the inn that morning, his eyes seemed to be nervously probing the blanket of clouds in the sky, as though he expected the beast itself to drop out of the sky at any moment. He wasn't even showing much excitement at being able to wear his Rathian armor for the first time, despite the enthusiasm he'd shown the last couple of weeks.

What worried her more than anything else, though, was being told that there were snow clouds moving in from the north. The locals assured her that it wasn't blizzard weather, so she and the others should be fine, at the very least since they would be moving around through caves rather than out in the open. It still worried Ellie a little; if they needed to make a quick escape and the weather took a turn for the worse, they wouldn't be able to make a break for it outside as easily as they could've otherwise. Another option was to wait out the snow, but with the weather getting colder, likely the snow would lead into a blizzard by tomorrow or the next day, and hunting down the Gigginox would get infinitely more challenging, even if it was hiding in the caves.

The Guild representative had indeed been helpful in pointing them in the right direction. Apparently, the Gigginox sighting was about halfway between Hearth and the port, and according to the maps that the Guild had on the area, there were several miles of caves under one of the taller mountains in the area, a spire of stone that leaned over a massive frozen lake in the area. The Guild rep had mentioned that it was a good thing that they were going under the mountain rather than over it. The mountain overhangs and pathways were treacherous enough as it was in good weather; in during the snows they were downright deadly.

"So much snow… Hardly ever saw the stuff back home. Can't imagine why people would want to live somewhere all the water freezes before you can drink it. Seems like a waste."

Ellie raised an eyebrow at the comment and looked at the speaker. Alvis Miller, or just Miller as it seemed he preferred, didn't say that much that often for the little time he'd been in their company, so it was always a bit odd to hear him say something. Ellie supposed that was why Crezant had picked him out as a preferable hunter. He was a few inches taller than her, with dark brown hair and green eyes, and a solid build that came from a long time swinging around the great sword he kept strapped across his back. Though, it would be hard to make out much of any of that through the thick blue plate armor he wore over the entirety of his body. Ellie had though the armor had been Lagiacrus-made like hers at first glance, but the hunter had explained to her that the materials had instead come from another monster, some giant crab monster of some sort called the Shogun Ceanataur that could be found in foreign swamps, apparently. His sword was made of the same stuff as well. Ellie had trouble imagining a giant crab that could be a big enough threat to create such solid armor, but supposed there were odder things in the world to wonder about.

Miller had been a bit prickly the previous night when the hunters had first found him and introduced themselves, and he hadn't gotten that much friendlier as the night had gone on. But he'd understood the situation and accepted it, though it was clear he didn't favor the Tundra as a hunting ground. They'd been able to learn that he was from a desert area in his area of the world, but other than that, he was very closed-mouthed about himself and what he was thinking. Eventually Ellie had given up on trying to figure the man out, deciding that if he had something to say, he'd say it one way or another.

For now though, the five hunters were working their way down the road to where the young Gigginox had last been seen. There was supposed to be a herd of Popos in a large open area, which was where the beast was last seen. It didn't take the hunters all that long to get there, but by the time they'd arrived, there were several more inches of snow on the ground than there had been when they'd left Hearth, and the sky hadn't gotten much brighter than it had been earlier. Ellie was starting to get worried now; it seemed like the weather might really take a turn for the worse if they didn't find this Gigginox and take it down quickly.

They were able to find the field where the Popos were grazing fairly quickly. The large, furry creatures were huddled around some bushes and grass tufts, nibbling at whatever they could find to eat. Immediately, the hunters noticed the large, messy remains of an adult Popo, covered almost entirely with snow. The hunters walked over to the remains, brushing the snow off the carcass of the Popo and studying them. Immediately, though, Ellie cringed at the sight, and both Levin and Harker did the same. She'd known about how Gigginox ate their food, but… hearing stories of how the beast devoured its food was not the same as actually seeing it for yourself. The body, or what was left of it, had been sheared nearly completely apart, the powerful fangs of the Gigginox having torn completely through the creature's body, leaving only the head, a bit of the torso, and part of the Popos forelegs behind. The rest of the corpse had the appearance of being diseased, a sickly green color coating the muscles and remains. Despite the cold, the remains were decaying surprisingly quickly as well, rotting away.

"The Gigginox's poison is a nasty thing," Kerry muttered, studying the remains. "It's always been a vile, dangerous thing to go up against. It likes to poison its food until they collapse, then collects its food to drag back to its nest and freezes it to preserve it. It's the only thing in the Tundra besides its progeny that can survive eating the remains of whatever it poisons, so the remains will likely not be touched by anything."

"Oh, lovely," Harker muttered.

"We should be fine," Kerry grinned encouragingly. "If this Gigginox is as young as people think it is, its poison shouldn't be all that potent. But then again…"

"Please don't continue, Lady Kerrigan," Harker groaned. "I'm having a hard enough time preparing myself for this fight. Can you tell which way it dragged the… remains?"

The bowgunner brushed some snow off of her armor and looked around. "No, not really," she sighed. "There's too much snow falling for me to be able to tell which way it went. Besides, Gigginox can fly, so there's that issue. Ellie and Levin spent a long time up here, though…"

"Don't look at us," Ellie said quickly, shaking her head. "All we did aside from the Barioth hunt and that mess with the Baggi pack was act as escorts for the caravan. No tracking involved there."

Kerry sighed, and looked at Miller. "I don't suppose you can help us?"

The great sword user scoffed and shook his head. "No, not at all. I can track well enough in the desert, even with all the sand, but don't expect me to be able to track much of anything here in the snow. You've got about as good of a chance of me tracking this thing down as you do the monster itself popping out of the snow right now and flopping onto its back to let us kill it."

"Darn. Guess there's nothing left to do but to head into the caves and see what we can find, then."

The other hunters agreed, though none of them cared for walking blindly into the darkness of the caverns. But the weather seemed to be getting worse, and with all the metal and scale that the hunters were wearing on their armors, all of them were feeling the chill of the frigid weather, even with the effects of the Guild's Hot Drinks coursing through their bodies. An eerie-looking wall of white seemed to be bearing down on of the northern mountains as well, coming down at them rather quickly, and none of them wanted to be outdoors when the storm hit. Luckily, there was a known entrance into the maze of caves only a mile or so away from where they were, and they would be able to get there before the wave of snow hit.

It only took the group about half an hour to reach the entry into the cavern, but the appearance of the gaping mouth into the earth was dark and ominous, especially with the knowledge that the beast they hunted preferred the darkness of caves. But as they entered the caves, Ellie realized that Levin had paused outside the entrance of the cavern. The switch axe user had been staring warily at the sky almost the entire time they'd been traveling, giving Ellie a continuous feeling a dread herself. However, this time, Levin's eyes seemed to be lingering, so she followed his gaze upwards. She found the hunter's eyes resting on a towering mountain just to the west, a jagged peak that twisted into the sky, with several precarious outcroppings jutting out of the sides. It was like a tower to the heavens, with dozens of massive balconies poking out from the inside, but aged and weathered by countless storms and windfalls, making it appear as though it were a terrible spire, shooting out of the earth. Ellie shivered at the sight of it, but not because of how dangerous it appeared, but it gave her a vague sense of… déjà vu looking up at it, as though she'd seen it before, but just couldn't remember where.

Levin was still staring up at the mountain as Ellie brought her eyes back down. She wished she could tell what his expression was, but her beloved had his facemask down, and she couldn't see anything but the dull reflection off his helmet. A glance told her that the other three were already descending into the darkness of the cavern. "Levin, we need to go. Levin."

It was a moment before the switch axe user's eyes dropped again, and he lifted the eye shield of the helm up. A confused, frustrated expression was on his face as the hunter slowly walked over to the cavern entrance and walked with Ellie into the depths.

"I feel like… like something's calling me," he said quietly as they trailed after the other three hunters. Miller had pulled a torch out of his pouch, and they were trying to determine which of several branching paths to take. "I think it's… the beast. I can't make out any words, but… the feeling is there."

"Don't listen to it," Ellie said quickly, earning an odd look from Levin. "It's just trying to lead you into a trap again. Don't fall for it!"

"Right. Of course." Levin nodded dully. His expression seemed unconvinced, but his eyes hardened in determination. "I'm not… I won't let the thing tug me around like a fish on a line. If it wants to try and hurt me, it'll have to come and get me itself."

"Exactly," Ellie nodded. "Though, truth be told, I'd prefer we hunted it down rather than the other way around. I don't want the Alatreon to be the one with initiative over us."

Much to Ellie's relief, Levin grinned at the words. "That's right. If we can, I want to come down on the beast as hard as we can and catch it off guard. No sense in letting the thing get the upper hand, right? I guess it doesn't really matter how the beast is taken down, as long as it gets what's coming to it. Other hunters might think it would be best to take it down honorably or whatever, but… I'll take what I can get."

"Good," Ellie said with a smile, and the pair of them hurried to catch up with the other three hunters.

The cave was far darker than the other caverns the hunters had traveled through during their time in the Tundra, actually having stone walls rather than the crystalline ice walls that they'd gotten used to seeing when traveling under the mountains and glaciers of the area. There weren't many monsters in the caves, fortunately, just a collection of Baggi packs with no leaders and a wide scattering of Giggis all over the place.

Ellie feared that they would find themselves wandering aimlessly through the caverns, searching blindly for some sign of the creature's nest. However, after a couple hours of searching, the were abruptly brought to a halt by Miller, a wordlessly turned the group of them around and off through a tunnel that they'd planned to pass in the first pass. The others had little choice but to tail after him, due to the fact that he was the one with the torch, but the great sword user led them quickly to a corner of the area, before stopping sharply. Ellie realized then why the man had so quickly changed direction; the remains of Popo, this one the bloody remains of one of the beast's leg, lay splattered on the floor of the cave, wedged half-buried under a rock. This one had the same sickly color to it as the first piece of the Popo, but seemed… fresher. A trail of blood, sickly and red, led away down the path, leading upwards back towards the surface again.

"Good catch," Kerry said to Miller with a grin. The man didn't say anything in reply, but simply nodded in acceptance of the praise.

Following the trail upwards was easier than the last couple hours had been. Apparently, whenever the Gigginox had dropped the Popo's leg, it had decided it was safe enough to leave a trail again. Patches of blood dotted the stone tunnel, making tailing the beast a simple matter of following the frozen red dots. However, as the hunters went on, it became increasingly challenging to continue without drawing their weapons; wherever the hunters went, it seemed swarms of Giggis were waiting for them. Dozens upon dozens of the little bloodsuckers seemed to fall from the ceiling every dozen or so yards they traveled, forcing the five of them to hurry along before the little monsters could try to latch onto them, or when they got cornered, pull out their weapons and drop kill a few dozen of them. The flame of Miller's torch kept most of the little things away, but more than a few were brave enough to try and take a leap at the hunters. What surprised Ellie, though, was how the path eventually led back outside, back into the now howling winds of a full-on snowstorm. It wasn't quite a blizzard yet… but it was getting there.

The line of blood and Giggis cut off right at the exit back to the outdoors, though, vanishing in the powder of snow that had piled up since they'd entered the caves. The hunters glanced around in frustration; Ellie had hoped that they'd be able to track the Gigginox all the way back to its nest thanks to the mess it had made, but now….

Suddenly Ellie froze up, as a powerful, piercing scream tore into her skull, making her vision swim for a moment. Through the snow, a dozen small shaped skittered away; a small pack of Baggis, barking in fear to each other and running away from something. A moment later, a quick, slithering shape crawled across the ground, a winged shape that crawled on its belly, dragging the ruined remains of… something along behind it. The shadow was only there for a moment, before it vanished into the howling winds off into the distance. It took several more moments for the ringing in her head to subside before she could hear the other hunters speaking.

"There it is!" Harker hissed.

"After it!" Kerry replied, steeping out into the snow. "But stay close! You don't want to get lost out here! If you start lagging behind, shout! We don't want to get separated in this storm!"

The other hunters agreed, and the group of five slowly began working their way through the snow, following in the direction that the Gigginox had vanished in. Course grunting and howls from the creature kept them moving forward, despite the thick snow making vision a challenge beyond thirty yards or so. Ellie was surprised that the Gigginox could still be heard over the howling of the winds, but the creature apparently hadn't heard them behind it yet; they hadn't been nearly as loud as it was being, what with it dragging its quarry back to its nest. The Gigginox proved surprisingly easy to tail, thankfully. It wasn't that long after they'd left the caves that they managed to find a half-covered trail dragging through the snow. But Ellie was getting fearful of the snowstorm, which certainly didn't look as though it was getting any better.

About halfway across the field, though, (or what Ellie assumed was halfway; she couldn't see how far it was across at all), a sudden ringing filled the sword and shield user's ears. She rubbed her temples in irritation; she hadn't thought that the effects of the Gigginox's roar would have that great of an effect on her. But the ringing grew in intensity, until it became a painful whistling in her mind. For a moment, she dropped to her knees, clutching her head in pain, but after a few moments, the sound began to fade. Immediately, the huntress' eyes darted around. That sound only appeared when the Alatreon summoned… something to attack them! But what would it send after them this time?

Levin was standing tall, his face shield up and his eyes staring pointedly at the clouds, as though the sound hadn't affected him at all. However, the first thing that Ellie noticed was that, somehow, she and Levin were alone. The other three hunters had vanished into the wall of snow that surrounded them. Not a single sign of them remained, not even the slightest hint of a trail. Ellie called out frantically, hoping that they'd hear her over the sound of the howling winds, but…

**It's time, boy! Time for you to face your fate!**

Ellie gasped in shock as powerful words suddenly slammed through her skull, and she dropped to her knees, clutching her head in pain. But over the howl of the wind and the echoing in her skull, a deep pounding sound forced its way through the twisting winds and down to the earth, where Ellie desperately tried to push herself back up to her feet in the thick snow. Levin was already on his feet, weapon unslung and unraveling into its sword mode, eyes staring into the sky furiously.

Even with the darkness of the sky and the raging snow swelling around the two of them, Ellie instantly caught sight of a massive black shadow that swept down from the sky. Large wings spread the dark shape wide against the pale whiteness of the snow. Ellie gaped in shock at the sky. It was here? The beast itself? No, it couldn't be. The creature never showed itself, only sent other creatures out to do its dirty work. What was it this time? Another Barioth? A giant Gigginox? Some monster rarely seen in Tundra like the Rathian in the Volcano area?

But the size of the shadow grew increasingly larger as the shape, whatever it was, swept closer to the ground, until it became far too massive to be any of the flying monsters that Ellie could imagine. Then the shape finally broke through the cloud layer, blasting apart the thick clouds, and the shape of the creature closing in on them appeared, and Ellie gasped in shock. The creature that was streaking to the earth was not one she'd ever seen before. Jet-black scales coated the entirety of the monster's body, with enormous leathery wings spread wide on each side. Bright glowing redness seemed to radiate from the creature's very veins as well, as bright red lines webbed across the monster's body. The only other thing Ellie could think of to say to describe the monster was that it seemed very… sharp. Jagged edges seemed to cover a majority of the creature's body, from the spikes jutting out from the tip of the beast's tail, to the thorny spines along the beast's wings, all the way to the long serrated teeth and tusks in the beast's mouth and the two terrifyingly large horns that jutted out from the peak of the creature's skull. Was this creature actually the Alatreon itself?

The creature continued to plummet towards the earth like a comet, hardly slowing down even with its massive wings spread wide. Ellie realized that the monster was soaring straight towards them, bearing down as though to crush them beneath its bulk. The sword and shield user quickly turned and sprinted away from where the monster was coming down. A moment later, her feet gave out from underneath her as the creature slammed into the ground, shaking the very earth below her and blasting out a wave of snow and ice in a large swell of frozen water. Ellie cringed as the wall of snow smashed into her, nearly knocking her off her feet and covering her in a thick layer of ice, and she shook the powder off quickly, desperately reaching for her sword.

But once again, she found herself reaching up and clutching her head in pain, this time because the Alatreon reared its head back and unleashed a powerful, skull-rattling roar. Even Levin, who had bragged about his new armor's ability to dull the sound of roars, nearly fell to his knees as the sound tore across the snowy ground. Through the pain, Ellie watched in shock as the snow and clouds around them suddenly blew apart, and a massive hole gaped open in the storm above them, widening ever further until a massive circle in the storm allowed a clear view of the pure blue sky.

Another few moments the roar lasted, until it finally dwindled away, leaving Ellie staring up in shock. The storm was gone, or at least, no sign of it remained here in the field where she stood. Billowing clouds swirled and churned, spinning in a circle around them, as though she stood in the eye of the storm, with only her, Levin, and the Alatreon living in the middle of it. Low, cold laughter echoed in the back of her mind, making her shiver. But Levin's weapon was out, and the hunter had lowered himself into a fighting stance. Ellie didn't need to see through her beloved's helmet to guess as to what his expression was at the moment.

"You!" the hunter growled, and Ellie felt herself shiver once more. Levin's voice was seething with fury, worse than she'd ever heard it before. The laughter seemed to grow stronger in her mind.

**Yes! Me! You want to kill me boy, and here I am! Let us see how strong your hatred, your determination to kill me really is! And look, aren't I kind? I even allowed you to bring an ally with you to aid you.**

For a moment, Levin's head turned to glance at Ellie, and the sword and shield user desperately wished she could see his expression. But then he turned to face the Alatreon again, and the grip on his weapon tightened. For a moment, Ellie heard the cruel words of the Veggie Elder in the back of her mind again, but shook them away quickly.

"I'll kill you!" Levin roared. "You've come here to die, you bastard!"

**Let's found out!** The creature laughed again. **Come! Show me how much you want me dead!**

With a roar of fury, Levin leapt forward, tearing towards the Alatreon. Ellie cringed fearfully, fearing how this fight would fare, but a moment later her sword was drawn, and she was tailing right after him to fight the monster. She wouldn't let him fight it alone! And she wouldn't be left behind!

* * *

In a small cave, buried below the peak of the Volcano hunting grounds, a small shape shivered, despite the heat of the magma boiling up from the crust, and the small campfire the person sat next to. The old and weathered face of the person glanced up towards the exit of the cavern, looking up towards the sky, cut off from vision by the rolling clouds of ash. A look of pain crossed the face of the creature, and he sighed miserably.

"So it begins," the Veggie Elder muttered.

* * *

**Author's Note: Please Review! Curse you, Charlie019, you've ruined my tactic of having no last names! Maybe it's two first names… like Ricky Bobby. Also, if you're disappointed that he didn't have many lines, he should have more in the next chapter.**

**Not much to say. Still psyching myself up for the next MH game. Is it odd of me to already be considering writing a sequel of sorts using MH3U as a base? Once this story is complete, of course… Actually that might have to wait. There's a story I want to write and put on Fictionpress before I write anything else.**

**Many have asked for my online information on my MH profile, but I've always been hesitant to release that information, simply due to the fact that I don't play the game as often as I used to and I didn't want to disappoint anybody. However, with the upcoming release of the next game, I've felt the urge to play more recently (which may prove futile once Assassin's Creed 3 comes out later this month). But… I've reached HR 60 four times on three different Wiis, and now I'm playing on a Wii I bought from a friend, and I don't really like his profile… So I'm starting from scratch. It might be good, too, since I've felt recently that I've lost a lot of the true Monster Hunter feel to my story. This also means that, once I've built up my character a little bit, I'll be willing to play online with folks. For those of you that are willing to play with someone working his way back up from the bottom, my character is called 'The Spy' (old nickname), and my ID no. is '6PLYTN'. Look for me!**

**Reading: **_**Crossroads of Twilight**_** by Robert Jordan, **_**Knife of Dreams**_** by Robert Jordan  
Playing: Final Fantasy XII, Final Fantasy XIII (bad game is bad, but I'm an achievement whore…), Minecraft: Tekkit Mod, MH3 (must prepare for the next game!)  
Listening: Mumford and Sons, CAKE, Gotye, The Killers, They Might Be Giants, The Flaming Lips, The Album Leaf, Radical Face**


	34. Madness

Madness

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. Most of the characters in this story are mine. Miller belongs to Charlie019_

_Edited by: Hoenn Master96_

_Another long chapter! Prepare your popcorn._

"M… Miss Lynn?"

Lynn jumped in surprise at the voice, bumping her head on the top shelf of the storage room she was digging around. She withheld a curse, clenching her teeth and pushing through the pain. The innkeeper and owner of the Dual Horn Oasis glanced down at the voice of the boy she'd taken in, and found Logan staring up at her with a confused, scared look in his eyes while clutching his stuffed Gobul toy nervously. Immediately, the woman felt a surge of worry course through her, fearful of the boy's condition, and her eyes scanned the child quickly, searching for injuries. It took a few moments for the feeling to subside, at the sight that the boy was unharmed, allowing the woman to relax for now.

She sighed in frustration at herself. She had always been one to let children make their own mistakes and learn from their injuries, but now she was jumping in fright every time Logan so much as got a scuff. Before Oswald had died, she used to imagine that when they'd have a child of their own, she'd be the one that laid down the law with their offspring, while he was the more compassionate of the two. He'd always been more gentle than she had, and softer spoken. But somehow or another, just trying to take care of this one little boy lit up some abundant maternal instinct she hadn't even known she possessed! And she was just… a foster parent to him for crying out loud! Yet every nick or cut he got made her jump like a Kelbi in worry and fear for his safe being.

Which seemed to happen a lot, admittedly. For such a quiet boy, he seemed to get himself into scrapes quite often, no doubt because of all the stories he'd heard from the hunters that hung out in the bar. Not a week ago, one of the food warehouses a few streets over had somehow picked up an Altaroth infestation. Lynn suspected the invasion was the result of sinister motives, since a majority of the food there was dedicated to the Lost, but such disturbances weren't uncommon in Loc Lac, so proof was veritably nonexistent; she was looking into it, though. Problem was, one of her patrons (and if she ever found out which it was, they were getting the most severe beating imaginable) had told the fool boy that they'd hunted Altaroths when they were his age as training to become a hunter, and that they were easy pickings for even the most rookie hunter. Of course, that had only encouraged the boy, and around noon, when Lynn was busy with the lunch rush and not looking, Logan had snatched one of her hunting knives from her room and gone off to slay the things.

Of course, if hunters were anything, they were storytellers, and that included news and gossip, and it had only been five minutes after the boy had left that word had gotten back to Lynn that he'd been seen making his way to the warehouses with a 'weapon' in hand, and it didn't take much imagination to figure out what he was planning. Lynn had only paused for a single moment to tell the Felynes that worked for her to watch the bar before sprinting out and chasing after him. Luckily, she was fairly well-known in the Lost District, and at the sight of her coming, people got out of the way. By the time she'd arrived, Logan had managed to take out one of the Altaroths, but there were dozens in the warehouse, and the boy had been surrounded and was trying to fend them off. Of course, even without a weapon, with her strength and experience Lynn was able to make short work of the big bugs.

Logan had been deeply remorseful for making such a stupid mistake, of course. But that hadn't stopped the innkeeper from tanning his backside once she'd taken back the hunting knife and dragged the boy back to the inn, of course.

Any other child, and Lynn would've laughed the whole incident off, and claimed the offending party was brave or stupid enough to try and be a hunter, and it was no big deal if the children learned their lessons the hard way. But when Logan had done it, all she'd felt was fear. He wasn't even really hers! But still… damn it all, she hadn't thought raising a child would make her act like this.

"Vhat's de problem, sveetheart?" she said with a smile she hoped was comforting. Sometimes when she tried to do so, people said she looked predatory instead. But Logan seemed to calm down a little, though he still had a fearful expression on his face. "Sometink, or somevun bodderink hyu?"

"No, not really…" the boy replied. "But… um, I was playing with some friends a little bit ago, and I heard some people talking, and they were all scared and stuff, but I didn't know what they were talking about, and I was wondering if something bad had happened."

Now Lynn really _was_ worried. Folks in the Lost District rarely spoke of good news recently. There were a lot of negative feelings over the Lost going around recently, despite the Guild managing to convince other cities and towns to take newly awakened in rather than filling Loc Lac with them. Crime was dropping as far as Lynn had heard, and food issues and job issues seemed to be stabilizing, but general disdain was still less than pleasing. The last thing she needed was Logan realizing how much his… people were disliked by some of the locals.

"Vhat vere dey talkink abott, sweetie?" Lynn asked carefully. "I'll sure it was notink too bad."

"It was, um, a monster I think," Logan replied, twisting his face trying to remember. "It was… um. The Aly-something. I didn't really hear, they weren't talking very loud."

Lynn's heart sank at the words and a cold fear welled up in her chest. "Hyu… hy don't suppose dey vas talkink abott de Alatreon, vas dey?"

Logan cocked his head in thought. "Um, maybe. Wait, yeah, I think so. I think that's what they were talking about, the Aller… Alatreon. What is it, Miss Lynn? Is it a monster or something? They weren't talking very loud, so I couldn't really tell what they meant or anything. What is it? Is it something scary?"

Lynn sighed and knelt down next to the boy. "Yez, it is a monster, Logan. Und yez, it is vera scary. It's de most dangerous monster dot pipple know abott, und it is sometink dot everyvun is afraid of."

"Why are they afraid of it? Couldn't a hunter just go and kill it?"

"Dot is not so easy, hy'm afraid." Lynn shook her head irritably. Normally children would have heard of the Alatreon at a younger age, if nothing else a sort of boogieman to make them behave. But how to describe it to a boy that was beyond that age? How do you explain something like the Alatreon to someone that had never heard of it before, and to one so young? Ellie and her boy Levin had been one thing, but Logan… "Alatreon is de oldest of de known elder dragons, and de only vun of its kind dot folks know abott. Und it's a good ting too. It's never been killed, not ever. Lots of hunters have tried over de centuries, but none have managed to kill it. De worst part is, though, the Alatreon is… vicious, und cruel. But vhen somevun tries to kill it, it gets enraged, und comes down on humanity und destroys whole towns, just out of vengeance."

"That's bad," Logan said simply, frowning. Lynn nodded. "So if someone tries to attack it, it might come here to Loc Lac?"

Lynn winced, maybe she'd said too much… "No, ve should be fine. Pipple are afraid of it more den any odder monster, just because it's de vay it is. Und hunters don't vant pipple to get hurt because of dem, so dey don't go off lookink to take de beast down so foolishly. As long as folks don't go off und bother de ting, it von't go around tryink to hurt folks so long as nobody bodders it. The Guild has even made it illegal to try und go off to kill it, so hunters don't rilly try at all."

"So, we're safe then?" Logan asked, and Lynn grinned.

"Dot's right," she replied, and a relieved expression covered the boy's face. "Dere's only a few hunters so foolish as to try und go after de beast, und dose dot do are qvickly found, so hyu don't need vorry bot dot. But don't go around tinking its all fine und dandy; de beast is still a vera dangerous critter, und not vun to be taken lightly, hey? Und it's bad luck to talk abott de ting. Pipple get nervous abott it, hey? So don't go askink 'round, got it? It makes a lotta folk nervous."

"Okay, m… Miss Lynn." Lynn sighed thankfully. She thought she'd handled that pretty well, all things considered. Maybe this would assuage the boy's fears and not leave him too worse for the wear. Explaining the Alatreon was always tricky, she'd heard, a real-life terror that wouldn't go away by keeping a light on at night… "What's it look like?"

"Vut?"

"What's the Ally… Alatreon look like, Miss Lynn?"

"Er, um… vell, nobody rilly knows, hy suppose." Lynn frowned. She'd hoped the boy was done with his questions, but she supposed for a boy his age, questions came as easily as breathing. "Bot… old rumors and tales have drifted round for a long time. Pipple say, und hy'm only hearing vhat pipple have said, dot de beast is described as a 'brilliant darkness,' vhatever dot means. It's an elder dragon, too, hy guess, bot it . So hy suppose dot it's a vinged creature, all colored black und spittink lightnink und fire und ice. It's… a terrible beast, though, und it kills anyting in its path, so nobody rilly knows vhat it looks like, hy'm afraid."

"Oh, okay," Logan nodded. He still looked thoughtful though, and frowned in uncertainty.

"Sometink else on hyu mind, sveetheart?"

"Oh. Um, I guess. I think I've seen the Ally-thing before."

"Vait, what? Hyu… dis is not sometink to joke abott Logan!"

"I'm not!" Logan immediately shouted back. "I have seen it! Or, um, something like what you said. It was before me and… my mom got to that forest you found us in. We were back home, um, and going somewhere really quickly with some other people, and then, um, and then this really big black monster flew out of the sky!"

"It could haf been anyting, sveetie," Lynn said soothingly. She was surprised that the boy had brought up both his time before coming from… wherever he came from, as well as his deceased mother. Usually he tried to avoid speaking about his mother, and she'd never heard him speak of his time back wherever the Lost came from. "Dere's qvite a few odder black monsters dot it could haf been, hey? Dere's… let's see… dere's de Nargacuga, hy've fought vun of dose vunce; got a chance during a bout in de arena. Dere's, hm, dere's some Diablos dot are black… but hy guess dose don't rilly fly. Dere's some elder dragons out east dot are black, too, hey? Vhat vere dey called… Kushala sometink, und the Fatalis. Though, hy suppose seeink vun of dem vouldn't be dot good either, hy suppose… Bot my point is, it probably vasn't de Alatreon. That ting don't leave survivors behind, sveetie."

"Oh, okay," Logan replied with a nod, though he seemed disappointed.

"It must haf been scary for hyu, no matter vhat kind of monster it was," Lynn said soothingly, kneeling down to look the boy in the eyes. Logan nodded.

"It was really big, and it looked really mean. The adults were saying we couldn't drive fast enough to get away from it, but… my mom was telling me we'd be fine. It was really scary."

"Hy'm sure it vas."

"I didn't… I didn't like how it was all lightning-y, all zappy. Every time it chased after us, it had all this lightning zapping around us, trying to hit us. It was all dark, too. I always thought lightning was white…"

Lynn nodded as she thought about what the boy had said. Dark lightning, huh? Which of the black monsters could do that? Not the Diablos or the Nargacuga… she didn't know much about the elder dragons herself. Well, she knew about Jhen Mohran, but who in Loc Lac didn't? And she'd taken part in the hunt of a creature called a Kirin, one that had left its native land and started causing trouble in the plains east of Loc Lac. That had been a fun fight. But black lighting… could the Fatalis do that? She wasn't sure.

"And there was falling ice, too," Logan continued. "Not snow! It wasn't snow! It was, um, really big icicles falling from the sky, trying to hit us. It was really cold then. And it shot fireballs at us too, trying to blow us up! I hated it…"

Now Lynn was confused. Ice and fire, too? What elder dragons use more than one element? She hadn't thought many… her old master, not to mention a lot of the Guild bookworms, used to tell her a lot that most monsters, even elder dragons, could only use one element. Anything else would be too unstable to survive its own existence, or at the very least be as much a danger to itself as to others, and few in number. But… what was fewer in number than the Alatreon? There was only one, so far as people knew… not to mention rumor and legend had the monster controlling up to four different elements, depending on who told the story. But… then that would mean that Logan…

"It had to really big horns on its head," Logan was saying, not noticing Lynn's expression. "And, and it was all spikey, and there was ice falling everywhere, and scary black lightning, and fireballs. But, um, but nothing was hitting us because we were driving really fast. But everyone was still scared, because it was laughing at us, and chasing after us."

"Vait, it vas _laughink_ at hyu?"

"Yeah, we could hear it. Um, it wasn't talking, but we could hear it. I didn't understand how it could talk, but, um, it was talking. And it was laughing, really meanly. My… my mom and the other adults couldn't hear it, but it was there! I know it was there!"

Lynn kept the boy's gaze as he huffed indignantly. Obviously he'd told this story before and had received less than positive feedback. But… as long as she'd known Logan, he'd been messy and destructive, but not a liar. Whatever he'd said he'd seen, he believed it was true. But could the… the Alatreon really… speak to people? What monster could to that? "Don't vorry sveetie, hy believe hyu. Vhat happened after dot?"

Logan grinned happily, obviously glad that someone had faith in what he said. But the smile was gone a moment later as he twister his head in thought. "I, um, don't remember much after that… I think that, um, one of the lightning bolts hit the car in front of us, and then we couldn't move anymore. M… my mom said we needed to get out and run away, so we did, but… but there was ice falling everywhere, and lighting and fire. And then… um… I don't, um, remember much about what happened next. Me and m… my mom got separated from the others, and we were hiding under a big rock and then… um, then, there was a bright blue light and then we were in a forest. And there were hunters there, and they said they'd take us here to Loc Lac, and then… um…"

"Vait! Dot… dot alright sveetie, hyu don't haf to go on if hyu don't vant." Lynn knew what happened next, and the bot didn't need to relive it. His mother had been stung by a Bnahabra, and reacted badly to it. Doctors called it an allergy, but whatever it was, it had killed the woman, only letting her live long enough to beg Lynn to take care of her son. Yes, he didn't need to think about that if he didn't want to…

"I didn't like the laughing," Logan said quietly, fearfully. "It sounded mean. It always made fun of us as we ran away. I hated it. I thought that it would be better once we got away from the voice and once I got here to Loc Lac, but it hasn't. I can still hear it."

"Vhat do you mean?"

Once again the fearful expression crossed the boy's face. When he spoke, his voice lowered to a scared whisper. "Sometimes, when I'm sleeping, I can hear its voice. I don't, um, think he's talking to me, but I think he's talking to someone else in the inn. It's still really mean, talking about, um, hurting people and burning down villages." Lynn's eyes widened in shock, and Logan eyes widened in fear. "Is… is there something wrong with me, Miss Lynn? No one else has dreams like this, not even the other Lost. Is there something wrong with me?"

Immediately, Lynn reached forwards and pulled the boy in to hug him. Logan squeaked in surprise at first, before hugging her back, tears of worry lining the edges of his eyes.

"Dere's notink wrong vith hyu, sveetie, notink at all." Even as she said it though, she felt a horrible fear surge through her at the information. First Levin, now Logan? How many of the Lost had issues with the Alatreon? And more importantly, how would she protect Logan? So many of the locals feared the Alatreon to the point of madness themselves, and people who got too bold mentioning the beast could be arrested, or even exiled if worse came to worst. What would happen if people heard that Logan, if not more of the Lost, thought they could actually _hear_ the beast speaking to them?

She felt herself tightening her grip on the boy. She wouldn't let them take Logan, no matter who came to threaten him! She'd promised to take care of him! She wouldn't let anything happen to him. She would need to make sure the boy kept quiet about this whole thing though. If the wrong person found out about it… Lynn shook her head of such thoughts. She wouldn't allow herself to think that way.

She'd have to redouble her efforts to help out the Lost. It would be easy for the city to turn on them if they found out that the Lost may have connections to the Alatreon. She'd need to make sure the people were more confident in themselves here in Loc Lac; if the conditions were too bad, people were far more willing to start voicing blame on their situation, and sooner or later, the Alatreon would certainly be brought up, and then… then things would get too far for the Lost to handle. But things were improving for the Lost, slowly but surely.

As long as nothing too terrible happened between the Alatreon itself and the Lost, things would be fine, hopefully.

* * *

A dark, rippling laugh rolled through Ellie's skull as the Alatreon tore towards her and Levin, each step smashing apart the ice below it and leaving behind a massive trail of clawed holes in the ice behind it. The creature's whole body seemed to emit a thick, rolling wave of heat as it ran, and a blast of steam hissed into the air behind it as it rushed the two hunters. The entire image was terrifying and made Ellie raise up her shield defensively, though she imagined that the solid Gobul materials simply wouldn't be enough to stop the Alatreon's charge and would at best leave her a crumpled mess on the ground.

But Levin either didn't realize that, or didn't care; likely the second option. With a roar of fury, the switch axe user unslung his weapon, immediately shifting the weapon into its sword mode, and charged to meet the elder dragon, dragging the tips of the bright orange spines that lined his blade along the surface of the ice behind him, kicking up a spray of ice flakes into the air. The Alatreon growled in excitement as it rushed to meet him.

**Come on, human!** The voice of the Alatreon blared in Ellie's mind. **Let us find out if your devotion to killing me is enough to best me!**

Levin continued to charge at the Alatreon, unheeding of the creature's words. A moment later, the two were on each other, and the Alatreon gave a powerful beat of its wings. The air blast was enough to nearly knock Levin onto his back, but the hunter managed to stay upright, pushing forward again and swinging his weapon around at the monster's leg, the only part of the black beast that he could reach. Ellie watch in shock; Levin was actually going to hit the thing! It wasn't even making an effort to move out of the way! However, before the blow was struck, the dragon quickly lifted one of its clawed feet and deflected the blow of the switch axe. A shock of blue electricity lanced out from the tip of the blade on impact, dancing along the creature's scaly flesh before fizzling out, but the creature didn't even flinch. Not even a shake of its claw like he'd been stung by static. It was like an adult stopping a child from poking it with a stick.

With a push, the monster's claw shoved out, throwing the switch awe upwards. Levin continued to hold onto the hilt of the weapon, though, resulting in the hunters getting knocked on his back. The Alatreon quickly followed up the simple motion by stamping its claw into the ground while horrible black lightning swarmed across its body, collecting at its feet. As the claw connected with the icy floor, the lightning leapt across the frozen lake, ripping through the water that lay below the switch axe user and tearing apart the ice below him. The blast of terrible lightning ripped up from below Levin, creating an explosion that sent the switch axe user flying across the lake with even more force than the monster's claw had. Levin hit the ice hard when he landed, sparks of black static sliding across his body as he tried to struggle to his feet.

"Levin!" Ellie shouted fearfully, before blinking in shock. She realized that she'd been standing there, terrified, the entire fight. For a long moment, she still couldn't bright herself to take a step forward; she was up against an _elder dragon_! How were they supposed to do anything? But Levin was pushing himself back to his feet again, his expression uncaring about the black lighting sparking off of his body, while more of the dangerous lightning began to crawl across the Alatreon's body. It was hard, just taking that first step into battle, but a moment later she found herself charging across the ice, blade at the ready. Her breathing had haggard and terrified, but she couldn't just let Levin deal with this alone.

So she found herself charging towards the legs of the Alatreon. The creature hadn't seemed to notice her, or simply didn't care about her, as it sent a blast of lightning at Levin again, this time missing the switch axe user and sending a swath of destruction through the ice near him. The electricity seared through even the water below, sending up a massive wave of steam shooting into the air and making Levin stumble back in pain, holding his arms up to defend against the searing heat. But Ellie was close enough to finally attack the creature now, and swung her blade at one of the breaks between the thick plates and scales.

The strike barely even touched the thing! Sure, it wedged itself between a couple of the Alatreon's scales, and made one of them wiggle a little bit, but there was no traction at all! It was like she was trying to cut through stone with her sword! Even the Lagiacrus hadn't been as durable as this! In frustration, she pulled out her blade from the scale and smashed it against the thick plates, and her weapon ricocheted harmlessly off the solid scales. It even dented her blade! Suddenly, the Alatreon shifted, and Ellie looked up, realizing that the monster had turned and was glaring down at her. The creature's voice echoed in her mind thunderously from being so close, as the elder dragon harrumphed in disdain.

**Hmph. Is this the best you humans can offer? Pathetic.**

The monster's claw swung sharply towards her, and she pulled her shield up frantically. But the impact of the monster's claw against her shield was bone-rattling, and still sent her skidding back across the ice, despite her defense. Her arm nearly broke under the blow as well. Ellie had to hurry to get herself back to her feet before-

The sword and shield user yelped in fear as a massive white shape shot across the ice. A monster? No… a wave of icicles was shooting up from below the surface of the lake like spears! Huge frozen lances the size of Ellie herself! Ellie didn't have time to get back to her feet and had to scramble on her hands and knees back over out of the ice-spikes' path. She just barely got out of the way in time, several of the pointed tips catching the edges of her plate mail around the thighs and ankles, and the ice blades were sharp enough to cut even through the Lagiacrus scales, cutting along the edge of her legs and leaving red gashes behind. Damn it, how was just ice supposed to be this sharp?

As she pushed herself back to her feet, she could see that Levin had caught back up to the Alatreon, and was swinging wildly at the beast's legs. The monster was leaping out of the way or deflecting the blows easily. It was toying with the switch axe user, laughing the whole time. But Levin seemed to be moving very clunky for some reason, as though he was struggling to swing his weapon. How hard had the Alatreon hit him? He was still sparking a little from the lightning that had hit him earlier, but… was the electricity, or whatever it was, impeding his ability to fight?

The Alatreon laughed as Levin's blade deflected off its thick scales yet again, and flapped its wings down at the earth, sending him tumbling back from the wind. As the hunter rolled back to his feet, the black beast sent a blast of flame across the ice towards him, lashing fire and steam into the switch axe user's face as he pushed forward, trying to find some way to damage the creature at all. Or, maybe he didn't realize he wasn't hurting the monster at all. Either way, Ellie had to try and pull the monster's attention away from Levin; if it just focused on him, he'd just take a worse beating. But she had to be quiet as well, since the beast seemed like it was too quick to hit if it knew you were coming.

The creature's laughter filled her skull as she closed in on the beast again. She needed to do something, anything to get some leverage on the beast! It had to have some weakness, something that would work to giving them a chance to fight back or at least escape from the fight… if she could convince Levin to run away, that is. That didn't seem likely though, so Ellie charged forward again to attack.

The Alatreon was still taunting Levin, grazing him with fireballs and shots of black lightning, as Ellie reached the beast's legs. This time, though, Ellie tried to be a little more careful about her strike, and scoured the creature's leg for some sort of weak point or joint in the beast's scales. But the scales were so close together and so strong, and despite the creature's age, there weren't any signs of damage on the beast's body anywhere at all! But… there had to be some point or another she could get some work in at. There was a point right on the monster's ankle, where it seemed that the plates were just a bit more separated than they were elsewhere, but if she went for it, she'd really only have one shot at it…

Instinctively her vision narrowed as the feeling of her madness took over her mind, allowing her the dangerous increase in focus that it allowed. The thin gap in the Alatreon's armor seemed expand in her eyes as the effects settled into her mind; this would be easy to hit now! With a quick lunge, she snapped her blade forward, thrusting the tip towards the small gap. With a slick crunching sound and a spray for dark red blood, the blade cut right into the creature's leg. Finally, some traction! As quickly as she could, she pulled her blade back, striking out at the beast a couple more times.

**And what do you think you're doing back there, human?**

Ellie's world was jarred as the Alatreon's leg snapped back, kicking her directly in the chest. Blood sprayed from her mouth as her ribs exploded in pain. The attack sent her crashing across the ice, just barely holding onto her blade as she slid to a halt. It was a struggle for her to get back to her feet, and even that took her a couple of downed potions before the pain was bearable enough to deal with. And still the Alatreon was hardly paying her any attention, keeping its focus on Levin. But an eye focused on her in irritation.

**How foolish, this concept of human camaraderie is. You really think that just because there are two of you, I will fall? You can't hurt me. You're not even worth my time.**

For a moment Ellie felt a wave of hopelessness, but a moment later, her eyes caught something. Her mind was still super focused, allowing her to see every step and twitch that the Alatreon made and something in the beast's motions were off. The leg that Ellie had attacked was moving just a touch more sluggishly, and each motion seemed twitchy and sporadic. Even the Alatreon seemed to notice that something was wrong, as it spared a glance back at its hind leg and shook it questioningly. For all her pain, Ellie couldn't help but grin to herself; she'd managed to get to it! Her blade had managed to affect it, if only a little, tainting the creature with the paralysis venom that coated it! If she could get a few more strikes on the beast… The Alatreon's eyes narrowed on her. Ellie gasped as the light of fire began to grow in the back of the beast's throat; it was going to shoot fire at her! But she was too wounded to get out of the way quick enough and her chest screamed in pain.

"Die you bastard!" The Alatreon turned in surprise as Levin sprung up from in front of it, thrusting his blade into the beast's foreleg. The beast growled in frustration as it turned its attention back to the switch axe user, but through skill or luck the hunter had managed to wedge his blade between two of the jagged spikes that lined the creature's forelegs, and as the beast tried to pull away, the weapon stayed jammed in. Levin's hand quickly snapped forward, pressing down on the weapon's release button, and a surge of energy swelled out of the weapon's tip, searing into the beast's leg. A wordless noise roared through the hunters' minds as the Alatreon reared back in surprise, a moment before the full force of the electric energy burst from the tip, sending waves of bright blue energy blasting across the Alatreon's leg and breaking the weapon loose. The Alatreon roared in frustration as Levin charged again, and leapt back and away from the hunter as he tried to strike again, landing several dozen yards away from them and glaring angrily.

**What is that… thing you struck me with? Some new human weapon? Pathetic! You waste your time! You think this little damage is able to even scratch me? I have dealt with hunters and weapons a thousand times superior to those pathetic little toys you swing at me!**

But something was off, Ellie could tell. If they really weren't doing anything, why was the Alatreon so aggravated? Her eyes darted over to where Levin's attack had gone off. Some of the ice had melted away below the blast radius, but there was more there besides that. Small black pieces of something were disappearing; glittering metallic shards that were slowly vanishing under the snow. Broken scales? Levin had damaged it, even if only a little. But then, why had the creature claimed that the two of them couldn't scratch it? They'd just proven they could. Self-delusion? It didn't really matter, Ellie supposed. If she could just get a couple more strikes under the beast's armor, she might be able to fully paralyze it, and then…

But before either of the hunters could continue the fight, the Alatreon leapt into the air, beating its wings to lift itself skyward. Its eyes darted between Ellie and Levin cautiously, its eyes lingering on Ellie for a moment or two longer than the switch axe user. Then the beast bellowed a powerful roar, and the glow of flames began to swell up in the back of its gaping maw. A moment later, the Alatreon unleashed a massive wave of fire straight down into the ice. A blast of steam shot into the air as the blaze sheared through the ice floor, wiping away any foothold that could be found. Then the Alatreon twisted its head around, flinging the fire around the lake as far as it could. The hunters were forced to scramble away from the Alatreon as the ice of the lake began vanishing faster and faster, evaporating by feet and yards every second. It was a desperate sprint for both of them, finally ending when the two of them managed to reach the shoreline, where the ice was replaced with piles of snow.

**I tire of this flat battleground! Come; let us find a more interesting place to fight!**

"Get back here you coward!" Levin roared as the Alatreon laughed, swooping down low to the ground and soaring directly over the two hunters before veering away and vanishing into the spiraling snowstorm. Levin barely took the time to swing his weapon onto the hooks of the back of his armor before tearing off through the snow after it, bellowing curses at the beast and demanding that it stop trying to run away.

"Levin! Levin wait, damn it!" Ellie cursed and groaned in pain as she followed behind the switch axe user, struggling to keep up with him as he pushed through the knee-high snow. But the hunter wouldn't slow down at all, and barely seemed to realize that Ellie was even calling to him. All she could do was give chase after the Alatreon.

And the creature led them on one hell of a dangerous chase. Levin, determined to hunt the elder dragon down, tailed after the sound of the beast flying through the storm. The beast seemed to enjoy taunting them, keeping them feeling nearly lost in the howling winds of the Tundra as it led them around. Ellie couldn't even guess where they were anymore as they wandered, trying to keep up with the monster. But it was toying with them; Ellie could tell, even if Levin was too enraged to do so. Every ten minutes or so, the Alatreon would seem to vanish completely from sight and sound, leaving the two hunters lost in a sea of blinding white. Ellie would try and convince Levin to give up the chase, to find someplace to hide out the storm, but just when she'd start thinking she was about to convince him, the massive shape of the beast would appear through the blizzard, followed by the creature's taunting laughter, and Levin would lose control again, charging after the dragon again. And all Ellie could do was follow behind, hoping to keep the two of them alive.

Ellie couldn't tell where or how far they'd traveled, but eventually the hunt began to slope them upwards, as the two hunters followed the beast up the side of the mountain Ellie had seen earlier. The chase became even more precarious than before as the Alatreon led them around a thin spiraling pathway that slowly twisted and wove its way up the mountainside. The path was just barely wide enough for the two of them to follow behind the creature as it led them higher and higher. Ellie didn't know how Levin could keep up his pace.

The two hunters had scaled what felt like the entire mountain, trying to keep up with the Alatreon. Levin's pace had nearly led him to passing out in the snow halfway up, when the Hot Drinks they'd taken as they'd left Hearth had worn off, and the frigid air had nearly overcome the switch axe user. Ellie had just barely been able to get another drink down his throat, and even then the hunter hadn't said a word after, just continued running up the slope. Ellie was getting more and more worried for him; she'd known that the idea of killing the Alatreon was a powerful motivator for him, but he seemed to be borderline suicidal at this point…

As abruptly as the chase had begun, though, it ended just as quickly. After what felt like hours, the path abruptly cut off, ending in a wide open area, with a shear wall bordering on one side and the other dropping off down an overhanging cliff. The bones of several dozen creatures of massive size lay scattered around the area, though what monsters they had been, Ellie couldn't guess. The remains of a few dead trees clung loosely to the rocky terrain as well, somehow having survived the countless years of snow and wind, clinging precariously to the edge of the cliff. As high as they were, the winds here were particularly fierce, and Ellie had to brace herself, fearing she'd be blown off the edge if she got careless.

"Where are you?" Levin shouted at the winds, eyes darting around in search of movement through the storm.

"Levin, calm down!" Ellie shouted at him, grabbing his shoulder and shaking him. "You can't just charge into fighting it! It's too strong! We have to… think of some kind of strategy to fight it with!"

Levin turned to her and lifted his visor, but Ellie froze at the sight of his face. The only emotion that he displayed on his face was anger and hatred, a foul mix of the two. His eyes fell on her, but when he looked at her, there didn't seem to be any recognition in them, just a blank, compassionless stare, mixed with the anger he was feeling for the Alatreon. For all Ellie could tell, he didn't even see her, he was just searching for the source of a sound. Terrified, she raised a hand to his face, brushing them against him jaw. He flinched slightly at the contact, but didn't pull away.

"Strategy…" he muttered darkly. "Hmm. Maybe…"

"Levin, what's wrong?" Ellie asked. For a moment his eyes were focused on her, but a second later they glazed over again. "You're not… something's wrong with you. You can't… we can't fight this way. It's too dangerous. You're not thinking straight. Levin, we have to leave. We can't fight the Alatreon like we are. Levin, please."

"Leave?" Levin said quickly. He looked away, back into the storm. "Dangerous? We should… no. No! I have to keep fighting! I can't let it get away, not now that it's right here in front of me!"

"Levin, please!" Ellie pleaded, but her beloved pulled away, not even hearing her.

"No! No, I can't run away, not now! Where are you, you damn bastard? Show yourself! Stop hiding from me!"

**Very well boy!** Laughter pealed through Ellie's mind, and the massive shape of the beast swept through the sweeping now, wings beating as it hovered over the cliff side area. **Let's see how you deal with the change in scenery. **

Levin pulled out his weapon, but rather than dropping to the ground to battle as it had before, the Alatreon continued to hover over a dozen yards over the battleground, much to Levin's chagrin. The creature continued to taunt the switch axe user as well by swooping close to the ground occasionally, just barely lowering its belly and tail low enough for Levin to take a swing at, but failing to connect. And the beast wasn't just mocking the hunters, either; every so often, a blast of flame or black lightning would lance down from the Alatreon, searing the hunters' skins as frequently as they intentionally missed. And all the while, Levin continued to rage at the beast, demanding it lower itself from the sky and fight him fairly.

All Ellie could really do to help was stand back and watch for an opportunity to strike. She had nothing to use against the Alatreon in terms of range; no bombs, no traps, not even a shard of metal she could use as a throwing knife. What she wouldn't give for one of the dangerous experimental things that Harker had brought along with him! She'd seen the creature's scales shatter, even if just a little, and if Harker had bottled the power of even half the force of some of the explosions she'd heard coming from his room at the Oasis, the bombs would be sure to do at least some kind of damage. But with the Alatreon flying at the moment and only a sword at her disposal, she could only stand by at the moment.

The huntress yelped in fright as one of the creature's fireballs fired towards her and Levin. Instinctively the two hunters dove aside, trying to get out of the way of the impending blast. But the shot was fired just between the two of them, and to dodge the explosion, the pair of hunters had jumped in different directions, Levin towards the rock wall, and Ellie closer to the shear drop off. The sword and shield user cringed as a gust of wind caught her, pushing her a little towards the cliff, but she caught herself before it managed to really affect her.

But the next moment, the earth shook underneath her as the Alatreon suddenly dropped to the earth, smashing into the rocky ground with a powerful crash directly between Ellie and Levin. It followed that up with a shock of lightning that danced along the ground, leaping in random directions that forced both hunters to brace themselves against the powerful energy. But the moment the lightning began to fade, Levin charge for the beast's ankles, his weapon sparking with his own electrical energy.

How much had the Alatreon affected Levin, to make him act so blindly? He didn't even seem to be thinking anymore, just attacking stupidly! Ellie had to do something to save him, or else no matter how hard they fought they were going to be killed.

The Alatreon turned to meet the switch axe user as he charged, surprisingly, raising its forepaw to deflect the attacks that Levin swung at him, laughing at the spikes of blue lightning crackled out from the blade across its leg. None of the strikes seemed to be affecting the beast like the overcharge blast that Levin had released on the beast's leg had, but they surely had to be doing something with all the power he was putting behind each strike.

Ellie's eyes narrowed, and she allowed herself to slide a little into her hyper-focused state. The Alatreon seemed to not have any focus on Ellie at the moment, and the hole in the beast's armor seemed to glow bright in her vision. If she moved quickly enough, she might be able to get a stab or two into the creature. If she was lucky, she'd be able to paralyze the Alatreon for a short time. It probably wouldn't be enough to do any real damage to the elder dragon, even with Levin releasing all the power his switch axe had to offer, but maybe she could find another way to survive. Levin didn't seem to be in the proper state of mind to fight properly, but maybe if she nicked him with her blade, she could paralyze him as well…

She didn't have time to think about much more than that. It would be a risk, but if she and Levin were going to survive, she'd need to do whatever it took, even if it was against his wishes to do so. He may hate her for forcing him away from his fight with the Alatreon, but… she couldn't let him die for this, not like this. As swiftly as she could press through the snow, Ellie shot forward, charging towards the break in the Alatreon's armor. She could do this! Just one or two hits into the beast's flesh and it would surely-

Ten steps from the elder dragon's leg, something pricked at Ellie's perception. It was something small, but something terrifying in its damning subtlety. Her eyes moved instinctively, far faster than her body could react to, looking up at the Alatreon's head. The beast was looking at her. With just a single eye, he was looking _directly at her_. He'd seen her coming. No; its teeth were bared in a terrible grin. It'd tempted her into attacking. It had wanted her to try and cut at the break in its scales. Already the creature's jagged spiked tail was in motion, twisting and curling low to the ground towards her. Ellie's right arm came up, seeming to move through molasses in her focused state, not nearly fast enough.

She was just quick enough to pull her shield up as the jagged spikes of the Alatreon's tail swept down on her, the thick blades nearly ripping through the metal defense. Dozens of the thin Gobul spikes that poked out from the flat of the shield were snapped off instantly upon impact, the edges of the creature's tail screeching as them scratched along the shield. Ellie found herself wedged between two of the massive spikes along the Alatreon's tail, her shield having deflected the sharp edges enough to keep her safe from the cutting edge. But it wasn't enough to stop the force of the impact of the tail itself, and the gasped in pain as the sweep slammed against her chest, leveling her and sending her sailing across the earth, tumbling through the snow.

Abruptly, she came to a stop though, agony lancing through her body as her back slammed into the broken, frozen skeleton of one of the dead trees in the area. The sword and shield user gasped in pain as the jagged bark of the tree snuck through the gaps in her armor, prodding and piercing her flesh as she slumped to earth and sunk into the snow. She groaned in pain as she tried to push herself back to her feet again, pushing a hand through the snow to push herself back to her feet.

There was nothing below the snow.

Ellie screamed in terror as her body tumbled backward, sliding downwards without anything to grip. She glanced down and realized in shock that the tree she had run into was one of the few that clung desperately to the edge of the cliff face. On three sides of the roots of the tree was nothing but air above a drop into oblivion, too far down for Ellie to even guess at the distance.

Ellie's arms waved wildly, desperately trying to find something to grapple ahold of, anything that would keep her from falling off the edge of the cliff. She released her hold on the blade she'd been holding in her panic, and the sword dropped downwards, vanishing in the swirling clouds below. But she couldn't stop herself from sliding over the edge, the spikes and jagged edges of her boots providing the last bit of resistance before she fell completely over the side. Her breath caught in her throat as weightlessness set in and she looked down to the nothingness below her. But before she could truly begin to fall, the side of her hand slid along something rope-like. She desperately grasped for it, hoping for anything that might save her.

She sharply snapped to a halt, her legs swinging down below her. Whatever she'd grabbed had held, but was long enough that it had let her fall a few feet before pulling taut and slamming her face first into the icy rock wall below the cliff edge. She winced in pain and gritted herself from the impact, but the blow had been just enough to push the durability of her shield over the edge; the metal and monster hide had simply taken too much damage. With a loud snapping sound, the leather strap on her shield tore in two, and the metal barrier tumbled from her arm, sailing into the blizzard out of sight like the sword before it.

But Ellie was still alive and still hanging on, to a root, she saw. A thick, dead root of the tree she'd struck. For several moments she hung in silence, letting her mind wrap itself around what had just happened. Then she forced herself to try and move. She had to try and climb to safety somehow. She tried to stretch her arm up, but a lance of pain fired up from her chest and back, her wounds coming back to bite her. She winced, nearly letting go of the root in the process. She couldn't climb up like this, with just her arms. She was just too tired and injured to do so. She looked desperately to the rock wall in front of her, but there wasn't anything there that could provide her a handhold or foothold at all, just a bunch of crumbling stones poking out.

She was stuck. She was stuck, hanging for her life over who knew how high of a drop.

"Levin! Levin, help! Please, help me!" she cried out, desperately hoping her beloved would hear her calls. He was the only one around that could help her. They'd been fighting together for over an hour now, he must have realized she was missing, must have seen her get hit.

But she remembered the blank look he'd had when she'd tried to talk to him earlier, how he'd barely registered a word she'd said.

"Levin! Help me! Please!"

For a moment, all she could hear was the howling of the wind. Then, faintly, she heard Levin's voice, a shout, but not one of worry or fear. One of anger. Then a moment later, the sound of the Alatreon's roar tore through the air, followed by the sound of the creature's laughter echoing through her head.

**You're going to have to do better than that, boy! Is that all you've got? Let us see how dedicated you are to killing me! Try and keep up with me again! You wouldn't want to lose sight of me again, would you?**

"No… No! Levin please! Don't leave! Can't you hear me?! Levin!"

But all Ellie could hear over the wind was the sound of the creature's laughter, slowly fading away as the beast got further and further away, until all that remained was the sound of the blizzard and the slow, numbing pain in her torso and the increasing pain in her hands.

"Levin, no! Please come back! Don't leave me like this!"

Had he really forgotten her? Had he really been so focused on killing the Alatreon that he hadn't even realized she wasn't next to him anymore? Or… had he simply chosen that hunting and killing the elder dragon was more important to him? That couldn't be. It simply couldn't be. Either way, he was gone, and all she could do was hang there, waiting to lose her grip. But he had to come back. He had to realize that he'd left her. He would.

Wouldn't he? How much of his mind was left to him? Voices in his head, nightmares, a true reason to really hate the Alatreon? His eyes had been empty earlier, of everything except his anger towards the beast.

Ellie choked back a sob of pain and misery as the sharp bark of the root bit into her palms. She couldn't hold on long like this. Through the howling of the wind, the memory of a voice echoed through her mind, of a warning she'd refused to believe.

_He will leave you to die._

* * *

_The beast is here! It has to die! Find it, chase it, kill it! Kill it kill it kill it kill it kill it!_

The sound of the aggressive whisper in his skull pounded in Levin's mind, drowning out the sound of the wind howling past his head. The passive voice was pressing against his mind, trying to get his attention, but was forced down. His eyes had narrowed into tunnel vision, focused entirely on the vague shadow of the Alatreon that flitted and vanished through the twisting snowfall like a ghost. He had to find it and kill it! He had to! He might have fallen a dozen times, pressing through the thick snow and tailing after the elder dragon, but he couldn't afford to slow down or deal with any injuries he may have gotten. He couldn't lose sight of the Alatreon!

_It has to die! You have to kill it! You must get revenge for everything it's done! _

The second chase seemed to last for hours to Levin. The beast just wouldn't stop running away, taunting him while staying just out of range and dancing in and out of sight. And it was always laughing, mocking him! It had to die, just to rid the world of that wicked, vile laughter.

The Alatreon led him along, down another path of the mountain, until they reached a small valley between the jagged spire he'd just left and another broader mountain. It was a small area, split in half, one side covered in snow while the other side was the frozen surface of a small pond. But a blast of flame shot down from the sky, sweeping around the valley and melting away a lot of the snow. A moment later, the elder dragon itself dropped from the sky, crashing down to the earth and eyeing Levin wickedly.

**It's time, boy. All other distractions are out of the way. Let's see what you can really do. Is your anger really enough to overwhelm me? Let's find out. **

Levin didn't even take time to think, immediately roaring in rage and leaping forward, his weapon sweeping out of its sheath and into its sword mode. He swung his blade powerfully at the Alatreon's leg, intending to cut the damn thing off.

The elder dragon didn't even move.

With a loud crack, the jagged edge of Levin's switch axe smashed against the Alatreon's leg, sending bright blue lightning up the beast's body. But the monster didn't even move, didn't even _flinch_ at the blow. It simply stared down at Levin. Levin seethed with anger, pulling back his blade again and smashing it into the creature's leg again, with as little effect as the first strike.

But the Alatreon didn't even seem bothered at all.

With a roar of anger, Levin pulled back his sword, smashing his blade against the elder dragon's leg again and again and again, over and over, crashing his blade into the Alatreon repetitively. He continued to attack the beast for almost a minute, blow after blow, until the phial in his switch axe finally ran out of energy, and a blast of steam accompanied the weapon slipping back into its standard axe form. Levin stumbled backwards from the creature's leg, breathing heavily from the exertion, and holding his weapon at the ready to attack.

All the Alatreon did was stare idly down at him, apparent disappointment in its eyes. Then power seared through the beast's body, and a massive wave of black lightning leapt up from the beast's body, blasting Levin backward in pain as the dark energy tore into his body. It was painful, this lightning. It was like his body grew heavier as the power sparked across his body. He had trouble moving under the effects of this energy, whatever it was.

But he had to keep fighting! With a shout, he lunged forward, swinging his blade at the Alatreon's leg again. But before he could hit the creature, the elder dragon lunged into the sky, the beating of its wings knocking Levin back a few steps. The hunter braced himself against the wind, trying to press forward to attack again, but by the time he regained his footing, the Alatreon had vanished into the swirling snow above him again, the sound of its wings seeming to mock him through the sound of the wind.

**Is this really all you have to offer, boy? I had hoped for more. I thought all that rage and fury that have been growing inside of you would have been enough to make you a bit more of a challenge. But it seems that once again, you humans have left me disappointed.**

"Shut up and fight me then!" Levin shouted into the sky as the massive winged shape swept and hovered through the blizzard. "I'll destroy you! For everything you've done to me, to everyone you've hurt! I'll reduce you to ashes!"

**You humans are so small and weak. For as long as I can remember, you've flailed hopelessly around, trying to make yourselves masters of this world. And for as long as I've existed, I've made an effort to remind you of your proper place. But you never seem to learn.** Levin winced as the massive creature suddenly swept out of the snow, barreling towards him with black lightning arcing over its body. He dove out of the way as quickly as he could, but still felt the searing heat of the steam that shot across him as the lightning struck into the lake behind him. He ignored the pain though, spinning about the attack the Alatreon while it was close, but the creature had banished into the fog again, leaving behind only a spiraling cloud of snowflakes kicked up from its passing. Levin cursed loudly. Why wouldn't the beast just show itself and fight?

**You humans thought yourselves kings of your world back when we first met, didn't you, human? Masters of all you survey, you thought. No, you were never in control. You were merely allowed to prosper, for a time. But that's only because the true threats were sleeping, waiting, letting you grow fat in your confidence in yourself. When it was time for me to awaken, you were so small and frail, your egos swelling with pride in yourselves, thinking your mastery of technology and science to be enough to protect you against any threat. **A rolling laugh echoed through Levin's skull. A little voice in the back of his mind couldn't help but wonder what the hell the Alatreon was going on about, and the implications as well. **How wrong you were. So very, very wrong.**

**How long do you think I have existed, boy? Do you think I just came to be when I wrecked your precious little life and world, and sent you and the other Lost (as you seem to refer to yourselves) here? No, I have been alive long before you and I had our fateful first encounter. Where do you think your ancient legends of dragons and other monsters originated, boy? Do you really think that humans are intelligent or creative enough to have pulled the idea for such monsters out of thin air? Ha! So prideful you humans are. So vain. For millennia I have existed, providing perspective to humans and their belief in their dominion of the world. **

**Centuries and centuries before you were even born, there was no creature in the world that could challenge me, human or no. Armies of your kind would rise against me, daring to try and strike me down, and all would fall before my power. It was amusing to see your kind charging to their deaths, only to fall in heaps without so much as scratching my scales. Amusing… but boring. How pathetic you humans were, coming after me with your little iron swords and spears and arrows. It was just the same thing, over and over and over, nothing new or interesting, just you pathetic bugs each thinking your skill and strength would be enough to fell me. But it never was. But your numbers were great. That's all you had to benefit your species. And despite your frailty, many of the other dragons and creatures that existed in the world were killed off or defeated over time. It mattered little to me, but many other elders, cowardly as they were, were hiding themselves away, fleeing from your numbers, like you were a plague. And perhaps you were, but I felt no contentment playing with your species anymore, and decided it would be best if I slept away the centuries in wait for you to become better playthings to toy with. **

"You were hiding!" Levin growled, and dove out of the way as a seething roar of anger was followed by a plume of flame shooting across the earth. "With all the others gone, you feared we'd overrun you, so you fled with your tail between your legs!"

**Silence! I will never fear you humans! You are nothing to me but a passing amusement to bide my time! No creature on this earth can stand up to me, human or no! I was hoping, dreaming that you humans or something else would grow into a worthy challenge for me if I were to let your kind have time to advance. Needless to say, when I awoke several centuries later, I was vastly disappointed in what I found. You humans had become so advanced, yet you were still weak, still hardly a worthy of being the dominant species like you hoped to be! Great machines and weapons of devastation you sent at me, and none of them were capable of even wounding me! I spent years tearing your world apart, and nothing was different than it had been before! I'll admit, I had some concerns about the larger explosives you humans developed. You'd somehow managed to create weapons that could match the power that some of the other elder dragons possessed! Single bombs that could wipe out cities! It was fascinating watching one of those kill two other elder dragons that had laid siege to one of your cities. Had any of them actually managed to hit me, I might have actually taken damage! Though, with so many of us 'monsters' in the world and wreaking havoc on the peace you'd created, I suppose it was a challenge to guess at where I was.**

**You had your bombs and artillery, but your only true threat was the numbers you threw at me! There were so very many of you working together to try and bring me down, a constant stream of different attacks from a thousand different directions! It was… surprising, I'll admit, the wave of various things your species had at your disposal to attack me with. None of them worked, of course, much to my great boredom. **

Levin remembered the shattered remains of the planes and tanks that littered the Alatreon's 'nest' that he'd seen in his dreams. He would've thought… he'd hoped that the massive technological power that his old world had possessed might have been something to use against the Alatreon. He'd thought for so long that his world had fallen because of the monsters' extreme surprise attack but… they'd thrown everything they'd had at the Alatreon and done nothing at all. For a moment, all his anger vanished, only to be replaced by despair. If an entire civilization had failed, what hope did he have?

A thought occurred to him. "Why? Why would… why did the Lost get brought here? Why were we pulled from our homes to here if you were so disappointed in us?"

An amused chuckle echoed through the howling winds. **One of my more brilliant ideas, I'll admit. I had hopes that you humans would prove a more worthy adversary for me than you had before… but I simply didn't have faith. However, from experiences I'd had during what you'd call the Dark Ages, I found that small groups of very skilled warriors fared far better against me then whole armies. Often they were self-proclaimed 'noble heroes' out for vengeance or some such. They were all soundly defeated in the end, but they'd given me an idea. **

**Your city, where we first met, was placed directly above where I slept away the centuries, which made it my first victim. When you and I had our fateful encounter, I put my plan in motion. If I wanted to hope for a truly challenging opponent, I would need to mold one for myself. So I did. When I attacked your home, I gave you a reason to hate me, to fear me, to want me dead. All that was left to find was something that would give you the strength and ability to challenge me. But your little guns and bombs were not enough, so I simply… stored you away, to bring you back when there was something interesting that might make you more amusing.**

"You… you were the one… you were the one that froze me? You put me in that crystal?"

**Ha! Yes, of course! What other creature could possess such a power? How else do you think myself and the other elder dragons stayed asleep for so long? It was I that placed us all to sleep, to wait out the centuries until the human race was interesting enough to play with again! Of course, others of the elders may possess the ability, but I made sure that they wouldn't awaken before me. Couldn't let them spoil my fun, could I? But the true potential of the ability is lost on the others! To preserve your amusements for later!**

"But… what about the others? What are the other Lost here for? Why would you do this to so many of us?"

A blast of hot air burst against Levin's back, and the hunter spun, shocked to realize that the Alatreon was right behind him, its snout not a foot away and its cold red eyes staring into him. **Because, human, as amusing as you are, you are a disappointment. You are so weak and frail, despite the time and incentive I've given you. I gathered thousands of your kind, hid them away for a later date. You should be honored, boy; you were the true first of all the Lost to meet such a fate. All I needed was to wait. Wait for you humans to develop something, anything that could challenge me.**

**And, oh, for once in your miserable existences, you did not disappoint! It wasn't long after I and the other so-called 'monsters' awoke that you humans finally found an idea that truly surprised me! You found it in your minds to tear the flesh off the creatures you'd killed and use them against other creatures! How joyous I was that you'd thought up such a thing! Finally, you might be capable of challenging me! But it was too early to awaken you 'Lost', but I was patient, and gave humanity several centuries to develop their skills with their 'hunting' into something worthwhile. There were some snags, some frustrations, but finally I felt it was time to allow some of you Lost to wake up. Some woke up before you, many after, but you, boy, you were one I definitely wanted awake, to play with. **

**There are others, of course, should you humans prove to be too weak still to amuse me. Thousands of you Lost, buried deep in their crystalline seeds, awaiting my order to awaken. If you prove to disappoint, or worse, bore me, I'll move on some other Lost to poke and prod and press into coming for me, and if he fails I'll move on to the next. Then the next. Then the next. Until the last of you falls. Once you're all gone, I suppose I'll have to wait a couple more centuries to wake up my next collection of your kind, then the game begins again. Oh, if the other elders could realize how much fun it is, to save, to conserve your toys for fun so much later!**

A deep, rolling laughter curled through Levin's mind as the Alatreon seemed to smile wickedly at him. **Of course, the crystallization process, while it is capable of allowing any sort of creature to sleep away the years without aging, is not without its flaws. For elder dragons, it is one thing to use the power to wait for centuries to pass, but for humans… well, it alters them a little. Twists and tweaks them. Especially their minds. Things are snapped and broken, or curved and twisted, and when you humans come out of the crystals, you're not exactly how you were when you entered. You come out less sane than when you entered. **

"It was you?" Levin asked incredulously. "You were the one that made the Lost the way they are? You were the one that injected madness into all of us?"

**It makes my playthings far more interesting.**

"I am not your toy! I am not your plaything!" Levin roared, his anger surging back to power. The only answer was the beast's laughing. "None of us are! The Lost aren't yours to play with! We are our own people!"

**It is your only purpose, boy, to dance at the end of my strings! And you have played your role admirably! You have sought me mindlessly, ignoring so much else to seek my death! I admit, I was worried about your value to me, with this pitiful compassion and care you hold for others of your species! But you have finally proven to be worthwhile, walking away from your mate and leaving her to die simply for the sake of killing me! Wonderful, boy! If you weren't so… weak, you'd be the perfect plaything!**

"I won't-" Levin froze, his thoughts tumbling over each other. The aggressive whisper was raging in his mind, but something… something the Alatreon had said… "Ellie? What do you mean…"

**Yes, fantastic! So cold of you, leaving her behind like that! Likely she's dead by now. I had dreaded you lacked the capacity to do such a thing, but you proved coldblooded enough to do so!** **But I suppose it is in your human nature to ignore camaraderie in desire for vengeance. I saw it quite often during my time destroying the technology and power you Lost had developed. How easily they were willing to sacrifice thousands other humans with their powerful weapons, just for the sake of killing me, or one of the other elders! And always your species would make excuses, claiming the deaths were necessary! How laughable! Brutal murder and betrayal simply to save themselves from their own terror, or to satiate their own lust for vengeance! But you'd know all about that, wouldn't you?**

A gust of air nearly knocked Levin off his feet as the Alatreon shot back into the air. **Now come, human! We have spoken enough! Let us continue our 'battle'! I'm right here, boy, come and get me! You want to be reunited with that family of yours, don't you? Or would you prefer they stay forever out of your reach?**

_Kill it!_ The aggressive whisper roared to the forefront of his mind again, and seething rage tore through Levin as he pressed off after the Alatreon.

_Are you truly going to give her up for this revenge of yours?_ Levin paused as the strength of the passive whisper suddenly rose, overpowering the other.

"I have to kill it! It has to die!"

_She's all you have left! You can't just let her die!_

"No!" Levin screamed, stumbling on a jagged rock and dropping to his knees. "She not… not all I have! Not if I kill it! If I do, the Alatreon… they'll come back! I don't… I don't want to lose her, but it has my family! I can… I can get them back!"

Immediately, the other, more furious voice in his head began howling in pain and anger. _Revenge! Death! It's all that's left! For that the creature must die!_ Pounding images began flashing through Levin's head as the voice raged, but Levin pushed them away, not wanting to hear them. He had to get back to his feet! The Alatreon's laughter was fading, the beast was getting away!

"No! It has them! My mother, my father, my brother! I can… I can save them!"

_No! You! CAN'T!_ Levin's skull rattled at the sudden shout in his mind, and his feet gave out from underneath him as he was trying to get back to his feet. Somehow or another, the kind, gentle whisper seemed… enraged and irritated. _You can't get them back! You're giving up Ellie for nothing but a farce!_

"No!" Levin waved his arms wildly as more of the images tried to push into his mind, as though he could push them away physically. "No… I can't… I have to get them back! They have to be… he has to save them…"

_Stop running away you coward! You have to face the truth! _

"No! I don't… I can't…." The images were pressing harder, pushing further into his skull, and Levin was losing the ability to push them back. "I don't want them! Don't make me see them!"

_They're gone! You can't get them back! They're…_

"No!"

_They're dead! Your family is dead and gone, and there's nothing you can do about it!_

"NO! You're lying! They aren't, they can't be gone!"

_They are! They're dead and you watched them die! You've been running away from the truth ever since!_

"No! No no no no no…" Levin's arms gave out from underneath him and he toppled onto his side, clutching his skull in terror.

_You've spent years running away from this, denying the truth! But you can't, not anymore! There's too much at stake now! They died, and no matter how you try to deny it, they'll never come back! You will never see them again!_

"No… you're lying…"

_No! You're just deceiving yourself, and it has to stop! You must remember! _

"No…"

_REMEMBER!_

Levin screamed in pain as the last vestiges of his mental strength evaporated and the images that had been pushing into his skull exploded into his mind. The angry whisper howled in misery and pain as well as the… memories swelled into his skull, overwhelming his senses with sights, sounds and smells of the past. Even the laughter and mocking of the Alatreon faded to nothing under the wave of remembrance. Fire and brimstone, so much like the dreams that the Alatreon had forced on his dreams, swelled into sharp focus, but so much more clear and… real than the dreams.

* * *

_Fire surrounded Levin as far as he could see, breaking through the cracks and remains of the rubble that seemed to be everywhere. Every building, both tall and short, had been raked to ruin, leaving nothing but piles of brick and mortar behind, with torn and rent metal beams rising up like a gleaming ribcage from the earth. But the heat of the flames and the constant shower of lightning that dropped from the sky had even made the steel warp and bend to its heat._

_Levin's eyes twitched nervously to the sky. Blankets of black and grey ash coated the sky, blotting out what had once been a pleasant evening with a bright moon floating overhead. But something… something big and terrible was up there, something that had caused all of this destruction and chaos around him. He'd seen its shape through the ash once or twice, dipping just into view. The true terror of the sightings though, were how, not a moment after the beast appeared, it was always followed by another bolt of that terrible black and red lightning. And it always hit something, whether a building or a group of people… always something._

"_Levin, come on! Quickly!" Levin turned at the voice of his father, waving at him from under an overhang of concrete. A tall man, if not exceptionally strong, with greying hair, he'd handled this insanity and horror far better than any of the others in the family. His mother and brother were there as well, cowering as explosions and lightning dropped from the sky. His mother had a much younger appearance than his father, and it was clear that Levin took after her, while his brother was a very clear child of his father. Somewhere in his mind, Levin knew that this was just a memory, and was pained that his memories were so distorted that he could hardly make out any of the features of his family; in the blur that was his memories, his parents and sibling seemed… faceless and pale._

_Levin spared one more glance up at the sky. Nothing could be seen up there, which was good. Why was he so far away from his family, though? He couldn't recall… no wait, he'd seen the thing in the sky, and none of the others in his family had. He needed to see it again. He was sure he could see it again, and when the military arrived, he'd describe it to them. They had to arrive soon… surely they'd be able to fight against this… thing that was ravaging his home. _

"_Levin! Hurry!" His mother's voice this time. The ash clouds were rolling menacingly, and Levin gulped in fear. They'd survived this long, they had to keep alive. So many others were dead… Levin had seen so many bodies in the hours (had it truly only been hours?) since the fires and lightning had begun. Levin quickly turned hurried back to his family. They had to stay hidden, so they could survive when others, so many others, hadn't. _

_But as Levin rushed towards the overhang where his family crouched trying to hide from the cascade of lightning and waves of flame, Levin's eyes shot skyward once more, as the thick clouds of ash seemed to swell and surge. All of a sudden, a great bulbous collection of it pushed down almost directly above him, pushing down like a tumorous growth from the ash and smoke. The shape continued to grow, until finally it seemed to break under the pressure of whatever was on top of it, and the ash clouds ripped apart, revealing the massive shape that had been pushing it down. _

_Levin's breath caught in his throat. It was the creature! The… thing that had done all this was falling out of the sky! Finally! Had something hit it? He didn't see any signs of injuries on the monster's body, and had yet to see any jets or anything giving chase to finish the beast off. But the creature still fell, dropping out of the sky like a bird with its wings clipped. _

_But… no. It wasn't… falling, it was diving, streaking towards the earth like a missile, with no desire to stop. Its eyes were open, its aim intent and clear. Its course was a pure, dead drop straight down towards the earth! It meant to crash straight into the ground! Its speed was too great to be otherwise, and the massive, leathery wings with their jagged spikes lining the joints remained tightly closed to its body, not allowing anything to restrict its speed. Its eyes were focused intently on the earth below it, on its intended point of impact. And it was looking straight at the ground where Levin stood. It was looking straight at Levin himself. _

_For a moment, Levin was frozen, shocked in horror at the sight of the massive… thing barreling towards the sky, aimed directly at him. Then his foot gave out from under him, though not from any effort of his own to move. Rather, a loose bit of rubble that he stood on abruptly gave way, and the young man tumbled onto his back, his hand landing directly on a jagged edge of rebar that was protruding from the concrete debris below him. He cried out in pain as the sharp metal cut into his palm, peeling back skin and letting bright red flood flow over the ruined remains of the buildings that he stood on. _

_The pain was enough to pull Levin out of his shocked stupor, and the young man immediately began to scramble away from where he was. His father shouted his name, but Levin only spared a glance at his family; he was too far away to even dare making the mad dash to the entrance of the overhang where they sat, frantically motioning him to hurry over to what they believed safe. No, the monster was coming down too quickly, far too quickly! He had to crawl , to rum, to get away a few feet, yards, however far he could get, as far as he needed to get away from the impact zone that thing falling from the sky would leave behind when it hit. _

_He managed to get a dozen or so yards before fear got the better of him and he dared another look into the sky, fearful of how close to the ground the monster was. His eyes widened in shock, realizing that the beast couldn't be more than fifty yards from impact and… how could any living creature be so big? Such creatures of that size hadn't existed on earth in… eons. And yet this monstrosity that was bearing down on him was… enormous to say the least, and worse, in all its size it was about to smash mercilessly into the earth not ten feet from where he lay gaping up. _

_Time seemed to freeze for Levin, certain he was facing his death. But, at the last moment, the creature's midnight black wings began to unfurl, spreading wider until it blocked out sight of the sky above him almost entirely. Levin could've swore that the monster's wings would tear to shreds with the abrupt speed at which the air was hitting its wings, but the leathery skin and muscle of the wings was stronger than Levin had thought they'd be, and a massive blast of air rushed past him as the creature's speed dropped dramatically. _

_The impact of the thing striking the ground was enough to lurch Levin into the air, dropping him unceremoniously onto his back as a wave of dust and rubble washed over him, making him cough even as he clutched his hand in pain. Blood still flowed from the wound, but Levin was still too focused on getting away from the creature right in front of him. A deep, rumbling growl emanated from the dust rising up from the impact zone, followed by a series of enormous footsteps working their way closer to him._

_Slowly, the shape of the massive creature began to appear through the dust, a dark shape that made Levin cringe in terror. Thick black spikes lined the creature's body from the tip of its tail all the way to the peak of the two massive horns that jutted forward out of the thing's skull. Levin felt a swell of fear as the monster glared down at him, that deep rumbling from its throat continuing. If Levin didn't know better, he would have thought the creature was laughing at him. _

_But the sound of coughing caught his ears, soft over the sound of the rubble settling, and Levin immediately remembered his family. They couldn't be more than a couple dozen yards behind where the beast stood now, but the thing hadn't seemed to notice them at all! A feeling of… determination filled him for a moment; he had to get this thing away from them! It had its eyes on him at the moment, so… Levin scrambled to his feet, trying to run away from the overhang his family was in, and the sound of footsteps continued to follow him; good! If the creature continued to follow him, then…_

"_Levin! Levin, are you okay? Where are you?" _

_The footsteps stopped, and the monster's head abruptly turned at the sound. No! Levin immediately shouted in anger at the beast, trying to pull its attention back to him. The thing did turn its head back to look at Levin again, but it was not walking towards him. Somehow, the massive thing seemed to have a look on its face that Levin could only describe as… contemplative and thoughtful. Was it… could it actually understand what it was doing? Then the creature grinned; that was the only way that Levin could describe the way it bared its fangs! It grinned at Levin, a terrible, evil expression!_

_The dust was just beginning to fully settle as the monster opened its tusked jaw, revealing a large row of long, sharp teeth. But the truly terrifying sight was revealed as a bloody-red glow began to swell in the back of the creature's throat, growing brighter and brighter. The air began to waver in front of the thing's maw as the light grew brighter, and Levin suddenly realized what the glow meant. The creature could breathe fire! It could actually breathe fire! This thing… was a dragon? Dragons actually existed? No, focus! He had to pull away its attention!_

_The creature quickly twisted around, showing far greater maneuverability than Levin had expected. But that only registered in the smallest amount in Levin's mind; what made him scream in horror was that the creature was turning to face where his family was! He could let it! The flame building in the thing's gullet was glowing brighter, but Levin still charged towards the creature. With all the strength he could muster, he desperately began striking his fists against the monster's leg trying to pull its attention back to him. But the monster barely even noticed him, just slightly twitching its leg to kick him in the chest and sending him sprawling onto his back. Blood sprayed from Levin's mouth as he coughed painfully, piercing agony lancing up his chest. But he forced himself back to his feet. He needed to stop the monster, before it…_

_The dust from the creature's impact was finally settling, and Levin realized that he could see through to where his family was hiding again. All three of them were searching for him, before spotting the massive black creature standing and looking their way. Their eyes went wide in shock and terror at the sight of the monster. And still the light growing in the back of the thing's mouth was growing brighter._

"_NO!" _

_With its sight clear, the monster lowered its head, and a massive blast of searing flame leapt from the monster's mouth, tearing across the ground towards where Levin's family hid. Levin tried to do… something, but could only watch as the blaze tore across the ground, before smashing into the overhang. The earth swelled from the heat, and a moment later the blaze erupted into a massive, roaring explosion that ripped into the sky, a massive pillar of fire that tore towards the heavens. The inferno continued to roar for a few seconds, but to Levin, it felt like a lifetime. _

_Even as the blaze was dying away, Levin found himself on his feet, stumbling awkwardly towards the overhang. They had to be alive… Please! They couldn't be dead! They just couldn't! Levin didn't even pay attention to the creature that had released the blaze as he stumbled past the beast, focused only on the rubble of the overhang. He didn't… he didn't see any… remains scattered around the overhang. Had… had his family managed to get away, get out from under the blast? Maybe yes! Maybe they'd found a way to get back from the fire! They could've survived! Surely they could've…_

_And then he saw them. Three burned bodies, charred beyond any sort of recognition. The hair, clothes and flesh of the corpses had been all but burned away, leaving only skeletal remains with blackened muscle tissue clinging to what little was left of the bodies. Levin felt as though his soul was shattering at the sight of them. He barely even noticed as the massive creature between himself and them slowly turned to face him, striding in his direction. He barely noticed the faint but growing sound of deep, wicked laughter begin pressing into his skull._

_All he could do was scream in misery, as though his very heart was trying to escape through his mouth. Gut-wrenching misery overwhelmed him and pain and despair took over all feeling in his body. The laughter in his head seemed to grow stronger as the beast in front of his approached. It seemed like ages that his lay there in pain, before the monster lowered its head, and a pale blue light seemed to swell from the beast's body. For a moment, Levin's agonized screaming stopped as he looked up at the monster, terror welling up inside of him._

_A moment later the same blue light began to overwhelm his senses. He gasped in fright as the light began to blind him, and a cold, biting feeling began to spread over him, covering him from head to toe. He found he couldn't see, couldn't hear, couldn't smell or feel. It was like everything was grinding to a sudden halt, with only the memories of his lost family to keep him. He felt blackness beginning to overwhelm him, pushing his consciousness down and down and down. And he could feel something… something foul and sickly, sliding over his mind. He felt like he was falling apart, like something deep inside him was breaking, twisting into something different._

_And then there was nothing. _

* * *

Levin crumpled in the snow, clutching his skull and crying out. He could feel bitter tears crawling down his face. The memory seemed to repeat over and over in his skull, each detail pressing into his skull, permanently embedding into his mind. Each haunting image reverberated through him, like a nightmare he was forced to know was real. In his mind, the aggressive whisper was howling miserably.

"It's my fault… It's all my fault… They're dead because of me. I can't… they're gone. They're gone forever…"

_Yes, they are._ The whisper was there again, but soothing and calm once more, pushing through the moans of the other voice. _They are dead, and there is no getting them back. Nothing, not even the Alatreon for all its power, can return the dead to life. You cannot get them back. _

_But it is not your fault! _The whisper urged on, trying to comfort him. _It is only the Alatreon's fault! It was the beast that took the lives of your family, not you. It did it out of spite and pure amusement. It was nothing you did or said that made the creature kill your family, but simply due to the fact that you were where you were at the wrong time. _

Immediately the aggressive whisper roared back to life, pulling out of its memory and raging in fury again. _It must die! It has taken everything from us and must suffer for everything it has done! It must be reduced to ash as its victims have!_

_No!_ The other whisper cut in. _You have to go save Ellie! She's all you have left, and know you know it's true! What good is the beast's death if you lose what's most important to you in the process?_

_The Alatreon took your family, your loved ones, your world! It has to die! It must be punished! It must suffer for its crimes!_

_You have to save Ellie!_

_You have to kill the beast!_

Levin winced in pain as the two began arguing again. What did it matter? He'd lost his family, and it was because of him. Because of his curiosity, his family had been killed. Because of him, the Alatreon had found them. All because of him…

…wasn't it?

It was only the Alatreon's fault, the whisper had said. But he had been the one to lead his family outside... and yet, the creature itself had said it enjoyed watching human's suffer, enjoyed seeing them despair. It had carried the Lost here, enjoying watching them agonize over their forever gone homeland, or worse, realizing that their home had become… this world. The Alatreon had done so much to ruin… to change the world. Could he really blame himself for the actions of such a terrible creature?

**Hmph. Have you given up, boy?** The two whispers in his skull went silent and the sound of ice-shattering footsteps strolled across the frozen lake towards him. Levin managed to raise his head, catching sight of the Alatreon's feet only a dozen or so yards in front of him. **Or perhaps the force of the cold has finally gotten the better of you. How frail you humans are. All it takes is this to leave you crumpled on the ground like crumpled leaves underfoot. I thought you wanted revenge on me boy. Is this all you can do?**

Levin lay panting for a moment longer, before struggling to get to his feet again. He failed, only managing to push himself to his knees before his strength gave out, leaving him kneeling painfully, looking up at the Alatreon's face painfully.

"You killed them… you killed them, didn't you? My family. They're dead, aren't they?"

The Alatreon stared down at Levin, its red eyes glowing in annoyance, before the beast scoffed. **So you finally figured it out, did you, boy? Yes, they are dead. I burned them to death with my flames, right in front of you, and your frail human mind erased the memories of it. Pathetic. **

Levin choked back another sob, forcing himself to continue staring at the elder dragon. "And you… you can't bring them back to life, can you? You're not able to."

The creature growled in irritation, gusts of steam hissing from its mouth as it spoke angrily. **Nothing can bring back the dead, boy, not even me. Make no mistake, there is still no other monster in the world as powerful as I, but reviving the dead is not an ability I possess.** The Alatreon suddenly laughed then, and leaned over him. **Even if I did have that ability at my disposal, why would I ever bring them back anyway?**

"But… you said…"

The Alatreon howled in laughter. **They were weak, human! I do not abide weakness, no matter the circumstances. Your family proved to be weak, and got the end they deserved as the human filth they were. Besides, you have yet to defeat me, and let's face the facts: you never will. Why would I worry about raising the dead under such circumstances? But try! Try and fail, human! That's all you can do! That's all you have, now that you've given up on that pathetic notion of love that you humans seem to cling so tightly to.**

"No! No…" Levin nearly crumpled to the ground again, tears falling again and freezing to his face as they fell. The Alatreon's laughter continued to shake his skull.

_The beast must die. The creature must die! It must pay for what it's done!_

_No! You have to help Ellie! You have to save her!_

"Ellie… I… where? Where is she?" Levin chest tightened in fear. Suddenly he remembered: Ellie had been with him up on the mountain… hadn't she? He hadn't… hadn't been paying attention that well… But misery and rage seemed to seethe to the forefront of his mind at the sound of the Alatreon's mocking laugh. The Alatreon needed to die for everything it had done!

_Focus! Ellie's still in danger! You have to go back for her!_

What? Was she in danger? She'd been with him… what had happened to her? She'd… disappeared some time or another. She'd… had she… had she gone over the cliff? Terrified shock suddenly bolted through him. She… she had! The Alatreon had stuck her and… she'd… slid off the edge? Had he, had he really walked away from her after she'd been knocked off the edge? Why? Why had he done that? He needed to go back! He had to…

_No! We have to get the Alatreon! It's taken too much! It has to die!_

_But if Ellie dies, it has taken even more! We can't let that happen!_

_Kill the beast!_

_Save Ellie!_

**Come, boy!** The Alatreon growled impatiently. **Are you despaired knowing your family is dead and that I have lied to you this entire time? I would have thought you'd be furious! Fight me, chase me, hunt me! That's all you have left after all! Come, seek your revenge and fight me!**

"Quiet. Quiet quiet quiet quiet…" Levin muttered, shaking his head in pain. The Alatreon looked down at him in confusion. "I can't… what do I do? You're too loud. Too loud… I can't… I can't decide what to do."

_Then decide! You've spent too long wallowing in uncertainty!_ Levin frowned. Which of the voices had said that? He couldn't tell.

_There's too much at stake! Too much to lose! This is your only chance! One way or another, you must decide how to proceed! Will you fight for revenge, or for love? _Levin clutched his ears in pain. So loud! And he couldn't even tell which voice it was! Was it the gentler or more aggressive one? Or maybe… was it both?

_Ellie is at risk, but the Alatreon is right in front of you! It took your family from you! Yet it intends to take more! Will you punish it for its crimes, or protect what you have right now? Fight the Alatreon or save Ellie! You cannot do both! You must make a decision now, and it must be your last! Now choose! There is no time left to question yourself!_

"But…!"

_Choose!_

Levin sat frozen in terror and uncertainty. He had to choose. Ellie or the Alatreon. What was more important to him? Indecision pulled at him as his mind raced. Both of the voices were quiet now, neither of them arguing their case against the other. How was he supposed to decide on his own? How was he supposed to make the right choice without help?

_You've done it before, before the voices appeared. Why is now any different? _

Levin blinked in realization. Had he… had he become so dependent on the raging of the whispers that he'd really started needing them to decide what to do? Had they really been so in control of his actions for so long? He couldn't… no, he wouldn't allow them to distort his choices anymore! But he had to decide what to do. Would he chase after the Alatreon? Or try to save Ellie? The creature needed to die, he needed to get revenge! But Ellie… His mind raced, amazingly clear for the first time in so long, without the voices howling at him. It took several moments for him to decide, painful as they were. But the answer came to him. He knew what he needed to do, what he valued above everything else.

_Your decision is your own. The consequences for your actions are your own. Pray you have made the correct decision, Levin._ Levin blinked at the finality of the words. Both whispers were indeed speaking at the same time. _From here on in, there is no one to blame for your actions but yourself. Have you made the right choice? Only time and hindsight will tell. Goodbye._

And then the voices were gone. Levin felt a massive sense of emptiness in his mind… a sense of calm and freedom. They were… gone? But how? Could voices in your head just up and leave? Could…

Now wasn't the time for such thoughts, Levin realized. He suddenly felt very strong, very determined. With a push, the switch axe user got himself back up to his feet. The Alatreon stared down at him, impressed at his sudden return of strength, and tensing to prepare for Levin to attack him. Levin gritted his teeth, glaring up angrily at the monster. This creature had taken so much from him, and mocked him for all his losses! It deserved the worst of deaths!

But…

That wasn't what took priority in Levin's mind. Not anymore.

"I'm done here," Levin said. For a moment, the Alatreon's face had what only could be described as a stunned, baffled expression, but Levin took no time to enjoy it, quickly turning to dash back across the ice from where he'd come from. Could he remember where the path he'd come from was? He'd have to try.

**What?** The Alatreon's voice echoed in his mind, confounded. **You can't… you can't just leave! Not now! You've already made your choice!**

"I have now," Levin muttered, not looking back.

**No. No!** Levin slid to an abrupt halt as the Alatreon suddenly leapt over him, making the earth shake below the switch axe user as the creature's feet smashed through the ice again, sending up another wave of frigid water. The hunter stumbled back in shock as the black beast leaned its head forward menacingly, bringing its face so close that Levin was looking directly into the beast's red eyes. Each orb was blazing with a deep, seething fury that Levin could barely comprehend. When the creature growled and spoke again, Levin felt as though his skull was going to explode.

**You will NOT walk away from me, human! I created you! I made you what you are! If not for me, you'd have died back in that pit I made of your old world! I fostered this rage in you! I killed your family! You are supposed to fight me! You are supposed to die in misery! You are not going to just leave now, you foolish, pathetic bug!**

"I have to save Ellie!" Levin shouted back. Without thinking, the hunter took a step to the side, to walk completely around the creature's snout. Immediately, the creature twisted its head in front of him, glaring at him furiously. The next moment, the Alatreon's mouth snapped open, and the beast released its powerful roar into Levin's face. His vision swam wildly, and Levin felt as though he was going to pass out as he dropped to his knees in the snow, clutching his head in pain.

**YOU WILL NOT IGNORE ME, HUMAN! I gave you this opportunity to fight me, boy! I gave you this chance to show your dedication to hunting me down and fighting me! You will not walk away from me now! If you do…** The creature's voice lowered viciously**. I will make certain that you never get the opportunity to fight me again! You will never have your vengeance on me, boy! I will destroy villages, towns, **_**cities**_**, just to remind you I exist! But no matter how much you chase me, no matter how much you desire to end my life, how much you desperately need to get your foolish revenge for the lives I've taken, I will always be out of your grasp, boy! You will never so much as glimpse me again, if you dare to leave this place to aid that insignificant little whelp of a girl! Now: make your decision, human! Fight me now, or you will never have your revenge!**

Levin felt himself quivering as he shakily pushed himself to his feet. Fight, or save Ellie and never get the chance to kill the Alatreon? Those were his only choices? He paused, listening for the whispers that had haunted his mind for… so long now. But it was… quiet. His thoughts were clear, for the first time in such a long time. Though, for a moment, he heard them both once more, but only for a second, and both of them speaking at the same time, mixing into a single voice, with an oddly amused, proud sort of tone.

_Why ask us for advice anymore? You can make your own choices from now on, so let the beast know what you've chosen. It's your decision after all, not his._

Was it his imagination, or maybe an echo of what he thought the voices would say? No matter. Levin straightened himself and met the Alatreon's glare with one of his own. Then the switch axe user pushed to the side, striding around the Alatreon's snout and hurrying past the beast. "Get out of my way."

The Alatreon turned, howling in rage, and smashed one of its feet down in front of Levin's path, making him leap back in surprise to avoid getting pulled into the water. But rather than reach for his weapon, Levin continued on, rushing to get around the new hole in the ice. He had to hurry if was going to get to Ellie on time! Behind him, he could hear the Alatreon stamping its claws in shock and frustration, and gusts of wind pounded into the switch axe user's back as the creature beat its wings.

**No! NO! You can't do this! You're not supposed to just walk away from me! You're supposed to hate me more than anything in the world! You can't just leave! I am an elder dragon! I am all powerful! YOU CAN'T JUST IGNORE ME!**

But Levin tuned out the creature's shouting and raving, sprinting back across the frozen lake to the mountain where he'd last seen Ellie. Deep, furious roars shook the ice he walked on as the Alatreon raged, and deafening curses and threats filled his mind as the monster howled at him. He could feel the heat of flames that the creature shot out, and his hair stood on end as jet black lightning lanced out, crashing through the ice around him. But Levin pushed the sounds from his mind; the beast could rant and rave all it wanted, but he wasn't going to be stopped from saving Ellie. Even if it meant giving up the fight against the Alatreon… he wouldn't lose any more of his beloved friends and family, no matter the cost.

* * *

Ellie gasped in pain as the sharp bark of the tree she clung to tore into her palms. The gloves she wore were so thin! She could feel cold tears, summoned by the pain and the hopelessness of her situation, freezing to her face as the frigid winds whipped around her. The Hot Drink that she'd drank as they'd started out into the Tundra had worn off… she couldn't even guess how long ago, and she could feel the warmth of her body seeping away from inside her. She could hope to hold on for much longer.

A loud snapping sound tore through the air above her, and Ellie gasped as she found herself in freefall. The branch had finally snapped! A scream froze in her throat as she looked down, the ground below rushing up to meet her. But her hand remained clenched on the branch, and a moment later the branch ceased falling, the sudden halt in momentum pulling Ellie back towards the cliff face and slamming her into the rock wall. The huntress coughed in pain as the jagged rock wall jabbed into her chest and stomach, and Ellie could feel one of her ribs snap violently from the impact. She continued to cling desperately, all the while coughing in pain as a trickle of blood eked from the corners of their mouth.

She looked up when the fit finally stopped to where the branch of the tree was wondering why she was still alive. The tree had given away a little, which had dropped her down only… had it really only been a few feet? She'd hit the wall so hard when she'd struck the rocks… but the wind and snow of the Tundra had worn the cliff face into jagged edges and crooked stones. She was surprised that it hadn't pierced through her armor. But the tree was even more precarious than it had been before, and looked as though even the slightest motion would pull the dead thing free of its tenuous grip on the cliff face. Once that happened…

Ellie chocked back a sob as she glanced down towards the… bottom of the cliff. There was no bottom. All the clouds and snow and winds churning them all up, there was nothing below her but pure white. Besides the fear, all she could think of were the words, the prophesy, that the Veggie Elder had left her with.

_If you continue to follow Levin as he is, he will leave you to die. I know for certain that it will come to pass. You can try to save his sanity, and perhaps you'll succeed, but I'd get away from him if I were you, for the sake of your life. He'll leave you behind._

No! No. No no no no… Why had he left her? He hadn't... he didn't even seem to notice that she'd been left in such a position. Had he even cared, or had ne just walked after the Alatreon, choosing to hunt the monster rather than save her?

Was she really going to die like this, alone and with Levin not even caring?

Rocks and ice clattered off her helm, and Ellie looked up as more pebbles bounced off her face. Fear struck through her as she realized that the tree was losing the last remains of its hold on the side of the cliff. Inch by inch, the last clutch the tree had on the stone was slipping out from underneath it, and the tree was finally giving way to the weight of Ellie and her armor. Ellie could see the roots wedged far into the soil straining and bending, tearing slowly away bit by bit, closer and closer to snapping away and letting the tree fall into the abyss.

"No… no… Levin…"

A creaking, ripping sound signaled the tree finally giving way, short drops being replaced with a slow, constant loosening from the rock wall. The huntress scrambled to climb, or cling to… something else. But her energy from the cold and having hung on for so long made it impossible for her. She just couldn't hang on anymore. Her vision was blurring.

_He will leave you behind to die._

"No… Levin…" A groaning sound signaled the last vestiges of the tree's grip vanishing, and the limb finally snapped in two, and Ellie felt herself in free fall once again. This time, she didn't even have the strength left in her to scream in terror. She just… let go and dropped into the abyss.

It seemed like she was falling for the longest time. How much of a drop was this cliff, she wondered? How long before she hit the bottom? Would she feel pain when she finally hit? She didn't feel much of anything at the moment, anyway. Just the faint feeling of the wind chilling her slowly to death. She didn't even feel like she was falling anymore. Shouldn't she be at… peace or something like it by now? Was this falling feeling at she had left to look forward to? But her chest still hurt… why did her body still have to be in pain? It still felt as though she was dragging against the rock wall…

Her arm was still in the air, too. There was a... pressure squeezing her arm. She hadn't thought she could still feel anything anymore. But… something was pulling her up. Something. She hadn't… she hadn't fallen? She was so tired… but she tried to pry open her eyes again. It was so white, though, so hard to see much of anything, but she still tried. At first it was only white blur, but blurry shapes began to take form. There wasn't much to see, just the rock wall. But she wasn't falling, that was something she supposed. Then what was keeping her suspended? She didn't have the strength to hold herself up any more…

Then, much to her surprise, she actually began to rise upwards. Something was pulling her back up to the edge of the cliff. She looked up, wondering. She couldn't see anything right away, though, there was just too much snow and her vision was just too blurred and her eyes too tired. But a shape slowly began to work back into focus; something human, something green she thought. Something familiar.

Levin. It had to be him. It was him in that Rathian armor of his. His visor was open, and he looked so… afraid. But he was pulling so desperately on her arm, trying to get her back up to safety, terrified at the thought of dropping her. But Ellie couldn't help him, couldn't do much of anything, couldn't feel much of anything… except feel relief. Oh, sweet mercy, she felt such relief!

He'd come back for her! He'd come to rescue her! The Veggie Elder had been wrong! He'd come back for her…

She was back on top of the cliff face again now, Levin desperately carrying her away from the edge of the cliff as far as he could. He took her all the way to the next incline going further up the mountain, just out of the flurrying snow, before setting her down. His helmet came off, and he was speaking now, but Ellie could hear nothing but a dull murmur. But things were coming back, slowly but surely, feeling was coming back. Slowly she was able to hear, to feel, to see again. All the fear, the despair, the anger and misery…

A moment later her fist smashed against his face, knocking him back with a stunned expression. She chased after him, smashing her fists against the hunter's chest and arms, though not doing much since she was still weary. Sobs returned to her as she found herself crying again, and shouting in anger and frustration at Levin. He simply sat there with a submissive look and let her strike him all she wanted as she cursed at him.

"Idiot! Bastard! You stupid, stupid son of a bitch! Why did you leave me? Why? Moron! Stupid! Idiot! Idiot, idiot, idiot…"

"I'm sorry… I'm so, so sorry Ellie." That's all he did as he took her hits, was apologize, not dodging or bracing for any of the swings she took at him, just letting her vent.

She continued to strike at him, cursing him, until her energy vanished again, and she slumped against him wearily. He treated her gently, pouring a couple potions and a Hot Drink down her throat. Carefully, he lifted her up, swinging her around to carry her on his back. She didn't have much strength to help with the effort, but she did swing her arms around his neck and shoulders as he stood up and began trudging through the snow, slowly working the two of them back down the mountain. All Ellie could do was cling tightly to the back of him.

_He will leave you behind to die._ He'd come back for her.

The trip back down the mountain was fairly treacherous, if only because Levin was forced to be very careful with his footwork, trying not to drop or rattle Ellie. The huntress herself could only rest, trying to recover as he worked his way down the slope. The entire time, though, Levin was muttering to her miserably, constantly apologizing to her over and over, sounding as though it was a mantra to him now.

The winds were howling still when they finally reached the base of the mountain again, and Levin's speed slowed to a crawl as they pushed through the snow. The hunter continued to march through the snow though, until he stopped abruptly. Ellie eked an eye open at the motion, as Levin changed direction, making his way through the blizzard over to a towering wall of stone. As they approached, the gaping mouth of a cave appeared through the white, a dark hole in the side of the mountains. It wasn't much, but it would be enough to keep them out of the snow.

Levin stumbled a bit as the pair of them entered the cavern, but he still clung tightly to her, making certain to not let go of her. As cautiously as he could, the switch axe user set her down against the wall of the cave, allowing her to rest. Ellie was hesitant to let go on Levin's neck; in part it was because she still wanted to cling tight to him, not letting him go off on his own again. He'd left her to chase after the Alatreon, yes, and she would make sure he was well and truly punished for doing to. But he'd come back for her. He'd walked away from the Alatreon, despite it being right in front of him, to come back for her. She had thought herself left for dead, thought that the 'prediction' of the Veggie Elder's would come to pass. But he had come back for her, he'd kept her alive! The Veggie Elder had been wrong.

As she settled back against the walls, though, she was reminded of the other reason she hadn't wanted to let go of Levin. Taking a break from their hike meant that it was finally time for her to take a look at her injuries, which scared her more than anything else. The armor lining her arms were thinner than any of the other blue plate mail, and she could barely feel them anymore. Her gloves were shredded and torn from the thorns and bark of the tree, and the flesh of her hands underneath wasn't much better, with gashes and cuts spread across the palms of her hands, coloring her gloves from a light brown to a murky red. There wasn't any bleeding, though, which worried her more than anything; had they just frozen shut, or something worse? She was too tired and too mentally depleted at the moment to really be able to make a guess at her condition. Her chest wasn't feeling much better; the chest plate was the most solid piece of armor she had, but with the combination of the Alatreon smashing its claw into her torso, as well as the rough treatment she'd received hanging over the edge of the cliff, she felt that she must have at least two broken ribs, if not more. It was somewhat depressing that she'd been injured enough to be able to tell that, but… with the life of the hunter being what it was, she supposed she shouldn't be surprised.

As she carefully started peeling off the tattered remains of the gloves, Levin knelt down next to her, pulling a couple of potions from his pouch as well as other medical supplies. Ellie was surprised at the expression on her beloved's face as he carefully helped her remove the gloves. It seemed… calm, but resigned, an unfamiliar expression considering the last few months of trouble he and she had been experiencing, considering all the issued he'd had. But… his expression seemed clear for the first time since… since they were still back at Boma Village. What had happened, she couldn't help but wonder. She worried about what had happened between him and the Alatreon. He couldn't have killed it… could he? I didn't seem possible. For the longest time, neither of the hunters spoke as Levin carefully treated and wrapped Ellie's hands in gauze, taking care to not injure her further.

"I... I'm sorry." Ellie glanced up at the words. Levin's face seemed to have taken a turn, and a miserable expression was dominant. "I left you. I left you to die, just for the sake of my own stupid revenge."

"You did," she said quietly, and his eyes dropped to the floor miserably. "You left me, but… You came back for me."

"It's still inexcusable of me," Levin muttered. "I should've kept you at the forefront of my thoughts, but… but all I could think about was trying to chase after and kill the Alatreon. We've spent… hundreds of hunts working together, and at the first sign of the thing, I take off running, like you didn't mean a thing to me at all, and I just can't forgive myself for that."

"You can't… you can't really blame yourself, Levin," Ellie said. "It stole your family from you. If I had such terrible memories about the Rathalos, I doubt that I'd have much more self-control. You came back for me."

Levin was silent for a moment as he finished wrapping Ellie's hands. "Nonetheless, there's no one I can blame for this but myself. I may have walked away from the monster, even though it was taunting me, and even though it was threatening me. But that doesn't change the fact that I left you in the first place."

"Levin…"

"I thought I'd be… better right now," Levin cut her off. "But I'm not. I can tell. It's so… quiet, for the first time in so long, but I can still feel it. I left the Alatreon behind to save you, but I can still feel its pull on me, the desperate need to find it and kill it. I don't… I don't know when or where it'll kick in again. What if it happens when you need help again? What if… what if next time I can't make it back in time? I don't… I can't risk you again. I can't lose anything else that I care about anymore."

"What are you saying?" Ellie asked, a cold feeling sinking into her gut.

The miserable expression on Levin's face only seemed to grow stronger as he looked up and met Ellie's eyes for a moment, before looking to the ground. "Maybe… maybe it would be better if I left the group. If I went off on my own, if we didn't hunt together anymore, then I wouldn't be putting you into any danger anymore. If I wasn't around, you'd be safe, and…"

"No!" Levin jumped as Ellie suddenly leapt to her feet, a furious look on her face. "No more of this! No more of your self-loathing!"

Even with the stunned look on Levin's face, Ellie couldn't help herself. She pulled back her fist, and with a quick swing, clocked the man across the face, knocking him onto his back. Immediately, she regretted her decision, as pain bit into her mutilated hands. She grasped her palms in pain, and Levin quickly stumbled to his feet to help her. But Ellie quickly pushed the switch axe user down again and stood over him, glaring angrily at him.

"You are not leaving me behind, not again!" Ellie growled. "I told you that I'd help you with this… this _idiotic_ notion of your to chase after the Alatreon! I said we'd do it together, even when… even when I was afraid to tell you how much the idea terrified me! Still I tailed along with you!"

"Ellie…"

"No! Shut up!" Ellie raged. "You're not going to leave me behind, not again!"

"But… I don't… I can't risk losing you again!" Levin replied miserably. "And with the way things are, I may spend the rest of my life trying to find the thing. I don't want to tie you to that, especially when your life might be on the line."

Ellie sighed, and her anger slowly faded. If anything, she could say that Levin was dedicated to her, though his fear for her life tended to pull her away from her. So often, he seemed to think distancing himself from her would be the best option. If she was going to help him, she needed to get his priorities straight.

"You want to be punished for what you've done? You feel you need to make up for leaving me behind?" she asked Levin. The switch axe user looked up in surprise, but a submissive expression crossed his face, and he seemed to be awaiting the worse. "Fine. You can be punished for what you've done. But you don't get to choose what your punishment will be. I do."

"What? But Ellie…"

"No! No, you don't get to make your own decisions on this. Not anymore!" Ellie shouted. "Levin, you nearly killed yourself, and me, throwing yourself at the Alatreon! It's like you're intentionally trying to kill yourself! If you keep up like this, all that's going to happen is that you're going to die, and maybe a lot of other people too, nothing else! You can't just keep going on this stupid, self-destructive path like you have been! I won't let you!"

Levin frowned at the words and opened his mouth to argue, but a glare from Ellie quieted him before he could say a word. A moment later he nodded in acquiesce.

"Alright, good," Ellie nodded. She had to hold back a grin as she planted her wrists on her hips and stood over Levin; she felt like an adult scolding a child right now. "So here's what's going to happen. First of all, you're going to supply me with all the materials, _and money_, that I need to replace the weapon I lost." Levin winced visibly; that was good, since it meant his stingy nature was still in effect meaning he would really feel the punishment. As for the rest of this punishment, though… Ellie continued her list. "Secondly, you have to let Kerry and Harker in on the full story. All of it. If you're going to continue this mad chase after the Alatreon, we're going to need all the help we can get. I know… I know Kerry might be a little hard to convince to join us… she always was the superstitious type. And lastly, and most importantly, you are not allowed to chase after the Alatreon until I say we're ready to do so."

"But I can't…!"

"You will! Levin, you have to! When we faced the thing, up on the cliff, it was toying with us! Neither of us could even scratch it, even working together! We aren't good enough to fight with the Alatreon, not yet." Carefully, she lowered herself to sit down next to Levin, wincing as her hands pressed against the ground. "I'm not going to let you leave me again, Levin. I'll chain you down and keep you from going after it if I have to! You can't… you can't just throw your life away. If it comes down to it, I'll even tell the Guild about your intentions, and they'll lock you away somewhere, if it means keeping you from just running out to your death."

Levin sighed. "I don't… I don't know how long I'll be able to hold on, how long I'll be able to hold myself back. It would be better if I just…"

"No. You have to try, Levin," Ellie said sternly. "If you want to make it up to me for leaving me behind, running away isn't going to cut it. I won't let you!"

"…Fine. Fine. You win," Levin finally said in a resigned voice. The switch axe user smirked mirthlessly. "I just can't win against you, can I, Miss Ellie?"

"No, you can't," Ellie replied. But she smiled comfortingly, and knelt down next to the switch axe user for a moment, looking into his eyes. They were… sad, admittedly, and guilt-ridden, but calm and collected, which she hadn't seen in such a long time. A moment later, she leaned forward and kissed him softly, before reaching her arms around his neck and pulling him close. "Thank you for coming back for me. Thank you for saving me. I know…. I know it must have been hard for you to… to fight against your madness."

"Harder than it should have been," Levin replied. "It should have never taken me that long to realize…"

"I'm sure," Ellie said, pulling away. "Now; tell me what happened after… before you came back for me. I can't imagine the Alatreon would just let you walk away from it, not after… not after everything it's put you through."

Levin nodded slowly, gathering his thoughts, before speaking in a low voice. As he started, he seemed to strain, describing himself leaving Ellie behind as he chased the Alatreon back down the mountain, tailing it across the frozen lake. He continued more strongly after getting past the part of the story likely slowed by guilt, describing his one-sided fight against the beast, as well as the things that the creature had bragged about during their 'fight'. Ellie was shocked at what the Alatreon had revealed, but had no time to ponder anything as Levin continued on, describing his realization of leaving Ellie behind, as well as his realization of the demise of his family, followed immediately by the abrupt conclusion and removal of the arguing whispers that had haunted him for so long, leading him to decide to leave the fight with the Alatreon. Finally, in a pained voice, Levin described how the monster had sworn that it would never allow Levin to fight it again, and would never allow him to get his vengeance for the loss of his family.

The two sat in silence as the howling wind of the storm swept past the cage entrance, Ellie trying to take in everything that had happened. The Alatreon was the reason the Lost had been… contained, and carried through time until they'd been allowed to awaken in this time, in this world? Why? What goal could the creature possibly have for doing so? Just a collection of people scared of monsters going around trying to keep themselves alive, for it to use as playthings to hunt and fight with after taunting and pestering them? And it had… awakened the other monsters that existed, or created them? Levin hadn't been clear about that, and seemed confused about the whole thing himself. And to top it all off…

Ellie grasped Levin's hands. "I'm sorry. About your family. I thought… I'd hoped for a chance to meet them one day, when we were in Loc Lac, but…"

"Thanks," Levin replied. "I guess… I guess I always knew they were gone, I just… I just didn't want to admit it to myself. I created some illusion about my circumstances, thinking that the Alatreon had just… kidnapped them, forcing myself to forget that they were… dead. But I've realized that I can't just trick myself into believing a lie, even if the truth is painful. I have to accept the way things are, no matter how painful they are." The switch axe user smirked mirthlessly. "It's actually oddly freeing, truth be told, finally allowing myself to… come to terms with the way things are. It hurts, knowing they're gone, and I'm sad of course, but… but I know what's real now, and I know what I have to do with my life now."

"You do?" Ellie asked.

"I do. Thanks to you." Levin eyes hardened, and a powerful, determined expression covered his face. "The Alatreon has taken my family from me, and I'll never be able to get them back. He's told me that he'll never let me find him and take him down, but I'm going to do so, one way or another. I'm… obviously not strong enough yet, but one day I will be, and I'll hunt it down and make it pay for what it's done." Ellie glared at him, and the hunter chuckled nervously. "After… after you've given the go ahead, of course."

Ellie nodded but still looked worriedly at Levin. "Shouldn't… Levin, are you sure you're okay? I mean, your family…"

Levin nodded. "I'm fine… for now, I guess. Maybe it hasn't really hit me yet. Maybe one day it'll really sink in and hit me hard, but right now I just feel like there's a lot I have to do, to figure out how and when I'm going to be able to punish the Alatreon for what it's done, how to catch it, and gather what I need to do so. Maybe I'll mourn one day, but not right now."

Ellie nodded. She didn't like it, but there wasn't much she could do about it. "Just… allow yourself to let it out when you feel the need to."

"Right…" Levin agreed.

The two stayed close to each other for a long time, waiting out the storm that howled past the entrance to the cave. It seemed to them that the snow was beginning to fade away, slowly but surely, but it still took the better part of an hour before the pair of hunters could begin to see beyond a couple dozen yards through the snow. Then it seemed that the storm was finally dying away, or at least thinning out enough for the two of them to try and make a break for Hearth, or if not that, then maybe they could find Kerry, Harker, and Miller.

However, before the two of them could set off through the storm, a cluster of dark shapes suddenly appeared as shadows in the snow, working their way slowly towards the cavern entrance. Ellie and Levin both tensed fearfully, uncertain what to expect; could it be a group of monsters coming for them, Baggis perhaps? Instinctively, Levin pressed in front of Ellie. Without her sword and shield, she felt very vulnerable all of a sudden.

But a moment later the shapes began to form into clearer figures, and it became increasingly obvious that what approached was a trio of humans. A feeling of relief washed over Ellie at the realization that somehow or another, it was Kerry, Harker, and Miller pushing their way through the deep snow in their direction. As the three worked their way closer, Ellie could see Miller motioning towards the cave entrance, and the group began to walk closer towards them. Ellie wondered how the great sword user had managed to see them, but apparently he hadn't, as halfway to them, Harker began motioning frantically towards them, and he and Kerry were soon hurrying towards them, with Miller following behind.

"Oh, thank goodness the two of you are alright!" Kerry gasped, grabbing ahold of Ellie's hands and smiling happily. "I was so worried about the two of you when we lost you in the snow! We tried to look for the both of you, but the storm picked up and we were forced to bunker down in a cave and wait out the storm. All we could do was hope the two of you were alright."

"That and fight off the Gigginox when it figured out that we'd taken refuge in its nest," Miller added with a scoff.

"Oh no! You met the Gigginox without us?" Ellie gasped. "I'm sorry, we should've been there to help."

"It's alright, dear," Kerry laughed. "It turns out that collection of experimental bombs that Harker decided to bring along with him proved to be very useful in our fight. With Miller's help, we managed to take it down a lot faster than I thought we would be able to."

"Indeed," Harker said. "I'll admit, I should have known that a flash bomb wouldn't work against a creature without eyes, but thankfully the mix I had concocted proved more explosive than I had suspected it would."

"You nearly brought down the cave on top of us," Miller grumbled, though somehow his voice seemed amused more than chastising. "Are all Lost so… odd to hunt with? I'd assumed that the rumors of the Lost madness were overhyped nonsense by whiny nobles and merchant lords, but if this is the kind of thing that all you Lost do on a regular basis... Well, let's just say I'm not sure whether I find the thought of hunting with your kind again is refreshing or horrifying."

"Harker is… Harker is a unique case," Kerry said with a sheepish grin, earning an amused smile from the long sword user. "Not that it's a bad thing! Er… well, I mean…"

"No, it's quite alright, my dear Lady Kerrigan," Harker laughed. "I'm perfectly aware that I am… an anomaly, even amongst the Lost. There are few that match the measure of my madness. Or, rather, few that are quite so… emphatic, shall we say."

"Yes, that's true," Kerry nodded. "Also, we managed to find some ores for Levin. You needed Lightcrystals, right? We weren't sure whether the two of you would be able to find a vein lost in the snow, so we gathered up some for you."

"You… didn't need to," Levin replied, a slightly guilty expression on his face.

"Oh, it's perfectly fine," Kerry replied. "Harker figured the two of you got stuck in somewhere without access to ores, so we…" Then Kerry seemed to finally notice the bandages that wound around Ellie's hands, as well as he damaged armor and the potion bottles littering the floor of the cave, and a look of worry came over the bowgunner's eyes. "Oh my goodness! Ellie, are you alright? Your hands and your armor... your weapon is gone, too! What on earth happened to the two of you while we were gone?"

"You're not looking so good yourself, Levin," Harker added, looking over the switch axe user. Ellie realized that the madman was right; his armor hid it well, but the dents and dings across the green plate armor gave at least a glimpse at the damage he had taken during his battle with the Alatreon. Ellie had little doubt that her beloved was bruised and beaten underneath all the Rathian materials.

Levin glanced at Ellie, a worried expression on his face. Clearly he still didn't like the idea of explaining his… less than pleasant relationship with the Alatreon to Harker and Kerry, not to mention his other issues with voices in his head. Harker might take the whole thing is stride, but Kerry might have trouble with the idea of Levin wanting to hunt down the hunting world's boogeyman. And with their recent relationship developments, Kerry's reactions could very well affect Harker's…

"I'll… I'll tell you guy's when we get back to Hearth," Levin replied tiredly. "It's… kind of a hard-to-tell story."

Ellie tried to avoid glancing at Miller. She guessed that the great sword user was the real reason. Explaining the whole thing to Harker and Kerry was one thing, but trying to explain his actions and problems to someone he barely knew was something entirely different. Ellie winced when Miller caught her expression, giving her an uncertain frown. Neither Kerry nor Harker seemed to notice, though they both seemed worried about the two of them.

"That's fine, I suppose," Kerry replied. "Though, if something dangerous is in the area, you should probably let Crezant know about it."

"Maybe so," Levin replied, scratching his head anxiously. "If it needs to be done…"

"Right…" Harker muttered. Both he and Kerry seemed to be getting increasingly worried at Levin's hesitation to talk, but they had the courtesy to save their questions for when the five hunters returned to Hearth. "I suppose we'll have to wait for the weather to clear before we attempt to make our way back to town. Rushing between caves is one thing, but I fear hypothermia will set in quickly if we set off trying to make it back to town. Though… I've been wondering about exactly how much of a difference there is between the immune systems of the Lost and the locals of this world. Perhaps if I had a test subject from each side that I could study…"

"No, Harker," three voices spoke at once, making Miller blink in surprise and confusion. The long sword user had the decency to look sheepish, but huffed indignantly.

"It was just a suggestion… for the sake of _science_, of course."

* * *

The return to Hearth had to wait several hours, forcing the hunters to bunker down in the cave with a fire made by lighting some wood they picked up from the remains of a nearby tree. The fury of the storm seemed to reach its crescendo not long after the three hunters had shown up in Ellie and Levin's hideaway. Fortunately for them all, the howling winds seemed to burn themselves out with the final fury, and not long after the wind and snow came howling so powerfully that the hunters couldn't even make it to the cave's entrance, it died almost totally.

Injured though they were, walking wasn't much of an issue for any of the hunters. Their Hot Drinks were running low, though, forcing the group of hunters to hurry right along getting back to town. There was some talk between the other hunters as they passed the lake on their way back, wondering about the numerous holes and breaks in the ice that forced them to journey around almost the whole lake to avoid risking falling through the now-treacherous ice field. It was clear that they suspected that whatever had happened there was from what Ellie and Levin were hiding, but kept their quiet. The trip back was quiet, thankfully; the blizzard had sent the monsters of the Tundra into hiding, waiting of it to pass, and they hadn't yet ventured back outside, allowing the hunters to return to Hearth unhindered.

The town seemed quiet when they returned; walking through the streets, there didn't seem to be sign of anyone. No children running through the snow, no adults working or caring for the children… it was rather eerie, truth be told. Eventually though, they managed to find an older, grey-haired woman striding through the snow towards Noi's compound.

"Oh, that?" the woman laughed when the hunters questioned her about the emptiness of the town. "It's nothing to worry about. In fact, it's a bit of a celebration! That boy Noi is back from his business trip and has decided to throw a little party to celebrate some business deal he's concluded recently. He does this every once in a while, you see, likely at the prodding of his wife."

"Why?" Ellie asked, confused. "I mean, it's nice and all, but it seems strange to invite the whole town to the party."

"Like I said, it's his wife's idea," the woman chuckled. "As you kids may know, both the man and that son of his are a little stern when it comes to business, or at least, few would call him generous, so that lovely wife of his, Mu, convinced the stubborn oaf to throw a little party for the town every now and then to keep people happy. It's a bit shameless, but everyone in Hearth enjoys them and has fun, so no one really complains."

"Sounds nice," Kerry said with a smile.

"Oh, yes, very much. You hunters should stop by if you can."

"Maybe… maybe later," Levin said quietly. "We should probably go by the medical building first to… rest, among other things."

"Well, I wouldn't take too long, dearie. Noi's generosity rarely last's long, so you better get there as quickly as you can."

"Maybe we should stop by quickly," Kerry said as the woman walked away. "Not for the sake of the party or anything. But Crezant will likely want to know my report on how well Miller here did out in the wilds, if our last visit to the village is any indication. Besides, the compound is right between here and the hospital, so we should be quick."

"…Yeah, alright, good point," Levin nodded. "I guess me and Ellie won't exactly have much to contribute, though."

"Yes, well, I'm sure Crezant will understand," Harker said. "I'm sure a man who's spent his whole life living in the Tundra will understand the difficulty attributed to snowstorms."

The party turned out to be far more generous than the hunters thought it would be as they arrived at the merchant's complex. Most of the town was certainly there, and there were a lot of familiar faces milling about one of the emptier warehouses where the party was being held. Streamers and colorful lamps were spread around the room where the townsfolk milled around, drinking out of several large kegs of beer and tables upon tables of food, constantly being refilled by a dozen or so Felynes. Ellie likely would have found the whole thing a lot of fun if she weren't so otherwise concerned with how they were going to explain to Harker and Kerry their whole issue with the Alatreon; well, more specifically, Kerry, since Harker would likely accept the whole thing out of curiosity.

"Ah, you've returned," Crezant nodded as they approached, turning away from a rather drunk blacksmith that was speaking to him. "You're mostly uninjured, so I assume things went well on your hunt for that Gigginox."

"For the most part," Kerry replied, glancing at Ellie and Levin. "There were some problems that came up, but we managed to finish it off."

"Give me the abbreviated version then. And give me your conclusions of Miller as a hunter as well."

As Kerry told Crezant about their battle, Ellie realized that she was standing next to Noi. "Have a fun time out there?" the man asked. "You look rather worse for the wear, young lady. Shouldn't you be seeing a doctor?"

"Yes, I will. Soon enough," Ellie replied. "Things got rough. Did your… what was it, business proposition or whatever go well?"

"Not exactly," Noi admitted. "I fear the friend I visited may be involved in something less than legal."

"What do you mean?"

"He seemed to be trying to lead me into some… supporting role for an organization he was a part of. Wanted me to help provide materials to some group that needed them. He wouldn't tell me anything about the group itself though. Likely some… profiteering group for the wealthier folk that joined up most likely. My friend was very enthusiastic about the whole thing, though, and seemed very worried when I said I wouldn't back such a thing, so I'm worried that, whatever it is he's involved in, it's something that would ruin him if the Guild found out about it."

"Sounds bad…"

"Very. I'm more worried about what might happen to him instead of me, though. I don't think he expected me to decline his offer. And if this organization is as big as he seemed to let on, they might be less than pleased that I know anything about them, even if it's just that they exist."

Ellie frowned. "But then, how…"

Suddenly, the room began to shake wildly, as a loud rumbling shook the very foundations of the complex. Ellie gasped in surprise, and several of the partygoers screamed in fear as plates and glasses fell and shattered around them. Over the sound of the rattling woodwork, though, a deep and powerful sound emanated through the hall.

"What is that?" Miller shouted as Noi's eyes darted around in concern. "I thought the Tundra didn't have earthquakes!"

"No… but we have avalanches, and… no this isn't an avalanche. This is something else." The merchant shouted over to several of the workers to check outside, and hurried over to his wife. "Everyone! Get further into the building! Now!"

A small stampede of people began pushing into the center of the complex as the hunters tried to keep their balance. Ellie found herself standing next to Crezant as the young man tried to herd the civilians of hearth to safer places. "If this isn't an avalanche, then what is it?"

"I don't know!" the man admitted, frustration clear in his eyes. "Hopefully the men outside will bring news quickly. Otherwise… I'll admit it sounds familiar in a way."

"I've heard it too, now that I think on it," Miller shouted over the din. "But… it's not the same. Though I can't imagine why such a thing would be here in the Tundra."

"Familiar? To what?"

Miller frowned. "The hunter's gong at the Loc Lac arena."

Ellie frowned. It did, admittedly, sound similar to the sound of the hunter's gong she'd heard in the arena in Orage Dell, and she'd heard something like it coming from the Loc Lac Arena when she'd been in the area, but… this seemed much stronger, more powerful. What had that one arena hunter told her about the gongs? They were specifically designed to scare monsters of almost every shape in size into submission…

They were designed to sound like an elder dragon's roar. And there was only one elder dragon that Ellie was certain was in the area.

Abruptly, the deep rumbling sound that Ellie knew now was a roar cut off, just in time that the sound of terrified screams suddenly echoed in from outside the room. But it wasn't any of the civilians that staggered through the door a moment later, but one of the town guards, all coated in light armor but still running terrified into the room to where Noi was. He was gasping for breath, but still managed to sputter out his words. Most of the civilians were already out of the room by now, but there were a couple stragglers that heard the man's words.

"Sir, it's… it's an elder dragon. There's an elder dragon over our town. I think… oh, sweet mercy, I think it's the Alatreon."

Immediately Levin paled at the words. Ellie could understand the feeling; she felt terror welling up inside her. Harker seemed concerned, and for once didn't seem eager about the situation. Kerry and Miller, though… The great sword user had a frightened expression that matched the faces of several of the other civilians, but seemed to be maintaining his stoicism far better than any of the town guards. Kerry was getting close to hyperventilating though, panic-stricken terror on her face as she gasped in horror, knowing that the most feared monster known was right outside.

A moment later, Levin was striding past her out of the building to where the Alatreon was. Ellie was stunned for a moment, but chased after the man a moment later, with Kerry shouting at them to come back. Ellie had to ignore her friend, though, as she managed to catch up with her beloved.

"What are you doing? We can't fight it!"

A pained expression crossed Levin's face. "I know! I know I won't be able to fight it! But it's here because of me, I just know it. It's fulfilling its promise to do damage I can't stop. But it said that it wouldn't give me the chance to fight it, so maybe if I'm close, it'll go away or something. I can't just let the damn thing do whatever it wants, Ellie!"

"I know, but…"

"The Alatreon has spoken with you? How odd. I wasn't aware there were any monsters capable of speech." Ellie nearly leapt out of her skin at the voice of Harker, the long sword user practically materialized behind her. "There are old stories of dragons speaking with humans, but I wasn't sure if they were true or not."

"Harker!" Levin shouted in surprise. "I… what I said about the Alatreon… it wasn't…"

"Something you wanted me to hear?" Harker finished. "Understandable, I suppose."

"You… don't think I'm crazy?"

"We're Lost, my friend," Harker laughed. "We're all crazy. But as to whether I believe you're just imagining hearing things or not… well, the appearance of the creature here, and your utter lack of surprise at its arrival seem to give weight to your words. Not to mention that word of you disposition towards the beast is rather well-known to a number of people. But I fail to see how that matters at the moment."

"What do you mean?" Ellie asked.

"There's an elder dragon attacking the town," Harker replied with a grin. "That means it's our job to do something about it."

"But it's the Alatreon! Aren't you-"

"Worried? Somewhat. But I don't take credit on the rumors of this creature being as invincible as people let on. All we need to do is scare it away, yes? Then let's see what we can do, shall we?"

Ellie and Levin stared at the long sword user before Levin groaned in frustration. "You're insane, Harker."

"I thought we'd already established that."

"Fine, let's go," Levin said. "If nothing else… maybe we can try and reduce the damage it does."

A minute later the three hunters were outside the compound again. The sound of roaring had come again twice in their hurry to leave the maze that was Noi's business compound, each time sounding closer than the last. Dozens upon dozens of locals and Lost were running the other way, trying to find safe haven in the depths of the buildings. Apparently news of it possibly being the Alatreon had spread, because the locals looked as though it were the end times as they fled, while the Lost simply looked afraid for their lives; a small difference, perhaps, but still noticeable.

Upon stumbling through the snow back into town, Ellie looked up into the sky, and gulped in fear at the sight. The Alatreon was nowhere to be seen, but the skies certainly gave sign that there was something terrible in its way. The clouds twisted in a spiraling motion, the eye of the storm swirling directly over the town, while all the while, some massive shape churned them on, just out of sight. Black lightning rolled across the clouds though, and Ellie knew then that it was indeed the black beast that Levin and the locals feared so much.

Soon, the hunters found themselves in the middle of town, at a large open area that was used as town square. The entirety of Hearth seemed like a ghost town at the moment, even more so than it had been when the hunters had returned from the wilds. A town guard and straggling locals heading to the party had been around then, but now it was completely quiet. Even the hunter's inn was silent, and Ellie frowned in disappointment. She'd been hoping that other hunters would be willing to help, but it seemed like even they had gone into hiding at news that the Altreon was around. Only she, Levin, and Harker had been brave enough to come out and fight against the creature, it seemed.

Another roar echoed through the town, and Levin glared up at the sky. "Show yourself, damn it!"

**Disappointment! **Ellie nearly staggered as the deep voice of the Alatreon pounded into her skull. Levin winced as well, holding a hand up to his head as though it would help. **That's all you humans offer! Disappointment! You are weak! You are forced to use the materials of those creatures you call 'monsters' in order to survive! Yet you dare call yourselves masters of this world! Utterly worthless, all of you! You can't even seek revenge properly without getting caught up with your other pathetic human emotions! Your entire existence is a measure of unruliness!**

"I'm not your plaything! You think you can control me, but you can't! Not anymore! You think yourself above everything else, but you're not! You're just another monster!"

**I am the eldest of dragons!** The beast raged in fury. **I am all powerful! You humans are bugs! Less than bugs! I will make you all tremble before me! I will make all of you cower in fear! You pathetic humans are nothing! Nothing!**

"You can't even control one human that… that's suffering from the loss of his family! You're just a bully, toying around with people to make yourself feel bigger than you are! You can't even fight your own battles, sending off other monsters to do your dirty work for you! You lie and deceive people about your abilities too, and you call humans pathetic!"

A deafening roar ripped through the skies, rattling the houses of Hearth, shaking them to their foundations. **You think I'm weak? Humans are the weak ones! Human are the pathetic ones! You think I can't fight for myself? I will crush you! I will crush you all!**

Directly above the hunters, the clouds seemed to explode as the Alatreon blasted from the sky, mouth open wide as it howled in fury at Levin. Ellie tensed, reaching for her weapon, before realizing in horror that she'd lost her weapon! How had she forgotten? She looked up in panic as Levin and Harker braced themselves for the imminent attack. Levin realized her predicament a moment later, but the Alatreon was already diving, and the switch axe user was too far away to help her.

But suddenly a hand pulled around her waist, yanking her back, and a massive wall of steel swung out in front or her, slamming down into the snow between her and the diving elder dragon. Ellie caught sight of the strange blue armor, realizing that it was Miller. "Hold on tight!" the man growled, bracing for the oncoming attack.

Ellie winced, preparing for black lightning or an ice shard or a wave of flame, but at the last moment, the Alatreon twisting its angle of decent, beginning to spiral around to the side. But its speed remained the same as it swung out, coming down at the town from an angle. Ellie was confused; it wasn't even aimed at the hunters anymore! But she gasped in shock as the beast's maw opened wide, and a massive wave of searing flame ripped from the beast's mouth and tore down to the earth.

"No!"

The hunters could only watch in horror as the blaze smashed into the ground on the edge of town, razing anything it touched to dust. In a flash, several houses were reduced to ash as the fiery fury washed over them, instantly incinerating everything in its path. And the destruction only continued; as the Alatreon neared the ground, it continued to breathe a steady stream of the violent, destructive flame, even as it pulled up from its dive and swept across Hearth. The hunters winced and braced themselves as the massive wave of fire ripped through the town, the Alatreon flying just around the center of Hearth. Ellie pulled up her hands to protect her exposed face as the blaze tore past a couple dozen yards away, sending up a wave of heat that made her stumble. The snow around them abruptly melted, sinking into the earth and turning the soil to soupy mud.

The Alatreon continued to blaze through the town, sending its wave of flame down onto the houses and huts below. The wave of fire continued to sear out of the monster's mouth until it reached the complete other side of the village, then the flames cut out and the monster's wings beat powerfully at it lifted itself up back into the sky. It was a moment later before any of the hunters were able to lower their defenses, but the sight that met them was nothing good. Almost a quarter of the buildings in the town had been razed to the ground in a single pass by the Alatreon. Houses of every shape and size, not to mention everything inside them, had been reduced to ash and cinders, with only a few columns and beams remaining of the rubble. Only a few of the houses had been made out of stone or brick, but even those had been burnt to only a skeleton of what they once were.

"Damn it!" Levin cursed. "How are we supposed to fight against that?"

"Legend says we can't," Miller replied, releasing Ellie. "Nobody's done it before, after all."

**Realize how futile your desire to stop me is! I will reduce this town to ash, and there is nothing you can do to stop me!**

Levin hissed in rage. "There must be something we can do. We can't… we can't just let it destroy Hearth."

"But what can we do?" Ellie asked. "None of us can fly, I don't have a bowgun on me, and Kerry… Kerry's not here."

Harker frowned uncomfortably at the words, but then a thoughtful expression crossed his face. "I might have a plan, but it's risky…"

Ellie winced at the words. With Harker, that could mean… anything, none of it good. "Anything! Just do it! We need to stop it!" A moment later, the long sword user was holding a small metal cylinder, pulled from his pouch. It looked familiar, somehow, clearly one of his bombs judging by the pin at the top. Obviously Miller had seen some during the hunt for the Gigginox, because the great sword user winced back fearfully. "What… what is it?"

"Remember our venture to the Flooded Forest, Miss Eleanor?"

Ellie's eyes widened in realization, and she immediately dropped to the ground. "Get down!" Two thumps signaled Levin and Miller covering their heads like she had, and a grunt of effort from Harker signaled the bomb being tossed. She could still hear the terrible beating of the Alatreon's wings as it dove in for another run at Hearth, and Ellie could only hope that Harker's concoction was enough to-

_*Pop*_

Even with her eyes snapped shut and her head covered, the flash of light that erupted from the flash bomb was searing enough to create a glow on the other side of her eyelids. A piercing, painful howl ripped through the sky a moment later, and strangled, incomprehensible noises filled her skull as the Alatreon reared in shock from the sudden blast of blinding illumination. The otherworldly sounds filled her skull for only a moment, though, before a strong, powerful gust of air streaked over her, followed by an earth-rending crash accompanied by uprooting wood and other shattering sounds. Ellie remained crumpled in the snow for a moment longer, before a desperate roar echoed from the far side of Hearth, and she cautiously pushed herself to her feet and stood up.

A wide impact zone stretched across the town, shooting off at an angle from the path of destruction that the Alatreon had carved with its flames. But unlike its intended destruction, this craterous impact zone had uprooted everything in its path rather than burning them to cinders. The earth had even been completely upended from underneath the houses that had been overturned, not unlike how Ellie would imagine a meteorite having fallen to earth. And there at the end of the impact zone was the crumpled form of the Alatreon itself. Its head was covered in dirt and mud and snow, and a cloud of dust hovered around it like fog. The broken remains of the houses and huts it had crashed through were hung across its outspread wings like splints on a broken bone, with knick-knacks and odds-and-ends that had been in the houses dangling from or impaled in the wreckage.

The hunters were quiet for a long moment as they looked at the downed body of the Alatreon. Had they… no, they couldn't have managed to kill it so easily as that. Surely enough, a moment later the creature began to move, and the beast's voice began to bore into Ellie's mind, confused and angry.

**What is this? What have you done to me? Where are you? Aaargh!** The creature raged, pushing itself to its feet and swinging its body around blindly, trying to figure out where it was. The wooden planks and debris that clung to the dragon's body swung and clattered along with it, smacking it in the sides as they dangled from the spikes and horns on its wings and body. In its panic, the strikes of wood against its body made it believe itself under attack, and with each impact the monster twisted around to strike out at its imaginary assailant, howling in anger when it struck nothing but air only to be struck again by one of the flailing wooden beams that continued flail around him. The black beast's frustration and rage continued to grow in its roars and howls of anger as it flailed around wildly, until finally its rage overwhelmed it, and it unleashed a blind blast of its black lightning around it, and the remains of the houses that clung to his back burst into flame, blowing away to ash instantly. Fortunately, it was still in the middle of the crater it had created, and the lightning didn't hit anything that hadn't already been destroyed, but at the lack of pained screams, the Alatreon howled in anger.

**Enough! Enough of this! I'll be back, human! And next time, you will not find me so generous or forgiving! You think you know misery? The next time we meet, I will show you true suffering!** With a powerful beat of its wings, the Alatreon shot into the sky. Its flying seemed… awkward at best. Had Harker's flash bomb creation really blinded the elder dragon so thoroughly? Apparently so; as the monster soared off into the distance, it clipped the side of one of the mountains, smashing itself in the shoulder and wing, nearly dropping out of the sky as it struggled to stay aloft. But it righted itself quickly after a roar of frustration, and continued to fly away until it vanished into the clouds.

The hunters stared after the creature in silence for a long moment, waiting to see in the creature would return to finish the job. But the only sound they could hear was the wind howling down the mountains, and the crackling of the flames from the town. Eventually, Ellie's legs gave out from underneath her and she slouched to the ground, the fear and uncertainty of the battle finally overwhelming her along with the pain from her injuries catching up with her. The next moment, Levin was next to her, steadying her as she was helped back to her feet.

"Well that was… interesting," Miller muttered. Then he turned to stare at the three Lost uncertainly. "Why did it leave? I don't think I've ever heard of anyone surviving a meeting with the Alatreon."

"Indeed," Harker replied. Then he rubbed his ears with a wince. "Quite the loud one, wasn't he? Likes to hear himself talk. A lot of pride in him, though I suppose it comes with age and being allegedly unassailable. Though, he'll likely not be able to say that from here on in."

Miller frowned. "What are you talking about? Monsters can't speak. All it did was roar and attack us."

Levin, however, looked shocked. "You could… you could hear it?"

Harker rubbed his ear again in irritation. "Yes, though it was dulled, hard to make out, like hearing a voice through a long tube. Being very loud didn't especially make up for it either. It's actually rather fascinating. A monster possessing some type of telepathy ability is quite amazing. Perhaps it comes with age? I know those elder dragons can live for a long time. I suppose there are several old legends of monsters speaking with humans… perhaps it's a developed trait."

"You could _hear_ the beast _speaking_ to you?" Miller asked, incredulous.

"It's certainly an odd sensation," Harker admitted. Then he gave Miller a worried look. "Did Lady Kerrigan not come with you to help?"

Miller blinked at the sudden change of topic, and shrugged. "People don't like to talk about the Alatreon. Fighting it… only the most extreme hunters even consider it. Guess that's not a problem for the Lost. No, nearly everyone was panicking, and hoping the beast would just go away. Including Kerrigan, I suppose. Fear and superstition of the Alatreon is strong, and for good reason."

"And yet you're here," Harker noted, and Miller shrugged.

"I don't want to die. The beast isn't infamous for its generosity, and I didn't feel like just laying down and letting it kill me."

"Fair enough," Harker sighed. "I was hoping to speak with her about these superstitions of hers… I may have missed my chance. This may be a bit of a challenge to explain when the time comes."

"I certainly hope not," a deep, angry voice growled. The hunters turned at the words, catching sight of Noi coming towards them, stalking through the snow to meet the four of them. The man had a mixed look on his face, some strange mix between relief and fury. Several town guards followed behind him, looking horrified to be out in the open, as well as Kerry, who looked just as nervous as the rest, and giving Harker a worried look.

"Is something… wrong?" Ellie asked.

"You tell me," Noi replied, glowering at her. "The Alatreon attacks our town, and then decides to leave. If even half the stories of the thing aren't blatant exaggerations, such a thing should have never happened, and yet here we are. We saw that flash all the way back at the complex, and saw the thing drop out of the sky as well."

"Shouldn't that be a good thing, though?" Levin asked.

"Perhaps, perhaps not. Who's to say that the beast won't return at a later date and decide to finish us off? Who's to say its rage won't compel it to destroy every other town and village in the Tundra?"

"Would you have rather us kneel down and let it kill us?" Harker asked, earning a fearful look from Kerry.

Noi sighed in frustration. "No, I suppose not. Nobody expects you to just keel over and let death take you, but you must remember that the Alatreon is known for being a vengeful creature. It won't take what you've done lightly, and will likely find someplace to vent its anger on. But that isn't the main issue here."

"Then what is?" Levin asked.

"The question is, what provoked the Alatreon into doing this in the first place?" Levin winced at the words, and the merchant's eyes narrowed on him. "The creature is not known for attacking towns and villages unless someone, or a group of people, have aggravated it into doing so. Someone must have done something to catch the thing's ire, or else it likely would have left us alone. Now, when we asked Miss Kerrigan here about your hunt for the Gigginox, she mentioned that you and Eleanor got lost in the snow, but when they found you again, you were injured. What exactly was it that you fought to receive your injuries, Levin?"

"I… it was…" A look of guilt appeared on Levin's face, and Noi growled angrily.

"I thought as much." The merchant motioned to the guards following him, who seemed to have developed angry looks of their own at Levin's words. "Take him back to the compound. The girl too. I want to hear everything about what happened out there, and why they would do something so foolish as to provoke the Alatreon. There'd best be a good reason for them to call down this doom on us, or else… well, the Guild isn't very forgiving of provocateurs of the Alatreon."

Kerry looked torn as the guards stepped forward, pulling shackles from their supplies. But both Ellie and Levin nodded in acceptance of their fates, allowing themselves to be chained up. Several other civilians were emerging from the complex by now, and many were giving shocked or worried glances at the procession of the two hunters being led away. Many of them were Lost themselves, and remembered the two of them fondly. But Ellie and Levin had resigned themselves to this. Levin's own guilt was clear on his face as they were led away.

If they really had brought down the wrath of the Alatreon down on the town of Hearth, then they really deserved whatever punishment they were given.

* * *

"What are you doing here?"

Micah glanced up at the words, glowering in irritation at the sight of Pugnax striding down the hall towards him. The man had gained a cocky attitude since joining the organization, and it showed in everything he did, from his stride to the grin on his face. Micah hated to admit it, but the lancer certainly seemed to have earned the right to act that way.

Since he'd come on board, choosing to work under Moloch, he'd shown almost a perfect record in 'material and personnel acquisition,' as Moloch liked to call it. Filcher and Lilith tended to enjoy their work too much to bring back 'recruits' in good condition, and Micah himself usually kept to the more… diplomatic work himself. Pugnax had since proven himself surprisingly skilled at bringing back his targets in decent condition, and with so few others in the organization were trusted to bring people in, that left Pugnax at the top of the pile, much to Micah's chagrin. He just didn't care for the man at all. Well, truth be told, he didn't like anyone in the organization outside of Moloch himself (and even that was more of a feeling of respect), but the lancer was an irritation that just seemed to grate on him.

"I could ask the same of you," he replied sourly. The pair of them stood outside Moloch's office at the moment. Likely, the boss had called them both in to report on their work at the same time, either not knowing or not caring about the disdain festering between the two of them.

"I'm doing my job," Micah snapped.

"As am I," Nax growled. "You think I'm slacking?"

"Rumor has it you're making regular trips to Lilith's quarters. Few people in the organization even have the desire to enter the room, yet you're there almost constantly. I very much doubt it's work that takes you there."

"Jealous?"

"Hardly. I don't like meeting that sadist at all, and the thought of taking part in such… sordid affairs with her is about as appealing as doing the same with a Giggi. Besides, knowing her, you'd walk away from the whole thing feeling as though you'd committed some terrible war crimes."

"You act like that's a bad thing," Nax replied, grinning wickedly. "It's more fun when you feel like you're doing something wrong. But I forgot. You're infatuated with that bloodthirsty little thing we keep in the prisons. Do you like them more when they're half mad from imprisonment and half rotten from only being allowed to bathe once a week? Or maybe you prefer girls that are trying to tear your throat out while you're… entertaining them."

"I heard what happened to the last man who thought to have a good time with Lilith," Micah snapped. "And I heard what she did when she got bored one night. I'd suggest not turning your back on her, or you'll be walking funny the next day."

Nax scowled at him. "And just what do you think that little girl of yours will do to you when your back is turned? I doubt it will be something you can just walk away from and…"

"Micah! Nax! Get in here!" Micah winced at the sound of Moloch's voice blaring through the door. Likely the boss had heard the pair of them arguing through the wooden barrier; he and Pugnax hadn't exactly been quiet bickering with each other… Quickly the pair of them pushed through the door, entering into Moloch's office.

Though, calling it an office seemed inaccurate; naming it a suite would be more precise. For all the stone walls and walkways that the base contained, the old man had managed to turn one of the larger rooms in the structure into something Micah would expect to see in the mansions of the wealthier people of Loc Lac. Fancy artwork and sculptures lines the walls of the room, and the place was well-lit by high quality lamps. Off to one side sat posh, comfortable looking furniture; a tall bed, long wardrobe, and other storage shelves. In the center of the room, though, sat a large desk, behind which Moloch sat staring intently at the two of them. The boss beckoned for them to enter, and Micah and Nax quickly strode forward.

"The two of you should try and avoid arguing as often as you do," he said simply. "It sets a bad precedence for the other hunters that work for us, and I won't have any of it. If you have a problem with each other, keep it to yourselves."

"Yes sir," Micah replied. Pugnax nodded assent.

"Good. Now, I want your reports quickly, there is much to do. Micah, how are the prisoners doing? I haven't heard any news in a while."

"Things are well enough," Micah replied. "There haven't been any notable escape attempts at all recently. A couple new 'recruits' managed to unlock the door to their cell from the inside a couple days ago, but the guards were experienced hunters and made short work of putting them back where they belonged. Nothing notable. And before you ask, our… troublemakers have been placid, so no issues there."

"Good, good. Perhaps they're finally becoming accepting of their circumstances. And how is that… how did Filcher put it, 'dog of the Guild' doing?" the old man asked, a tone of amusement filling his voice. "Last I heard, the doctors had declared him fit and ready to join the other recruits."

"He's… cooperating. For now," Micah replied carefully. "He seems to realize that his predicament doesn't leave much room for him to maneuver, especially without his armor and weapons available. But… I don't trust him. I thought he'd be looking for a route of escape, like all the others we've brought in, but he seems to accept the situation he's in rather well. Too well, in my opinion. I think he's planning… something, I can't figure what."

"Some people break faster than others," Nax scoffed. "High-ranking Guild men are the worst of them, trust me. The biggest hunters are always so quick to break in situations like this. They think themselves too strong, too skilled to face defeat, and when they do, it eats them up inside. They think themselves invincible, indomitable, and once they find out they're not, it shatters them."

Micah scowled at the man. He couldn't really think it was that simple, could he? The lancer had the biggest ego of anyone he'd ever met. Admittedly, Richard had spent some time babbling incomprehensibly when they'd brought him in, but… that couldn't be all he had to offer. He'd proven to be very intelligent from what Micah had seen of him so far. "What about you? You've got quite the ego, Pugnax. What would happen if someone beat you in a fight? Would you crumple up like him? I heard you went crying to your benefactor when those two Lost beat you up in the Tundra. I wouldn't mind seeing what happens if someone got the opportunity to teach you some humility."

Nax's eyes flared angrily and he growled in anger. "Why don't we find out? Go grab that sword of yours and we'll see how well you fare against me in a one-on-one fight, Lost."

"Be quiet you fools." Micah cringed at the words. Micah was not a tall or strong man, but he still somehow managed to exude a powerful and dangerous presence in the room. And now he glared at the two hunters angrily, clear in his anger at their arguing. "I will not have the two of you bickering like children here. You both work for me, and I will not let you kill each other senselessly. As long as you work for me, you are my resources to use as I see fit. And I do not like wasting resources, understand?"

"Yes sir," Micah replied quickly, as Pugnax grumbled out an irritated agreement as well.

"Good," Moloch said, leaning back in his chair. "I suggest the two of you remember that. If I find out you've been antagonizing each other when I'm not around, I'll put the both of you in with the rest of the 'recruits' we've been bringing in, and we'll see how well you like working here when you aren't allowed the freedom to wander around as you have been before."

Both hunters visibly paled at the words. Both of them had worked for the organization long enough to have seen others that had failed often enough or broken the rules to the point where they were removed from the ranks and placed in the prisons with the other incarcerated. Moloch was not gentle about the process, either. Those that had 'fallen from grace' were unceremoniously thrown in with the other prisoners, often with those that they had guarded or those that had a personal feud against them. Moloch said it provided their 'recruits' a chance at proving their strength, and giving them some closure to their personal disputes. Micah was certain that he was just doing it for his own amusement though. If he failed, would the old man throw him in with Kim and Nat? He doubted that would end well for him without a weapon at his side like he'd had the first time…

"I'm glad you both understand," Moloch smirked. "Now, Micah, my boy, please continue. What do you think we should do about this Richard fellow?"

Micah fidgeted uncertainly where he stood. "Honestly, I don't trust him. He's captured, yes, and he's well contained. And thankfully our guards have had some experience in the last few months in dealing with escape attempts…" Micah blatantly ignored the condescending scoff that Nax didn't even attempt to hide. "But I still don't like it. He's hiding what he's capable of, I'm sure of it. Personally, I'd suggest throwing him into the second or even third ranks right off the bat, just to keep his time here short. If he really tried to escape, he might prove… difficult to restrain. It did take both Filcher and Nax to bring him in after all."

Both Nax and Moloch scowled at the words, and Micah sighed. "Of course, another, more profitable option is available. The next big gathering is next month, and we're expecting several hundred attendees and benefactors to show up. It'll be a week-long event, so we put him up on the pedestal then, make certain he's well-received, then move him through the ranks more quickly than we send others through, and have him through the second and third ranks fairly fast. By then, he should be worn out enough that when we send him into the third rank at the end of the week, he'll likely meet his end. And the benefactors will be riled up enough by the whole thing that we'll make a fair profit off the man, even should he die in the end."

Moloch nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, that should be acceptable. That way we need not lose too much profit from keeping him alive, and not risk another potential security threat constantly trying to escape. And we might just break him beforehand as well… perhaps we could learn of who his employers are. Well, either way, he'll meet his end one way or another, then we can sort out what to do with his remains. Ah, yes, what of that weapon of his? I know Filcher was curious about it, despite it being a long sword."

"Right, that," Micah shrugged. "That guy always has an eye for weapons, even if he only uses that damn hammer of his. I'm not sure what to make of it, honestly. He's trying to figure out how to use it. Problem is, it freezes whoever touches it. No one can figure out how that Richard fellow could use it. But if anything, I think Filcher just finds the whole thing amusing and interesting. He keeps having his underlings try and use it for themselves, each thinking they'll be tough enough to put up with the freezing or overcome it. None have so far, so we've had a bunch of hunters in the medical wing being treated for frostbite, but that hasn't stopped Filcher from trying. He asked me to investigate the whole thing for him, which shows how interested he really is in it. I've sent a couple of my men off to try and uncover information about this Richard fellow, see if they can find out who made the thing for him and what it was made from."

"Why don't you use it, my boy? You're the one skilled with long swords, after all."

"I'd rather not," Micah admitted. "I prefer my own blade. Besides, I don't think Filcher would like it if I took something that he likes, even if he never uses it in a fight."

"Good work, my boy. Now, what of you, Pugnax? What news do you bring of our recruiting process and material acquisition?"

"Recruiting is going… slower, I'm afraid," Pugnax replied. "It seems that, despite the Guild's efforts, news of hunters disappearing is spreading through the rumor mill. Mostly it's scaring rookies and low-ranked hunters into not venturing out quite so often, which doesn't really affect our numbers, since we try not to bring in unskilled hunters. Those of higher ranks that we usually aim for don't seem to have changed their habits through; they think themselves too tough to be picked up by one of our recruitment parties, which actually makes them seem more eager to go out and hunt. However… despite their bluster of not thinking they can be caught, it seems that hunters are starting to go out into the wilds in larger groups more often. It would appear that older, more experienced hunters have suddenly taken into the habit of going out and helping less experienced hunters with their missions. Some might think of it as a generosity, but it's obvious that they're uncomfortable going out by themselves as they used to. Groups of one or two aren't really trouble for me and Lilith, but three or four gets tricky. Even if one or two of them are weak, their weapons don't get any duller if they're trying to defend themselves. It's making it a challenge to gather recruits, with only two people per collection team."

"Hm. You'd think the Guild would make an effort to hide their failures, or at least attempt to assuage the fears of the hunters," Moloch muttered. "Well, keep pulling in as many as you can. Now, what of our supplies? How are we doing? Last I heard, many or our weapons were wearing out or breaking. Where are the replacements?"

Pugnax frowned in irritation. "These weapons that you've been bringing in from our benefactors are brittle and weak. Whichever merchant is providing them is obviously one who believes in quantity over quality. The best weapons are made from the hides and scales of monsters, but these things are probably made from low-quality ores. I don't know how much you're paying for them, but it's not worth it at all. Unless you feel like losing money on broken weapons, I'd suggest getting a real blacksmith to make our weapons."

"Yes, but smiths have far more pride than even the hunters," Micah cut in, earning a glare from the lancer. "Any good smith is proud of their work, and even with the money you could provide, the best smiths available wouldn't leave a prosperous city full of hunters to come here. At least, not unless you're able to provide them with more money than they make in the same amount of time, and the high-quality smiths make an exuberant amount of money every month. More than we can justify spending on them, at least."

"We should just find one we can use and 'recruit' him like the others then," Nax replied with a shrug. "Shouldn't be that hard."

"And how do you expect to find the time to grab them?" Micah replied, rolling his eyes. "You've picked up all the hunters we've captured out in the wilds while they were out on a hunt. Smiths hardly ever leave their cities, as far as I can tell, and when they do, they travel with caravans. You think you'll be able to grab a smith and smuggle him completely out of whatever city he lives in? I know your ego is inflated, but don't go off overextending yourself and getting yourself captured just because you think you can pull of more than you're capable. The last thing we need is you getting caught and interrogated by the Guild's Investigatory Squad and giving everything we've done here."

Once again, the lancer growled angrily at Micah's blunt insults, but a motion from Moloch cut the hunter off. "He's right, Pugnax. Plucking hunters from their hunts is one thing, but taking a well-known and experienced smith from their homes is another thing entirely, and not something we should risk. However, there is another possibility. Pugnax, you've worked as a hunter in some of the barricade fortresses, correct? Locations that play the last line of defense between dangerous hunting grounds and occupied cities, yes?"

"Once or twice," Pugnax agreed. "Very dangerous, but very fun cities. Always an adventurous time."

"And how do they receive supplies?"

"The Guild sends goods to them. Due to the importance of the fortresses, they tend to receive far better goods than other cities sell. They can't afford to send those worthless armors and weapons to such important locations… ah. I see what you're getting at."

"What?" Micah asked, confused. "I don't understand. Are we supposed to try to find a merchant there to get our goods from? I don't believe many businessmen make the fortresses their homes…"

Pugnax smirked wickedly at the long sword user. "Perhaps not, but the weapons and armor do need to be transported to the fortresses from cities like Loc Lac, where they're made by talented smiths. We may not be able to take the smiths, but we can certainly take what they make. It may not be as good as hand-crafted goods from our own personal smith, but it's far better than what we've got now."

"Yes, exactly," Moloch nodded. "Micah, Pugnax, I want you to cease your current jobs and prepare a collection of hunters to make ready for a very special collection mission. Actually, prepare for several missions. Correct me if I'm wrong, Pugnax, but if one of the weapon caravans were lost, would the Guild send another?"

Nax laughed. "Of course they would. They can't afford to lose those fortresses to monsters, so they'll keep sending materials as long as the fortress still stands. If they lost one out of every… three caravans, the fortress should continue to stand."

"Excellent. Both of you, prepare for a trip, and bring enough soldiers with you to conduct raids on these caravans."

"Boss, if I may," Micah quickly cut in, "if we start doing this, the Guild will be forced to start taking us more seriously than they have been. Killing and capturing monsters outside the Guild's permission is one thing. They certainly are after us for capturing their hunters as well, more so that than for the monsters. But if we start openly assaulting caravans like this, they'll have to start taking us far more seriously than they ever have before. They've just been sending out scouts looking for us so far, but after being so blatant about picking off their things, who knows what they'll throw at us? Besides, after one or two attacks on the caravans, the Guild is sure to start hiring hunters as guards."

"Two birds with one stone, then," Pugnax replied. "Once they do, it'll just be that much easier for us to gather up recruits. And they won't send weak hunters either, if our reputation precedes us, so we'll have quite the valuable collection to use."

Micah nodded slowly. Doing this seemed dangerous. Moloch and Pugnax both seemed confident that the Guild wouldn't be able to catch and stop their organization. But over the course of the last few months, two hunters had pestered them relentlessly with constant escape attempts, and another had gotten close to finding their hideout and had forced them to send out Filcher to catch him. What would happen when the Guild went all out trying to bring them down? If three hunters could cause that much trouble for them, how much could a small army of them do?

But for as long as Micah had known Moloch, the old man had never led him astray with his schemes and plots. More often than the young man could count, Moloch's intuition had come through for the two of them. Even before the two of them had been pulled from home to this… hunters' world, or whatever it was. If the old man felt that this plan would work, then it would work.

"Very well," he said, nodding. "I'll find a few other hunters working for us and see who's best able to help us with this."

"Excellent," Moloch replied. "Gather Filcher and Lilith as well, while you're at it: Best to have numbers and experience on our side when the Guild decides to send more of their hounds after us."

"That seems a bit… extreme. Are we trying to kill the caravaners as well? Wouldn't it be better to keep… well, at least keep Lilith behind. She's a little bit more ruthless in her methods than I think we'd like here."

"Perhaps so, but I feel here skill as a gunner will be needed. Pugnax, you've worked with Lilith for a while now. Try and keep her in line. You may enjoy fighting other hunters, but leave the civilians alone, there's no point in killing them anyway, they're only transporters. Besides, someone will need to get back to the Guild and let them know what's happened."

"Very well," Nax agreed, though the smirk on his face told Micah that he wouldn't really try to hold back the psychotic woman. "I'll look around my own hunters, and see who I can find that have the time to do this with us."

"Good. Now off with the two of you. I'll expect weekly reports sent back with the materials. Get to work boys, those materials won't gather themselves."

The two hunters nodded and quickly made their way out of the room. Once the door was shut, Nax gave Micah a look as though he wanted to continue their argument, but a glance at the door of Moloch's room seemed to dissuade him. Without another word, the man turned and stalked away. Micah wondered mildly if he was off to visit Lilith again, but shook the thought away. He really didn't want to think about it.

But for now, he needed to gather up some of the hunters that worked under him. He had a few talented hunters that he could use on this trip; each of the hunters with the highest value in the organization had several other hunters working under them. Micah tried to get the ones that were the most… sane and logical out of the lot of them, which wasn't that hard to do, considering that Pugnax and Lilith sought out the wildest and most violent out of them, and Filcher demanded only the most powerful. So while he might have the hunters that the others considered too 'weak' or 'cowardly', he really had the ones that were skilled or at least cautious. He didn't need his men and women sacrificing themselves needlessly, not if it gave them away. He preferred it that way to the psychopaths that Nax seemed to prefer and the fools under Filcher's orders that thought they were invincible.

Other than that… he wondered if he had time to stop by the prisons. He'd been meaning to check in on Kim and Nat again, but hadn't had time. He hadn't mentioned it to Moloch, but the pair of them seemed have lost the angry and desperate feeling that they'd had before, which likely meant that either they had sunken into despair or were planning something. After spending so long talking with Nat (Kim wouldn't speak to him at all), he had long since learned that the pair of them would not surrender or give up thinking that they'd be able to escape, so the first option was abysmally unlikely. Besides, the pair of them had been acting a little oddly recently. He hoped they weren't finally breaking down.

He did have a fondness for them, and hated seeing such a bright pair of huntresses in captivity, so had tried multiple times to convince the pair of them to join the organization rather than suffering under them, but… they were stubborn, and wouldn't give up on their ethics. Micah couldn't fault them for that, and even lauded them for it, but it was rough seeing them like they were. He'd even contemplated letting the pair of them free, but… likely they'd kill him first chance they got, and try to destroy as much as they could, and free everyone else, and give away information to the Guild… too many problems raised by the idea, and it would require betraying Moloch, which is something that he just couldn't do.

Still, he supposed he had the time for a visit. For a moment, he pondered telling the pair of the two of them that the four head hunters of the organization would be out of the base. If they made an attempt to escape then, they'd likely succeed, with many of the hunters gone… Micah quickly shook his head. No, he had to rid himself of those thoughts. He had to stay loyal to Moloch, no matter what it meant he had to do.

And no matter how much he hated himself for doing so…

* * *

**Author's Note: Please Review! In my mind right now, this story consists of three acts. If I'd known how long this story would get, I might have broken it up into three parts… Anyway, this chapter is the last part of the second act. Next chapter begins the downhill slope to the finale. That should give you a look at how much is left…**

**If this chapter seems late, and you're angry for me taking so long following up the cliffhanger from the last chapter, blame Ubisoft. They just chose the perfect time to release Assassin's Creed 3, and anyone who's read these author's notes should be aware that I adore that series. So… several days were given up killing Redcoats rather than writing (sincere apologies to any British readers I have). Not to mention that a… certain fan fiction got me back into playing Fallout 3 again, and if Bethesda knows how to do something, it's to make an insanely addictive and soul-sucking game. Also I got a Netflix account (or rather, my sister got one and I'm mooching) and got interested in Sherlock, and Psych, and Doctor Who… so in short, I've dug myself into a large collection of distractions. I managed to get my act back together in the whole 1000 words a day thing, though… eventually. **

**Found a pretty amusing MH podcast that airs on Youtube called the Teamwork Podcast starring four guys who have played the series for a while. It's basically a one or two hour long video every week or so. It's a good way for me to see some of the older games without actually playing them, and at the same time compare myself to other gamers. And truth be told, the guy recording doesn't seem as good as me, at least not at Tri. Kushala Daora is a lot smaller than I thought it would be…**

**Reading: **_**Knife of Dreams**_** by Robert Jordan, **_**The Gathering Storm**_** by Robert Jordan, **_**Fullmetal Alchemist **_**by Hiromu Arakawa  
Playing: MH3, Final Fantasy XII, Assassin's Creed III, Fallout 3, Minecraft: Tekkit  
Listening: Joshua Radin, Scatman, Radical Face, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Smash Mouth, Tyler Ramsey, Relient K, AC/DC, Fun, Modest Mouse, CAKE, all those big band songs from Fallout 3's DNR radio…  
Watching: 007:Skyfall, Wreck-it Ralph, Sherlock, Doctor Who, Psych**


	35. Crime and Punishment

Crime and Punishment

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. Most of the characters in this story are mine. Tenebris belongs to IDKTellMeWhatYouThink. Richard Jr. belongs to Hoenn Master96_

_Edited by: Hoenn Master96_

A strong knock pulled Marco's attention away from the window he was staring out of, making the man jump a little. Just his fortune that someone would visit now, of course. He'd been working most of the day trying to help the Lost along on one of their larger donations to the city, and had finally reached a good point to take a small break, so of course someone would come by right now.

"C-c-come in please," he said, trying to sound in control. His stutter usually made it a challenge, though.

The door opened from the other side and Marco relaxed visibly at the sight of Stergo, the Guild master of Loc Lac. He'd been worried it was another representative of one of the other districts, come to complain about the Lost in one way or another, or describe in great detail the unrest in the city. For some reason or another, disdain for the Lost seemed to be growing increasingly in the other sections of Loc Lac, despite no more Lost having appeared in several months, and the economy of the South District finally beginning to stabilize a little bit. Lynn and Stergo suspected outside influence affecting people's feelings, and Marco regretfully had to agree.

Stergo strode up to the window and looked down on the city below. Marco still had the highest room in the building, which had once been the tallest in the city besides the Guild tower. Other, taller buildings had been built closer to the walls in recent months to provide a little better housing for people, but it was still a pretty tall building. "Nice view," the Wyvernian muttered.

"It is, I s-suppose. The L-Lost that built this place; called it a p-p-penthouse or something. It's nice, b-but I don't feel that I d-d-deserve it at all."

"You belittle yerself, m'boy," Stergo chuckled. "Yer one o' the few folk in town what feel compelled to stand up for the Lost, rather than tryin' ta put 'em down. Shouldn't be no surprise folks are grateful."

"S-still, they could be using this p-p-place for housing or s-something like the rest of the building is. This p-place is t-too p-p-posh for my tastes…"

"How charitable of ya," Stergo replied with a grin. "Well, it's probably for the best, though. Ya can't be havin' a dingy office, I'm guessin', not when all the others got nice places. Can't afford to look poor, not to those folk, so ya forced to put on airs, no matter how foolish it is."

"Pretty m-much," Marco smirked. "Anyway have a seat. I'm sure the stairs aren't pleasant, no matter how tough you are."

"Actually, the Lost workin' here've finished that thingamajig they've been workin' on. Elevator, or somethin'. Noisy thing, rumblin' around on the pull o' that machine they rigged up to the bottom."

"They're d-done with it?" Marco asked, surprised. "I hadn't th-thought it was r-ready yet."

"Well, it wasn't really. The boys down there were thinkin' o' testin' the thing, but none had the guts to ride it themselves, so I told 'em I'd ride the darn thing up here."

"Before it was ready? What if the line had snapped and you'd fallen? You could've died! It's a ten story drop from here to the bottom of that shaft they dug out!"

"Ha! It'll take more than that ta' kill me, boy! I've jumped from higher ledges than that it my heyday! What kinda hunter can't survive a drop like that?"

"A live one," Marco muttered, shaking his head. "What kind of person leaps off a cliff and thinks they'll survive hitting the bottom? That's insane!"

"You'd be surprised," Stergo chuckled. "Ya know, Lynn was right about you."

"Hmm? About what?" Marco sighed, leaning back into his chair.

"Your stutter vanishes when you're excited or worried."

Marco blinked and flushed as the old Wyvernian chuckled in amusement. "I d-don't… I didn't r-r-realize that…"

"Ah, don't worry about it, don't worry about it," the Wyvernian said, plopping down into the chair. "Anyway, best get to business. I have some news for ya."

"Is it g-good news and bad news?" Marco asked. "Even if th-there's bad news with it, I c-c-could really use some good n-news."

Stergo sighed and frowned. "Well, I suppose ya could say one bit's good compared to the other. Truth be told though, it's more like bein' bad news 'n' worse news."

"Oh, wonderful," Marco groaned. "Well, b-best get it over with, then."

"Well, might as well just letcha know right off, there's been another Alatreon attack. Up north, at the trade town, Hearth."

Marco blanched at the words. "Th-the Alatreon? Really. Oh dear. And Hearth? Th-that's… that's such a l-large town. This is t-t-terrible… There hasn't b-been a town that large hit b-by the creature in d-d-decades. Oh dear, oh d-dear… How m-many were killed?"

Stergo stared straight at Marco. He didn't seem sad at all, merely… concerned. "Seventeen dead."

Marco blinked, uncomprehending. "What?"

"Seventeen people were killed in the attack. Ten residents, and seven Lost. Two were just children."

"B-b-but… but there must've been several hundred people l-living in Hearth, if not c-close to a th-thousand! How c-could there only be seventeen d-d-deaths?"

"Well apparently there were a party goin' on at Noi's compound, and most of the town was there. Not many folk back at home at the time."

"But that sh-shouldn't have mattered! The Al-l-latreon always wipes out ev-v-verything! What happened?"

Stergo took a deep breath. "I'll be honest. I just don't know. Far as I can tell, no one managed to hurt it any, but reports tell somethin' 'bout a bright flash o' light that made the beast fall outta the sky. Too bright to be a flash bomb, least, not a normal one. After that, it just flew away."

"So, it… attacked and th-then j-just… left?"

"So it seems," Stergo sighed. "Trust me, I'm just as surprised at this as you are, and I'm the one who's hunted monsters his whole life. Unless the whole town's lyin' 'bout the whole thing, we gotta assume what they told us is true."

Marco simply sat, staring at the old Wyvernian for a long minute. "I don't… how c-could this be considered b-bad news? Someone's actually m-m-managed to scare the beast off. Shouldn't that be g-good?"

"Maybe yes any other time, but… well… 'Fraid to say it, but there's a reason the Alatreon attacked Hearth. Turns out a coupla fool hunters went off tryin' to hunt and kill the beastie. They managed to survive the fight, don't ask me how, and stumbled back ta Hearth. That's why the critter came and attacked the place."

"Ah, I see. B-but then w-wouldn't the law dictate they be arrested or s-s-something? Exiled, maybe?"

"Well, there's a bit o' a problem wit' that plan," Stergo muttered. "The pair o' hunters that did it were those two Lost hunters that Lynn's putting up."

"Them? Really? B-but why w-w-would it matter if… oh. Oh dear."

"My thoughts exactly," Stergo grumbled.

Marco began to sweat a little under his clothes. This could be a nasty issue. If any other hunter had tried to hunt the Alatreon, the process was simple: immediate imprisonment for life if they were relatively unknown, and if they were famous or popular, they were exiled to another country. Brutal, some might say, but considering the damage the archives claimed the beast had wrought out of revenge, the Guild could easily claim its actions to be justified.

But if the hunters were Lost… the city was already a veritable powder keg waiting to go up in flames. If two Lost, especially two well-known and relatively popular ones (at least in the South District) were imprisoned or exiled, either side of the Lost issue could cause a ruckus. The Lost would be enraged at something they'd consider unfair treatment, and the locals…

"Zhanin must never know about this," Marco muttered, staring at Stergo worriedly.

"Ain't that the truth."

"Law dictates that they be arrested, but we can't exactly do that without letting people know that we've done it. If Zhanin learns that some Lost willingly went after the Alatreon, especially knowing it's illegal and why, it could be what pushes his arguments against the Lost over the edge. Instead of just those two hunters being exiled, it could very well be the entire population of Lost."

"And I don't reckon I need to tell you how the Lost'll react, most likely."

"No, no…It would be bad."

"That ain't even the worst of it, I'm afraid."

Marco paled at the words. "It gets _worse_?"

"I did promise bad and worse news, m'boy."

"I thought that _was_ the worse news… fine, let's hear it."

The old Wyvernian pulled out a collection of papers bound together. "The folk in Hearth… well, when they found out that the two hunters had called down the Alatreon down on them, they were right thorough in their questionin' of the pair. Both hunters, as well as a third that had helped them chase off the critter from the town, all had quite a bit o' odd things to say 'bout the beastie. It's a bit tricky tellin' if they're all just lyin' or not, but… well, they were able to chase the thing off, which ain't been done before. Makes me wonder about how truthful they're bein'."

Marco took the papers Stergo handed him, skimming through them quickly. Telephathy? Speaking to the Lost? Treating their people like pawns in some twisted game? Being the cause of these crystals or whatever that had carried them here from the past, as well as implanting the madness in their heads? It sounded delusional honestly, but not too long ago, Marco would have thought the idea of people sleeping away centuries in crystals was just as crazy.

The two sat in silence for several minutes as Marco read and reread the papers. "Is any of this real? Is this all really what they said?"

"That feller Noi was very clear that they made sure to get all the information that they could out of the two hunters. They made very clear what the punishments for their actions were, and what would happen to them if they lied. I s'pose it weren't necessary, though. The boy admitted to pretty much everything you see there before the threats, and the girlie backed him up. Like I said, one of the other hunters vouched for him too, though he only could verify that the Alatreon could speak telepathically."

"So… it's possible that this is all true? Not just a… delusion of a few Lost?"

"Can you remember a time that the Alatreon's attacked a village then decided to spare it?" Marco blinked and shook his head at the question. "Didn't think so. That means somethin' weird happened up north, something nobody could've guessed. Could be that these two hunters just irked the Alatreon and the beast decided to be forgivin' for some reason, but I've met the pair. The boy might've been a bit off, but the girl seemed pretty stable. It's hard to tell with those Lost, though. If it is true though, it means the beast will intentionally provoke any and all Lost, just fer fun."

"That's another thing I saw. According to what they told their… interrogators, they didn't exactly try to find it. They got lost in a snowstorm and the beast dropped out of the sky to fight them. Is that… they didn't exactly run, but does it still count as seeking out and trying to kill it?"

"Yeah, I saw that too," Stergo grumbled. "They wouldn't change their tone 'bout that bit, it seems, so they're likely tellin' the truth. 'Sides, I ain't heard of hunters lookin' for the beast in the Tundra before, and if the rest of the stuff in there's real, it going lookin' for them's a possibility. Most folk won't see it that way though. They didn't try to run from it, anyway, just charged it head on. 'S far as I'm concerned, it's 'bout the same. It's one o' the bigger reasons I'm so torn up 'bout it though; it weren't really their fault they fought it."

Marco sighed, dropping the papers down onto his desk and rubbing his eyes. "How… how are we supposed to proceed with this? We could imprison or exile them, but that could very well sent Loc Lac into riots, or worse."

Stergo sat in thought for a moment or two, then nodded. "Well, there is another option, somthin' we had ta do back before your time. A hotshot hunter, one helluva guy, decided he and a few of his friends were gonna go after the Alatreon. Fortunately, we caught onto tha plan 'fore he could go through with it. Had ta punish him o' course. Problem was, he was right popular with the folk in Loc Lac, and many o' the other huntin' towns, loved by everyone. The public outcry for imprisonment or exile would'a been terrible, even over the Alatreon. So we had ta come up with a new idea for him. In retrospect, it was rather… cruel, considerin' his love o' huntin'."

"What did you do?"

Stergo shifted uncomfortably. "We made him… obscure."

"You did what?"

"We erased his fame and popularity."

"What? How? You just said he was widely popular!"

"Didn't say it was easy. Truth be told, it took a long while to pull off. The short of it was, we simply didn't let him fight anything real challengin'. Most hunters'll get their names well known by killin' big or rare beasties like Raths and other wyverns, maybe some leviathans or an elder dragon. We cut him off from all o' that. He weren't allowed ta chase after nothin' more dangerous than a Rathian. Had a hunter hired ta follow him around at odd hours, make sure he didn't do nothin' stupid or against the rules. Called him a 'handler', like he was takin' care of a wild dog're somthin'. Rather insultin', truth be told… The hunter didn't think nothin' of it at first, but… well, it's hard for a man ta get respect when all he's able to kill're Jaggis and Baggis and Qurupecos and maybe a Gobul at the worst. It was slow… and painful to watch. Hunters like challenges, and we were cuttin' him off from 'em. We… well, I'll be honest, we destroyed him. No fame, no fortune, no real challenges to face. Might be some hunters don't mind just pickin' off the little critters for fun, but for him it was torture."

Marco gaped in shock at the Wyvernian. "What… what happened to him?"

Stergo sighed. "I… couldn't tell ya. He just up and vanished one day. Far as I can tell, nobody's seen him since. He was real fidgety and angry there at the end though. I'm afraid… well, I'm afraid he may have gone off, decidin' to be a poacher or somethin'. Mighta gone off huntin' the Alatreon after all, just ta sate his thirst. Never saw him again, though, so I can't say for sure."

"So that's your suggestion? Ban them from anything that could make them popular? Let them fade into obscurity?"

"Fer now. Fer now," Stergo nodded. "I'm afraid… it won't be enough in the end. Once all this political dribble with the Lost is over with, they'll need to meet the full weight of their crimes, but for now, they're cut off. They're four star hunters already, so we don't let 'em advance any further. Rathians'll be the worst thing they can go after from here on in. And we gotta make sure they know why this decision was made. The girl'll be sensible enough to understand. Hopefully the boy'll be sane enough to do so as well."

"Hopefully," Marco nodded. "But you know, they didn't exactly get their own fame from hunting particularly powerful monsters, but from surviving rather unique circumstances thrown at them. Let's see, there was that altercation with that other hunter, then that whole 'awakening' in the Tundra a month later."

"And hopefully that trend has cut off," Stergo sighed. "No more hunting after blue lights or tryin' to save some Lost for them; not anymore. I'll make sure they're sent on normal missions, nothin' fancy from here on in."

"And you're certain that will be enough?"

"I've had a hard time bein' certain 'bout much o' anything these days, but I'm hopin' so. If nothin' else, I'm havin' Lynn keep a close eye on the both of 'em. Hopefully she'll be able ta beat some sense into 'em."

"Yes, hopefully," Marco said. The two hunters had seemed like a good hope to help out the Losts' circumstances in Loc Lac, but with all this… Marco just wasn't sure anymore.

After a few moments silence, Stergo pushed himself off the chair. "Welp, best be getting back to the Guild. I'll need to send a message to Hearth ta send those two hunters back this way, and make sure people's mouths stay shut about this whole thing. Hopefully, word o' what's happened up there hasn't spread too much yet and we'll be able to crack down on it."

"Good luck with that," Marco said, standing as well. "You'll need it, I'd guess."

"Probably," Stergo replied. Then he smirked at Marco. "Good luck with yer work on the council. Don't forget ta stutter, it makes people underestimate ya."

Marco blanched and flushed in embarrassment. "I… I d-didn't… I was j-j-just…"

Stergo laughed. "That's more like it. It's odd seein' ya so confident and concerned. I s'pose once ya have somethin' worth fightin' fer, it changes ya. S'pose that's a good thing fer ya. Anyway, I'll letcha know if anythin' else comes up. See ya around, Marco."

And with that the Wyvernian walked out the door, chuckling to himself, and Marco could only stare as he left. Something worth fighting for, huh? He supposed he really hadn't had much to do before the Lost showed up. But now…

Marco sighed, turning back to look out the window. He hoped there was some way to get past this issue with Levin and Eleanor without too much trouble. As much as he'd liked the pair, they were endangering the Lost, and Marco would do whatever it took to prevent that from happening. He needed to try and protect the Lost, even if it meant giving up on a couple of them to save the whole.

* * *

Levin gasped in pain as he smashed into a tree, toppling to the ground and clutching his side in pain. He strained to force himself up as his attacker lurched forward, fist swinging around to smash into his skull. But Levin brought up his own arm quickly, moving to deflect the blow before it could be struck and swinging it to the side harmlessly.

His attacker, however, was far more skilled than he in hand-to-hand combat, and used the lost momentum to carry on through, completely tackling him and slamming their shoulder right up under Levin's sternum, completely lifting the switch axe user up and off the ground and throwing him back across the ground.

Levin skidded across the ground, nearly smashing into a large rock that jutted up from the earth. But he'd been tossed around enough during his time as a hunter that he'd learned how to use the area to his surroundings. Rather than colliding headfirst into the boulder, Levin quickly pushed off the ground with his hands, spinning himself into a more controlled tumble before kicking off and leaping up onto the top of the rock, perching on top as he rubbed his bruised chest in irritation.

But his attacker wasn't slowing down, turning to charge at him once again, and Levin tensed in anticipation. He was not doing very well here, either; he was used to fighting giant monsters with a weapon he was familiar with. Going against a human with his fists though? Not his specialty. He braced himself, sliding off the rock quickly and running forward to meet his opponent.

However, before he could reach his attacker, they suddenly dropped low to the ground, sweeping their hand across the ground and snapping up a thick branch that had been lying on the ground. With a swing of their arm, the wooden rod was sent spinning towards Levin's head. The switch axe user yelped in shock, quickly bringing up his arms to block as the timber smacked into his forearms, leaving a painful welt as it tumbled off of him and back to the ground.

Levin realized his mistake a moment too late. By stopping and raising his hands to block, he'd both stopped his own battle momentum and cut off his line of sight from his attacker. A moment later, a hand snaked around his arms and twisted around his head and neck. The next thing he knew he had been lifted entirely off his feet and hoisted into the air. His attacker swung him up, and the next second brought him down, slamming him into the dirt. Levin gasped in pain and struggled to break loose of the grip, but without missing a beat his attacker swung him into the air again and smashed him into the ground once more.

Levin tried to grab ahold of the attacker's arm to shake their grip free, but a moment later a boot came crashing down onto his chest. He could feel his bones straining, as though they were struggling to avoid snapping in two. He wished he was wearing his armor for this… the foot twisted, grinding the heel deeper into Levin's sternum.

"Hyu not as tough as hyu tink hyu are, leedle hunter," his attacker growled down at him. Lynn stared down at him angrily as she pushed down her heel into his chest a little harder, making him wince in pain. "Hy suggest hyu remember dot, hey?"

Levin held back a strangled gasp as the boot wedged into his sternum. "Ack! Yes ma'am!"

It took a few moments, but finally Lynn sighed, lifting her foot off of Levin's chest and reaching a hand down to help him up, which Levin accepted gratefully. Getting to his feet, Levin groaned in pain as aches and bruising began to work their way into his body. With a grunt of effort, he plopped himself down on a nearby tree stump and allowed himself to rest from the sparring match. Lynn crossed her arms and gave the switch axe user a slightly guilty look.

"Hy suppose hy should apologize," the innkeeper said. "Hy vas… perhaps ventink a leedle bit on you."

"And I guess I deserved it," Levin replied with a small smile.

"Heh. Hy von't argue against dot," Lynn chuckled. "Hy guess hy'm still a leedle bit miffed at de two of hyu for doing sometink so shtupid as goink after de Alatreon. Bah! Fool boy! Hy tot hyu vere shmarter den dot! Well… hy tot your leedle gurlie was smarter den dot, und hy was hopink she vould be able to keep control of hyu."

"Guess we're kind of a disappointment, aren't we?"

"Maybe… just a leedle. But on de odder hand, hy knew hyu had some problem wit de ting, but hy rilly didn't try to shtop hyu or notink. Hy could haf told de Guild vhat hyu were plannink before hyu went after it, bot… hy suppose if vhat hyu told me bot how de ting hunted hyu down is true, dere's not much it vould've done to help much, hey?"

Levin shrugged. "I don't know… After everything that's happened, it's hard to tell what's what anymore. All that's left for me now is the punishment that the Guild lays down on me. And if I'm honest, I think you're a little bit more than a 'leedle' disappointed, judging by the way you tossed me around back there. Feels like you're helping the Guild punish me as well."

"Like hy said, hy vas venting," the innkeeper replied, irritation and frustration flitting across her face. "Hyu is not only endangerink hyuselves vhen hyu go after dot monster, but hyu also threatenink a lot of odder pipple as vell. Towns, villages, und even some cities. But hyu is also endangerink de Lost in general! If Zhanin found out abott dis shtuff… hyu'd put all hyu pipple in danger! Then Logan vould've been-"

Immediately the woman's mouth snapped shut and her face flushed, and Levin realized why the woman had been so rough with him and felt a wave of guilt wash over him. Of course she'd have been insanely worried about Logan upon hearing what he'd done, fighting the Alatreon. If the Lost really received the worst treatment from the Loc Lac council, the boy could easily be taken away from Lynn and sent off with the rest of the Lost to wherever Loc Lac determined they should be sent. Even though the woman tried to act otherwise, she truly cared deeply for the boy, desperately wanting to take good care of him.

"Sorry," Levin said quietly.

Lynn sighed and shook her head. "Don't vorry bot it. Hy suppose it's to be expected dot hy shtared to rilly like de fool child. Hy don't… hy don't know how hy vill react should sometink happen to de Lost here in Loc Lac. Hy doubt it vill be qviet, though. Likely, dere vill be wounded. Hy suppose hy'm just vorried bot him, und blaming hyu for causink such a mess is easier den tinkink about vhat might happen."

"Well, if it's any consolation, you probably won't have to worry about it for too long. If worse comes to worst, they'll probably just imprison or exile us somewhere far away, and do it quietly just to have it done and over with. You'll never have to worry about me… or… or Ellie threatening Logan again after that."

"Dot's not… dot's not vhat I vanted…" Lynn said sadly. "Hy like hyu two, hy just… hy wish tings were different, hey?"

"Yeah, so do I," Levin replied quietly. The two were silent for a few moments, before Levin struggled to his feet, brushing the dirt off of his clothes. "But they aren't, and it doesn't look like they ever will be. Anyway, I'd better get back inside. I think Ellie said she was going to try finding a quest the Guild would let us do. Maybe she's found one. I'll see you around, Lynn."

"Ja… see hyu 'round, Levin," Lynn nodded, a gloomy look on her face as Levin turned and walked back into the inn.

Levin rubbed his shoulders painfully as he reentered the Oasis. He was glad that Lynn was still willing to train him, even if she used the time to take out her frustrations on him. He was glad he had the freedom to do even that much ever since arriving back in Loc Lac. The time since returning from Hearth had left him feeling guilty and melancholy, though, considering the circumstances he found himself in now.

After being 'arrested' in Hearth, Levin and Ellie had been separated into two small cells, wedged underground behind a meat storehouse, and kept there until Stergo had called for their release. Reactions to the choice had been mixed; while a Noi, Crezant, and a few choice other citizens of the town knew that Levin, and to a lesser sense, Ellie, had battled the Alatreon and likely been the ones that had caused it to become enraged and attack Hearth. Likely, few would have believed if told anyway, considering the thought of people having battled the Alatreon and survived was unheard of until that day. In short, while Noi had ordered that Levin and Ellie be imprisoned until they received further orders, a vast majority of the town considered the pair to be Hearth's saviors, miraculously chasing off the Alatreon and keeping their town safe. So it was that, despite their incarceration, several citizens of Hearth had provided them food, as opposed to the measly meals that the imprisoned folk normally received.

Neither Levin nor Ellie were treated truly badly during their time imprisoned, at least not as bad as Levin had been imagining, even when they were being interrogated. Levin supposed that it helped that they'd both immediately confessed to everything, explaining everything they could think of what had happened. Though, both of the hunters had refrained from going into details about the voices in Levin's head, and the extent in which Levin's madness had left him blind with anger. But everything else, the Alatreon speaking to them, everything it told Levin, and what it had done to the Lost; all of it was explained to their interrogators. Nothing else was held back, which was likely why the interrogators didn't press too hard; what kind of people would willingly admit to such damning crimes?

Harker had come to visit them daily, as well as adding his input into the Alatreon's attack. Miller had come occasionally as well, though mostly just to speak with Noi, though he talked with the hunters a little bit as well. Kerry, however… she'd come to talk to Ellie a little bit the first day, but after the pair had confessed to fighting the Alatreon and explained why, she'd stopped coming altogether.

Levin had been shocked upon receiving the news of Stergo's decision to release him and Ellie, even on the stipulations the Guild Master had given them. For the time he'd been sitting in the prison, he'd been sinking further and further into depressed despair, certain that he was going to spend the rest of his life in prison, and worse, because of him, Ellie would be suffering the same fate as well. He'd nearly gone mad again, knowing the woman he loved would be suffering such a terrible fate because of him. But somehow or another, they'd managed to put off their full punishment, due to the political tensions in Loc Lac. But imprisonment or exile was only a wait away, to come sooner or later, once the dissent and troubles in Loc Lac were settled.

It wasn't much at all. It was something, but not much.

He was still afraid of the eventual punishment, of course. The fear and anger that the Alatreon had instilled in him would haunt him, pressing him to desire the beast's death until either he or the Alatreon died. But since the duel with the creature, Ellie had taken priority in his mind again, and he worried more about what would happen when the Guild finally got around to arresting the two of them. He wondered if he could convince Stergo to reduce her punishment; after all, he was the primary antagonist of the Alatreon, and Ellie had been opposed to going after the thing (at least as early as they had) most of the time. If Ellie was free to live as she liked, Levin was perfectly fine with suffering the full punishment the Guild handed out to him.

Eventually, the Guild had sent a collection of hunters to 'escort' them back to Loc Lac, a group of four that were apparently a part of Stergo's most trusted subordinates. Apparently, the Guild Master was going to great lengths to keep anyone from finding out what he and Ellie had done, and the four hunters that led them back to Loc Lac were more than willing to tell them exactly why he and Ellie weren't already rotting in prison.

The four hunters had left Hearth quietly, in the early morning, so as not to raise a fuss with the locals that didn't know anything. The hunters had also left a letter from Stergo in Noi's care, telling him to make sure that no stories about the encounter with the Alatreon made it out of the town, and that anyone who knew what had really happened would be better off forgetting what they knew. There had been long talks about completely evacuating the town, but they wanted to avoid that if they could. The Alatreon had yet to return to finish off the town in the week that Levin and Ellie had been imprisoned, so there was hope that maybe the flash bomb had surprised the beast enough to ward it off. If it hadn't… well, Harker had told Levin that he had taught an alchemist in Hearth the particular mix he'd used to make his powerful flash bombs, so they had that if worse came to worst.

Stergo hadn't even taken the time to meet them personally when they'd finally arrived back in Loc Lac. Levin supposed he' was trying to keep the possibility of people coming to conclusions about the whole thing to a bare minimum. But that hadn't stopped the Wyvernian from assigning him and Ellie a personal overseer to keep an eye on them, which gave them the full rundown on how things would be for the pair of them from then on in. And he'd made certain that they knew that their punishments wouldn't go away, it was only delayed.

They would pay the price for their actions, sooner or later.

As Levin walked back into the bars, rubbing his bruises, he spotted a familiar man sitting at the bar stool closest to the door. He was a burly, thick man with close cropped dark hair and thick beard, and he was giving Levin an untrusting, irritated glance as he made his way back into the building.

"Don't see much point in you training like you are," the man muttered dourly. "After all, it's not like you're going to be fighting anything really challenging again from here on in, boy."

"Hello to you too, Bale," Levin replied sourly. The man had been the one assigned to him and Ellie as a sort of supervisor of the Guild. He referred to himself as their 'handler,' which Levin found just a little bit insulting.

"What do you hope to gain by all that training, boy?" Bale growled. "If you're still thinking of doing… what you're not supposed to, don't think that I can't stop any activities that I deem as a possible threat to the safety of the people in this country."

"I'm not planning anything," Levin muttered. And he wasn't, really. At least, nothing short term. He really had no plans prepared for looking for the Alatreon again. He knew he'd try to chase after it eventually, but right now, he was just trying to keep under the radar, just as the Guild wanted him to. He was trying to gather more powerful materials for his weapons as well, but with the Guild restricting his hunts, he really didn't have much room to maneuver. "You found me out! I actually enjoy taking a beating from a woman who's ten times better than me! Come on, Bale. Maybe I just want to improve myself, did you ever think of that?"

Levin tried to push past the man, wanting to make his way over to where he saw Ellie and Harker sitting. But before he could pass the man, Bale's hand snapped out, grabbing ahold of his wrist and glaring at him furiously.

"You think this a joke, boy?" the man growled, tightening his grip. Levin did his best not to flinch; the man was strong. He supposed they had to be, in fear that Levin and Ellie might try and fight them and run away. "You think this whole situation is funny?"

Levin glared back at the man. "I've been told that all I have to look forward to for the rest of my life is to have my life controlled by men like you, spend the rest of my life in prison, or be exiled from the country to who knows where. Trust me; there is no one that is taking this more seriously than I am."

"I highly doubt that," Bale said darkly, before finally releasing Levin and allowing him to pass.

Levin received a few worried looks from the other patrons of the bar at the gruff treatment, but he smiled and waved them off. Lynn and Bale were the only people in the bar besides himself, Ellie, Harker, and Kerry that knew the extent of his and Ellie's crimes, and the possible consequences that could befall Loc Lac if he wasn't careful. He wasn't the first of Levin and Ellie's handlers, and the switch axe user doubted that he would be the last.

They'd had two others before Bale. However, both, like Bale, were less than kind in their treatment of Levin and Ellie. When the party had been surprised by a Barroth during a Qurupeco hunt in the desert, the first handler hadn't raised a hand to help or even batted an eye when Levin was nearly run down. The second had been a woman fiercely vocal about how terrible their crime had been, and had actually pushed Ellie into a swamp that held a Gobul that the group had been hunting. Levin couldn't really blame them for their desire to see him and her punished, he supposed, but there was a limit to wanting to see them receive justice. Of course, Stergo had been quick to remove the two and replace them, but so far, he hadn't exactly found anyone forgiving enough to just keep an eye on him and Ellie. Bale wasn't bad, Levin supposed, at least compared to the other two. He was crude, rude, and seemed to enjoy talking down to him and Ellie, but he was a good hunter and did his best to keep everyone alive when they were out in the field. That was better than nothing, Levin guessed. But he figured that the man would eventually get sick of them, or too tempted to hurt them, or sell them down the river and just tell people what they'd done.

Levin made his way over to where Ellie was sitting, quietly talking to Harker. The woman looked up and smiled at him as he approached and sat next to her. "How's it going?"

"Good, I guess," she replied. "Well, good enough. I found a hunt we can do. Had to do some serious convincing to get Bale to allow it, though."

"What is it?" Levin asked, as Ellie pulled out the hunt request.

"A Rathian!" Ellie replied excitedly, and Levin's eyes widened in surprise.

"Really? I wouldn't have thought Bale would've let us do something that challenging."

"Told you I had to do some serious convincing, didn't I? After all, we've taken one down before, and that was in the Volcano area, where monsters are bigger and nastier. This is in a far more serene location, and the monsters aren't nearly so bad."

"Besides," Harker added, pointing to the paper, "the Guild has labeled the mission as a Rathian mission only because it has the highest probability of being so. Something has been sustaining itself on a village's herds of Aptonoth, and they'd like that to stop, if you please. According to them, no one's actually seen exactly what sort of creature's been plucking away the herds, but the amount it's been eating seems to indicate a wyvern of some kind. A Rathian is the most likely candidate, though, judging by the amount it's been eating, though it could just as easily be a large pack of smaller wyverns or pseudo-wyverns. I suppose we'll just have to go and find out for them."

"Okay, then. Where is this mission at?"

"It's supposed to be in the mountains between here and the oceans," Ellie explained, taking the mission paper and passing it to him. "Bale was a bit skeptical about it, but really there's not much that lives in the area besides flying monsters and some herd animals. Rathians and Qurupecos for the most part, with a few Ludroth and Gobul in the rapids between the mountains. Other than that, it's pretty stable."

"What about Rathalos?" Levin asked.

"I asked the Guild rep about the area. Rathalos don't show up in the mountain valleys. They prefer wide open areas where they can fly freely and the narrow paths don't exactly allow them to do so. We should be fine."

"Is there a town in the area or something that's asking for the help?" Levin asked, before looking at the paper. "What is it… Nastre? Sounds familiar…"

"As well it should," Harker spoke up. "If you'll recall, there was a Lost 'awakening' out west about the same time we were dealing with that unique Rathian in the Volcano hunting grounds. Most of the awakened ones were sent to the nearest towns with the room to take them in. For the most part, a majority of the new Lost were sent to Nastre."

"Oh yeah, I remember now. But weren't the Lost there not really getting along with the locals?"

"Indeed," Harker replied, grinning wryly. "From word out that way, it doesn't seem like that much has changed, either. Nothing so volatile as what seems to be happening here in Loc Lac, but still not nearly as nice as things seem to be going in Hearth and Orage Dell. Perhaps we could look into the problems while we're there…"

"No, Harker, we can't," Ellie said quickly. "Well, at least, I guess me and Levin really can't, remember? We're supposed to talk to as few people as we possibly can while we're out hunting, in order to avoid leaving an impact."

"That's right," Levin said with a sad smile. "We're to be as unmemorable as possible for the rest of our hunting careers, and after that…" There were several moments of silence as Levin trailed off. None of them needed reminding of the eventual consequences of Levin and Ellie's battle against the Alatreon. Either life in prison or exile from the country. Neither was very comforting.

"Well… I'm sure something will come up that will help you two out," Harker said brightly. "Maybe if… maybe if you do enough good things, people will be more willing to forgive you two. After all, Hearth is still in one piece, and there were nearly no casualties. Completely unheard of for an Alatreon attack."

"I guess that a thought," Levin replied. "But it doesn't seem to be doing anything for us so far, no matter how good a condition Hearth's in."

"Maybe so, maybe so…" the long sword user replied. He paused for a moment. "Then… of course… there's the chance that you could actually find and kill the elder dragon itself…"

"Let's not worry about that right now. Please," Ellie cut in. "It's not… it's not good to think about those kinds of things at the moment."

"Ah, of course, of course," Harker nodded. Then there was silence at the table again.

"How's… how's Kerry doing?" Levin asked.

Harker's face sank at the question. It was very odd seeing such a downtrodden expression on the long sword user's face. "She's fine. Though, she's still not talking to me very much. She seems very… I'm not sure, hurt about the whole issue with the Alatreon. I suppose I really don't blame her."

Levin nodded. Kerry had been very distant from the three Lost ever since the tangle with the Alatreon in Hearth. She hadn't been unkind or anything to them, and had tagged along with them on all their hunts, but she'd refrained from most attempts at conversation with them, and kept to herself most of the time. She spoke more frequently with Harker, of course, but even then she seemed to be keeping her distance from him. Levin was worried about her, as was Ellie. Kerry was very ingrained in the stories and legends of the world as it was, and clearly their tussle with the Alatreon had affected her. She seemed very disapproving of Levin's desire to seek out the beast and kill it, but hadn't acted as violently against it as his and Ellie's handlers had. Still, it had him worried, though it seemed to be hitting Harker the hardest.

"She is… a very kind and compassionate woman," Harker said sadly. "I fear her nature compels her to hold back what she's really feeling, for our sake. She likes you two, but at the same time, she has in inlaid fear of the Alatreon and the consequences of going after the beast. I'm more worried than anything about whether her fear of the creature or her care for the three of us will come out on top in the end."

"She wouldn't choose to leave us behind out of fear for the Alatreon… would she?" Levin asked. But rather than the answering, the long sword user smirked mirthlessly and shook his head.

"I simply don't know."

"Harker…" Ellie said quietly. "I know that you care about her. If you really think she's that worried about the Alatreon, you don't have to help us with the whole thing. Neither me nor Levin would ask you to give her up for this."

Harker grinned a little as Levin nodded in agreement. "I suppose that's true, but… I'd still like the chance to talk to her more first. I don't want to lose her, but at the same time I don't want to leave you two hanging on your desire to kill the thing. Besides, my experimental flash bomb seemed to affect it fairly well. If some of my other creations could help you, I want to do what I can. I'll do my best to convince her to help as well."

"And if you can't… just leave us behind. Make her your priority, okay?"

Harker gave a sad smile. "If I must…"

"Good," Ellie nodded. Levin wasn't so convinced. They'd learned that the Alatreon enjoyed playing with the Lost, and Harker knew it. He doubted that the long sword user would give up taking down their common enemy very easily. But like Ellie, he didn't want Harker to give up Kerry for them, even if he could be a big help with the fight…

"What are you three plotting now?" Levin glanced up as Bale approached their table, giving them suspicious looks.

"Not a thing," Harker said briskly, the sly smile he seemed familiar with appearing on his face again. "Miss Eleanor here was merely regaling us on information about the hunt you've agreed to accompany us on. Quite generous of you, allowing us to chase after a Rathian: Shouldn't be anything too complicated to deal with, since our little group has already dealt with the challenge of taking down a Rathian before. A second one shouldn't be too much of an issue."

Bale glowered at the long sword user. "It's that kind of misplaced confidence that got you into this predicament in the first place. You aren't as tough as you seem to think you are. Maybe you got lucky with the first Rathian, but there's no indication you'll do as well a second time."

But Harker kept grinning. "Well, I still have faith in our abilities. What hunter goes out on a hunt, they don't exactly head out thinking they're sure to lose, do they?"

"Maybe so, but they also don't go out certain they're going to win. They go out prepared."

"You think I don't go out prepared? Perhaps you've forgotten, but I brought more bombs and experimental toys along on the last hunt than everyone else combined. Preparedness is not something that acts as a hindrance to me."

Bale growled at Harker, but the show had little effect on the man. A moment later he shrugged in irritation. "Either way, I suppose it doesn't matter, at least not to me. I sent a messenger to Stergo when you told me you wanted to go after a Rathian, asking if that was fine."

Ellie gaped in shock. "But you told me-"

"I know what I told you," Bale cut her off. "But I wanted to see if Stergo said otherwise. And much as I'd like it to be otherwise, the old man said you could go ahead and hunt the thing. But thankfully for me, you three are no longer my problem. The old man also sent a message, telling me that you'd be switching to a new handler in Nastre. A good thing too. I understand why you two aren't rotting in a prison right now, but I certainly don't like it. Maybe your next handler will be more forgiving of your stupidity. Hopefully I'll never have to see either of you again."

And with that, Bale turned and walked away, vanishing through the doors of the bar. The three hunters stared after the man in surprise. Once again, Bale had managed to surprise them. The other two handlers had been adamant about staying when Stergo had ordered them to be replaced, demanding that they were good enough to keep Levin and Ellie out of trouble, but Bale had just walked away, glad to have nothing more to do with them. Levin supposed that was better than other things he could've done.

"So… I guess we'll be heading to Nastre by ourselves, then?" Ellie asked. "Jeez, it's been almost a month since it's just been the four of us."

"Yes, it has been some time, hasn't it?" Harker said. "Perhaps Stergo is giving us an opportunity to prove ourselves trustworthy enough to at least travel on our own."

"Or maybe he's running out of people he can trust to keep an eye on us without giving us away or trying to kill us," Levin muttered sourly.

"Let's try to remain positive about things, my friends," Harker interjected. "No matter how challenging doing so may be… Times may be hard, but there must be something that can be done to improve your circumstances."

"Well… maybe so," Ellie said. Then she got to her feet. "If you'll excuse me, I still have a training session with Lynn before I go to bed. Hopefully she'll take it a little easier on me today…"

"Don't get your hopes up," Levin muttered, and his beloved shivered involuntarily.

"Well… either way, maybe some practice will give me a better advantage fighting a Rathian than we had last time. See you two around."

"I should head off as well, then," Harker said, rising. "I'll need to inform Lady Kerrigan of Eleanor's choice. With luck, she'll be feeling more talkative today."

"Good luck with that," Levin said, and Harker smiled.

"Much obliged my friend," he replied before walking away towards his room.

Levin didn't stay in the bar much longer after that. A few older hunters that he knew came over to talk to him and ask him about what he was up to, but with the Guild's restrictions on what he could tell people combined with the very uninteresting monsters he'd hunted recently, there really wasn't much to tell them. Despite the Guild's best efforts, the other hunters in the bar could tell that something was wrong, but without Levin and Ellie telling them anything, they could only speculate.

Eventually the hunters found other people to talk to, those with interesting or new stories to tell. Levin found himself watching as a couple of brothers on the other side of the bar regaled those that would listen about their recent tangle with a Lagiacrus that had been attacking shipping vessels. Levin doubted that the beast was really as long as the Loc Lac tower was tall, but their audience didn't seem to mind the embellishment. Without calling attention to himself, Levin quietly left the bar, returning to his room.

Levin stumbled wearily into his room when he arrived. He hadn't realized exactly how worn out his training with Lynn had made him. He certainly didn't envy Ellie her turn out in the yard with the big woman. Hopefully she'd be given enough time to rest for their journey tomorrow. Lynn worked them hard, but she wasn't cruel in what she did.

Levin had to admit, he looked forward to hunting another Rathian, especially now that both he and Ellie had gotten new weapons to make it a little easier. His Lagi switch axe was powerful, but he couldn't make it any better without taking out another Lagiacrus or two, and the Guild certainly wasn't going to allow that to happen anytime soon. All he could get was get materials from Rathians or weaker, or any ores he managed to collect anywhere he went.

Which was how he managed to get and upgrade the switch axe that was leaning precariously against the wall of his room. He had to admit, the weapons he got from Umbre all tended to have very… jagged appearances. 'Crystal series' indeed; the new switch axe had a very crystalline, gem-like appearance to it, glittering subtly in the dim candlelight of the room. The bladed sides of the weapon made the thing appear as though it was cut straight from a large crystal, blending together fluidly into a seemingly single piece. The blade, which he was told was called the Tough Break, had cost him a small fortune to get the materials for (not to mention quite a bit of haggling with other hunters to get the Volcano ores he'd needed for it; the Guild wasn't letting them anywhere near there anytime soon). But he was hoping it would be worth the tradeoff.

Ellie had gotten her new weapon as well, fortunately. The bowgun had finally been delivered from Frost Town not long after they'd arrived back in Loc Lac. It certainly looked like something far more advanced than anything that anyone in the Hunters' civilization could make, especially now that Monique had fixed it up. It looked like an old type of sniper rifle, but had been altered to work with the way that bowguns worked rather than the gunpowder-propelled method that the original design used. But it certainly looked like a powerful weapon, with newly painted woodland camouflage along the sides of it. A letter that had arrived along with the weapon claimed that Monique hadn't really cared to name the weapon, but several of the other smiths in Frost Town had considered it blasphemous to leave a weapon unnamed, so several had gotten together and dubbed the ancient rifle as the Aquamatic Longshot.

Ellie had been experimenting with it against the weaker monsters they'd been hunting recently, and had been both pleased and disappointed at the same time with what the weapon could do. The first thing she noticed was that the bowgun had far, far more power than any of the other bowguns she'd wielded before. During a Qurupeco hunt in the Flooded Forest, the huntress had fired off a Pierce round at the bird when they'd first caught sight of it and the shot had blasted clean through one of the bird's flint stones, shattering it into a thousand pieces.

Another issue she'd had to deal with using the new bowgun was that the weapon's design made it very fickle when it came to the ammo she could use. Whereas her old bowguns had been capable of using a wide variety of different shots, the Longshot only allowed her to use about ten different types of rounds, much to her dismay. Each shot was very powerful, but the weapon didn't allow her much maneuverability. Monique's letter had told her that the old design was just not intended for a lot of the shots, elementals specifically, so she had done her best to make the weapon as strong as possible, but it hadn't made Ellie feel any better about it.

It made their hunts interesting, even if they weren't able to fight anything truly challenging.

His eyes landed on two phials lying on the bedside table, next to where his new switch axe was propped up against the wall. Levin frowned at the sight of them. He hadn't even touched them since bringing his new weapon back from Umbre's shop. Cautiously, he reached over and picked one of the small glass objects up. He had expected it to be cold, or hot, or something, but the thing felt… normal, just like the lightning phial his Lagi switch axe used. Without any feeling to it, the phial just felt eerie. Levin rolled the phial over and over in his hands, staring into its depths. No matter how long he looked at the thing, it never seemed any more comforting to look at than it had before.

Dragon element. That's what Umbre had called the black and red swirling mass that inhabited the inside of the phial, a dangerous substance that the smith had seemed honestly glad to be rid of. Dangerous and powerful, those were the words that Umbre had used to describe the element. He hadn't been certain exactly what it was that was put inside the phial to make such a powerful substance, and he claimed he honestly didn't care to learn. All he'd told Levin was that the element was very useful against dragons and wyverns.

He wondered idly how useful it would be against the Alatreon. Immediately a powerful urge to leave, to put on his armor, grab his weapon and walk out in search of the beast came over him. Levin had to pause a moment, squeezing the phial in his hand as he pressed down the feeling. He wouldn't go charging after the beast. He'd promised he wouldn't.

He winced in surprise as a sickly, inky feeling crept over his hand. Levin opened his eyes and looked at the phial. The dragon energy was churning inside the glass, a deep red glow seeming to emanate from the core as the swirling fluid churned faster inside the phial. Levin frowned, dropping it back onto the table. What had set the thing off? Was this dragon energy like his great sword had been, feeding off his emotions and anger? Levin shook his head. He didn't need something like that tweaking his personality again.

But… how powerful was the dragon element really? He had to know. He'd promised that he wouldn't go off chasing the Alatreon again, but he hadn't said he would stop searching for methods to use to kill it. He'd already been trying to learn the flash bomb recipe that Harker had used against the beast; that had worked out well enough against it. Maybe this dragon element would help as well, whatever it was. If it helped bring down the Alatreon, Levin could accept the stuff, no matter how unnatural it felt to him. Assuming he managed to stay free long enough to meet the creature again.

But for now… the hunter toppled back onto his back and closed his eyes. Such thoughts would have to wait until later. He'd need to rest a little before setting out tomorrow. Trekking through the mountains was never easy, and it would be a rough road they'd have to take. He'd need all the rest he could get.

* * *

The road to Nastre was the same path that Levin and Ellie had taken so many months ago when they'd traveled from Boma Village to Loc Lac the first time, and very little appeared to have changed, though to expect the towering purple mountains to have really altered that much was a bit odd, Levin had to admit. But things were peaceful, and that made the trip relaxing.

Kerry came with them on the hunt, though, and it made the journey somewhat awkward. Levin still cared for her as a friend, of course, but he could tell that the woman wanted nothing more than to tell them off for going after the Alatreon like they had. Ellie tried to make conversation with her on several occasions during the trip, and to her credit Kerry had tried to reciprocate the effort, but more often than not the conversation faded to awkward silence in the end. Levin supposed this was the most painful consequence of their actions going after the elder dragon. He may not have been as close to Kerry as Harker or Ellie, but he'd still been good friends with her and missed talking with her.

Their journey to Nastre ended up taking them off the path that they'd taken through the mountains, leading them up a branching path that took the hunters to the north. The area became continuously less forested, with the pine and spruce trees dwindling in number the further they traveled. The mountains seemed to grow higher and higher, though, until Levin began to feel increasingly closed in. Even though there were miles between the peaks of each mountain, Levin still had a small feeling of claustrophobia creeping through him at the tall peaks on each side. Fortunately, Nastre wasn't further than ten miles north of the path, allowing the hunters too reach it without traveling too long from the main path.

Levin had to admit, he was rather impressed at the sight of the village. The huts and houses were planted safely in a wide basin that was nestled between the peaks of several large mountains. Thankfully, the basin appeared to be at least a couple miles wide, relieving Levin of the closed in feeling. Large timber walls encircled the village on the north and south sides, stretching all the way across the basin and up the bottoms of the mountains a few hundred yards before curving and connecting together again at a point, giving the whole area a squished oval shape. The houses seemed very well made compared to what Levin was used to seeing built, solid wooden structures that seemed very tightly bound and closed off to the outside.

There were certainly signs that the Lost in Nastre had affected the town. Several houses of different design had been erected on one side of the town, along the base of the mountain where the earth began to grow more rocky and uneven. It reminded Levin on the structures the Lost had built in Loc Lac that crept up the walls of the city, the 'hive', with how they crept up the jagged rocks and stones that dotted the landscape, massive pillars and struts and ropes helping to keep them all standing. It was actually quite impressive to see, the sight of houses seeming to grow over the sides of the rocks like they were.

"Why are all the Lost over there?" Levin blinked in surprise at the question. He had barely heard Kerry say a word on the trip to Nastre, it seemed odd to hear her now. "They're all wedged together on the far side. Weren't they spread out in… in Hearth?"

Levin looked back at the town, and realized that the bowgunner was right. There was actually a fair amount of space between where the old town ended and the new Lost-built structures grew out of the ground and up the side of the mountains. And they were only on the west side of the area inside the walls, and very tightly clustered together. It really did seem odd when compared to Hearth, where the Lost had taken up the empty houses available, and any new houses were often close to if not leaning up against the nearest houses.

"Perhaps there's more to the Lost in this town than we've been let know," Harker muttered. "I'd heard that the Lost in town had less than favorable relations with the locals, but this…" He turned absently to Kerry. "What do you make of it?"

"Segregation of nationalities?" Kerry replied quietly. "I don't know… maybe they're trying to replicate what Loc Lac's done by sequestering off the Lost from everyone else, though Loc Lac only did it at the start because there was space in the South District for people to move into. I suppose they could be using the same philosophy for putting the Lost so far away, but what they're doing seems a bit extreme. There must be an outside factor that we're not…"

Suddenly the bowgunner blinked, realizing she'd been speaking a lot, and glanced sideways at Levin and Ellie. Her emotions seemed to fluctuate as she looked at them, jumping between confusion and anger and sorrow and guilt. Then she turned her head away. "Why don't we just go into town? No sense thinking about it here."

Harker nodded slowly, sadly. "Yes, perhaps you're right. After all, the Guild wants us to… meet up with someone at the Guild inn before heading out after this Rathian." That seemed to make Kerry shrink into herself even further, and she simply nodded.

They were met at the gate by a couple of wary-looking guards, but were let through rather quickly when they announced that they were there to take care of the town's Rathian problem. Clearly the wyvern had been raising enough of a ruckus to hurry them right along and let them into the town.

Inside, the town seemed perfectly normal. People were walking around, buying food and clothes and whatever else they needed from shops in the town. Honestly, nothing seemed really out of place in the town at all for all the news of the town that the hunters had heard. If it weren't for the fact that the Lost were all wedged on the far side of the town, Levin wouldn't have suspected anything was amiss about the town at all.

As they passed through the center of town, Levin spared a glance over to the west side of town, where the Lost lived. It was hard to make out, but he could see several members of the Lost huddled together near one of the larger building. Several men seemed to be working on a machine of some sort, but for the life of him, Levin couldn't make out what it was. He'd have to go visit sooner or later to ask how things were going for them himself.

"I know this place," Ellie suddenly whispered.

Levin turned at the words, surprised at the words. His beloved had a reminiscent, forlorn look on her face. "You do? How?"

"I think… no, I'm sure that I woke up from the crystals near here," she replied quietly. "It's… I can't really remember where though. But I recognize this town and these mountains. I was here for a few days after I woke up, before they sent me and the others that woke up with me off to Loc Lac."

"Maybe that's why they're not happy with the Lost around here," Harker muttered. "If they've had two awakenings nearby, perhaps they fear the possibility of another. That could explain why they were so against allowing the Lost to live here in the first place. Two groups could easily become three or four, and then they'd have to content with overpopulating, just like Loc Lac."

"I don't know…" Levin replied, looking around. Despite the alleged tensions between the locals and the Lost, the people in the area seemed fairly happy and safe. "The people around here don't seem like the type to just turn people away that need help. Do you think there might be something more to it than that?"

"It's possible," Harker nodded. Then he turned back to Ellie. "Are you sure you don't recall anything about where exactly you woke up? If what the… creature said is accurate, there could be more Lost waiting to be woken up."

Kerry grabbed Harker's shoulders nervously at the words, frowning worriedly. "No, Harker, remember? We can't… Levin and Ellie had to stay away from things like that, remember? If they don't…"

Harker grimaced at the words, Ellie merely sighed and shook her head. "No, I don't really remember anything else, just… it was to the north of here. And… and I think… I think it was someplace very high up. It's very hazy, but I remember not long after waking up, I was somewhere where I could see very, very far."

"Hm. That's not much," Harker grumbled. "You know, I've noticed that the memories of the Lost are especially hazy about the details of waking up. Perhaps it's a side effect of the crystallization process…"

"Not now Harker, please," Kerry pleaded quietly, and Harker sighed in disappointment.

"Very well, very well. Perhaps we should hurry and find the new handler… before we get in any more trouble."

Further travel through the town only seemed to make things more confusing for the hunters though. For all the bad rumors that seemed to have come from the town, none of the villagers seemed to be acting very sullen about their circumstances. Most people seemed to be very easygoing and several even waved at the sight of them or said hello as they passed, nowhere near as sour and cold as Levin had been expecting to see.

It wasn't until they were approached by vibrant fruit merchant woman, smiling brightly as she tried to sell her wares, that curiosity finally overwhelmed the hunters. Ellie was the first to step forward, walking right up to the woman's stall cautiously. The woman smiled invitingly, clearly thinking she'd summoned a customer, but Ellie lowered her voice and looked around nervously.

"Um… I realize this may be a bit of an odd question," Ellie said quietly, "but things don't seem all that bad here in Nastre. I'd heard tell in Loc Lac that things were a bit… tense here, with the Lost. Are things not as bad as rumor seems to let on?"

Immediately the woman's smile vanished, replaced by a worried expression. Automatically, the woman's hand swayed in front of her, her fingers flashing in some unfamiliar signal. Something to ward off evil, Levin wondered? The Lost may not be well-liked by some people, but he wouldn't ever define them as evil, even though his opinion might be a bit biased. Both Ellie and Harker frowned in curiosity at the motion, and even Kerry seemed a bit stunned at the ward.

"Bad luck to talk about them," the woman muttered fearfully. "Those folk are cursed."

"Cursed?" Ellie asked, shocked. "What do you mean, cursed?"

"Those that come with the azure light can bring only misery, as it was and as it forever will be," the woman said solemnly. "I suppose it's something that outsiders like yourself wouldn't know or understand."

"You could enlighten us," Harker replied. "I know that the Lost awaken from blue crystals, but I hardly see how that would implicate that they're cursed."

Levin nodded, glad that Harker hadn't pointed out that they were Lost themselves, but the woman shook her head in irritation. "Like I said, not something you outsiders would understand. It's an old legend, and has no effect on anyone who wasn't born and raised in this village. But it's the truth, no matter what you outsiders say!"

"And what legend is that?" Harker pressed. The woman's face soured as she looked at him.

"Hmph. Don't know why you'd care, but I'll tell you, and you'll know why the Lost bring nothing but misery to this town."

"Please do."

"Harker," Kerry said quietly, "maybe we shouldn't…"

"Nonsense my dear," Harker replied. "I intend to find out what this whole segregation issue is all about. Please continue, ma'am."

"Fine, fine," the woman muttered, readjusting herself in her seat and putting on a contemplative look. "Let's see… the curse of the azure light goes back as far as Nastre has existed, for nearly six hundred years now. Back when the first settlers came here from Loc Lac to create a life for themselves, they found a fairly safe area, with defensible mountains on two sides and rare attacks from monsters. Harvest was a challenge to acquire, but the people were steadfast and stubborn, and in time they managed to take control of the land and make it farmable and plentiful.

"For years the village grew, prosperous and safe. Oh, there were monster attacks every now and then from the wayward monster; a Rathian or Gobul that grew too confident in its territorial expansion, but nothing that a hunter from the Guild couldn't take care of for them. Otherwise, there weren't that many threats that endangered their town, our town, Nastre. They believed they had found a safe place to live for the rest of their lives.

The woman's voice hardened. "However, they were wrong. Several decades after the founding of the town, there appeared in the sky a bright azure light to the north of the village. Even in the daytime it glowed brightly. The people thought it a blessing at first, a strange phenomenon of the weather or something of the like. It was then that a man appeared, an ancient Wyvernian, come from faraway lands to warn us. He could not help us, but he gave us a prophesy, the announcement of the curse that covered our town, that whenever the light appeared in the sky above our town, terror and destruction would surely follow. Our town thought him wicked, and shunned him from our town, sending him back from whence he came.

"But a couple days after the light began to shine, several attacks struck the village. Dozens of pack animals and herds vanished overnight, torn apart by some massive creature. People who journeyed out into the forests never returned. Then, several days after the blue light appeared, fire began to rain from the sky in the night, billowing waves of flame that seared into Nastre and burned the buildings and walls to the ground. Dozens died. And every night after, for a whole month, the attacks continued, terrifying our ancestors.

"And then, as quickly as it had begun, it stopped. The town had called on hunters to deal with the problem, and just as they were arriving, whatever terrors had been summoned by the blue light vanished, along with the light itself. The horizon was dark once again. People believed that whatever cursed beast had done this to us had finally gone away.

"But once again, they were wrong. It was another century before the light again appeared on the horizon, steadfast in its glow both night and day. But several generations had passed, and none but the eldest of the village even remembered the story, and even they could not believe the tale. But again the attacks began, destroying the village's walls, its herds, its crops, with not even a glimpse of the flame's source. People began to despair."

The woman paused for a moment, and Levin spared a glance at the others. Ellie and Harker looked baffled, and Kerry was wide-eyed in worry and shock. "It was then that the Wyvernian man appeared at our gates once again. Few remembered, but some recalled the warning he had given, and the prophesy of curse he had predicted. The people begged for a solution to the curse. He could give nothing but cryptic words and confusing answers. He told us that the blue light was the result of the curse, and that its coming would always symbolize destruction and fear, and that we should forever beware its light, and prepare for when it shone down on us again, over and over and over through the years. And then he left, gone again with nothing more to give as advice.

"And it was as he told us," the woman said with certainty, pointing her finger at the hunters. "Every few decades after that, the light would return, and devastation and havoc would follow close behind, raining terror on Nastre. The azure light in naught but chaos and destruction. But it has been many, many years since the last sighting of the blue light, and many have forgotten the past. But it is not truly safe. It is never truly safe."

"But… what does that have to do with the Lost?" Ellie asked, and the woman scowled at her.

"Several years ago, the Wyvernian who'd made the prophesy so long ago returned once more. These days he goes by a title, the Veggie Elder, most call him." Levin's eyes darted to Ellie, whose eyes glazed in anger. Kerry looked guilty and fearful. "He repeated what he'd said before, that the blue light ushers in destruction and fear. He said more, trickery and riddles that none, not even he could understand, spouting on of vengeance and blood, and pillar to the skies. Most thought he spoke of the Loc Lac tower, though why something so far away would affect us was beyond any of us. But he told us the blue light would once again usher in catastrophe, but not in any method we'd seen before.

"And he was right!" the woman growled. "When we heard of the Lost waking up from bright blue crystals, we knew they were certain to be the source of the next curse upon us. And of course, as fate would have it, not a few months ago, a bright azure light was seen emanating from a cave not twenty miles from here, and we despaired, knowing that whatever foul fates the Lost was carrying with them was bound to strike us down. Try as we did, we couldn't convince the Guild to send the Lost to some other town, and so many here in Nastre don't believe in the legend that we couldn't win with numbers."

"But just because the crystals were blue doesn't mean…"

"Bah! Just look at what they've done already. Loc Lac in chaos, towns all over the country being flooded with them, all begging for help. What more proof is needed? They carry a curse with them. If we must take them in, we do it grudgingly, and we certainly don't have to like it or keep them close at hand.

"But you know this! The Lost will bring destruction wherever they trod! They are fated to do so! That is their curse! The Lost here may think they know nothing of such things, but the people of this town remember the curse, and they'll bring doom upon us, even if they are ignorant of it. Just wait. The azure light is always followed by destruction and fear. Always. It may be slow in its coming this time, but it is coming, of that we are certain."

The hunters stood in silence for a long time, stunned at the woman's words. Ellie was the first to speak. "How can… how can you think that? It wasn't… it wasn't their fault."

"Hmph. Maybe. Maybe not," the woman scoffed. "But trouble follows them, don't say it doesn't. Just look at Loc Lac, and the trouble there. Just look at the trouble they're raising here. Can you really say that none of them haven't done something to call foul fortune on themselves and those around them?"

Ellie opened her mouth to argue, but her words caught in her throat before she could say a word, and she looked at Levin sadly. Both she and Levin were guilty of charges that brought suffering down on themselves and others around them that didn't deserve such fates. They were the last ones to be able to argue against such accusations. The woman nodded at their expressions. "I thought as much."

"Come on, comrades," Harker prodded, patting both of them on the shoulder. "We have business to attend to at the Guild inn. We should be off as fast as we can."

"Right…" Levin sighed. "Let's hurry on then." And without another word, the four hunters continued through town to the inn.

The Guild inn was a warm looking place called the Dragon Bunker. It certainly fit the title as well; the place seemed built like a veritable fortress compared to the other buildings in town. Whereas most of the other buildings in town were built of lumber or timber, the inn was built with stone and rock, and not just small stone bricks. The walls appeared to be made of single solid sheets of hard rock, as though they'd been molded into the shape they stood in now. And the building was seemed to sprawl for a good distance as well. It could have easily enveloped at least six or seven of the other houses in town. Was this the town's fallback position or something? The inn looked as though it had earned its name, and that it could hold off a dragon attack without too much damage.

They made their way into the inn, and the shape of the structure only seemed to enforce the feeling that it had given off. The walls were good and thick, and each of the interior doors seemed to be made of solid steel, not allowing much of anything to get through short of an elder dragon, Levin supposed. The hallways were narrow, to support funneling of anything that tried to attack, and the support beams looked as though they could support the weight of several wyverns landing on top of the roof of the building at the same time. Whatever this building was built for, it was certainly built to last, and for a long, long time.

But the bar gave off the appearance of most every other bar that Levin had seen, with people talking and eating and laughing and drinking, just like every other bar that the hunters had ever been to. There weren't many hunters in the room, though, and those that were sat unarmored at the tables around the room, either only passing through or resting from a hunt they'd just returned from. This was certainly not a hunting hub like all the bars in Loc Lac tended to be.

"So you guys are the troublemakers, huh?"

Levin turned at the sound of the quiet voice behind them, finding himself face-to-face with a young huntress, about the same age as him. She had medium length hair to her shoulders, colored a dark violet color, and a length of light blue hair that draped over the right side of her face. She stood a few inches shorter than him, but was certainly built like a hunter. She had a lithe build; unless Levin missed his guess, she was likely a hunter focused on maneuverability, bowgunner or short sword user, perhaps? Likely she'd been there a while, judging by her casual clothes. Levin spotted the bottom part of some elaborate tattoo design on her right arm, but it was mostly covered by her sleeves.

"You must be our new… handler," Levin muttered, and was surprised when the woman smiled at him.

"I prefer to be called a chaperon," she replied. "I'm here to make sure the two of you, and your pals over there, don't do anything stupid, like, oh say, make yourselves big damn heroes while the Guild's back is turned. Can't have that, can we? You seem to do that a lot if Stergo's worries about you are at all correct. 'Handler' makes it sound like I'm gonna slap a leash on the two of you and make you house trained or something. Unless of course you _aren't_ house trained, in which case I may have my work cut out for me before sending you two back to Loc Lac."

Levin actually found himself grinning as the woman smirked up at him. "So, um, you're the one who's going to be keeping an eye on us then?"

"Indeed I am. You may call me Tenebris. Now come on, sit down. I want to try and figure you four out." The huntress led them over to a secluded corner of the bar, allowing them to settle in around the table while eyeing them all judgingly. After a few moments, she raised an eyebrow. "I'll admit, I was rather surprised when Stergo sent me a letter about this whole thing. I hadn't imagined that someone would manage to survive going after the Alatreon, much less one of the Lost. I've heard of people that tried to go after the thing before, and they were usually egotistical folks that thought they were too immortal to be beaten by anything. None of you really strike me as that type of person, though. I also hadn't expected members of the Lost to try and go after the beast, either, considering that most of the ones I've met avoid hunting entirely. Not all… but most."

"There were… extraneous circumstances," Levin mumbled.

"Oh, I'm sure there were," Tenebris replied, leaning back in her seat. "Voices in heads, a centuries-old plan of an elder dragon, using countless people for its own amusement? I've heard the story. It's terrible to hear of such a bad thing happening to such kind people. I've met… some good friends that were a part of the Lost, and I'd always thought they were a little odd and out of touch, but I'd never imagined the reason for it to be so… dangerous."

"You're a Lost sympathizer?" Ellie asked, and Tenebris nodded.

"Like I said, I've had some friends who were members of the Lost. Good people… I imagine that Stergo wasn't too certain about whether or not to hire me on as your next handler, considering that knowledge. He should know how I feel about the Lost. Or maybe that's the reason he chose me. I heard that some of your previous handlers were a little bit rough in the way they tried to keep you in line. I'll try to be fairer towards the lot of you. But don't think that means I'm going to hold back if I think you're planning something. Sympathizer or no, I won't have you endangering people, got it?"

"Got it," Levin replied, and Ellie nodded as well.

"Good to hear."

"A curiosity, Miss Tenebris," Harker cut in, earning an odd look from the huntress. "Have you, perhaps, been in this town long?"

"A while, I guess," she replied. "I've been traveling through the area, and some of the surrounding villages for a few months now, dealing with any problems that crop up. Let's see… there was a Gobul population at a river to the south of here, a Rathalos issue that popped up on an island off the coast, a Lagiacrus that showed up and wrecked a village north of Orage Dell. I even helped a group of hunters take down some aquatic elder dragon that was creating whirlpools in a shipping path offshore. Going through this valley is a pretty quick way to go north from Orage, so, yeah, I've been through this area pretty often."

"An elder dragon? Really? How… never mind. Perhaps later. What do you know about this whole 'curse' issue that seems to be causing the rift between people here in Nastre?"

"Oh, that nonsense? I don't know…" Tenebris sighed. "I mean, I don't think the Lost are cursed or anything like that, but I really don't know what to make of this blue light stuff the townsfolk seem to get all riled up about or anything. Not all the locals believe in the old stories, and some are kind to the Lost, but enough do, and some of them are downright noisy about the whole thing. I mean, it's been a hundred years or something since the last time it appeared, but this kind of story doesn't just come from nothing. And with so much fear about the whole thing, I guess it's no surprise that the town gets so afraid of anything that could be connected to the light they're so afraid of. Makes me wonder what could do so much damage to them without being seen, though… heard there's an elder dragon that can turn invisible or something, but I don't think any live in this part of the world."

"There must be something the Lost can do, though," Ellie said. "To just be hated for an old curse…"

Tenebris chuckled. "Oh, all the blame doesn't belong to the townsfolk of Nastre, I'll tell you that much. Maybe you haven't been in town long enough to see what the Lost are up to, but there are some of them making things worse here in town."

"There are? Really?"

"Apparently. In truth there weren't that many townsfolk raising a fuss about the Lost at first, just a few dozen diehards that swore the Lost would be the doom of them. But it was enough to tick off some of the Lost something fierce. A few of them ended up being just as adamantly opposed to the locals as they were to them. Started going on about the 'supremacy of the Lost technological prowess' or something like that, and claiming that they deserved the right to take control of their long-lost world. They've started going on that the problems in Loc Lac are fear of Lost supremacy, and they want to regain the control over the earth that the Lost once held."

"They did _what_?" Levin gasped, and Tenebris shook her head.

"You heard me right. There's trouble being raised on both sides of the equation. These guys have are trying to build up a lot of the old Lost technology it seems, and I suppose they think that proving their superiority will allow them to take control of the town or something like that. They've been building these big machines that do who knows what over on their side of town, claiming it'll put them back on top. Of course, fortunately there haven't been many of the Lost that have actually gotten behind those folks, but the ones that are raising a fuss are being loud enough and threatening enough that the locals spouting off about doom prophesies have something to work with. And those doomsayers calling for the ridding of the Lost are just egging on the troublemaking Lost, and so on and so on. It's a vicious cycle, and it's making everyone on both sides really nervous. Unfortunately, it seems like none of the spectators on either side's really got the guts to stand up and tell them to knock off the nonsense."

"Jeez," Ellie groaned. "I would've thought that at least the Lost would have the common sense not to exacerbate things… uh, no offence."

"None taken," Tenebris replied with a smile. "I would've expected more from my people, but it seems there's plenty of stupid to go around on both sides of the problem, huh?"

"So I suppose making an attempt to calm the tension in this town is out of the question, then, considering Stergo's insistence of us staying out of the limelight?" Levin muttered.

Tenebris laughed to herself. "I know I'm supposed to keep you two out of the public eye, but if you think you can get these people to get along, I may have to avert my eyes and let you do it. Goodness knows both sides could use some sense and decency smacked into them."

"I don't think that's possible," Ellie replied, "short of us getting the locals to conquer their fear of the blue light or whatever it is they see on the horizon every hundred years or so, or figure out what's causing the light in the first place. And I couldn't even guess what to do about the Lost raising a fuss..."

"Or we could try convincing them to not take the Veggie Elder so seriously," Levin murmured, earning a miffed look from Kerry. "It's hard to get past people's fear of legends and myths, I suppose. But with the destruction these people are saying follows this blue light on the horizon, I suppose there's good reason for the people to be afraid."

"And that's something you of all people should realize by now," Tenebris said. Levin frowned, and the huntress chuckled. "I'm not berating you for your desire; any hunter worth the title had imagined picking up a blade and going after the Alatreon. The smart ones, though, are the ones that realize the possible consequences of their actions and take those into account before running off trying to kill something that hasn't been before." Levin didn't reply, and the woman continued. "Next time you decide you want to go after the creature, ask yourself if the destruction of a few villages is worth the attempt."

Levin nodded. It was nothing he hadn't thought or heard before. There were a few nights after his run in with the Alatreon when he'd stayed up far later than he should, haunting images of Hearth in ashes taunting him. What if they hadn't managed to chase the thing off, if Harker hadn't brought along that overpowered flash bomb, what would have happened to the town? Hearth in ruins hundreds dead… it was terrifying. He couldn't stop himself from wanting to go after the elder dragon, but… he wouldn't do it again unless he was certain he could win, and not until Ellie had said they were ready. He'd given his word, and he wouldn't go back on it.

"Oh, cheer up," Tenebris smiled, noting his expression. "You've made mistakes, but you can learn from them. As long as you don't tick off any more elder dragons between now and the time we part ways, we'll get along perfectly fine, I think."

"Shouldn't be too hard," Harker said. "All we're here for is a Rathian, and besides them, there isn't anything really dangerous in the area, is there?"

"Yes, yes, easy enough," Tenebris nodded. "And speaking of which, we should probably be hitting the hay sometime soon. No matter what monster it is out there, it'll be a tough fight if we're tired."

"Agreed," Harker said. "I'm sure we'd all like to avoid the trouble we had with the last Rathian we fought, so let's go in at full strength."

"Yes indeed," Tenebris said, pushing herself to her feet as the others followed suit. She shot a smirk at Ellie and Levin, though. "And try not to cause any problems while you're sleeping. I'd hate to think that you managed to get yourselves in more trouble overnight."

Levin smirked wryly. "Shouldn't be too hard. I haven't been known to sleepwalk or anything."

"Oh, good. Well then, I'll see you all in the morning. I expect a good hunt tomorrow, no matter what the circumstances. Keep your chin up. There's nothing you can do to improve things if you spend your whole time moping about how things are."

"Right…" Ellie replied. "I don't see how thing can get much better, though."

"I'm sure there's some way," Tenebris said encouragingly. "You're still alive and free. That's more than more people going after the Alatreon can say. Consider yourselves fortunate, no matter how bad they seem now."

Somehow, Levin's spirit felt a little lifted at the words. "Thanks, I guess."

"Now, off to bed with you!" Tenebris said, shooing them off. "I'll see you all in the morning! It'll be a simple hunt, I'll tell Stergo you all did well, and we'll be home before you know it, safe, sound, and without anything too terrible happening."

"Wouldn't that be relaxing?" Levin muttered to Ellie with a grin, making the huntress smile.

* * *

Levin woke with a start at the sound of clattering coming from the hallway, and scared voices echoing through the door. We blinked wearily as Ellie pushed herself upright next to him, looking around tiredly as well. It was… early, that's all Levin could tell. Darkness still filled the room, making it a challenge to see.

"What's with all the noise?" Ellie asked, as urgent shouting echoed in from the window.

"Don't know…" Levin replied. More rustling and other sounds continued to come from outside his and Ellie's room, though, and the switch axe user pushed himself to his feet, intent on figuring out what the noise was all about. He hadn't wanted to wake up before dawn, and the lights of candles in lamps were the only illumination that was filtering through the blinds, casting the room in a pale blue glow.

Halfway to the door, Levin paused. Something finally clicked with him in realization. When he'd gone to sleep, the light seeping through the blinds had been a soft orange color, not blue. The switch axe user quickly turned around, hurrying to the window and flinging the blinds open, staring out the window to the horizon.

Far in the distance, beyond the curving mountains, a bright azure pillar of light was rising into the sky, a beacon that seemed to ignite the heavens. The light pulsed and thrummed, dimming and brightening in a repetitive rhythm. It seemed to be coming from something on the other side of the mountains that he couldn't see, but easily spread across the sky, tendrils of light spreading out from the main pillar of light like writhing branches from the top of a massive glowing tree.

In the streets below the window, Levin could see dozens of Nastre's townsfolk running around, guards hurrying to posts. People seemed to be on the edge of panic, terrified at the sight of the light on the horizon, not sure what to do or how to proceed. Children and young folk ventured out, daring to see the glowing beacon in the distance, only to be pulled back indoors by older citizens. Several people seemed to be in a state of near madness themselves, the sight of their town's doom symbol fraying their sanities, leaving them to shout and scream in the streets incoherently at the sight of the azure light.

Levin felt Ellie come up from behind him and stand next to him, gazing out at the light in the distance. For a few minutes they were silent, listening to the sounds of panic in the streets and out in the hall.

"Well, crap," she muttered.

"My thoughts exactly," he replied.

* * *

Richard glanced at the door cautiously as the sound of footsteps signaled the sound of the guards switching. He'd been wondering when the switch was coming, getting tired of the fat guard raving at him and the other prisoners. Apparently someone had one-upped him at something-or-other and he was taking it out on the prisoners. Of course, the man had to vent his frustrations during his shift, which was long after the sun had gone down. Or at least, Richard assumed it was nighttime, since this was around the time that they were told to shut and sleep most of the time. Richard hadn't seen the outdoors in weeks, so he couldn't be sure.

Which was why the guard had the hunter grinding his teeth tonight. Whatever slight the man had received, he seemed to enjoy taking it out on the hunters he watched over, even if it took away from their time to sleep. And with all the exertion of the day that the hunters were forced into, they needed the sleep. He'd tell the guard to shut up, but the man never got close to the bars, and trying to tell him what to do would only compel him to be more obnoxious, and that would just make the hunters in the cells near him ticked off at him.

This place made his subconscious violent early on: every night his dreams would give him surprisingly enjoyable visions of strangling whoever he felt particular anger for that day. The fat guard seemed to appear most often, if for no other reason than because he was usually the last person Richard saw or heard before dozing off. He didn't know what the boss, Moloch, looked like, but his mind had created some particularly villainous-looking people for him to vent on during his time in dreamland as well. Not least of all, he'd also killed Pugnax several times in his dreams, as well as that big fellow, Filcher, who had chained his father to the wall across from his cell for fun. But that had changed not long after his rage had left him several days ago. No matter the slight, Richard couldn't bring himself to continue seething with hatred as he did, no matter how he sometimes wished he could. He felt true pity (although not much sympathy) for the fat guard, even if he oftentimes desired to fry him in his own fat. Not to say that he wasn't angry: he was certainly that. Richard simply regained control over himself, allowing him peace, if not a solution to his predicament.

Thinking on his father made Richard both worried and relieved at the same time. They'd taken the older man down from the wall not long after he'd 'woken up' from his fake coma, when he hadn't offered Filcher the furious rage and screaming that he'd been hoping for. Oh, he'd let the man know how he felt, but he'd done it quietly, with vehemence, not the wall-shaking screaming and cursing that had been desired.

Other than that, very little had occurred during his time in the prison besides the time he spent whittling away the hours here in his cell. At least there were a few other hunters in the cell block now, a few random men that had been picked up here and there in various hunting areas; a bowgunner, a great sword user, and a few others. Richard had tried to talk to a few of them, but many of the guards did their best to keep them from talking too much between themselves, likely for fear of them creating an escape plan. They'd gotten quite paranoid thanks to the efforts of the two girls down below, which was completely understandable.

Every once in a while, they were taken to a large yard, though, to prevent any of them from deteriorating too much. It was a large area, open to the air, thankfully. Richard had doubted he'd be able to keep his sanity much longer without seeing the sun again. He was patient, but a man could only take torture for so long. There wasn't much sky to see, unfortunately, since the walls were tall and smooth, and the overhead was nearly overshadowed completely by thick trees and foliage, but still, open air was much appreciated. They were always brought in groups of ten or less, and made to run around the yard or conduct other exercises in order to keep them in shape. Richard wished he had more time out there to freely speak with the other prisoners, but they were usually sent back to their cells only after a half hour or so, never long enough for a real discussion. But it was better than nothing, even if it wasn't much.

Some days, though, like today, were spent on 'practice', as the guards called it. Basically, five or ten of them were rounded up at a time and taken to one of a dozen different rooms, each set up as a gym of sorts, where their guards would tell them to spar, wrestle, or something to hone their abilities. Richard had hoped to use these times as an opportunity to evaluate an escape, but the only guards that ever watched the room seemed to be very experienced hunters, and had an eye for anyone trying to plan a break. So they had to do as they were told, sparring with each other or pounding on punching bags, whatever they could do. And they had to be moving constantly, no time for a break, which was why so many of the hunters on Richard's block were so tired tonight. Even Richard, after getting used to such training over his life as a hunter, had to admit he was exhausted at the end of the day. He'd had to hold back his abilities in order to trick the guards, and pulling his punches proved a challenge in and of itself against other hunters, some with exceptional skill and experience themselves. Mix that with the lack of mobility he'd been forced into, and he found himself worn out when he'd finally gotten back to his cell.

"You're late," the voice of the fat guard growled from the hallway. Richard could almost hear the sigh of relief from the other prisoners in the block, knowing that the man was almost gone.

"I didn't think it would matter," the voice of another guard replied. "You dozed off on duty the last few days, so I didn't figure today would be that different."

Richard could practically hear the fat guard glowering at the other. "You-"

"Besides, there was another mess on the lower levels," the other guard cut him off. "Shifts changes are null and void when dealing with those two devils. All the guards have agreed to that much."

"Ah... right." The man seemed to deflate at the mention of the pair of huntresses. "Any damage?"

"Not really… but Philip and Williams are dead."

"Damn… Well, in that case… see you tomorrow then. Good luck."

"Yeah, yeah, see you tomorrow."

The sound of footsteps echoed along the corridor for a while, until finally the sound of the fat guard faded away entirely. Richard allowed himself to sigh in relief. He'd been waiting for so long for the shift change. Apparently, so had the other hunters on the block as well; not a minute after the man was gone, the wafting sound of snoring began to echo from the other cells around his, as the hunters nearby were finally allowed the chance to sleep. None were going to waste it.

No sounds from the cell directly next to his, though, much to Richard's disappointment. The nameless man in the cell next to him seemed to have faded into oblivion once more. No sound of breathing, snoring, sneezing, groaning. Sometimes Richard wondered if the man was just a figment of his imagination. No chance to ask, though. There had always been a guard around since then, and if the man was treated as badly as he let on, he wouldn't speak a word unless they were alone.

Richard looked tiredly at the pillow at the end of his cot. He really could use a rest after today. But… the guard outside the cell seemed to be muttering quietly to himself. Not a surprise, considering the lonely hours of the night shift, but with the other hunters in the cell block asleep, Richard saw it as an opportunity. It was a struggle to push himself up from the cot and walk to the door, but it had to be done. After all, if he was going to initiate his plan, he couldn't afford to be lazy about it, no matter how much he wanted to be.

"Having problems?" Richard said quietly, catching the guard by surprise.

"Hm? Oh yeah, I suppose so," the other guard replied. Richard grinned to himself; the guards had slowly been getting easier to talk to over his time here. Of course, compared to just standing there staring off into space or listening to the angry shouting and pleading of the other prisoners, a pliable prisoner was a relief. "A few of the higher ranked hunters are off on some mission, so of course a lot of other people are out to try and boost their value in Moloch's eyes while they're gone."

"But not you?"

"Bah. You have to be a hunter to really advance in a place like this, and I was never one for things like that. I don't need to make my life harder doing Moloch's dirty work. They don't pay me enough to go out and ambush hunters or capture monsters. Besides, life's hard enough tending to the prisoners as is."

"So you're having problems with those two girls in the detention levels, then?"

"Aren't we curious today?" the man asked untrustingly. Richard simply shrugged.

"All I really can do is talk. What else am I supposed to do? Go for a stroll?" Richard joked lightly. "Take a dip in the employee swimming pool? Redecorate my living quarters? I have a whole six square yards to work with here. Some drapes and a new carpet and this place could be rather homey. I could read a book, but then, I'd have to write it first."

The guard stared for a moment or two before snorting in laughter, holding his sides as he chuckled in amusement. "Ah, you're right, you're right. Not much to do down here, even on this side of the bars. You might very well have a book going, though, considering all that scribbling you've been doing on the walls of your cell."

Richard glanced up at the wall over his bed, where he had spent several hours scribbling on the walls of his room with a piece of chalk he'd managed to find in the corner of his cell. Honestly, it had been a ruse to try and figure out the strength of the walls or find a weak point (or some indication of the 'death' that his silent neighbor had mentioned); he'd been disappointed though, since the walls seemed made of a harder substance than Richard recalled seeing before. Escape seemed impossible from any method other than going through the door. So, his only option was to write out his frustrations on the walls of the cell, in verse and rhyme and other assorted methods his parents had taught him, when he could to pass the time.

"What language is that anyway?" the guard asked, motioning to the words on the wall.

"Latin, so I'm told," Richard replied.

"Never heard of it."

"I'd be surprised if you had. I learned it from… a member of the Lost. You could probably learn it yourself if you found one to teach you."

"Lost language, huh? No thanks. I don't have the time or patience to learn a new language, anyway, and this job is a little too harsh to take time to try and learn it here."

"Those two huntresses down in the lower levels, right?" Richard pressed, and this time the guard sighed.

"Yep, you got it." The guard growled in frustration, leaning against the wall opposite Richard's door. "It was mostly our fault, I admit. They didn't break free of their cell this time, but got close. Managed to kill their guards, silently this time, and were about to steal the key to the cell when me and the others on the next shift showed up. It was a struggle keeping them in their cell I don't know where you hunters get the energy from, to be able to be able to do all this."

"Years of work fighting creatures ten times your size will do that to you." Richard wished the two huntresses could afford to be a bit more subtle in their work. All these escape attempts were just making the guards better at stopping them. Even with some of the better hunters out of the picture, there were enough skilled guards on duty to keep the prisoners in line. He wanted to try and get a message through to the girls, but he couldn't really rely on the guards to pass messages for him since they were either too loyal or too scared of Moloch to betray the man, and prisoners didn't move around at all unless they caused trouble, in which case they were moved to stronger holding cells. Richard didn't really feel like calling attention to himself, though, so that wasn't an option for him. If he could only find a way to get a message through to them…

"You want something to read?"

Richard glanced up at the door, surprised as the guard held out a booklet of some kind. He was surprised that the man was offering him anything. He nodded carefully, and the guard dropped the book to the floor just inside of the cell before turning and walking back to the other side of the hall. Richard stood up and strode over to the book, picking it up and glancing at the cover.

"_Don't Get Eaten! A Hunters' Guide to Wilderness Survival_?"

"Even guards need something to do to pass the hours. Do you think I just sit out here staring at a brick and hoping one of the prisoners starts a ruckus? Admittedly the reading material that Moloch provides us isn't exactly interesting or even recent, but it's better than nothing."

"Do you normally give your prisoners books?" Richard asked, flipping through the book. Colorful pictures of hunters and monsters littered the pages. It seemed like more of a booklet for rookies or apprentices than anything else.

"No. I would, but then, most other prisoners yell, curse, or spit at me when I walk by. Hard to want to offer them something even as simple as a book when they hate you. I can't really blame them, but still…" So not all the guards were as harsh as the fat guard from before. Interesting. Perhaps he'd been lured in by promises of good pay and found himself someplace where he couldn't escape. If the higher-ups were capable and willing to chain a man to a wall, than this wasn't a truly surprising development.

Richard skimmed through the book quickly; really, there was nothing that interesting in it, just a collection of facts and trivia that any hunter above a single star should know. Still, it was something to look at, a small distraction from his current predicament. It was better than scribbling thoughts and quotes on a wall, at least. It would've been even better if a so many pages of the book weren't blank…

An idea suddenly crept into Richard's mind, and he quietly reached down to the floor, picking up the sliver of chalk he had left. The guard outside was still talking about the nasty treatment he received here as a guard, though he seemed to have moved from badmouthing the prisoners to his fellow guards quite quickly. This place didn't seem to really instill enjoyment in those that weren't hunters. As quickly as he could, Richard scribbled a small note a few pages from the back cover of the book, before quickly turning the page back to the beginning and dropping the chalk back to the floor. It was barely a speck now… he hoped his plan worked.

"You know, it's not a bad idea," Richard said, interrupting the guard mid-rant.

"Hm? What isn't a bad idea?" the man asked in confusion.

"Giving books to prisoners. It'd keep them focused on things other than escaping. I mean, you'll have to do better than this, but it's not a bad plan." The guard nodded thoughtfully, rolling the idea over in his mind. Richard grinned. "Or at the very least, it'll reduce their urge to kill you the next time they make an escape attempt. Besides, some of you guards look like you need someone to vent to; it seems to me you're little more than prisoners yourselves to this place."

That got the man's attention. He raised an eyebrow and stroked his chin thoughtfully. "I suppose that something. Goodness knows when they'll make an attempt when I'm on duty… I'm not sure where I'm supposed to get more books from though. They don't exactly give vacation days here. Micah has a few books in his room, but he's not around at the moment… And it would be nice to complain to someone who actually listens."

"Well, just start with this one, then," Richard said, holding the book out through the bars. "It's hardly interesting at all, but they'll probably be appreciative of the gesture, and it'll keep their attention off of escape and murder for a little while."

The guard frowned, staring at the book apprehensively. "Why are you helping me?"

Richard shrugged. "Like I said, what else am I supposed to do? It'll be nice to have someone sociable to talk to here, compared to that fat fellow from earlier. Besides, maybe I'm just using you as a traveling librarian, or I'm bribing you with ideas in exchange for, I don't know, more chalk to write Latin with."

The man stared at Richard for a moment or two longer before shaking his head and chuckling, reaching forward and taking the book. "Fine. I'll see what I can do about getting you more chalk, and I'll try and grab a few books from Micah's room while I'm at it. I don't know, maybe this idea of yours will actually work."

Richard tensed as the man looked away and flipped through the book quickly, but the man stopped and put the book down before reaching the end, setting it down on the table next to him. "I wonder if those two girls will actually like reading this at all."

"You'll just have to try," Richard replied. Then he raised an eyebrow at the man. "What's your name, anyway?"

"Oh, I'm Stephan."

"Well, then, Mister Stephan, it's nice doing business with you," Richard said, grinning and returning to his bunk. He smiled to himself victoriously. All he could do now was hope that the book found its way into the girls' hands, without its contents being found out by any of the guards. He'd had good luck so far; hopefully it would hold out just a little bit longer.

The big gathering was coming up soon. Hopefully he'd have a plan to escape by then. And if not… well, he'd certainly do his best to do as much damage as he could and perhaps have some new allies as well…

* * *

**Author's Note: Please Review! Merry Belated Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!**

**If you're a bowgunner, and you're less than pleased on how I made the Longshot a good weapon, I apologize, but I always thought the Ancientshard weapons should have some boon to them. And if you're still miffed about it… deal with it. Also, I haven't seen IDKTellMeWhatYouThink review in a while, but I liked his/her OC, so I hope I represented her well.**

**Realized something odd while playing Tri a few days ago: turns out all the men in Boma Village wear Speedos (and leather chaps) while all the women (save the Guild sweetheart) wear pants. Kind of an odd thing to realize, but it's pretty odd to see common clothing in a game reversed. **

**When I first started this story, I hoped to be done with it before the next Monster Hunter came out on consoles. But I'll be honest: unless I start plugging out 5k+ words a day (and I'm not going to), it's just not going to happen. At my rate of roughly a chapter every month, this story still has a while to go. **

**Should be playing a lot of MH Tri over the holidays while I'm visiting the family. The Wii is just so portable, compared to the Xbox and my desktop (especially when my brother has the cords already, all I need to bring is the box). Either that or Minecraft… look me up if you want to play. Can't promise my connection will be great, but I'll be trying.**

**And finally, something I'm not sure whether I should be excited about or not. The MH podcast I listen to announced that CAPCOM was planning to, in fact, come out with a Monster Hunter movie! You may be asking why I'm not exactly excited about this. Well, I checked online, and sure enough they are planning to make one, but… it's got the same director as the Resident Evil, Dead or Alive, and Mortal Kombat movies. Not exactly very good movies. That's why I'm worried. Also, I'm afraid what kind of plot Hollywood plans to weave for the movie.**

**Reading: **_**The Gathering Storm**_** by Robert Jordan  
Playing: Minecraft: Tekkit mod (found a good server aw yeah), BF3, MH3  
Listening: Mika, epic music mixes (literally, that's what I typed into youtube and listened to whatever popped up), CAKE, The Album Leaf**


	36. Those that Came Between

Those that Came Between

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. Most of the characters in this story are mine. Tenebris and Nikoyle belong to IDKTellMeWhatYouThink._

_Edited by: Hoenn Master96_

The next morning was hectic, to say the least. Levin and Ellie both stayed in their room for several hours after the light in the sky appeared to the north of the village. They had tried to get back to sleep in preparation for the coming hunt, but it was a challenge to sleep knowing that something the village considered as impending doom loomed just over the horizon, on the other side of the far mountains. It was still long before dawn when the pair of hunters could no longer stand waiting in the room for… whatever was happening to stop, especially with the sounds of worry and panic that seemed to be filling the hall just outside the door.

The hallway was far more crowded than Levin had expected it to be, with what seemed like a majority of the villagers from town sitting or kneeling against the walls. All of them had worried or scared expressions on their faces, and parents clung tightly to their children as they watched the hunters emerge from the room. Some had hopeful expressions on their faces when they saw the pair walk past, perhaps hoping that the two were here to protect them or deal with the beam of light. Levin wondered how they'd look at him if they knew he was one of the Lost; maybe they'd be perceived as harbingers of doom instead, rather than possible aid.

It didn't surprise Levin to find the Harker and Kerry, as well as Tenebris, waiting for them out in the bar area. Apparently, no one was sleeping comfortably with the pillar of light off in the distance.

"Most of the town came here during the night," Tenebris explained as he and Ellie looked around the barroom. It was positively packed. Every table was filled up with people, crowded together and whispering fearfully with each other. "I guess this inn really does live up to its name. As soon as people saw that pillar of light, they started flooding this way. Most of the town is in here now, except for the people that think this is all a bunch of nonsense, as well as…" The woman trailed off worriedly.

"The Lost," Harker completed for her. "Seems either none of the Lost have noticed the light, or they just don't care."

"They're not being turned away at the door or anything?" Ellie asked, and the long sword user shook his head.

"No, no, certainly not, thankfully. The innkeeper here seems to have a fairly solid head on his shoulder. I asked, and he said he'd let the Lost in if they came, though he didn't know for sure how the locals would react. Seems a few Lost from the other side of town came by to ask what was going on, but other than that, they've kept to themselves."

"I don't blame them," Levin said with a nod. "If even one of the locals mentioned the story of the blue light to them, they'd be wary about meeting with them, especially now."

"Does this put a damper on our Rathian hunt?" Ellie asked intently.

"No… it shouldn't," Tenebris replied. "Just because there's a mysterious light on the horizon doesn't mean the Rathian's no longer a problem. We just might have to work around whatever this light brings up. I have a feeling that Stergo will want us to do absolutely nothing that will get us tangled up in this blue light business. Besides, this is a centuries-old problem, and likely the work of a very powerful monster if there's a monster involved. Not exactly something a few four-star hunters should be dealing with. Leave this blue light issue to whoever the Guild calls in to deal with it; I'm sure the locals have already sent an urgent request back to Loc Lac. In the meantime, we'll keep out of town and hunting down that Rathian and keep you all under the radar like Stergo wants you to."

"Fine by me," Ellie replied. Then she shivered nervously. "Honestly, I don't really want to have anything to do with that light anyway. Something about it… I don't know, it seems eerie to me. Hunting monsters is one thing. Pillars of light and invisible monsters are something completely different."

"Alright, good," Tenebris said. "We'll likely set off after the sun finished rising. Maybe the chaos that light is raising will have died down a little by then."

It didn't. If anything, the inn became louder and the feeling of fear and worry grew in intensity as the sun crept into the sky, finally cresting the tall mountains to the east of the city. Levin and Ellie were approached by the innkeeper, a short, stout, honest man by the name of Cedric, who requested the use of their room while they were out hunting, so the people would have some more space to stay in. They ended up agreeing, if only because the people behind him were a family with three children, all of them less than seven years old at least. Well, they'd slept on the floor before, after the awakening in Hearth, they could do it again. Besides, they were going to be spending a few days out in the wilds anyway chasing after the Rathian or whatever they were going after.

Then there were the doomsayers: loud, obnoxious zealots of the town, swearing that the end times for the village of Nastre had come, and the blue light was going to be the death of them all. It didn't help that a few of them were calling for the Lost in the town to be run out of the village, swearing that they were the cause of the light, and the impending doom on the village. Levin caught sight of the fruit vendor they'd seen the previous day, standing along with the rest of the noisy ones, trying to get rid of the Lost in town. Thankfully, leveler heads seemed to be prevailing, and most people just wanted to hide away from the light, whatever it was, rather than starting more problems. Cedric seemed to have the foresight to shuffle all the doomsayers off into a far corner of the bar, where their campaigning would be kept at a minimum.

So it was that the five hunters found themselves displaced, eating their last cooked meal in the bar before taking off into the wilds to search out their prey. Levin was impressed with Tenebris' armor collection when she had shown up: like Ellie, she had some Lagiacrus pieces, but also wore an armor design that was a pale white and blue, created from a large leviathan elder dragon she'd helped take down a while back. She also carried a rather unsettling helmet with her, a dark black bone creation carved into the shape of a skull. Levin was always impressed at the odd armor designs he found other hunters wearing. He supposed the strange creations must have some boon, though he couldn't guess what they could be. And to top it all off, the woman had a bowgun made primarily of Rathalos materials slung over her back.

Eventually, it came time for the hunters to set out. The sun had risen high enough for them to travel safely, at least without relying on the eerie azure pillar of light. However, before they managed to get out the door, Tenebris was caught by Cedric.

"Pardon me, Miss Tenebris," the innkeeper said quietly, looking around furtively, "but I'd like to ask a favor of you before you and these four take off."

The bowgunner smirked in amusement. "I don't have another room to give back to you if that's what you're looking for Cedric."

The innkeeper looked at her flatly for a moment before shaking his head and chuckling lightly. "Ha. Funny. No, not that, not that at all. It's just… well, as you've seen, most of the village is here. Even some I'd rather not have."

"Yeah, I noticed that as well," Tenebris replied, looking around the full bar, specifically at the group in the corner calling for the removal of the Lost.

"Yeah, well, loud and obnoxious they may be, but they're still friends and neighbors, and they're only acting the fool due to that light of the horizon, so I'm not about to throw them out on their backsides. This is the safest building in the town, after all. Problem is, as full as my inn is… it's not as full as it should be, especially if even half of those rumors are true."

Tenebris frowned at the words. "What are you getting at? I don't think it'll be a good idea to try and convince the Lost in Nastre to take refuge here as well, considering the rabble-rousers over there in the corner."

"I know, I know," Cedric sighed. "With all the old legends in people's heads, and the light over the horizon, it's probably better that they keep to their side of the town, even if this inn is the safest place to be at a time like this. But… well, you're friends with some of the Lost over there, aren't you? You've been through Nastre long enough to get to know a fair few of folk on that side of town. That friend of yours you used to travel with used to enjoy spending time there. Not with that twit Silas, I'm sure, but with some of them, right? A lot of them are good folk, despite Silas' influence, and I just… well, I just want someone to check up on them, make sure that the rougher Lost aren't trying to get them to do anything stupid with that light in the sky like it is. Last thing we need right now is someone trying to rile the Lost up as well."

Tenebris sighed worriedly, sparing a glance at the four hunters behind her. Levin supposed that getting them involved in the town's politics was not the best idea when keeping them out of the public eye. "Fine, I'll stop by. But I can't stay for all that long. I'll make sure they're staying calm and safe, and make sure Silas isn't trying to raise a militia or something. Oh, dang, now that I think about it, that's something he might actually try and do, isn't it…"

"Which is exactly why I'm worried," Cedric replied. "Thanks for doing this, Miss Tenebris. I'd go check on them myself, but someone's got to keep an eye on the folk here, just in case someone gets it in their head to head over to the Lost side of town to chase them out. Just… just pass through on your way out of town and make sure nothing bad is going on over there."

"Alright, alright," Tenebris replied, patting the innkeeper on the shoulder. "I'll take a look on my way out, and if Silas is really doing something stupid… well, I'll figure something out. Maybe some of the other Lost will be willing to keep him tied up in a closet for a day or two until the light in the sky is gone."

"I… wouldn't go that far, but just keep him out of trouble, and the town will be better off. Much obliged again, Miss Tenebris. Much obliged."

"No problem," Tenebris said, as the innkeeper hurried away to see to the rest of the people in the inn. With that, the bowgunner led the group out the inn, which came as a relief to Levin; the inn was getting a little claustrophobic with all the people filling it up. "Well, so much for avoiding the Lost side of town. Come on then, you four. Hopefully we can see to the Lost without running into too much trouble."

"Will it really be a problem?" Harker asked. "This Silas fellow… is he really that much of a problem, that you worry about such things with him?"

"He's the leader of the Lost that want to assert their rule over the local populace," Tenebris explained as they made their way over to the Lost side of town. "Most of the time he's pretty docile, spending most of his followers' efforts on building up old Lost technology, but… get talking to him, and you can see what he really wants. I'm not sure what kind of man he was back where you Lost came from, but it doesn't seem like he enjoys the lack of control the Lost have in the world. Or, rather, the lack of control that _he_ has lost in this world. He talks of noble causes, but you can tell he's greedy, that he just wants control for himself. Unfortunately, a few of the Lost have bought into it, especially with the less than stellar treatment a few of the locals here in Nastre have been giving them. It wouldn't surprise me that he's going to try and pull something with that light over the horizon giving the town a scare."

"Well, that's worrisome."

"No kidding."

It wasn't a far walk over to the Lost side of Nastre, but the difference in design made it feel as though the five hunters had entered an entirely different village. The buildings seemed draftier than the older buildings, built with a little less certainty with the materials available to them. But with the uneven ground beneath them, most of the buildings had been stacked upon one another. There was room to spread out, which Levin found odd considering how tall the buildings had been built. Maybe they just wanted to stay close together, rather than spread out as per usual, or they just wanted to be different from the locals.

A couple of the Lost they passed by eyed them warily as they approached, glancing worriedly back and forth between them and the pillar of light. Many calmed down a little at the sight of Tenebris, though, a familiar, friendly face, apparently a rare sight these days. The group followed her around as she began working through the Lost area, asking friends and acquaintances how they were doing and what was going on. They stopped by nearly a dozen houses, spiraling around the outside of the Lost housing, slowly working their way to the middle of the area. A couple of the Lost asked who the four hunters with Tenebris were, but the bowgunner merely introduced them as 'sympathizers', likely a good idea considering the miniscule amount of Lost hunters.

"It looks like most of the people here are trying to keep under cover," Tenebris explained after visiting a mother and daughter Lost pair. "Most of them have heard about the blue light legend and are smart enough to steer clear of the rest of the town. The weird thing is that Silas hasn't tried to start anything at all yet, which has me worried. As much as I don't want to, I probably should check and make sure he's not plotting something."

"Is he really as bad as people seem to think he is?" Harker asked.

"Well… maybe not," Tenebris admitted. "But he talks a lot about Lost supremacy, and he's got a lot of people following his example, so if he's not going to try something, he's doing a good job of making people think he will. So… I guess we're going to go find him and find out which it is."

With that, the hunters ceased circling the edges of the Lost housing, and instead made a beeline for the center of the area. Levin noticed that many of the houses, as they approached the middle of the area, began to grow wider and lower to the ground, and sparse glances at the interiors of the buildings made them appear to be more warehouse-type buildings than living quarters. Stacks of metal and small tools filled the interiors of most houses, as well as several small machines that seemed Lost-designed. Harker seemed to be getting more and more excited as they went on, clearly wanting nothing more than to dive into one of the buildings and examine the machines to find out what they did, but Tenebris pressed them onwards, getting closer and closer to the center of the Lost area.

Finally, the housing cut off, and the hunters found themselves in a wide open area, a few dozen yards across. The Lost had apparently been using the space as a building area. A massive machine lay in the center, a wide circular engine of some sort. Several Lost were gathered around it, arguing and tinkering with the thing. Next to the machine were several other odd things; they had what looked like the hull of a ship, piles of cloth strips, and long flat metal strips littered around sides.

Near the large machine the Lost were working on, a tall man with his back facing the hunters stood shouting orders to most of the others in the area. He wore a large red coat, and stood out clearly from the others in the area. The Lost that were working all seemed to jump at his every word, all of them looking up at the man as though he were a king of something of the like. Tenebris seemed hesitant to approach him, though, an irritated look on her face, so after a few moments, Ellie abruptly walked forward towards the man, right up behind him.

"Are you, uh… are you the one in charge here?" Ellie asked cautiously.

The man turned, and Levin was surprised at how hard he looked. His face and body seemed chiseled out of rock; it wasn't that he was attractive or anything like that, he just appeared very, very solid. Levin imagined his switch axe denting if he even tried to strike at the man with it. His hair was dark brown, cut close across his scalp in what reminded Levin of a military haircut, but a large, bushy beard grew wild below his chin, and he glared the hunters down with cold blue eyes.

"That I am," the man replied. His voice was hard as stone, it seemed, unflappable and determined. "They call me Silas. And who are you children? More hunters from the Guild, come thinking they can try and convince me that the people of this world are superior to the Lost in every way and that I should stop building my machines? I've heard your bragging before, your swelled egos; I have no need to hear it again."

"No, we're not here for that," Ellie sputtered. "I mean, we are hunters, but we're here to figure out… um…"

"If the Lost truly are the better peoples?" Silas finished. He raised his voice, as though he was speaking to all the Lost around him, and likely, Levin realized, he was, because the people began to get caught up in his enthusiasm. "If, for all the hunters' brawn, they don't have the brains to truly become masters of the world? If the hunters think they can keep the Lost down just because they're more intelligent, more creative than the Neanderthals that think they rule the world now?"

"No, not that. We just-"

"Or perhaps you're like those Guild men, coming with pretenses of peaceful solutions, a clear sign of your fear of us, only to show your underhanded lust and envy of our abilities, and try to steal our technology for yourselves! You think I can't see your greed? You think you can just replicate our creations? You can't! You call us weak, but then it would be fair to call you dimwitted! It would be fair for us if we-"

"Damn it, will you shut the hell up!" Ellie snapped angrily. "For pity's sake, I'm one of the Lost, and all you're doing is pissing me off!"

Immediately, the people around went quiet, and a moment later, excited and stunned whispering began filtering around the area. Ellie abruptly withered back a little at the sudden attention, realizing she may have given away too much information. Levin pushed forward to stand beside her, uncertain how the people would react with the information. He heard Tenebris mutter a curse behind them.

Silas, however, eyed the pair of them with an expression that made it seem as though he was staring through them. Without a word, he strode forward, staring down at the pair of them intently, judging them, trying to figure them out.

"Who are you?" he murmured. "There's only so many Lost that the Guild recognizes as hunters, and I've… followed the exploits of some of them. Now which are you? Bowgunner, that narrows it down a bit, there's only three Lost that bowgun." The man glanced at Levin. "That would make you Eleanor and Levin, a rather notorious pair of hunters, wouldn't it? And that man over there would be Harker, whose reputation is… unique. A very disappointing trio of Lost."

"What do you mean, disappointing?" Levin asked.

"That you would sink to the level of the people of this world in order to live in it!" Silas replied, and the Lost behind him nodded in agreement. "You shouldn't need to rely on brute force like the foolish locals, but on your wits and Lost technology! You've turned your backs on your countrymen to revel in their ways instead of your Lost heritage! Our technology will see us through, and we will be masters of the world as we once were!"

Ellie looked at the man sourly. "Just like it saw us through when monsters first appeared in the world? As I recall, our civilization was thoroughly wiped out, and our technology didn't do much to help."

Silas glared at her angrily, and a few of the Lost behind him muttered some foul words about her. "A fluke. We were caught off guard, and didn't have time to prepare. Now the beasts are complacent, and our return to power is certain! All it will take is some time to recreate the designs or our machines and technology."

"I'd hardly refer to the beasts of this world as complacent," Harker said with a smirk. "They don't put up those large walls around towns and villages for appearances, you know."

"Perhaps not," Silas replied. "But they're not out to ruin humanity in general as they did in our era. These people, these hunters call us weak, but they didn't have every monster in the world out hunting for human blood as we did. The monsters here are quiet compared to the mayhem they raised against the Lost in our time."

"There are also more of them, lots more of them than before," Harker said. "They've aged as well; monsters have had time to adjust to human existence and learn from encounters with our kind. And it would appear that the ecosystems of the world, not to mention humanity in general, have adapted themselves around the existence of monsters. I imagine trying to eradicate monsters in their entirety would be far more difficult than you imagine it to be, and would have far-reaching repercussions that even the most advanced scientists the Lost and the hunters have to offer could imagine."

Silas opened his mouth to retort, but closed it a moment later and stared at the group of them flatly. "I have trust in the Lost's ability to succeed where the hunters have failed. But… that is a worry for another day. I suppose I should ask what Lost so unfaithful to their brethren would be doing here in the first place. Why are you three here, if not to join us in our cause?"

"We're here to figure out if you're causing trouble," Tenebris growled loudly, pulling Silas' attention away from Levin, Ellie and Harker. The man smirked challengingly upon recognizing the woman.

"Ah, Tenebris, it's been a while since our last encounter. I suppose you still think the worst of me and my intentions, as I'd expect of a hunter. Trying to keep me from carrying through with my plans for the Lost to retake their place? Where's that partner of yours? Did she finally see that I'm correct and that the Lost deserve to regain their privilege as masters of the world?"

Tenebris visibly seethed at the words, but managed to calm herself before speaking to the man. "I'm only here to see what the Lost are up to at the moment. There are some folks in town who are worried about the Lost, though I imagine they could care less about certain individuals. I've come to see how you and your cohorts here have been taking to… recent events."

"You mean that light on the horizon?" Silas laughed, looking towards the azure pillar off in the distance. "I suppose people think I would use their mindless fear of foolish legends and fairytales to try and take control of this village."

"Not exactly a stretch of the imagination."

"Well, you and the rest of the people of Nastre can calm down, woman. I have no desire to conquer this little place with brute force. As I said, I mean to bring the Lost back into power through intelligence and technological superiority. Abusing the people of this town's fear of some spotlight over the mountains would be a pointless endeavor. Our work here is far more important, anyway, and I cannot allow myself to be distracted from it."

"And what exactly are you working on?" Tenebris asked, glancing over to the large machine behind the man.

"Oh, this?" Silas replied with a smirk. "This is the impending dominance of the Lost. Monsters rule the skies these days, with Rathians, Rathalos, and other wyverns keeping to the air, but the Lost once controlled even the air above them, traveling through it at great speed. The airships that fly across the land are a pitiful shadow of a mockery of what the Lost were once capable of. I wish to return the Lost to their former aerial glory."

"You want… to make a flying machine?"

"That's a great understatement of my intentions, but yes, I wish to 'make a flying machine'," Silas replied. "I cannot recreate the truly masterful inventions of the Lost as of yet, so all we can really do at the moment is improve on the airships that already exist, but one day our work will lead to the Lost having control of the skies once more! But… that is not why you're here, is it, Tenebris? You want confirmation, and you shall have it: I have neither plans nor any desire to use that light as an excuse to bring control on Nastre to the Lost. All of my attention is focused on our creations at the moment. All the people cowering in the inn have nothing to fear from me or anyone working with me."

Tenebris eyed Silas uncertainly for a moment, then nodded in reluctant acceptance. "Fine. That works for me. Just be sure to keep to it. I had to make sure. Now if you'll excuse us, there's a Rathian out there that needs taken care of."

"Once more dealing with problems with brute force rather than finesse."

"If you think you can take it down using that scrap metal you call technology, be my guest and go right ahead. Until something you build can actually do something, brute force will have to work. "

And with that the bowgunner turned to stalk away from the man. Levin and the others hurried after her, just as eager to get away from Silas and his followers as she was. The switch axe user noticed that Silas was staring at him, Ellie and Harker intently, and he felt a shiver go up his spine. The man really seemed to believe in what he said about the Lost. The thought of a man like him making it to Loc Lac was positively terrifying; Levin shivered at the thought of a showdown between a man like him and a man like Zhanin.

"So, do you think he'll actually do what he said and keep to the Lost side of town?" Ellie asked as the hunters made their way to the village gate. Tenebris thought about it for a moment before nodding.

"He's an ass, but he's kept to his word as far as I've seen. We can trust him to avoid trouble. At the very least, he said he wouldn't do anything in front of his followers, and he can't afford to change his mind in front of them. But… enough about him. Now that I know the village is safe from a Lost uprising, I don't want to have to think about him anymore." The woman smiled at the four of them. "Now then, let's try and forget about all this serious business, and try to have some fun, why don't we? There's a Rathian out there with our name on it, and I doubt it cares much either way about blue lights and tiring political issues. If nothing else, it'll give us something nice and big to vent our frustrations on."

Levin found himself grinning. Stress relief on a Rathian… an odd thought, but definitely one he could use. He found himself looking forward to finding out exactly how effective this dragon phial was against wyverns.

The main gate was guarded by a couple of very nervous-looking men, but they still nodded politely to the five hunters as they passed out of the city. Levin noticed Tenebris mutter something under her breath as the gates closed behind them, some mantra of some kind as far as he could tell, but it was too quiet for him to make out, and he didn't feel like he should bring it up.

The hunters set out from Nastre's northern gate, heading up towards a pass that led further up into the mountains of the area. With the azure pillar of light off in the distance, it felt as though they were heading towards it, even though it was only in the same direction. They passed by several large grasslands on their way north, where the remains of hundreds of tree stumps remained jutting out of the ground. Names and dates and hearts and other such things were carved into the remains, showing how long the trees had been cut down. Levin wondered if these fields were where the village kept their herds; the fields were empty at the moment, likely to keep the Rathian (or whatever it was) from stealing away the herds.

But the grasslands eventually came to an end and the hunters entered a forest. The trees were widely spaced, though, making travel through the area fairly easy, despite the lack of a path. Once they were a couple miles north of Nastre, Tenebris turned their path to the side, taking them up the slopes of one of the mountains, following a rough path that zigzagged up the side of the slope.

"Most of the Rathians and other flying monsters you'll find in this area live further up the slopes of the mountains than the herbivores and smaller creatures," the bowgunner explained as they continued up. "Chances are, whatever we'll be looking for will be up in the mountains somewhere, likely hiding in a cave or something that goes into the mountain."

So the hunters followed the bowgunner as she made her way to the far edges of the forest, where she told them a path up the sides of the mountains would be. The forest proved to be fairly quiet, though it felt quite eerie to Levin. Monsters seemed far and few between, and they barely saw any living beings in the forest at all. They did end up being attacked by a small pack of Jaggis as they reached the edge of the forest, though, and a few Ludroth barked at them threateningly when they waded through a small stream a ways downstream of their sunbathing spot, but other than that, monsters were far and few between. No Kelbi or Aptonoth were seen at all, save for the pack animals that they'd seen near the village.

Just as they reached the base of the mountain path, the air suddenly grew colder. From the northwest, a wide swath of thick fog was rolling in, very thick and very fast. It wasn't a slow, gradual hazing over as the hunters were used to either, because as the blanket of clouds swept over them, their visibility almost immediately shrunk from miles to mere dozens of yards. In a matter of minutes, the clear, calm day vanished, and the hunters found themselves surrounded in a thick fog, tinted light blue from the effect of the pillar of light.

"Goodness, where did this come from?" Kerry murmured worriedly.

"A cold front rolled through, it seems," Harker replied. "How odd. I've never seen a fogbank come in so quickly. I know fog is more common in the mountains, but that was especially quick."

"This is the first time I've seen such thick fog in the area," Tenebris said. "Actually… I've rarely seen any fog near the village that wasn't just some ankle-high mist."

"Probably just a particularly cold and strong wind hitting a pond or something," Harker speculated. "I'm not very learned on weather effects, especially since it seems monsters have a high effect on it these days, but I suppose weather like this has to roll in every now and then. It should wear off as the day grows warmer."

"I hope so," Levin muttered. "This is just creepy, and the blue tint isn't really helping."

"Afraid of boogeymen in the mists, are we Levin?" Harker smirked, and the switch axe user frowned at the man.

"No! I just… well, I don't like walking around not being able to see anything. And that blue light certainly isn't making things any better."

Ellie laughed. "Oh wow. He battles hundreds of monsters twice his size or bigger, deals with psychotic hunters that try and kill him, and has a personal vendetta against an elder dragon, but he can't stand a little bit of thick fog."

"Hey, in all those situations, I could see what was coming. Here, though… I can barely see twenty feet in front of my face. Say what you will, but this is really creepy."

"So now would be a perfect time for ghost stories, then?" Harker asked.

"No. Oh, please no. That's the last thing I need right now." Levin felt his face paling, and the other hunters smirked evilly.

"Are you sure?" Ellie asked. "I know some good ones. Like there's this one I know about a group of travelers that were traveling through a thick fog… kind of like this one, now that I think of it."

"No! No, no, no, no, no!" Levin cried, shaking his head. "Just stop, I don't want to hear any of this!"

"I remember an old campfire story I heard once," Harker said with a wicked grin. "An old tale of a man, or perhaps a devil, that would linger in dark woods and pluck the unwary away to places unknown, never to be seen again. A pale, faceless creature that would spirit you away with its long fingers, unable to scream or run away…"

"NO! Sweet mercy, stop it!"

"You know, the locals have an old story about the area," Tenebris said with a smirk. "They say the angry spirits of the dead wander the wilderness at night. Some folks claim they're hunters, felled and eaten by the most violent and terrible monsters. They say the bodies are buried under the stones, and that they rise up out of the rocky terrain, grabbing ahold of people's legs and dragging them under to steal away their bodies for themselves."

"Oh, damn it, don't tell me these things!" Levin yelled, nervously looking at the ground. "I told you I don't like those kinds of stories!"

"Ooh, have you heard the one about-"

"Nope! Nope, I'm done!" Levin replied, pushing past the other hunters and pressing on ahead up the hill, with the sound of amused laughter coming from behind him.

So the hunters continued, pushing up the side of the mountain, following a thin trail that crept upwards, zigzagging up the slope. The fog continued to linger, however, despite the continuation of the day. The haze was so thick that monsters got lost in it; several times turning their trip up the slope, they came across wandering packs of Jaggi making their way along hunting paths. Only a couple of them had actually found something to run down, usually an Aptonoth or Kelbi that had gotten separated from its herd or something of the like. The fog apparently also had the small monsters nervous as well; upon catching sight of the hunters, rather than chasing after them or attacking, the little creatures simply yipped threateningly, looking around nervously as though expecting another group of hunters to come through the haze. The five generally just ignored the ankle biters, allowing them to eat their prey in peace.

It was close to noon, as far as Levin could tell, and there had been no sign of the creature they hunted at all. The fog was finally thinning out a little, thankfully, but not very much. They still hadn't seen anything more dangerous than a Jaggi yet, though, and with the fog as thick as it was, finding any signs of monsters was proving to be challenging.

Thankfully, with the collection of Tenebris' familiarity with the area, Kerrigan's experience as a tracker, and Harker's weirdly wide spread ecological knowledge, they were able to find signs left behind by a large monster of some kind. They were old, at least a day or two old, but the three claimed that they'd found the footprints of a large monster of some kind, too big to be a Great Jaggi. It wasn't much, though, and it didn't specify what sort of monster they were looking for yet.

They had been planning on resting for a moment, having reached a relatively flat area of land, when the sky abruptly changed. Levin blinked in surprise, looking up through the haze. Everything was different, though he couldn't figure out what… the fog was exactly the same, but…

"The light!" Kerry hissed. "The blue light is gone!"

Sure enough, the blue tint that had enveloped the sky over the fog, giving the area a thick azure tint, had vanished completely. It had been so abrupt, Levin hadn't even noticed it. But now the fog was simply a pale white, though it was no less challenging to see through. But where had the light gone? For a moment, the haze thinned a little above them, and the hunters looked to the north. The pillar of light was gone, completely missing from the horizon.

The hunters stood in stunned silence for a long moment, uncertain what the disappearance of the light meant, when a swelling glow appeared on the other size of the mountain. It grew in intensity for several moments, before the pillar of light erupted once more into the air, searing into the sky and coating the fog in its color once more. It seemed more intense this time, somehow, thrumming in power just over the horizon.

"How… what just happened?" Levin asked.

"I don't know…" Tenebris replied. "I didn't know it went out like that. Is it… is it supposed to do that?"

They were silent for a while, staring up at the light worriedly. Slowly, the fog rolled back in, just as thick as before, blotting out the sight of the pillar once more. After a few moments, the hunters all looked at Harker. The long sword user blinked in surprise, and shook his head. "Don't look at me. I have no clue what's going on."

When the light remained constant, unchanging, the hunters began their trek up the slopes once more. However, not an hour after they stopped for lunch, they managed to find true sign of their prey, and it wasn't something as frail and simple as a footprint in the soil. They were still following the path they traveled up the mountain, which was becoming increasingly challenging to traverse, though not enough to stop them, not yet. Then the panicked cries of a monster rang across the rocky terrain. Immediately the hunters tensed. Levin's hand reached for the hilt of his switch axe, and the others did likewise. The stone and rocks of the area made the sound of the creature, whatever it was, bounce around a lot, and the sounds seemed to come from below them and above them one moment to the next.

The next few moments felt like hours as the sounds continued to grow increasingly louder. Eventually, Levin recognized the sound of the monster: it was the cries of an Aptonoth in pain. He'd heard it before many times, when escort missions had gone sour, or when he'd come upon a pack of Jaggis tailing their prey. But for the life of him, he still couldn't make out where the noise was coming from. Then another familiar sound appeared, the repetitive thumping sound of powerful wings. And it was coming from directly above them. There was a rush of air as a massive shape swept through the air over them, followed by a sickening crunching sound. Immediately, the sound of the squealing Aptonoth was cut off, and another moment later, the sound of a massive creature landing on the ground rattled the stones around them.

It was quiet for only a moment, then the fog was filled with the wet sound of fangs ripping through the flesh and bones of the Aptonoth's body. Levin felt himself shiver. The silence was profound, and only the sound of the monster feeding could be heard in the din. Levin could even hear the dripping of blood, the sound of the life fluids pooling together on the ground below the beast. He could envision the monster's maw tearing through the Aptonoth's flanks and tearing away chunks of muscle and ligaments, making the pool of blood below the dead creature grow larger.

His fist tightened on the hilt of his blade in frustration; he still couldn't see a thing! The leathery hide of his gloves creaked against the bindings on his blade's handle. Suddenly, the sound of ripping flesh ceased, and a hiss of anger flittered through the haze. Levin froze. Had the beast actually heard the faint sound of Levin's grip tightening?

A low growling sound slid through the mist menacingly, and the hunters raised their weapons, searching for the source. A moment later, the sound of scratching came from further up the slope, a familiar sound that Levin recognized as a large monster clawing the ground in anticipation. Immediately, the sound of three bowguns firing in the direction of the sound rang across the mountainside as Ellie, Kerry, and Tenebris all fired in the direction of the noise. A gust of wind and a jet of flame swept through the fog, breezing past the hunters' legs and nipping at their ankles. A large shape swayed in the air above them as flapping wings lifted the creature skyward. Levin braced himself for another blast of fire, but the shape vanished beyond the mist and the sound of flapping faded as the wyvern flew away, and none of the hunters could guess which way it had gone.

Levin strode forward cautiously in the following silence, to where the monster had been standing before the hunters had come upon it. There, wedged between some rocks, was the charred remains of the Aptonoth, its flesh seared almost completely through. Several large claw marked coated its back and torso, showing how the beast had been carried from the grasslands down at the base of the mountain all the way here.

"Well, that settles that," Ellie muttered. "Definitely a Rathian."

"So it would appear," Harker agreed. "A large one, too, if these claw marks are any indication. You can always tell by the width of the claws as to the size of the wyvern. See, the marks extend a good two feet along the length of the Aptonoth's back, and is four inches wide at the thickest point, showing that…"

"Summarize, please?" Ellie asked.

"Ah, right. In short, this Rathian should be a solid… 23 meters long. Quite a big one. The Guild would give any hunter that managed to slay one a golden crown medal for such a feat."

"No wonder it's been able to steal away so many Aptonoth without anyone noticing," Tenebris said. "It's so big it can just pluck them up and carry them off and eat them elsewhere. This mission is starting to look more and more fun."

"We didn't see which way it went, though," Ellie said.

"Shouldn't be a problem," Tenebris replied with a grin. "Now we know what it is for certain, and I happen to know where a lot of the Rathian nests in this area are. But… they're way, way higher up the mountain. And if we're really unlucky, we'll have to work out way through some caves in the mountains to get to some of the really high ones, and I'm pretty sure nobody really knows how much of a maze they are."

"Sounds about par for the course for us," Levin grumbled. "Why does nobody ever map out caves? You'd think if hunters have to travel through them on a regular basis, someone would have figured out the routes and could have made a map or something. I mean, don't even get me started on how lost we got on Echo Island."

"You could make a profit off of that kind of thing," Ellie said with a smile. "Honestly, I don't see why someone doesn't make good maps. I mean, the Guild provided ones are okay, but they're not very useful. Most of the time, I just give them a single look then never take one again. I mean, if someone made maps of all the caves and mining locations and all the other stuff that hunters actually care about, they'd knock those Guild maps right out of the market."

"You'd have to take the time to get to know the area first, though," Levin replied.

"Maybe. But hunters spend a lot of time out in the wilds anyway. If one of them did it, it'd be easy. You just map out the area while you're out hunting or something."

"Yeah, but you'd be hard pressed to convince a hunter to do something like that," Tenebris said. "Most of them are too interested in just hunting. Though I hate to think that the things Silas was saying were in any way correct, a lot of non-Lost hunters are more concerned with just killing monsters than anything else. I mean, there are a lot of interesting hunters out there, but a majority are only in it for the fame and glory, and don't think of things beyond 'how do I kill this thing without getting killed in the process'?"

"Well, at least you're fairly open-minded," Ellie said.

"Thank you for the compliment. Also… I hate to ask, but what does 'par for the course' mean?" Tenebris asked uncertainly. "I've heard Lost use that phrase before, but I have no clue what it means."

"Ah, allow me to explain!" Harker replied excitedly. "But, ah, shall we discuss it as we continue? The Rathian won't hunt itself!"

"Right!" Tenebris nodded. "Let's get going then. If we're lucky, we'll be able to find the Rathian's nest before nightfall."

* * *

**It shouldn't have happened that way! I'm the one that's supposed to be in control! I am the ruler, the overlord or these pathetic creatures! They are not supposed to disobey my wishes! They aren't supposed to go against my plans! He should have chased after me! He should have been driven mad at the thought of not following me! He ruined it! All that work making him hate me and he just walked away! It's not supposed to happen like that! No! No no no no no! I will destroy him, and that damn mate of his as well! I will! No… I said I wouldn't let him fight me. Argh! It wasn't supposed to happen like this! No no no no NO NO NO NO! AaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-**

Levin woke with a start, holding his head in pain as the screaming in his head began to fade away. He shook his head in frustration as silence finally settled over his mind at last, and he could hear the sounds of the night outside of the cave once more. Ellie shifted in her sleep next to him, and Levin forced himself to calm his breathing, trying not to wake her up. Eventually his beloved's breathing evened out, and she settled back into peaceful sleep once again,

The dreams were still there, the terrible nightmares that the Alatreon would send him at night, haunting his mind in his sleep. Visions of the volcano ruins he'd seen so often, where the Alatreon kept the sparse remnants of those that had fought against him before, the 'trophies' it coveted as symbols of his dominion over all the other creatures in the world. These days the beast howled and raged senselessly, seething with fury and smashing his toys and prizes in his endless anger with Levin's rebellion against its plans.

Levin had hoped that they'd fade away after coming to terms with the death of his family, but recently, ever since their altercation up north, it seemed that the creature wasn't sending him the dreams intentionally, but rather he was receiving them only because of some bond that he and the creature seemed to have. And every time it was the same thing, the elder dragon ranting and raving in frustration at Levin's refusal to dance to the Alatreon's fife, choosing Ellie's life over his vengeance. At least the creature didn't seem to be out attacking villages or anything like that. Apparently Levin's refusal to play the creature's game had baffled it too completely and it didn't seem to even consider attacking villages at all.

Honestly, as much as Levin hated the Alatreon, he actually found the creature's furious ranting irritating more than anything else. All this time he'd imagined the beast as a sort of cruel, manipulative demon creature (and honestly it still was), but after hearing the creature vent its frustrations in the way it was, it seemed more like and angry, spoiled child frustrated at losing a game than anything else. Levin supposed he could understand why the creature was acting like it was; countless years of the beast being the terror of every living thing in the world, and who knows how many people it had 'played' with before it had gotten to Levin, and suddenly someone told it that they weren't going to play by its rules anymore? With all its power and infamy, it had never imagined that someone could choose to ignore it.

Though, his new perspective on the Alatreon only made him more worried about the creature. He feared the beast before, when he thought that it was a cruel manipulator. But now, thinking of the beast as an angry child with all the power it possessed and all the sick desire it had to lord over humans and other monsters only made Levin more frightened of it. Something that could coldly calculate would use that power wickedly, but with precision. A creature that hated to lose, with that much power, throwing the equivalent of a tantrum… that was a terrifying thought. What would it do to get revenge, once it was done raving and seething in its hideaway?

Levin sighed and hung his head. So much for sleeping tonight. The hunters hadn't managed to find the Rathian's nest that day, despite Tenebris' boasts that she knew the locations of most of the nesting spots of the mountain. All the caves they'd come across had been empty, and when the sun had finally dropped past the peaks of the western mountains, they'd been forced to take refuge in a cave for the night. The fog had just faded in the last moments of the day, when the light of the sun was vanishing from the valley.

Tenebris had volunteered for first shift, but with thoughts like this on his mind, there was no way he was going to be able to get any more rest, not for a while. He carefully pushed himself to his feet, trying to avoid waking Ellie, before stretching and making his way out into the open air. He realized, oddly enough, that neither Harker nor Kerrigan were in the cave either. It wasn't that close to morning… had something happened outside?

As Levin made his way out of the cave, he caught sight of Tenebris sitting near the entrance on a large boulder that propped against the entrance to their campsite. She sat fiddling with her bowgun listlessly, as she idly stared up at the sky. It was a challenge to make out much of the stars, Levin realized, looking up. Most of the sky was faded, blotted out by the bright azure beacon that rose to the sky further to the north. As such, only the brightest of stars and the pale crescent moon could be seen in the sky apart from the dim blue light that purveyed both day and night in the sky.

"Trouble sleeping?" Levin looked back to Tenebris as she looked down at him.

"A bit… bad dreams," he replied. "Figured I wasn't going to be able to get much sleep tonight, might as well take over for the next shift."

"You're not the only one, it seems," Tenebris nodded, folding her bowgun back up and sliding it over her back once more. "Your friends Kerrigan and Harker came out for air a little while ago. I don't really blame them either. That light on the horizon is really disconcerting, whatever it is. Makes stargazing a real pain in the butt, I'll tell you that much. Nothing up there to see but the really bright ones, and there's nothing interesting about them."

"Really? I didn't take you as one for stargazing," Levin replied, and Tenebris smiled sadly as she slid down the rock.

"I guess it's just a habit I picked up from one of my old hunting partners. Some things just linger, I suppose. She always seemed to enjoy looking up and the skies, and I guess she rubbed off on me… but enough about that. I'll be heading off to bed then, if you're going to take my place. Keep an eye out for the other two."

"Right," Levin nodded. "I suppose Harker thought of some experiment he wanted to conduct, and took off to look into it, and Kerry tagged along."

"Maybe," Tenebris shrugged. "But Kerrigan was the one who left the cave first, with Harker on her tail. It might have been the other way around. Goodnight, and don't run off or anything."

"I won't," Levin promised, propping himself up against the rock wall. Kerry had left first? That was odd. Maybe nature just called or something, but that wouldn't explain why Harker had followed.

Levin found his eyes lingering on the pillar of light that continued to shine in the north. It had been several hours since it had vanished and reappeared, and it seemed so much more daunting, more threatening in the night. Levin still couldn't guess at the nature of the light, or what could be causing it. But it was still so far, and over the tops of mountains; he couldn't even figure out how he could get to the source even if he tried to.

He wondered what sort of doom and destruction the light was supposed to usher in. The switch axe user was fairly certain that the people of Nastre wouldn't have just created the story of destruction that they'd spoken of. Fire from the skies, and an unseen enemy… Tenebris had mentioned an elder dragon that had the ability to turn itself invisible; could that be the foe Nastre faced be something like that? Levin smirked to himself as he looked down into the valley, where the last vestiges of fog were still fading away. With thick haze like they'd had the previous day, he imagined that whatever was causing the devastation didn't need such an ability to go unseen.

Levin continued to stare up at the sky for a while, thinking listlessly about nothing in particular. Finally, though, he realized that he hadn't seen either Harker or Kerry return from the wilds yet. Had Harker gotten caught up in one of his strange experiments again and forgotten the time? No, that wasn't likely. There would have been explosions.

But then where were they? Had they gotten lost out there? There was still some fog lingering in the trees. He knew Harker might have trouble with locations, considering his sporadic thought process, but Kerry should have an even enough head on her shoulders to get them back. Nonetheless, Levin was getting worried. He pushed away from the rock wall and made his way over to the tree line, slowly pressing into the foliage. He couldn't afford to go far, not without leaving Ellie and Tenebris exposed, but…

Voices caught his attention fairly quickly, thankfully, a dim whispering that echoed through the trees. He had trouble figuring out the location, but eventually found his way to the source. He caught sight of the two standing in a small gully, a small patch of land where the wan moonlight and light of the pillar could filter cleanly through trees. He was glad to find his friends safe, but as he approached, their voices became clearer, and he found himself keeping quiet as he approached. Kerry's voice seemed strained, and Harker's worried.

"I can't take it Harker!" Kerry gasped, sobbing. "I just… I just can't!"

"Kerrigan…" Harker said quietly, reaching forward to embrace the woman as she cried. "What do you mean? You can't take what? Please. It pains me to see you like this."

"I can't… I can't lose anyone anymore!" Kerry choked out. "I just can't. I've lost… so many friends and allies because of my damn curse! I've watched so many people die because they traveled with the Companion Killer. I can't… oh, damn it all, I just can't lose you three! I love you all too much. Ellie, Levin, you… especially you, Harker. I love you so much. If you died, if any of you died hunting the Alatreon, I just… I just couldn't take it anymore. I've lost too much… any more, and I just couldn't go on anymore."

"Oh, Kerrigan… forgive me, I… I'm sorry," Harker muttered. "Forgive me. I hadn't realized how much this was hurting you. I hadn't thought that this Companion Killer issue was still bothering you. Worrying over the three of us… I am so sorry."

"No more…"Kerry whispered miserably. "Please Harker, no more of this. Please, please stop chasing after the Alatreon with Levin and Ellie. I can't… I don't think I can stop the two of them from chasing after the thing. But please, Harker, please promise me you won't go with them, that you won't help them with this anymore, that you won't go chasing after the Alatreon with them. Promise that, whatever they do, you won't follow, that you'll stay with me. Please. I can't lose you."

"Kerrigan…" Harker murmured. "How… they may need my help. My flash bomb was the only thing that managed to stop the elder dragon when it attacked Hearth. If I'm not there to help them if they choose to go after it once more… it may not go as well for them."

"I know… I know," Kerry sobbed. "I know that, and it will kill me inside if it does. But Harker, please. I love you. I can't risk losing you. Please, please, promise me that you'll stay away from the Alatreon and anything involving it, please. If you… if you die because of this curse of mine, I… I don't think I'll be able to live with the guilt. I won't… If you die… I will be close behind."

The pained expression that came across Harker's face showed clearly how he felt about that, and he squeezed her all the tighter. "Never consider such a thing, Lady Kerrigan, please. Your life is… far too precious a thing to give up for my sake."

"And yours is too precious a thing to give up for mine," Kerry replied softly. "Or for the sake of fighting the Alatreon. To me. Please, Harker, promise me. Please!"

"Kerrigan, I… I promise. If they go after the Alatreon, I won't follow after them. I'll… I'll stay away from the monster if it is in my power to do so."

"Thank you," Kerry whispered. "Thank you."

"But… please Kerrigan," Harker said quietly, making the bowgunner tense. "As… as you said, neither of us may be capable of stopping the two of them, or at least Levin from going off after the beast. Please, allow me at least some recompense: let me try and uncover as much as I can to help them. About the Alatreon and its power and whatever else I can. Let me learn and teach them what I can to keep them alive, and safe, and… if I can manage it, allow them to succeed. If I will not fight alongside them, please, at least let me try and uncover whatever I can to aid them in their mission."

"I don't… Why? That would just encourage them."

"But it would help them, and any help against an elder dragon, especially this one, would be well worth the effort," Harker replied, releasing Kerry and looking her in the eye, a determined look on his face. "And, if what Levin claimed is true, once… once the Alatreon is… done with Levin, it will move on to other Lost. Who knows who it will be? Perhaps, just perhaps, it will be me."

"No! Harker…"

"It's true, my dear," Harker replied adamantly. "After all, I have little doubt it's irritated with me, considering my involvement in its attack on Hearth. And even if it doesn't come for me, it will seek out one of my fellow Lost. And if… if I cannot stop Levin and Miss Eleanor, I can at least try to keep them alive and fighting as long as possible. And should they fall, I should do what I can to provide the same courtesy to whomever the beast chooses to toy with next. If the Guild won't provide aid to whatever poor soul suffers that task, at least I can."

"But Harker… if the Guild finds out…"

"The Guild knows what Levin has told them about the Alatreon. If they choose to do nothing to aid the poor Lost that is toyed with by the Alatreon next… well, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. But will you offer me this blessing, Kerrigan, to aid Levin and Eleanor in their hunt for the Alatreon, even if… even if I will not raise a blade against the beast myself?"

"I don't… I don't want you to," Kerry replied, but Harker kept her gaze. "But… will you really be able to help them at all?"

"I don't know, but I want to try."

The bowgunner was quiet for a long minute, before she finally nodded. "Fine. Fine, Harker, you can help them. I know it's selfish of me to keep you from fighting with them, but… as long as you're safe, that's the most important thing for me."

"And will you… will you help me? Help me to help them?" Harker asked, and the bowgunner frowned worriedly. "I know you don't care for what they're trying to do, but I also know that you worry for them as well, that you want to keep them safe if you can't stop them. And I know… I know you've been feeling lonely since Hearth. I know you've missed talking together with everyone. I know Ellie has missed talking to you as well." The long sword user smiled at Kerry gently. "I'm sure that, while Levin and I are fine enough conversationalists, she misses the conversations that only women can have with each other, though I dare not try to contemplate such things myself."

Kerry laughed quietly at the words. "You're right. I do miss talking to them. Both of them. I know I'm angry at them but… I am worried for them. But… they challenged the Alatreon and that's not something that can be taken lightly. Why did they do it Harker? Why did they have to chase after such a terrible creature?"

"The Alatreon caused the downfall and destruction of our people, my dear Kerrigan. It also inflicted us with the terrible madness that makes people fear and hate us. I fear that, despite the creature's power, it will be challenging to stop them from chasing after it. And once word gets out of the elder dragon's true influence on us, and I fear it will, I doubt there will be any stopping the reaction of the Lost, no matter the Guild's mandates on the beast. And worst of all, from what little I've heard of the Alatreon, the beast would only enjoy and encourage them to do so.

"It's not something I enjoy saying, my dear Kerrigan, but I very much doubt the hunt for the Alatreon will stop until either it or the Lost are dead. The beast has forced this compulsion on us, and it's not something that we can so easily walk away from."

The pair was quiet for a long while, before Kerry spoke again. "You really have to help them then, don't you? You can't… you can't just let them run off without your help, can you?"

"I can't just sit by and watch my people run to their deaths. I must do something, even if it's only searching for information on how to help. And I think… I think that you are very much the same, my dear Kerrigan, despite it being the Alatreon, despite your… curse."

Several moments later, Levin heard Kerry begin to cry again. He'd heard enough; likely, he'd heard too much. As quietly as he could, he slunk away from the pair back to the entrance of the cave, and propped himself back up against the rock, looking up into the sky towards the pillar of light off in the distance.

Was he really just throwing away his life, chasing after the Alatreon? Was it possible for him to stop, to just let the creature be? No, likely not. The Alatreon had twisted him, toyed with him, and expected to play with him like a cat with a mouse. Levin could walk away from that, if it meant his survival, but if the elder dragon planned to do the same with the rest of the Lost that he'd collected. There were old and young, sick and wounded in the group, and all of them were blighted with the same twisted madness that inflicted him. They would come when the Alatreon called, and that was something that Levin just couldn't oblige.

He had to hunt down the creature himself, while its attention was still on him. And if that only led to his death… well, maybe Harker would be able to learn something from it that would help the next person that sought the beast out. It wasn't much to think of, but it was something.

* * *

The next morning came quickly enough, and the pillar of light was still in the sky to the north. It had flickered and faded for a couple minutes about an hour before dawn, but had flared back to life with all its former intensity not long after, the blue light blotting out the stars once more.

Harker and Kerry had stayed out in the wilderness for a while after Levin had left them alone. When they'd finally returned to the cave, Levin made a note not to say anything to them on their way in, just nod at them in recognition. He didn't think he could trust his own words around them after hearing their discussion that night, and had little doubt that both he and they would need a little time to figure out how to act around each other. Levin wondered if either of them suspected that he'd been in the area when they were having their discussion, but neither of them brought it up or were giving him odd looks, so he thought he had been subtle enough to not catch their notice.

But Kerry did try and make an effort to converse with him and Ellie the next morning, as she promised she would. Or at least, she made an effort to talk to Ellie. Levin supposed that talking to him would come in time, but his insistence in going after the Alatreon was just a little outside of the woman's comfort zone. But Kerry did try to approach Ellie in conversation the next day, though her effort was a bit awkward; thankfully Ellie was happy to have a female friend to talk to again, and the pair were talking happily not long after.

As the sun crested the mountaintops, Levin looked down the slopes to see another wave of the thick fog rolling in from the peaks, rolling waves of clouds that likely made the land below just as impossible to see through as it had been the previous day. However, this time Levin had the ability to see the view from above the fog; the cavern they camped in was just above the roiling haze, allowing Levin to look across the tops of the fog. For the first time, he realized that the fog seemed to be leaking over the mountains to the northwest of where they were camping. The rest of the peaks were clear, but the blanket of clouds was coming from one place. Was there a lake or something off in that direction, maybe?

After eating what rations they had on them, the hunters left the cave and continued up the thin path leading up the side of the mountain. It felt as though they were traveling across the edge of an island, with a sea of white surrounding them. As they continued, they passed more and more holes in the wall of the mountain, and each were thoroughly searched in hopes of finding their prey. However, as they traveled, they discovered something very strange.

"These caves should have monsters in them," Tenebris murmured worriedly, striding into the eighth cavern they'd come across.

"What do you mean?" Levin asked, following her and looking around. He had to let his eyes adjust to the darkness for a moment, but as he did, he realized that the floor was littered with a smattering of feathers and scales, brightly colored things that clearly belonged to a Qurupeco. He picked one up, rolling it over in his hand, and found that it was fresh, relatively speaking. It hadn't been in this cave very long, that much was certain; it still had the luster and gleam that Qurupeco's obsessively cleaned and preened their plumage to have.

"I've hunted in this area before," Tenebris explained, "and these caves always had monsters in them. Qurupecos, Rathians, packs of Jaggi. You had to be quiet passing by to avoid attracting anything's attention. But now they're all empty. Why?"

"Perhaps the blue light scared them off," Harker suggested. "It's quite noticeable. It's possible that the monsters in the area can sense something about the light that humans cannot."

Tenebris grimaced, glancing out of the entrance of the cave towards where the pillar of light continued to glow off in the distance. "I guess that's possible. Something big like that could frighten monsters off, I suppose. I know a lot of monsters get fidgety around natural disasters. I heard stories that an island off the coast didn't see any carnivores bigger than a Jaggia for weeks after an earthquake hit. The blue light isn't really a natural disaster I guess, but it's still something big and unnatural, so maybe it scared off the local monsters."

"Wouldn't… wouldn't that mean that the Rathian we're hunting for ran off as well, though?" Kerry asked.

"It might have, but we saw the remains of that Aptonoth yesterday. The Rathian is still around… probably. If the light didn't scare it off right at the get go, maybe it won't scare it off at all. Though, maybe it just stopped to eat before getting out of the area… ugh, that would be irritating, now that I think about it. Keep your eyes open for fresh Rath signs I suppose. There's not much else we can do about it but hope it hasn't flown off since yesterday, otherwise we'll have to wait for the large monsters to start trickling back once the light is gone. If it's still picking off food in the area, chances are it's not planning on leaving quite yet, so we've still got a bit of time to find it."

With the fog no longer surrounding them, the hunters were able to make better time as they trekked along the mountain paths, poking into the caves and nests that lined the side of the path in hopes of finding some sight of the Rathian, but all the ones they ventured into were abandoned. They found the remains of a couple more Aptonoth as they traveled, though none nearly so fresh and recently killed as the one from yesterday. It gave them a path though, and a direction towards the nest. Tenebris seemed worried, however, claiming there wasn't much path left before they would need to start working their way through caves. And unfortunately, they ended up needing to go into a cave after all, upon catching sight of yet another well-done Aptonoth corpse splayed across the ground, but way up on a far higher ledge than the one they were on.

The caves were dark, but surprisingly spacious for paths that led through the mountains. But where the monsters outdoors had been left wary or hid themselves away due to the pillar of light to the north, the creatures that crept and crawled through the tunnels had not seen it, and had no such inclinations. Almost as soon as the hunters entered the cave, a small pack of Jaggis swept out of the darkness and attacked them. The hunters had gotten lax outside, with all the monsters acting so passive, and to have them abruptly attacking again caught them off guard. A couple of the Jaggis had already snapped their teeth against Levin's armor by the time he managed to pull out his switch axe. It didn't take the hunters long to clean up the ankle-biters, but the surprise attack had left them with a couple wounds and bruises to treat before continuing further into the cavern.

Their increased wariness proved to be a good thing. Apparently, these caves hadn't been traveled in many, many years, allowing monsters to flourish and prosper deep within their confines. The Jaggi pack had only been the first, a collection of carnivores that stayed close to the entryway. Beyond there were whole swarms of Bnahabra, massive insects that were easily three times the size of most of their kind. Having three bowgunners made getting through there easier, but beyond were even more large monsters. Hives of Altaroth and swarms of Giggi roamed the caves as well, all of them larger than normal due to the isolation and freedom they were allowed. Levin didn't remember ever fighting such thick-shelled, aggressive bugs before, and the Giggis were so fat and well-nourished that they were actually sprouting stubs that would become wings as they changed into Gigginox.

And, unfortunately, despite the monsters' prosperity, the creatures had seen so few hunters, if any at all, during their lives in the caves, that they showed no sign of fear at the sudden appearance of intruders in their territories, and had no hesitation in attacking the interlopers that dared threaten their livelihoods. Levin and Ellie weren't used to such massive versions of the usually little monsters that plagued the caves near Boma Village. Harker, Kerry and Tenebris seemed familiar with the larger bugs, but the sight of massive Giggis swarming out of cracks in the walls seemed to terrify and nauseate all of the hunters in the party. The massive crawling Giggis already had tendrils of poison mist on their breath as they crawled after the hunters, so they tried to keep their distance from the worm-like nasties as they killed them and continued quickly through the caves.

At least, compared to the caves around Echo Village, the ones here in the mountains were fairly straightforward, with a few off-shooting paths from where they were trying to go, but nothing so mazelike as they'd seen before, and most of the time the path leading upward continued to do so, allowing them to find their path with ease. And there were numerous holes in the ceiling of the caverns, allowing them to see well without having to rely too much on torches.

The path slowly crept higher and higher through the mountain, and Levin could practically feel the air getting thinner as they went along. He wondered if they'd need to allow themselves to acclimate once they finally found the nest, for fear of passing out from breathlessness. If not that, they'd likely need a break from all the large, aggressive ankle-biters that filled these caves. The thin poisonous gas the Giggis released weren't potent enough to do much, but it still made the hunters nauseous when they breathed it in, and the venom from the Altaroths' and Bnahabras' stingers weren't leaving them off much better.

At least the monsters finally seemed to be thinning out a little bit. It had been a while since the last time they'd passed a nest or a hive. Actually, now that he thought about it, he hadn't seen any signs of monsters at all in a while. Maybe they didn't like the high altitudes?

"Oh, how fascinating!"

Levin looked up at Harker's sudden outburst, and his eyes widened in surprise at the sight in front of them. A little ways up the path they followed, the cavern widened substantially, opening up from only a few yards across to a near dozen from end to end, and a few dozen yards from floor to ceiling. A massive, smooth stone wall stretched from the floor of the cavern all the way to the ceiling; from the way the stone and dirt around the tops and bottom cut off, it appeared that the wall continued both upwards and downwards a significant distance as well. But it wasn't just a unique cave wall, but a manmade, massive curving relief, with elaborate symbols and images coating the entirety of the wall.

"It's like the one we saw near Boma Village," he heard Ellie say in awe, and Levin nodded. Intricate depictions of monsters coated the wall, some shown fighting other creatures or battling against humans. Others showed various aspects of monster ecology; a Qurupeco singing, a Lagiacrus swimming, and Levin was certain that there was an image of a Rath mating dance up there near the top. And the reliefs stretched for a long distance, the cavern following the edge of the wall as it curved gently off into the distance, further into the mountain. The shape of the curve seemed precise, and Levin wondered if it continued until it looped in a complete circle. Was this another of those massive stone spires, like the one he'd seen near Echo Village?

"Remnants of a forgotten civilization," Tenebris said, looking up at the wall and brushing her hand across the surface and along the chiseled lines. She raised an eyebrow and glanced at Levin and Ellie as Harker hurried off, talking excitedly as he began to jabber excitedly while Kerry followed behind. "Not… yours though, is it?"

"No, not ours," Ellie replied, looking up the sides of the wall. "Whoever made these walls came and went after… after the Lost's time."

"Meridians," Harker muttered quietly.

"Excuse me?"

"Ah, apologies," Harker replied quickly. "It's what I've taken to calling them, the civilization that came between the Lost's era and the Hunter's era. It's an appropriate enough name, I suppose, considering that they came between our times, and they were a people of great development, at least when it comes to their adjustment to the existence of monsters. I can't seem to find what they referred to themselves as anyway, and none of the researchers in Loc Lac have allotted them a title, so I've just begun referring to them as Meridians."

"So what do you know about them, then?" Tenebris asked, poking around and looking at more of the images.

"Admittedly, not much, or rather, nothing truly substantial," Harker replied. "They peaked several centuries ago, and seemed to be surprisingly prosperous from I've been able to learn about them, considering that they rose from the ashes of the Lost, learning to deal with the monsters that had overrun the world. What surprises me is, they seem to have advanced a shocking amount in the time they were the masters of the world. Their writings show they had powerful weapons and technology that they used against the monsters, though I can't find any sort of specifications or designs. I suspect… I suspect that they had even more power and sway against the monsters of this world than even the Guild with all its greatest hunters has. If the words on the walls like these that I've already studied even show but half of what they were capable of… what I wouldn't give to have full understanding of their language. They developed methods of using monster materials in much the same way that smiths in this time do, but their methods were so much more… elegant. Though I admit I can't figure out how some of them work or what they do."

"Seems like you know a lot more than you let on," Tenebris said with a smile. "But… if they were so powerful, why did they vanish?"

"I couldn't say," Harker admitted, continuing down the wall at a steady pace, rapidly scribbling notes down as he went. "It was very abrupt, whatever it was. I can't figure it out, and none of the Guild researchers have any theories. No good ones, at least. Honestly, I can't think of anything that can wipe out such a civilization so quickly and so efficiently." He paused for a moment in thought and his hand lingered on one of the symbols, and he looked up the wall. "Well… I suppose I can think of one thing."

The other four hunters followed his gaze, and Levin felt a growl of anger catch in his throat. There, halfway up the side of the wall, was a massive relief image was spread across a wide area of the stone wall. It was an image of the Alatreon, or at least a surprisingly good representation of the thing for a work of chiseled art. Dozens and dozens of symbols surrounded the image on all sides, and notes and dictations on the creature seemed to be pointing at various parts of the elder dragon.

The picture was very graphic as well. The image showed the elder dragon razing a village to the ground, lightning and ice falling from the sky and annihilating houses and huts alike. Incinerating or impaling the poor civilians they landed on. Fire and dark energy swept from the creature's maw and claws, lighting the entire village up in flames and utterly destroying the depicted warriors that stood to face it. And the numbers… the sheer amount of individual images of civilians and hunters was staggering. Whoever had designed this was trying to make it clear the scale of the beast's destruction. This wasn't just an image of the Alatreon, this was the retelling of a slaughter, a brutal massacre that the Alatreon had personally brought about. It made Levin sick to his stomach, and he could see that Ellie and Harker shared similar expressions.

However, Levin found himself confused at Tenebris' expression as the huntress stared up at the image. Rather than fear or anger as he'd been expecting, she appeared confused, if not a little bit concerned at the image. "I'm sorry, I may be missing out on something important, but… what exactly is that thing? An elder dragon, I assume? It looks a little like the Guild's depictions of a Kushala Daora, but… maybe a little bigger?"

It took Levin a moment to get through being flabbergasted before remembering that next to no one, aside from a scarce few people in Hearth, had ever seen the Alatreon, and not many more had heard what it looked like. Speculation was the only thing most people had on the beast, and that extended as far as knowing that it was colored black and could use multiple elements. Actually, Levin realized that he should be surprised that the Meridians, or whatever Harker was calling them, actually had imagery of the creature. From what Levin had learned of the elder dragon himself, the thing liked to remain mystical.

Harker didn't seem bothered by the ignorance though, and gave a hesitant smile to the curious bowgunner. "Ah, well, I suppose it wouldn't be common knowledge. What you're looking at, Miss Tenebris, is a very large and surprisingly accurate depiction of the very reason you're accompanying the four of us on this little venture. Behold, Miss Tenebris; you are now one of the few hunters in the world that have fair knowledge as to the appearance of the Alatreon itself."

Tenebris' eyes widened in surprise and awe, and she looked up at the image with a new expression, tinted with fear. Levin supposed it was to be expected, what with the inherent fear the locals had of the creature. But more than anything, the woman seemed worried above all else.

"No wonder people fear it," she muttered. "It's pretty big for an elder dragon, at least one of that shape. There are massive things like the Jhen Mohran and the Ceadeus, but four-legged winged dragons don't usually get quite so large. It looks like the… Meridians, or whatever you called them, were just as afraid of them as we are these days."

"I wouldn't say they were afraid…" Harker replied, looking over the image and the writings surrounding it.

"What? How could they not be afraid of the Alatreon?" Tenebris asked, shocked. The other hunters had to admit their surprise at the words as well. "I mean… the Lost were destroyed by the creature, and our people fear it enough to make hunting it illegal. Why would the… Meridians not be afraid of them."

"Well… perhaps it was premature of me to say they weren't afraid of the beast," Harker admitted. "But they certainly seemed less paranoid over it. No offense, my dear Lady Kerrigan and Miss Tenebris."

"None taken," Tenebris nodded. "But I think, considering the beast's disposition, our paranoia is rightly justified."

"I think you're right," Harker replied. "However, as I was saying, they weren't so much afraid of the elder dragon, so much as they were… concerned, and intrigued by the beast. They studied it relentlessly. It drove them, as far as I can tell. It was their motivation to continue their works. Whatever towns and cities the beast destroyed only seemed to serve as things to study for them."

"They considered lives lost as something to _study_?" Ellie asked incredulously.

"I'm not saying they didn't mourn, I'm saying their study of the creature's habits and abilities took priority. They were dedicated to their work. I suppose that's not entirely aiding their reputation… But I feel that there must me some reason they were so obsessed with their sciences. Their weapons and other creations can be found everywhere, and their work in monster material molding and transfiguration was supremely influential in the modern era's work in smithing weapons and armor from monster goods. Yet, for all their work, their obsession with the Alatreon is clear on these walls. If only I could decipher it all!"

Tenebris nodded, intrigued. But a moment later she glanced over to Levin and Ellie with a worried expression, and shook her head. "I realize that you're excited about this Harker, but as you recall, there are restrictions on things involving the Alatreon, and present company makes things harder. Sorry Levin, Ellie, but with you two around, we shouldn't really be sticking around to look at this."

"Oh," Levin said, nodding awkwardly. "Um… okay."

Tenebris noticed, though, that Harker had a very distraught look on his face, and even Kerry seemed disappointed. "Erm. Well… I suppose you can write down what you see as we go along. But we have to keep moving. There's a Rathian to take care of, remember? Besides, we should leave this kind of thing to the Guild. They have people for this kind of thing, I'm sure. We'll report this wall to them when we get back from our quest and they can look into it, okay?"

Harker frowned sourly at the words, clearly disappointed at letting someone other than him have the pleasure and honor of interpreting the wall and all its mysteries. But he grinned a moment later. "I can write down everything I see, can I? Well, I'll have you know that I can write fairly quickly, and even if I cannot, my memory is nothing to scoff at. You may not have considered it as such, Miss Tenebris, but I consider those words a challenge. Well, challenge accepted!"

A moment later the man's notepad was out, and he was scribbling furiously in it, copying or translating any and all of the words that littered the walls of the cavern. Tenebris stared at the man, stunned for a moment, before chuckling in amusement and beginning a slow walk further through the cave, allowing the man just a little bit of time to scribble what they could as they continued further along.

The hunters pressed on from the depiction of the Alatreon, though Levin kept looking back at the image warily, until it passed out of sight, as though the relief itself was the beast, and would attack if he stopped checking. As they walked, though, more images of the elder dragon appeared on the wall, though all were far smaller than the first they'd seen. These seemed to depict a history of events and notes about the creature that the Meridians had noted of the beast, rather than the detailed analysis the larger image had pictured. Harker scribbled down what was written feverishly as they passed, translating what he could and replicating the images of what he could not for later review, jumping frequently in emotion from excitement to wonder to concern to impressed at the drop of a hat.

Levin noticed that other images began to crop up frequently as well as they walked along. He realized that there was a recurring image that often appeared near or around the images of the Alatreon, something that appeared to be a collection of five towers, each with a unique symbol towering over them. Harker began muttering to himself constantly, occasionally jabbering thoughts and ideas to Kerry, who seemed to be the only one able to keep up with his train of thought. Apparently the long sword user believed that these towers were unique creations of the Meridians, a sort of machine of some kind that they had created for some grand purpose, though Harker couldn't decipher what purpose that was yet.

There were five towers in total, the images showed, with one being far larger and grander, and likely more important than the others. But to what purpose, Harker kept asking, to what end? Levin couldn't guess. As they continued on through the tunnels, the four smaller towers seemed to become less important, the wall depicting more and more information about the fifth, most important wall over the others, and Harker began to act more and more ravenous as he scribbled down information from the walls. Apparently as they'd gone on, the writings and depictions had gone far beyond the initial complexity that they'd seen at the start, and far beyond Harker's ability to translate them, leaving the man desperate and frustrated, a state that Levin hadn't recalled seeing the man in before. Even Kerry seemed worried at the long sword user's behavior.

The hunters found themselves so caught up in listening to the man's ravings and ranting as he scoured the wall for information, that it was a long time before Levin realized that they'd been standing in one place for almost a half an hour, watching the man pore relentlessly over a massive image of the mysterious tower, a large depiction as tall and with as many notes about it as the image they'd seen of the Alatreon earlier. The sun was setting over the horizon, in the reddening light filtering through the cracks and crevices in the ceiling were any indication, and yet still the cave went on, following the slowly curving wall that so consumed the long sword user.

"Here's what bothers me," Harker prattled off quickly, muttering sourly pointing to the side of the picture. Levin followed his motion, and his eyes landed on an odd symbol, one that seemed out of place on the wall. Right above the symbol of the towers, a circular shape took form, a winged serpent circling around itself and devouring its own tails. In the center of the serpent was a three-pronged shape, like a monster's claw. Levin frowned as Harker muttered to himself. "I've seen this symbol all over this wall, especially anywhere depictions of this tower of the Alatreon are prevalent."

"I've seen that symbol before," Tenebris said, seeming surprised with the knowledge, and Harker nodded.

"That's not surprising. The symbol has existed for millennia, since long before even the Lost civilization rose and fell. It's referred to as the… what was it… the Ouroboros, I believe, though I don't know why it is here."

"What does it mean?"

"Many things," Harker replied thoughtfully, turning and beginning to pace back and forth in front of the image. "Most commonly, it was a symbol for cycles or reincarnation, something repeating in perpetuity. It has many meanings, though, so who could guess what the symbol could have meant to the Meridians, considering they only seem to be correlating it with the Alatreon and… whatever those towers they've chiseled are? And then there's the symbol in the middle; a dragon's talon, perhaps? But what is its significance? I can't even guess. Levin, Ellie, did either of you ever see such an image on the wall you said you saw near Boma Village?"

"Not that I can recall," Ellie replied, and Levin shook his head as well. "There was a lot of the wall missing though. A large chunk had been… I don't know, seared off or something. Maybe it got hit by lightning, or a stray bolt of electricity from a Lagiacrus or something."

Harker frowned, stopping in surprise, before turning to Ellie and looking at her oddly. "That… shouldn't have happened. I've studied a couple of these walls before. They're not of any substance I've seen before, and very, very durable. A pile of barrel bombs wouldn't do that much damage and a direct hit from a Dragonator would be the only manmade object I'm aware of that could do some real work damaging it. A simple force of nature wouldn't be enough to damage one of these walls enough to take a real chunk out of one."

"Then what could have done it?" Kerry asked. "What's more powerful than nature itself?"

"An elder dragon?" Tenebris supplied, earning a few strange looks. "What? It's true. That's how they define an elder dragon. Any monster that's capable of changing the weather or causing damage equivalent to natural disasters is classified as an elder dragon. I thought that was common knowledge."

Levin grimaced and shrugged. The Alatreon was in the same classification as a natural disaster? No wonder people were so fearful of it. And he'd been foolish enough to try and stop it as his current ability level? No wonder the beast had made short work of him.

"Any other thoughts on what the symbol could mean?" Kerry asked curiously.

"Any number of things," Harker replied. "Karma, eternity, magical power. With so little information about the Meridians, I can only speculate. But whatever this tower was, I believe it was to be used against, or perhaps for, the Alatreon. They are depicted too closely to each other far too often for it to be otherwise. Other than that, I cannot be certain what the meaning and use of these towers could possibly be."

"Well, where are these towers, then?" Levin asked, intrigued and excited. Could this be it? Something they could actually use to gain an advantage against the elder dragon? "Does it say anything about a location? Some way to activate it? Something? Anything!"

"Don't answer that Harker," Tenebris cut it, shooting an irritated glance at the switch axe user, and Levin flinched. "I realize you might just be curious, but I'm not going to let you go around asking for more information on the thing, got it? I know… I know it's a very… compelling and personal topic, but you are not allowed to deal with anything involving the Alatreon, remember? You're already in deep enough water as it is! Any further, and there'll be no saving you from drowning. I promised Stergo I would do my best to keep you away from that stuff, and I plan to keep my word. Harker, if you can read any of that, don't translate it at all, got it?"

"Erm, ah, yes ma'am," Harker replied, and Kerry nodded in agreement. "Well, anyway, like I said, I've not completely been able to translate this language. Besides, it doesn't seem like any of this writing indicates the location of these towers, just what they look like, and a very, _very_ vague description of what they do. Other than that, there's nothing. It's not like I could figure out where they were anyway."

"Good to hear." Then the bowgunner glanced up at the holes in the ceiling as well and sighed in disappointment. "Well, so much for finding the nest today. Looks like we'll have to camp here for the night. I suppose you're pleased about that Harker."

"I won't act too giddy if that makes you feel better."

"I suppose it does a little bit," the woman replied with a smile. "But tomorrow we'll have to move along a little faster, so I won't be moving so slow as to let you take time to write things down."

"Fair enough."

"Well then, let's find a place to rest and start a fire. I want us to find the Rathian tomorrow for sure, no matter how hard we have to work to do so! So we'll need sleep, because tomorrow might be a long and challenging one."

* * *

Fire. Micah never cared much for fire. Some would say he had a phobia of it. They would be wrong of course. He didn't cringe or shy away from it. He didn't actively avoid the blaze. But he didn't spend very long around fires, either. When there was a fire lit in hearths and fireplaces back at the base, he wouldn't leave the room when they were lit up, but he wouldn't stick around very long. Fire just made him uncomfortable.

It could easily get out of hand if not tended to properly. When that happened, fire made no distinctions on who or what it burned. It simply devoured everything it could in its path. A dangerous monster would only kill what it needed to eat to survive, or nip at invaders into their territories until they left. But fire saw neither friend nor foe, it simply consumed until it was beaten back or snuffed out.

It irked Micah to no end that the people of this world didn't have access to electricity, forcing him to resort to candles and other such things. There were rare crystals, mysterious gems that emitted light if you knew how to use them correctly, but they were expensive and hard to maintain, and Moloch wouldn't waste money on such frivolities, not unless they were going to be used to impress possible clients or benefactors. Micah may have been his direct subordinate, but paying good money to buy a hunter a fireless reading lamp was not in the man's list of interests.

Of course, there was no avoiding fire sometimes. Way back when he and Moloch first started their work, he'd had to use bombs a lot to take care of monsters that Filcher hadn't wanted to waste time and effort on. He hadn't liked it; bombs were even worse than just starting up a flame. One wrong move, and you'd be dead before you knew it. You could roll around if you caught flame to put it out, or even better, find some water, but bombs just destroyed you completely. They blew you apart, and gave you no chance of survival. Thankfully, Moloch had decided using bombs in their work made it too much easier for the Guild to track them. Filcher hadn't been pleased, but Micah was glad they didn't have to work with such messy, dangerous tools anymore.

Micah didn't care much for fire. That much was clear. And his reasons? They were his own, buried deep within. And yet here he stood, just off the side of a wide, beaten road, watching two dozen wagons burn uncontrollably in the darkening light.

But worst of all was the smell of burning flesh, and the sight of over two dozen dead men and women, their bodies strewn across the remains of the wagons, cremating them.

Micah felt himself seethe at the sight. This shouldn't have happened! It could have easily been avoided! The plan had been simple: surround the caravan and incapacitate the drivers and any hunters that might be acting as guards. Then they would take control of a majority of the wagons and all their contents, leaving the caravan only one to return to the nearest town with, then after chasing them off, send a squad of hunters through the back roads back to their base near the Flooded Forest hunting grounds.

However, much to his dismay, apparently Pugnax and Lilith had neglected, or simply chosen not to, inform their subordinates to show restraint when the attack began. As the caravan had gotten into position, when Micah and Filcher's hunters had charged forward to take control of the caravan, the hunters under Pugnax and Lilith's command had gone in to murder and destroy. Micah hadn't noticed anything was wrong until it was too late to stop them, when powerful bowgun rounds began flying through the air and ripping into the caravan drivers as they'd panicked and tried to escape. His own bowgunners were only supposed to be acting as support in case things got messy, but theirs were aiming to kill.

Micah had tried to call the hunters off, but they were already in a frenzy. Short of killing the hunters himself, he wasn't going to be able to stop them at all, and could only look on in horror as the drivers were butchered. His subordinates were just as flabbergasted by the whole thing as well. It wasn't long after the fight began either, that someone set flame to one of the wagons, and not long after that the entire caravan was ablaze. Lilith was in the middle of it the whole time as well, laughing maniacally as her bowgun fired, explosions ripping apart wagons and Aptonoth and people alike. Micah could do little to stop her.

It was over in minutes. A couple dozen civilians without escorts were no match for just as many hunters. Pugnax and Lilith's followers were sitting around, laughing and complimenting each other on their handiwork as they worked to pull the materials that could be salvaged from the wreckage of the carts before they could all be lost to the fire. Micah felt sick to his stomach listening to them. He'd had to kill before, of course, but this…

"Well, well! Look what we have here!" The sound of Lilith's laughter soared over the sound of the roaring flames. Micah looked over in irritation, but his eyes widened in shock as the woman suddenly pulled a battered man from the ruins of a wagon, his clothes dark and blackened from the fire. Her underlings cheered and jeered as she pulled the man away from the burning remains, pulling him to his knees and grinning down at him.

The long sword user's heart froze as the bowgunner pulled her weapon out and held the barrel up to the man's head. He couldn't watch any longer, and rushed forward, pushing several of Lilith's subordinates to the ground roughly. "Knock it off, Lilith!" he snapped. "We weren't supposed to kill them!"

The woman cackled in amusement, cocking her head as she stared down at the frightened wagon driver. "And why not? All the others have met their ends, so why not just do this man a service and spare him the treacherous trek back to a town? He'll just get attacked by a monster and eaten anyway. It would be a mercy!"

"Don't try and pretend you're not just doing it for fun! This was supposed to be a statement, not a slaughter!"

"So you say…" the bowgunner replied wistfully, her finger caressing the trigger of her weapon in anticipation. "And yet the rest are dead. Why not finish the last? All this death and destruction, the Guild will think it was a monster attack. Let's just complete the illusion. They'll send another caravan whether they know a monster did this or not."

"That's not the point! There's no need to kill him either way! It's just a waste. We're only here for the materials and weapons. Just leave him alone and let him run off."

"You so soft," Lilith mocked. "What do you care if this man dies or not? He's worthless to us. Why keep him alive?"

Micah felt his grip on his long sword tighten. "If I let people live or die based on how much value I place on their lives, I would've killed you myself a long time ago."

Pugnax shot a furious glare at Micah, and his hand went to his lance. Filcher stood back, grinning excitedly, eager to see how this altercation would develop. The other hunters that had come with them began murmuring between each other, eyeing those that worked under someone else menacingly. Lilith turned and met Micah's eyes, staring into them in curiosity, and just a little bit of wariness. "Is that a joke, little puppy?"

"No, it's a threat. Even you should know the difference between the two."

The woman's eyes narrowed dangerously as she stared at him. Then she laughed. "Well, well. The little puppy has some bite after all. I've always thought you as nothing more than a hanger-on, mooching off of your master's power, but it seems you've got some gall of your own. Perhaps I will allow the man to live."

Micah sighed in relief, releasing his grip on his long sword. Both Pugnax and Filcher looked disappointed in the stand down, though Filcher had the appearance of amusement more than anything else. "It's good you can actually see sense. We won't help him make his way back to a town, but there's no sense in killing people pointlessly. We need to get these materials back to base as soon as-"

A shot rang out, and a spray of blood splattered against the ground as Lilith's weapon fired. A hole appeared in the chest of the wagon driver, puncturing straight through the man's heart, as the shot ripped through him and penetrated the ground. The man gasped in surprise and pain, grasping for his chest, hopelessly trying to save himself. But a moment later his eyes glazed over, and he slumped backwards, dead.

"What… what the hell did you do that for!" Micah hissed furiously. "You said you were going to let him go!"

Lilith looked down at the dead man for a long moment, her eyes looking over him with an expression bordering on ecstasy on her face before turning to Micah and smiling viciously. "I changed my mind. Wasn't that wonderful, though? The false hope, the terror, the fear, and finally, the lifelessness? I would have taken my time with him, but I doubt I'd have had the… time."

"Damn it! What the hell is wrong with you, you psychotic bitch!" Without thinking, Micah leapt forward, his long sword leaping from his sheathe and swinging towards the woman's throat. But before the blade could strike, a flash of motion leapt between the two of them, and his blade was deflected by Pugnax's shield as the lancer leapt between the two of them, a sinister smile plastered across his face. Lilith laughed maniacally, twisting her bowgun around to aim at the long sword user.

Micah growled in rage as Pugnax's lance shot forward, grazing the side of his helmet as he dipped to the side and out of the way. The lancer laughed, but was cut off as Micah snapped a Tranq Bomb out of his pouch in a snap and tossing it at the man's face. As the man rose his shield to block the bomb, Micah swung his blade low, cutting against the man's shins. Pugnax's armor was thick, though, and the blade wasn't able to penetrate, but the man dropped to his knees in pain from the impact.

A gunshot sounded, and Micah instinctively slid to the side, hearing a shot graze his arm. Immediately, he darted around the other side of Pugnax, lunging towards Lilith as she fired another round towards him. This one barely missed his head as he closed the distance, his blade snapping forward, and a satisfying splash of blood leapt from the woman's arm as his weapon cut a shallow line through her flesh.

Then pain bit into his side, as Pugnax's lance struck his armor, knocking his away from the bowgunner. Micah grunted in pain; the lance hadn't broken through his armor, but he felt his body strain under the impact, and his bones got close to breaking under the pressure, but managed to hold up. But the next moment a wave of heat washed over his arm and shoulder as Lilith unloaded a couple of Flame Shots against his body. As another round flew from the barrel, he ducked to the side once more dodging both the shot and yet another thrust from Pugnax.

The pair of hunters pressed their advantage, Lilith continuing to push him back with shots firing all around him, and Pugnax jabbing his lance at him and trying to gut him with the tip. Micah tried to find the time to reach into his pouch and grab something he could use. He had smoke bombs and more tranqs, and even a few poison smoke bombs, but with two hunters constantly dogging him, it was a challenge for him just to stay out of reach of their weapons.

But an opening suddenly appeared, just as Micah started to fear for his life. Lilith and Pugnax had worked together long enough to sync with each other a little bit, but not enough. Micah tried to keep Pugnax between himself and Lilith, so the bowgunner wouldn't have a clear shot, but apparently she was skilled enough to shoot around him, just barely missing him most of the time. But not all the time. As Pugnax pressed forward, a shot suddenly ricocheted off the edge of his helmet, making the lancer stumble and curse in surprise and frustration.

Micah rushed forward, thrusting the point of his blade forward, aiming to swing it around Pugnax's shield. He was right on target; he could see the man's eyes widen in fear as the tip flew through the air towards the gap between the man's helmet and chestplate, his shield too low to pull up in time. The man would die here. But time seemed to slow in that moment, and Micah realized that, though the man's shield wouldn't be able to pull up in time, the man was able to move the point of his lance in, and Micah realized that his lunge would end with him impaling himself through the chest with Pugnax's lance. He would still sink his blade through the man's throat, but he would suffer just as grievous an injury…

Pain suddenly ripped through his chest, but not from Pugnax's lance. A massive fist had swung out of nowhere, pole-arming him across the chest with such force that Micah was sent sprawling backwards into the base of a tree. The long sword user groaned in pain, and looked up in time to see Pugnax smashed backwards by Filcher, the massive hunter's hammer colliding against the man's shield and pushing him back despite the metal wall protecting him. As he tumbled back, Filcher's open hand reached forward, closing around the man's weapon and quickly yanking it away from him as he dropped onto his back.

Lilith screeched in rage at the sudden interference, turning her bowgun to fire on the man. She only managed to fire off one round, a Pierce shot that bounced off the thick hammer, before the hammer user swung the hilt of the lance down onto the woman's wrist and forearm, and she dropped the weapon, grasping her arm in pain. The lance swung around again, smacking the woman in the legs and knocking her back. As the woman scrambled back to her feet, Filcher quickly swung his hammer back into its holster and picked up the bowgun.

A moment later, both Pugnax and Lilith were back on their feet, glaring daggers at Filcher in fury as the massive man hoisted both of their weapons up over their heads. The hammer user grinned victoriously as he looked down at them.

"Well, well, this wasn't nearly so fun to break apart as I hoped it would be," Filcher sighed in disappointment, hoisting the bowgun and lance high in the air.

"Give that back you dumb brute!" Lilith hissed, smashing her fists against Filcher's chest and arms, trying to recover her weapon. "I want to kill him!"

Filcher laughed in amusement at the woman's efforts. "Oh, you'd like that, wouldn't you? Well, I can't let you do that, banshee woman."

"You're siding with him?" Pugnax growled angrily, looking greedily at his lance, held in the hammer user's over hand. "Are you going to fight us then?"

"Ha! Where's the fun in that? Out here in the middle of nowhere, with you two so easily unarmed?" Filcher replied. He leaned over, staring the two hunters in the eye, but still towering over them, and grinned viciously at them. "I just don't want the three of you killing each other, at least, not out here. No, if someone's going to kill you three, it'll be me, and it'll be back at base. Where it'll be _fun_."

"You're challenging me?" the lancer asked, a twisted grin crossing his face. "You think you can beat me?"

"We'll find out one day, won't we? I doubt you could even scratch me, boy. You might need the witch there to help you. In fact, I'd welcome the challenge of wiping the floor with both of you at the same time." Pugnax opened his mouth to retort, but the large man cut him off. "However! No matter whether or not I like you, or want to kill you or not, I've taken on this job that the old man has given us, and I have no inclination of abusing the trust he's placed in me to do it. I don't know about the rest of you, but I still have my honor as a hunter, and I will see this job through. He told me not to kill any of you while on this mission, and I will hold true to that."

"Ha! The brute thinks himself honorable? That's a laugh!" Lilith snapped. "You're not above killing people! I've seen you laughing while you do it!"

"Hmm, maybe so: But not against orders. I kill for fun, for profit, and occasionally when I'm bored, but when I'm hired and told not to kill, I don't. Otherwise, I'd share the same sentiment of the boy there, and you two would be bloody messes on the ground. You want him dead? Fine. I'd like to crush him too. But not until I stop working for the old man or he actually lets us tear each other apart. Until then, I may not like him, but I'll work with him. And I highly suggest you two do the same, lest you decide you don't want to see Moloch's work through to the end. Also, you should probably try to keep casualties to a minimum during the next raid, lest the old man think you can't follow orders. Wouldn't want that, now would we?" The hammer user smiled wickedly. "Though if you do quit, let me know beforehand will you? I know the old man doesn't care for deserters or quitters. I'd like to be a part of the team that ensures… that you don't reveal company secrets."

Pugnax and Lilith glanced at each other uncertainly, and the bowgunner growled in frustration. "Fine. We'll let the boy go for now. But I suggest you show caution Filcher. We may take you up on your offer, and see how much of your bite is naught but bark."

"I look forward to it." With that, the hammer user looked over at Micah, who was still rubbing his chest in pain, then lowered the two weapons to their respective owners. The pair snatched up their weapons greedily, clutching them warily and eyeing Filcher untrustingly. The hammer user smiled mockingly, as if daring the pair to try and hurt him. But apparently what he'd said was enough to dissuade them from further action, and they reluctantly returned their weapons to their holsters.

Lilith glared at Micah, who met her look with one of his own. Then she looked down at the corpse of the wagon driver and gave him a victorious grin. "We'll settle this another time, puppy."

Micah glowered angrily as the bowgunner and the lancer turned and walked away, their underlings tailing along behind them. He shook his head in frustration, before motioning to his own subordinates and getting them working on hauling the goods and materials into the wagons and back to base. Of course, Filcher, Pugnax and Lilith wouldn't be offering any men or women of their own to help; with all this tension, there was no guarantee there wouldn't be an altercation between their two groups. The men took pride in their factions.

"Why did you help me?" Micah asked Filcher as the men wandered off. "You could have just let us kill each other."

The large man smiled in amusement. "You think you could've beaten both of them by yourself? You, who's only been hunting for a couple years at the most?"

"Answer me, Filcher."

The man frowned at the order, but replied. "I said what I meant, boy. If anyone's going to kill you or those other two fools, it'll be me, and it'll be back at the base, where the fight will be truly interesting. And I may be many things, but I follow orders I've been given. Besides, as I've told you before, you're a useful partner to have, and I'd hate to be left with only those two psychopaths."

Micah shifted uncomfortably. "Is that all there is to you? Battle? The urge to fight and kill? Do you really want me and those other two dead that much?"

"Not really," Filcher replied bluntly. "Fighting's the best way for me to get what I want. And I want a challenge. Fighting other hunters seems the best way to find one these days, however, so I favor it. At the same time though, what the old man has offered me promises a real challenge for me one day if this little organization can get going fully. I look forward to that day. If the man doesn't follow through quickly enough, though… I may have to amuse myself by taking on you or those other two."

"You think you can really the both of them together like you said?" Micah asked, and Filcher smirked.

"It might be a challenge, but yes. I would win. I am certain of it."

"You seem confident." Filcher smirked, but said nothing. "Whatever. Let's get back to camp and get some rest. We've got a few days before the Guild gets word that we've done this, but now we've got to find some new wagons to use in case our others aren't back by then. There's a town or two nearby that might be willing to sell some spare wagons and Aptonoths we could use."

"Sounds like you've got some work ahead of you," Filcher smirked.

"You mean _you've_ got some work ahead of you," Micah replied with a grin. "Most of my men are off sending our first catch back to base. You've got the most men to spare, and besides, I don't trust Pugnax and Lilith's people as far as I can throw them."

"Bah, you're a nasty one aren't you?" Filcher growled. "Fine, I'll send some men to gather more wagons. Men like them get restless sitting around, anyway. Besides, perhaps they can _convince_ the owners to lower the price."

"Try not to attract attention, please," Micah told him.

"But of course," Filcher replied, smiling. "We can't blow our cover yet, can we? Not when there's so much more fun to be had. Hopefully the next caravan will have hunters. Something fun, as opposed to all these weak little civilians."

Micah frowned at the comment, but nodded. Before following the man back into the forest from whence they'd come, he spared one last look at the burning wagons. A couple of Lilith's hunters had thrown the wagon driver's body into the flames, and were laughing between themselves as though they hadn't just slaughtered an entire wagon train. Micah frowned in disgust.

So much fire… so little control. He couldn't stand looking anymore, and turned away. He had other things to worry about.

* * *

**Author's Note: Please Review! Once again a long chapter than was cut in half. The rest will come soon, I hope.**

**I'm constantly amazed by how popular Monster Hunter is in Japan compared to other countries. I mean, the game is so popular that it's mentioned all over the place, especially in a lot of manga I read (I don't really watch anime, so I can't really speak for it). It's usually referred to by other names, like MonHun, or GoHunt or other such stuff, but I keep seeing shout outs to it. Makes me wish it was that popular here in the states. We could use a rise in MH players over the hordes of Call of Duty players, that's for sure. I hope I have a WiiU when 3U comes out, when the game has that 'new game' appeal.**

**Went and saw the new Les Miserables movie. Normally I try not to spaz out about the movies that I go see, but this is probably the best one I saw all year, and that's topping such films as Skyfall, Wreck-It Ralph, and the Hobbit (though the Hobbit is a very close second). Normally, I don't care for musicals either, but I've always enjoyed Les Mis since I was about… 9 years old, I think. If you like musicals, but haven't watched the play or musical, I'd suggest checking it out. It you just want the music, look up the 10****th**** Anniversary Concert on Youtube. It's my favorite out of the ones I've heard. Philip Quast is the best Jevert ever, and Colm Wilkinson played the priest in the movie asdlkfjasdkfjaslkdfjas! Like I said: spaz out. And I'm not going to go into the final book of the Wheel of Time series which came out this month. Easier to spoil a new book than a 30 year-old musical based on a century-old book.**

**I've been tempted to name and design the character I make in MH3U after one of the characters in my story when I get it, but at the same time, it really seems that the one I have right now is just really unique and memorable, apparently. Every time I go online in Tri, I usually bounce around city gates a lot hunting different things, and once in a while someone will say "oh, hey, I remember you, do you remember me?" And I won't be sure because they're named Steve or Joshua or Frank, and I've played with dozens of people with the exact same names, whereas 'The Spy' is apparently fairly unique. And while I'm sure Levin or Ellie or Harker or Kerry (not Kerrigan; I'm sure that will be well used) may not be common, being The Spy seems to set me apart. But… maybe I'll have a female character this time. As a friend of mine told me once, if you're going to be spending hours on end staring at someone's butt, it might as well be a woman's.**

**Reading: **_**The Towers of Midnight**_** by Robert Jordan, **_**A Memory of Light**_** by Robert Jordan, **_**The Iliad**_** by Homer, **_**2001: A Space Odyssey**_** by Arthur C. Clarke, **_**The Hobbit**_** by J.R.R. Tolkien  
Playing: Minecraft Tekkit mod, MH3, Halo 4  
Listening: CAKE, Fun, Modest Mouse, They Might Be Giants  
Watching: The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Les Miserables, Archer, Two Mules for Sister Sarah, Joe Kidd, Red Cliff, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Futurama**


	37. The Dragon Tower

The Dragon Tower

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. Most of the characters in this story are mine. Tenebris and Nikoyle belong to IDKTellMeWhatYouThink._

_Edited by: Hoenn Master96_

The next morning, as they continued along the pathway, Levin kept his eyes on the relief wall, casually gazing over the elaborate reliefs. They had yet to see another reference to the Alatreon or the towers again, though the reference to monsters continued to pop up. The walls seemed to grow littered with detailed descriptions of monsters, as far as Harker could translate, at any rate. The Meridians had spent an unbelievable amount of time studying monsters, since the walls apparently dictated detailed explanations of monster actions and ecology. Harker had actually started cursing halfway through, frustrated at himself for not having fully translated the language and missing out on so much information that he could be writing down.

All the while, Tenebris kept a watchful eye on them, not wanting any of them to start poring over information that might tie to the Alatreon at all, or the towers that had been depicted for that matter. But she'd had a concerned, worried expression on her face as she'd walked away from the image of the Alatreon. Perhaps at the very least, she could be convinced to tell Stergo about the wall, so he could send people to look into it. Even if Levin and Ellie weren't allowed to be involved with anything involving the Alatreon, surely the Guild would want to look into information about the elder dragon, even if it was something that came from another civilization.

Eventually, a light appeared in the distance of the cavern, a warm yellow glow that thankfully seemed to be sunlight, implying that there was finally a way out of the cave. But before they could finally reach the exit, Levin heard Tenebris gasp in shock. He and the others turned and found her stopped, gaping up at the wall relief, with a frightened expression on her face. Levin followed her gaze and looked at the wall, and caught sight of a massive image of a monster, some terrible beast he'd never seen before. It was a two-legged brute wyvern of some kind, a powerful-looking monstrosity with a large lump swelling on its back and dozens of spikes and points jutting out from the beast's jaw. The picture seemed to be depicting the creature attacking some village, smashing apart huts with its tail and feet and jaw, but what really seemed to catch Levin's eye the most was how big the beast had been depicted; whatever it was, it had towered over the village, the tallest of buildings barely as tall as the beast's knees. Levin could barely imagine something that big. Even the Alatreon couldn't have been much bigger than whatever this thing was.

"Deviljho," he heard Tenebris mutter quietly. Levin's eyes widened in surprise; A Deviljho? He'd heard of those. In fact, he had told Ellie hearsay about them way back when they were still in Boma village, but he'd never actually seen what one looked like. The stories called them terrible monsters that tried to eat anything and everything they could, only so long as it was, or had recently, been alive. Humans, monsters, trees, bushes, even its own kind or even itself (if rumors were to be believed), it ate whatever it could sink its teeth into. But the hunting manuals he'd read that mentioned the thing had never depicted one so massive, only ones that were roughly the same size as a Lagiacrus. But nothing like this… Apparently the others had thought as much as well. Ellie, Harker, and Kerry approached, staring up at the depiction in awe at the size of the creature.

"I wasn't aware that Deviljho got that large," Harker said thoughtfully. "Such a massive creature… and Deviljhos are already known for their voracious appetites. I cannot imagine how much such an impressive creature would need to consume in order to satisfy itself."

"No," Tenebris snapped, glaring suddenly at Harker. "Never refer to Deviljhos like that. They're not _impressive_. They're monstrous, demonic, evil creatures, completely insatiable and gluttonous. Other monsters may have respectable lifestyles and ecologies, but not these demons. They're sick, cruel nomads that devour everything in sight only to move somewhere else and continue eating."

"Ah, yes, I see," Harker replied, surprised at the vehemence in the huntresses reaction. "I was merely making an observation. You have, perhaps, seen one before, Miss Tenebris?"

The woman's expression soured a little at the question, but she shrugged. "A couple. I've killed one before as well, but… I've never seen one as big as this. The ones I've seen myself could have only been half this one's size. Something this big… a Deviljho this big shouldn't be allowed to exist at all."

"I've never heard of such a large Deviljho before," Kerry said softly. "If someone had managed to kill the thing, surely it would be a legendary story, wouldn't it? Perhaps the Meridians that made this were exaggerating the monster's size, or… or maybe… maybe it's still alive out there somewhere."

"No!" Tenebris snapped. "No… If it ever truly existed, it must be centuries dead. Something so massive wouldn't have been able to hide itself or its appetite for long without the Guild catching wind of its existence. There are… many hunters that would jump at the chance to find and kill such a large demon like that one."

"Like yourself?" Ellie asked, and Tenebris eyes narrowed as she stared up at the image.

"Yes, like myself."

"Hmm… There's that symbol again," Harker said, motioning to the relief. Levin looked up and caught sight of the three-pronged talon that had been sitting in the symbol of the Ouroboros earlier. However, this time it was planted in front of the picture of the Deviljho, inside some blast of flame, or smoke or something that the monster seemed to be exhaling onto the village it was attacking.

"Dragon's breath," Tenebris said, earning some odd looks from the other hunters. "You've never heard of it? I would've thought that since… never mind. It's a unique elemental attack that's only used by exceptionally powerful monsters, usually only by elder dragons. The Deviljho are one of the few monsters besides elders that are capable of using the element. It's more commonly referred to as dragon element."

Levin's eyes widened in surprise, and he reached into his pouch, pulling out his secondary power phial, holding it up into the light. Tenebris nodded as the dangerous black and crimson substance swirled and churned inside of the glass bottle. "Yeah, that stuff," she said, reaching into her ammo pouch and pulling out a small shot of her own, the tip of it filled with a smaller amount of the same substance.

"This stuff is dangerous, even when it's hunters using it," Tenebris explained, passing the shot over to Ellie, who was eyeing it curiously. "I'm surprised that a smith was willing to sell you that weapon in the first place actually. They try to keep close track of who're using dragon element weapons. It's a very dangerous weapon to be using, even if they are particularly powerful against wyverns. But the biggest worry about the element is when a monster uses it against you. If you have the misfortune of getting hit by it, it… it's hard to describe. It weighs you down, makes it hard to fight. It makes it so you can't swing your weapon or shoot nearly as well. I mean, you move just as fast, but it just seems to make you weaker. Like I said, it's hard to explain."

"Dragon element, eh?" Harker said, plucking the shot from Ellie's hand and looking into it. "I've read about it before. Some say it magnetizes your armor and weapon in some mystical way, distorts your balance in some manner that challenges your ability to fight."

"That would explain it…" Levin muttered. He still remembered his battle with the Alatreon, though as time passed, the details were growing increasingly fuzzy. The madness that had seeped through his mind during the fight had distorted his perception of what had happened, and trying to remember the precise details proved to be a challenge. But he did remember that it had been hard to move around when he'd been hit by that black lightning that the Alatreon had thrown at him. So it had been the effects of dragon element, was it?

"So you have felt it before," Tenebris noted.

"I guess so," Levin replied. "It's hard to forget something like that."

"So, perhaps that symbol represents the dragon element then?" Harker asked. "Then what does it have to do with the symbol of the Ouroboros? And what is the connection it has with the Alatreon and the towers?"

"Harker…" Kerry said warningly. "You promised."

"I did, Lady Kerrigan," Harker replied softly. "But this… this is something big. Something powerful and strange and fascinating. Who knows what information these towers could unlock? Just imagine! The work of an entire civilization unraveled and understood!"

For a moment, Kerry opened her mouth to argue, but she stopped as a torn expression crossed her face, part of her appearing worried, while a curious, excited spark lit up her eyes. She seemed uncertain, unable to choose between asking Harker to stop or join him in unraveling whatever mysteries lay hidden in the un-deciphered glyphs that littered the wall. She didn't seem to be teetering more prominently in either direction either; both her fear of the Alatreon (or rather, her fear of losing her friends and love, Levin supposed) and the near-insatiable appetite for discovery that Harker had been fostering in her seemed to be equally balanced in her as far as Levin could tell.

"I don't… no… No! You're not allowed to think about these things!" Tenebris snapped. "Get your mind off of this! You're not allowed to be involved with anything concerning the Alatreon anymore! The Guild will investigate this at a later date, but until then, just concern yourselves with finding and defeating the Rathian that's been causing problems, got it?"

Levin and Harker nodded fearfully, and both Ellie and Kerry hung their heads, slightly ashamed. Tenebris glared at them for a moment or two before sighing regretfully. "Ah, sorry for the outburst, it's just…. Geez, I didn't think you all would be so quick to charge headfirst into what you're not supposed to. I'm trying to keep you all safe and out of prison or exile, and you're really making it a challenge for me. I mean, I understand why you're so interested in this, but… Stergo trusted me to watch over you guys, and that's what I intend to do. And besides, you're speaking so freely of going after the Alatreon and that's… that's just not something people are supposed to do."

"These walls seem to indicate that the Meridians had something powerful and complicated, that was uniquely designed based on their study of monsters and elder dragons," Harker said, motioning to the image. "Perhaps it is against the Guild's orders to tail after such information, but… surely anyone who could translate these walls would be compelled to delve into it. If these weapons were truly capable of matching an elder dragon's power, wouldn't anyone attempt to seek out the source?"

Tenebris scratched her head uncertainly at the words. Levin noted that she also spared a quick, worried look up at the relief of the massive Deviljho, before sighing. "Yeah… maybe."

"Anyway, if it makes you feel better, I can swear that I will not use this information in any way to search for these towers, and will offer the information to the Guild when we return to Loc Lac. But please, allow me to at least translate what I'm able to as we pass by. This could be important, a clue or some kind of what these people were planning. I don't… I have no need to go after the Alatreon, but this knowledge, these secrets, at least allow me to uncover them. I promise, I will do nothing at all with this information without the express consent of the Guild if it proves to involve the Alatreon in some way. Is that enough?" Tenebris frowned uncertainly, but Levin saw that the long sword user was looking at Kerry instead. The bowgunner seemed uncertain for a moment, but eventually nodded.

Tenebris was quiet for a long time, looking over the wall thoughtfully, as well as giving the hunters judging looks, trying to determine their motives. Finally she grimaced. "I don't think Stergo will like this, but… fine, you can keep translating the walls. But do it quickly and only so long as we continue walking. We really do need to keep chasing this Rathian down, and that takes priority, got it? And anything… everything you find out goes straight to the Guild first when we're done with this quest, got it? The last thing I need is to try and stop you all from going off chasing down some old ruins."

"Of course, Miss Tenebris," Harker replied with an overly dramatic bow. "My sincerest of thanks for your generosity. Come on, Lady Kerrigan! Let's see what we can make of this language."

Even with the both of them together, though, Harker's translating proved to be frustrating for the man, and the man spent a lot of their traveling cursing in frustration at not being able to fully comprehend half of the information that was on the walls. Apparently the writing on the walls had gotten significantly more complex since the appearance of the Deviljho's image. Whatever that massive creature had meant to the Meridians, they had dedicated almost as much time to it as they had to the Alatreon itself. Tenebris kept quiet for the rest of their trip through the cavern, but her eyes sparked in interest every time the massive Deviljho was brought up again.

However, much to Harker's dismay, it wasn't too long after their discussion that the wall abruptly cut off, the towering wall of Meridian writings covered over by rock and stone from the mountain. Harker was obviously very disappointed by the sudden cutoff, and tried desperately to slow the party down long enough for him to gather what information he could from the last dregs of the wall before they continued on their search for the Rathian. But Tenebris proved adamant, telling him that they needed to find the Rathian first and that he'd had plenty of time to write down what he could. Besides, the notepad he'd brought with him was nearly full anyway, and if he really cared that much about scribbling down so much, well he'd have a second chance to translate what he could on their way back after finding the nest. The long sword user perked up a bit after that, and the group continued on through the cave searching for an exit.

But an hour or so later, as the hunters followed the slope, the cave came to an abrupt end. For a minute or two, the cavern was filled with the echoes of hissed curses that the hunters had all snapped out at the sight of the wall that ended their journey through the mountain. They'd spent hours following this cave through the mountain, only to run into a dead end and have to turn back! The only one in the group of five that didn't seem too frustrated was Harker, likely because it meant he'd have a chance to check the relief on the way back to write down whatever he hadn't caught the first time.

But fortunately, they were saved by wind. They rested for a few minutes to catch their breath and eat a few of the rations the Guild had provided, and were preparing to return back the way they came, when a sudden breeze and soft howling noise brushed across the hunters' faces. In their despair, none of them really took note at first, but Kerry stopped in her tracks in realization, glancing around in search for the source of the wind. The other hunters were confused at first, as the bowgunner began darting around the end of the cave, seeming to wander aimlessly around, but finally she stopped, quickly darting around the side of a large boulder that leaned precariously against one of the walls. A moment later she vanished behind it, and a victorious shout drew the other four hunters over to where she'd disappeared.

As Levin followed Harker around the side of the rock, he found that Kerry had slid herself into a small nook that cut through the side of the wall, and as he crouched to follow, he could see a bright light at the far end of the tunnel. The hunters were forced to crouch to make their way through the small passageway, but thankfully it wasn't that far to get to the sunlight. Levin had to blink a lot as he stepped into the new area, his eyes unadjusted to the daylight, but looking up, he was surprised by what he saw. The five hunters found themselves in yet another spire, though this one was far smaller, akin to the one they'd used to climb to the Rath nest near Echo Village. A long, rail-less, spiraling staircase swept up the sides of the spire, twirling up to the top, where fresh sunlight was filtering in.

"Interesting design," Harker muttered, walking over to the stair and poking at them. "The lack of railings is somewhat disheartening, though. And it also seems to be made of a different material… odd. I wonder if it's as durable as the other wall?"

"Probably not," Ellie replied, pushing past the long sword user and climbing up the first few steps. "A Rathian has enough power to break this stone."

"You're sure?" Harker asked, disappointed.

"Very sure. Well… admittedly, a very old, very angry Rathian." Harker, Kerry, and Tenebris all looked at Ellie and Levin questioningly, and Ellie flushed a little. "One that, um, was trying to recover its stolen eggs."

"Ah, one of those missions," Tenebris said with a nod, though Harker's expression soured. He clearly didn't approve of egg snatching, which Levin found odd. Tenebris failed to notice though, following Ellie up the stairway as the hunters worked their way skyward. "Yeah, nothing's quite as dangerous as an angry mother monster. I imagine a normal wyvern could probably match an elder dragon in power if its eggs were threatened. Me and an… old hunting partner of mine once were hired to collect Rhenoplos eggs, and oh my, you have no idea how terrifying it is. Somehow, every Rhenoplos within miles was alerted to the theft. They chased us, barricaded us… some of them even had the tenacity to start rockslides that cut off the path we were trying to use to escape. A Qurupeco appeared halfway back to camp to cause trouble, and it was run down and trampled by a stampede of the things. If you'd taken a Rathian's eggs, I could see one of them tearing through a mountain to either get its eggs back or get revenge. How'd that turn out for you anyway?"

"We, um, we found out that the quest was bogus," Ellie replied. "The guy who hired us turned out to just want a couple of pets instead of research materials like he'd told us, so we returned the eggs to the Rathian."

"Just like that?"

"Well, she'd broken into the village we were delivering the eggs to, and messed up the docks a bit… and there's a not very attractive burn scar on my shoulder she left me as punishment for taking her eggs."

"That still seems like she was letting you off easy."

"Well, her eggs were currently sitting on the docks of an underground town, in close proximity to three hunters," Levin argued. "If she'd gone too far, she could've hurt her eggs, and they took priority. So, she… wounded Ellie, then snatched up her eggs and carried them back to her nest."

"Probably the smart thing to do…" Tenebris nodded.

"You said there was one of these towers near the village?" Harker asked, short of breath. Climbing the spire was taking its toll.

"Just a staircase like this," Levin replied. "Nothing like that massive wall we saw back in the cavern. But like we said, there was a wall like that to the south of Boma village."

"One that was heavily damaged by something powerful," Kerry said.

"Exactly. So hopefully, if the design is the same as the one there, this staircase will take us all the way to the top of the mountain."

"Where hopefully the Rathian is nesting," Tenebris nodded.

The hunters continued upwards for a long time, resting near the top for a few short minutes in same they came upon their target as they left the spire. Then, once rested, they hurried up the last few flights, before bursting out into the bright sunlight and looking around. It took a few monsters for Levin's eyes to adjust to the new light, but once his vision returned, he found himself surprised at his surroundings. Sunlight was pouring down from above them, certainly, but they were not out in the open as they had been hoping to be.

Rather, they found themselves inside the barrier of a wide, enclosed circular wall, made of the same material as the spire they'd just climbed. The staircase they'd just climbed opened into the large area on one of the circle's far sides, poking into the sun right along the edge. The top was open to the sky, but the area didn't seem to have any clear exits or gates, though several dangling trees and vines dangling over the sides of the walls provided a possible means of escape to them. Without any gates or stairways leading over the walls, Levin couldn't help but feel uncomfortable about the place, though the walls twisted along the curve of the mountain, dipping up and down with the slope, similar to the barricade walls of a village, encircling a wide valley around them. The comparison proved accurate as Levin caught sight of the ruins of a town clustered in the center of the area, the broken remains of walls and houses scattered around like the bones of a skeleton prodding out of the earth.

Levin felt a little disconcerted as they stepped out into the sun, though for a moment he couldn't explain why. Then he looked northward and realized what the problem was: the pillar of blue light, once so far away, now seemed such closer. Dangerously so. It seemed that the source of the light couldn't be coming much further than a couple miles away now, just over the next peak. And as high as they were, the peaks just weren't that far anymore.

"How fascinating!" Harker gasped gleefully. "An entire village of the Meridians almost completely preserved! Well, it may be a little worse for the wear, I'll admit, but still! I don't think anyone in the world's managed to find such a thing before! I must see what there is inside!"

Without another word, the long sword user dashed off towards the ruined buildings. Kerry shouted after him worriedly, before chasing behind him into the collection of houses and structures. Levin glanced over to Ellie and shrugged. "At least it doesn't look like the Rathian's here."

"This day just keeps getting more and more strange," Tenebris sighed. "Honestly, when I heard that you guys were like magnets for odd situations, I thought Stergo was exaggerating the whole issue. But the blue light, the wall, and now this? How am I supposed to keep you out of trouble if things like this keep happening?"

"We don't ask for this stuff to happen, you know," Ellie muttered as the three of them climbed over the remains of a decaying brick wall.

"Oh, I know, I know," Tenebris replied. "I'm not blaming you for all this nonsense. I just wish you could, I don't know, tone down the weirdness a little bit, or at least make it come a little less frequently. I mean, I can deal with all this oddity, but it's kind of hard to decide how to deal with all this nonsense when it's just coming one after the other after the other. I mean, if it was just the light, then the wall, then this town, with a week or so in between, I could send a request to Stergo for advice on how to deal with it. But it's happening too quickly, and I'm just trying to keep up with your pace. Sweet mercy, Nikoyle was never this hard to work with…"

"Who?" Levin asked, and Tenebris blanched a little, turning her head away.

"An old friend I used to hunt with," she replied. She didn't say anything else, though, making Levin feel that asking about it was probably not the best idea, so the three hunters continued on in silence.

Levin had to admit, it was eerie wandering through the ruins of this long forgotten ghost town. There wasn't all that much to see in the remains of the village, and there didn't seem to be anything fantastic about the whole area, just the broken remains of some unknown town. Glass lay shattered, scattered about from broken windows. Holes had decayed the roofs of many of the buildings, making the town look as though it had been struck by dozens upon dozens of meteorites or other falling stars. The paths were ruinous and crumbled, oddly colored stone and gravel hidden under overgrown tufts of grass the only sign of a path that remained. It certainly was a far cry from how things were built in the Hunter era. Rather than wood and stone, most of the buildings in this area were built of brick and metal beams. Admittedly, even that much seemed a bit odd to Levin, considering how fond the Meridians, or whatever Harker was calling them, seemed to be of that durable stone that they seemed to be so fond of using. Levin wondered if it was really as indestructible as Harker made it out to be; the Rathian had torn apart that one spire fairly easily, even if Harker claimed it to be much weaker.

Besides, Levin couldn't help but feel an eerie feeling as he worked his way through the town with Ellie and Tenebris. Something about this town just didn't sit well with him. Why would the Meridians that built this town put it in such a remote place, and surrounding it with a wall of near-impenetrable stone? Perhaps they simply used the stone to build their spires, but you'd think they'd build their cities and towns out of something sturdier than brick and mortar. And why did they use such a singular, treacherous way in? Had they used airships, maybe? The way the buildings were designed was familiar as well. Perhaps the structural design had been one of the few things that had managed to carry over from the Losts' time…

But Ellie had an odd, uncertain expression on her face as they wandered, though, making Levin feel uncomfortable. It was a ghost town, but something just felt wrong about the place. As Levin continued through the village, the sound of Harker and Kerry talking to each other a few houses town, curiosity finally started to get the better of him, and upon passing one of the more stable houses that was still in close to one piece, he ducked inside, wanting to get a better look at what was hidden in the darkness of the houses. Ellie shouted at him in worry, but he gave her a reassuring smile, earning a dissatisfied look in reply before he vanished into the darkness of the house.

There wasn't much there, he had to admit, once his eyes adjusted to the dim light. Old metal shelves and rotted wooden chairs lay scattered about the room of the house he'd entered, and the tattered remains of furniture lay toppled and ruined in the darkness. As he walked through the room, looking around, he was forced to walk cautiously, avoiding stepping on the torn and worn remains of old book covers. Honestly, if he'd thought that the structure had been eerie before, it seemed even more so now.

Suddenly there was a clinking sound below him, and the switch axe user nearly jumped out of his skin at the noise. But he calmed quickly enough, looking down to see what had made the sound. He realized that he had stepped on a book, but that couldn't have made the clinking sound. He cautiously knelt down, reaching for the book cover and picking it up. A jingling sound bounced around the room as a small object dropped to the floor from underneath the book, rolling between Levin's feet. The switch axe user followed it, grabbing ahold of the object and picking it up, holding it up to the dim shaft of sunlight that was peeking through a hole in the ceiling.

It was a gemstone of some kind as far as Levin could tell; a foggy blue crystal. It was oddly shaped, not geometric in any way, but rather had a slumped, melted sort of appearance, as though it had actually pooled into a different shape, like a blob of wax fallen to the floor. But it certainly was a gemstone, its hardness and texture made that clear. It lacked any sort of shimmer or shine that you'd normally find in such precious gems, though, no glimmer that would make it valuable in a market. It wasn't something you could pluck from a monster, either. It lacked the vitality, the feeling of a material that had come from something alive that you always got from scales or fangs or even Lagiacrus crystals. In fact, though Levin wasn't exactly an expert, the rock just felt… dead to him, like something that had been snuffed out. As he lowered it and rolled it around in his hand, though, he swore a small glow seemed to flicker deep within the stone, but it was so dim it could have just been a trick of the light.

"Where did this come from?" he muttered, turning the stone over in his hand. It was very out of place here in this destroyed house. He looked down and turned to look around for more of the stones. His eyes fell on another stone that lay half-buried under a book propped up against a doorframe leading into the next room. This one appeared melted like the last one, but seemed bent in half compared to the last one. Levin picked it up, looking closely inside of it, and once more caught sight of an inner light that could have easily just been his imagination. Another couple shines caught his eye and he followed the littered gems over to yet another doorway, this one leading down into the earth as stairs descended into a dark basement. He cursed for a moment or two at his lack of a torch, before realizing that there was a small bit of light coming from down below. Cautiously, Levin worked his way down the stairs, wincing at every creak and groan that sounded as though it would all break apart below him without warning. But it held, and he continued his descent.

Levin was disappointed as he entered the basement. He'd been expecting… well, he didn't really know what he'd been expecting, but the light he'd seen was just a collapsed hole in the basement of the building, where sunlight was filtering through the cracks. The switch axe user looked across the floor for more of the gemstone shards, but he couldn't seem to find any more, much to his chagrin. He'd been hoping to find some sign of where these mysterious stones had been coming from. He walked across the room, eying the corners as he went and tilting over books and debris in search of more, but couldn't seem to find anything…

Then he realized what had been bothering him ever since he'd entered the basement: his footfalls sounded different. He looked down, kneeling, and brushed his hand across the floor. He was right! Sure enough, the entire floor was made of the same odd, foggy blue stone, stretching from wall to wall! As he knelt down, the phantom glow from the first two stones appeared below him, just barely visible from the inside the stone. It seemed to follow him around as he walked around the outside of the room, making him feel like the light was alive. But… how? Why? There didn't seem to be that many of the stones in the floor above, so why would the entire floor of the basement be made of the stuff? Then his hand brushed across an indentation in the floor, and he stopped, looking down. A collection of curved marks were pressed into the gemstone floor, all clustered together. Levin realized that another couple indentations of similar shape weren't that far away, though they were shallower in the ground. It took Levin a few moments to realize why the marks were so familiar.

Footprints. They were footprints. It had been so long since he'd seen shoeprints like that, since… since before he'd been carried to the Hunter's era. The natives of this world didn't have the unique sole designs that the Lost had used, so footprints tended to be single shapes as opposed to the collection of curves that lay before him. Had the Meridians used sneakers or something? He followed the footprints over to the wall of the basement where they had come from, searching for more information.

He froze. His eyes had landed on the space underneath the staircase, where an odd shape sprouted from the floor. It was like the trunk of a tree, but made of the same blue stone that the floor was made of, also dark and lifeless. But Levin recognized the shape. He'd seen dozens of them before, after all. But the last time… the last time, they'd been glowing brightly with eerie blue light. He stepped back quickly, looking across the floor. Blue stone, that looked as though it had melted from its previous shape, dull and lusterless, as though its life, its purpose had gone out of it.

He was standing where a Lost awakening had occurred. The crystals were gone, the people were gone, but… yes, this was definitely the location where some Lost had woken up. The crystals had melted away, leaving behind only confused Lost and a hardening substance pooled on the floor.

But… that meant that this was a Lost town, not one of the Meridians. That meant that they had built a wall around the remains of a Lost town. But why? Had they found the blue crystals with people inside, and not known what to do with them? Had they studied them? Had they experimented or… He couldn't… he couldn't understand. He couldn't reason out the Meridians' purpose, the purpose of this entire town. He had to find Harker. The long sword user would have a better guess around the whole thing.

He quickly stumbled his way up the stairs and out of the building, searching wildly for a sign of the others. Ellie and Tenebris had wandered away from the house that Levin had entered, off to look for other things to look at. But Harker could still be heard talking frantically on the other side of a few houses. His tone had changed a little from intrigued to one of worry, but that didn't slow Levin down. The switch axe user continued to hurry to find the others. He had to tell them what he'd found.

He found them standing near a broken structure near the center of town, a wide ruined building that stood half-destroyed, one side of it collapsed in. Harker was crouched near the part of the building still standing, a concerned expression on his face as he studied the ruins. Kerry and Tenebris stood nearby, watching on as the Harker sifted through the rubble. "Ah, good, you're here," he said, noticing Levin's approach. "I've discovered something odd about this town."

"I fear… I fear something strange is going on," the long sword user said quietly, his voice solemn. "This is not… these structures are not the creation of the Meridians. Steel, brick and mortar; these aren't the designs and materials used by the Meridians. No these… these buildings are the remains of our world. These are Lost structures."

"I know," Levin replied, earning a confused glance from the other hunter. "I found… I found some melted crystals in the basement of one of the houses. Whatever this place is, one of the Lost awakenings happened here, I think."

Harker nodded slowly and thoughtfully at the words. "Yes… that would explain the odd design compared to the stone that otherwise appears around their work… but why would this town be here, at the top of this spire? Did this city mean something to the Meridians? Did they find the crystals and… and… what? What would they have done? What were they capable of? If they discovered the Lost inside the crystals… were they studied? Revered? Hidden away? Why the walls? Why the barricade? Why the… the…" The long sword user blinked. "Quarantine, perhaps?"

"Like a disease?" Tenebris gasped. "No, that's… The Lost aren't a disease!"

"Closed off area, hard to reach by anything but airship, lots of area between the town and the walls," Harker rattled off, motioning to each thing mentioned. "It's very possible that the Meridians hid the Lost here away out of fear. Not wanting anything to do with it."

"But I thought you said the Meridians were dedicated to study! Why would they section off a town?"

"Who knows?" Harker replied. "They might have even made effort to preserve the town as it was, since the odds of steel and brick lasting as long as these have, exposed to the elements as they are, are very slim. To be fair, nobody knew that the Alatreon could crystalize people as it did. Perhaps they thought the crystals were a result of some other creature's work, or even the work of the Lost. But then, the crystals are not very translucent. Perhaps the Meridians didn't even know the Lost were inside the stones. I have no doubt that would indeed make them curious about the purpose of this town, a half-ruined place where several of the buildings have glowing crystals sprouting from the earth. For all they knew it was a Lost experiment gone wrong or something like that. Though perhaps they did use the town for study. With such time between this civilization and theirs, and no sign of writings or notes, I really can only speculate."

"Is there nothing else they could've kept this place for?" Levin asked.

"Not unless there's something in this town that would keep their attention here for other reasons."

"Wait, where's Ellie?" Levin murmured, his eyes darting around. His partner was nowhere to be seen.

"She wandered back towards the south side of this town," Tenebris replied. "She said she thought she saw something odd and took off before I could stop her. There doesn't seem to be anything dangerous in this area, and there haven't been any sounds of battle… but we really should find her, I suppose. This place being a Lost ghost town and the site of an awakening… I don't know. This pace is really eerie. We should try to stick together."

The other hunters agreed and the four of them hurried southward in search of their wayward bowgunner. Levin had to agree with Tenebris; now that they knew that this town was the remains of an old, destroyed Lost town, the place seemed haunting, like the ghosts of the past were looking over their shoulders as they worked through the ruined streets and alleyways. Now that he thought about it, Levin wondered what sorts of things were buried under the rubble. Old Lost tech, perhaps, or something of the like? Even if there were, Levin admitted to himself, he wouldn't want to go rummaging through them. It felt like grave robbing, somehow.

As they worked through the town, Kerrigan caught sight of something just over the next street of houses. It appeared to be a building larger than the rest, perhaps a school or warehouse or something of the like. But as they approached, they realized that something was amiss. Near the building, they realized that a dim blue light was peeking over the edges of the building, a pale glow that seemed very similar to the one that continued to glow menacingly to the north. At the sight of the pale blue glow, the hunters picked up their pace, and a moment later were running worriedly towards the source.

Levin was the first to round the last corner, and feared for what he'd find. But when he turned the corner, he caught sight of Ellie almost immediately. She wasn't hurt, but…

The bowgunner stood, frozen, staring up at the massive, ruined building that appeared as though it had been torn completely in half. Brick walls and steel were ripped in half on the closest side of the building; it actually appeared ripped apart, or blown apart, what with the fragments and remains of rusted steel and other materials sprayed across the area surrounding the building, thrown dozens and dozens of feet each direction. Some of the steel seemed torn and melted, as though exposed to great heat, further supporting the idea of an explosion of some kind destroying the building as it did.

But the truly shocking thing about the structure was what lay next to it. Propped up against the very frame of the building was the most massive crystal that Levin had ever seen, the same type that had carried him and the rest of the Lost through the ages to the Hunter's era. But rather than the seven or eight foot ovals that had carried them, this one was absolutely massive, towering a dozen feet over even the top of the building itself. It was broken, and shattered, as well, from the looks of it, ripped apart into pieces from what appeared to be from the inside out.

And the crystals were still glowing brightly, with no sign of dimming that the others in the village had.

Levin hurried over to where Ellie stood, and found her looking into the darkness of the broken building, a terrified look upon her face. He gently grabbed a hold of her shoulders, trying to pull her out of her stupor, but the moment he touched her, the woman clenched up, dropping to her knees and gasping in panic.

"This place! I know this place! This… this is the place where I woke up. This is where… this is where a Rathalos killed… so many of people I knew. I lost so many friends here. I watched so many people die, burned alive."

Levin looked around at the words. He'd never seen a place attacked by a fire wyvern before, but now that Ellie mentioned it… Metal beams were rent and torn, not something easily done by a machine. Burn marks were seared across the walls of the buildings, despite the centuries upon centuries that had passed since their time. If Levin looked closely, he realized he could just make out the ghostly outlines of the dead, their shapes forever marked upon the walls of the ruined structures by shadows of bricks darkened black by flame.

Ellie continued to shiver in fear, and Levin stayed close to her. Levin supposed he hadn't reacted that much better, upon coming across the Barioth that had scarred him upon first waking up, and later recalling the influence the Alatreon had incurred on him. Ellie seemed to be taking it a lot better than he had, thankfully; the bowgunner appeared to be recovering pretty quickly from the shock, her breathing evening out fairly quickly. Soon she had calmed down enough to smile up thankfully at him.

"I'm better now," she said. "Sorry. I thought I'd gotten over this whole issue, but I guess I never really thought I'd come across this place again."

"I don't know. You seem to be taking it fairly well, in my opinion," Levin replied with an encouraging smile. "A lot better than how I reacted to the Barioth, at least. And… other creatures I have issues with."

"Well, in all fairness, the Barioth you had a problem with was still alive and pretty nasty to take down," Ellie said. "And the Alatreon… I think everyone in the world has an issue or two with the Alatreon, the Lost in particular, and you especially. Plus… I haven't exactly been kind when the opportunity to fight Raths have come along. I remember that I wasn't exactly gentle when we went and saw the mating dance so long ago."

"Yeah, you were really intent on fighting them back then. Also, you have a surprisingly good right hook for a bowgunner."

Ellie chuckled quietly. "Yeah, I may have been a little rough, given the opportunity to fight and kill a Rathian and Rathalos. A part of me still wishes that I could have fought and killed them, despite thinking their mating dance was something beautiful. I felt a little better after managing to take down that Rathian in the Volcano hunting region, but it's not quite the same as wanting to kill a Rathalos. It's a little weird, but… I'm both pleased and disappointed that the Rathalos that caused me so much terror and pain is centuries dead. I mean, I would've liked to kill it myself. But it's been so long after all, since I was put in the crystal. If it wasn't killed by a hunter or something, it was probably done in by age. Even Rathalos can't live forever, right?"

"Most wyverns like the Raths usually live for several centuries, according to the Guild's research," Levin replied, trying to remember what he'd read in the bestiaries he'd read. "I've read speculation that Rathalos can live for over a millennia, but… Their scales change color as they age, though, giving them unique appearances. Even if they live long enough to change colors, when they do get that old, they become the targets of enthusiastic hunters, so if that Rathalos managed to live an exceptionally long time, his scales would've caught the attention of every hunter that saw it. It was probably brought down centuries ago."

"Yeah… too bad," Ellie sighed.

"Well, if you're interested, we can look through old storybooks for tales of special Rathalos hunts when we get back to Loc Lac," Levin told her. "Maybe there's a story about a hunt that happened near here. Maybe you'll be able to find the story of how that Rathalos met its end."

"Assuming it didn't die before the hunter's era," Ellie replied sullenly. But she smiled at him. "Thanks for the thought, though. It's nice to imagine the thing met a bad end at the hands of a hunter or something. Maybe it died before a hunter could fight it, but it could still be nice to read up on stories of Rathalos' getting killed."

"Glad to hear it."

Meanwhile, Harker and Kerry had made their way over to the giant crystal that was glowing off to the side and were observing it curiously, and Tenebris, having noticed that Ellie seemed in better shape, made her way over to Levin and Ellie. "So…. This is where the first wave of Lost in this area woke up, then?"

"Seems that way," Levin replied and Tenebris nodded.

"I wonder how they got down the mountain safely. I mean, it was one heck of a trek for us, and that was with all the monsters in hiding."

"I can't… I can't really remember how we managed to get down the mountain," Ellie admitted. "I think… I remember traveling to Loc Lac with the other Lost, though, and there were… there were two people, and older man and a woman a few years older than me. They were both former soldiers or something. I'm not sure. But they both carried combat knives with them, and the older guy had an old pistol with him that didn't have any ammo, but he kept carrying it around. Both of them were pretty badly injured. I think… they probably were the ones that kept the monsters at bay."

"They sound pretty tough, using old Lost weapons and knives to ward off monsters," Tenebris replied. "And people say the Lost are weak. Not many hunters could've chased off monsters with only a knife."

"I haven't really thought about either of them since," Ellie admitted. "After getting to Loc Lac, I remember being consumed at the time with the idea of becoming a hunter, so I really didn't keep track of the other Lost that woke up with me at the time. I hope those two managed to get better…"

"I'm sure they're fine," Tenebris said encouragingly. "They're not the best out there, but if there's something that they're good at, it's healing monster wounds."

"That's good to hear," Ellie said.

Even though Ellie seemed in better spirits, she still seemed hesitant to move, and spent a lot of time staring intently at the ruins of the old building. Levin supposed that, even after claiming she was fine, Ellie could still see the ghosts of the past in the walls. There was a Rathian to find and kill, and the worrying blue light still towered in the air to the north, but after finding this town, none of the hunters wanted to hurry too quickly to find the Rathian anymore. This town was eerie, and haunting.

As Ellie recovered, Harker and Kerry spent their time working their way around the bright, broken crystal, wondering at it and talking to each other, throwing around ideas and theories about the thing. Eventually their tones grew worried, though, and even Ellie became curious, finally pushing herself back to her feet. The other three hunters made their way over to the pair as Harker was leaning over the stone, staring intently through the crystal.

"Something…. Something slept in this crystal. Something massive," Harker said, brushing his hand along the edge of the massive gemstone. Abruptly, his hand leapt away as he hissed in pain. Kerry leapt forward, grabbing him worriedly, but the long sword user grinned and shook his head. "I'm fine, Lady Kerrigan, I'm fine, it's just… the crystal. It's… hot. Scalding, even. I was not expecting it."

The bowgunner turned in confusion, reaching out and hovering her hand over the bright crystal, and pulled it away instinctively. "He's right."

"What were you saying, Harker?" Tenebris asked. "Something big was sleeping in this crystal?"

"Indeed, indeed," Harker nodded, rubbing his scalded hand gingerly. "Something not human, that's for sure. That much crystal, and that much empty space inside, it was certainly a monster of some size. I cannot guess as what it was, though. Perhaps the Alatreon picked up a hitchhiker when it was collecting Lost to bring here to the Hunter's era."

"Like… the Rathalos?" Ellie asked, coldness in her voice. "The Rathalos I saw… it couldn't have been more than five feet in front of me when I was caught up in that blue crystal and carried here. Could it have been carried with us?"

"It seems possible," Harker replied, poking around the edges of the large crystal. "However… do you happen to remember whether or not this crystal was like this when you awoke? I know it was a while ago, and memories after waking up always seem fuzzy, but what do you recall?"

"I don't… I don't know," Ellie muttered. "There weren't that many of us here, just me and a couple dozen from around the entire town. I remember waking up underneath ruined wall, and… I'm not sure. I don't… I don't think that this crystal was like it is now, though. I think I would've remembered if there was a scalding hot crystal next to where I woke up. I think."

"But was it whole?"

"I don't remember," Ellie replied. "I don't… I don't think so, though. I think it was broken apart. I remember… I remember touching it for some reason, wondering about it. It was definitely shattered like it is now."

"So… perhaps your Rathalos was freed before you woke up. Perhaps that was why the Meridians had this town cordoned off; they found the preserved Rathalos inside the crystal and chose to study it… and perhaps free it."

"But why?" Ellie asked, suddenly angry. "I wanted…"

"You wanted to take it down yourself?" Tenebris asked.

"I don't… I mean, I would have really preferred it if…"

"No, I understand," Tenebris nodded. "I've gone after a specific monster before. There are a lot of hunters that have vendettas against certain creatures that have wronged them. But even if the Rathalos was still alive after all these years, I wouldn't let you go after it. Firstly, because you're not allowed to by the Guild, and secondly, a Rathalos that old would be… really powerful. Wyverns get tougher with age, and if it's really as old as you say, it would be nearly as powerful as an elder dragon."

"Yeah, I guess so," Ellie admitted.

"Well, if the Meridians actually did get the Rathalos or whatever it was out of the crystal," Harker muttered as he poked at various other parts of the massive crystal, "I doubt they were gentle with it. Their details of monster anatomy were peerless, compared to what I've seen of the Guild. Such an old creature… I am certain they were not kind to it. And if the Rathalos suffered the same disorientation that the Lost suffer upon emerging from the crystals, I'm sure they made short work of the wyvern. I doubt even its age wouldn't have helped the thing."

Ellie nodded, though she still looked disappointed at not being able to fight the creature herself. Levin smiled in amusement, before walking over to the glowing crystals. This was the first time he'd had a chance to really look at the crystals ever since the awakening in the Tundra. He might have considered them beautiful once, before he'd learned their true origin and purpose. Now they just seemed dangerous and unnerving.

Levin held a hand over the hot crystals, as they glowed with their eerie blue light. What had the Meridians done with the Rathalos that had slumbered inside this giant crystal? Awoken it? Studied it? Or had it just awoken on its own? But Ellie had said the crystal she'd seen here hadn't been hot like it was now, so what had happened?

As he leaned over the crystals, though, the glow of the gemstones suddenly pulsed intensely. Levin stepped back in surprise, and the glow faded away, dimming to its previous state. The switch axe user blinked in surprise at the oddity, uncertain what caused it. He cautiously leaned forward once more, though, and the glow of the crystals grew brighter yet again. Was it reacting to… him?

It took a few moments of leaning back and forth (and looking quite silly he had no doubt) for him to realize that the crystals weren't reacting to him, but something on him. It seemed to glow more prominently when his item pouch was facing the stones. Confused, he began rifling through his bags, searching for something that could set off the crystals; he'd had a lot of the same stuff on him when he'd seen other masses of the stones, so what was different this time? Potions, whetstones, a shock trap, some rations, some tranq bombs… there was a little yellow gem that one of the older hunters had gifted him, a charm that was supposed to make him tougher, but he'd had that a while. There wasn't much else in the pouch but a couple of antidotes and his secondary power phial, and a couple of collapsible pickaxes…

He paused in thought, before pulling out the power phial. He hadn't upgraded to his new weapon the last time he'd encountered the Alatreon's blue crystals, had he? The Lagiacrus switch axe had possessed a lightning element phial, while this one…

"Dragon element, huh?" Levin muttered to himself, pulling the secondary phial from the pouch. Immediately, the crystals began to glow brighter, and as he held it up the massive collection of gemstones, it grew to the same intensity that the switch axe user remembered seeing of the crystals in the caves near Hearth.

"Now that's interesting!" Levin turned in surprise, flinching as he found Harker hovering not a foot behind him. "So it reacts to the dragon element, does it? How fascinating… though if what you've told me the Alatreon said is true, many of the other elder dragons possess the ability to create these odd crystals. It shouldn't be surprising that they react to dragon element, considering how many of the elder dragons are able to wield the power, even if only a little bit."

"But why would the crystals be like this now?" Levin asked. "If these things only react to dragon element, what set them off?"

"That… that is a very good, very terrifying question. Perhaps Miss Tenebris was right, and all this blue light nonsense really is the work of an elder dragon."

"But this has all happened before, according to them. Why mess with this crystal now?"

Harker paused in thought. "Perhaps… perhaps the crystals are… recyclable? The gems seem to melt after the Lost inside have awakened, but… if they also react to the dragon element, it's possible they could be re-forged, and something could be put back to sleep inside of them?"

Levin frowned at the thought. "How much dragon energy would that take?"

Harker paused to think for a moment. "Well, you'd have to melt the crystals, and if the increase in glow from your element phial is any indication… I suppose you'd need a good dozen or so of them emptying their energy at the same time to reinvigorate the stones, at the very least. I suppose it might be that such ability is out of human reach. Such power may be something only elder dragons or monsters can produce, if the difficulty of making dragon phials is to be believed. And honestly, perhaps it's for the best. I for one have no desire to try and replicate the cryogenic state that these crystals produce."

"Really? You're not?" Levin asked, surprised. "There's actually something you don't want to study?"

Harker smirked. "I've slept long enough in those crystals, my friend. I have no intention of spending more time in there, or experimenting on others."

"That's encouraging, I suppose."

"So where do we go from here?" Ellie asked Tenebris suddenly. "We still haven't found the Rathian nest at all, and we haven't seen any signs of the creature at all since yesterday."

"I don't… I really don't know where to go from here," Tenebris admitted. "I've never needed to travel this high into the mountains to find a nest before, and with all these tunnels we've traveled through the last couple days, and this town here as well… I'll admit, the Rathian could be anywhere for all I know. Unless we find some sign that the beast is still around, I don't think we can really do anything else but keep looking around for the nest. This entire area is closed in, though… is there any way we can keep going?"

"There were vines hanging over the edges of the walls," Kerry noted. "We could climb over the walls and… I don't know, see what we can spot from there."

"Well, that's something," Tenebris said. "But if we can't see anything… I don't like saying this, but we might have to go back down through the tunnels and head back to Nastre."

"Well… then let's try climbing over the walls and see what we can find," Ellie said sternly. She clearly liked the idea of cutting off their Rathian chase less appealing than Tenebris did.

It proved to be more of a challenge than the hunters thought to find a place to climb over the wall; the vines and branches that leaned over the sides weren't always sturdy enough to climb in some places, and didn't go high enough to get over in others. But eventually they found a place they could scramble over the wall, a thick collection of roots that curled and twisted down the wall from an ancient-looking tree that hung just a touch over the tip of the wall. It was a bit tricky; Levin was never a fantastic climber. But the wall was only a dozen yards high or so, making it not too difficult of a climb.

Once they were over, they found quite the view waiting for them. The tower they'd climbed had led them to the other side of one of the lower peaks in the mountain range, where several mountains clustered close together. Ice-tipped peaks hung off in the distance, far taller mountains than the ones the hunters had appeared next to. There seemed to be a couple more spires breaking out of the mountains way off in the distance, but they were damaged or mostly buried by rockslides or other natural disasters. As they climbed up to the top of the mountain closest to them, they were able to look down the other side, where the valley that Nastre lay in was. The valley was still coated in fog, though, so it was hard to see much of anything.

For a while, the hunters weren't sure where to go from there, but fortunately Ellie caught sight of something odd off in the distance. Trees were sparse up this high in the mountains, but a few clusters of old, resilient clusters of them managed to survive the altitude. But about a quarter mile away from them, down the slope a bit of the mountain they stood on and up the side of a connected one, was a small tree-covered area. What caught Ellie's eye about the foliage was that a small section of the woods were burnt away. It could've been the result of lightning, but the hunters really didn't have much to go on at the moment.

Though the trees weren't that far away, it still took them a good hour to work their way safely down the mountainside and up the next one. It was a comfort when they arrived back at the trees, though; with all the caving they'd done the last couple days, it was nice to be back among living plants again. But their thoughts on the foliage vanished immediately as they entered a burnt-out area of the woods. A good dozen dead mountain Kelbis lay strewn around the area, burnt and cooked by the fire that had burned down the section of the forest. But several of them were also ripped apart, and body parts were missing from several of the corpses. And by the amount of blood that was sprayed around the area, there were likely more Kelbis that had been around, besides the dead ones that were visible.

But despite the death and gore of the area, both Ellie and Tenebris seemed to grow excited at the sight. "Well, well!" Tenebris laughed. "I thought we might have to go back down the mountain if we couldn't find any sign of the Rathian down here. But it looks like the thing was only teasing us before! This creature must think quite highly of itself, to have a nest so high up in the mountains! Look lively, my friends, we're back on the hunt!"

It took some time for Harker, Kerry, and Tenebris to figure out which way the Rathian had gone, but eventually they were able to guess which direction the creature had set off in. A couple of talon prints seemed to point the Rathian going northwest, along the ridge of mountains. Fortunately, there seemed to be some ancient pathways leading along the sides of the mountain, likely created by the Meridians to connect between the spires that sprouted from the mountains. Harker was excited for the chance to observe more of the Meridian's spires, but as they trekked along the path, the long sword user was disappointed to find that most of the stairwells had been buried beneath rock and stone, or had no visible entrances whatsoever. The walls on the exteriors also were surprisingly blank, much to the man's disappointment, not allowing him to uncover anything more about the people.

The path itself was surprisingly well-kept for its age, though it wasn't much to see. For the most part it was a fairly level bit of ground marked by odd unmarked obelisks made of the same sturdy stone that the Meridians favored. But it allowed them to travel along the side of the mountains fairly quickly for such rocky terrain. Levin was getting a little worried, though. Their work tailing the Rathian further and further into the mountains seemed to be leading them closer and closer to that blue pillar of light.

However, they were caught off guard once more not long after starting on the path, as once again the blue light flickered and faded away from sight, fizzling away like an old candle before vanishing completely from sight. Once again, the hunters paused, keeping their eye on the north, waiting for the pillar to appear once more. However, after a good five minutes of waiting, the pillar of light had yet to reignite on the horizon. Harker began muttering theories and ideas, speculating that perhaps the source had finally burned out, though that would mean that their phantom beast had done its work during the time they'd been wandering the wilds, which wasn't a happy thought.

However, after a while, the hunters knew they really could do nothing about the light, on or off, and pushed off again, continuing to follow the faint trail the Rathian had left behind. A couple more Rath signs showed them they were on the right track as they continued; more dead Kelbi and the remains of another Aptonoth, carried all the way from the basin up to such a high altitude. But the remains seemed fresher, oddly enough, leading them to believe that they were actually getting close to the Rathian's nest.

The path was actually quite long, twisting over and around the hills and peaks of the mountains, continuing to lead them northwest for several hours, all the way until noon. After a quick break, they pressed on, following the path up the side of one of the taller mountains in the region. Levin hoped that they wouldn't be following it all the way to the top of the peak; he was wearing out fairly quickly due to his lack of acclimation, and that was no state to fight a Rathian in.

Thankfully, the path instead began to slope downwards before looping around the side of the mountain, leading into the valley between the mountains. The hunters were completely caught off guard by what they found there, though. They'd expected another runoff valley, where the snow from the mountain made small streams through the dips between slopes, but instead, they found a wall. A wall of truly astonishing proportions. From the rocky earth, a wide circular wall rose up from the ground below them, springing up a good couple dozen yards into the air above them. It wasn't as tall as the wall back in the cavern, but this one seemed to stretch off into the distance just as much as the other one had, following the curve of the mountains around it.

"Another one of these?" Tenebris asked, stunned. Harker seemed to be delirious with excitement next to her at the sight of more detailed images on the wall.

"Perhaps we can climb over it?" Kerry suggested. "Perhaps the Rathian put its nest on top of this wall. I mean… it looks like we can get on top of this wall, assuming it has a roof of some kind."

"Hah, now there's a thought," Harker muttered. "If this whole wall is just an exceptionally large spire, I wonder what's inside? Or on top?"

"Only one way to find out," Tenebris replied. "Hopefully there's a Rathian on top, though. We're a good two day walk back to Nastre, after all. Any further, and we might have to find a different village to head back to once we're done. This Rathian's got one hell of a territory range, I'll tell you that much; living this far away and still stealing Aptonoth from Nastre's herds. Got an ego too, if I do say so, thinking it can do what it wants over such a wide area. I'll be glad to find this wyvern and knock some sense into it."

"Well, hopefully it's up there then," Harker replied. "I'm quite sick of wasting time chasing shadows, I think! As fascinating as studying these walls has been the last couple of days, even I am looking forward to cutting this Rathian down to size!"

Though they were enthusiastic to climb the wall, it took them a good hour of traveling to find a place where they could get over the wall. Harker continued to scribble notes on his pad as they traveled, though he had run out of space earlier, and was scribbling what he could in the ledgers off to the sides of the pages and all over the margins. Soon, as far as Levin could tell, the pages were more graphite than paper.

Eventually, though, they managed to find a section of the wall where a rockslide had piled up against the wall, piling up rubble and dirt several yards up the sides of the relief. It wasn't quite high enough for the hunters to climb up over, but Harker was tall enough to hoist both Kerry and Levin up high enough for them to pull themselves up and over the edge. Levin reached back quickly as soon as he was over, grabbing hold of Ellie's hand and pulling her up behind him. Kerry had made it up the wall as well, and had grasped both Harker and Tenebris' hands, hauling them up onto the top of the spire with little to no effort at all. Levin was mildly surprised; he hadn't expected the woman to be so strong. Wonders never cease… but no sense thinking about it now, he figured, as he brushed himself off and turned to look over the expanse of the spire.

His jaw dropped in shock. The spire was… massive; far more so than he'd ever imagined, even after walking alongside the walls encircled the sides of it. It easily spread at least two miles across, a completely flat and smooth surface of the indestructible white stone stretching as far as Levin could see. Apparently, the spire was built jutting up from the center of a wide mountain valley, with a half dozen peaks jutting into sight over the sides of the far edges of the top platform. And in the very center of the spire, a tower stood, jutting straight into the sky even further than the mountaintops that surrounded it.

The tower was like it had been built of blocks, cylindrical pillars stacked on top of one another, growing smaller and smaller with each level. The bottom of the tower was a wide circle, at least a hundred yards across, and going up several stories, before cutting in half in size and continuing even further into the sky, before cutting in half again even further up, until the tower finally stopped its towering reaching to the heavens, several dozen stories above the top of the spire. At the base of the tower was another massive structure, just as circular as the rest of the towers, that spread over nearly a half mile diameter of its own, large enough to house a town within itself. Was it a wall, perhaps, and inside the remains of one of the Meridian civilization's cities? Levin couldn't help but wonder, curiosity swelling inside of him, imagining that this was how Harker felt all the time.

From the walls of the wide structure beneath the tower were over a dozen aqueducts, shooting out from the tower at perfect angles to one another, slicing the entirety of the spire into perhaps eighteen or twenty pieces. Levin half expected the aqueducts to still be flowing with water, as they had in the aqueducts that had cut across the Volcano hunting grounds, but looking over at the ones that still stood, they all seemed dry to the bone, showing that whatever source had provided the water had dried up, or whatever creations that had been used the draw up the water in the first place had long since broken or worn down.

"This is it!" Harker suddenly exclaimed. The long sword user reached quickly to his pouch, pulling out his notepad and flying through the pages. He stopped on a specific page, glancing back and forth between the tower in the center of the spire and his notes. "Yes! As I thought! This is one of the towers we saw depicted on the walls below!"

"But… how?" Tenebris gasped. "I don't… ugh, I should've guessed this would happen, considering the luck we've had recently."

"Ah, but I hope there's a chance for us to see what that tower in the center is! The depictions below were quite vague, I'll admit, but I'm certain that-"

"What's that over there?" The long sword user sputtered in surprise at being cut off. Apparently, though, Kerry had caught sight of something more interesting than Harker's speculating, and took off at a quick stride towards the base of one of the aqueduct pillars. The other hunters followed behind curiously, though Harker seemed a bit pouty at being interrupted. As they approached the base of the pillar, Levin caught sight of a strange black circle, which seemed to be what Kerry had seen. But with a cry of surprise, Tenebris motioned across the top of the spire, at the base of the other pillars. More of the strange dark blue circles were strewn across the spire's top, dozens and dozens as far as they could see.

The hunters walked cautiously over to the closest of the blue circles. As they approached, Ellie noted that the stone platform they stood on seemed to tilt down towards the dark spot. Finally, they got close enough to peer down onto the circle. At first it appeared like a cover of some kind, a glimmering metallic plate. Levin curiously kicked a pebble over it, but rather than clattering over the top as he had suspected it would, the small stone abruptly vanished, sinking through the blue material. The hunters stumbled away in shock; the stuff was fluid! Or very viscous, at least.

Both Harker and Kerry seemed massively interested in the substance, and began chatting back and forth excitedly as they poked at the mysterious substance. Several more stones were thrown at the edge of the pool of… whatever it was. The stuff seemed to be very thick, like paste or honey or something like it. Looking closely at it, though, Levin could see an eerie reddish tint to the stuff that swirled and churned just below the surface of the pool. Both Harker and Kerry seemed very curious at the odd fluid, and soon Levin was lost, unable to keep up with their thoughts and speculations. Tenebris sighed next to him, motioning him and Ellie away from the pool.

"Are people like them common for the Lost?" the bowgunner asked, overwhelmed. "They talk so quickly and over such complex things… it's like they don't slow down for anything! Are many Lost as… enthusiastic as they are? I know there are some smart folks in the Lost group in Nastre, but none like them."

"Kerry isn't a Lost, actually," Ellie replied. "And the two of them are… unique, to say the least, Lost or not."

"I'm pretty sure if another person as enthusiastic about research and experimentation as those two pops up, the sheer energy they exude will destroy Loc Lac entirely," Levin laughed. "Or at least several square blocks. You should see the kind of damage those two by themselves have done to the inn we live in back in the city. Add one more to the mix, and you've got a recipe for mayhem."

"So… they're the only two as… excitable as they are?"

"As far as I know."

"Thank goodness!" Tenebris sighed. "I can keep up with the inventors and alchemists in Nastre well enough, even the Lost ones with their weird techno-babble, but those two are in a league of their own. Any more like that and I'd believe that they could level Loc Lac from sheer fervor. Though I suppose I've met some hunters that are just as bad when it comes to wanting to fight certain monsters… Anyway, I'm going to assume that trying to pull those two away from that pool in pointless?"

"You'd assume correctly," Ellie agreed.

"Then let's look around for the nest while they're occupied. There's a lot of area on top of this spire… but a nest shouldn't be all that hard to spot. I don't think so at least… Well, at the very least, we should be able to find signs of where the damn Rathian went. So let's get cracking."

The three didn't travel too far away from the pool where the two mad scientists poked and prodded at the mysterious pools, seeing as they didn't want to get too far away from their friends in case the Rathian appeared. But then, checking around for wyvern tracks wasn't very challenging either. The surface of the spire was flat and smooth across the entirety of the structure, allowing the three to see quite clearly for a great distance, all the way to the base of the towers at the very center of the spire. Aside from the occasional dips in the surface where the dark pools were, the stone of the spire seemed clear and unmarred by anything, as far as they could tell. Not a single sign of the Rathian's passing could be seen at all.

Tenebris let out a growl of frustration after a good half hour of wandering the top of the spire, searching for some sign of the creature they hunted. The three of them had made their way back to where Harker and Kerry were poking at the dark fluid, and sat to rest against a couple of fallen pillars nearby. A blanket of clouds was rolling in at the time, and the air was growing chill from the vanishing sunlight, combined with the exceptionally high altitude.

"Damn it all! This Rathian is proving to be one of the biggest pains in the butt I've ever chased after! Save the beast's leftovers, we haven't found anything at all we can use to find this thing's nest!"

Ellie seemed particularly irritable as well, having been looking forward to hunting yet another Rath and adding it to her repertoire of hunts. "Any other ideas of where the thing could be? Short of going to that tower in the center of the spire, I can't think of anyplace else around here that the thing would perch."

"I know!" Tenebris groaned. "I've never had a Rathian be this much of a pain! It's like… it's like it doesn't even have a nest, and is just flying around, plucking up food whenever it gets peckish! But that's unheard of! Even Rathalos have nests, or at least comfortable caves or overhangs they find to sleep in!"

Levin frowned. "But if the Rathian didn't have a nest… Why wouldn't it?"

"Geez, I don't know," Tenebris sighed. "That would make it… let's see, a nomad or something. But a nomad wouldn't stick around in one place and mess with herds like this one has. And this one knows the area well enough to be sneaky about plucking away its meals, so it's got to be a local. But as to why it wouldn't have a nest… it would still have to have a place it knew it was safe from harm, someplace out of the way and well-hidden. It wouldn't need to be really big, nothing as homey as a real nest, just large enough to sleep in or hide to escape foes."

Levin scratched his head in thought. Honestly, he'd only fought two Rathians, and managed to only kill one of them. Besides the monster manuals he'd read, he really didn't know that much about wyvern ecology. He could ask Harker, but it might be a trick getting the long sword user to tell him the information he wanted to know, without an earful of excess info he didn't need. "So… a Rath that moves around a lot and doesn't need a nest… a loner then, without a mate. But it would need a safe place, someplace no one can find. What's the safest place you can think of that could house a wyvern in the area?"

"You mean besides this place? There's a few hard to reach overhangs and cliffs that a wyvern could nest in to the west of here. They're a huge pain to get to without repelling down a cliff to them, though. Other than that… all I can think of is that massive crystal we found in that Lost town. I mean, if what Harker said is true, it could hold a Los for a really long time all nice and cozy, I don't see why it couldn't… um…"

The three grew nervously quiet at the thought. Harker had never figured out why that massive crystal in the town had been so hot…

"I know I said that I wouldn't mind fighting the Rathalos that gave me so much trouble," Ellie said, "but in all honesty, I really hope that… um…this Rathian is…"

Suddenly, a familiar thumping sound filled the air. The hunters immediately looked to the sky worriedly as a loud growling sound filled the air above them, but they could make nothing out from the skies above through the thick clouds that had filled the skied. But suddenly, a large shape suddenly dropped through the clouds, a bulbous, writhing mass with no discernible shape that Levin could make out, and it was plummeting straight down. Whatever it was, it was certainly not a Rathian like they had thought it was. Immediately the hunters went for their weapons, preparing for whatever it was that bore down on them.

But the thing falling from the sky refused to slow down, and Levin braced himself as it neared the ground. But rather than pulling up or stopping its decent, whatever the thing was, it didn't slow at all, and a moment later it crashed onto the stone floor, its body nearly exploding on impact, blood and organs spraying across the stone as the body of whatever it was fell apart from the fall.

The hunters stared in shock at the sight of the ruined body of the creature that had fallen from the sky. Harker was the first to recover, pressing forward to the impact zone, where dust kicked up blurred the corpse. Kerry followed warily behind him, and the other hunters after her, all of them wondering what sort of beast would kill itself as this thing had. The dust began to settle, and Harker pushed through the dust to where the beast remained.

"It's an Aptonoth," he said, shocked. Levin couldn't help but show his surprise, hurrying forward to look himself. It took a moment to look past the blood and broken body parts, but it was most certainly an Aptonoth, and one of considerable size as well. Its body was blackened and torn apart though, and various limbs were missing from the creature's body, and not just damaged from the fall. It was little wonder that Levin hadn't recognized it when it had fallen from the clouds. It also had the remains of leather straps strung across it. Had it come all the way from Nastre? Or had it been picked up from some unknown caravan and brought here?

The next moment, a powerful roar ripped across the surface of the spire, and a huge winged shape swept through the clouds above them, far larger than the Aptonoth, and swooping over their heads before swinging to a halt and hovering several dozen yards in the air above them. For a moment, Levin didn't know what the creature was, but its shape and size, and the way it flew gave it away. It wasn't a Rathian, but a Rathalos.

A pure _silver_ Rathalos. The red scales, the defining feature of the Rathalos, had long since aged and rusted away. Time and battle had slowly peeled away the old, fiery color, hardening and strengthening the beast's scales and plates until they shone and gleamed with a new, powerful, silvery sheen lusted after by hunters the world over.

"Oh, crap, we're in trouble," Tenebris groaned.

The Rathalos continued to hover for a few moments, glaring down at the hunters in anger. The beast seemed to seethe at the sight of the hunters infringing on its territory. Flames were already licking at the creature's chops as it growled furiously at them. Abruptly, the Rathalos stopped beating its wings, and dropped out of the sky, plummeting the few dozen feet to the ground, smashing into the stone spire with a resounding crash. But it didn't even seem to flinch as it landed, its sturdy legs bracing against the impact.

Levin felt an eerie shiver as the Rathalos' red eyes stared piercing glares at the five of them. The creature seemed scarily intelligent as it… analyzed them. That was the only way Levin could think to describe the way the wyvern looked at them. It was as though the Rathalos was judging them, studying them, estimating how strong they were, calculating their threat to him. The beast even seemed to look at their weapons, taking note of what they had brought against him. Did it actually recognize the weapons they carried? Was it figuring how best to counter their attacks? It seemed to stare at Levin for a while, seeming uncertain what kind of weapon the switch axe user was wielding.

The Rathalos paused as its eyes landed on Ellie, though, and the bowgunner froze under the beast's intense stare. All of a sudden the creature's eyes seemed to glaze over in seething anger. Flames gusted from the creature's mouth as it growled furiously at her, familiarity and rage in its eyes.

"It remembers me," Levin heard her whisper, before she growled in determination. "And I remember it!"

Without another moment of warning, Ellie fired her bowgun, immediately sending a powerful Crag round tearing through the air towards the creature. However, without missing a beat the Rathalos snapped its head forward, sending a powerful jet of flame through the air straight at the flying round, meeting the shot midair and causing it to detonate long before it could connect with the beast. The hunters stared in shock at the wyvern's quick reaction as the beast howled a challenging call at them, before pumping its wings and pushing itself back away from them.

Ellie growled in anger, firing again and again until the chamber was empty, but the Rathalos continued to burn the rounds out of the air before they could connect, aiming and throwing lances of flame almost lazily as it continued to push itself further away from the hunters. Both Kerry and Tenebris fired at the beast as well, and though the wyvern couldn't blast all of the rounds out of the air, its aerial maneuverability proved to be just as skillful as its aim, and it swept and slid through the air out of the paths of the rounds with unsurpassed agility. All three of the bowgunners were left flabbergasted, their chambers all empty, without having landed a single shot on the creature as it gracefully settled back to the earth next to the body of the Aptonoth it had carried all the way up to the top of the spire.

The hunters closed in on the beast as the bowgunners reloaded. The Rathalos' eyes darted between the five of them, teeth bared in a wicked smile. The wyvern seemed excited to fight them! Levin and Harker branched out to flank the beast on either side, and the Rathalos eyed them warily. Just as the pair of them began to close in on the beast, the Rathalos' head snapped down, grabbing hold of the Aptonoth corpse and hauling it into the air. As the two hunters stopped, uncertain what the wyvern was doing, the creature quickly spun around, then released the dead pack animal, sinding it tumbling across the spire straight towards Levin.

The switch axe user tried to dive out of the way, but the tumbling corpse caught him, the Aptonoth's tail striking him directly in the side, sending him slamming into the stone floor. Levin struggled to push himself to his feet, but he found it hard to do so; the herbivore had been flush with such force that he'd already cracked a rib! How strong was this Rathalos that _throwing a dead body_ had wounded him already?

As he finally got back to his feet, a flash of light caught his attention, and he immediately dove out of the way as a massive fireball seared through the air above his head, nearly taking off his head. The Rathalos had fired at him before he could even stand up! Harker raced in from the creature's other side, but before the long sword user could reach the wyvern, the Rathalos spun around again, this time swinging its tail low against the ground and nearly impaling the man as he rushed in to attack. The spiked tail kicked up a wave of sparks that washed over the long sword user's armor, knocking him back as he held up a hand to keep the sparks from burning his face.

A bang and a clang echoed across the spire as the bowgunners began firing again. The wyvern's agility had forced them to try and wait for an opportunity to use their more powerful rounds, when the Rathalos slowed down enough for them to hit it. The creature's scales were thick and sturdy however, and many of the rounds ricocheted harmlessly off the beast. The creature did wince as some pierce rounds managed to wedge into its softer spots along its legs and tail, but the shots barely went deep enough to even draw blood from the wyvern. The Rathalos growled in irritation, and twisted its head around, unleashing a wide wave of flames.

The bowgunners were far enough apart that only Kerry needed to move out of the way of the attack at first, but the fire continued to blaze from the creature's mouth, spreading across the spire in a massive wave. All of the hunters were forced to run back to get out of the way of the fire, and Levin even needed to dive behind the Aptonoth corpse to avoid getting set ablaze. Ellie, whose anger at the Rathalos had pushed her too close to the wyvern, caught some flames along some exposed flesh on her legs, crying out in pain before stumbling behind one of the standing pillars on the spire. Harker somehow managed to jump and dive out of the way of the fire, despite being only a few yards away from the creature's feet. But even the silver Rathalos had only so much stamina, and the flames eventually cut out.

Immediately Harker rushed forward, long sword lancing out to catch the wyvern's legs out from under it, but the Rathalos swiftly swept its wings around, sending a gust of wind at the long sword user, making him stumble a bit. In the same fluid motion, the Rathalos beat its wings, pushing itself into the air, and at the same time fired a massive fireball straight at Harker. The man's stumble likely was the only thing that saved the long sword user from taking the fireball straight in the chest; when the wind knocked him back, it had pushed him just far enough away from the beast to avoid the full force of the fireball. The blast still caught the hunter as the fireball detonated upon impact, a spray of fire blasting Harker off his feet and sending him skidding across the spire with flames dancing along his armor.

Kerry was there in an instant though, grabbing hold of Harker desperately and pulling him away as the Rathalos swept through the air after them. The long sword user carefully patted away the flames on his clothes, even as Kerry dragged him away from the wyvern tailing them. The Rathalos ducked and wove through the air after them, spitting occasional fireballs at them, trying to finish the job he had started. But Kerry, despite hauling both a fantastically heavy bowgun, as well as Harker, was able to keep just out of the wyvern's range, though Harker was yelping in fear as the flames from the explosions licked as his feet.

A shot suddenly rang out from behind the Rathalos. Ellie had managed to recover from the flames and was tailing after the Rathalos, loading bright yellow paralysis rounds into the chamber of her bowgun. However, the firing sound had come instead from Tenebris, who was firing several shots from near one of the pillars. She seemed to be using Pellet rounds, which for the most part were deflecting harmlessly off the Rathalos' plates. But the creature grunted in irritation as each smattering of buckshot rattled against the creature's body, occasionally spraying against the wyvern's face and making the beast wince to protect its eyes. But it had done its job, and the beast's attention had pulled away from Harker and Kerry long enough for the pair to get behind a pillar to recover.

As the last of Tenebris' rounds fired off and the bowgunner moved to empty her chamber and reload, the Rathalos turned and rushed through the air towards her. Levin couldn't believe how aerially skilled the wyvern was; rather than simply flying across the ground towards Tenebris, the Rathalos swept low, and with a burst of speed the silver monster tore low across the ground, grazing not a foot over the ground as it charged at the bowgunner. Tenebris yelped and dove aside, but got caught up in the gust of wind that blew across the spire as the creature passed. The bowgunner was pushed back several feet by the force of the wind, nearly losing her footing as the Rathalos rushed past.

Several yards past where Tenebris struggled to retain her balance, the Rathalos beat its wings to steady itself as it slowed to a hover once more, before twisting around in the air and rushing towards the woman a second time. But before it could charge again, one of Ellie's rounds managed to hit the creature right in the wings. The sticky yellow venom splattered across the wyvern's webbing, spreading slightly as it tried to seep into the monster's blood. But the Rathalos' body was sturdy, and even the leathery hide beneath the wyvern's scales was thick and durable, and the venom was barely able to seep into the monster's body at all.

But even the little bit was enough to bother the Rathalos, making the creature's wings twitch and waver a little bit, just enough to throw of its balance and keeping it from doing another aerial charge. But it continued to fly, twisting through the air out of the way of Ellie's next shot before sending a fireball her way. It was a quick shot though, and not very accurate, and the huntress had plenty of time to dive out of the way, letting the blazing orb sail cleanly over her head and colliding into another of the pillars.

As Ellie ejected the cartridges from her weapon, the Rathalos swept through the air towards her, dipping low to the earth with its teeth and snapping at her with its fangs and talons. The bowgunner wasn't quite quick enough to reload her weapon before the creature's fangs snapped towards her, but with a growl of anger, she swung her bowgun around at the wyvern's snout, pistol-whipping the creature in the nose with the butt of her bowgun. The Rathalos was so caught off guard by the attack that its jaw swung wide, missing the huntress completely. However, the beast's clawed feet were still on target, and both of them tore into Ellie's armor. The Lagiacrus materials were thick and sturdy, but weren't on par with the power that that silver Rathalos possessed, and the huntress cried out in pain as the wyvern's thick talons bent the armor and pierced the flesh through the gaps in the thick plates. Ellie shouted in anger and agony as the Rathalos lifted her several feet into the air, its talons tearing through her armor futher, before unceremoniously dropping her back down onto the stone spire.

The bowgunner landed with a painful smack on the stone, and immediately tried to crawl away from the creature as she clutched at her wounds. The Rathalos' talons had pierced her armor along both arms and over her right shoulder, and bright red blood rolled down her arm onto the stone. The Rathalos growled in anger at the strike she'd landed on the beast's snout, and a gurgling noise swelled up from the beast's gullet as more fire swelled up in its maw.

But before it could unleash its fire on the wounded bowgunner, Levin charged the creature from behind. The beast was still airborne, making it hard for him to reach the wyvern, but the Rathalos' tail was just low enough for him to attack. He immediately sent his weapon into its 'sword' mode, and swung it down at the wyvern's tail. To his despair, the blade almost completely bounced off, shattering and breaking off only a few of the weakest scales off. But the surge of dark dragon energy that swelled from the phial seemed to do more.

As the dark energy leapt from the sword and seeped into the Rathalos' body, the creature howled in surprise. The flames that had been welling up in its throat sprayed wildly as it twisted its head to look at the switch axe user, missing Ellie completely as the bowgunner scooted away, pulling a couple potions from her pouch. Levin swung again, releasing another jolt of dragon energy and breaking off another few scales. The Rathalos twisted around quickly and beat its wings, kicking up a gust of wind that slid Levin back across the smooth stone. Levin recovered fairly quickly, and pressed forward to attack again. But as he approached, the Rathalos growled angrily, and inhaled deeply. A moment later, the Rathalos released a powerful, ear-splitting roar.

Levin winced, and then blinked in surprise. He'd… expected the roar to be ear-splitting, but instead it sounded like an exceptionally loud shout, not even enough for him to need to plug his ears. He'd nearly forgotten that his armor was designed to dull the sound of monster roars! He hadn't had the opportunity to test it since fighting the Alatreon. With a grin of excitement, he rushed forward again towards the roaring Rathalos, and saw the beast's eyes widen in surprise as he charged towards it, swinging his switch axe at the wyvern's tail again. But the Rathalos quickly cut off its roar before the switch axe user could reach it, pushing itself backwards away from the hunter, before firing a massive fireball at him. Levin tried to slide to a halt, but wasn't quite quick enough, and the fireball smashed into the ground not a foot in front of him.

His armor was once again the only thing that saved him. The Rathian plates were nothing compared to the Rathalos' thick silver scales, but they were exceptionally fireproof in their own right. The explosion and flames from the erupting fireball hurt like hell, knocking the wind out of him, and making him feel as though he was cooking inside his own armor for a fraction of a second, before the blast knocked him of his feet and sent him flying backwards, his switch axe tumbling away off to the side. He skidded and bounced almost thirty yards across the top of the spire before finally sliding to a halt.

His ears were ringing, and his chest felt as though it had been crushed under a rock. He gasped in pain as he tried to force his body to stand up, though it wasn't replying as quickly as he wanted it to. The sounds of battle filled his ears as he breathed in, filling his lungs with cool air to battle the burning heat that covered the rest of his body.

But… the feeling was dissipating quickly. Somehow, the burning sensation that licked at him through his plate mail was vanishing, rapidly cooling down to comfortable levels. Behind the pain and ringing in his ears, he felt surprise welling up. He was still in one piece, somehow or another. He'd taken nearly a direct hit from the Rathalos' fireball, yet he was still alive and… relatively uncooked. He was pretty sure that he was suffering from a few good burn wounds across his body, but nothing fatal. Not yet at least. Suddenly a firm hand grabbed hold of his arm, pulling him off his feet and dragging his away from the fighting, despite his weary and strained protests.

"Oh, come now, my friend." The voice was dull and faded through Levin's still-ringing ears, but it was Harker's voice. Probably. "There's little either of us can do at this point in the battle, I fear. That Rathalos simply does not seem to run out of energy when it comes to keeping itself airborne; the result of spending a lot of time flying and carrying things between here and Nastre I suppose. Anyway, while it's up there, it's unlikely either of us will be able to do much against the wyvern as long as it stays aloft."

"I hit its tail," Levin muttered, wincing even as he spoke. His chest just hurt so much from the explosion, he could still barely breathe. He coughed a few times before he managed to catch his breath enough to speak again. "Took off… a few scales. I don't think it likes my weapon very much."

He heard Harker chuckle a little at the words. "Well, I doubt the beast had witnessed a weapon that releases elemental damage like your switch axe does. Usually elemental strikes are more passive in other weapons, barring a few of the more powerful ones. I imagine it's not taking to a new threat very comfortably, considering its age and experience."

"So what do we do?"

"You aren't going to do anything, not for a little while," Harker replied quickly. "Drink some potions, patch your wounds, and then see if you can get back in the fight. Until then, I fear we'll have to leave the fighting to the bowgunners. Perhaps one of them can paralyze it for a little while or something. I'd use a flash bomb if I could, but the creature seems quick to destroy them before they can detonate. I've only got a couple left anyway."

"There must be something we can do, though," Levin growled as Harker leaned him up against one of the pillars, pulling out one of the potions and handing it to him. A pool of the dark blue fluid sat nearby, the surface shivering as explosions and roars rattled the stone spire. A flash of light caught Levin's attention as he drank the potion, as the Rathalos unleashed a wave of fire at the bowgunners. The three of them were all spread out though, and the wyvern couldn't get a solid hit on any of them.

"I don't think we can really do much at the moment, I fear," Harker replied, staring over at the battle. "The fight may turn in our favor if we can manage to damage the Rathalos' wings a bit, preventing it from flying so much. But once again, that leaves our hopes of survival entirely on the shoulders of the bowgunners."

Levin frowned in thought. "You sure you can't hit it with a flash bomb? You don't have to be too close, considering the power of those bombs you make. Those things could blind a Gigginox, and they don't even have eyes."

"Ah… well, actually, my last two are just regular, Guild-produced bombs," Harker replied sheepishly. "I haven't had much time to mix up new ones in the last few weeks."

"Well… what if we both threw them?"

"I don't see how that would-"

"At the same time?"

Harker paused, blinking in surprise at the suggestion. "Ah. Hm. Of course. That could work, couldn't it? The beast would certainly be quick enough to shoot one of the bombs out of the air, not both of them. And they may not be that powerful, but the Guild bombs should be potent enough to drop the Rathalos out of the sky… for a few moments at least. Hm. Yes, I think that could work just fine. Assuming we can pull it off, that is. Though I suppose we don't have many other options at the moment."

"Then let's get back to business, then," Levin said, pushing himself to his feet. Or trying to at least. His breathing came in bursts, his lungs still aching from the blast of hot air that had assaulted his lungs, and despite the potions he had taken, the burn wounds that lingered just under his armor ached horribly, making it hard for him to move without wincing, and the cracked rib wasn't helping. But he couldn't just give up…

"Ah, perhaps you should just wait a bit longer and rest up a bit more, my friend," Harker said quickly. "You're not exactly in excellent condition. You should wait a bit and let the potion's effects settle in a bit more, any try to patch up your burns if you can. This battle is a challenge, but it's not yet desperate enough to need us to ignore our injuries to win yet."

"What! I can't, Harker! You guys… I can't just leave you hanging here! I have to help!"

"No… no you really don't," Harker replied. "We can keep the Rathalos occupied and hurt him well enough without you my friend, long enough at least to let you heal up a bit."

"But-!"

"You know how I am perfectly capable of learning the weak spots of monsters and using them against them when it's required of me, Levin?" Harker cut in quickly, interrupting the switch axe user. Levin blinked in surprise, sputtering and uncertain how to reply. Harker looked down at Levin with a very serious look on his face. "For your information, Levin, I happen to possess the knowledge of several methods that can be used to incapacitate a human for a short amount of time, and I'm perfectly capable of using them on you if you persist in your desire to fight, despite the need to patch your wounds."

Levin was quiet for a moment, trying to figure out if the long sword user was serious. It was always so hard to tell when Harker was joking or not. He had a very good poker face. "Exactly… how many times have you needed to use these so-called methods?"

Harker grinned wickedly. "I've told you that I've looked in the Guild's restricted research section before, yes? The guards at the door sometimes aren't as easily convinced that I'm on confidential Guild business, and I must use… other methods to get through the door."

Still couldn't tell if he was joking… "Fine, I'll… I'll hold back a bit…"

"Good to hear, my friend," Harker nodded. "Now… I suggest you be quick, and leave the flash bomb issue to me. But do try and be quick, my friend. When you see the flashes, I suggest you hurry back to the battle if you can. If we're lucky, it will be our chance at getting the Rathalos out of the sky."

Levin grimaced in frustration as the long sword user hurried back into the fray, ready to act, if nothing else, as a good distraction to the Rathalos and give the huntresses the opportunity to fire upon the wyvern while its attention was elsewhere. Levin had to be quick if he wanted to get back into the fight and help. His armor had several gaps where the flames had managed to sneak through and burn his skin, and some of them would be tricky to patch without removing his armor in some places. But as he moved to unlatch his gauntlets, he realized that maybe Harker had been right for him to sit out for a moment to fix himself up; the burn wounds under his armor chaffed badly, making him feel like a monster was raking their claws against his skin. But though he wasn't going to go charging after the Rathalos in his condition, he still forced his way through the pain he felt in order to patch himself up.

As he proceeded to cover his wounds, he kept a close eye on the battle. Even though Harker returned to the fighting, the battle didn't seem to be turning in the hunters' favor any at all. Even with three bowgunners firing on the creature as it swept through the air, the wyvern's aerial mobility seemed unparalleled, and only one out of every three rounds that the huntresses fired seemed to hit its mark, and even then it was as though the Rathalos was moving so the shot would strike it only where its scales were thickest. And they still couldn't afford to use their more powerful round either, with the creature being able to dodge their attacks half the time. Harker seemed to be waiting patiently for Levin to patch up his burn wounds before doing whatever it was he planned to do with the flash bombs.

Levin hurried as quickly as he could to remove his armor and cover the burns, but it was a slow, painful process, popping open his armor in various places and patching up his injuries. He was thankful that the Rathalos seemed to forget about him for a moment, allowing him a chance to rest and recover. He wasn't sure anymore whether or not he'd actually be able to fight all that well anymore; Harker had been right, and the burns on his body were sure to slow him down if he weren't carful.

Right as he was unlatching the hooks on his chest piece to get to the seared skin bothering him on his waist, he noticed something odd. The pool of deep blue fluid that sat nearby his pillar was frothing oddly. A subtle red color seemed to be welling up from inside the depths. It felt like the pool was alive to Levin for a moment, and though he couldn't say why, he felt that the pool was swelling up in… anticipation.

But suddenly a rush of air swept around the sides of the pillar, and Levin cringed in fear. He edged his head around the corner of the pillar, and sure enough, the Rathalos and hunters had slowly been working their way over to where he was trying to recover. The hunters were obviously trying to pull the Rathalos further away from where Levin was, but the Rathalos just kept backing up towards Levin's hiding spot.

Then, as the wyvern sent a blaze of fire down towards Tenebris, it shot a quick look in Levin's direction, looking directly at him. Levin cursed in frustration. The Rathalos hadn't forgotten about him at all, it was just looking for the chance to make his way over to the pillar. Levin rushed to finish his patching, working quickly to cover the last of his burns before the wyvern covered the last distance. He barely took the time to make sure the bandages were attached before swinging his mail back into place and latching it together as quickly as he could.

And just barely in time, too. The moment after the last latch clicked shut, the Rathalos abruptly turned away from the other hunters and rushed through the air towards the pillar, swinging around the side of it with fire already licking at its maw. Levin yelped in surprise, quickly sliding around the side out of the Rathalos' sight, just as another wave of flames leapt from the creature's maw, smashing into and around the pillar and sending two streams of fire surging around each side of the pillar. Levin felt the flames licking at his shoulders and arms, wincing as the heat washed over him again. The sounds of bowgun fire echoed from the other side of the side of the pillar, and the Rathalos roared in frustration as rushed away as rounds pinged off its scales, working its way away from the column back towards the nearby pool of blue fluid.

Suddenly, from the corner of his eye, Levin saw Harker glance intently at him. Levin realized the meaning of the look, and nodded quickly. The long sword user shouted to the other hunters, and the bowgunners braced themselves as the hunter pulled a flash bomb from his pouch. As the Rathalos backed away, Harker rushed forward, before flinging the flash bomb low across the ground, sending it skidding towards the Rathalos across the spire. With a howl of irritation, the Rathalos unleashed a wave of fire at the clattering bomb, incinerating it completely in a blaze of fire.

However, even as the flames were reducing the first flash bomb to cinders, Harker had swiftly pulled the second flash bomb from his pouch, and with a grunt of effort, the long sword user hurled the second bomb up and over the flames that the Rathalos was firing, right towards the wyvern's face. The creature's eyes widened in surprise when it finally caught sight of the incoming tool, and it tried to pull its head up to raze the bomb to ash, but it wasn't quite quick enough, and a moment before the fire could hit the bomb, it erupted in a massive flash of light.

Levin winced as the flash bomb blinded him for a moment, thankful that the Guild bombs weren't nearly as powerful as the ones Harker liked to mix up. After just a few moments, the glare in his eyes was beginning to fade. However, the moment that the bomb had gone off the Rathalos had howled in pain as the bright light of the bomb had blinded it. As Levin's eyes began to clear, a loud splashing sound echoed across the spire, followed by a screech of fear. The sound of struggle and splashing came close behind, and as Levin's vision finally cleared, he caught sight of the Rathalos; the creature had dropped out of the sky and right into the pool of dark blue fluid that it had hovered over.

The Rathalos was struggling desperately to free itself from the pool, swinging its wings wildly in an attempt to pull itself out of the viscous fluid, but with its vision destroyed, it couldn't find a hold to pull itself free. Besides, the smooth surface of the spire was too pristine to even allow the creature a grip, even with the ruined aqueducts that littered the ground broken stones. And the blue fluid wasn't helping it either. The substance almost seemed to be grabbing hold of the creature, solidifying slightly into blue stone to grip the creature's body and trying to drag it under.

"Hit its wings!" Tenebris shouted, while at that moment sliding in several massive rounds. "Now!"

A moment later, the sound of bowguns firing from three different locations resounded across the spire, and round after heavy round slammed into the wyvern's wings, followed by a symphony of explosions from the multitude of incendiaries that erupted across the Rathalos' leathery wings. With a howl of pain, the Rathalos continued to struggle as the scales, plates, and webbing that lined its wide, powerful wings were shattered and ripped by the force of the rounds. The wyvern continued to howl in pain as the onslaught continued, round after round detonating across its wings. The explosions were so intense that neither Levin nor Harker could even get close to the down creature to attack it.

But finally, the Rathalos seemed to shake its head and its eyes finally began to focus again on the hunters around it, a new, hateful rage seething through it. With an exceptionally powerful burst of effort, the wyvern swung its wings forward, wedging the spines that tipped its wings against the stone floor, and forcefully dragged itself out of the pool. The fluid really did seem to cling tightly to the wyvern's body as it emerged from the pool, solidifying across the creature's body for a moment, before breaking apart into pieces of glass-like substance as they flaked off its body.

The onslaught of explosives had yet to dull though, and the creature winced painfully as the rounds continued to erupt across its wings and torso. Its leather wings were now torn and dotted with dozens of holes, and the brilliant silver luster that covered them was now shattered and flawed. Burns covered exposed flesh, and for the first time in the battle, the Rathalos appeared somewhat vulnerable.

For a moment though, the wave of explosions began to dwindle, and Harker and Levin saw their chance to rush the creature. The Rathalos still had its eyes on the bowgunners, howling furiously at them even as it was flinching back in pain, and nearly missed the two hunters' approach. Flames licked at the beast's mouth as the beast twisted its head to the side to snap at Levin. The switch axe user nearly got caught by flames again as a series of small bursts of flame burst from the wyvern's gullet, creating a small explosion just in front of its snout as it snapped at him. But Levin managed to stay just far enough away to avoid getting set on fire again, before grabbing the hilt of his blade, swinging it around, and sending it into sword mode in one motion.

As the blade struck the creature in the neck, the Rathalos roared in pain as the dark energy from the dragon phial lanced across the wyvern's scales. At the same time, Harker rushed in with his long sword, slicing at the wyvern's legs with a series of quick slashes. The Rathalos stumbled back in pain, nearly sliding back into the blue pool, but managing to keep itself from doing so. Smaller rounds from the bowgunners pelted the wyvern's body, the huntresses having changed to smaller caliber rounds to avoid harming the two blade swingers. For a moment, Levin thought that this was their chance to finally finish the beast off, as the Rathalos continued to wince and howl in pain and anger.

But the Rathalos abruptly spun around, swinging its tail at the two hunters up underneath it. Harker was caught by the bulk of the tail, fortunately being missed by the spines that lined the tip, but still taking a hard hit and getting sent skidding across the stone spire. Levin managed to avoid the tail for the most part, but the spines on the end of the tail caught him in the side, denting his armor plates and sending him sprawling to the ground in pain. The wyvern spun around to attack the downed hunter, flames licking at its maw again. But the creature's head was peppered with several pierce rounds, fired from Ellie's bowgun.

The Rathalos turned in rage, and with swiftness that Levin hadn't expected, the wyvern shot a lance of flame at the huntress that ripped across the earth with such speed that the bowgunner didn't even have time to dodge. The fire smashed into the huntress' shoulder, heating the woman's armor up and pulling a scream from her as she dropped to the ground in pain. More bowgun rounds fired at the Rathalos from the other two huntresses, trying to provide Ellie cover as Levin rushed over to her, trying to help her. The Rathalos was utterly enraged now, and it fired another gust of flame at the other two bowgunners, and despite the distance it was from them, a tidal wave of fire stormed across the spire, nearly catching both of them as they dove for cover. Even then they were caught by the fires before they could reach their hiding places, and they were stumbling before they could get behind cover.

The Rathalos continued to howl in fury at the damage that they'd done to it, sending a constant stream of fire roaring from its mouth at anything that moved. Levin managed to get to Ellie and help her to her feet, and continued to run as the fires swept their way again. Levin pushed Ellie ahead of him as the flames pressed behind them and Levin gasped in pain as the fire brushed against his legs, heating his armor painfully. But before the fires could completely envelop them, the pair of them managed to run behind one of the aqueduct columns, and the flames slammed into the other side, boxing them in on the other side as two walls of fire appeared on either side of them.

Immediately, Ellie slumped to the ground, clutching her shoulder in pain. Blackened burn marks covered a good portion of her left shoulder, coating her armor in ash. Levin quickly handed her a potion, and she drank it down greedily as the fire rushing past the sides of the pillar began to dwindle. But Ellie's frustration with the creature hadn't dwindled with her injury, and as the flames s died away, she quickly snapped around the corner and fired a couple rounds at the wyvern. But before the shots could hit their target, the Rathalos beat its wings powerfully, pushing itself up and into the air, and away from the rounds.

Levin cursed in frustration as the wyvern pushed itself further into the air; the Rathalos could still fly! However, it didn't seem that the creature could do so as well as before. It wobbled uncertainly in the air, just a bit off balance, and seemed worried by the whole issue. But it still managed to keep itself airborne and even managed to fly around a little.

The Rathalos craned its head back as it swept through the air above them, growling in anger at the holes that ruined its wings. The gurgling sound filled the air as the creature began to gather more flames to raze down upon the hunters. But the sound seemed a touch different to Levin this time; the gurgling was mixed with another sound, a twisted static-like sound like the crackling of electricity can from inside the creature's gullet. Out of the corner of his eye, Levin could see the massive pools of dark blue liquid suddenly begin to churn and froth wildly.

Flames licked the edges of the Rathalos' maw, but this time it appeared to have a sickly tint to it. The fire seemed to swell with shadows and darkness, the flames touched with a black color that seemed to seep with dangerous power. Bright crimson tendrils of energy also danced from the edges of the creature's fangs. With a howl of rage, the creature reared back, unleashing a massive wave of fire at the hunters. But what emerged from the wyvern's mouth could just barely be considered fire. The flames that blazed from the Rathalos' mouth were a dark wave of black and red energy. The hunters leapt away in fear at the blast of energy, and the black wave of power smashed into the solid stone platform, washing over a wide area as the blaze swept out in all directions. Levin nearly tripped over himself as the fires licked at his boots. His armor started to tingle as the energy snapped out, as though trying to catch hold of him, but he managed to get just out of the way before the energy engulfed him.

As the dark energy continued to sweep from the Rathalos' mouth, the churning and bubbling pools of fluid suddenly erupted as the dark energy washed over them, reacting to the dangerous power. It was though bombs had gone off inside the pools, the strange fluid exploding upwards, creating massive pillars of swirling blue and red liquid. It seemed that the fluid was catching the energy from the Rathalos' power as well, the dark energy seeping into the fluid and the red lances of electricity shooting through it.

At the same time, the sky suddenly seemed to grow darker around them, blotting out to what seemed like night. Levin looked around, terrified, before realizing that the sky hadn't gotten darker, but simply appeared dim compared to a new light that had appeared to the north of them. In the center of the spire, where the tall towers climbed up to the sky, a bright blue glow was swelling up, growing brighter and brighter at the center, making the tower itself seem to be glowing a deep azure. The light continued to swell brighter and brighter, until even the sun seemed dim in comparison, and when Levin thought the entire structure was sure to vaporize under the intensity of it all, the light twisted and bent, twirling and spinning around the tower, until finally it erupted, firing up into the sky in a massive, blazing pillar or energy and radiance. The glow inside of the tower finally seemed to dim as the pillar fired into the sky, glowing in brilliant radiance that could be seen for miles and miles. Levin would have found the whole thing absolutely stunning, if the Rathalos weren't still breathing its terrible black flames down on them.

It seemed like hours, but the Rathalos' flames finally cut out, and the dark energy dissipated. The dark blue liquid in the pools continued to churn and swell, though the attack had ended. It was as though the liquid had been brought to life, and was trying to escape the confines of its pools, but was simply not able to do so. Waves of the substance crashed against the edges of their confines, flinging viscous fluid over the tips only to have them roll back into the pools from the tilt of the earth.

"Dragon element!" Tenebris said in shock. "It's using dragon element!"

"What? How?!" Kerry shouted in stunned reply.

"Its age… if this is the same Rathalos that Ellie said she saw back before she was crystalized, that means this thing is positively ancient! As old as any elder dragon, who knows what kind of powers it's discovered over the years!"

A low, rumbling growl curled through the air, like the Rathalos was laughing. Ellie hissed in anger next to Levin as she glared at the wyvern, still sweeping through the air, mockingly out of reach of their attacks. But as Ellie held up her bowgun to fire once more, she paused, tilting her head in confusion. Levin suddenly realized that the hissing sound hadn't cut off, and seemed to be growing increasingly louder. The hunters turned quickly, searching for the sound.

The pools of viscous blue fluid was still reacting dangerously, but now it seemed to be doing more than just writhing and twisting in reaction to the dragon element. It seemed to be growing upwards, swelling with… something. Levin felt as though the air was drying out, like he was back in the desert again rather than in the mountains. The Rathalos swept through the air as the pools grew, dodging the splashes of dark liquid that sprayed into the air every now and then. Then, when it seemed the pool was about to spill over, the Rathalos unleashed a massive wave of red-hot flames, this time without the dark dragon energy, right into the swelling pool.

The next moment Levin felt that he had been blinded. As soon as the flames touched the churning pool, a cloud of steam erupted up from the pool. The steam swept out from the pool with such speed, volume and ferocity, that less than a second after the Rathalos' flames touched the swirling black mass, the steam razed past the hunters, coating a massive area in white.

Levin gasped in pain as the hot steam bit into his flesh. The pain was quickly over, though, as the cool air of the mountain rapidly chilled the steam. But somehow the steam didn't dissipate at all, and continued to linger eerily, switching from painful steam to cold, thick fog. Levin could hardly see through the fog at all; Ellie was only a few yards away from him, yet she was hazy to see.

The sound of the Rathalos flying around could still be heard, though. However, the fog was so thick that both of the hunters could only look around frantically in hopes of catching sight of the beast. For a split second, Levin thought he could see the wyvern through the thick fog, but even then, it was only the beast's bright red eyes and the flames licking its lips, then they were gone a moment later. Levin and Ellie flinched as the sound of flames ripped through the air not far away. Both the hunters could just barely make out a small glimmer of light through the fog where the Rathalos was unleashing a wave of fire. A moment later the fog seemed to shift, and a wave of warmth crept through the fog for a moment before the cool air chilled it once more.

"It… the Rathalos is making the fog?" Ellie asked, stunned. "It… how?"

"It's those pools," Levin replied. "It's reacting to the dragon element and doing… something."

The sound of bowgun fire blasted through the fog off to the north of the hunters, followed by the sound of the Rathalos roaring, and the crackling sound of fire. A dark light raged through the fog as the Rathalos unleashed another wave of the dragon energy at one of the other hunters. Immediately Ellie's bowgun snapped in the direction of the light, firing a pierce round in the beast's direction. There was a quiet clanging sound off in the distance, signaling that the round had hit its target, but the Rathalos didn't seem to react at all to the impact.

"What do we do now, then?" Ellie asked, pulling back and reloading her gun. "We can barely see five yards in front of us, and that Rathalos' silver scales make it nearly impossible to see unless it's right next to us."

"I guess we know now how it managed to be so damn sneaky, stealing all those Aptonoth from Nastre," Levin replied.

The sound of the creature's wings suddenly swept closer to the hunters, and the pair yelped in surprise as a set of glowing red eye appeared in the mist above them; the Rathalos materialized out of nothing, fire already licking its maw. The two hunters scrambled away quickly as a thick blast of dark fire sprayed from the Rathalos' mouth, smashing into the ground and rolling after them. But they had been caught too off guard, and the dragon energy caught up with them just before they could get out of range.

Levin gasped in pain as the dark energy smashed into him. This was a pain he remembered! The black and red voltage seared through his body and armor, hardly blocked at all by the solid Rathian scales. Both he and Ellie screamed in pain as the powerful energy knocked them painfully to the ground, gasping for breath. The Rathalos cut off its blaze of dragon fire, and Levin tried to force himself back to his feet. However, his body was no longer letting him move as freely as he wanted to; his armor seemed to resist his movement, making it a challenge for him to get up. The joints in the armor seemed to tighten and twist as the dark energy seeped through it, refusing to dissipate and sparking through his armor like static. A roar of victory rattled across the spire as the Rathalos swept down towards the ground, intent on finishing the job.

The creature lowered itself towards the earth, straining itself to do so. Apparently the creature's damaged wings were still bothering it, and as it landed near the two hunters, the creature's face seemed filled with relief. It was strange trying to look at the creature; even at only a dozen or so yards away, the wyvern was tricky to see. Even with both of its wings damaged, the shining silver scales made the creature hazy to see through the fog, half-vanishing from sight. The only part of the beast that could be seen very clearly at all was the creature's bright red eyes, and the dark flames that licked at its maw.

Both Levin and Ellie were trying desperately to crawl away from the Rathalos, but neither of them were having much luck. The pure pain that the dragon fire had inflicted on them was enough of a hindrance, but the lasting effect, known as the 'Dragonblight' as Tenebris had called it, was another issue to deal with altogether. The joints of their armor seemed to have trouble moving, as though they were stuck together, and it took a lot of energy to do much of anything, energy they had very little of after taking a hit from the dragon breath.

Though neither of them had the energy to run away, Ellie apparently still had the tenacity to fight, as the Rathalos walked towards her. Once the creature was only a few yards away, she quickly swung around, bowgun at the ready, and immediately fired point blank at the Rathalos' face. The wyvern reeled in surprise at the desperate attack, wincing back as the rounds shattered scales along its crest and neck. But it was only a couple rounds before the chamber was empty, and it would take a moment for the bowgunner to reload, time that they really didn't have. As Ellie struggled to remove the spent shells from the chamber, the Rathalos growled in frustration, before rushing the last few feet, intent on running her down and finishing her off.

But before it could sink its teeth into the bowgunner, two bursts of light and a rush of motion came at the Rathalos through the fog. Several bowgunner rounds smashed into the wyvern's flank and side, breaking scales and piercing flesh. The Rathalos flinched and began to stumble, and a moment later, Harker appeared right next to the creature's leg, his long sword slashing out and cutting at the creature's ankles, finally tripping the beast up and bringing it to the ground. As the wyvern slammed into the stone spire, it just barely missed landing on top of Ellie, and the huntress sighed thankfully, before quickly scooting away from the fallen wyvern.

Levin moved to pull out his switch axe. He had to attack now, while he had the chance! But before he could get the chance to even draw his blade, Harker rushed towards him and grabbed Levin by the arm, dragging him away from the fallen creature as the wyvern struggled to push itself upright. Kerry was doing the same for Ellie, much to Ellie's frustration; the bowgunner was shouting in anger, wanting to attack. Tenebris pushed forward though, and Levin realized that attacking would have been a bad idea; as their handler began firing rounds at the Rathalos, the wyvern suddenly unleashed a wave of flames at the huntress, even without its footing underneath it.

Tenebris was caught almost completely unawares by the sudden attack, and the Rathalos' disorientation was the only thing that kept her from taking the full force of the blaze. The fire still hit her in the side as she turned to dash away though, and Levin heard her yelping in pain and panic as the cloth in her armor was set ablaze, and the Dragonblight took hold of her armor as well, making it a challenge for her to move. Harker was pulling Levin in her direction anyway, and as the two hunters passed by her on their way to the nearest pillar, the two blade swingers each grabbed hold of the huntress' armor and dragged her away from the flailing Rathalos.

Harker handed both of the other hunters a couple potions once they were out of the Rathalos' range, which both of them accepted gratefully; that dragon breath hurt like hell! Only the sight of the black flames creating a swath of destruction through the fog was all they could see of the creature, and a few moments later, the wyvern managed to regain its feet, and the black flames cut off at last. Then the Rathalos was as good as invisible again, its silver scales allowing it to vanish into the haze. The hunters glanced around fearfully as the sound of muted footsteps and low growls echoed through the fog. But it was a challenge for them to tell the direction of the sound. The hunters continued to look around, searching for the source of the beast, and the sounds began to grow closer.

"Behind us!" Tenebris suddenly shouted. Levin and Harker snapped around, and sure enough, a pair of bright red eyes peered at them menacingly through the haze, hovering over a wavering collection of black flames. The Rathalos burst forward towards the hunters, its massive shape appearing through the haze, closing the distance quickly as flames welled up in its gullet. The hunters didn't even consider trying to meet the creature's charge, and dove for the nearest column, a tall, nearly perfect condition pillar with a large pool of the blue fluid nearby, the three of them just barely making it behind the safety of the stone pillar before black flames erupted from the Rathalos' mouth, roiling across the ground towards them in a wave of black destruction.

"I'm beginning to grow suspicious of how powerful this Rathalos really is," Harker muttered as the three braced themselves behind the pillar, black and crimson flames sweeping past them on both sides. Levin winced as the nearby pool reacted to the dragon fire, lancing up into the air in an attempt to grab at the searing black energy, several drops splashed out, landing near them and solidifying into rough blue stones.

"What do you mean?" Levin snapped, wincing as a crackle of dark energy sparked across his gauntlet, leaping across his armor. The hunter pulled his hand away from the edge, rubbing his wrist in irritation as the joints twitched and tightened on his body. "Are you fighting the same battle as I am? This Rathalos sure as hell seems more powerful than anything we've ever fought before! All three bowgunners unloaded more explosives on it than I've ever seen, and all we did was poke some holes in it and make it angry! And now it's spitting dragon element at us?"

"Haven't you been paying attention to the thing at all?" Harker asked incredulously.

"We can't all be as obsessively perceptive as you are, Harker! Besides, I've been a little preoccupied with staying alive rather than noticing this things every nuance!"

"Come on now, Levin, that's one of the most important things to do whilst hunting! Don't you remember the Diablos we fought together back during the hunters' exam? If I hadn't paid close attention to the thing, we might never have brought it down!"

"Well, that's why we have you around! As I recall, me and Ellie nearly got ourselves killed during that test while you sat back and watched! I'll leave the monster watching to you, thank you very much!"

"Would you two shut up?!" Tenebris snapped. "I don't think now's the time for this kind of argument! Just tell us what you think you've discovered about this thing, Harker!"

"Hmm… well, for starters, it seems uncomfortable using that dragon element. It's slight, but the beast seems to wince with every use of that dark power it uses."

"Winces don't exactly help us take down a wyvern with the same firepower as an elder dragon, Harker."

"Perhaps not, Miss Tenebris, but it does show us something entirely useful. The beast may be able to use dragon element, but if using the power wounds it while it's using it, that must mean that it's exceptionally weak to dragon element."

"So how does that help us?" Levin asked. "All we've got that can use dragon element are those shots Tenebris brought with her and…" Levin paused, glancing over his shoulder at the hilt of his switch axe. "Ah. Right."

"You're becoming rather perceptive, my friend," Harker said with a smirk. "Perhaps there's hope for you yet."

"Oh, shut up," Levin replied with a smirk, before blinking in surprise as the black fire suddenly cut off. The hunter glanced warily around the side of the pillar, and his jaw dropped when he realized that the wyvern had vanished again. He looked around, searching for where the beast had gone, when Harker suddenly shouted a warning as the Rathalos swept rushed at them through the fog, more dark fire already jetting from its mouth.

This time Levin took note before diving around the pillar again, and saw the wyvern wince in pain as the energy rushed from its gullet. Once again, the dark blue pool burst to life, rising up to try and suck up the energy again. As he, Harker, and Tenebris braced themselves on the other side of the pillar, he continued their conversation. "So I can use my blade's energy detonation to wound it, maybe even ground it for a little while. But first we have to get it to hold still long enough for me to hit it. Any suggestions for how we can do that? It barely holds still long enough for the bowgunners to hit it, and you used up the last of your flash bombs earlier. Then there's its vanishing trick, which is a whole new mess of its own. Got any other brilliant ideas?"

"I… am still working on that," Harker replied sheepishly. "But I'm sure I can think of something between now and before the creature manages to cook me like meat on a spit. Just be ready to blow a hole in its flank when the opportunity arises."

"You're so encouraging."

"Thank you."

"Look, how about this," Tenebris cut in, "one… or both of you distract it, while I find Ellie and Kerry. I'll give them some dragon shot-"

"I don't think Ellie's bowgun can use that…" Levin muttered.

"Fine! Just Kerry, then, and I'll give Ellie some of my extra Crag rounds. You two keep it distracted for a bit, and when we see a chance to attack, we'll hit it with the dragon shot, and if it's really weak to the element like you said, it should do enough damage to hurt it enough to at least slow it down, right?"

"Possibly," Harker replied honestly.

"Well… 'possibly' will have to be enough, then," Tenebris said. She glanced around as the black flames cut off again. "See if you can blow a hole in it if we can trip it up then, preferably in a place we can shoot. At the very least, maybe it'll hurt it enough to chase it away."

"I think that might me a little… ack! Run!" A shimmer in the mist and a couple of small red dots were all the warning the three hunters had before a black fireball roared through the mist towards them. The three dove away from the pillar, and the shockwave from the explosion nearly knocked them off their feet as the black ball smashed into the column, hitting it so hard that a massive crack shot up the center of the pillar, even though it was made of the Meridian's impossibly solid stone. The pool of fluid swelled especially high this time, nearly grabbing hold of Levin before stopping and swirling back into its hole. The Rathalos howled in anger at the miss, before backing up a ways, vanishing once again into the fog.

"Levin… Levin! This way!" Harker hissed, motioning him away from where Tenebris stood. Levin sprinted awkwardly across the spire towards where the long sword user stood, looking warily around through the fog for signs of the Rathalos. The only sign that the beast was still around was the low rumble of footsteps and the Rathalos' low growling echoing through the haze.

"What if it goes after Tenebris instead of us?" Levin hissed worriedly.

"I suppose it might," Harker speculated. "Chasing the hunter that is by themself would be the most tactical choice."

"But?"

"I don't have a reason why it should choose to come after us if that's what you're looking for. Though… her armor is far less visible in this mist than ours is. Perhaps she can vanish in this fog a little easier than we can, and the Rathalos will come after us instead. And I suppose the Rathalos knows that she has more maneuverability and range than you and I do. So… the odds might be pretty even. Though maybe it's more likely to come for us."

"And why is that?"

Harker smirked at him. "Because we're the ones talking and making a lot of noise."

"Ah." Sure enough, the sound of footsteps seemed to creeping closer and closer to him and Harker. The growling had cut off as well, and the Rathalos seemed to be trying to move silently through the area, in an attempt to sneak up on… someone.

"Then of course," Harker said, "with you having that dragon element weapon, the beast could get the idea to take out one of its biggest threats while he's relatively alone…"

The footsteps of the monster suddenly began to speed up in the fog around them, and the spire below them began to quake a little bit. The hunters looked around quickly, searching for some sign of the Rathalos' red eyes, or a hint of the dark fire the creature favored to throw around. However, rather than fire, the Rathalos had decided instead to choose a more personal approach. From the side, the Rathalos suddenly charged through the haze in a bum rush towards the hunters, its eyes closed tight to prevent the hunters from catching sight of them through the fog. Levin was so thrown off guard by the creature's change in tactics that he was almost run down by the beast as it plowed past him, and just barely managed to jump out of the way in time. The Rathalos continued to sprint for another couple seconds, before suddenly sliding to a stop and spinning to face them, its eyes open again and growling in irritation at missing. It gave a quick beat of its wings, pushing itself backwards through the air, and vanished through the fog again.

"Well, it's on us now," Harker muttered. "Whether that's a good or bad thing is yet to be seen, though."

"So how do we-" Levin began, but was cut off as a massive black fireball suddenly flew through the air, sailing past the two hunters off to their right. Levin and Harker watched it sail off through the fog before looking at each other in confusion. "What was that about? It missed."

"I… couldn't say," Harker replied uncertainly. "I suppose it could be trying to keep itself out of sight by attacking from a distance, but then, if it did that, it's not really going to be able to see us either, so… pot shots? Maybe it's-"

Suddenly a massive wave of black fire swept out of the fog, rolling close to the ground. Both of the hunters yelped in surprise and bolted in the other direction as the direction.

"Or maybe it wanted us to talk so it could get a bead on us!" Harker yelped. Another fireball roared out of the haze behind them, this time soaring only a few feet to their right.

"Then stop yelling!" Levin snapped, and another fireball actually went right between them.

"You're one to talk!" This one smashed into the ground not five yards behind Harker, and the long sword user was knocked forward, just barely keeping his feet under him and forcing to shout in pain as a tendril of the dark lightning lanced out and caught his leg, simultaneously making the cloth in his armor burst into flame. The hunter yelped in surprise, trying both to run from the incoming black fire and pat himself out at the same time.

And suddenly they were blinded. Levin gasped in shock as bright light filled his vision, and he immediately stumbled, crashing into the ground. A good thing he did, too, because he felt the searing heat of one of the dark fireballs soar right over him as he rolled across the ground. Harker hadn't fared much better, either, and Levin could hear the long sword user smack the ground nearby, before the sound of him furiously patting the fire on his armor could be heard.

Levin winced against the glare as he quickly pushed himself up again, but his vision was returning quickly enough and soon he realized where the light had come from: it was the sun! The sky was clear again! The fog was just… gone. He turned around quickly, and blinked in surprise. Behind them was a massive wall of the fog, just… hovering there. Levin looked both ways along the wall of fog, and saw that to the south side of the spire, the massive blanket of fog was pouring over the sides of the spire and cascading down the mountains, likely towards the valley where Hearth lay. He and Harker had somehow made their way over to the western side of the spire, and the fog, while thick and heavy, seemed to be making its way down the mountain rather than spreading across the spire.

"Well, this is strange," Harker muttered, finally getting back to his feet. His leggings were blackened with ash from the fire, and sparks of dark energy were dancing along his armor. "I've never seen fog act so oddly. Perhaps it's because it is artificial in nature… And this, what did Miss Tenebris call it, Dragonblight? It's quite the hindrance, isn't it? Perhaps the theories were true, and it really is magnetizing my armor? I wonder…"

"Now might not be the best time, Harker," Levin reminded his friend.

"Ah, yes. Perhaps you're right," Harker muttered. A low, seething growling sound emanated from the fog, and just beyond the wall of haze, a pair of furious red eyes stared out at the two blade masters. The creature's head couldn't have been more than a couple yards past where the fog began, and still Levin could only make out the vaguest outline of the wyvern through the haze. The creature's eyes swung left and right, in search of the other hunters, perhaps, but Levin and Harker were the only ones that had gotten free of the fog. In fact, neither of the hunters had any idea at all where the other hunters were at all. With all the fog, they very well could've been on the far other side of the spire. Apparently though, the Rathalos liked its odds. With a challenging growl, the wyvern stepped out of the haze, appearing clearly before their eyes for the first time in a while. Black fire already licked the creature's lips as it made its way towards them.

"Well, if we're going to distract it, now would be the most opportune time to do so, my friend," Harker said, pulling further away from the fog and reaching for the hilt of his long sword. The Rathalos' gave a low, rumbling growl that sounded eerily like amused laughter. Levin did the same, unsheathing his switch axe, and the laughter vanished, replaced by a threatening grumbling.

With a quick motion, the Rathalos suddenly fired another black fireball at the pair of hunters, aiming it to hit the spire directly between them. Levin and Harker dove away from the impact zone, but just as soon as the fireball had left the wyvern's mouth, the Rathalos had begun to charge, heading straight towards Levin as the switch axe user turned to face the charging creature. Levin moved to dodge the charge, but before reaching him, the Rathalos came to a halt, then turned to swing its tail around at him. Levin yelped in surprise, dropping his body to the ground and just barely ducking under the spines that lined the creature's tail.

As the Rathalos swung around, Harker rushed in from the side, swinging his long sword at the beast's ankles as he tried to bring it down. But the wyvern's scales were thick, and most of his swings deflected off harmlessly. Had he been able to reach the creature's wings, that might have made it easier, but most of the plates that lined the Rathalos' lower body were still whole and unmarred, giving the creature a powerful defense to break through. The Rathalos turned on the hunter, a short burst of flame crackling from its jaws as it snapped at Harker with its fangs. The blast of flame caught the long sword user unawares, and sent Harker sprawling back across the spire, his armor once again burning.

Levin rushed forward to help his friend, but the Rathalos was ready for him before he even got close. Black fire leapt from the wyvern's mouth, spraying across the stone towards him. Levin winced back as the flames brushed up against him, sending dark energy searing into his armor. His legs nearly gave out from under him as the energy tweaked his armor, making it hard for him to move. Even so, once the fire cut off, Levin pushed forward a little bit more, surprising the Rathalos as he got close enough to swing at the beast.

The Rathalos was quick; Levin only managed to nick the wyvern's face with his weapon as the creature gave a powerful beat of its wings and pushed itself airborne. The quick spike of dragon element that sparked from Levin's switch axe seemed to affect the Rathalos though, and several of the scales near its jaw actually seemed to loosen up a little. For a moment it wobbled in the air, but gained its balance again. Then without any warning at all, the wyvern lunged straight through the air towards Levin as the hunter tried to sling his weapon back into its sheath.

Levin shouted in pain as the wyvern smashed into him, its talons forcing him backwards down to the ground. With a leap, the creature spun around, pinning the hunter to the ground before he could even get himself up. Levin groaned in pain as the wyvern's great weight came down entirely on his arms. The Rathalos howled excitedly as it looked down at the switch axe user, black fire dancing at its teeth. Slimy drool dripped from the creature's fangs, and it looked down at Levin hungrily.

"Get the hell off him, you damn monster!"

The Rathalos blinked in surprise at the voice, turning its head to look around as the sound of bowgun fire exploded through the fog. Three shells soared out of the haze at the creature, smashing into its neck and chest, one of them a large explosive round, and the other two glowing with a dark black and red color. The larger round slammed into the Rathalos right at the base of the wyvern's neck, while the other two shots smashed into the creature's back. The Rathalos howled in pain as the dragon shots hit it; upon striking the wyvern the round seemed to activate some power, and the rounds suddenly began to actually drill into the Rathalos' back, tearing through the scales and piercing into its body, releasing small pulses of dragon element as it went. The Rathalos cried out in pain, stumbling back off of Levin a moment before the Crag round detonated on its neck, sending glittering shards of silver scales flying everywhere.

Several more rounds came at the wyvern as the creature staggered and Levin pushed himself to his feet, fighting through the pain to get away. He could hear Ellie cursing at the Rathalos as she continued to fire at the creature, unloading round after explosive round at the beast that had haunted her dreams for so long. The Rathalos continued to stumble back further and further as the bowgunners appeared through the fog, firing their weapons at the creature. Ellie was pushing far closer than the other two huntresses were, a glare of anger on her face as she fired upon the Rathalos, firing and reloading her weapon at a breakneck pace.

The Rathalos howled in anger as it turned on the bowgunners. The wyvern fought through the assault of fire, pushing towards the huntresses. The three bowgunners pulled back in shock at the Rathalos' attacking through the fire, but didn't get far enough back before the creature inhaled and fired another wave of fire at them. This time though, there was something different about the blaze. Black and red still tinted the fire, but not as completely as it had before. The normal orange and yellow flames were returning again. The attack was still enough to push back the bowgunners, though, and the dragon power strong enough to knock all three of the hunters off their feet and tumbling back towards the fog, with dark energy sparking across their armors. The attack was lessened by the loss of some of the dragon energy, but it was still plenty to hit the bowgunners hard, making it a struggle for them to get to their feet.

Levin pulled out his weapon, ready to run interference if the Rathalos decided to go after the bowgunners while they were down, but was surprised to find the creature still standing in the same place. The Rathalos was gasping for breath, and drool was sliding out of its mouth as it wobbled a bit where it stood. The creature had obviously not expected this much of a challenge from the hunters, and was getting very worn out from the damage it was taking, combined with the exertion of using the dragon fire. If there was a time for Levin to attack…

The switch axe user charged forward, ignoring the strain and the damage from when the Rathalos had landed on him, and switching his weapon to its sword mode. The Rathalos heard him coming, and turned to face him, weary challenge in its expression. Flames, this time with hardly any of the dragon fire tainting them, licked its lips as it moved to shoot another jet of flame at the hunter, but as its head snapped forward, there was only the smallest puff of fire, that barely shot a foot out of the creature's maw. The Rathalos grunted in surprise, and tried to step away, but Levin was already on it, swinging his switch axe up, smashing it into the wyvern's side, and pressing the release button on the dragon phial.

Dark energy matching that of the Rathalos swelled through the weapon, searing through the core of the weapon and out of tubes at the end of the blade and into the Rathalos' body. The wyvern howled in pain and stumbled back as the tremendous energy poured from the blade and under its scales, growing in intensity as the phial emptied its stores, but Levin pushed forward, pushing the blade into the creature's hide as scales and plates shattered around it. Finally, the energy release reached its maximum, and the dragon phial released one last, massive surge of energy, a powerful wave of dragon energy that crashed into the Rathalos' body and detonated in an explosion of black and red energy.

Levin was thrown backwards by the force of the blast, trying to keep his balance as his weapon's safeties activated and the weapons hissed, automatically returning the weapon to its axe mode. The Rathalos however, was hit far harder as the dark energy coursed through it. Shining scales and plates were broken free and rained down as the dragon element ripped apart its armor. A shock of red voltage swept through the wyvern's body as it stumbled, and Levin watched in surprise as the creature's very scales seemed to shift, spreading apart a little near where the blast of energy had hit it. The Rathalos' thick scales, once an insurmountable defense, now seemed less than they were, spread out and easier to breach. If he could just get in there and attack again…

But suddenly the Rathalos bellowed in rage, so powerfully that Levin, even with his sound-dampening armor, winced painfully at the sound. Black energy surged back in full force in the wyvern's maw, and two furious eyes turned to glare at Levin. The creature's maw swelled with dark energy as the beast swung towards him, ready to unleash the full force of its flames on him.

Before it could unleash its flames, however, several rounds of bowgun fire shot past Levin's head, smashing into the creature's side near where Levin had struck with the force of his dragon phial. The scales had spread and loosened across the creature's chest from the effects of the dragon element, and both the dragon shots and the Crag round broke through the scales easily as they smashed into the beast, the dragon shots' dark energy pressing them into the creature's body and the Crag round detonating with furious force, sending the wyvern staggering back.

Levin was knocked on his back, he was too close to the round as it had detonated, but he quickly crawled away, dragging his weapon behind him as bowgun shots continued to pound into the creature, one after the other, in a constant barrage of dark energy and blasts of fire.

The Rathalos howled in pain and fear at the onslaught, its thick plates and scales no longer defending it as they had before. The dragon rounds were only exacerbating things as well, their own energy further weakening the scales where they hit and making the wyvern take even greater damage. The Rathalos tried to leap away, but the waves of fire kept coming. Finally, with a howl of desperation, the wyvern spread its wings and pushed itself skyward, its eyes sweeping desperately around, trying to decide whether to try and escape into the fog or to fly away completely. Its wings didn't seem quite sound enough to make it a great distance.

Three simultaneous rounds crashed into the Rathalos as it tried desperately to escape, an explosive Crag round crashing into and detonating across the beast's back, and two dragon elemental rounds piercing into the beast's thick wing bones and sending dark energy through its body as the rounds drilled the energy further into its body. This time, the powerful rounds were too much for the creature to handle, and the Rathalos' wings spasmed violently, sending the beast plummeting out of the air. With a sickening crash, the wyvern's body crashed down not a dozen yards from the edge of the spire and only a couple yards from one of the deep blue pools, and actually managed to create a sizable crack in the near indestructible stone.

The creature reeled, roaring in pain as it struggled back to its feet, but Ellie rushed forward furiously, already loading another incendiary into her weapon's chamber and tailing after the beast. Dark black and red energy tainted the flames that lined the Rathalos' mouth as the creature turned to face her, anxious to strike before the huntress could strike first, but the wyvern was close enough to one of the nearby pools of blue fluid that the substance reacted, crystalizing and shooting out of the pool to latch onto the creature's chest, spreading hungrily for the Rathalos' mouth to steal away the dark energy from inside it.

The Rathalos reeled back, trying desperately to pull away from the fluid that was assaulting it as the crystalline material spread across its face, but Ellie used the moment to her advantage, firing the last of her Cluster rounds at the creature's face. The Rathalos heard the shot, and a jet of black flame shot from the creature's mouth as it tried to locate the source of the shot and detonate the blast before it could hit, but the wyvern's aim was just off, and the shot slid along the edge of the flame, like a boat coursing over the churning waves of the ocean. The round continued to soar through the air, before finally colliding with the Rathalos' head. The first detonation made the wyvern flinch backwards in pain, and the following blasted across the creature's wings, tearing wide holes into the weakened leathery webbing.

The Rathalos stepped further and further back as Ellie continued to load more rounds into her weapon, as Kerry and Tenebris fired the last of the dragon element rounds at the wyvern. The Rathalos continued to step back, trying to shield itself from the rounds that struck him, but not being able to fight back against the dangerous element. Finally, it had gone as far as it could manage, its feet against the edge of the spire, nothing but a long drop behind it. A pierce round caught the Rathalos' leg then, and the monster's wince then carried the leg over the edge.

A look of shock covered the Rathalos' face as gravity took hold of it, carrying the rest of the beast over the edge of the spire when its leg failed to find a hold. Immediately it beat its wings wildly, desperate to stay aloft, but the damage it had taken from the explosives and other rounds had left the creature's wings in tatters, and with a sickening ripping sound, the last vestiges of tension that was holding the webbing together gave way, and the Rathalos' wings tore straight in half. The creature screamed in panic as its wings failed to lift him up, and the beast toppled over the edge, dropping off the side of the spire.

The hunters hurried to the edge of the spire as a horrified howl of terror echoed from over the side. As Levin reached the side, he looked over and caught sight of the Rathalos tumbling wildly through the air, trying to save itself from the fall. Nothing was below it but clouds and jagged cliffs. As it twisted in the air, it spread its wings, trying desperately to right itself in air, but every time it stretched its wings out, they refused to catch the air properly. It managed to glide a little, but it wasn't nearly enough to save the wyvern as it fell out of the sky.

With a resounding crack that was loud enough to be heard from the top of the spire, the silver Rathalos crashed into a stone cliff jutting out from one of the mountains, sliding across the stone and tumbling over itself. Its momentum was enough to carry it even beyond that, though, and the wyvern slid right over the edge once more, tumbling over and over in the air as it fell out of the sky, gravity carrying it downwards as its wings failed it. Finally, the Rathalos vanished below the clouds that continued to pour over the sides of the spire, still plummeting down out of the sky towards its death. Its horrified howls continued to echo through the skies for much longer though, and it was several minutes before silence finally filled the air.

Ellie was the first to move, her weariness and relief overwhelming her as she sank to her knees, gasping for air. "We beat it… we actually beat it."

A moment later the rest of the hunters were on the ground as well, the toll of the fight getting the better of them. As the adrenaline drained away, their wounds and bruises came back at them in full force. They had all suffered heavy injuries from the creature, thanks to its ability to use its dragon element. The power just had a way to seep into you and drain you of strength, while searing you at the same time. Even through the armor that they wore, the dragon element had left painful burns across their bodies. All of them had fallen prey to the dragon fire at least a couple of times, and none of them were keen on moving about until they'd patched themselves up.

Levin, Ellie, and Harker had taken the worst beating of them all, having gotten close enough to suffer the Rathalos' physical assaults as well as its dragon breath. Levin had several broken ribs, but was lucky to not have had his arm or legs broken when the Rathalos had leapt on top of him. Harker's shoulder and arm were badly sprained from taking a hit from the Los' tail, and Ellie had a couple broken ribs of her own to contend with from the Rathalos' brutal hit on her from the battle.

The group of five stayed on top of the spire for several hours, patching themselves up what they could, and just resting and trying to recover. Nearly all of their bandages and potions were used up fighting against their injuries, especially the grievous burns that the dragon fire had inflicted on them. Every burnt patch of skin needed covering to keep their wounds from infection and protected from the friction of their armor, and in the end they had but a single roll of gauze remaining for their trip down the mountain. Their armor was a challenge to remove to patch themselves up; apparently Harker's suspicion on how Dragonblight worked was fairly accurate. Their armor joints seemed magnetized to each other, and were a struggle to remove to tend to their wounds. But the effects were wearing off slowly, and they would be able to travel soon enough.

Even then, they didn't make ready to leave the spire until very late in the afternoon. The fog that lingered over the top of the spire had slowly been dissipating as they'd tended their wounds, sliding over the southwest side and down into the valley where Nastre lay, and it was finally getting thin enough for the group of hunters to find their way through the haze to where they'd gotten onto the spire in the first place. Harker seemed disappointed that he wouldn't be able to go off and study the tower that stretched to the sky in the center of the spire, but was perfectly content with leaving and returning to Nastre to fully recover.

Ellie had kept her eyes on the cliff the Rathalos had fallen off of for most of the time since they'd defeated the wyvern. As they walked away from their resting spot, looking for the place to jump down, she frowned in concern.

"Do you think… are you sure we actually killed it?" she asked. "It was still alive when it fell, and as tough as it was, maybe the fall wouldn't have killed it."

"I doubt it survived," Harker replied. "As strong as the beast was, with its wings in the condition they were in, it wouldn't have been able to effectively slow itself down, and would have hit the ground hard."

"I'll have to agree with that," Tenebris added. "I've seen a few of these odd monsters before, the ones that change color as they grow old. They're tough, but not invincible. In the condition that Rathalos was in, I don't think it would have survived the fall. If it was still in good condition, if we'd only damaged its wings then knocked it off the edge, then maybe it would have survived the fall. But after everything we did to it… I think the impact will likely have killed it. And if worse comes to worst, once we tell Stergo what happened here, he'll likely send some hunters this way to make certain that the Rathalos is dead."

Ellie grimaced in frustration as they managed to find the point where they could get down. "Even so," Ellie said, climbing over the side. "I wish we could have killed it ourselves. I wish I could have at least carved something off it. Just a scale to keep as a memento or something like it."

"Maybe it's for the best," Tenebris said as she leapt off the spire to the path below. "After all, considering how you're supposed to be avoiding calling attention to yourselves, it'll be better if people don't find out about this whole mess. I mean, just imagine it! People hardly ever see silver Rathalos in this area of the world, or any area, for what I've heard. If people found out you four had managed to take one down, even with my help, people, _lots_ of people, would take notice. So, for now, people will just have to… be amazed by the mysterious dead silver Rathalos a traveling caravan found in the mountains."

"Won't there be suspicions raised about who did it, though?" Ellie asked. "I mean, it'll be pretty obvious from the markings that it was a hunter that did it."

"Yeah, I know," Tenebris nodded. "But a group of four-star hunters that have only been hunting Jaggis, Qurupecos and Royals recently? I doubt you'll even be considered. No offense."

"None taken," Ellie replied. "Honestly, I'm still having trouble myself believing that we did what we just did."

"Go ahead and be proud of yourselves," Tenebris said with a grin. "Sure, nobody will ever know that you guys took down a silver Rathalos, but you'll know you have, and that's better than nothing. There're very few hunters out there that can claim such a feat in this country. And hey, when this whole political issue blows over, you'll have something to brag about. Maybe they'll go a little easier on you all when everything's said and done, once you tell them about what you've done here."

"Wouldn't that be nice?" Levin replied doubtfully.

As the hunters made their way back towards the caves, they noticed that the sky began to clear, the clouds of fog finally beginning to fade out of sight. It took Levin some time to realize that Tenebris had her eyes comfortably on the sky as they traveled, and Levin noticed that as the sun dropped below the horizon, the stars were coming out in full force once more, a blanket of lights shining above them. That's when he finally figured out what was different; the light of the tower had vanished once more, finally leaving the sky clear and clean once again.

"It was the Rathalos' presence that made the towers react as they did, I suspect," Harker speculated. "It would seem that it was the cause of Nastre's legends of the blue light. The dragon element that tainted its flame sac caused whatever that blue substance was to respond, and likely the tower in the center as well. Amazing! To think a tower could be used to change the very weather around it! I wish I'd gotten the opportunity to study it more; it would seem that the tower was some dedicated study of the dragon element, or perhaps a weapon against it… Now that I think about it, I suppose I can understand why the Meridians sectioned off the Lost crystals as they did."

"You do?" Levin asked. "I thought you believed it to be quarantine?"

"I did at first, but now I believe otherwise. That dark blue substance that was in the towers was very similar to the Lost crystals, at least in how they react to the dragon element. I suspect that the Meridians were trying to learn to control or replicate the crystals in some way, though I'm still not sure if they realized that there were Lost inside them or not. Did they awaken some of them? Were some of our people around for the Meridians' time as well? I can only guess. I'd like to return to the tower someday, if the opportunity arises, and try to figure out what its true purpose is."

"You may be waiting for a long time," Tenebris sighed. "When Stergo gets word of the silver Rathalos here and the weird things you found about that tower, I doubt that things will unfold very cleanly. Chances are the whole thing will be sealed off until the Guild researchers can scour it with a fine-tooth comb."

"But how did the Rathalos learn how to use the dragon element in the first place?" Ellie asked. "I mean, stronger scales and more powerful attacks is one thing, but developing the ability to use a power usually reserved for elder dragons? That seems… excessive."

"Hmm… As for that," Harker muttered, "I admit, I'm uncertain what the cause could be. If I had the opportunity to study the body of a monster that has the ability to produce this dragon element, I could come up with a better idea of how the Rathalos gained the ability. But I doubt that I will get that chance anytime soon, as elder dragons and the Deviljho seem to be the only creatures with such ability, and that is somewhat out of my reach at the moment. I'd love the opportunity to have dissected that Rathalos, but I fear that too is not something that I will be able to do."

"Maybe it was from the crystal," Kerry said thoughtfully, earning a curious look from the others. "I mean… maybe…"

"No, please, my dear Lady Kerrigan!" Harker urged her. "Please continue! I'd love to hear your thoughts."

"Well… I remember, when Levin and Ellie told us about how the… Alatreon locked away the Lost in those crystals, but it said that it had side effects on creatures that weren't elder dragons, didn't it? The Lost were inflicted with their… madness, after all. But, the Rathalos isn't… technically an elder dragon, so… wouldn't that mean that the blue crystals would have had an effect of some kind on Rathalos as well."

"Huh. I guess that is possible…" Tenebris said. "I mean, I don't know anything about those crystals or anything, just what Stergo filled me in on."

"But why would the Rathalos be blessed with a powerful attack, while the Lost are cursed with madness?" Ellie asked.

"I wouldn't call it exactly a blessing," Harker replied. "I pointed this out to Levin during the fight, but the dragon element likely was injuring the Rathalos even as it was using it. I'm sure that, before its body aged to the strength and durability we fought it at, using such a power was just as grievous for it as it was for us."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Ellie grumbled, rubbing her hand as another shock of dark energy leapt up her armor again.

"Well, maybe not as bad, but it certainly had its consequences for using it. Can you not say that you found your own form of madness useful in some situations?"

"Every once in a while, I suppose," Ellie admitted. "But… just as often as not, it's proven to be a hindrance, causing me trouble. I wouldn't want anyone else to have to deal with these issues like we Lost have to."

"Perhaps in the future, the descendants of the Lost will have gotten rid of the madness that lurks in our minds. If the source of the madness was caused by the crystals, then presumably, any children born, those that never slept in the crystals, will not have the madness. Of course, it will need to be tested, to see if the madness isn't inherited… perhaps, Levin-"

"Harker, if I live long enough to ever have children, I'm never letting you near them. No offense, but there's Lost crazy, and then there's… you."

"You wound me, my friend."

"Try and use any children I have in one of your experiments and I'll show you a wound."

"I think you two are both getting several steps ahead of yourselves," Ellie growled, grabbing a hold of Levin's ear and pulling his head down to her level. "In case you forgot, it's not exactly your say if and when you have a child. And besides, there are supposed to be a few things you're supposed to do between here and there, remember?"

To both Levin and Harker's credit, they both flushed a bright red in embarrassment at Ellie's words. Tenebris burst out laughing uproariously at the whole conversation, and Kerry smiled as well, though she seemed to be blushing a little at the words. She didn't seem to mind the thought of children. Ellie seemed quite miffed at Harker and Levin for making assumptions of her and Kerry, but after their successful hunt she couldn't keep a sour expression for long, and soon enough the hunters were joking and laughing with each other again.

They camped on top of the mountain that night, just over the lip of the wall surrounding the old Lost town ruins. They had intended to take turns keeping watch during the night, but their injuries and weariness overwhelmed them, and all of them had passed out around the fire they had made inside the remains of one of the Meridian spires they had found. Thankfully, the fact that they had been in the Rathalos' territory had kept the area free of monsters, and they were all able to sleep soundly until well into the morning of the next day.

As they passed through the old Lost town the next morning, they passed by the giant crystal that had once held the Rathalos as it had slept away the years in hiding. The material was far cooler than it had been the day before, and seemed to be fading into the same dark stone that covered the floors of so many of the other buildings that filled the town. Harker suspected that the Rathalos had been keeping the crystal 'primed,' in a sense, using its dragon element, so that once its time causing trouble for Nastre had passed, it could ease itself back into the crystal to sleep away the years once more. Harker wanted to stick around and contemplate the process, but Kerry managed to drag the long sword user away so that they could return to Nastre.

The trip back down the mountain to Nastre was long, though not nearly as long as it had been coming up. At least this time, they knew the path they were taking, and traveling was far easier. But with their victory over the Rathalos still fresh on their minds and the knowledge that they'd gotten rid of the threat on Nastre, even the imminent frustration they knew Stergo would have with them for fighting something they weren't supposed to, nothing could diminish their collective good mood. There were more attacks from small monsters than before on their way back with the pillar of light gone, but even then, the hunters found themselves laughing about the scuffles as soon as they were done. Managing to survive a fight with such an ancient, powerful wyvern was one thing, but defeating the beast had put the five of them on cloud nine.

Harker had looked forward to looking over the walls again, but his notepad had long been completely filled up, and he had failed to bring a second one along with him. So as they were going back through the caves, the long sword user made a valiant attempt to memorize what he could of them. Levin knew the man was intelligent, but he wasn't too certain of how good his memory was. He seemed frustrated though, much to Kerry's amusement, but the bowgunner volunteered to help him to try and remember what they could.

Since their battle with the Rathalos took place in the afternoon, it was the second day after their battle when they finally emerged from the caves, coming into the valley where Nastre lay once more. As they came into the sunlight again, all five of the hunters were surprised to find that the fog in the basin between the mountains was still there, despite the Rathalos having been dealt with. The haze was thin compared to when they had been traveling through it though, so Harker suspected that their battle with the Los had kicked up enough fog to cover the area for the last couple days, and now it was finally beginning to fade away.

Getting down to the grasslands again proved a bit more challenging than it had been on their way up into the hills. Monsters were still lost in the fog, and after several days not being able to hunt efficiently, many beasts were willing to attack anything for the sake of getting a meal. At least a dozen Jaggi packs ambushed them through the mist, though they weren't much of a threat. It was still tiring having to deal with them, after so many days of traveling and considering they were still wounded from the fight. Something odd they noticed as well was that the Dragonblight, while not as restricting as it had been when they'd first been inflicted with it, still seemed to be effecting them, sparking along their armors and making it hard to move properly on occasion. It was more of an irritation than anything else, but it was still odd that the effects were still there. Tenebris claimed the effects could last a while, but she'd never seen them last this long. It was probably because they hadn't been able to change out of their armor the whole time, she suspected, and hadn't had a chance to change into unaffected clothes. Or maybe the Rathalos was just a unique circumstance. Either way, the problem had been dealt with.

But finally, through the mists, the lights of torches began to flicker through the gloom. The fog seemed to finally be clearing up at last as they got closer and closer to the village. But as they traveled, they found an oddity; a massive chunk of land had been overturned parallel to the road they walked, a wide swath of flung dirt and soil that followed alongside the path.

"Maybe they tested out that flying monstrosity that Silas was working on," Tenebris mused as they passed a couple overturned stones and tree stumps. "Looks like they might have crashed it while they were at it."

"I hope it wasn't too disastrous a landing," Harker said. "This trail looks like it heads straight to Nastre. If it didn't break up quickly enough, it may have run into one of the town walls."

"Oh wouldn't that just be the icing on the cake," Tenebris groaned. "All this Lost suspicion in Nastre and Silas goes and smashes a jury-rigged flying machine through the town walls."

"Maybe it's not as bad as it looks," Levin said. "Maybe he got sidetracked and accidentally invented a… overpowered… farming… tool. Yeah, I got nothing."

"Well, hopefully it really did stop before it hit the side of Nastre. I've tried to patch things up between the Lost and the locals, but if Silas actually managed to destroy the outer wall…"

"Then you can sugarcoat the whole thing by pointing out that, my goodness, the pillar of light on the horizon is gone, and all the Lost did was knock down a wall. That's hardly the doom and destruction people thought was coming. And maybe you can convince them that the best way for Silas to make it up to the town is for him and his lackeys to put in some hard labor fixing the wall instead of causing trouble."

Tenebris grinned wickedly. "That would keep them out of trouble for a month or two. They might be nice and smart when it comes to technology, but something simple like building a sturdy wall might keep them busy for a while. I like that idea! And I'm sure the town won't be adverse to that, either. I just have to make sure they know it's Silas' work, not the Lost collectively, but that shouldn't be too hard."

The torches of the village grew clearer through the fog as they followed the road. As the road curved towards the gate, the crash line veered away through the fog out of sight. Soon the gatehouse appeared through the dim, and appeared to still be in one piece, thankfully. There were still only two guards at the gates, which was encouraging. The pair stiffened a bit at the sight of the hunters coming through the fog, but relaxed a bit upon recognizing Tenebris.

"It's about time you got back, ma'am," one of them said. "Some of the hunters at the inn were thinking you were taking too long killing that Rathian and thought you might've died."

"No, no," the bowgunner replied, shaking her head. "It just… the nest was very far and hard to find. We were running in circles for the last few days. What happened here? We saw the upturned earth on the way back into town. Did Silas and his crew actually finish that flying machine and crash it?"

The two guards looked at each other uncertainly for a moment. "No, no… nothing like that. It was… well, it'd probably be better if you go look for yourself. It's to the north of here. You can't miss it; there's a big hole in the town wall."

Tenebris grimaced at hearing that the wall had indeed been damaged, but seemed surprised that Silas didn't seem behind it. Without another word, she took off, following the wall north, with the other four hunters close behind. As they traveled, they caught sight of a large number of torches up ahead, and a large crown materialized through the fog, all standing around murmuring between each other uncertainly. A large, terrible hole suddenly appeared in the town wall, the lumber pillars having been torn and unearthed.

The hunters stared in shock at the sight. It wasn't a machine or airship that had crashed into the town wall, but the remains of the silver Rathalos. The large lumber pillars from the town wall had been crushed and broken below the creature's massive bulk when it had crashed through them. Several of the spiked logs had wedged themselves up into the beast's body as well, at least three of the thick lumber pikes wedged through the wyverns chest, and over a dozen had torn more holes into the creature's already damaged wings.

A small crowd was gathered around the downed wyvern's body, shock apparent in all of their eyes. The fallen creature was encircled by nearly a dozen town guards, keeping the more curious civilians back as well as several hunters that had come out from the inn to see the beast themselves. Some were poking around the Rathalos with hungry looks in their eyes, no doubt wanting to peel away some materials from the creature's body for themselves, but a pair of Guild reps kept sharp eyes on them to make sure they kept their distance.

"There you are! Oh, thank goodness!" Cedric, the large innkeeper, suddenly appeared from gate into the city, hurrying over to them and gasping for air. "You'll never believe it! A couple days ago, that massive beastie over there just drops out of the sky, through the fog and smashes through the wall of the village! Scared the pants off of nearly every guard on this side of town when it hit. Thing was barely alive, though, so people went off calling for any hunter we could find to finish the damn thing off! Sweet mercy, it must have fought a dozen hunters to get so damaged, a creature this old and powerful."

"It was still alive after hitting the ground as hard as it did?" Tenebris asked, shocked.

"Oh, yes! Not very, but still a little alive. It wasn't that way for long though, just enough for it to impale itself on all those pikes and breathe a bit of fire at the guards. Ah, that's another thing! Something odd about that beast, its flames were a sickly black, so I'm told! Some say it's nonsense, but I know some of those guards, and they're not the type to lie. Only a couple of hunters managed to see it, and they were just a couple of rookies that none of the older ones would take seriously."

"Black tinted fire… you don't say," Ellie muttered.

"And I suppose, even with all that fog, that you saw that the blue light off on the horizon vanished sometime earlier, and hasn't returned! It's a lot of hearsay, of course, but with that Rathalos falling out of the sky not long after the light vanished, people are beginning to believe it was the cause of the light in the first place, somehow or another. A beast as strange and powerful as this, it wouldn't surprise me! I suppose we'll have to mention this to whoever the Guild sends to investigate this whole thing.

"Ah, but I'm getting off track. Are all of you all right? We saw how damaged the creature was, and we thought some unfortunate hunters came afoul with the wyvern out there. If this silver Rathalos is as terrible and powerful as some of the other hunters seem to think, especially with that black fire, it must have been quite the fight. You all were out looking for a Rathian, weren't you? Perhaps it was that Rathalos' mate or something like it."

"No, nothing of the sort happened," Tenebris replied quickly. "We just managed to find the Rathian and bring it down."

"Well, that's a mercy. All five of you look beat to hell… no offence. If a Rathian gave you that much trouble, you'd all would have had a terribly hard find ahead of you going toe to toe with that beastie. I hope the hunters that met up with that Rathalos managed to survive their tussle… perhaps the Guild should send out a search party or two after the hunting parties that are still out there. But let's get you back to the inn, my friends. It's still crowded, but I'm sure I can find you a place."

The hunters followed the man back through the gates. However, Levin realized that Ellie was slowly drifting off the main path, her eyes on the downed Rathalos that was still impaled on the lumber pikes of the wall. Cedric noticed her movements, and laughed it off, saying they could come by the inn later; after all, he didn't blame the hunters for being curious.

She wasn't the only hunter looking at the beast, Levin noticed. A number of hunters of all ages were clustered around the fallen beast, looking down at the beast with greed and envy in their eyes. Even some of the older hunters were giving the fallen creature hungry looks, clearly hoping for a chance to take some parts when the guards and Guild workers weren't looking. But the Guild men had a watchful eye on the body of the Rathalos, and any hunter that got close to the beast was watched carefully to make certain nothing was carved from the body.

Ellie and Levin were watched just as closely as they approached. They were forced to crawl over the broken remains of wooden beams that had been unearthed from the wall, but Ellie walked straight for the wyvern's head, which was mostly free of rubble compared to the rest. Kneeling down, she stared straight down at the creature's face, now marred and scarred from battle. The Guild man watching them nearby eyed them carefully, but didn't move to stop them, even as Ellie reached forward and brushed her hand across the beast's snout.

"So… I've finally killed it then," she murmured. "I've finally gotten my revenge."

"Looks like it."

"It's odd, you know? Now that it's dead, it doesn't seem as big as I remember it being. In my dreams, and when we were fighting it, it always seemed impossibly big, like it could swallow me up in a single bite." She reached up to the wyvern's eyes, and peeled them oven. The red eyes were dead and cold. "But now it doesn't seem as nasty as I remember. It's not the same thing I was afraid of. It's just… another monster."

Levin grinned. "I wouldn't call it just another monster."

Ellie smiled back. "Okay, maybe not. But it always had some mystical, indestructible image in my head, and looking at it now, so wounded and dead, it really makes me feel foolish for picturing it as more than it actually was. It was… powerful, and deadly, but it was just a monster. Seeing it like this… it really puts things in perspective."

"But you don't regret fighting it or taking it down right?"

"Oh hell no! I'm glad I got the chance to do so! I just thought if the opportunity arose, it would be something more than just a hunt to deal with. But it really wasn't. It was just another monster to fight, and I managed to win."

"Good for you," Levin said, kneeling next to her and grinning. Ellie grinned back, before turning back to the Rathalos and huffing in disappointment.

"But it really irks me that I can't carve this damn thing! I'd love the chance to make armor or a weapon out of this thing, or mount its damn head on the wall. But we can't even keep a scale as a memento."

Levin smirked. "Well, you seduced that one Guild worker that visited Boma that once for Ludroth materials. Maybe you should try that again."

"Oh shut up!"

"Though, I may be the jealous type. Is it dishonorable to punch a man after suggesting your significant other seduce him?"

"Stop! Jeez!" Ellie laughed. "You're not supposed to promote infidelity in your girlfriend, Levin, no matter what the benefits might be!"

"I suppose you're right," Levin shrugged. "But then, they _are_ materials from a silver Rathalos. Not something you see every day. We could make it fair and I could take a shot at seducing someone too. It looks like all the Guild workers here are men at the moment, though… hm. Well, statistically, I'm bound to catch the attention of at least one of them. Think I should try?"

"No! No… well, actually, now I'm kind of intrigued to see you try. But then again, it took you several months, almost a year, before you finally managed to get together with me. I don't think we have that kind of time."

"Hmm. Maybe not."

Ellie winced a little suddenly. Levin looked down and saw her flexing her hand as a small spark of dark energy danced between the joints of her bright blue armor. The dark lightning continued to dance up her armor, bouncing around before finally coming to a halt near her knee joints. "Jeez, this damn stuff doesn't go away very quickly, does it?" she muttered.

"I guess not," Levin replied. "I don't remember how long it affected me back in the Tundra… I was a little preoccupied at the time. But…" As he was talking, a little twinge of the dark energy crept across his shoulder, rattling his armor and making movement a challenge. He glowered in irritation as he rotated his arm. "But it looks like it lasts for a while. No wonder creatures like the Deviljho are considered so deadly, if they're able use such dangerous powers."

"Harker says there's a rare berry or something in the Volcano area that can counter the effects, though for the life of me I can't guess how," Ellie replied, pulling her gauntlet off and shaking her hand. "He also claims that the Guild is stockpiling them somewhere for reasons unknown, though I can't imagine where he gets his information."

"You okay there girlie?" a voice behind them asked. The pair looked up to see a Guild worker looking at the pair of them worriedly, an older man that had clearly seen some years. "Looks like you took a bit of damage on your hunt. The pair of you doing okay, or should I call for a doctor?"

"No, we're fine, we're fine," Ellie replied, putting her gauntlet back on and giving the man a reassuring smile. "I'm just… a little tired from our hunt, and wanted to see the, um, silver Rathalos."

"Quite the sight, isn't it?" the man said with a smile. "I've worked for the Guild for decades, and I've only heard of about a dozen of these things taken down in that time. I can't speak for the challenge they may be, but they're just so rare that there's a fuss about it when someone manages to take one down. Wish we could find the ones that took the thing down, if for no other reason than to know they're alright. Especially with that dragon element breath it's got… nasty stuff, that."

"I'm sure… I'm sure they're fine," Levin said, and the Guild man smiled thankfully.

"It might be a bit early to show such optimism, but I thank you nonetheless. Now then, perhaps you two should find a doctor. You certainly look worse for the wear. This thing will still be here when you've healed up a bit, I have no doubt, so you can come see it later if you wish. I'm sure it will be quite the attraction for some time."

"Yes, that would probably be for the best," Ellie said, standing up again. She winced a little at the motion, as a spark of dark energy sparked from her chest piece down across her faulds before it vanished once more. She groaned in irritation; Levin could understand. It didn't hurt, but it really made it hard to move around.

However, the Guild man's expression changed immediately, to one of concern. Abruptly, he grabbed ahold of Ellie's wrist, holding it up and staring at it intently. A moment later, another small spark of dragon energy jumped across her armor, and the man's eyes widened in shock. "This is… this is dragon element!"

"No, wait!" Ellie said quickly, pulling her hand back quickly. "It's not-"

"Don't try and fool me, little girl," the Guild man interrupted. "I've seen far too much in my years to mistake that dangerous power for anything else! There's nothing else quite like that power, and when you've seen it once, you don't forget it! Now where the hell did you two manage to get yourselves tangled up with something that can use dragon element? You aren't good enough to go off chasing Deviljho or elder dragons, certainly, so what in the world did you…"

Then the man's eyes darted to the Rathalos' large skull, at the fanged maw that he swore had spewed out black flames. His eyes widened in sock and terror, looking back and forth again between the dragon and the dark energy that refused to dissipate from Ellie's armor. "No… it couldn't be…"

"It isn't," Ellie said quickly. "We just came here to look at the Rathalos. We had nothing to do with it! We just wanted to see it."

"There's nothing else in this whole valley that could possibly have used the dragon element," the man said breathlessly. "It was either this silver Rathalos, or you hunters had the great misfortune of meeting a Deviljho, or even worse, an elder dragon. No, no, it must've been you!"

Ellie pulled back quickly, wanting to get away, but it was too late. As Levin helped her back to her feet, he looked around and realized that the other hunters and civilians in the area had overheard the Guild man's words, and were looking their way, eager to see who the man was talking about. Out of the corner of his eye, Levin caught sight of Silas in the crowd, who looked very pleased with the situation. Levin's heart sank as he saw the man open his mouth and turn to the followers that were with him.

"You see this?" he called to them. "This is the power and ability of the Lost. Though our strength may not be a match for that of the rest of the world, we are capable of outmatching any other hunter in the world, with our intelligence and wits! It was a Lost that brought down this creature, this powerful beast! Who can say now that the Lost aren't the greater peoples?"

Now there was some murmuring going through the crowd, some disgruntled at Silas' words, others in agreement of his speech. But whether in agreement of the man or not, they all were staring in awe at Levin and Ellie, shocked that they had been able to take down such a unique, powerful beast.

"Oh no," Ellie murmured as the tone of excitement surrounding them began to grow. "Oh no no no…"

* * *

"What tha hell were ya thinkin'!" Stergo roared at them from across the desk in his office. Levin winced at the man's words. He'd never seen an angry Wyvernian before, and he wished he still hadn't. Stergo was red with fury, a terrifying visage to look upon as he seethed with fury. "I told ya ta stay out of tha spotlight, not dive headfirst inta it! No monsters stronger than a Rathian, that's what I told ya, and certainly no gettin' involved with local politics! And ya did both! Not only did ya get involved with that blue light nonsense, but ya also went and battled a Rathalos! And a silver Rathalos ta top it all off! That was tha worst possible thing ya coulda done! Then ya went and let tha whole dang town know that is were you that done it!"

"Sir, we really didn't have much of an option when it came to the Rathalos," Tenebris argued. "When we found the nest, we didn't know it was a Rathalos, and we were far out in the open. Escape would have been nearly impossible out there on the mountaintop, especially with how skilled that Rathalos was in the air."

The Wyvernian glowered at her, and the huntress' mouth snapped shut under his glare. "And I suppose tha thought ta just turn 'round never crossed yer minds? Ya never thought that maybe ya were gettin' inta somethin' over yer head, what with those old towers sittin' round, especially with that light pillar issue in Nastre? Ya didn't think somethin' mighta been amiss? Ya didn't think! Ya didn't consider the consequences o' what ya were doin'!"

"Sir-"

"Who do ya think I'm doin' all this fer?" Stergo snapped. "It's not fer the lot o' ya, that's fer sure. I'm doin' all this ta keep tha Lost from sufferin' needlessly from yer stupid mistakes! Ya think the rest o' Loc Lac, the rest o' the _world_ will be so forgivin' of yer kind if they learn what ya did, rilin' up the Alatreon? If anyone finds out what ya did in Hearth, there'll be hell ta pay for all the Lost, even if they didn't have anythin' ta do wit' it. I'm doin' all this fer them, not fer you!"

"Sir, please," Ellie pleaded. "We know we messed up, but we couldn't-"

"No! No more o' this!" Stergo snapped. "If the handlers ain't enough ta keep you lot outta trouble, then I'll have to do it myself! I hoped it would be enough ta keep you just huntin' things that weren't that tough, but if that won't work, I'm perfectly willin' ta inhibit you further if it'll keep people safe! From here on, no more direct monster huntin'! For any o' ya! Until this political foolishness with the Lost is done, none o' ya will be doin' nothin' but gatherin', minin', and escort missions! If you so much as fight a Great Jaggi, y'all should consider yerselves so lucky! And I'll be damned if I let any o' ya stay in Loc Lac long enough ta talk ta anyone! If any o' ya stays in Loc Lac longer than a day, I'll have ya arrested, consequences be damned! Startin' now."

Levin winced as the Wyvernian began tearing through piles of papers on his desk, sheets that the switch axe user recognized as mission requests and reports. Stergo seethed in anger and frustration as he flipped through the pages, searching for something, anything that would keep the four of them out of trouble and out of Loc Lac.

"Ah! This. This'll work just fine for now," Stergo finally said, sliding out a specific paper. "This'll get you all out of here."

The Wyvernian threw the paper at the hunters wildly, and Ellie caught it messily, unfolding the creased page nervously and looking over it. "Um… an escort mission?"

"Exactly, and a long one at that," the Wyvernian growled. "You five will be escortin' a materials wagon to a fortress to the south, beyond the far side of the Volcano huntin' grounds. The last one didn't make it, and no survivors were found. Probably got attacked by a monster or somethin'."

"You're sending us to protect a caravan from a monster?" Levin asked, confused, and Stergo glared at him.

"Not even close, boy. We're sendin' in other hunters to clean out tha path o' monsters. We can't afford ta have the fortress lackin' materials, though, so we'll be sendin' tha caravan along a diff'r'nt path. A _longer_ path. It'll be a three week journey there and a three week trip back. This trip'll have ya out o' my hair fer a good month and then some. And don't even think o' lingerin' in the fortress or leavin' the company o' the caravan. I don't want you lookin' around the area at all, or gettin' any ideas ta help the local effort ta push back monsters. I'll be askin' the caravan folk too ta make sure. I'm tempted ta throw tha lot of ya into prison if you leave enough o' an impression on them for any ta even remember your names!"

A month gone? Just like that? But what else could they do? They were already toeing the line, bordering getting sent to prison or getting exiled. The only reason they weren't already on their way to the nearest prison was because word from Hearth had been really well pushed down.

Tenebris shifted uncomfortably. "Sir, I don't think that-"

"I don't care what ya think!" Stergo snapped. "Ya were supposed ta keep these fools out of the public eye! But know people know their names even more than before! It's been ten years since tha last silver Los was seen and you can be sure it weren't no four stars that killed it! No, yer done as their handler! I'll find someone else ta do it from here on! I didn't like having some o' tha rougher hunters keepin' an eye on ya, but now it looks like it's the only choice I got! Now get out o' my office! I've got enough ta deal with right now without thinkin' about all o' ya! I'll be sendin' a hunter ta meet ya tomorrow mornin' ta drag tha four o' ya out there."

The hunters nodded quickly and hurried out of the office before the Guild master could do anything else to them. Almost immediately, they were met by a couple of serious-looking guards, who led them out of the building quickly, nearly tossing them out on their backsides.

"I'm really, really sorry about all this," Ellie said to Tenebris once they were out of the building.

"No, no, it's alright," Tenebris replied with a rueful smile. "I don't think that hunt could have really gone much differently. For all intents and purposes, it should have been a Rathian we found. I mean, sure, we could've turned back at that relief wall, or at the old Lost ruins, or when we got to the top of the tower… I guess there were a lot of chances for us to about-face… but, well, I suppose I've always been pretty ambitious about hunts. I didn't really want to quit the hunt until the Rathian was dead."

"Still, if it weren't for us…"

Tenebris smiled and shrugged her shoulders. "No, like I said, this hunt probably wouldn't have gone much differently. We wouldn't have been able to escape once that Rathalos got its eyes on us, we couldn't have known that the beast was the cause of most of Nastre's problems, and it was a real bit of bad luck that dropped the Rathalos right onto Nastre. I'm pretty sure if it hadn't been for that, and those rather long-lasting effects of the dragon element, nobody would've figured out any of us had been involved at all. I guess it was just a bit of bad luck that led to this, so don't blame yourselves for this, just… try to keep yourselves out of trouble for the next person, okay? I don't think Stergo had the patience to give you many more chances."

"Still, I'm sorry," Ellie sighed sadly. "What will you do now?"

Tenebris tilted her head in thought for a moment. "I guess I'll head back to Nastre and make sure everything's okay there. The Lost there trust me, and with this silver Rathalos issue, I think they'll need someone they trust around to talk to, someone who the Guild and the rest of the town respects. Well, the Guild bit might be a touch wobbly now, but I want to try and talk to the locals now that their blue light issue is cleaned up. I'm curious as to how those doomsayers are reacting now that it's no longer a problem. And then they'll need someone to guide the Guild folks through the caves when they get around to looking at that Meridian tower… ah geez, who am I kidding? I have a whole lot of work to do up there. I won't be leaving that place for a long time."

"Think you'll be alright?"

"Oh, I'll be fine, don't you worry!" Tenebris laughed. "Aside from a couple Guild workers that knew the whole reason I was told to watch after you four, most of the town will look at me like a hero for helping take down that Los. I wonder what they plan on doing with the damn thing, I wonder…" The woman paused in thought. "I suppose they aren't going to let anyone carve materials off the thing, are they?"

"Last I heard, the Guild was confiscating the parts and donating what they can to Nastre to help them repair the damage done to the town," Harker replied. "But… most of it is just being confiscated by the Guild for 'other uses.' I imagine they don't get materials from such a beast very often, not without having to give away the pick of the litter to the hunters that killed it."

Tenebris raised an eyebrow. "How do you get this information?"

Harker smirked. "I have my sources."

"Well, in that case…" The bowgunner paused in thought for a moment, giving a thoughtful look at Ellie. "Hm. There's an idea… Well, I'll probably stick around Loc Lac for a day or two before heading back to Nastre. I wish you all the best of luck with the rest of your probation, and I'm sorry I can't do anything to help you. But I'll try to meet up with you guys later, to see how you're doing. Maybe… hopefully things will improve for you all somehow. Good luck."

And with that, the huntress left to head back to Nastre. Levin hoped her reputation wasn't too damaged with the Guild due to her involvement with them. But he had little time to think about it too much. Even with their lingering injuries, Stergo was sending them all off to act as guards to a caravan. There wasn't supposed to be any monster attacks on the way, but Levin didn't trust their luck at the moment.

"I guess we'd better go get ready, then," Kerry said quietly. "It's going to be a long trip…"

"You don't have to come with us, you know," Levin said. "You and Harker… you're not the ones in trouble. You could just… find something else to do. You don't have to suffer the punishment like we are."

Kerry froze for a moment. For a moment, she appeared grateful for the offer, and Levin thought she'd take it. But the next moment, her expression grew stronger and more determined. "No, that's alright, dear. You… both you and Ellie are my friends, and I don't want to leave you hanging with this whole issue. I don't… I may not like the idea of you going after the Alatreon, but… I'll help as much as I can, okay?"

Levin nodded thankfully, and Harker grinned approvingly at the bowgunner. Levin supposed there wasn't much good about their situation, but at least their friends were sill sticking with them. That was something. He only hoped that they wouldn't get too bored hanging around them. Only gathering and escort missions from then on in? Hardly anything exciting about that. He supposed he'd better bring something to amuse himself with on tomorrow's trip. It was certain to be a long and boring journey.

* * *

**Author's Note: Please Review! Yep. It's finally that time. Things are never easy for my characters, are they? I'll be totally honest about this. I borrowed the idea of how dragon element works from how Zephyr Overlord described the effects in his own story 'I, Zephyr.' I just wanted to be honest, since I liked the idea so much. In retrospect, I probably should have written this chapter from Ellie's perspective. But I didn't. But I should've.**

**So, after working on my 1000 words a day on this chapter, I created a new word document upon which I began working on parts of the story that I feel compelled to write early. I've got bits and pieces of the big moments in the final chapters written out, and I'm currently working on the epilogue as well. I just felt like I should write out what's in my head so that I had something to aim at, rather than the chapter by chapter method I've been using up until now.**

**I really, really wish I had a PS3 at the moment. Though a WiiU is currently my priority (among other things), I'd really like to get one for the sake of buying and playing Ni No Kuni. For those of you that don't know, that's the JRPG that was made by Studio Ghibli, one of the greatest anime studios ever. It looks like unbelievable fun. **

**Finally… I made a map of the world I created. It's kind of derpy, and very noobish, but I'm a writer, not an artist. If you want to check it out, the link is here == fav. me/d5w7ykv. Just remove the space.**

**Reading: **_**The Fellowship of the Ring **_**by J.R.R. Tolkien  
Playing: Minecraft: Tekkit mod, MHTri, BF3, Black Mesa  
Listening: Fun, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Les Miserables Soundtrack  
Watching: Futurama, Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Howl's Moving Castle, Freeman's Mind**


	38. Fortress of Avarice

Fortress of Avarice

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. Most of the characters in this story are mine. Richard Jr. belongs to Hoenn Master96_

_Edited by: Hoenn Master96_

On the southern side of the Loc Lac desert was an area of land that was immensely peaceful, a wide expanse of flat plains that sported only the most passive of monsters. For miles and miles there was virtually nothing but long grasslands and low rolling hills, broken by the occasional river or mudflat. Many of the villages were agricultural in nature, and most didn't even have walls, they were so unthreatened by the creatures that lived just beyond the borders of their homes. So relaxed was the land, that though it had no official name, most of the people that lived there simply referred to the area as the Halcyon Expanse.

That wasn't to say that there were never any problems, just that they were infrequent. Barroths were the greatest threat in the area, but the vast area allowed them to keep to their own territories rather well, and the mudflats were far enough from the roads to keep them from recklessly attacking caravans. And many Altaroth anthills dotted the area, allowing the beasts plenty to eat, making them frequently listless and unconcerned with human activity in the area. Occasionally the local towns were met with a beast that was more aggressive than the rest, but most of the time they were left alone by the monsters of the realm, and with Loc Lac so close, and so many strong hunters passing through the area to head towards the Volcano hunting grounds, any issues were usually cleared up very quickly.

However, despite the peaceful nature of the Expanse, danger lurked just around the corner. Further southeast, beyond the grasslands, the land grew drier and more rugged, the flat land breaking away and transforming slowly into rocky, mountainous terrain. There, the monsters grew terribly dangerous, massive, aggressive creatures that saw threats in all things around them, including, and especially humans. The creatures continued to grow more threatening, all the way into the most dangerous area in the region, the Volcano hunting grounds, where only the most skilled, renowned hunters were allowed to step foot in, searching for even greater challenges. Only a few towns and villages dared to grow and thrive in the region, and attacks were common for them.

And though the Volcano was a dangerous area, even that was nothing compared to what lay further west. The Volcano hunting ground lay on the far eastern end of a long mountain range, and if one were to follow the mountains west, they would eventually reach a wide pass that led south through the mountains, just before the mountains turned and followed the edge of the desert north. If you followed that path south, you would find yourself in dangerous lands, where even the most skilled hunters were hesitant to tread.

There, in that pass, you would find something that was not often found in the land under the Loc Lac Guild's control: a hunter's fortress. These were something only built and manned in the direst need. Tall walls, built to be as impenetrable as masons could manage, towered from one side of the pass to the other, providing a powerful barrier to keep any living creature from passing from one side to the other. Even flying monsters would find challenge in getting past the walls of the fortress; dozens of the ballistae lined the southern wall, prepared to fire at a moment's notice to shoot any monster out of the sky that tried to pass over the high walls.

But for those that thought that the Volcano hunting grounds or the mountainous pass leading to the fortress were difficult lands to traverse, it was nothing compared to what lay beyond the fortress itself. For the walls had been erected for a singular reason: to keep packs of the most powerful monsters from making their way out of the south. For in the area of land between those mountains and the southern ocean was an archipelago that positively swelled with thousands upon thousands of the most powerful and dangerous monsters that existed in the country.

There was nothing new or unique about the creatures, though there were some that had aged enough to change into what the Guild referred to as a 'subspecies' of their kind. But deep in the south of the country, the living conditions were harsh and merciless, and the rough conditions had made them harder and tougher, a great challenge to even the most experienced of hunters. And the lack of human villages and towns in the southernmost part of the continent allowed the beasts to prosper to the point where, even with all the challenges a hunter may have faced before, going into such an area was generally considered suicidal. Hunters were only sent that way in times of absolute necessity.

The wall was there for a reason. The power of the monsters beyond the fortress, and the sheer number of them was too worrying for the Guild to ignore, and the thick, nearly impenetrable structure had been built to make sure that the absolute minimum of monsters could make their way through the pass into safer lands. Of course, it wasn't possible to keep them all from crossing; there were many hidden paths that the Guild didn't know about, and they couldn't barricade the entire archipelago off. The forests to further west were unruly, uncharted land as well, but surprisingly few of the beasts attempted to make their way through the trees that weren't used to life in the thick woodland. But many, many monsters tried to travel through the mountain pass, and thousands of the dangerous beasts were kept at bay each year thanks to the fortress and the hunters that manned it.

The hunters that occupied the fortress were a story of themselves. Most of the hunters that took their place on the walls of the fortress were those that had been drafted into the job. It was little-known knowledge that, once you attained your fifth star in the hunter ranks, you were automatically placed in a roster of hunters that could be assigned to the walls of a fortress for a six-month service, in order to keep the country safe from the waves of monsters that crashed against the walls of the fortress in an attempt to find new territory to claim as their own.

Other hunters volunteered for the work, of course, though it was less common. It was a guaranteed method of gaining plenty of monster carves, as those that battled against the creatures that attempted to migrate through the pass were allowed to keep their spoils of war. Such dangerous conditions required such amenities, considering the threat the fortress presented. Others took it up merely for the thrill of it, when they'd faced hundreds of hunts and come out on top, and were looking for a new challenge to face.

No matter the reason that hunters came to fortresses scattered around the country, whether by draft or volunteer, the fortresses were a necessity. They kept the human-occupied lands safe from too overwhelming numbers of monsters, and did their best to keep the particularly powerful ones contained as well. There were less than a dozen of them scattered about the country, each cordoning off populated land from the powerful and numerous beasts that lay beyond them. They were necessary, for the sake of humans, Wyvernians, Felynes, and any other creatures that dwelled in the safety on the lands under Loc Lac's control. As such, they were given top priority by the Guild when new armor and goods were sent out to restock needed materials to towns and cities. Other cities could wait, the fortresses could not.

All of this was information that Ellie had managed to pick up on their journey south from Loc Lac. Apparently she and the others weren't the first collection of hunters that had been curious about the whole idea of why the fortresses were around. Ellie really had no idea that there was such a dangerous area just south of the mountains. In fact, the archipelago that the caravan drivers had described was just a hundred miles or so south of the Flooded Forest hunting grounds, not that far a distance for a migrating monster. It was rather… disconcerting knowing that such powerful monsters weren't that far away, with all the times she'd gone hunting in that region.

But what really had caught her attention was the chance of being drafted to fight for six months upon gaining your fifth star as a hunter. That was certainly something the Guild hadn't made clear to her! She supposed it wasn't something they really wanted to be really public, but it also wasn't something they could just lie about, so they just hadn't openly announced it. Ellie really wished she had read all the fine print when she'd signed all those papers the Guild had given her upon earning her hunting license…

But all this information seemed old hat to the wayfarers of the caravan. She wasn't the first to ask about the fortresses, and they seemed to have explained them often enough to have the story fully rehearsed. A lot of them liked to speculate about the dangers just beyond the walls of the fortress as well, though none had seen the other side of the walls, and none dared to try. Even the hunters that manned the walls of the fortress usually didn't venture far into the dangerous territory, usually just far enough to chase off an attacking monster before returning to the safety of the walls.

_To think_, Ellie thought, that Kim and Nat, _as well as their hunting master, had possessed the courage to make their way to one of these structures, for the sake of defending the country and gaining experience as well_. It had been some time since she'd last thought of the friends she'd made in Orage Dell; her life had been exceedingly hectic for some time now, ever since… goodness, it had been since before they'd met up with Pugnax that they'd really had a break to slow down. Since then, both her and Levin's lives had been one big mess after another. She just hoped Kim and Nat were alright. She hadn't heard word from them either in all this time. Perhaps they were having troubles of their own… These fortresses didn't seem very kind or forgiving.

The wagon drivers themselves didn't see too perturbed by the danger of their work, though. They themselves admitted that they were a special breed of caravan, relishing the danger of their work, rather than worrying over it. Most of them proudly claimed that they had the guts to become hunters themselves, if not the physique and skill, and Ellie believed them. They'd seen large wyverns on the horizon during the journey, and the drivers had shrugged it off rather than worrying about it, which was something the hunters certainly couldn't do. The transporters all seemed to possess a boundless 'whatever happens, happens' attitude toward their work.

The only thing that seemed to bother these wagon drivers on their way south towards the fortress wasn't the danger or the distance, but rather the fact that the Guild had ordered them to take the long way around, which seemed to frustrate the caravan to no end. Every chance they got they complained about the whole journey. Ellie supposed they had the right to gripe; the trip was easily three times longer than it should've been for them, thanks to some random monster than must have managed to get around the fortress' defenses and destroy one of the caravans. Such an overwhelming annihilation of a caravan meant the road was unsafe until the monster had been taken care of. And the drivers were paid per journey, meaning they needed to be quick to get more pay, and tripling the time was not good for profit.

It wasn't that the path they were taking was all that much longer that the other, but took them along the western side of the mountains that traveled north and south on the western border of the desert. Eventually, they'd reach a thin path through the mountains that monsters almost never traversed, taking them almost directly to the fortress. The problem was, while this route was a fair bit longer than the wide pass through the mountains, the road was not meant for wagons, and the going was slow, thus making the journey three times longer than it normally would.

There were a few other hunters acting as escorts as well, another couple groups of four that had joined the caravan on their way to the fortress in order to serve a few months on the walls. They all had quite a bit more hunting experience than even Kerry had, and thought it was odd that the Guild was allowing their little group of hunters to act as escorts to such a dangerous area. And they were just as irked at the wagon drivers at having been sidetracked on such a long route.

And then there was their new handler. He was a tall, rough man named Gunther, one that wore armor made of Barroth materials, and wielded a large, blunt hammer made of the same things. And he was not nearly so kind as Tenebris had been to them. He was rude, brash, and often threatened them with physical violence if they didn't answer his inquisitions quickly enough to his liking. At least Bale had been fair (to an extent) to them when they had him as a handler, and hadn't treated them too roughly during their time under his watch; he'd understood why then done what they'd done, even if he hadn't approved of the action. Gunther didn't understand or approved of them going after the Alatreon, and did not try to hide his displeasure with their actions. In fact, he seemed to openly hate them for what they'd done, and showed them little kindness at all since being assigned as their handler. He hadn't told anyone what they'd done, but it seemed to Ellie that he was perpetually tempted to do so. The other hunters seemed confused as to why Ellie and the others would be traveling with such a crude, unkind man, but none of them really had a good answer for them.

The journey was safe, though, just like Stergo had told them it would be. While the mountains to the east and the area surrounding the fortress were incredibly dangerous and filled with monsters, to the west of the mountains there were little to no monsters at all. The gentle woodlands just didn't seem to appeal to the more dangerous predators. The most dangerous creatures tended to be Ludroth, and that was only if you got close enough to a river to provoke a harem of them. There did see a few exceptionally large Jaggi that were bordering on earning the title of 'Great', but most of them avoided the caravan more often than not. Most of the time, the only work they really did was helping to get wagons out of the mud or over large rocks in the path. Other than that, there just wasn't much to do.

It had been about two weeks of traveling by now, and the caravan found itself still skirting the eastern edge of the forest, heading south along the base of the mountains. The map claimed that the path through the mountains that led towards the fortress was only a few miles further. The last stretch of path was short, but it was rougher than anything else on the journey, so it'd be even slower going than before.

"Looks like Stergo wasn't kidding," Levin muttered quietly, walking up to Ellie as they walked in the rear of the caravan. "He really isn't planning on letting us do anything that could call attention to ourselves anymore. I haven't killed anything more challenging than a Jaggi during this whole trip."

"Well, that was the point," Ellie replied, shaking her head. "He want to keep us out of sight and out of mind. What better way to do it than sending us out on pointless missions over and over and over again until everything in Loc Lac is cleared up? Actually, I'm surprised they didn't just drop us off on the walls of one of the fortresses, to tell the truth. That seems to be a solid way to keep a group of hunters out of the public eye for a while."

"Don't jinx us," Levin muttered. "The last thing we need is to have something like that happen to us. Knowing our luck, one of the walls would fall over and we've have to try and survive a monster rush."

"Ugh. Yeah, you may be right. Have you looked inside the wagons?"

"Yep," Levin nodded. "High quality stuff in there. Lagiacrus armor, Rathalos armor, weapons of every shape and size… I didn't know they made things like that en masse for hunters."

"That's the nature of it when it comes to the fortresses," Ellie replied. "Assuming what I've heard from the transporters is true, that is. From what I've heard, weapons and armor are broken and dented on a regular basis up there. There are just too many monsters, and not enough skilled smiths living inside the walls. Rather nasty place, if you ask me."

"Are there any rumors of what managed to get past the walls and take down that first caravan?" Levin asked.

"Not from what the drivers were saying," Ellie replied. "Best guess from the fire marks and stuff, though, is that it's a Rathalos or maybe even an Uragaan that came down from the mountains or something. Either way, we shouldn't have to worry too much on our end, because we'll be able to see both of them coming if we run afoul with them."

"That's hardly encouraging…"

"Oh, cheer up, Levin. The odds of us getting caught by something nasty in this area are slim. The worst things we've seen on this road are a group of Ludroth, and we didn't even get close enough to aggravate them. And besides… we've got the other hunters around to help if things go sour. There are all of twelve of them around the caravan, and they've got more experience than we do. At the very least we should be able to at least chase them off if we're attacked."

Levin grinned. "I guess you're right Miss Ellie. I suppose if we managed to take down a silver Rathalos together, we can hold off a regular Los, or even an Uragaan. Though, I've never fought an Uragaan, so I really don't know what to expect from a fight like that."

"That's the spirit!" Ellie cheered happily.

Ellie nodded to a couple of the other hunters that were traveling with them as they passed by, doing laps around the caravan as they checked around for monsters. Though from the looks on their faces and bored expressions, it was clear they thought the effort was needless, considering the lack of threats they'd had during the last couple weeks. The hunters nodded back, though nothing was said between Ellie and them. The four hunters had kept to Stergo's orders to the best of their abilities, and none of them were talking to the other hunters more than they needed to in order to keep from standing out or being remembered by the others in the caravan. So to the other hunters in the group, Ellie and the rest were a group of lower ranked and unsociable hunters that kept to themselves, and for some reason, kept company with a rather rude man.

Speaking of which, Ellie saw Gunther looking at them from further up the caravan. He often gave them untrusting or downright accusative looks when they were talking together, and often cornered them to demand to know what they were talking about. He seemed to have taken Stergo's warnings about their trend for strange occurrences very seriously, but believed that they were things that they had done were events that they had planned or purposefully gotten themselves into with the intent of raising their popularity and renown. As such, he often interrupted their conversations with each other, thinking that they were trying to find some way to stir things up again. He seemed desperate more than anything else to find out that they were plotting something, searching for a reason to give them blame for something going wrong.

The only ones in the group that actually seemed to be enjoying the trip were Harker and Kerry. Those two had enjoyed traversing between the rocks and forest, collecting random goods and whatsits from both to experiment with. During the nights, when the caravan stopped to camp for the night, the pair spent the entire time discussing all of the notes that Harker had written down on the towers to the north of Nastre, and all the writings on the walls that the Meridians had left behind. They seemed to be making good progress translating the texts on the wall, if Harker's enthusiasm about the whole thing was accurate, though Gunther seemed very distrustful of them both, and often threatened to take and burn Harker's notes, which required some quick speaking on Harker's part to keep him from doing.

Speaking of which, the pair were coming towards them from the front of the caravan, switching places with another pair of hunters that were moving to the front. Harker grinned at the pair of them as he approached, and Kerry smiled at them as well. Her mood towards them had certainly improved since the Rathalos hunt. As Harker began speaking excitedly with Levin over what he'd translated, the bowgunner walked over to Ellie.

"Hello, dear," she said to Ellie. "I don't suppose there has been anything interesting happening over here at all?"

"You'd suppose right. We haven't seen a thing at all. There was a herd of Kelbis going through the trees a while back, but other than that, nothing at all."

"Well, that may change soon," Kerry said. "Once we begin heading through the mountain pass towards the fortress, we'll be entering a much more dangerous area, where it will be more likely for us to run across a monster or two that will need taken care of."

"Is it weird that I'm not sure whether I want us to fight something or not?" Ellie asked with a sigh. "On one hand, I really enjoy hunting, but… on the other, I realize why Stergo wants us to avoid hunting, and I really don't want to go to prison just because someone digs in and figures out what happened in Hearth."

"Keep your chin up, dear," Kerry replied encouragingly. "I know you've probably heard it before, but I'm sure things will work out somehow."

"I hope so," Ellie sighed. "It just seems like bad luck follows us everywhere."

"Well, you've handled it well enough so far," Kerry said. "It's a painful waiting game, but you've done so many good things for people, even with the… the Alatreon business. I'm sure there's bound to be something that-"

The two bowgunners suddenly froze, a low-pitch whistling sound had caught their ears. It was subtle sound, but one they'd heard many times before, one that most bowgunners were familiar with after a lot of experience. It was the sound of a bowgun round soaring through the air, and more specifically, it was the sound that one of the heavier rounds made once they were fired. Had one of the hunters up front caught sight of something? Ellie tensed, listening for shouts, and Levin and Harker did so as well, noticing the worry in her eyes.

Then a small thump sounded right in front of them, and Ellie looked towards the sound. It had come from the Aptonoth pulling the cart next to them, and Ellie realized that there was a small round object wedged into the pack animal's side, and the creature was wriggling in irritation. Ellie recognized the little object. It was a Crag round. Ellie only looked at it for a moment in shock before diving away.

The blast nearly took her off her feet as the round went off. The Aptonoth squealed in pain as fire erupted across its hide, sending charred flash and muscle splattering across the ground. A moment later the creature teetered in pain, before falling over, smashing into the other Aptonoth pulling the cart and sending both creatures tumbling to the ground. The twisting yolk nearly wrenched the entire wagon to the ground as the driver struggled to keep it upright.

Immediately, the other Aptonoth began to panic at the sound, and the other hunters in the area searched around for wherever the round had come from. Eyes began to flash angrily at the bowgunners in the group, clearly thinking that there had been a misfire. But both Ellie and Kerry had seen where the round had come from; it hadn't come from any of the hunters defending the caravan, but rather from the woods. There was a flash of movement from the tree line as Ellie moved to pull out her bowgun. From the forest to the right of the caravan, red shapes suddenly rushed towards the caravan from the trees. They were hunters, Ellie realized, almost three dozen man and women wearing bloody-red armor, charging at the caravan from the size, shouting threateningly at them as they dashed.

Ellie froze. Bandits? They were being attacked by bandits? And worse, they were being attacked by bandits with skills as hunters? How was… what was Ellie supposed to do? She hadn't expected to fight humans! Should she try her best to knock out the attackers? Should she go for heavy wounds, to try and pull them out of the fight? Neither of those options seemed very good to her. She hadn't exactly trained in the best ways to fight and incapacitate other humans; her only experience in such things was her battle against Pugnax up north and a couple bar fights she'd gotten mixed up with in Loc Lac. But other than that, she had nothing!

Was she supposed to kill them if things got bad? She had never killed anyone before… Could she try to avoid the fatal blows? Could she try to avoid fighting at all? Maybe they could run…

But before she could decide what to do, the decision was made for her, as a pair of hunters rushed her from the trees. One was a lancer, and the other was a sword and shield user, both of them heading straight towards her. Ellie spun about, aiming her weapon towards the approaching pair. But she hesitated. Could she really fire upon them? What if she killed them? She didn't know if she could bring herself to…

She gasped in shock as the lancer suddenly thrust his weapon for her, his spear aiming to pierce her arm. But she moved aside quickly, just enough that the point of the lance glanced off her shoulder armor, embedding the tip into the side of the wagon behind her. The man grunted in irritation as he tried to free the weapon from where it was stuck, as Ellie leapt away. But from her other side, the sword and shield user attacked, swinging his blade at her. Ellie swung her bowgun around, using it to block the oncoming edge. The thick frame of her weapon managed to block the swing of the sword, though it was large and unwieldy, making it hard to defend herself from the attacks. The man laughed twistedly as he assaulted her, enjoying every moment of the attack. The sound of clashing steel and bowgun fire rose over the terrified cries of the Aptonoth, as the other hunters defending the caravan rose to push back the rush of red-armored bandits.

Then from his shield-side, Levin rushed in, his own weapon in axe –mode, and smashed his blade into the man's arm, sending the attacking man sprawling back against the trees from whence he'd came. The man was clutching his arm in pain, groaning, but he leapt forward again, charging towards Levin with sadistic amusement in his eyes as Levin swung at him again. This time, the man blocked properly, and only was knocked back a foot or two before swinging his blade towards the switch axe user.

Ellie yelped in shock as the tip of a lance snapped right past her head as the first attacker finally freed his weapon from the side of the wagon, swinging it wildly at her. Ellie pulled back and away as the man jabbed at her again, trying to wound her. Ellie realized that he kept aiming for her arms, never her chest; he was trying to wound her, not kill her! But why? If they were trying to rob the caravan, why would they try and go for injury, but not death? She leapt away as the lancer continued to jab at her, then gasped in terror as the pointed spear shot towards her face, and the bandit roared in rage. He was getting frustrated with her, and didn't seem to care anymore whether she lived or died. Ellie yelped in shock as the lance got closer, and his weapon glanced off of Ellie's helmet. In her panic, Ellie turned her bowgun around and fired.

Her weapon was already loaded, but with pierce rounds that were intended for monsters, not humans. And Ellie hadn't really been aiming. The first round was fired and smacked against the hunter's shield, and the man stumbled a bit, surprised that she was finally attacking him. But as the second round fired, the man pulled his shield to the side to look past it at her, and the round flew straight into his side. The crimson armor was thick and sturdy, but the pierce rounds were designed to break through monster scales and plates, and Ellie's bowgun was particularly powerful for its size. The round ripped through the red mail and tore through flesh and bone, embedding itself deep in the hunter's waist.

Ellie's eyes widened in shock. She'd just fired at a human! The man gasped and coughed in pain, and for a moment, Ellie was tempted to try and help him. But then the man looked up, and a twisted, wild look appeared on his face, and he charged towards her again, blind to the pain or even reveling in it. Ellie yelped and dove to the side, just barely getting out of the way. Ellie stumbled back, nervously ejecting the cartridges from her weapon as the man kept dogging her, jabbing at her. She couldn't even get the time to figure out what rounds she was loading into her weapon in her panic, she just grabbed what she could and shoved them into the chamber, quickly cocking the weapon and turning it to face the man, who actually raised his shield defensively this time.

This time the bowgun bucked wildly as the bowgun fired, releasing a massive round that Ellie realized was a Crag round. The thick round smacked into the lancer's shield, and he pulled the metal wall to the side to smirk at her, thinking she had fired some other round at him, but as Ellie's eyes widened in shock, he frowned in confusion. Then the round detonated and the man was knocked backwards, tumbling across the grass. He was screaming in pain as he leapt back to his feet, and Ellie realized that the Crag round had blown a wide hole in the man's armor, and he clutched the burned and charred arm that had once held his shield.

Ellie stared in shock. She may have just crippled a man! Painful guilt began to seep into her, but before she could consider it much further, she realized that the sounds of battle around her were still going on. The attacking hunters outnumbered them almost three to one, and she could see that several of the other hunters weren't having as good of luck fighting their opponents as she had. Kerry and Harker had gotten caught up in a fight with another pair of hunters, a hammer user and a great sword user. Levin was still going up against the short sword bandit, and was slowly getting the advantage, even though the other man had a faster weapon at his disposal.

The hunter leapt towards Levin, his sword aiming to cut at Levin's arm, but the switch axe user twisted his weapon around. The switch axe wasn't designed for defense at all, but the short sword managed to get wedged between some of the interlocking parts of Levin's weapon. Levin twisted his switch axe around once more, and his attacker's blade was wrenched from his hand and sent skittering across the ground. The man shook his hand in pain, looking towards where his weapon had gone, but Levin immediately swung his switch axe towards the man, catching his opponent off guard and smashing him against the nearby wagon. The man dropped to the ground, groaning in pain and clutching his now-broken arm.

"You okay?" Levin asked. Though he gave Ellie worried looks, his gaze tended to shift to the man he had just bested. Clearly he was just as bothered about having to fight other humans as she was.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I just-" But before she could finish, a battle cry sounded behind them, and another three red-clad hunters rushed the pair of them, weapons brandished. One of them held back a little though, letting the other two rush towards them as they pulled out their weapon, a large, powerful-looking bowgun. The two blade wielding hunters continued to charge Levin and Ellie, moving to flank them as the bowgunner aimed down sight through the middle of them to fire.

Ellie quickly turned and fired a quick shot of pierce shot at the bowgunner to try and ward the hunter off, but a twisted, lilting, and cruel laugh came from the bowgunner as they danced out of the way of the shot. Ellie realized that the bowgunner was a huntress as the woman pulled up her visor, revealing a wide, wicked smile below bloodthirsty eyes. The huntress giggled evilly as she looked at Ellie, raising her bowgun to aim at her, before firing at her.

Ellie immediately moved to the side, trying to get out of the way, but realized that she was being cut off, with Levin close to her on one side, and one of the other red-armored hunters coming at her from the other direction. Ellie winced in terror as the round the woman fired, a searing red Flame round, just barely missing her as she pulled out of the way of the attacking hunter's large iron hammer. The massive weapon smashed into the earth, and Ellie swung her bowgun around, smacking the man in the side of the head with the stock of her weapon, and the man stumbled back stunned.

But her focus on the hammer user took her attention from the bowgunner, and Ellie cried out in pain as another of the Flame rounds smashed into her side, the searing heat scorching her through her blue Lagiacrus armor. The huntress laughed then fired again, this time aiming for Ellie's chest. Ellie managed to slide out of the way, turning her bowgunner towards the woman and firing another round at the woman's gut, but the woman leapt out of the way once more.

For the next few seconds, the two bowgunners danced around each other, dodging and firing shots at each other, trying to flinch or incapacitate the other. Ellie tried to get closer to the woman; she felt far more comfortable with knocking the woman over the head than firing on her. But the other huntress kept her distance well enough, staying just out of reach enough that Ellie couldn't outright charge her. Ellie was hit with a variety of elemental rounds that seared and jolted and chilled her, but she managed to hit her opponent a few times as well, which seemed to come as a terrible shock to the other woman. Several times, one of Ellie's pierce rounds managed to catch the woman's armor, breaking through the red metal and cutting into the woman's body. It was never more than superficial, though, and wasn't even enough to slow the woman down.

Then the other crimson hunters began to interfere, coming at Ellie from the sides as she tried to keep out of the bowgunner's fire. Ellie found herself surrounded by three more hunters, while the bowgunner continued to shoot at her from afar. Looking around, Ellie realized that most of the other hunters that had been defending the caravan had been defeated, and the wagon drivers were being pulled from their seats. Harker and Kerry were still fighting in the middle of the pack, up against a lancer and another long sword user. There were a couple hunters way up in the front of the caravan that were surrounded by almost a dozen of the red-armored bandits and were fending them off to the best of their ability, but they were losing ground fast.

Ellie had to move and duck as quickly as she could as a barrage of attacks came at her from all sides, whether from sword or hammer or lance or bowgun fire. Her earlier guess was right: the crimson hunters were trying to subdue her, not kill her. There were too many around her for them to not have ended her life if that was what they came there to do. She found herself diving headfirst into madness, allowing the hyper focus to seep into her thoughts and allowing her to see more clearly the attackers that surrounded her.

The hunters around her seemed shocked when Ellie suddenly began to dodge and duck out of the way at a much better rate than before, sliding out of the path of their blades and hammers, and even managing to dance out of the way when the bowgunner assaulting her fired at her. The focus allowed her to duck and slide away quick enough that the ones attacking her were eventually swinging and firing wildly, angrily, and smashing and cutting each other when they attacks missed, but kept on coming. She even managed to get the bowgunner that was firing on her to hit some of her comrades, though it didn't seem to Ellie that she even cared that much about the other bandits at all, since hitting the others didn't seem to bother her at all. So Ellie continued to battle it out with them, just barely keeping out of the way and attacking when she could.

But there were simply too many of them: The hyper focus helped, but it wasn't made for large numbers of enemies like the ones Ellie faced, so much as it was useful for fighting a singular monster and picking out its peculiarities. So long as two or three hunters were focused on her, she could keep out of the way, but with four of them, one a bowgunner far away, she soon found herself wearing out and not being able to dodge every blow than came her way. And she simply wasn't able to do enough damage with the butt of her gun, since they gave her no time to reload. And she realized also that other red-armored hunters were heading her way, having managed to finish their fights with the other escorts. They were simply too outnumbered…

Then Ellie finally lost track of all her attackers. One of the hunters, a man wielding a short sword and shield, managed to get behind her as her focus was on the others, and with a quick swing, he smacked her in the back of the head with his shield. Ellie's head was ringing as loudly as her blue Lagi helmet did, and the huntress dropped to the ground, stunned. Immediately her bowgun was wrenched from her grasp, and rough hands pushed her down and kept her from getting back on her feet. She struggled when she got her wits about her again, but the bandits quickly bound her with ropes, making it impossible for her to do much more than roll around.

"That's the last of them!" one of the attackers called out. "Line them up, and let's get everything sorted!"

Another of them laughed. "I hope the lapdog's happy. We actually kept them all alive this time! Well, most of them. Only two of the caravan drivers are dead, but they don't really matter. We've got the hunters, that's all we need."

Ellie was roughly dragged across the ground as the bandits began to dig through the wagons to look inside of them. The captives that had been beaten by the bandits were huddled together in two groups near one of the wagons, one side hunters, and the rest being the drivers. All of the hunters looked bruised and beaten, though some were worse than others, and their helmets had been removed so that their faces could be seen. Harker seemed to have a lot of cuts along his arms, and some of the other hunters were just as damaged. Kerry seemed to have avoided a lot of the damage that the others had sustained, though she had a rather nasty welt on her head, and seemed unsteady where she sat. Gunther wasn't far away either, and seemed uncertain whether or not to glare at the red-armored hunters or Ellie and Levin instead. The wagon drivers were mostly unharmed, but some of them looked as though they had been roughed up a bit.

Ellie was shoved down next to Levin. The switch axe user didn't seem to be in that bad of condition; his armor seemed to have protected him from the worst injuries. Likely he had been overpowered like she had. One of the hunters guarding them was hoisting his switch axe, looking at it curiously. The weapon had been dented and dulled during the fight, Ellie could tell that much. Her beloved looked at her worriedly, glad that she was alright, before turning back to glare at the red-armored hunters that were digging around the wagons.

"Not a bad haul this time!" one of them called out. "Looks like they were sending better stuff to make up for what we took last time!"

Ellie's eyes widened at the words, and she and Levin shared a shocked look. These bandits had been the ones that had wiped out the last caravan? But they'd completely swept apart the last one, with almost nothing remaining! If they were trying to steal materials like they were now, why would they go to such lengths to devastate a few wagons if they wanted to steal what was inside?

Then Ellie shivered. She felt as though she was being watched. Looking around, she realized that the bowgunner from before was sitting nearby on a rock, staring intently at her with a vicious, anticipating look in her eye. She'd removed her helmet, and long black hair hung down her back as she kept her gaze on Ellie. When she saw Ellie looking at her, she gave a wide, wicked smile, and moved to stand and walk over to her.

However, before she could make her way over to Ellie a loud laugh echoed from near the front of the caravan. One of the red-armored hunters suddenly strode forward towards Ellie and Levin, pushing his way through the other hunters that got in his way. The bandits that were guarding them parted as he approached, and the dark-haired bowgunner's eyes narrowed at the man's sudden interruption. He must have been one of the leaders, Ellie realized. His face was covered by that odd armor, but he carried a large lance across his back, with a wide shield strapped to his right arm. He seemed intent on them, rather than the other hunters that had been captured. He stopped directly in front of Levin, and stared down at the switch axe user intently, before laughing in amusement. Ellie felt a chill go down her spine; she swore she recognized that laugh.

"Well, look what we have here!" the lancer said excitedly, before peeling off his red helmet, revealing a stern face under tangled blonde hair. Ellie gaped in shock.

"Pugnax?" Levin gasped. "How… what the hell are you doing here?"

The lancer looked down at Levin with a sinister grin. "What's it look like I'm doing, Levin? I'm attacking this caravan and stealing everything of value that the Guild was sending to the fortress! And I'm doing rather well at it as well."

"What? Wait, I don't… why?"

"Well, you didn't exactly leave me many choices, now did you?" Pugnax suddenly growled. "Turns out there were a few folks in Loc Lac that didn't like that I chose to follow Noi's orders and decided to kill the Barioth and its pups. A lot of people that I worked for in Loc Lac decided that I was no longer someone they wanted to keep on as a business partner, especially considering some of the negative reputation I had received. So I was forced to look elsewhere for work. That's how I found myself here, working with this other hunters. It's thanks to you and that damn woman that I've gotten to where I am."

Then the lancer smiled widely. "But that would make it sound as though I'm not actually enjoying this work. I am, don't you worry about that! And now, with you here, it's just icing on the cake! Working here has provided me fun, challenge, and now, the chance to get my revenge on you."

Before Levin had a chance to say anything else, Pugnax's foot swung out, striking Levin in the side. The metal of the armors clanged loudly at the impact, and the switch axe user yelped in pain as he tumbled onto his side. Then Pugnax leapt on top of him, growling furiously and beating his fists against Levin's chest and face, laughing at Levin's attempts to get away from him. Levin's hands were tied, leaving him no way to defend or fight back. Ellie struggled, trying to get over to Levin to shove the lancer off of him or something like that, but another hunter came and held her back, keeping her from moving at all to help him. The man holding her laughed as she cursed at him and Pugnax. Levin struggled as Pugnax continued to strike at him, but he couldn't easily fight back. He managed to get his feet out from underneath the lancer and was able to kick Pugnax in the chest and face a couple times, but even with that, he wasn't able to do much more against the man.

The other red-armored hunters watched on, not interfering as Pugnax continued. Some were laughing and jeering at the fight, watching in amusement as the lancer pummeled Levin. But most of the others looked on in distaste or boredom, shaking their heads in disgust.

Suddenly Pugnax was yanked back, and the man gasped in pain as his collar caught on his throat. Levin groaned in pain as the lancer tumbled off of him, and Ellie pushed past the hunters holding her to get to him. One of his eyes was swollen shut as he sat up from the ground, and he tried to tell her that he was alright, though he obviously wasn't. Ellie wished they hadn't taken away her potions and other goods; he desperately needed medical attention. Ellie glared angrily at the guards around them, but realized that their attention was temporarily turned elsewhere.

Pugnax had leapt back from the ground to his feet, and there was a fury lit up in his eyes as he searched around for whoever had pulled him off of Levin. The perpetrator was another hunter, the one Harker had been fighting with earlier with the long sword. He was maybe a bit shorter than Ellie, and his own helmet was off, revealing blonde hair topping off a face that was glaring at Pugnax with anger that nearly matched the lancer's own. Other members of the group were keeping their distance from him as well, showing that he may be another leader in the group.

"What the hell are you doing, you little runt?" Pugnax snapped at the long sword user.

"I could ask you the same, you brain-dead moron!" the other hunter growled. Ellie blinked in surprise; she thought she recognized the voice of the long sword user, but… she couldn't place it. "I told you and Lilith that we're not going to kill anyone else on these raids. And this one's a hunter! You know we're supposed to bring them in alive!"

"Not this one, Micah, not this time," Pugnax replied, pointing at Levin. "I know that man, and I have a personal vendetta against him. I don't give a damn what Moloch wants, that one belongs to me!"

"Tough luck!" Micah snapped. "You and your hell-spawn woman have already done your fair share of killing on these raids, and you've wasted the lives of too many hunters already. If you want to keep working in this organization, you're going to give up this stupid idea of killing this man and follow the rules that have been set down! I don't care what he did you, he's a prisoner of the organization now, and you're going to leave him be!"

"I'd like to see you try and make me!" Pugnax roared, reaching for his weapon. The long sword user went for his own blade as well, and the surrounding hunters looked on excitedly, looking forward to seeing the pair fight with each other. The pair leapt towards each other, their weapons coming from their sheaths, ready to strike.

But before the two hunters could meet each other, another hunter quickly stepped between them. it was an absolutely massive hammer user, wielding a very familiar black and purple hammer lined with dark jagged teeth. The two fighting hunters paused in surprise at the sudden interruption, which was long enough for the hammer user to reach forward and grab both of their wrists, wrenching the weapons out of their hands before dragging them both back away from each other and hoisting them into the air. The pair struggled a bit at the start, but the large hammer user shook them wildly in the air for a couple seconds, before eventually lowering them to the ground as they wobbled dizzily. Pugnax continued to try and break free of the man's grip once his feet touched the ground, looking angrily at his lance on the ground, but the long sword user, Micah, simply glared in irritation at the large man, who smirked in amusement between the two of them.

"Well, aren't you two the feisty pair," the massive man laughed, holding the two hunters away from each other. Ellie realized where she'd seen the man before; he and the long sword user had been the ones that had attacked the Ludroth nest near Boma Village!"I thought we'd been over all this before. Save your fighting for when we get back to base, then you can settle things however you want."

"No! I'm going to kill him!" Pugnax growled, glaring furiously at Levin. "The old man can have the rest of these pathetic little hunters, but this one is mine! Let me go, you oversized thug!"

The big man laughed in amusement. "All this pent up rage for a boy who made you lose an argument and a bit of work? You're such a petty man, Pugnax. For such a brutal hunter, you certainly care a lot on your reputation. Do you shine your armor and pretty yourself up in the morning so you always look your best for those that see you? I'll wager you spend an hour on your hair in the morning."

"Shut the hell up and release me you bastard! I want him dead!"

"Such a premature group of hunters," the big man sighed. "I had hoped that you would actually appreciate a truly fun fight more than others, but you just don't seem the type to think ahead towards a real fight. Why don't I offer you an alternate solution, Pugnax?"

"There's nothing you could offer be that I would want as much as killing him."

"How about this… you let him live, and that means that you have the fun of facing him back at the base. Wouldn't that be more amusing?"

Pugnax's eyes widened at the words, and a speculative look came over his face as he looked over at Levin. He seemed genuinely torn between the decisions, and Ellie couldn't help but worry. What was back at the base that would keep Pugnax from wanting to kill Levin? If he really hated Levin so much, what was waiting for them back where they'd come from?

Finally Pugnax scoffed, turning to walk away. "Fine. I'll let him go this time. But if anyone besides me fights him back there before I get a chance at him, they'll have me to contend with next."

The large man laughed. "Fine by me, boy. But if it's me, do you really think you can beat me?" Pugnax scowled angrily, before shoving off through the crowd of hunters and back to the front of the caravan. Then the big man looked down at Micah and grinned. "You cooled down as well, kid?"

"I'm fine," Micah snapped, pulling his hand free of the hammer user's grip. "Pugnax is getting far too great an ego, thinking he can go around breaking orders at the tip of a hat. I don't know why the boss puts up with him."

"Well, if you really don't like it, you could just duel him once we get back," the big man replied, and Micah frowned.

"I just might… he's been out of control for too long, and someone needs to bring him down."

The big man laughed. "You're serious! Wonderful! I had thought all of you were all a bunch of hot air, saying you'd duel each other once we got back to base, all fearful of the old man's reprimand, but it looks like one of you has some guts after all! Tell me when you finally get around to the fight! I'd love to finally see which one of you wins."

"We'll see," Micah replied. "Now if you'll excuse me, some of us actually need to do some work to make sure we can get these materials back."

The big man nodded as the long sword user walked away. The collection of red hunters slowly began to disperse now, seeing that the fight had been broken up. One of the hunters walked over to Levin and Ellie, dragging the pair of them back over to the other hunters. Both Kerry and Harker were there to try and comfort Levin, but the others looked fearful, worried that such a punishment might happen to them next. Some had stern, fearless expressions on their faces, but only a couple.

"Wait," Levin muttered at the large man as he began to walk away. He turned to look at Levin with a smirk before walking away, waiting to hear what the hunter had to say. "Why did you… why did you stop him? What did you mean, that I'd be 'facing him' at your base?"

The big man chuckled, and leaned forward over the pair, once he got close, Ellie realized exactly how massive the man really was. He was simply huge. The only people she could think of that compared to him in size were Lynn and Marshall…

"You'll find out about the base soon enough, both of you," he told them. "But not from me, and not today. As for why I told him to spare you… well, partly because it's a waste to kill you. You're both decent hunters, if the rumors I've heard about you are true. And besides… you're Marshall's apprentices, and I'd like to see what sort of hunters he's trained and set loose on the world."

"You know Marshall?" Ellie asked, and the man smiled wickedly.

"Of course, girl. After all, we were hunting partners once."

"You… what?" Levin gasped. "He wouldn't… you're not-"

"Hey! Get to work you big dumb brute!" the bowgunner woman suddenly snapped, appearing from behind the hammer user.

"Hah. What do you want, you damn banshee?" the man growled as the woman approached.

"Get your stupid lackeys to work packing up the materials out of the broken wagon," the woman barked. "Oh, and… the brat wants you to empty one of the wagons for the transporters to get back to Loc Lac in, though I say it's a waste. Just let them walk, I say. Or better yet, let me… play with them a little. It's been too long since I had the chance to toy around with someone. They may not be hunters, but I have no doubt that they'll amuse me. A little bit."

"Let them be, you damn woman. You killed plenty on this trip, you can wait until we return before you satiate your sick pleasures. We have orders from Moloch, and we're letting these drivers go. If that's not enough for you, you've got those minions of your own, don't you? Just pick the one you like the least and 'play' with them instead."

The woman scowled. "Fine, I'll let them be. For now. Just get to work."

The hammer user chuckled in amusement, walking away from the hunters towards the wagons, where the drivers were cowering in fear. As he went, the huntress turned to look down at Ellie, and a sinister smile slid across her face as she leaned in and looked Ellie over.

"You know something?" the woman said wickedly. "You actually weren't that bad out there, girlie. Got some fight in you. Maybe you're actually something to look forward to once we get back to base… Maybe I'll be able to have a bit of fun with you."

The woman leaned forward, bringing her face close to Ellie's and smiling at her while cocking her head. Ellie felt a shiver go down her spine as she met the woman's eyes. The only way she could define the look in the woman's eyes was… madness. And not the same kind of insanity that the Lost had; this woman had slipped into insanity voluntarily. She reveled in her work and actions.

"It'll be fun, little huntress," the woman said gleefully. "It's always more interesting when whoever I'm playing with has a little fight in them, after all. Or maybe… maybe you'd rather join up instead. There are rumors about you, you know, and you might find that the work we offer is… enjoyable."

Ellie glowered at the woman, and as she cocked her head in in amusement, Ellie swung her head forward. The woman's reactions were quick, and she managed to turn her head to the side, but not quick enough to avoid Ellie head-butting her in the side of the face. The woman tumbled back, cursing in pain, and several of the other hunters around her rushed forward, anger in their eyes. But a moment later they stopped, as the woman pushed herself to her feet, laughing hysterically.

"Well, well! You do have some bite, don't you, little bitch!" The bowgunner giggled in amusement as she brought a hand to her face, where a trickle of blood was sliding down her face. She pulled her hand back, looking at the blood on her finger, before grinning widely and licking blood from her hands. "Yes, you'll definitely be a fun one to play with. I'm looking forward to it."

"Gather them up! We're heading back to base!" a voice called from the front of the caravan. The woman continued to grin at Ellie, excitement on her face.

"Nighty night, little girlie," the black-haired woman giggled, a sinister smile crossing her face. "We'll play later, I guarantee it." Then with a swift swing, the huntress cracked the butt of her bowgun against Ellie's head, and the huntress dropped to the ground, losing consciousness.

* * *

Ellie didn't know how much time after their capture it took for them to be carted back to wherever the hell they were being taken. Once she'd regained consciousness, she'd found herself bound and gagged in the back of one of the wagons, not able to move or speak at all. Her armor was gone as well, and she was only in the underclothes that she wore under her armor. Her eyes had been poorly covered though, and she was able to see around the wagon, though there wasn't much to it.

Harker and Kerry were there, just as tied up as she was, though their eyes were better covered. The other hunters that had joined the escort were there too, as well as their handler, struggling against their bonds in an attempt to escape, though they weren't getting anywhere fast at all. Ellie felt a shiver of fear go through her when she realized that she couldn't see Levin, but shifting around a little allowed her to spot her beloved pinned up in the other far corner. At least they were all still here, and alive. For now.

The hunters and bandits that had captured them chattered cheerfully outside the wagon, and Ellie felt anger and fear well up inside her. They were treating this like it was nothing! Like having nine hunters bound and gagged in the back of a stolen wagon convoy full of hunting goods and weapons was an everyday occurrence for them! But then again, with how easily they had attacked the caravan in the first place, and how efficient they had been about it, it very well could have been. What kind of people had Pugnax gotten himself involved with? And how could he be so happy about it?

Ellie lost track of the days they were traveling as they went. Day and night were hard to calculate in the back of the wagon, especially after their 'escorts' had realized that her blindfold was loose, and had tightened it to make sure she was fully blind. Their captors made sure they were fed and hydrated twice a day, though it was minimal, and gave them time to use the bathroom every now and then, though they usually made their captives beg for it. The opportunity to use the restroom was the only chance for any of them to stretch their muscles, relieving the tension from the ropes that bound them. But the entire time, Ellie and the others were forced to keep their blindfolds on, to make sure they didn't know where they were. All Ellie could tell was that it was that it was slowly getting hotter and more humid the longer they traveled.

There had been some talk between the hunters outside when she'd woken up. Apparently they were only supposed to go back to the base with a small number of the hunters in the group, but Pugnax had raised a fit about it, demanding that he return to make sure he had a chance to deal with Levin himself. Lilith had wanted to go with him as well, but Micah had been adamant against it, certain that the lancer would try something, and he didn't want any of the hunters dead before returning to base, no matter what grudges there were between the prisoners and captors. There had been a bit of a fight, and eventually the plan changed to have most of the group return to base, leaving a small number behind to watch the roads and see how the Guild reacted.

Every once in a while, an argument would break out amongst the guards right outside the wagon they were kept in, and the topics made Ellie shiver. Apparently some of the hunters thought it was fine for them to take 'amenities' from the huntresses they had tied up in the wagon. Terror like she'd never known had welled up inside Ellie for a moment as the hunters outside had discussed the idea, and by the struggling sounds from the rest of the captives, several of the others had overheard the conversation as well. But not long after, there was a sudden sickening splattering sound, followed by a rather pronounced thumping sound. Harsh words that sounded very much like threats came dimly through the thick wagon fabric, and Ellie thought it was the voice of Micah. Either way, though Ellie didn't hear all of what was said, the words 'bury the body' came through clear enough, and no one tried anything for the rest of the journey.

Unfortunately, not all of them made it unharmed from their trip to wherever they were going. Pugnax came by occasionally, demanding some personal time with Levin. Often enough, Micah was nearby and told the man to go away, in less polite terms. But… a couple times during the journey, the hunter wouldn't be around, and the hunters guarding the wagon wouldn't raise a fuss. Ellie couldn't hear what Pugnax did to Levin, but he was always brought back to the wagon by Micah or that big man, Filcher, and Levin's breathing seemed strained. Ellie wished she could do something, anything to help him, but the ropes were tight, and she could barely move at all, much less make her way over to Levin to comfort him.

It was… at least a week, as far as Ellie could tell, for them to be escorted back to these poachers' and bandits' home base. It was hard to tell, considering the guards seemed to take shifts so that they could keep moving day and night. But they finally seemed to be reaching an end of sorts to their journey, as sounds of recognition from the guards outside began to be heard. The guards also kept saying 'not much further now' and other such things as they neared their destination. It surprised Ellie when the sound of water began to be heard lapping against a shoreline nearby on the day before they arrived at their destination. She strained herself to hear what the hunters outside were saying, hoping to get some sign of where they were, but all she could hear was that they were near a lake of some kind.

It was early in the day, not long after the guards had given the captives their breakfast, when the hijacked caravan arrived at the red-armored hunters' base. Calls from the front of the caravan began to be heard, and echoed replies followed not long after from further away. Suddenly, there was a loud wrenching noise, accompanied by a crunching sound of rock rubbing against rock. It sounded to Ellie as though a massive pair of doors were opening. The noise continued for several seconds, before finally cutting off, and the caravan proceeded forwards. They continued for several hundred feet, as far as Ellie could tell, and then the temperature suddenly dropped several degrees. The humidity also began to drop as well, and the air became far more comfortable than it had been. A couple minutes later, the caravan finally rolled to a halt, and the sounds of unloading could be heard.

Eventually, one of the captors came for them, and the hunters were all dragged out of the wagon they were being held in. A pair of guards grabbed both of Ellie's arms, and someone cut the bindings on her legs. The sounds of a quick scuffle could be heard from one of the other captives, but it ended quickly enough with the sound of a punch to the gut and a groan of pain. The guards suddenly lurched Ellie forward, forcing her along to who knew where. As they walked, the pair began to talk with each other.

"Why are we taking them up top? We're supposed to take them to their cells, aren't we?"

"Not this time. The boss wants to speak with them himself, since there's so many of them. You know how he is, dramatic and all. Wants to flaunt a bit, tell them what they've gotten into himself."

"Seems like a waste of time to me…"

"Well, than you can tell the old man so yourself. As for me, as long as he keeps paying me what he does, I'll cater to his whims. Besides, it's not like there's anything better to do, you know?"

"Yeah, whatever."

The guards continued to lead the captives a good distance, through winding halls and confusing directions. They went up and down stairs and up sloped areas. Their footsteps grew close as they passed through tight halls, and echoed softly as they made their way through wide, open rooms. Ellie couldn't help but wonder where the hell they were, to have such drastic changes in their location. And as they moved, a steady roaring began to fill the halls. The further they went, the clearer it got, and Ellie soon realized that it was the sound of cheering and applause. They finally began to climb a long, spiraling staircase as the sound of the cheering reached its peak. Ellie didn't know where they were, but it seemed like whatever collection of people there were cheering couldn't be more than a dozen yards away at the most.

A door opened in front of them, and the hunters were pushed into a room where the sound of cheering was the loudest. There was some talking between the hunters, and a man somewhere was laughing gleefully, seemingly in time with the roar of the crowd. The sounds continued for several minutes, and the hunters were forced to stand in silence for the time. A couple of the hunters tried to struggle again, and some began cursing at the guards that held them, but they were quieted down quickly enough by the men flanking them. Finally though, the sound of cheering subsided. A man's voice whispered something nearby, but Ellie couldn't make out what was said, but she thought that it was being said about them. Then the sound of someone leaving the room followed. Finally, a voice, a calm, soothing voice, told the guards around them to remove the blindfolds from the hunters.

As soon as the blindfold fell from Ellie's eyes, she immediately looked around in search of Levin, blinking through the bright light and finally being able to see again. It didn't take too long for her to find him; her beloved was standing next to her. But the hunter looked far worse for the wear than he had before they'd been packed away into the back of the wagon. He had several more bruises and cuts than he'd had since last she'd seen him, even though he had been only a few feet away from her almost the whole time. His face and arms were purpling from bruising, and he looked wearier than she thought she'd ever seen him, even after some of their more intense hunts. Pugnax really had been ruthless to him, despite Levin being tied up and unarmed. But Levin seemed just as relieved to see her alright, especially considering his own condition, and smiled in relief at her.

The other hunters were all in the room with them, the lot of them gathered around in one corner of the room. Most of the men and women that had captured them were gone now, off doing other work, and only a collection of just enough guards to keep the captives contained were around to control them. Kerry and Harker were nearby, and they both smiled grimly at Ellie. Some of the other hunters looked a little worse for the wear as well. Some, especially those that had tried to escape or tell off the guards, had fresh injuries of their own to accompany the ones they'd received at the hands of the guards in the first battle. Gunther seemed to be the worse off out of everyone, even Levin. Ellie hadn't been sure it was him, but the man must have made several dozen attempts to shake off the guards or cuss them out in the time they'd been captives. The handler was glaring at her and Levin with an absolutely hateful look, as though he blamed the pair of them entirely for the situation they were in.

Then Ellie looked around the room they were in, and was very surprised at what she beheld. She wasn't sure what she had been expecting, but… it wasn't whatever this place was, that was certain. The room they were in was positively… posh; that was the only way to describe the room. It was something Ellie would have expected to see in one of the large mansions that lined the northern side of Loc Lac, where all the wealthier citizens lived. Fine draperies and carpets lined the room, and a couple plush couches were scattered around the room as well; the walls were covered with a smattering of fine-looking artwork. The hunters and guards that filled the room seemed very out of place here, considering that they all wore dirtied armor; the captives weren't much better, either, with most of them being just as dirty as well as some being bruised and beaten.

There were only a couple things in the room that seemed very out of place, considering the rest of the high class design. Off against the far wall to the left, in one of the corners, was an odd collection of random knickknacks that looked aged beyond repair. They seemed to be historical objects of some kind, maybe something from the Lost's time, maybe not; it was rather hard to tell considering the wear of the things. However, one of the objects in the corner was in far better condition than anything else that the room had to offer: it was a large metallic machine with long round tubes that looked as though it had been heavily refurbished. Ellie realized with surprise that the machine was in fact an old Gatling gun, probably the oldest thing in the room. A couple of small, engraved boxes were sitting next to it, and Ellie was surprised to see that a line of ammunition was actually fed into the side of the machine. Ellie wondered if those were real bullets, or just for show; who was there that had the knowledge and ability to make bullets? Or at least ones that were the right size and caliber for a Gatling gun?

On the other side of the room was another odd thing, but this one was something completely different. It was a control panel of some kind, with dozens and dozens of unlabeled buttons and switches that spread across over a dozen feet or so. Above it, there was no wall, but a wide, clear window. On each side of the panel was a bit of wall, but on the end of one of the walls a section had been left open, a tall gap that lead out onto a small balcony that was only a couple feet long. But it was what was beyond the control panel that Ellie's gaze lingered, and the huntress gaped in shock.

On the other side of the windows was a massive room, which lowered down below where they were into a massive bowl. It was an arena, Ellie realized, with a massive stone circular pit right at the bottom of the room. Large, elaborate carvings lined the floor of the arena, and Ellie realized that the entire structure out there was made of the Meridian's stone. The entire place was made of the stuff; this was a Meridian building!

The layout of the arena was similar, yet at the same time different than the one she'd had her hunter's exam in. It was wide and circular, but several tall pillars sprouted up in the middle of the arena, towering upwards to the ceiling. Sand and dust lined the bottom of the arena, and the indestructible stone was stained in multiple places with blood, though Ellie wasn't sure if it was monster blood or… something else. And there were… protrusions of some kind scattered around, small holes and gaps in in the stone floor and walls and columns. Morbidly, Ellie thought they might be drains for the blood, but figured they had to be something else, especially if they were lined so far up the sides of the walls. Though the floors and walls were made of the incredibly solid materials, there were odd lines and grooves imbedded in the stone, though Ellie couldn't imagine what those could be for, considering all the previous Meridian structures she'd seen had been completely seamless.

Above the arena itself were several tiers, each holding seats with numerous spectators inside of them. Ellie realized that this is where the sound of cheering had been coming from, and was genuinely shocked at how many people there were out there in the stands; there must have been at least a hundred people out there! A majority of them were wearing very fancy fineries and chatting nonchalantly with each other, while others bore the standards and suits of armor, hovering behind certain people as guards to them. Some were looking up at the captives with curious and thoughtful expressions, and Ellie recognized that none of them were concerned or shocked to see the collection of hunters up there and imprisoned by the guards surrounding them. Where the hell were they, where people weren't even bothered to see kidnapped hunters being dragged around by bandits?

The hunters and guards stood in silence for a minute or two, waiting for something to happen. Levin was having trouble staying standing as he was, he was so tired and injured from the journey that he almost didn't look up when a door on the other side of the room opened up and a pair of people walked in. Ellie did however, as did the other hunters in the room. The first was an older man that Ellie didn't recognize. He was several inches shorter than her, but was well along in his years, with short silvery gray hair cut close, including a well-trimmed beard. He was in just as fancy of finery as the rest of the people out in the arena seating, and walked along with an expensive-looking cane in his hand, but the man seemed to hold himself with a very strong controlling aura, as though he were a king surveying his lands. Unless Ellie was very much mistaken, whoever this was, he was the man in charge of the arena, and perhaps in charge of everything going on here.

Pugnax was close behind the man, and had a sour expression on his face. He gave a glare at Ellie and Levin, though the switch axe user was still looking at the floor wearily. Then he leaned in and began whispering heatedly with the older man, apparently continuing some long-running argument they'd been having recently. Pugnax seemed to be seething about something, but the older man wasn't budging against whatever the lancer was trying to convince him of, and actually seemed rather bored with the man's attempts. Pugnax seemed to be getting increasingly frustrated with the older man, and several loud curses from the lancer could be heard, even over his hoarse whispering.

The sound of Pugnax's voice finally managed to get Levin's attention, and the switch axe user looked up at the argument. At first he kept his eyes on Pugnax warily, clearly worried about what the man was doing, before looking at the older man. For a moment, he just stared in confusion, then his eyes widened in shock. "It's you!" Levin suddenly gasped. The man turned curiously, his eyes widening in surprise at the sight of Levin. "You're… Moloch, aren't you? What are you doing here?"

Ellie's eyes widened in shock. Levin knew the old man? But how? The man, Moloch, chuckled a little bit before walking over to Levin. Pugnax growled angrily as the old man pushed past him, cutting off their conversation. "Well, well," he said. "When Pugnax said he wanted full claim over one of the new 'recruits', I never suspected it would be you, Levin. So the Guild has you running around delivering goods for them these days? That's… understandable, I suppose."

"No, you… why are you here? Who are you? I thought you…" Levin's voice sputtered out, and he simply stared in shock at the man, who grinned in amusement at him.

"I suppose I should reintroduce myself to you, Levin," he said. Then he turned to the rest of the captives. "And I suppose that a proper introduction and explanation is in order for all of you as well. You should consider yourselves fortunate, or fortunate enough that I've decided to bring you here. Most people that are brought here are not given the courtesy of an explanation as to what will be expected of them here. However, allow me to give you a brief description of why we have brought you here.

"But first, allow me to introduce myself, as some of you may be wondering as to who I am. My name is Moloch, and I am the owner, controller, and master of everything you see here. It was I that saw the potential of this place and sponsored it, building it into the place it is now. For those of you that haven't guessed already, I am one of the peoples that the people of Loc Lac have unceremoniously named 'the Lost.' It may surprise some of you that one of the Lost is capable of creating such an infrastructure as this place, but I think you'll find that my background certainly didn't stop me from bringing this magnificent structure to fruition… which brings me to where we are now.

"I'd like to welcome you, all of you, to this, the pinnacle of my work here in this world," Moloch said to them dramatically. "And truly, it is the greatest achievement that anyone has managed in our time here in this land. I have taken this elder structure, once only ruinous remains, and brought it back to life, returning it to its former glory, and then some. This powerful structure was once the center of a massive complex, a city designed by a society that came and fell after the Lost. But though their civilization has vanished, their works have not. As such, I dedicated myself to rebuilding this, one of their great works."

"And what is this?" Harker asked, suddenly interested at Moloch's mention of the Meridians. "This structure is not like any of the other creation of the Meridians that I have seen. It's too… focused. What is this thing that you've unearthed?"

Moloch looked at Harker and smiled. "Well, well. It looks as though we have a learned man in our recruits this time. The 'Meridians' you say? That's the first I've heard of their name. How very… appropriate a title. You want to know about this place? Don't worry, I will tell you everything. After all… you will be staying for a while.

"_Malefica_. That is the name of this place, the one I have given to it. An entire city lies here, buried under the trees and rivers of this forest, hidden underground for centuries. Over time, I have unearthed but a small part of it. Slowly but surely, the full city will be unearthed. I will make it a grand place; I will make it a place to fit the visions that I have made for it."

The crowd down in the arena roared, and the hunters looked towards the windows opening to look down into the pit. An announcer was speaking to the crowd from the other side of the arena, and the arena was being put to use as a red-armored hunter strolled into the pit through a gate. Moloch motioned to the cheering audience. "And this will be the center of it. What you see before you was the first portion of the city unearthed. This massive arena, a pit of violence and death, was the first part of Malefica to be found and unearthed. The Guild ignored it, when its discovery reached their ears, but I saw its potential. Only I saw what this place could become. So that's what I made it. Before you lies the fruits of my labor, my great creation.

"I call it the Crimson Coliseum.

"A bit melodramatic, I'll admit, but I'm fond of the title. Most people simply refer to it as the Coliseum, though, but that's perfectly acceptable, considering the prominence and malleability of the original of its name. And as fortune would have it, the… entertainment this arena provides is very much similar to the Coliseum of old. The arena can adjust, change, and improve itself based on the needs I, and more importantly, the audience, has for it. The Meridians, as you called them, young man, were very thorough in their work designing this magnificent place."

"And why did you bring us here then, if this place is so great?" one of the other hunters in the line snapped irritably, tugging at the bounds that held him.

Moloch smiled at the words. "Why, you ask? For one simple reason: entertainment. That is what I specialize in, entertainment. It has been my specialty in life since I was a young man. I am a provider of recreation and amusement for those benefactors you see sitting and cheering out in the stands. But it's not the arena itself that provides the entertainment, but what you put into it. And what I'm putting into the arena… is all of you. Hunters."

"But I don't want to fight arena battles!" one of the other hunters said, and there were a couple chuckles from the guards.

"Is not about what you want," Moloch replied. "It's about what _they_ want," he said, motioning to the crowd behind him. "And what they want is to see hunter battles like none they've ever seen before. And to give them that, sometimes it is necessary to… allocate hunters, even if they don't want to fight in this arena. And that's why you're here. To fight in this arena. Whether you want to, or not."

There were several shouts and exclamations from the captives, and the guards moved to silence them. But Moloch motioned for them to stop, and allowed the hunters to rage and argue for a minute or so, simply standing in silence. Eventually though, he grew tired of waiting, and motioned to the guards, who quickly silenced those that were still shouting. Then he continued, as though nothing had happened. "But what makes these battles like none they've ever seen before, you may ask? Allow me to explain. There are three ranks for those that battle in the arena for the crowd here in Malefica. Unlike the Guild arenas, higher ranks will be achieved not through advancement via points or any such thing, but rather, you will attain such ranks when you are deemed popular and skilled enough to take on more challenging battles. The first tier is no different than what you'd find in any arena. One or more hunters is sent into the arena, in order to fight and battle one or more monsters.

"However, what separates the coliseum from those Guild-sponsored arenas is a rather… unique attribute that it possesses when it comes to hunter battles. The arena battles that the Guild sponsors are watered-down replications of monster battles out in the wild. They may try to duplicate the thrill and challenge of battles out in the wilds, but there is one very large hindrance that keeps them from matching the same mystique and excitement that true hunts allow. And that is this: they do their best to keep their hunters alive, and here in the Crimson Coliseum, we consider that an unnecessary handicap for a true show of hunting to be displayed."

Dead silence filled the room as the hunters gaped in shock at the man. "Yes, you heard me correctly," Moloch said simply. "You will fight in this arena. You will battle monsters to the roars of the crowd. And if you do poorly, you will not be saved. You will die, just as you would in the wilds. And you will do so in front of an audience who will be watching you with rapturous amusement."

Immediately every captive in the room began shouting in rage and fear, and instantly tried to break free of their bonds. Ellie certainly didn't hold back trying to tear apart the rope bonds that held her, and when the guards controlling her tried to stop her, she managed to head-butt one of them and break their nose. But the ropes were on tight on all of the hunters and the guards eventually did manage to get all of them under control again, though the struggling had left not just one guard bleeding or otherwise wounded. After a few more minutes, the room was silent again, though that was mostly due to a few of the hunters needing to have gags shoved into their mouths to silence them.

Moloch smiled at them once they'd been quieted down. "I suggest you save your… arguments for the end. After all, there is still much more to tell you, and there are still two ranks for me to explain.

"Moving on… The second tier is very similar to the first, though it is far less forgiving than the first, not to mention it sports another unique attribute of its own." The old man motioned to the large switchboard that Ellie had seen earlier, the one that overlooked the arena. "Some of you may be wondering about this control panel here. This panel is the defining feature of the second tier of battles. As luck would have it, what we're looking at is a second tier battle right now, and as such, I'll be able to show you firsthand what will occur, should you prove yourselves skilled enough to earn a place in this tier."

Moloch strolled over to the buttons and looked down into the arena. The guards behind the captives shoved them towards the windows so that they were made sure to see what happened. As Moloch approached the windows, a few of the spectators out in the stands pointed and cheered, apparently looking forward to whatever the man had in store for the hunter in the arena. The hunter in the arena was right in the middle of a heated battle with a pair of Royal Ludroth at the moment. The both of them seemed rather small for their size, but were moving very quickly, giving the hunter a run for his money, rolling around and spitting bile everywhere. The hunter, a switch axe user himself, was having trouble keeping track of them both.

Moloch looked over the odd collection of buttons and levers, seeming to be taking his time deciding which ones he wanted to press or pull. Then finally his hands landed on a small series of bright blue buttons, and he pressed a couple of them in succession, before looking back out into the arena.

The hunter was still fighting the two Royals dangerously, trying to keep out of the way of both of their attacks, and having little luck at it. All of a sudden, several of the small holes that dotted the walls of the arena leapt to life, and jets of bright flame shot out from the walls, tearing through the center of the arena. The hunter cried out in surprise and pain as one of the flames caught him in the shoulder, blazing through his armor and burning him. However, the Royal Ludroths were far larger, and ended up being far more unfortunate than the hunter was. Both of the monsters were caught up by at least two jets of fire each, and the blaze ripped into their bodies and spongy hides, lighting them up and sending a wave of steam into the air as the heat evaporated the water in their manes.

The fires only lasted a second or two before cutting off, and the arena was as it was again. Both the hunter and the monsters were still standing despite their injuries, and now the Royals were even more enraged than they had been before. The battle continued, and the two monsters charged at the only threat that they could see. Once again, the hunter was forced to fight the two Royals, only this time all three of the contenders were injured from flame and fire, and the battle seemed even more desperate than before. But apparently, the jets of fire that had been rigged up to send flame into the arena were on a timer of some sort, because a minute or so later, the arena was once again lit up with the blaze of several jets of flame, but from different holes in the walls, and even a couple holes in the floor. This time the hunter managed to get lucky, and none of the flames managed to hit him at all. The Royals weren't as lucky, and each received just as much damage as they had the first time. Now the hunter had the complete advantage, as the Royals had been worn down and the water in their manes had all been dried up, leaving both of them worn and gasping.

The hunter was quick to collect on the fortune that had been presented to him, and rushed to finish off the two monsters before the fires could burst from the walls a third time. It was close, but he just barely managed to finish off the second one right as the flames in the holes seemed to be raring to fire again. As the Royal let off its death throes, Moloch quickly pressed a button, and the fires died away. The hunter in the arena sighed in relief, and the audience cheered politely, but to Ellie it seemed like they were disappointed, as though they'd wanted to see the man killed by the Royals or burned alive by the flames that had jetted from the walls. The captives up in Moloch's booth were silent as the man turned back to them, a smile on his face.

"As you can see, this arena is quite variable in what it has to offer the audience, compared to what the Guild has to offer its spectators. And I'd like to point out that it is not only fire that this arena can use to… further challenge the hunters that grace the floor of this arena. There is much more that this arena has to offer, but we'll let you all learn of what's in store for you later, shall we? We wouldn't want to ruin the surprise for you, now would we? There's nothing the audience quite likes as much as the hunter being taken by surprise. But should any of you last long enough to find yourself in the second tier, I suggest you stay on your toes; you never will know what to expect or when it will come. And do not think that every second tier battle will be fought by my whims. In Malefica, we cater to the desires of the audience. Every now and then, we give the chance to use this panel to a lucky audience member and their decisions and button presses will be used to determine your fate, not mine."

Some of the hunters looked at each other worriedly, and opened their mouths to argue, but all of them seemed to have realized by now that they weren't going to get anywhere by arguing or speaking out, so only a couple were willing to grumble or shout their disdain for the idea. Moloch nodded at the silence, pleased.

"I suppose you all are slowly learning the value in keeping yourself collected while you are here. It's good that you have the capacity to learn from your mistakes. However… from former experience, I am sure that you will once again speak out, especially once you learn the details of the third tier of battles. I ask that you refrain from doing so, but I imagine you all won't have the self-control to do so. I will keep it simple for you, then. The third tier, like the second, will have random complexities added to the battle, provided by myself or whomever I allow to use this control panel. By the time you have become popular and skilled enough to earn a place in the third tier, there will be little more that the monsters in these walls can offer you in way of challenge. And believe me, there is nothing more numbingly boring than watching a hunter who has gotten talented enough to deal with a challenge with incredible ease. So we've decided that the only thing left to us is the next logical step: find them something even more challenging to fight. Of course, bringing in stronger monsters was a nigh-impossible task; short of stealing foreign monsters, all that remains is trying to capture elder dragons, but that's not something that we're exactly capable of at the moment. Perhaps one day, but not now.

"However, though elder dragons are out of our grasp, we found that there were other creatures, just as powerful, that we could send our best hunters out to fight, challenges that proved their equal, and more importantly, challenges that our audience loves to watch. We found that the greatest challenge that could be offered to hunters, were in fact, other hunters." Silence filled the room, as the captives gaped at the man in shock asking themselves if he truly meant what he was implying. The man nodded to their unspoken question. "You heard me correctly. Should you prove skilled enough to reach the third tier, you will be required to face other hunters in battle. You will fight them with all you have, and you will kill them, or they will kill you."

This time the outburst from the hunters wasn't contained at all. Every single one of the captives immediately began screaming and cursing in rage and fear at their captors, and struggled to break free of their bonds. This time it proved a challenge for the guards to keep them restrained, and there were injuries on both sides as they tried to regain order, though the entire time, Moloch just stood there, smiling in amusement. Ellie managed to kick one of her guards in the face and head-butted the other's nose before they managed to bring her under control again; many of the other hunters, those that were bigger, stronger, or fiercer, were still struggling against the guards that held them. Some hunters even had to be knocked out, they were causing so much trouble for the guards that held them. Ellie was surprised to see that Gunther was putting up the biggest fight of them all, and the two guards that were flanking him were still having trouble holding him down or knocking him out, even when all the other hunters had been brought to heel. Moloch cocked his head in curiosity and walked towards the man as he struggled, and Gunther growled furiously at him.

"You've got quite the spirit, don't you?" Moloch said to him. "You'll be popular one out there in the coliseum, I have no doubt."

"You can take your coliseum and shove it!" Gunther snapped. "You try and put me in that arena, and I'll kill anyone of your guards that tries! You're lucky you've got these guards here, or I'd kill you too. I'm not going to play your games, no matter what you do to me!"

Several of the other hunters nodded in agreement, and Moloch frowned, an expression of disappointment on his face. The other hunters were getting riled up from the words, stern consternation on their faces, and the words seemed to be giving them the determination to not go along with Moloch's whims. Ellie didn't feel much better, though, considering that the man was muttering on about curses and luck, and sending glares over at her and Levin; some of the other hunters seemed to be wondering about that, and began giving the pair untrusting looks. The old man sighed and glanced at the two guards that were controlling Gunther, and motioned at them. The pair nodded in understanding, and pushed Gunther away from the others and towards the other side of the room. Some of the other hunters shouted at the man separating the hunter from the others, but there was little they could do to stop it from happening.

Moloch followed close behind as the guards shoved Gunther over to the balcony that hung over the arena. Down in the arena, several hunters were carting the bodies of the Royals out of the arena floor, and the audience was milling around in boredom, waiting for the next battle to start. When they reached the small balcony, Moloch motioned out towards the audience.

"Do you see all of those people out there? They are here for a show. They are here to be entertained. And Malefica exists in order to provide that entertainment to them. Should a hunter not be able to be deemed useful or interesting, then there is no point in keeping them around."

"Like I care," Gunther snapped.

Moloch sighed sadly, before turning away from the man and walking to the other side of the room, to where his collection of old artifacts lay. "I should let you know, those that don't adjust themselves to the workings of Malefica do not meet pleasant ends."

"Do what you will. You won't find me so easy to bring down, you fat old prick."

Moloch nodded. "Very well: then let me teach you a couple things. Firstly, that those that go against my will while they are here will pay for their insubordination…"

"And second?" Gunther asked with a growl.

Moloch smiled. "Second? The material that this city is made out of is very, very solid."

With that the two guards on each side of Gunther stepped away from the man, and the hunter blinked in surprise as they distanced themselves. At the same moment, Moloch's hand went quickly to the side of the Gatling gun that sat next to him, and rested itself on the crankshaft. Levin and Harker gasped, since only the Lost realized what the machine was capable of, and Ellie cried out in realization and warning, trying to get Gunther to move out of the way, but the handler only looked at her untrustingly as Moloch began turning the crank.

Thunderous rounds erupted from the end of the Gatling gun as the weapon burst to life, firing dozens of rounds from the end of the weapon in a matter of seconds. Gunther's eyes widened in shock as the bullets ripped into him and through him, and a spray of blood splattered across the walls and floor as the weapon fired. Though it only lasted a few seconds, the barrage seemed to last for hours, and Ellie watched in terror as the rounds blasted from the end of the gun and tore Gunther's body to shreds. Time seemed to slow down as the blood and bile splashed across the floor and the walls, and thunderous bursts blasted out from the end of the gun. Some of the bullets went wide, smashing against the archway leading out onto the balcony; Moloch had been serious when he'd said the material was solid, as the bullets didn't even scratch the pristine stone.

But eventually Moloch stopped cranking the weapon, and the gunfire stopped. Ellie's ears were ringing, but even so there was nothing to hear; the raucous gunfire had silenced the room, and the noise had echoed out into the arena, and the sound had silenced even the audience out in the stands, and they were all looking up at Moloch's booth in curiosity. Gunther was somehow still standing, and stared down in shock at his wounds for only a moment. Then the light of life faded from his eyes, and his body tilted backwards, and he tumbled over the railing, there was a moment more of silence, followed by the sickening wet sound of the hunter's body hitting the floor of the arena. The audience looked down at the body in the arena, but few of them seemed to care, as though this was a regular occurrence, or nothing special. A few moments later, the people out in the stands began to chat nonchalantly with each other again.

None of the captive hunters could say a thing, they were too shocked by what had happened. A couple of the guards rubbed their ears in irritation at the noise, but otherwise didn't seem too bothered by the whole thing. Moloch shook his head in disappointment, before turning back to the rest of the captives. Many glared at his angrily, though there was no small bit of fear in their eyes now.

"As you can see, I do mean business here. If you do not learn to do what we tell you to do, you will end… poorly, as this man did. I suggest you take his example to heart if you wish to stay as something more than monster food here in Malefica. This is not a game. This is not a joke. This is… business. And I take my business very, very seriously. You will learn to accept your fate here, or you will die in just as unceremonious a manner as he did.

"And now, before I send you all off, there is one final thing I'd like to propose to you all," Moloch said. The hunters glared at him warily, distrust in their eyes. "I'd like to offer you all the opportunity to, rather than fighting in the arena as captives, doing so as members of my organization instead." The hunters stared in shock at the words, and several opened their mouths to tell the man exactly what they thought of that idea, but the old man spoke again before they could say anything. "I'm sure some of you will readily say that you would rather have nothing to do with me at all, and would rather die than work as a member of this organization. But I ask you to reconsider. Look behind you. These hunters and guards that have been keeping you all contained did not all initially come into this structure willingly. Some were exactly like yourselves, hunters picked up and brought in from various places around the country in order. But some chose a different path than that of the prisoner and gladiator. Some joined my ranks willingly, choosing instead to aid me in my desires, rather than thrash and rage from the inside of a cell.

"And I ask you hunters to do the same. What would be asked of you would not change, but your situation, and the rewards for your good work, would drastically improve. Perhaps the ethical implications do not appeal to you, not at the moment, but perhaps some of the other parts of what Malefica has to offer appeals to you instead. Surely there are one or two of you that truly enjoy the challenge of the arena, or simply enjoy the thrill of the hunt in general, and are looking for something more, something greater, something that is more exciting and thrilling than what the Guild has offered you. Not all of you were going to stand on the walls of the fortress because the Guild told you to, were you? Well then, perhaps you should join the hunters that work for me here in the coliseum, and I promise you will find the challenges you seek. Or perhaps there is another reason you would choose to join my ranks instead. Perhaps you simply don't want to spend the rest of your life in a cell. Or maybe you're simply not the person others think you are, and the work I offer appeals to you without reward. Either way, I would be perfectly willing to accept any of you into the folds of this group, and would be happy to receive you.

"But that will be a decision you will have to make on your own. Take them away," Moloch said, waving the guards toward the bound hunters. "Send them down to the cells. Give them some time to think about my offer. I'm sure some of them will realize how generous my offer is. Let them see what awaits those who decline my hospitality. Though… considering what has happened to their late comrade, I don't doubt they understand the severity of Malefica's unforgiving nature."

Ellie winced as two guards grabbed her by the arms painfully, and she bit off several curses as the men forced them towards the door. A couple of the other hunters with them weren't so controlled with themselves, and they flung several swears at the men hauling them, and received a couple swift blows to the gut for their efforts.

However, before reaching the door, Moloch suddenly motioned to the guards carrying Levin, and the pair stopped. "Keep him here for a moment," Moloch told them. "I'd like to speak with that boy for a moment or two before you take him down."

Ellie tried to turn around to look back, but the door to Moloch's booth was already closing, and the next moment slammed shut. What did he want with Levin? And why? Ellie could only speculate and worry as the guard continued to shove her along towards wherever they were planning on holding them.

* * *

Levin watched nervously as the guards escorted Ellie and the others from the room, off to wherever they were to be held. Pugnax glared at Levin for a long time after the others were led away, before walking over to Moloch and whispering something into the man's ear. For a minute or two, a whispered argument seemed to rise up between the two. Moloch seemed confident about whatever he was talking about, and Pugnax was getting more and more frustrated with the old man. Finally, though, Pugnax turned and stormed out of the booth, giving one last withering glance at Levin before making his way out the door.

Moloch stood in silence for a moment, smiling encouragingly at Levin, though the expression only made the hunter more uncomfortable, considering the smile came while Levin was still flanked by two of his lackeys. Moloch continued to evaluate him for several moments longer before finally speaking.

"So, I hear you've gotten quite a bit stronger and more skilled since last we met, Levin, and quite a reputation to go with it. The Lost consider you a hero of sorts. Your list of accomplishment precedes you, you know. The Rathian armor and the switch axe we have… appropriated are of the highest quality, according to those that know of such things, clearly made from the best materials from the strongest of monsters. It's very impressive, you know."

"What do want with me? Why are you keeping me here to talk to me?" Levin cut in. He didn't like Moloch trying to complement him, not when the man was obviously in control of the situation. The old man grinned at him in amusement.

"Allow me to tell you a story," Moloch said, looking out over the arena battle. Levin glanced down into the battleground. A red-armored lancer was duking it out with an exceptionally large Diablos down in the arena, and it looked like he was losing. But the hunter's impending loss only seemed to be egging the crowd on more, and they were cheering for blood. "Do you remember our old world? It was all skyscrapers and industry, technology and advancement. I was once a rather powerful man in that world. Well, in just one city, but still, power over a city can be quite something if you are able to wield it wisely.

"I was there as I am here: an entertainer. I owned a series of clubs and casinos there, though those were only what I needed to maintain legitimacy with the law. I was always an excellent gambler, so it was easy to make money from those foolish enough to wager against me. But the true power I possessed was in the dealing and work conducted out of sight. Bookies, extortion, dogfighting, conmen, theft, and bribery were commonplace enough, but not the true source of money or power. The real profits lay in other sources: prostitution, drugs and other substances, and even the occasional hit contract provided someone had great enough need. It was a den of vipers and debauchery, but it was one that I owned and controlled."

"And then…" Levin noticed that the man's tone had grown icy, and his grip tightened on his cane. "The war. The sudden and overwhelming devastation. The blue light. You remember it of course. Every Lost does. Perhaps I should consider it a blessing to have been caught by the light so early during the decimation of our civilization, but… I'm never sure. Either way, such rampant chaos, and that blue light, and suddenly I'm here, in this far more simplistic world. With nothing. I am a beggar. I, who ruled over a city, my word and command causing any and all to obey, reduced to just another 'maddened' wayfarer crawling out of the desert, pleading for aid. They call us the Lost; how appropriate, when so many of us had lost everything that was ours."

Levin's eyes grew cold as Moloch grumbled to himself. What did this man know about loss? But Moloch hadn't noticed, and continued on. "But… I would not allow myself to give up. I had lost everything, all my wealth and power. But I would get it back. That I vowed. It was my great fortune to find that the blue light had carried to this place my top lieutenant from my old empire. Micah is young, but dedicated and strong. The best I have… if not sometimes overly sentimental. With him under my command, I could regain my power.

"Fortunately, my skill at gambling had yet to leave me, and the arena wagers were ever in my favor. Soon I had some money with which to reclaim my former power, and after rubbing shoulders with some of the wealthy of Loc Lac, I knew just how to succeed. The prosperous of Loc Lac were the same as our own; dig deep enough and you'll find some that lust for the things society had outlawed. All I needed was a place to build my empire, and thanks to my love of history and archeology, it was easy to do. The Guild turns away so many hopeful researchers looking for funds to study their discoveries, and a few promises of money in the ears of a certain scholar gave me the keys to this very city. In months, I was already on my way to regaining my old status.

"The rest, as they say, is history. All I needed was time; time to unearth and repair Malefica, and time to gather sponsors and subordinates. And the zeal of the men I contacted made bringing this arena to functionality in record time a snap, and enthusiastic hunters were excited to gather the monsters… and hunters I needed to provide the entertainment. And now, here I sit, the master of ceremonies, once again in utter control of a powerful organization, a city at my command."

Levin didn't speak, instead turning his eyes back to the battle below. The hunter was wearing down, and seemed to be having trouble. Moloch didn't say anything either, and the pair watched the battle for a minute or two, before the old man spoke again.

"What do you think of my Coliseum, Levin?" Moloch asked. "Quite the accomplishment, don't you think? Especially for a Lost."

The sight made Levin sick to his stomach. The hunter was down to his last legs, and the Diablos wasn't slowing down or showing any sign of mercy. Suddenly the hunter's shield went flying, the monster's horns having hooked up underneath it and ripped it off his arm. His entire left arm seemed to have been dislocated by the attack, and the hunter was now almost completely defenseless. And still the crowd began to cheer and jeer louder. There was no sound of a hunter's gong ringing, and the arena doors weren't opening so bowgunners could rush in to save the man. The man tried to run, and the Diablos lowered its horns for one last charge.

The crowd cheered and Levin turned away, glaring at Moloch. The man continued to stare down into the arena for a moment or two, until the crowd cheered a final howl, and the announcer congratulated the men and women that had bet against the hunter, jokingly calling in a cleanup crew to take care of the remains. Then and only then did Moloch turn to face him, the same amused smile on his face.

"You want my honest opinion?" Levin asked sourly.

"But of course. I accept all kinds of constructive criticism."

"I think this place is an abomination, and needs to be destroyed, and its remains reduced to ashes," Levin spat. "This place is disgusting! You're killing people for fun! What kind of sick freaks enjoy this sort of thing?"

Moloch laughed and motioned dramatically out at the crowd still cheering the death of the hunter. Some were frustrated at losing their bets, but even then they seemed happy with the show. "These are the people that enjoy this 'sort of thing'."

Levin growled in disgust. "How can there be so many? I don't-" He was cut off, however, when Moloch laughed again. Even the two guards that flanked him chuckled in amusement.

"You think these are all of them?" the man asked. "The terrible, _disgusting_ people you think would find entertainment in this sort of thing? Hardly. This is just this weekend's turnout, and one that I would consider an off week for this organization. Just you wait, boy. A couple weeks from now we're conducting a large gathering to celebrate the Coliseum's success, and I expect there to be five times this number at the very least."

Levin was staggered by the words. There were at least a hundred people out there, gambling and cheering, and that wasn't even including the bodyguards and other members of their entourages that they had brought along. And they were expecting at least five times that number to show up on a single weekend.

"How?" he gasped. "How can… how can there be so many people that…"

"What did you expect?" Moloch scoffed. "Did you thing this world was any different than ours? That it was better? Cleaner? More noble and pure in their intentions? Ha! What a joke. As someone who has studied the history of the world for many, many years, allow me to enlighten you on something: the world we live in may change and warp to something unrecognizable, civilizations and empires may rise and fall, but human beings will never change. Underneath the guise we put up, letting people think we are kindly and generous, there is always greed and lust for violence hidden underneath."

"You're wrong," Levin muttered.

"Am I? Just look out there. Can you hear the cheering, the joy, the sheer amusement so many people felt just now, watching a man die? Do you think a man like me could've had the opportunity to create such an empire as this, with so many hunters working for me, and so many men and women indulging themselves in what I have to offer, in such a short amount of time, if the people of this world weren't just as vicious and bloodthirsty as we are? Don't delude yourself, Levin. The world changes, but people don't. All they need is an outlet. Someone willing to cater to their needs."

"And that's where you come in."

"Exactly," Moloch replied. "A good businessman offers what the consumers want. A wise businessman offers the consumers something they never even knew they wanted. And what makes it all that much easier is that I was a master of such things before the Lost were ever brought here to this world. At the height of our technological prowess, our desires were purified and perfected. Now that we're here, in this world so primitive and lacking compared to ours, all the vices and urges that we once indulged ourselves in are gone, but the human desire for them hasn't changed. For those that specialized in them back in our world, this presents a new opportunity, a guaranteed market yet untapped by the technology that this world has."

"So you're not just supporting this death combat? You're trying to kick start the old vices humanity had as well?"

"In short, yes, though it is still coming along. Do you think Malefica would last and grow with just some bloody battles that those men and women out there haven't been able to see at Guild arenas? Even blood and death can grow bland to those that wallowed in it long enough. Why do you think I offer some lucky guests the chance to actually instill their own misfortune on the hunters in the arena? It's to give them something more, something different. A brand new vice. This city is growing, more and more tunnels and rooms being unearthed, and with it, so grows the opportunities for the expansion of this organization.

"Some vices, certain… addictions, require time and practice to make correctly. For example, many of our clients desire to purchase monsters as pets, but such a thing takes time. One cannot breed a wyvern so quickly, and of course you should be able to offer them the pick of the litter, not just what you first have at your disposal. Then there are their other, chemical addictions. It's rather pathetic, honestly. To think the most popular substance abuses in this world are the numbing effects of Guild potions, and occasionally Felyne-grown herbs and weed. It's so… uncreative. So of course we're producing some more… interesting things for them to try.

"Soon, once we have more power and manpower at our disposal, we'll be able to offer them even more to satiate their new lusts and urges. The thought of having a pet monster is one thing… but what of their own monster _hunter_? One that's their very own to control, to play with in their own little games and fantasies? You've no idea the number of my patrons have made requests to purchase my current star attractions, a couple huntresses that have become quite popular here, to use as their own, though I suspect they don't want them for hunting…"

Levin was completely flabbergasted. "You… you're talking about slavery! And… what the hell is wrong with you?!"

"I prefer the term 'indentured servitude' myself," Moloch replied. "But such things aren't a reality, not yet. For now we have the arena and the promise of pet monsters, but soon enough there will be far more to offer them, and the power of this organization will have solidified."

"You're just making things worse!" Levin snapped. "You're turning these people into something more terrible than they were by doing these things! If it weren't for you…"

"What? You think they wouldn't be the kind of people they are if I wasn't around? You think they'd live lives of clean fulfillment with no thoughts of illegal or immoral activities if I had not come to them to offer everything that my Coliseum has to provide? Hardly. These people haven't gotten worse since coming here; they've just found a new outlet. If they wanted a pet creature of their own, they'd just go through backroom deals with less-than-honest Guild workers. If they wanted substances to abuse, they'd just buy or make their own. And as for the arena battles… well, I'll admit that letting them actually _watch_ hunters die may be a novel idea to them, but do you honestly think that they never gambled on whether a hunter would live or die out on a hunt? It wasn't something they could do so blatantly at an arena, but there are still back alley bookies that are willing to take on such wagers, when hunters go out to deal with a monster. Betting on a few young hunters going off to fight their first Lagiacrus or Diablos was quite the intriguing gamble in Loc Lac, even when I first arrived in the city. There is nothing new or unheard of in what I'm offering these people, Levin. All I'm giving them is a singular place to do all of it at once."

Levin shook his head in frustration at the words, and Moloch sighed at Levin's refusal to agree with him. Outside the booth, the announcer was introducing the next hunter into the arena. Apparently this was one of the better hunters Moloch had at his disposal, because the odds were weighed far more in the hunter's favor. The announcer was actually wishing those betting against her luck! What the hell!

"People like me will always be around, Levin," Moloch said. "Many people may look at my work with disdain, but an intelligent man finds profit in such work. Now, Pugnax may find you less than favorable, but I know better than to strike down a possible benefit. There is always room for more people in this organization, for those that are willing to see the true advantages of working for me."

Levin gaped in shock at the man, and Moloch smiled in amusement. "You… what? You're offering me a job?"

"I am," Moloch replied. "And I'm willing to extend the offer to your friends as well, provided they accept the conditions."

"Why the hell would I ever want to work for you?!"

"I'm sure you can think of a few good reasons. I once labeled you as the kind of hunter who truly enjoys the thrill of the kill, one that would find pleasure in being an arena hunter. And I still hold true to that judgment. Even if our availability to duel other hunters may not be something that you care for or even approve of, there's plenty of opportunity for you to make your fame hunting monsters here. Just think of the challenge of it!"

"Why would you think I would give up my morals just to fight a few monsters?" Levin growled. "What kind of man do you think I am?"

Moloch smirked. "The driven kind."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, you're a man who seeks strength," Moloch replied. "You'd fit right in with Filcher's group. You want to get better, faster, stronger. You need to make yourself greater. Being a hunter isn't just work for you, it's a compulsion, and a means to an end. You could make friends with the hunters under that man, you know. After all, you're not the only hunter out there that would like to venture out and take down the Alatreon."

A cold fear washed over Levin. "How do you know about that? The Guild was supposed to-"

"The Guild has a lot of secrets that they try to keep, but those can be easily uncovered if you know who to talk to and how to get them to talk," Moloch said with a smile. "They take such great efforts to keep information from the councilmembers of Loc Lac and other high-ranking members of the Guild, but it's surprisingly easily to unearth information if you're completely outside the rank-and-file they've created for themselves. As long as the right people in the Guild don't hear about what's really going on, secrets are far more loosely held then they're supposed to be.

"Which brings me to my point. The Alatreon. The Guild and people of this world may consider the creature to be some phantom, a demon beast that is apparently invincible, but here? We know better, you and I. We both know that the Alatreon, no matter how powerful, is just another monster in the end, and like all the other beasts I have stored away in this Coliseum of mine, it can be killed by a hunter that is strong enough and skilled enough. And we're not the only ones in this organization that know this. There are dozens of hunters that work for me, hunters just as skilled as those the Guild has to offer, that would love nothing more than to join you on some heroic quest to go off hunting that dragon, and bring the creature down."

Levin stared at Moloch as the man spoke. Dozens? That was a veritable army of hunters to go after the Alatreon! A powerful elder dragon couldn't deal with that many hunters, surely. From deep within him, a powerful want for blood began to well up from inside of him, the desperate need to chase after the Alatreon again. The creature needed to die! And this was an opportunity for him to get the resources and manpower he needed to find and kill the creature

"I see the idea appeals to you," Moloch said. "Of course I'd be willing to give you access to what I have so that you can hunt and kill the Alatreon. If rumors are true and the beast tries to hold sway over the Lost, it would be in my best interest to supply you with the things you need to take the elder dragon down. There is just the matter of what you will do for me, provided that I do all these things for you."

Levin blinked in surprise. "Like what?"

"Well, you'd have to work for me for a time, of course," Moloch replied matter-of-factly. "And I'd expect you to make a valiant effort to convince your comrades to do the same. You'd play the song and dance of the arena, fighting monsters and other hunters here in the arena. And should we find ourselves requiring it, I will need you to go out and… requisition higher quality supplies from caravans, much in the way my subordinates were when you were brought here."

"What? No. You're asking me to kill people for you?"

Moloch turned and stared at Levin. "In exchange for information, personnel, and materials required to hunt the Alatreon? Of course. You will have to ask yourself how much you desire the elder dragon's death, and how much you would pay for it. Or better yet, how much _anyone_ would pay for it. An ancient creature that has tormented humanity for centuries, perhaps millennia, killing countless human beings? Do you really think the Guild would hesitate to throw all the hunters they could muster at it if they really thought they could win? If it meant the Alatreon's death, do you think the Guild would pause for a second to use you as cannon fodder?

"If you take me up on my offer, and work for me, and kill… even as many as a hundred hunters within my arena, even if every person in Loc Lac was told of what you did here in extreme detail, do you imagine that the generations to come will think you are anything less than a hero? Do you think that a hundred people will make a difference to them, knowing that the Alatreon was killed? The Alatreon's death would override every sin you've committed in the people's eyes, and then some. They would think you a saint, not a butcher.

"So, what will it be?" Moloch asked, smiling and sitting in a nearby chair. The sound of the crowd cheering in the arena roared through the overlooking booth. "I have seen what the Guild has on your relationship with the beast. It's consuming you, isn't it, knowing that the beast still lives though it deserves to die so badly? Will you work for me in exchange for the Alatreon's head? Are you willing to do what is necessary to take the elder dragon down?"

Levin was quiet for a moment. What Moloch was saying rang somewhat true, even if it was painful to hear. Even if it took many lives, wasn't it worth it if it meant that the Alatreon would be defeated? He'd heard stories of how the Guild had sent dozens of hunters off after other elder dragons that had caused trouble for the world. What was the difference between them and what Moloch was asking for? What made Moloch worse? And for that matter, what made the Guild better?

But…

"No."

Moloch blinked in surprise. He clearly hadn't been expecting that answer, at least, not so quickly. "I… excuse me?"

"I said no. Are you deaf? I won't work for you. Not even… not even if it gets me what I need to hunt down the Alatreon."

Moloch scowled at him. "And may I ask why? Perhaps you think that the Guild wouldn't throw you away if it meant killing the Alatreon?"

"No, they probably would, if it meant killing the thing. Hell, they probably wouldn't even give me a choice in the matter."

"Then why decline my offer?"

"Because they care," Levin replied, and Moloch frowned. "It's not… about whether or not they're willing to throw away hunters' lives to kill an elder dragon, but… why they're willing to throw the lives away. When the Guild sends hunters off to their deaths, it's because they need to. Lives are at stake, and that's why they're willing to send hunters to die; they're doing it for the greater good.

"But that's not what you're doing, Moloch. You're doing it for profit. For control. What would you gain if I managed to kill the Alatreon? A lapdog? A peon? I'm sure that would be a profitable advertisement, wouldn't it, having a hunter in your Coliseum that fought and killed the Alatreon? Just think of the bets you'd have placed on me, or better, against me. He killed the Alatreon, he could take on anything, and they'd put down the money. And once the profit of a fight exceeded the value you have on me, suddenly my odds are more than I can handle, and the Alatreon killer is no more. And your reasoning for having the Alatreon killed in the first place; do you expect me to believe you're doing it to be altruistic? For the betterment of humanity, or even just the Lost? You know what the elder dragon is to the Lost, and you want it gone to remove a threat to yourself, to your own life, not anybody else's.

"And besides," Levin continued, "I refuse to believe that the Alatreon can only be killed by throwing hunters at it until someone succeeds. There has to be something people haven't thought of, or some attack method that's never been tried before. You said it yourself: it's just a monster. And even the most rookie hunter can defeat a powerful monster with skill and a lot of luck. So even if sending waves of people after the creature is the Guild's plan and yours, I won't subscribe to it. I'll find my own way to kill the thing, one that doesn't require needless deaths or deals with the devil."

Moloch's smile was gone, and the leader of the organization glared at him. "I'd be careful with your words if I were you, Levin. This is not an agreement I offer lightly, and if you decline it, it will not be offered again."

Levin scowled at him. With a moment to gather up, the hunter leaned forward and spat on Moloch's chest, leaving a trail of saliva on the old man's fine silk coat. "I'm not a politician, so for lack of a more poetic way of saying this, you can take your agreement and shove it. Don't expect me to work for a degenerate like you, Moloch! You may act all high and mighty in this pretty little booth of yours, but you're no better than the filth out there in the stands, and you're worth less than the slime on the booths of the people dying in your Coliseum!"

Moloch's eyes burned with rage as he stared holes into Levin. The hunter could almost grin; it looked as though the man was trying to make Levin burst into flame through sheer intensity of fury. "You have made a foolish choice, boy. You were offered a chance at a more comfortable life, and you've thrown it in my face. You will not find any happiness here, and you will find that your chances at surviving my wrath will vanish far more quickly than you think."

Levin laughed. "You think that scares me? Risking my life with odds stacked against me? Please. I've faced monsters older than all the Lost combined. I'm one of the few living humans on earth that has fought the Alatreon and lived to tell about it. I've had so many brushes with Death since becoming a hunter that I should start giving him high-fives when I pass him."

"Get him out of here," Moloch snapped at the guards. Immediately the pair of guard grabbed Levin by the arms, and they weren't gentle about it. "Take him down to the detention cells and put him in the training program. It looks like he'll be working for us under less comfortable conditions." As the two men began dragging Levin away, Moloch turned back to face the arena, as the death throes of a monster warbled through the window. Right before they reached the door, Moloch growled in anger. "And let Pugnax know that he was right. The boy wouldn't see wisdom, so he'll be with us for a very long time."

* * *

It took roughly ten minutes for the guards to drag Levin down to the lower levels of Malefica, where the cells lay below the arena, and throw him into a small cell of his own. The guards had been less than gentle with him, considering his rude words to Moloch, but Levin took it. It wasn't any worse than what Pugnax had did to him after being captured in the first place. That had been rough, but it would have been worse if that long sword user and hammer user hadn't been untrusting of the lancer in the first place.

What had happened to Pugnax after the incident in the Tundra? For most of the time Levin had hunted with the man, he'd seemed like a fairly honorable man, even if he did enjoy hunting more than what seemed healthy. But… the man had gone way overboard when Levin had tried to stop him from killing the Barioth and its pups, but even then, Levin wouldn't have thought that the lancer would stoop to whatever he was doing here. Levin wouldn't have thought anyone in this world would have stooped to the crimes that were being committed in this place.

But here he was, in the odd remains of an old Meridian complex. Moloch had called it Malefica, a sinister name for a sinister place. And the place was designed to tend to the desires of the wealthy, with the blood of hunters. It was just his luck, to fall out of one miserable situation and into another.

The cell block they were in seemed to be dedicated to men, from what Levin had seen on his way in. Not a female huntress in sight, meaning they kept genders separated. Every cell he had seen was occupied by a hunter or two, depending on the size of the room. The cell he was in was very stark. Plain, white stone walls bordered each side, each one made of the stone that the Meridians liked to use, that unbelievably impenetrable material. So trying to break through the wall wasn't going to happen. There were only three gaps in the walls: the cell door was made of thick iron, with a small barred hole in the middle to see out of, and there was a small barred window on each side of the cell as well, allowing Levin to look in on his neighbors if he had the inkling.

"Levin? Is that you?" a voice called from the next cell. Harker's face appeared through the window to the right. The man smiled thankfully. "You look rather worse for the wear, my friend."

Levin groaned as he pushed himself back to his feet. His bruises and muscles ached in pain from the beatings he'd received from Pugnax during the journey. "Yeah, I've felt better. At least I can move around a little now."

"For what little movement these cells allow," Harker nodded. The long sword user glanced out the bars, and Levin did the same. A couple of guards were talking quietly nearby, across the hall a few cells down, playing cards with each other. They didn't seem to care about the two hunters' conversation, and blatantly ignored them. "Are you certain you're well, though? I never imagined Pugnax to be so petty and underhanded in getting his revenge on you."

"Well, I ache all over," Levin replied, sitting on the cot in the cell. "Those other two hunters kept things from getting too bad for me, but… he certainly wasn't gentle about it. I'll live, though. I've taken worse beatings from monsters we've fought. I'm more concerned about this place… Malefica, and the Crimson Coliseum."

"Yes, this place is… troubling. I did not imagine a place like this could exist in the world as it is. So much death… I did not care much for Gunther, but even so, I wouldn't have wished such a terrible death on the man. I thought I knew about the Meridians and their works, but after seeing this place, I don't-"

Harker stopped mid-sentence and the quick sound of armored boots echoed from the hallway, heading their way. It was at a quick pace, too. The guards at the table suddenly leapt to their feet upon looking down the hall, giving themselves the appearance of being alert, but the sound of boots walked past them. The next moment, a face looked into Levin's cell. Pugnax's face. He was still wearing full armor, as well as his helmet, but his faceplate was up. The lancer smiled wickedly at the sight of Levin, and the switch axe user glowered at him.

The lancer turned for a moment, and whispered quietly to the guards out in the hallway for a moment. There were a bit of an argument, with the guards replying uncertainly to the man's words, but they didn't seem to be putting up much of a fight against the man. It didn't take that long for the guards to cave into Pugnax's words. A few moments later, the sound of footsteps began again outside the door, and the pair of guards began walking away from the cells. Levin could still see Pugnax outside the door, though, watching the guards walk away, and he felt a cold feeling go down his spine. Then Pugnax turned, walked right over to the cell door, and unlocked it, walking into the cell and grinning at him.

"I knew you wouldn't take Moloch's offer," he said after a moment. "You're too stuck up in your ways. You didn't have the guts to kill monster pups, I knew you wouldn't have the ability to do what Moloch wanted you to do."

"What do you want, Nax?" Levin asked irritably, and Pugnax laughed.

"I'm surprised that you still refer to me so familiarly. I would have thought you would have gotten over that by now. But as to why I'm here, it's mostly to enjoy seeing you in the position you're in. I had hoped there would be a chance to see you so broken and beaten, but I never imagined it would be so soon!"

"I'm not beaten yet," Levin replied sternly. "A few stone walls and being watched over by a few dozen assholes with a superiority complex? I've been in worse situations."

Pugnax frowned at the comment, but it was quickly replaced by a confident look again. "I think you underestimate the power of this place. I don't think you realize exactly the position you're in. Not yet, at least. I doubt there's anything you've done that could match the terror of Malefica. And I don't think there's anything you've fought that matches how dangerous I could be to you, Levin."

"I very much doubt that," Harker said suddenly from his cell. Pugnax's eyes snapped over to the window, and he glared at the long sword user as Harker grinned. "Tell me Pugnax, have you ever gone toe-to-toe with a Rathalos? Or, more precisely, a silver Rathalos?"

For a moment, Pugnax's eyes widened in shock and uncertainty, but it was quickly replaced by anger. "You expect me to believe that a couple of sentimental weaklings like you two managed to fight a silver Rathalos and live? You're a pitiful liar, Harker."

"Big words from a man who thinks himself a great hunter because he can kill Barioth pups," Levin growled. "I bet you asked for a trophy when you killed your first Great Jaggi." Pugnax glared furiously at him and took a step towards him, but Harker quickly began speaking quickly, pulling the lancer's attention back to him.

"You're right, I am a bad liar," Harker agreed. "So you should be able to see the truth in my words. You may be confident for an armored man facing an unarmed opponent, but I would not talk down to someone that's killed a creature with power on par with an elder dragon."

To Harker's credit, his words gave Pugnax pause. However, after a moment, he turned his gaze wickedly back to Levin. "I don't believe it. It's a fanciful tale, but I don't believe a word of it. You think I can't find out what you've been up to recently? I have men that will gladly go out and find out what you've been up to recently. Moloch isn't the only one in Malefica with information sources. And even if you weren't lying…" Pugnax took an intimidating step closer to Levin. "I may not have fought a silver Rathalos before, Levin, but I can guarantee you that I am far, far worse, and far, far more dangerous. You may try to act strong and unafraid, but that will change, sooner or later. I guarantee it. And as for you not being beaten yet… well, I can change that."

For a moment, Levin thought he could hear motion in the other cell across from Harker's, but he was quickly distracted as the long sword user began to speak again. "Perhaps you should keep your distance Pugnax," Harker said quickly, though there was a tone of nervousness in his voice. "Moloch didn't seem the kindest person to me, but he didn't seem to think highly of your treatment of Levin during the trip here, and I doubt he'll enjoy hearing about this."

"What, are you going to rat me out?" Pugnax laughed. "It doesn't matter either way. Thanks to Levin's little show in Moloch's booth earlier, I doubt the old man cares either way right now what happed to him. So…"

Without another word, the lancer's fist swung out at Levin. The switch axe user figured it was coming, though, and ducked out of the way. With a jab of his own, Levin's fist snapped out, catching Pugnax in the nose and knocking him back a step. But the other hunter laughed in excitement, swinging at Levin again and catching him in the side. Levin grunted in pain as the man's gauntleted fist smashed into his waist, the metal joints biting into his skin through the thin shirt he wore. Levin swung again wildly, this time catching the man in the gut. But his fist clanged loudly off of the man's armor plates, nearly breaking his hand from the impact, and the hunter winced back in pain.

Pugnax grinned mockingly, pressing closer to Levin. Harker was shouting in anger, much to Levin's surprise; he rarely heard the man lose his temper. But Levin realized he was in no real condition to fight Pugnax as he was. He was just too tired and bruised from the trip from the place they were captured to Malefica. Between the light rations, the lack of sleep, and the beatings Pugnax had already given him, he was in no condition to get in a fist fight with the lancer, especially when the other man was wearing full armor, and he had only the clothes on his back.

It showed even more when the lancer reached towards him, and Levin tried to block, but only managed to deflect the arms a little bit. Pugnax's hands grabbed hold of Levin's shirt, and the next thing the switch axe user knew, he was being hoisted into the air. Levin grunted in pain as Pugnax laughed, slamming him up against the wall. "How's it feel, Levin, being helpless again? Once again, I stand over you. And this time, you don't have a Gobul around to save your skin."

Levin swung his fist at the man again, but his blow just ended up hurting him as his fist bounced off the man's thick helmet. Pugnax laughed, backhanding Levin across the face and throwing him to the ground. Levin scooted across the floor, backing up against the edge of the cot against the wall. There had to be something nearby he could use to fight back with! But nothing was available to use; everything was embedded into the walls. Short of taking his clothes off and trying to strangle Pugnax with them, he didn't have any options.

Pugnax's hand brushed against the wall as he closed in on Levin. "I suggest you get used to this Levin. I'm going to enjoy making you pay for embarrassing me and destroying my reputation like you did. I've been looking forward to this for a long time. And now I have all the time in the world to-"

Suddenly a flash of motion snapped out from the side, and several fingers slid into the gaps of Pugnax's helmet. Then the lancer was tugged abruptly towards the wall. The hunter's helmet clanged loudly as it was smashed hard against the metal poles that barred the window between Levin's cell and the one next to him, and Pugnax staggered as his brain was rattled inside his skull. Levin looked up, realizing that someone in the next cell had reached through the bars and grabbed at Pugnax.

Pugnax wavered on his feet for a moment after the blow, and the person on the other side of the bars quickly popped the helmet from Pugnax's head with a condescending snort. A moment later, an arm stretched through the bars and wrapped around Pugnax's now-exposed neck, before pulling him back and slamming him up against the wall. Pugnax gasped and choked in pain as he found himself in a headlock, his feet being pulled off the ground as the arm pulling him tighter.

"Let go!" he gasped. "Let go, damn you!"

A growl of menacing anger rolled through the bars from the other room. To Levin's dizzy and tired mind, it sounded similar to the growl of a monster. "How's it feel, Pugnax, being helpless? Who's standing over whom now? And you sent away all the guards who could save you. You strut and preen like a Peco does with its feathers, yet when it comes to fighting you act like a spoiled child. You are nothing to me, peon."

Pugnax's hand went towards his belt, where his hunter's knife sat sheathed in its scabbard. However, at the sound of the blade being pulled from the scabbard, the man in the other cell slammed Pugnax's head against the bars again, even harder this time, and the blade clattered to the floor as the lancer grunted in pain. Pugnax's face began to grow blue as he gasped for air, his armor clattering against the wall as he flailed around, trying to free himself.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing! Release him, now!" Levin blinked in surprise at the voice. One of the guards had returned, apparently at the sound of Pugnax's armor clanging loudly against the wall. The sound of rattling filled the room as the keys to the cells were shoved into the lock and the cell door swung open. "Get back!" the guard snapped, rushing to Pugnax's aid.

The man in the other cell grumbled, pulling Pugnax tighter for a moment. "Just remember, I _let_ you live," he growled, before releasing the lancer, pulling away from the window of the cell and retreating back, allowing Pugnax to fall to the floor. Immediately the lancer reached for his helmet, gasping for air and rubbing his neck in pain. Another guard had appeared, and the pair of extras were shouting at the man in the other cell as the lancer recovered. The sound of rattling once again filled the room as the other guard began unlocking the next cell.

However, a sudden rush of anger seethed through Levin as he looked down on Pugnax while the man was recovering, and he leapt to his feet. As Pugnax looked up in surprise, Levin kicked him across the face, knocking him on his back, before Levin jumped on top of him and began to pummel his exposed face, cursing at the man. It took a moment for the guards to realize that Levin had jumped Pugnax as the lancer tried to defend his face from the assault, but soon enough they realized what was going on, and they rushed to the aid of the man.

The first of the guards shoved Levin off the lancer while the next, who had given up on going into the next cell, quickly dragged Pugnax to his feet and helped him out of the cell. One of the guards punched Levin in the gut once, before hurrying out of the cell and slamming the door shut. After the beatings Pugnax had given him, a single blow from a random guard didn't seem like much anymore. But the sound of Pugnax cursing and raging, swearing revenge on Levin and the man in the next cell, echoed down the hall as the guards escorted him away.

"Sweet mercy! Levin, are you alright?" Harker asked worriedly, looking into the room. "Forgive me my friend, but I couldn't help at all! If only I could have…"

"Harker! Harker, it's alright," Levin said quickly, stumbling over to his cot and lying down. "I'm fine… I'm fine now." Then he chuckled a little. "At least I managed to get a few hits in this time. It made me feel a little better returning some of the pair from the trip up here."

"Yes, yes… very fortunate for you, my friend. You really should learn to pick your fights better, Levin. I know Pugnax likely didn't come here with good intent, but you really needn't have egged him on. It seems we owe your neighbor our thanks. Had he not stepped in when he did, I fear you may have come out of this far worse for the wear than you did."

"Yeah, I guess we do," Levin muttered, trying to push himself upright. However, his injuries go the better of him and he flopped down onto the cot again in pain. For a moment, he listened, but no sounds of guards could be heard from the hall. They must have gone with Pugnax to make sure the man was alright… "Hey! Um, anyone over there?"

"Yes, I'm here," the voice said from the other side. There was motion, and a man looked in from the window. He was a tall, blonde-haired man, with a clearly unkempt beard growling from his jaw; and he was one that looked like he had seen his fair share of monster hunting of his own. "Are you alright? Don't get up; it sounded like you took quite a beating before Pugnax got close enough for me to reach out and grab him, and injuring yourself further isn't wise here."

"I'll live, I'll live," Levin replied, though his body ached, disagreeing with his words. "I guess I owe you one. Thanks for the save back there."

The man nodded. "Think nothing of it. I've wanted to do something like that to the man since he brought me here a few months ago. Admittedly, I had hoped to do it under different circumstances, but I'll take what's offered to me."

"Yeah, well, hopefully it'll be a while before he tries again," Levin groaned.

"With luck, he won't try again at all," the man said. "Moloch, the ring-leader that stands at the top of this organization, seems to like seeing his captive hunters in top fighting form, at the best of their abilities. If word of Pugnax assaulting you in your cell gets out, I think Moloch will take steps to make sure it won't happen again."

"I wouldn't put money on that," Levin replied somewhat tersely. "But thanks for stepping in anyway. Oh, uh, by the way, my name's Levin."

"And I am Harker," the long sword user added.

"A pleasure to meet you both," the man replied. "My name is Richard. I assume you two were just recently captured? I haven't seen you around before."

"We've only just arrived today," Harker said. "We were escorting materials to the fortress to the southwest of here when we were set upon by several dozen hunters and captured."

"They're attacking caravans now? Bah, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, considering what else is going on here in Malefica. Moloch is getting bolder and bolder these days, if he's openly attacking Guild supply runs."

"Yes, that long sword user, Micah, said something to that effect," Harker mused idly. "Though, I cannot see the goal in letting the Guild know of their existence… I'm a scientist, not a politician, so I cannot guess at the implications."

"So the Guild knows that this place means business now?" Richard asked. "Hmm… I'm not sure if that's good news or bad news. And now Pugnax likely has an eye on me… Well, so much for keeping a benevolent reputation… heh," Richard sighed, and Levin heard the creaking of a cot as the man sat back down in his own cell. "I imagine that once word gets out about this, that imbecile Pugnax will be out to avenge himself against me…"

"Were you trying to keep incognito or something?" Levin asked. "If so…"

"Don't apologize or anything, if that's what you're planning to do," Richard rebuffed calmly. "I may have been trying to stay out of people's sight by keeping benign, but I wasn't completely inconspicuous; that large hammer user Filcher, and that long sword user Micah you mentioned don't trust me, and have been watching me pretty carefully since I arrived. The fact that I was able to stay out of Pugnax and Lilith's sights was only because I haven't made a show of myself in the Coliseum."

"But I guess that's changed," Levin muttered darkly.

"Maybe, maybe not; it depends on how you look at it," Richard replied. Then he chuckled a bit. "First rule of dealing with prisoners: Keep away from the bars, or you deserve what you get." There was silence for a moment, then Richard turned the conversation back to Levin. "So how are you acquainted with Pugnax, anyway?" he asked. "He obviously doesn't care too much for you, considering his less-than-honorable attack earlier, which means you're likely a decent person by all rights. What exactly did you do to earn a personal vendetta from him?"

Levin sighed. "We used to hunt together, but… On a hunt, I decided to spare a Barioth and its pups. Pugnax disagreed with my decision. We had an… altercation after that, and he nearly killed me and the girl I love. We only managed to come out on top thanks to a… a Gobul attack, I suppose. After that, once word of the fight got out, a lot of people didn't think too highly of him anymore. I think that whole 'destroying his reputation' thing might be a bit of an exaggeration, but he clearly doesn't like me anymore."

"Clearly," Richard agreed. Then he paused. "What was that bit with the Gobul about?"

"Oh, geez, I don't even know," Levin groaned. "A Gobul popped out of the ice in the Tundra and chewed on him, and he probably blames me for that too."

"In the _Tundra_? I didn't know Gobuls lived that far north."

"Neither did I," Levin replied. "It just showed up there and chomped on him for a bit, and then it took off without even battling anyone. I don't even know why."

"That's… an odd story," Richard admitted.

"What of Moloch?" Harker asked quietly. "I've been meaning to ask you about that Levin. What did he want with you? A man like that… I doubt he singled you out for small talk."

"You spoke to Moloch?" Richard asked, suddenly intrigued. "I've never met the man, though I've seen him before, up in that booth of his. Why would he want to speak with you?"

"We've met before," Levin admitted shamefully. "It was… a while ago, in Loc Lac. I met him at an auction house, and he asked if I was interested in arena battles. He told me if I wanted to, he could… ah, never mind. Arena battles never really interested me. Anyway, after he had everyone else taken away, he tried to convince me to join his organization."

"And by your current incarceration, I can assume you turned him down?" Richard asked.

"He offered me… a lot," Levin admitted. "He offered me many things that I really wanted, but… I didn't take his offers. Not from him. Not with this place being what it is. Though… I may have turned him down a little harder than I should have. I don't think he expected me to turn him down so quickly or so hard. I doubt he's going to be very kind to me considering what I said to him up there."

Harker laughed. "I doubt life here was going to be easy either way, considering Pugnax is here. He may not like you, but his opinion of the rest of us is not exactly glowing either. As I recall, before you created your own issues with him, he had something of a vendetta against Lady Kerrigan. Ah… wait… I made myself worried."

"If it makes you feel any better, I can try to tick him off next time he comes by," Levin said. "Maybe if I get him angry enough, he'll forget about any issues he had with Kerry."

"Ha. Well, don't go too far. If you can get his attention away from Lady Kerrigan, I would greatly appreciate it, but don't overdo it. It's not as though we can do much to avoid the man while we're here."

"Yeah, if it's not one thing, it's another," Levin sighed. "Even if I escape from this place, the Guild will probably just throw me into another prison all the same. It seems like I'm doomed to spend my life in prison either way."

"Keep your chin up, Levin," Harker told him. "There's no certainty that the Guild will imprison you in the end. If they haven't done so yet, there's still a chance that you'll find a way to stay free. Besides, even if the Guild wants you in prison, surely it doesn't sit well with you knowing that Ellie and Kerry are here, not to mention countless undeserving others as well. Surely they deserve freedom?"

"Yeah… yeah, you're right," Levin agreed. "Even if I'm doomed to life in prison, I don't want to serve my sentence here. We do need to find a way out of here, but… I noticed you didn't put yourself on that list, Harker."

The long sword user chuckled. "I guess not. I didn't want to appear narcissistic, and besides, my own thoughts are on Lady Kerrigan rather than myself. Though I imagine the Lady Kerrigan and Miss Eleanor are having the same worries about us."

"You're a criminal?" Richard asked in surprise, interrupting the two. "You… don't seem the type."

Levin sat quietly in thought for a moment, weighing the risks of telling this stranger his story, before laughing mirthlessly. "Oh, what does it matter if I tell you or not? I guess it doesn't really make a difference either way… I tried to hunt the Alatreon, and now the Guild wants to throw me in prison for the rest of my life. The only reason they haven't yet is because the rest of the Lost like me, and if I get publically sent to jail they'll probably burn Loc Lac to the ground or something like that."

"Quite the political conundrum," Harker agreed.

Richard was quiet for a moment. "I think… I may have been away from current events a little too long. I don't recall Loc Lac being quite so… volatile the last time I was there. Would you mind telling me the whole story? I'd like to hear about this."

Levin sighed and shook his head. What did it matter, either way? He supposed that no matter what, whether he escaped from this place or not, his fate was sealed. So he gathered his thoughts, took a breath, and began his story from the start. Richard sat in his cell quietly, occasionally asking a question, but otherwise keeping his silence. Harker added in thoughts of his own every once in a while, but usually let Levin tell the story himself.

Once Levin was done, Richard sat in silence, contemplating the tale for a while. "Things have certainly gotten worse in Loc Lac since the last time I was there… I always was worried that the Lost would have trouble settling inside Loc Lac, but this is far beyond what I feared would happen. And the Alatreon… that's a whole other issue of its own. I can certainly see why the Guild wants you in jail now."

"You agree with their assessment?" Harker asked.

"No, no," Richard replied. "I understand where you're coming from. The Lost are suffering because of the Alatreon, the creature that destroyed their civilization and brought them unwillingly to a world that didn't know what to do with them. All of their troubles in Loc Lac can be traced to the beast. I don't blame you for your desire to see the elder dragon dead, especially after knowing what it intends to do with the Lost. But then, on the other hand, I do understand the Guild's reasoning. The Alatreon is a very dangerous, very vengeful creature, and it reacts violently and mercilessly when threatened, so of course they'd want to keep from aggravating it, thus the punishment they've given you. Hearth was very lucky to survive an attack from the thing. And with the knowledge that the creature will toy with and tempt the rest of the Lost into attacking it, one at a time… that's quite the conundrum you've placed at the Guild's feet, and not one with an easy solution."

"What other options would they even have?" Levin asked curiously.

"Hmm… Well, the most obvious one would be a full assault on the elder dragon, with the most experienced and willing hunters they have at their disposal, but… well, the location of the Alatreon's lair is not entirely well known. In fact, if any human does know where it is, it's the greatest kept secret known to man."

For a moment, Levin recalled the image of the fiery peak of a volcano, where the Alatreon kept its 'prizes' of victory over those that had challenged it. He considered mentioning it to Richard, but… it didn't seem like there would be a point. It could be any mountain in the world, and even in just this country, who knew how many there were?

"Besides that," Richard continued, "I guess there really aren't that many options for the Guild. They can't protect every single town and village out there. If they knew where the creature was going to attack, that's one thing, but records don't show the elder dragon ever having any truly predictable pattern."

"You certainly are well-versed in knowledge about the Alatreon," Harker noted, and Richard chuckled in reply.

"If every hunter out there was completely honest about it, the amount of hunters that have at least thought about hunting the Alatreon would be far higher than the Guild likes to think. You're not the only ones that have desired the fall of that particular elder dragon, even if you are of the few that have actually acted on your desires, and are of the impossibly small number that have managed to fight the creature and walk away from the battle."

"A happy bit of fortune," Levin replied dully, "though the aftermath of our survival has been less than pleasant."

"Perhaps our thoughts would be better spent on other things," Richard suggested. "Like a possible escape plan. There's time enough to dream of killing elder dragons once we're free from Malefica. I've been here far too long, and though this is your first day here, I would say the same for you. You asked if I was trying to be inconspicuous, but I never told you exactly why. I've been trying to find a way to escape this place since I first arrived here, and I figured that it would be more prudent to be subtle before I was aggressive."

"Do you have a plan?"

Richard shifted uncomfortably in his cell. "Not a complete one. This place is a veritable fortress from what little I've seen, and seems more than anything else designed to keep things inside. I'm not sure what these walls are made of, but they seem almost completely impregnable from what I've been able to conclude. I've got a couple ideas I've been thinking over, but… it may be a while before an opportunity arises. There's just so much of this place that I have yet to see, and it's such a maze. Also, I cannot in good conscious escape and leave all the other prisoners behind, and even if I could, my escape would give the leaders of this place time to flee and cover their tracks. If there's going to be an escape, it has to be everyone at once, and I want to be able to capture as many of the leaders that I can. And I don't know enough of this place to do such a thing, not yet. Truth be told, you may have more important information than I've been able to collect so far, having been inside Moloch's booth."

"There wasn't much to see," Harker said. "It seemed designed almost entirely for show, to give a display of the man's strength and wealth to anyone that enters. And then there was the Gatling gun… ah, I had thought that there would be some years before the war machines of the Lost began to reappear in the world, but not so quickly, and not aimed against humans instead of monsters. The only truly important thing I recall seeing in that room was that panel of buttons and levers he had laid out overlooking the arena, but none of them were labeled so I am uncertain what they all did."

"None? None at all apart from the… the Gatling gun? Curses. I was hoping that that panel could be used to our advantage, but if it's not labeled, I don't see how it will, short of pressing buttons at random, and that would most likely be a very bad idea."

"Why the panel?" Levin asked. "I didn't think it did anything more than control those traps in the arena."

"Maybe, maybe not," Richard replied. "I have… sources that have led me to believe that there is something in Malefica that gives Moloch control over most of the things that happen inside of it. I was thinking that the control panel in that booth of his might be it, but I'm not sure."

"It wouldn't surprise me," Harker admitted. "The Meridians were a very meticulous type of people, and having control over their surroundings would be something they would do, I am certain. But who was it that told you this? I imagine Moloch's guards wouldn't be too free with such information, and I can't imagine any of the captives that have been kidnapped would have been able to discover that information on their own."

"Ah… well, to be honest-"

"Is what you said true?" an unfamiliar voice suddenly asked, one aged, weary, and broken. "You said you were trying to kill the Alatreon? You have fought it and lived?"

Levin looked around in surprise. Where had that voice come from? He hadn't seen or heard anyone in the other cells since arriving, and had assumed they were all empty, but… where had the voice come from, then? Richard was suddenly moving around over in his cell. Did he have a cellmate or something? One that didn't talk much?

"You're speaking again?" Richard asked the voice hastily. "It's been some time, sir."

"Hah! Not long enough, if Moloch had his way," the voice replied in that wheezy, tired voice. "I have not had the fortune yet to die, and end this torment I have been damned to. But boy, you must tell me, is what you say true? Have you made a foe of the Alatreon?"

"I… yes, it's true," Levin replied. "It attacked the town of Hearth up north, and we managed to scare it off with an exceptionally powerful flash bomb. We didn't manage to hurt it or anything… just caught it by surprise and confused it. I don't think it expected to be blinded."

"Then it hunts you? The elder dragon is not known for being kind, but vengeful in its actions. It will come for you, surely?"

"You seem very interested in this," Richard noted. "What does the Alatreon mean to you, sir?"

"Tell me!" the man begged, ignoring Richard. "Will the Alatreon come here to seek retribution?"

"I… no, no it won't," Levin replied. "It… it won't come for me. It told me so. It wants me to suffer for going against its wishes, and it knows that I want to fight and kill it. It… it told me that it will destroy everything around me, but it will never get close enough for me to fight it again."

"Hah, what great misfortune…" the man wheezed. "I would have wished that the Alatreon sought revenge for its embarrassment. I would have hoped that its fury would come down on this place, and reduce it to rubble as it should have long ago… but it seems that this place will not fall."

"What do you mean?" Richard asked. "You… want the Alatreon to destroy this place? You would have the elder dragon bring it down around us, and all of the innocents that are forced to be here?"

"This place consumes those within," the man said tiredly. "It eats them alive, and turns them against one another. It was designed to hold the most powerful and dangerous creatures, and press down on them. That the Alatreon has not already ruined this place is a mystery. The elder dragon was marked by the architects of this place. Its image covers the walls in the deeper rooms. They meant the beast to be killed in this place. This city, this… Malefica, is a place of the dead, for the dead. It was meant to be a prison, a torture chamber, and finally a coffin for the Alatreon itself. The beast held sway over so many creatures, and this place could contain and destroy those that were sent against it. But… it was never used for its true purpose. Nothing was ever enough to stop that beast, and it wouldn't be coerced into trapping itself here. All that find themselves here cannot leave, not without permission. It is the ultimate prison."

"But there must be a way around that!" Richard urged. "There must be some way to break out. You say this structure was built to contain an elder dragon, not humans, than there must be a way to escape for us that monsters wouldn't be able to enact."

"It won't work… it can't work," the voice muttered. "This place will kill those that try to escape. It is in the walls, in the very stone. This was made a building of death. Only the master of this place can spare the lives of those inside. He that stands on top, steps on the ones below him."

"What do you mean?" Richard asked. "Are you talking about Moloch? Does he have something that gives him leverage? Is it… is it that control panel up in his booth? What kind of power does it give him?"

The tired voice sighed miserably. "Yes, it's true. The entirety of Malefica as it is can be controlled from within that man's chambers. I know that he plans on expanding the city outwards as his power and wealth grows, and the danger of that panel will no longer be all encompassing. But as it is, that single panel holds complete bower over everything within this city's walls."

"Then you know what it does!" Richard said excitedly, relief clearly in his voice. "Can the panel free everyone inside the arena all at once? Could it seal off the guard's quarters? Could it release the monsters? What can it do? Which buttons would you have to press to do it?"

"I don't know," the voice sighed. "I have no doubt that the man has changed things since he imprisoned me. As long as I still live, he must still consider me to be a threat. So he has likely long since changed the organization of the control panel. Any that tried to use that panel to their advantage would just as easily kill themselves and any that they were trying to save as they would save themselves."

"There must me something more you can tell me! Please! Innocent lives are at stake!"

"No, no… I have spoken too much. I have committed crime enough today, offering needless hope in such a miserable place as this. I have spoken of life in a place of death, and I will do it no more."

"Wait, wait!" Richard called out to the man. "Sir! Please, there has to be more you can say! There must be!" But the voice would say no more. The man seemed to have sunk fully into silence once more, and Levin couldn't even hear the man breathing on the other side of the bars.

"Who was that?" Levin asked quietly.

"The architect of this place," Richard replied dully, coming back to the window. "He was decieved by Moloch, and rebuilt this place into what it is now. He blames himself for everything that has been done here."

"So wouldn't he know how to get us out of here?" Harker probed. "Know a weakness in the design in this place or some secret passage that might get us out of here?"

"If he does, he's not saying anything about them. He seems to think that escaping is completely hopeless."

"That's rather disheartening," Harker muttered.

"Well, it could be worse," Richard replied. "I do have a few… friends and contacts spread around Malefica, so hopefully we'll be able to get in contact with a few of them soon, and see if they have anything to work with. I haven't heard from a few of them recently, though, but hopefully they're still alright with helping me out."

"Well, I'm sure Ellie and Kerry will be willing to help us out," Levin said, "provided we can find a way to-"

The sound of boots clacking against the stone floor could be heard coming down the hall, and Richard hissed at them, stopping their conversation abruptly. The shifts had changed, and a guard was finally returning to post. Levin wished the doors allowed more of a view; he couldn't see anything through the small window that was on the cell door.

The footsteps continued, until they stopped maybe ten feet from Levin's door. A bit of muttered cursing could be heard on the other side of the door, followed by the sound of the guard slumping wearily into the chair on the other wall. "Damn it all, of course they're away from their post, especially on a day like today. I never get a single chance for a break, do I?"

"Another bad day, Stephan? I hope I didn't cause too much trouble for you," Richard suddenly said calmly, walking over to the cell door.

"Well, you certainly didn't help things," the guard outside, Stephan apparently, scoffed. "Pugnax is in a rage over something, and he had your name on his lips when he was doing it. He wouldn't say what happened, though, but I'd prepare for the backlash if I were you. What exactly did you do to him?"

"Nothing much; I was just making sure the oaf knew to keep the Coliseum's manpower in good condition. They can't just let him go around damaging company property, now can they? If I hadn't stepped in, Moloch may have lost a new recruit. Honestly, I should get a reward or something for curbing that idiot."

"Ha! Got too close to the bars, didn't he? Honestly, that's the first thing they tell you not to do when you're a guard. Nice to hear someone smacking that egotistical prat around a bit," Stephan chuckled for a moment longer before sighing. "But I suppose that's the only good news I'll be getting today. Moloch's in a bit of a state, after today's big fight. And Micah… oh boy, I've never seen him so lit up."

"What happened?" Richard asked worriedly. "Today was… they were bringing out those two girls today for the fight, Kimberly and Natalie, right? How badly were they-"

"Kim and Nat?!" Levin cut in, perking up at the names and rushing to the cell door, despite the pain. "They're here? What! How? How long? What happened to them? Are they alright?"

Stephan, a rather normal looking man a few inches taller than Levin, blinked in surprise at the outburst, and glanced over at him in confusion. Richard seemed surprised at the sudden shout as well. Harker appeared at his own cell door, curious and worried as well, and Stephan gave the both of them an uncertain look. "You, uh, must be the new ones. You… know those two girls?"

"We're friends of theirs, yes," Harker said quickly. "Now, what happened to them?"

"Ah, well… this is bad," Stephan replied apologetically. "Today was a big fight, and one of the benefactors got the chance to play with Moloch's control panel up in the box, and… well, I'm not sure exactly what happened up there, but…"

"Tell us!" Levin pleaded, and Stephan winced at the volume.

"I'm not sure what the full story is," Stephan admitted. "I don't know about that Kimberly girl, but… word has it that something happened in the arena. And from what I've heard, it seems like Natalie was really badly injured. Some claim… some people are saying she's dead."

"That doesn't bode well…" Richard grumbled, a solemn look on his face.

"Oh no…" Levin legs gave out from underneath him, and he found himself kneeling on the floor, gasping for air as shock overwhelmed him.

"I'm really sorry about this," Stephan said quietly, honestly apologetic, but Levin hardly heard him. Harker had a stunned and disbelieving look on his face through the bars.

"Oh no…"

* * *

"Get in there!"

Ellie stumbled and fell on her backside as the guard shoved her into her cell. She rubbed her wrists painfully, trying to soothe the painful rope burns that lined her arms. It was the first time in what seemed like a very, very long time that she'd been able to move freely. But now that she could, all she had was this little space to move around in.

"Ellie?" a voice asked through the bars on the left. It was Kerry's voice. "Ellie? Are you alright, dear?"

"Yeah… yeah, I'm alright," Ellie replied, pushing herself to her feet. "Just… a little sore."

Her friend was looking in through the bars with a worried look on her face, though she relaxed a little upon seeing that Ellie wasn't hurt too much. "That's good. That's… good."

The sound of cursing and yelling came from further down the hallway, from one of the other huntresses that had just been thrown into her own cell. Threats of vengeance filled the hall outside as the woman raged in fury at her captors, demanding freedom, and that they try and fight her in a fair battle. Several of the other prisoners sighed at the woman's ranting, but didn't feel like calling her down for it. But the guards simply laughed it off, chuckling between themselves as they walked back to their posts, talking lightheartedly over something that Ellie couldn't hear.

There had been a bit of a struggle to escape once during their trip down to the cells, when one of the huntresses had head-butted one of the guards in the nose and tried to break free. But despite their time hunting monsters many times their size, these guards apparently had gotten plenty of experience keeping hunters contained, and after some work, the captives were contained again, with a few more bruises on each side to show for it.

"What do you think Moloch wanted Levin for?" Kerry asked quietly.

"I don't know," Ellie sighed. "How could… how did Levin even meet a man like him? I don't think he even mentioned knowing a man like that. Though, I guess he seemed pretty surprised to see Moloch."

"I don't think Levin would make friends with bad men, dear," Kerry said. "If he didn't support Pugnax's actions, he definitely wouldn't get along with Moloch. He was likely tricked or something like that, I'm sure of it."

Ellie nodded. "Yeah, you're probably right. But… what about this place? Malefica? What do we do now?"

"I wish I knew, dear," Kerry sighed. "But there has to be something that…"

Then was a sudden rush of activity, and footsteps began thumping down the hall. The two huntresses paused their conversation, and Ellie wandered over to the cell door, looking out as a collection of guards suddenly appeared from around the corner down the hall. The sound of screaming and crying followed them down the hall, and Ellie felt her skin crawl at the sound. The voices of the guards rose over the sound of pained sobbing.

"Why are we bringing them to these cells?" one of them asked. "They're supposed to be down in the cages, not here!"

"Look at them," another voice replied. "Does she look like she be making an escape attempt anytime soon? Doctor says she probably won't last the night anyway. And her partner's not going to be doing much with her partner like this. Moloch said to just bring them down here. We'll be fine."

"Damn, what happened to her anyway?"

"It was a second tier match against a Rathian, and Moloch had one of the well-to-dos up in his booth for the privilege of playing with the arena buttons. It was the same thing as normal: spikes, pitfall traps, flame jets from the walls, that sort of thing. Then the rich guy found the button that drops barrel bombs from the ceiling."

"Oh, ouch."

"Yep. The first few bombs actually dropped on top of the Rathian and blew it all to hell. But the rich guy got a little trigger happy, and kept the bombs falling, even though the Rathian was already dead. One of the bombs dropped toward the other girl and landed right in front of her, and this one jumps over and shoves her out of the way, and the bomb goes off and… well, this happened."

"Well, that was stupid. Should have just let the bomb take her instead."

"Hmm. Well, they're old friends, so I've heard, so I can see why she wanted to save her."

"In a place like this? Friends or no, it was still stupid. You have to look out for you and yourself, and only yourself in this place, nobody else. She got what was coming to her anyway, considering all the guards she's killed. I don't think anyone will be sad to see her go."

Ellie kept away from the doors as the guards passed. There were four of them that she could see, and through the bars she could see that the first two were carrying someone between them, someone limp and injured. Behind them were the next two guards, trying to hold back a struggling huntress that screamed and cried between them. Ellie suddenly felt a cold shiver go down her spine. She thought she recognized the voice of the girl screaming.

"Nat! Oh, please, Nat, say something! Let her go, you bastards, let her go!"

Ellie's heart sank, and she dashed to the cell door, looking out. Kerry was near the door of her own cell, next to Ellie's, staring out as well. A few of the guards gave them sidelong looks as they passed, but Ellie's eyes were on the two huntresses that they carried between them. Two very familiar huntresses. It was Kim and Nat, from the Hunter's Exam from Orage Dell! Why were they here? They were supposed to be up in one of the northern fortresses with their hunting master!

Ellie gaped in shock as they carried the pair past her cell to the empty one to her right. She could barely see Nat between the two guards that were carrying her, but she did seem really badly injured. Burn marks and scars covered what skin she could see, and the woman looked very worn. Nat was just as bad behind her, as three guards struggled to keep her contained. The woman was fighting against them viciously, but at the same time, her sobs and misery weren't letting her put up enough of a fight to break loose.

One of the guards passing by growled menacingly at Ellie, as she looked through the bars, and swung a club at the window, making her flinch away from the door. The guards continued to the empty cell to her right, and after opening the latch, unceremoniously tossed the two huntresses inside. For a moment, Kim lashed out against the guards holding her when they released her, but quickly went after Nat when the guards tossed the woman's unconscious body into the cell. With a resounding clang, the door was slammed shut and locked behind them, and the guards wandered away, grumbling between themselves. Ellie waited until they were gone and their voices had vanished before quickly making her way over to the window and looking into the cell.

That's when Ellie finally managed to get a real look at Nat, and her eyes widened in shock and horror. Massive, terrible burn wounds stretched across the woman's lower torso, spreading across her waist and back. Burnt skin was covered haphazardly by poorly-applied bandages. But that wasn't the worst of it. Both of Nat's legs had been blown off. Both appendages had been violently and terribly torn apart from the explosion of the barrel bombs, and now both limbs simply vanished just around the knees. The bandages had been wound a little tighter around the legs, but still seemed roughshod in Ellie's opinion. The only bit of good fortune about the whole thing was that the explosion seemed to have cauterized the wound, and there was little bleeding from the missing legs. The former lancer's expression was pained and delirious, even despite her being unconscious.

But it was too much for Ellie, and she stumbled away from the window in terror, her stomach heaving in sickness and horror. The lack of much food from the journey here was the only thing that kept her from vomiting all over the floor of her cell. She'd heard of hunters returning from battles with truly terrible wounds, but she'd never seen something so terrible, at least not before it had been tended to by doctors. Doctors that actually cared, at any rate.

A hand rested on her shoulder, and Ellie nearly screamed in fright. But she realized that she had wandered back far enough to have reached the other wall and was shivering and crying. The hand was Kerry's who had reached out from her own cell to comfort Ellie. "What's happened, dear?" she asked worriedly. "What's wrong? Are they hurt?"

"Nat is… they… her legs are gone!" Ellie gasped, and Kerry's eyes widened in shock. "Why would… why would they do that? Why are they doing all this?"

Kerry didn't have an answer for her, and Ellie slumped to the floor miserably, listening to Kim sobbing in the other room. Nat's ragged breathing could also be heard as well, only making the silence that much more palpable and painful. The entire cell block had gone quiet as the two huntresses had been dragged past, and even the woman that had been raging at the guards had been silenced. But eventually, the sound of Kim's weeping got the better of Ellie, and she pulled away from Kerry to head over to the other end of the cell and look through the other window.

"Kim?" she said quietly. The lancer's eyes shot up threateningly, glaring angrily at the sound. But when she caught sight of Ellie's face through the bars of the window, for a moment she looked confused and uncertain, then recognition lit up in her eyes.

"Ellie?" she gasped. "No. You can't be here! They couldn't… they caught you too? Oh no…"

The lancer made to stand up for a moment, but looked down at Nat again, and quickly stooped to cling desperately to her friend again. "Nat! Oh, Nat, please say something…"

"How did this happen to you?" Ellie murmured. "I thought you two were up at a fortress! How did… when did they get you? How long have you been here?"

"I don't… we couldn't…"

"Ellie? Is that… you?" The huntress looked down in shock at the words, and nearly began to cry again at the sight of Nat opening her eyes, even if only a sliver. Immediately Kim cried out in joy, and her arms wrapped around her friend, squeezing her thankfully, protectively. "You're… here? Why… are… you here? You shouldn't… shouldn't…"

"Don't talk, Nat!" Ellie gasped. "Save your strength! You'll… you need to save your strength."

"Ha. Ha… this is nothing…" Nat said, before coughing fitfully. "I just… Kim? Are you… there? Are… you alright?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Kim sobbed. "Just stay still! Don't move… oh, please, don't die!"

"I can't… I don't think I'll…" Nat's eyes drooped for a moment, before turning back to Ellie. "Ellie… you… can you…"

Suddenly, the urgent sound of footsteps filled the hallway outside. A person shot past Ellie's cell, and looked in on Kim and Nat. It was a young man, the one Levin had fought defending the caravan, with light blonde hair and a long sword strung across his back. As he stared into the cell, dozens of emotions danced across his face, jumping from anger to fear to uncertainty and frustration.

However, when Kim caught sight of him, her face immediately turned to seething rage. With a scream of fury she leapt at the cell door, moving so quickly that the man on the other side just barely managed to get out of the reach of her arm as it shot out after him, desperate to grab him and hurt him.

"You did this!" she screeched in vehemence. "It's your fault this happened! I'll kill you! I'll tear you limb from limb! I'll make you regret ever being born!"

Ellie blinked in surprise as Kim unleashed a string of curses and threats that she never thought the once bubbly hunter could even comprehend. But the man outside seemed to take it all in, his face a mask of guilt as the huntress screamed at him. One of the other guards looked at Kim irritably, and moved to quiet her, but the man grabbed hold of the guards arm and twisted it until Ellie swore it would break for certain. The hunter certainly looked tempted to do so as the guard cried out in pain, if for no other reason than to vent his frustration.

But he eventually released the guard, even with Kim still cursing at him. "Get a doctor," he snapped at the man. "Get several. I want her healed to the best of their ability."

The guard sputtered. "But Micah, Moloch said that-"

In a flash, the hunter Micah's long sword was out, the blade pressed menacingly against the guard's throat. "I. Don't. Care. Get the doctors. NOW."

The guard cringed as the blade pressed even closer to his face, lightly cutting the man's throat and releasing a trickle of blood. The man's eyes widened in terror, and Micah let the man feel it for a moment longer before pulling the blade away. "Go," he growled, and the guard leapt to his feet and bolted down the hallway.

Kim continued to curse and hiss at the hunter, even as Micah watched the guard run off. Micah sighed as he looked at her, simply standing in silence as the huntress through insults and threats at him. Ellie watched in silence as the man simply took the verbal abuse, allowing the huntress to vent her frustration and anger at him.

It was almost ten minutes before the guard reappeared, three doctors in tow. By now, Kim had worn herself out from screaming at Micah, and had now been reduced to panting. She still flung threats and curses at him, but it was tired and quiet, even if it did retain the same vehemence and rage that it had before. The doctors seemed irritated at having to come, especially in such numbers and against Moloch's orders, and went as far as to say so, but a glare and sharp word from Micah had them moving just as quickly as the guard had to get into the cell.

"No!" Kim barked angrily, however, as the doctors approached the door. The three flinched back fearfully as the huntress growled menacingly at them. "I don't trust them! I won't let them hurt her!"

"You have to let them in!" Micah replied. "If they don't tend to Nat, she could die. You don't want that to happen, I'm sure."

"She wouldn't be in this situation if it wasn't for you!" Kim snapped. "If it weren't for this whole damn place, she'd be fine, you bastard!"

Micah frowned at the statement. "…Either way, you have to let the doctors in, otherwise-"

"I don't have to do anything you ask me, you son of a bitch!" Micah's eyes darkened at the words, and he seemed to be growing frustrated at the huntress. "I'll tear apart anyone that tries to come in here! Just you try!"

"Kim," Ellie said softly, and her friend looked over at her. "You need to let the doctors in. If you don't, Nat might die."

"No! No… I can't! I don't trust them! Any of them! They'll just try and kill her, finish her off!"

Ellie's eyes snapped to Micah. The man had a very desperate look on his face as he looked through the bars at Nat. He caught Ellie's look though, and shook his head. "I won't… I promise that I won't let them do anything to her, that I'll make sure they do whatever they can to help her." Then he shot a dark look at the doctors. "And if I find out they haven't… they'll be next ones to try their luck in the arena."

Ellie eyed Micah warily. He was likely lying. She couldn't trust anyone that worked here any further than she could throw them… but… Micah truly seemed desperate, and genuinely worried about Nat's wellbeing, though as to why, Ellie couldn't guess. He so easily had captured them back with the caravan. But he had also kept Pugnax and that psychotic bowgunner from butchering the transporters. Ellie was having trouble figuring out whether to trust him or not.

Suddenly, Nat began coughing painfully, and both Kim and Ellie's eyes darted to the woman as speckles of blood sprayed from her mouth and she groaned in pain. Kim groaned in misery at the sight of her partner, and another choked sob escaped her mouth. In that moment, Ellie made her decision, though she certainly didn't like it.

"Kim," she said softly. "Please. Let them in. I know you don't like it. I don't either, but… we don't have any other choices right now."

"No… no no no…" Kim moaned miserably.

Ellie held out her hand through the bars, and Kim looked at it warily. "Please Kim. Just long enough to help her. If it looks like they're doing something bad… then you can kill them, okay?"

She shot a look at Micah through the bars, and a couple of the doctors growled irritably. However, Micah nodded. "Fine by me." The doctors paled visibly.

Still Kim was hesitant, but eventually she slowly moved away from the cell door, taking Ellie's hand that reached through the window of their cell and squeezing it tightly for comfort. The cell door opened with a click from the other side, and the doctors were thrown roughly through, and immediately the door slammed shut behind them. "Do your work," Micah said menacingly. "And do it well. Your fate is in Kimberly's hands right now. If you don't satisfy her… I don't think I need to tell you what she'll do."

The doctors cursed in anger, but nodded in disgruntled understanding. With a wary look at Kim, who glared at them angrily, they pulled out their medical tools and made their way over to the cot where Nat lay, breathing heavily in pain. Ellie had to keep a tight grip on Kim's hand as they began; the huntress still didn't trust the doctors, and tried to pull away from her to get the doctors away, but Ellie kept hold of her, not letting her try and stop the men. She would, though, if the doctors tried anything.

Micah's eyes were downcast as he passed Ellie's cell door, but he looked up at her as he passed. "Thanks," he muttered quietly, making her blink in surprise. It was almost too soft for Ellie to hear, and the man continued walking before Ellie could think of a reply. She watched him walk away for a moment, then turned away, intent on keeping Kim company while the doctors saw to Nat.

"It's all right," she whispered to Kim as she clung to her friend through the bars. "Nat will be all right, I promise." However, even as the doctors worked on improving Nat's condition, Ellie couldn't help but wonder if what she said was true. Kim was close to falling into madness, and Nat… there was no recovering from losing both her legs. But if Kim was losing her hope, Ellie had to do her best to give it back to her.

A cold feeling of determination welled up inside her chest. Her friends had been here for too long. They had suffered more than anyone deserved. Somehow or another, she was going to get them out of there. No matter what Moloch or his lackeys threw at her, she would fight through it. She'd get revenge for her friends.

One way or another.

* * *

**Author's Note: Please Review! I'm a right bastard aren't I? I'm expecting a lot of you to tell me as such after reading this chapter, considering what I did to Nat. This was actually very hard for me to write, I'll have you know. I spent the entire chapter wonder 'should I do bad things to them or not?'**

**Geez, Moloch takes a long time to write. He's a man who enjoys monologues, so I ended up spending hours writing out his scenes then speaking them aloud to make sure they sounded right. Luckily, he won't show up all that much in the next chapter… hopefully. I'm never really certain until the chapter's done and sent to my editor. Speaking of which, the next chapter might take a while to write, considering that I'm moving close to 1000 miles away from the Midwest down to the south.**

**With MH3U coming out, I was hoping that, when the game finally arrived, playing it would help inspire me to write my monster fights better. Just my luck the game comes out when I get to the part of my story where my characters likely aren't going to be fighting monsters, but rather… other hunters. And yes, for those paying attention, I actually did manage to get the money for the WiiU and the game! Hot dog! Look me up if you want to play some time! I might spend some time building myself up offline first, but if I'm online, you can find me as 'That Spy.' It looks as though you have to go through Nintendo IDs to friend people though, so you'll want to look for 'almanorigin'.**

**Reading: **_**The Fellowship of the Ring **_**by J.R.R. Tolkien, **_**Nurarihyon no Mago**_** by Shiibashi Hiroshi, **_**The Two Towers**_** by J.R.R. Tolkien, **_**Horimiya**_** by Hero, **_**The Return of the King**_** by J.R.R. Tolkien, _The Voynich Hotel_ by Douman Seiman  
Playing: Black Mesa, MH3, Lego Lord of the Rings, Nintendo Land, MH3U  
Listening: The Album Leaf, Sufjan Stevens, Iron & Wine, Animal Collective, The Mountain Goats, Mika, AC/DC, Queen, Radical Face, The Polyphonic Spree  
Watching: Freeman's Mind, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy**


	39. Loyalty

Loyalty

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. Most of the characters in this story are mine. Richard Jr. belongs to Hoenn Master96. Jino belongs to Chibitiza. Edited by: Hoenn Master96_

"Vant anodder drink, sveetie?"

Joshua glanced up from the table he sat at upon hearing the voice of the innkeeper, Lynn, and nodded thankfully as the woman set down another glass of beer on the table in front of him. "Yes, thank you."

"Hyu look like hyu've been havink a rough time of it deez days, hey? Hyu und doze friends ov hyu dot came along. Dis vun's on de house, hey?"

"Oh! Well… thank you!" Joshua replied, indeed much obliged to the woman.

"Well that's very kind of you, Miss Lynn! But for all the years that I've come to this bar, I don't think I've ever gotten treated to a free drink. Why is that?"

Joshua looked back at the man across the table from him. He was an older man, a few years past what Captain Marcus was, for sure. His graying hair was short and shaggy, but he sported a rather wild-growing beard that had been allowed to grow wild into a jagged, angular shape. It reminded Joshua of a wolf, to be honest. Though, the man was nice enough. He'd been kind to Joshua ever since he'd gotten to Loc Lac a few days ago. Lynn grinned at him in amusement.

"Dot's because hy know dot hyu've got de money, hyu big fool. Dot fancy coat hyu got is sign enof, hey? Don't try und gif me a hard time vhen hy know hyu ken pay, hey, Jino?"

"Ah, maybe you're right, miss. Doesn't mean I can't hold out hope for a little generosity."

"Keep dreamink, den," Lynn said with a laugh. Then she smirked wickedly at the man. "If hyu vant, ve can fight for eet. If hyu ken beat me un dot arm wrestlink hyu so fond ov, hy'll give hyu vun on de house, hey?"

For a moment, Jino grinned thoughtfully. "What are we at, Lynn? I have twelve wins and you've got eleven?"

"Hyu vish, hyu old coot. Ve is tied ot eleven, though hy don't like to admit eet. But hy vouldn't mind puttink myself in de lead, hey?"

Jino laughed and shook his head. "I'll pass this time, Lynn. The last time we wrestled, we broke a table, and we both dislocated our arms. And you made me pay for the table, too!"

"Ha! Und de vindow hyu broke too, vimp. Ah, vell, mehbe next time, den, hey?" Lynn smirked, before turning and heading back to the bar.

"Anyway, are those shipmates of yours still looking for work in town?" Jino asked Joshua as the woman walked away.

"Yeah, they are," Joshua nodded. "You'd think there'd be more work for sailors in this town, even those that don't have much experience out on the sand. The sea and the sand aren't really that different… are they?"

"I couldn't say," Jino replied. "I only ride the ships to and from the city. I've never really thought about how difficult the work could be. Though, it takes a certain type of madman to decide to ride those hunting ships they take out to ward off Jhen Mohran with. Takes a certain type of hunter to decide to hunt the thing in the first place, truth be told. Ah, but I'm sure someone's bound to hire you and your crewmates. Especially if that tale you told me about you and your crew running afoul with a Lagi is true. People that can survive scrapes like that are usually well-sought-after. I'm sure before you know it the shipmasters will be clamoring to hire you."

Joshua grinned at the words, thankful that someone had confidence in him, even if he hadn't had any luck at all the weeks he'd been in Loc Lac.

After the mess he, Calvert, and Captain Marcus had gotten into shipping those two hunters from Boma Village back to land from Echo Village, and the subsequent attack of the Lagiacrus, the three sailors had been hard-pressed to find another ship to sail on. It seemed that the Lagiacrus that the two hunters had eventually killed had been relentlessly attacking shipping and fishing vessels for several months, and ships to purchase were in short supply. Neither Marcus nor Calvert had any desire to leave the comfort of sailing, no matter their circumstances, and Joshua wanted to at least help them since they shared similar circumstances, so the three of them ended up traveling together, searching for new work.

It seemed as though they would be out of luck, until they had found themselves in Orage Dell, searching the shipyards for an old boat to buy, when they finally found a possible solution to their problems. They'd passed by a couple of traveling hunters, that had been complaining about the lack of sailors that were willing to steer the sand ships in the desert, leaving many hunters high and dry and waiting for the next ship. And there were rumors that the Guild was experimenting with airships, and looking for people bold enough to try out. All three hunters found themselves intrigued by what they heard; Marcus and Calvert were ready and willing to search for a new sea to sail on, whether it be sand or sky, and Joshua had always wanted to visit Loc Lac in hopes of learning more about alchemy. And Captain Marcus had a little bit of airship experience, which was promising. So without much hesitation, the three had joined a caravan heading inland to search out work at the hunting capital of the country.

Of course, upon arriving in town, they found that rumors were not nearly so accurate as fact. It wasn't that the sand ships weren't hiring, it was that there weren't that many of them, and plenty of those experienced on the sands were already in town, so even the most skilled ocean sailors were unnecessary. And the rumors of airships being built by the Guild weren't exactly true either. It seemed that the Guild was indeed building airships for something, but their reasons were… classified, and once again, they just weren't going to hire a few sailors for their work. And Joshua's hope of becoming an alchemist was shot down just as quick. It seemed that there was some trouble in the Guild in general, and no one was even thinking of hiring a prospective alchemist. Seems the entire Guild was in an uproar over something or other, and nobody could guess what.

At least Joshua had found a friend to talk to. The man across from him, Jino, was an older hunter that Joshua had met on his third day in Loc Lac, here at the Dual Horn Oasis. He was… an odd man, in Joshua's opinion. He'd approached Joshua when the would-be alchemist was feeling depressed at not being able to find work, and bought him a drink. The man claimed that he was a retired hunter, but from the smirks he'd gotten from the other people around the bar at the claim, that might have been a bit of a lie. But he seemed kind enough, listening to Joshua vent his frustrations, and offering him advice on where to find work. Soon enough, he was someone that Joshua considered a friend, and even Calvert and Captain Marcus had gotten along with him.

He had even kept Joshua company during the lonely hours when he couldn't find anyone to talk to for work. Thankfully, the man didn't talk down to him or offer to loan him money or anything; Joshua didn't want to take any handouts or owe anyone a favor. But he did seem wealthy enough, by the look of his hunting armor (which he wore every once in a while, claiming he would offer rookie hunters support in the field if they requested it). It was an odd outfit, a Lost design, so Jino claimed, and made of the most durable hide leather that Joshua had ever seen. It looked like a leather jacket over thick scale pants with a large golden belt, and oddly enough he wore a pair of dark sunglasses rather than a helmet. Most of the armor was Deviljho hide, the man claimed, which nearly had knocked Joshua on his back in shock. A few strips of Deviljho hide were valuable enough that Joshua could afford to buy and maintain a brand new ship! But like he had told Jino, he didn't want to take handouts, or even loans, which Jino understood well enough.

As Jino took a long drink from his glass, the doors to the inn opened up behind them. Joshua turned, hoping that either of his shipmates had returned with good news of jobs found. Joshua blinked in surprise at the man that entered and looked around the room. He was hard-looking and tall; at least a head taller than Joshua himself. The top of his head was covered in close-cropped brown hair, but from his chin jutted a beard as large and bushy as Jino's. But compared to the hunter in front of him, this man seems devoid of kindness, or at least it all seemed overwhelmed by a powerful determination.

The man's eyes landed on Joshua as he looked around the bar, and Joshua felt himself wither a little at his gaze. The man also glanced at Jino after staring at Joshua for a moment, before glowering in irritation. By now Jino had noticed the man as well, and returned him a challenging look.

"I thought this was supposed to be a Lost bar," the man growled.

"Oh, no, this is a _hunter's_ bar," Jino replied. "Though it is in the Lost District, it's not exclusive for the Lost. This inn caters to hunters above all else, and there aren't that many Lost hunters out there." The man seemed to seethe in anger for a moment, but Jino continued. "Though Lost are perfectly welcome here, to eat and drink to their heart's delight. The innkeeper likes the Lost, and tosses out any troublemakers that try and start trouble with other patrons. I doubt you'll find another bar with more friendly towards the Lost, or with so many regulars."

The man glowered irritably, before muttering, "That will have to do, then."

"If I may, you don't seem the type to come here for drink," Jino said. "Can I ask what you're looking for here?"

"I don't see how it's any of your business," the man growled. "But since this is a hunter's bar, I don't think I'll be able to find what I'm looking for anyway."

"Which is?"

The man glared at Jino irritably. "A pilot, if you must ask."

"A what?" Joshua asked, turning the man's ire back on him, making him wince in fear.

"A pilot, you fool. An… an airship driver. Someone that can steer and control a flying machine: There must be a Lost here that can do such a thing."

"Not really, I'm afraid," Jino said, earning another disgruntled look from the man. "Don't believe me? You can ask around, but you won't find anybody. Trust me. I've talked to every Lost that's come through this bar, and not a one of them has told me that they can fly an airship or anything like it. There have been sailors of the sea, but none of the sky. I'd remember someone with a skill like that."

"Damn!" the man cursed in anger. "All this way to find a pilot, and I get stopped because none of the Lost can fly a ship!"

"I can fly a ship!" Joshua said quickly, before wincing back as the man's glare settled on him angrily. "I mean, me… and my shipmates can. My captain was part of an airship crew for a while, and we're his crew. We could fly a ship if you want."

The man growled irritably at Joshua. "I don't want a pilot like you. I want one of the Lost. And you're not one of the Lost, boy."

"Well, you'll be looking for a while, then," Jino said with a shrug. "Most of the Lost in Loc Lac that have a need to drink have come through this bar for a pint or two, and not a one is a pilot that I've met. Course, you could go try the other towns that they've put Lost in, like Nastre or Orage Dell to the west or Hearth up north. If you've got the time, that is."

The man began to curse again, spitting several foul words that Joshua didn't recognize under his breath. Finally, after several moments of angry contemplation, the man's eyes snapped back to Joshua, and stared at him, judging him intensely. Joshua tried his best not to shiver under the man's stern eye.

"What do you think of the Lost?" the man asked.

Joshua blinked in surprise at the question. "Um… I guess I like them. They all seem pretty smart from what I've seen. I was actually hoping to meet up with a couple Lost that I know in town, but I haven't been able to find them since I got here. I actually owe those two my life from a while back. Though… to be honest they were kind of the reason we were in trouble in the first place, though it wasn't really their fault, I guess… I don't see why the people here in Loc Lac hassle them so much. They don't seem that much different than us, other than that madness issue, and even then it doesn't seem like that big of a problem."

The man continued to stare at Joshua for a moment, before growling in frustration. He seemed torn, and angry with himself for having no other options. Finally, he let out a quick sigh of resentful acceptance. "Fine. We'll see how well you can fly. But I'm not going to hire you to fly my ship, I'm going to hire you… and your crewmates, I suppose, to learn how to fly my ship, then teach some of the Lost how to fly it. I suppose it would be safer this way… for the Lost, at least."

"Yes!" Joshua exclaimed excitedly. "I can do that! I can… um… what do you mean 'learn how to fly the ship'?"

The man bit off a retort before replying. "My ship is… experimental, you could say. It's a new design, using a new propulsion method. However, suitable frames for the design are… nonexistent, so the designers were forced to place the engines inside of an old sandship hull. We couldn't even manage to remove that damn Dragonator… We need skilled pilots to test it for us, preferably _Lost_ pilots. Lost are the only ones smart and capable enough to… never mind. Since that doesn't seem to be an option, however… it seems we'll have to rely on you instead."

Joshua was a little wary, hearing that the airship he'd been hired onto wasn't exactly normal, but even so, hearing that he'd managed to find him, Marcus, and Calvert a job left him too excited to care either way. "That's perfectly fine," he said excitedly. "I'm sure me and my crewmates can make it work! I'll just… um… where is this flying going to take place?"

"We've transported the ship to a port town to the west called Rite, which sits along the edge of the sand sea," the man told him. "There should be plenty of space in that area for you to fly, and plenty of flat ground for… emergency landings."

"Oh… well, okay. That still works for me. I'll talk to my crewmates as soon as I see them. Then… where will we be able to find you, Mr… um…"

"My name is Silas," the man said. "I expect you and your crewmates to be at the western gate by sundown, so we can be on our way. I want to be back to Rite as soon as possible to begin testing. If you're not there by then with your crew, I'll find someone else to do the job."

"Ah, yes sir!" Joshua said quickly. "We'll be there for sure!"

"You'd better be," Silas growled, before turning and striding back through the door and out of the bar. Lynn gave the man a cold look as he left, after not ordering anything to eat or drink, but let him leave without a word. Either way, Joshua didn't care. He'd managed to find work, for himself and his friends!

"Excellent work, boy," Jino said encouragingly. "That's a bit of luck, finding work like that."

"Ha! Just wait until Calvert and Captain Marcus hear! Won't they be surprised?"

"I'm sure they will be, my boy, I'm sure they will be," Jino replied with a nod. "Though… I'm not sure what to make of this job. That Silas man… he doesn't seem a kindly fellow, especially to folks that aren't of the Lost. And this 'work' of his… it doesn't sound safe."

"I know, I know, but… I don't really have many other choices right now," Joshua replied.

"Yes, yes, I know. But still… you should be careful about this whole business, you and your friends."

"Don't worry, we will be," Joshua said with a smile. "If there's anything me and them know how to do, it's control a ship. Maybe we've never really flown before, but I think we can figure out what to do."

Jino grinned at him. "I'm sure you can, with an attitude like that. Well, then, I'll wish you luck, and hope for the best. Maybe you'll show that man a thing or two about how we locals aren't as bad as he seems to think."

Joshua nodded enthusiastically, turning back to his drink. All he had to do was wait for Marcus and Calvert to return to the inn, and he could give them the good news. They'd be able to figure out this whole flying business, sure enough, even if the ship was weird. Who knew? It might actually turn out to be quite interesting work, steering a flying sandship!

* * *

"Work faster you lazy slugs!"

Levin winced at the sharp words, and the crack of a whip followed close behind. It didn't actually hit him, but one of the other hunters nearby hissed in pain as the whip cracked across their back. The guards in the Downs liked to make sure the captives were good and threatened while they worked, though they tended to avoid actually hitting them; a wounded hunter wasn't as useful in the Coliseum as a fresh and unharmed one. Those that thought that meant that they didn't have to do anything for fear of reprisal, though, were swiftly shown their error by becoming an example to the rest.

Levin looked around, pressing on with his work grudgingly. He, Harker, and Richard, as well as the rest of their cell block, were currently in the area of Malefica that was referred to commonly as the Downs. It was a simple term that didn't actually apply to a single area of the hidden city, but rather was a general term used to name the countless tunnels and pathways that had yet to be unearthed by the workers and captives that Moloch had under his control. There were dozens of paths that were being worked on at the moment, and as far as Levin could tell, they were working on one of the western paths. The process was simple enough: explosives would be placed down to break apart any stone or rubble that was in the path, and the captives would push carts of the rubble out of the area to a dumping area where the rubble was used for other purposes.

At least the area of the Downs that they were clearing out today was outside, Levin noted ruefully, though it was only a little more comforting than anywhere else in Malefica. Thick, towering trees blotted out the sky above their heads, stretching all the way across the wide area the captives were corralled in. It was a wide area, one of the many that somehow remained hidden from the world deep in the wet forests. There were at least two or three open areas like this one that he'd seen personally, one of which was a sort of training and sparring area they used to make sure the captive hunters kept fit in. Levin knew they had to be relatively close to the Flooded Forest hunting grounds, considering the heat and moisture of the area, but couldn't even wager a guess as to where exactly they were. Harker suspected they were closer to the coast than the hunting grounds were, but couldn't give an accurate location.

It had been just over a week since he and the others from the caravan had arrived in Malefica, and Levin was slowly getting used to the rigmarole of the hidden city, though honestly there really wasn't that much to it. All they really did was whatever the guards of the place told them to do, and they did it quickly or risk suffering the wrath of the men and women watching over them. So far, that didn't mean much more than incessant menial work under the watchful eyes of their captors; most of the time they'd been there, there hadn't been any real audience to make a show for, so they'd been able to avoid any real fighting in the arena.

Levin had been selected to be thrown out into the arena to fight a Qurupeco, though, for the amusement of about a dozen merchants and their entourages. He'd been allowed to keep his Rathian armor and use his switch axe, though, so he was able to fight the creature with familiar weapons. But the Qurupeco was battered and scarred, clearly the result of numerous fights in the arena, and had gained a lot of experience in fighting against hunters. As such, it was much stronger and much more dangerous than any of such creatures that Levin had fought before. It had been a rough fight, much to the enjoyment of the audience, and Levin suspected that the only reason he really came out on top was because his armor was made of superior fire-resistant materials that what the Qurupeco could give off. As he was pushed out of the arena by the guards, though, he noticed that both Moloch and Pugnax were watching him closely, the old man from his booth, and the hunter from the shadows of the arena stands.

Outside the arena fight, when the hunters and other captives hadn't been in their cells or in the training grounds, the guards of Malefica had been working them in various jobs around the hidden city. Sometimes, they were sent around through the winding tunnels doing random upkeep work for the city, such as moving around materials and cleaning up rooms. At other times, they were forced to unload wagons and other transports that were brought in, to save the guards time. But for the most part, it was clearing out hallways and rooms that had been buried from centuries of neglect. It was hard, strenuous, and seemingly endless work, but there were a lot of captives, more than Levin could have guessed, so Malefica had a lot of workers to use. Their numbers didn't mean that the guards weren't harsh to those that were lax; they'd apparently had enough escape attempts that they were on the ball and very experienced with dealing with upstarts in the group.

As Moloch had told them, the city seemed to go on and on through underground tunnels and paths, and the more and more Levin saw of the place, the more he feared it. Whatever he had thought the Meridians were before, he couldn't guess what to make of them now. The Coliseum wasn't that much different than the arenas that the Guild had built for entertainment, though the traps and pits were a definitely different touch. But the other rooms that Levin had seen in Malefica, the ones that they were working on clearing out… some of them had seemed far more sinister and dark than anything that he'd seen before in any of the other Meridian buildings. Some had odd machines and labs inside of them, and the broken and dissected remains of countless monsters, many of which Levin didn't even recognize. Levin couldn't even guess at what the Meridians had been trying to accomplish in this city, and honestly, he didn't want to know. Harker had theorized that maybe this was a more extreme sect of the Meridians, but he hadn't sounded very convinced with his own theory.

Pugnax had been watching him constantly since his arrival, Levin realized later, sometimes subtly and occasionally not so much. Harker had pointed it out to him on the fourth day they had been there, when the hunter captives had been taken to the training room to keep themselves in shape. The lancer had been standing on an overlooking balcony, watching intently as Levin and Harker had been sparring a bit with each other. He'd given Levin a wicked grin when the hunter had looked up at him, and made it clear to Levin that he would be watching him closely during his time there. Since then, Levin had caught sight of the lancer watching him at least a dozen times, always staring intently, waiting for… something.

_At least I'm safe for the moment_, Levin admitted ruefully to himself, as he helped uncover a large stone table, covered in ancient monster bones, from underneath a large pile of rubble. Pugnax generally didn't come to watch him when the captives were working to uncover the ancient, buried rooms in the Downs. There really was nothing to see there, only a lot of people moving rocks out from the rooms and carrying them off to other parts of Malefica that could use them. At least the work kept Levin's mind from other things…

Above all else, his primary worries had been for Ellie and Kerry, and Nat and Kim, of course. He'd been immensely relieved to hear that Nat had managed to survive… whatever it was that had happened to her; though no other news of her condition had managed to make its way to him, other than that she was alive. There were rumors of terrible wounds and other such things, but Stephan, the only guard that seemed willing to pass on information, hadn't been able to make it over to the women's block to find out more. Levin hadn't been able to learn anything at all about the woman he loved, or Kerry either…

"Have you heard the news in the women's block? About that tall red-headed girl?" Both Harker and Levin perked up at the words of one of the nearby guards, a pudgy fellow Richard had warned them to be wary of. Richard looked at them in confusion for a moment at their reaction.

"Hmm? The busty one? What about her?" the guard next to him, a taller man, asked.

"Some of the other guards on the block are saying she's a devil or something. We've lost close to ten guards on the block since she and that brunette showed up in the last recruiting run."

Harker's eyes widened in shock, and Levin was just as surprised as he was. Kerry was killing guards? _Kerry_ was? Levin could picture Ellie offing one or two guards if the opportunity arose, maybe, but Kerry? Given her soft-spoken, kind personality, he was always surprised she'd become a hunter in the first place. But she was killing guards now? He knew that this place had driven Kim and Nat to murder, from what Richard had told him, but to drive Kerry to it in a week? Just what were they doing in that cell block?

"She's been killing guards? Really? A beauty like her? Damn. Are they gonna have to clear out one of the monster cells again?"

"No, no, nothing like that," the fat guard replied. "It's not like she's actually murdering them or anything, they're just… dying around her, or getting really badly hurt."

"What do you mean by that?" the tall guard asked skeptically. "If she's killing guards or beating them up, just say so. People don't just get hurt for no reason."

"They do around her!" the fat guard snapped fearfully. "People saw it happen! Clint was guarding the girl, escorting a group of them here for exercise, and he trips and falls, landed right on his sword! Gutted himself right then and there! The sword was in his scabbard, and it just pops out and he falls on it!"

"So he meets an end of bad luck. That's hardly proof that-"

"He isn't the only one! When they took the same group down to the lower halls to excavate a bit, her and that friend of hers were being watched by a couple of guards in some lonely room and the ceiling caves in! Next moment her and her friend come out coughing, but the two guards are crushed all to hell. And the guards were near the door, with the two girls at the far wall! Next day, a bunch of Baggi get loose of the cages and tear into the cell block as the guards are escorting them out here again, and instead of going for the easy prey the little bastards go right for the guards, even though they're all armored up and the prisoners can't run or anything! Killed three of the guards before the situation got under control, and not a single prisoner was killed at all!"

"It's just superstition," the tall guard muttered. He was sounding less convinced, though. "Just a string of misfortune."

"Oh, really? Then what about this: her and that friend of hers were talking one night, the guard goes to tell them to shut up, kicks her door a bit, and slips and falls, breaking both of his arms. Day after that, she gets pulled to haul bombs up into the ceiling contraption over the Coliseum, and when one of the guards starts hassling her for not moving fast enough, one of the bombs randomly goes off and the poor bastard loses an arm and eye! And that's only half the stories! Everywhere she goes, people keep dying, and she never does anything to them. They just… get killed! And no matter how big the disaster is, she never gets a scratch! She comes out fine and everyone else is dead or crippled! She's a devil woman, I say!"

"Well, just leave her alone then, you stupid superstitious fool!" the tall guard growled. "If you're so afraid of her, just avoid her! I still say it's a load of bunk, though."

"Ha! You think so? Then why don't you try and teach her manners yourself, then? They stay she's still got some lip on her yet, being new around here. Why don't you be the one that quiets her down?"

The tall guard froze uncertainly for a moment. "Nah, I'll leave it to someone else. I've never had a problem with her anyway. Besides… no sense it poking a Bnahabra's hive after all…"

"Ha, don't talk big to me if you're gonna cower away. Anyway, you mark my words, those first few won't be the last to meet their end by that cursed woman!"

"That's my girl," Harker muttered quietly, chuckling, and Levin smirked.

"I thought you didn't believe in that 'companion killer curse' thing?"

"I don't," Harker replied. "My dear Lady Kerrigan is quite brilliant in her own right. Likely, she's finding subtle ways of causing a mess. She really gives off the appearance of being harmless upon first meeting her, I'll admit, but it seems her captors have learned their lesson. A few drops of water here, a hidden popfish there, and you've got a recipe for fear and mayhem, provided you know how to do it right."

"And the whole collapsing ceiling thing? And the attacking Baggis?"

Harker paused in thought then frowned stubbornly. "Happy coincidence? Bah, I don't put confidence in curses, or rumors and hearsay. But… if there is a curse – which I'm not saying there is, especially on such a lovely woman as Lady Kerrigan – then we should be content in the knowledge that it's working in our favor for once."

"Whatever you say Harker," Levin grinned. But his expression grew bleaker. The guards had mentioned Kerry, who seemed to be surviving fairly well against the trials that Malefica had presented, but he still didn't have any information about Ellie, or Nat and Kim. What if the reason that Kerry had begun killing guards left and right was… for revenge? Had Ellie been wounded? Or worse, killed? Dread began to creep into Levin's heart for a moment, before Harker put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sure Miss Eleanor is fine, Levin," Harker said with certainty. "She's a durable woman, and intelligent, of that I'm certain, and I have no doubt she's survived this place so far."

"Indeed," Richard agreed. "Besides, the guards here, not to mention Pugnax, all seem the type to rub salt into wounds. There are a sparse few men in this organization that have remotely decent personalities, so I'm sure that if something bad has happened to either of your friends, you'd be one of the first to know. With men like these around, the old adage, 'no news is good news,' really applies well."

Levin nodded solemnly. Likely the two of them were correct, but it certainly didn't make him feel all that much better. Good news didn't feel very good when you were trapped here in Malefica, no matter how good it was. But as Levin opened his mouth to reply, a shout from one of the guards and a crack of the whip sent the back to their work digging out more of the stone from the room. The three hunters were sent off to try and uncover a large… vat of some kind in the corner of the room. Its age had emptied it for the most part, but there was some lingering silvery-yellow viscous fluid lingering at the bottom. The captives were quickly chased away from the vat, and several scholars and scientists that Moloch had hired appeared and began to fuss over the strange substance. Harker gave them a look of utter abhorrence as the guards began to chase the prisoners off to another side of them room to help clear out another hallway that had been found.

"Hunters I could understand joining this organization," he muttered sourly, "even if I don't approve of their reasons. But to think men of science and learning would lower themselves to working for Moloch! It's a disgrace to the profession!"

"Likely some of them found themselves in a similar situation to the architect in the cell next to mine," Richard said quietly, glancing around to make sure none of the guards heard. "Pulled in by the promise of funds and not able to find a safe way out, though their value to Moloch keeps him from providing the same foul treatment as my neighbor suffers. Though, certainly some of them seem to have come willingly."

"Bah! It's an affront to the desire to learn!" Harker growled.

"At least they aren't faced with the possibility of having to fight other hunters in death matches," Levin said, as he and Harker worked to push away a fallen pillar.

"Ah, perhaps not, but they can't possibly think that makes what's happening here acceptable, can they?"

"I doubt it," Richard replied while overturning a large stone tablet. "Likely they think that since it's not happening to them, they can just ignore it. But… speaking of fighting other hunters, there has been some rather nervous talk about you two among a few other prisoners."

Levin frowned in confusion. "What kind of talk?" Both he and Harker had been forced to spar other hunters in the training grounds on occasion while they had been here, sometimes with old, worn weapons. It had been somewhat worrisome at first, Levin had to admit; the only real fights he'd been in had been a couple bar fights and his battle with Pugnax in the Tundra. Then there was his training with Lynn… though that was supposed to be training as a hunter of monsters, not men. But it seemed that Lynn had done her job a little too well; compared to fighting against the massive innkeeper, many of the hunters the pair were forced to duel were a cakewalk in comparison. It was still very strenuous and often quite terrifying, but somehow the pair managed to come out on top, save for when they had to fight some of the more experienced hunters.

"Well, some of the other captives are finding the both of you rather… exceptional at hunter-on-hunter combat, and it's making some of them rather nervous," Richard explained. "They don't like how well you are able to compete with them, and it's making some of them distrust you, and even view you as a possible danger."

Levin and Harker shared a concerned look with each other and glanced around at the other hunters in the area; sure enough, several of the other captives scowled at them with threatened expressions. "I don't see why they distrust us…" Levin muttered. "I mean, the only reason either of us is any good at fighting other hunters is because our landlord used to beat the crap out of us on a regular basis for training…"

"Your landlord? Really?"

"She used to be a hunter," Harker explained. "Not to mention she owns a bar and has to deal with unruly drunks on a regular basis. However, Miss Lynn is… an exceptionally powerful individual in her own right. Though her training was no doubt intended to aid us with hunting, it seems to have served an alternate purpose by giving us some exceptional skill in hand-to-hand and blade-to-blade combat."

"So… hunting training made you skilled at fighting other hunters?" Richard asked skeptically. "What kind of training exactly did you two receive from this… Lynn?"

Both Levin and Harker shivered at the question. "I'd rather not talk about it," Levin said nervously. "Lynn could be… rather brutal in her training methods. And if you managed to get her in a bad mood beforehand… ugh, she was a terror."

Richard looked at them both speculatively for a second, before nodding and sighing in relief. "That's good to hear. You both seem like good, trustworthy people, but… it was rather concerning to see a pair of hunters that were so capable in combat with other humans. I apologize for my doubts, but… well, trust me when I say that those hunters that are skilled at fighting other hunters are, for the most part, not ones decent people want to spend their time with. Neither of you compare with some of the nastier ones, like Filcher or Pugnax or any of their lackeys, but you're still a step or two above the level of skill most hunters have with such fights when they come here, and that seems to have sown some seeds of wariness in the others here."

"Well, we don't like being here any more than they do!" Levin exclaimed tersely.

"Obviously. But they're watching out for potential threats or competition. Think about it: one day they might have to do battle against another hunter, should they live long enough to make it to the third battle tier. And what if they have to fight either of you? It's not always us versus one of Moloch's lackeys; they like to pit the captives against one another as well. It's another fine way to keep all of the hunters from organizing an escape, keeping them wary against each other for fear of fighting each other in the arena. You can't easily make friends or allies with people you might fight in the arena one day; maybe they won't be as averse to killing you in a fight as you are. And right now you're showing that you're a bit more skilled then they are, and it's making them worried. Can they beat you fairly, or will they have to hope that luck will keep them alive? It's not a pleasant thing to wonder, I guarantee you that."

"So…" Harker lowered his voice. "How are we supposed to plan an escape if none of the hunters trust each other here? It seems far too implausible for us to-"

The long sword user paused as a shout came from the vat they had uncovered. One of the scientists had apparently touched the silvery fluid, and was now writhing on the floor in pain as sparks of static voltage lanced through his body. Several of the other researchers stepped away fearfully, but Harker simply cocked his head in curiosity. "Hm. Lightning element," he muttered. "Looks like the Meridians were able to make energy fluid similar to what we have inside switch axe phials. I wonder if it would be possible to-"

"Hey! Back to work!" one of the guards snapped at the hunters. Several other captives had been distracted by the sudden shout, and had turned away from clearing out the hallway. But several harsh threats from the guards had them getting back to work fairly quickly. Levin turned back as the lash of the whip cracked against his shoulder, and he hissed in pain at the wound. The guard laughed as the switch axe user cursed, forcing himself to continue working, despite the biting pain in his shoulder.

The hunters continued to work in silence for a while after that; the guards had carted away the incapacitated researcher, and hadn't liked the captives talking between themselves about the whole thing, and had demanded silence from them. Any talking or whispering was cracked down on when the guards heard it, so the work continued in silence for a long time as they continued to clear out the hallway.

It was getting late in the afternoon though, when Richard tapped on Levin's shoulder, and motioned towards the collection of guards. Levin turned, a sour expression on his face, expecting to see Pugnax following him around again. But instead of seeing the lancer, he found that it was instead the large hammer user, Filcher, was standing behind the guards. The massive man towered over the other guards and red-armored hunters in the room, and was easily twice the bulk of any of them, making him stand out very easily from the rest of the men and women guarding them. For a moment, Levin wondered why the man was here; Levin hadn't seen Filcher around since arriving in Malefica except maybe once in passing. But it was clear that the man was here to get a look at him, considering how the hammer user's eyes seemed to bore into him, judging him and weighing his value. Levin scowled defiantly at the large man, but Filcher simply smirked at the expression in amusement, before turning and walking away through another hallway and vanishing from sight.

"What was that all about?" Levin muttered sourly as he got back to work. "It was bad enough with Pugnax spying on me every now and then, but why him?"

"He always looks over the new 'recruits'," Richard replied quietly, checking to make sure none of the guards were close enough to hear. "He likes to pick out which ones will be good in the arena, whether it's fighting monsters or other hunters. Though… he seems to be here for you this time, judging by how he was looking at you. You don't have a vendetta with him too, do you?"

"Not as far as I know," Levin said, though he wasn't certain. He'd made a lot of enemies with people that he'd never thought he'd gotten on the bad side of. "I think… he did mention that he used to know my old hunting master, but I'm not sure what kind of relationship they used to have…"

"Perhaps they parted on bad footing with each other," Harker guessed. "I don't imagine the man Marshall that you've described to me would approve of the kind of things that Filcher has been doing here in Malefica."

"No," Levin replied, shaking his head. "He wouldn't. He definitely wouldn't. But he said he used to be Marshall's hunting partner, so there must have been something between the two of them… but what?"

"I'm sure you'll find out sooner or later," Richard said. "Men like FIlcher tend to enjoy bragging. I'm sure if you don't find out the connection between them soon, he'll likely tell you about it himself. Honestly, it's rather cliché if you ask me."

"Hey! Quiet down over there!" Levin and the others winced at the crack of the whip, but sighed in relief when he realized that the order had been sent out at another couple of captives nearby. The pair yelped in surprise, hurrying back to work, and Levin put his head down as he continued to clear the passage, trying to look nondescript. It was a little while more before Harker felt bold enough to pipe up again.

"These passages," he said quietly. "They seem to branch out a great distance. Perhaps they could be used as an escape route, once they were cleared out?"

"Not a bad idea," Richard replied, "assuming they led somewhere that offered freedom. Most of them just lead down into the earth, or to dead ends, or to rooms like this that open up, but have walls too stark to climb. If there was a way out through one of these halls, though… we'd have to capitalize on it almost immediately, before any of Moloch's lackeys could block it off or put it under too heavy of guard. It's one of the big problems about escaping this place: so far, there's really only one way out, as far as I know of, and that's the front gate. Moloch and some of the other higher-ups may know of another secret way out, but if so, it's very well hidden, and they haven't mentioned it to any of the guards."

"Too bad," Harker murmured. "Well, the Meridians were meticulous. They surely wouldn't have been careless enough to only have one exit route. Perhaps we'll be fortunate enough to find someplace to-"

"Alright, that's enough for now!" one of the guards barked. The captives paused, looking up wearily, glad to be done with the work. But the guard was smirking. "We've got some benefactors coming in tonight, so I suggest you all get some rest. After all, I'm sure our guests will want some entertainment for their visit!"

Immediately a worried groan went through the captives. Slave labor was rough enough with the guards bearing down on them, but at least their chance of dying was drastically reduced. Once the Coliseum was opened for business, though… there was no guaranteed chance of survival, and everyone knew it. Even some of the red-armored guards seemed worried; not all of them were there to simply watch after the captives, some would have to fight in the arena as well if they were chosen. There were those that reveled in such things, but some did not share their enthusiasm. With orders barked quickly and fiercely, the guards began to work the captives slowly back to their cells, keeping a watchful eye out for escapees or miscreants.

Right before leaving the room, though, Levin glanced up at one of the balconies, and he managed to spot a shape hidden in the shadows of an archway. It was Pugnax again, staring down at him intently. Levin glared defiantly at him, but the lancer simply grinned in anticipation, before turning and vanishing into the dark halls of the city. Levin shrugged the man off for now; he had other things to worry about, like what he might have to fight if he was picked to battle in the arena.

* * *

A howling scream ripped through the arena, rattling the banisters and making everyone within earshot flinch in pain. The very roof of the Coliseum shivered from the force of the roar, sending waves of dust rolling down to the floor of the bloodied battlefield. The sound of glass shattering echoed around the stands as well, the sound of cursing following behind as the merchants and nobles ranted about their ruined drinks. But all their words and shouting wouldn't be enough to stop the sound from coming again and again; Gigginox weren't known for catering to the whims and desires of nobles, or human beings in general, for that matter.

Ellie cursed in pain as she stumbled back, sliding around the side of one of the pillars that sprouted up from the arena floor, trying to get out of the way before the Gigginox could give chase after roaring, but her head howled in pain once more as the Gigginox let loose a second roar, just as loud as the first one, if not louder. Ellie nearly cried out in pain from the intensity of the sound. Why would the creature roar twice in a row? What was the point! She was already in enough pain!

Ellie cursed her stubbornness as her head ached from the sound of the Gigginox's roar. She shouldn't have been chosen for today's fight, but… for some reason Moloch had decided to let his 'benefactors' that were at the arena today pick out the hunters that would be fighting in the arena. He'd allowed the most supportive of the merchants, a heavy, middle-aged man with a wicked expression on his face, to wander the halls of the cell blocks picking out the hunters he wanted to see in the arena. He'd had a sadistic side, from what Ellie had heard, picking out the hunters that had injuries that hadn't had time to heal yet. When he'd gotten to Ellie and Kerry's block, he'd actually picked out a huntress that had a broken leg that was yet to be mended.

For that reason, Ellie had been glaring angrily at him when he'd walked past her cell, and the man had taken affront to the unfriendly stare. He'd told Ellie to mind her manners, and the huntress had promptly called him several foul names that she'd picked up during her time around other hunters, especially the ones she knew the local populace found particularly insulting. The benefactor had turned red in the face after that, demanding that she be thrown into the arena with the most disgusting, vile monster that Moloch had at his disposal. At least Kerry had been willing to get thrown into the grinder with her; the bowgunner knew several foul curses that Ellie hadn't heard before, and a few quick words had both of them hauled out of their cells and sent to the Coliseum to fight. Which was how Ellie found herself fighting a Gigginox.

Her ears were still ringing as the roaring died down, and her eyes were blurry from disorientation. She nearly stumbled and fell as she tried to regain her balance. The first thing she heard when the ringing was replaced by a low buzzing sound was more cursing and yelling from the audience above her. The second was the rough, rubbery, stretching sound that she'd learned to hate and fear in the last few minutes or so. Her eyes darted up above her, right as a large, white, wide head twisted around the side of the pillar, bloody red mouth opening wide, bearing its hundreds of inlaid fangs. The eyeless face stared down at her hungrily, sensing her body with some unknown organ behind its eyes. With a snap of its rubbery neck, the Gigginox swung its maw towards her, intent on swallowing her whole.

Before the creature's mouth could engulf her though, several bowgun rounds smashed into the creature's head, each shot bursting into flame, sending blooms of fire across the creature's body. The Gigginox howled in terrible pain, its body unaccustomed to such terrible heat. It's 'eyes' sifted and seethed on its body, the heat of the fiery bursts blinding it and making it stumble back, shaking its head and trying to pull back from where the rounds were being fired from. From behind one of the other pillars, more shots were fired as Kerry rushed around the side, continuing firing Flaming Shots at the beast as it reeled.

Ellie turned and rushed the wyvern as it flailed and wobbled away from Kerry, trying to shield its eyes from the rounds that Kerry continued to fire. Ellie quickly drew her sword and charged at the creature while it was distracted, wishing that she'd been allowed to use a bowgun as well, seeing that the creature was really reacting poorly to the Flaming rounds. But the people in the prep room had told her it would be boring to see two bowgunners fighting a Gigginox at the same time, and had forced her to use a sword and shield instead. Ellie really wished they hadn't, and not just for the elemental rounds: the Gigginox was a bastard to fight in close quarters.

The fight had been horrible so far, and was made worse by the fact that Ellie had no experience at all fighting the foul creature. She'd been caught off guard by nearly everything that the slimy thing had thrown at her, from the beast's frighteningly long neck to its ability to lob poisonous blobs around the arena, which erupted into vile poison gas clouds. Ellie had been caught a few times already by the monster's sickening venom already, and the sparse potions and antidotes that she had been given by the arena attendants were already gone. Ellie couldn't afford to take too many more hits from the creature, and she definitely couldn't risk getting poisoned again. Even with the antidotes she'd taken, her stomach churned and heaved violently, making it a struggle for Ellie to keep attacking. The only reason she could keep going was adrenaline, and the stubborn desire to not let Malefica get the better of her.

The sword they'd given her was fairly sharp as it cut into the rubbery hide of the Gigginox. It didn't go in very deep however, and the Gigginox swung its head around in anger at the huntress, trying to envelop her in its wide maw again. However, Ellie managed to bring up her shield before the creature's head managed to get hold of her, and the wyvern's 'snout' glanced off the huntress' shield, sending her skidding backwards across the dusty stone floor of the arena. Ellie yelped in shock as a thick purple haze began to build up in the creature's mouth, and a massive blob of purple poison was spat across the arena.

Ellie didn't trust her shield to block a glob like that, and quickly dove to the side as poison flew past her, splashing into the floor and detonating into a thick cloud of smoke. Ellie was nearly caught up in the haze as the poison fog began to spread across the floor, twisting through her legs and tinting the floor a faint magenta color. Ellie moved away from where the poison bomb had gone off, but doing so put her closer to the Gigginox itself, and with a rattling rumbling sound, the Gigginox snapped its neck and mouth towards her again, its neck covering a massive distance towards her and smacking against her shield again. Ellie was thrown off balance from the impact, and yelped in fright as she tripped and dropped onto her back.

Ellie gasped in pain as she hit the ground, and immediately regretted it. A wispy, sour taste filled her mouth for the slightest moment and she leaned forward again in terror. Her head had gotten just close enough to the ground that she'd managed to get too close to the poison smoke that still lingered near the floor of the arena, and she'd accidentally inhaled a bit of it. Immediately the huntress began to cough, trying to expel what she'd taken in, but already her stomach began to churn and her vision began to sway. She hadn't taken in enough for her body for the venom to begin eating away at her insides like it normally would, setting her veins on fire and slowly killing her, but she'd taken enough to feel like death.

Ellie had trouble getting back to her feet as the traces of poison made her wobble and flail, throwing her off balance, and the Gigginox didn't fail to capitalize on its chance. The slimy wyvern charged towards her, mouth widening swallow her up. Kerry yelled at the creature, firing more Flaming rounds at the beast's face, but the creature either heard or sensed the shots, and with fluid dexterity the creature leapt up into the air, arcing its body over Ellie and grappling onto the side of one of the pillars that rose up from the arena floor. Kerry pressed forward, continuing to fire at the beast and peppering its wings and back with even more shots. But without giving the bowgunner a chance to continue, the Gigginox leapt again, this time lunging towards Kerry.

The bowgunner yelped in surprise as the creature landed directly in front of her, its tail facing her. The Gigginox's landing sent off a gust of wind that made Kerry flinch back from the force of it. Ellie tried to shout a warning, but the moment's hesitation was enough for the Gigginox to back towards her. With a snap of its tail, the wyvern struck the bowgunner in the side, knocking her onto her back. The Gigginox's tail wriggled wildly and stretched out towards the bowgunner again, but rather than striking her, the rubbery tail instead twisted around and opened, before smashing down and enveloping Kerry's lower half.

Kerry struggled to push herself free of the Gigginox's grip on her, but the creature had a tight grip on her. Ellie tried to get over to her to help, but the creature's poison, while not directly harming her, was certainly debilitating her, making it hard for her to stand, much less hurry over to her friend to help her. Ellie half expected the bowgunner to get swallowed up, even though she was pinned. But instead of trying to devour Kerry, the Gigginox started to strain itself. Kerry gasped in shock and disgust all of a sudden and began to struggle even more. The Gigginox let off something between a groan and a screech, and its body dipped forward. From its tail, it released a massive, pulsating egg sac right on top of Kerry's legs and waist. The bowgunner cried out in terror and disgust as the blob began to pop and gurgle, and several newly-grown Giggis began to break free of the egg sacs and slide down onto the floor of the arena.

Kerry squirmed and writhed, trying to get herself out from underneath the egg sac as the Giggis began to make their way towards her, curiously and hungrily. But the crowd seemed intrigued and excited at the sudden turn of events, and several shouts of excitement could be heard from the stands. The Gigginox turned its head to 'look' at Kerry, but instead decided to leave Kerry to its children before turning its gaze back to Ellie, who was just starting to gain the coherence to move around again.

Ellie was forced to ignore Kerry for a moment as the Giggnox turned and rushed across the arena towards her. Ellie stumbled to the side awkwardly, trying to get out of the way, but was so slow and wobbly that the creature had plenty of time to adjust and continue charging her. The creature's head lunged out at her as it approached, smashing into her side and sending her tumbling across the arena in pain. Now the audience was really cheering, seeing that the two hunters were getting further and further into dire straits. Ellie tried to struggle back to her feet, but the poison was still diluting her thoughts and motions, and now that the Gigginox had knocked her down, she was having trouble getting back to her feet again.

The Gigginox charged again, its massive maw opening wide as it moved to engulf her inside of its gullet, but Ellie swing her arm wildly, striking at the inside of the beast's mouth. Her shield clanged against the dozens of teeth that they struck, and the Gigginox squealed in pain and clamped its mouth down in anger. Ellie cried out in pain as the wyvern's maw bit into her, but she'd managed to keep the beast from completely devouring her, and instead the Gigginox's red maw was now clamped solidly around her shield arm. The fangs were biting into her arm, but the shield was protecting her from taking the maximum amount of damage that she would have. Ellie screamed in pain as the Gigginox wrenched its head around, trying to gnaw on Ellie's appendage even more.

The huntress was hauled to her feet as the Gigginox pulled on her arm, its fangs twisting around and trying to chew through her. Ellie swayed wildly as she was swung around, her sword smacking against the creature's rubbery skin, hardly having any effect. But the pain of the wyvern's fangs biting into her was sobering her to the poison's effects, and her vision was clearing a little bit, allowing her to focus. Her stomach churned as she braced her feet and swung her sword into better position. With a shout of effort, she swung the point of her blade down, striking it right into the Gigginox's 'eye'.

The monster screeched in pain as the blade bit into its spongy white flesh, ripping through the gross organs that lined the inside of its head. The fangs came loose as the Gigginox's mouth opened wide and it howled in pain, and Ellie pulled her arm out, clutching painfully at the bloodied wounds that dotted her arms. The Gigginox reared back, its deafening squeals and howls of pain rattling the stones of the arena as it pawed at its 'eyes, trying to staunch the wound that Ellie had incurred on it. A pale red blood oozed from the wound, as well as sickly white and purple pus of some kind. The other 'eye' on the creature's face was pulsating wildly.

Ellie charged forward, pain and desperation driving her attacks as she slashed wildly at the poisonous wyvern's face and mouth, trying to drive it back. The loss of its 'eye' had sent the Gigginox into a panic, and the beast stumbled back in terror with each swing of Ellie's sword, but not quickly enough to dodge each and every one of the swings; new cuts and gashes appeared on the creature's face and lips, though the Gigginox was quick enough to keep Ellie from getting a hit on the other eye. Ellie's strikes were hitting its target, but her own disorientation was keeping her from getting in any really effective hits.

A blast of air knocked Ellie back as the Gigginox launched itself into the air, pushing itself back across the floor of the arena and away from the huntress. Foul, angry screeches howled from the creature's mouth as the beast glared at her, its head cocked to the side to look at her from its good eye. More thick purple haze began to build up in the wyvern's mouth as it prepared to lob another poison glob at Ellie, but with her arm wounded and the poison still in her body, she knew she wouldn't be able to dodge well enough to get out of the blast zone. She quickly took a deep breath, holding it in as she fearfully raised her wounded shield arm to defend.

As the massive purple mass swelled up the Gigginox's throat from deep within the beast's gullet, a thick round smashed against the creature's head on its good side. The impact of the thick shell itself was enough to knock the beast's head off its aim, and the poison blob was sent soaring through the air, flying just to the side of Ellie's head and sailing into the far wall of the arena. The next moment, the round detonated, and the Gigginox screeched in pain as the flames roared over its 'eye', once again blinding it with the sheer heat that the explosive round had released.

From the other side of the arena, Kerry came charging, firing another heavy round at the beast. Her armor was slimy and covered in the goop from the egg sac, and there were still a couple Giggis clinging to her armor, trying to gnaw through it with their own tiny little teeth, but not being quite able to do so. Several more Giggis were crawling after the bowgunner, some of them with traces of red blood lining their open mouths. The Gigginox screeched in pain again as the second explosive round erupted across the beast's back. The poisonous wyvern howled in anger, and its skin hardened and grew dark as it grew angry, turning its head towards the bowgunner in rage, and opening its mouth to release another of its ear-splitting screams.

But as the creature's great maw opened, Kerry fired the last Crag round in her bowgun's chamber. The Gigginox managed to release a single second of its painful screech before the Crag round soared through the air and flew right down the poison wyvern's throat. The roar of the beast continued for another second before the Gigginox was abruptly silenced as the round detonated deep inside the beast's gullet. The Gigginox screamed in pain, flames blazing from its blood red maw, and the monster flopped backwards, screaming in pain as fire continued to blacken the flesh inside of its mouth. Kerry continued to fire at the Gigginox's exposed belly, using smaller rounds now that her incendiaries were exhausted. Ellie tried to stumble forward to help her, but the sheer firepower that Kerry was unloading on the wyvern was so intense that Ellie was hesitant to approach before the bowgunner was done. Eventually, Kerry had to reload though, and Ellie stumbled forward to attack before the Gigginox could find a foothold again.

The monster's head twisted and writhed about as it tried to flip itself around, twisting its head and wings to try and twist itself around. It snapped its mouth at Ellie as she approached, but lacked the mobility to strike the huntress. The Gigginox spun its neck around, twisting it a full 180 degrees so that its head was right side up while it was on its back, and a thick poison began to well up inside of it again. But before it could have a chance to coat Ellie with its deadly venom, Ellie swung her blade down at the creature's face, stabbing the point of her sword piercing into the Gigginox's other 'eye'.

The wyvern howled and screeched in its loudest voice from agony as the sword blinded it, and it lashed and writhed about. The very earth of the Coliseum shook from the force of the Gigginox's screams, and Ellie thought her eardrums would burst from the force of the sound. But after what seemed like an eternity, the sound stopped abruptly, and the Giggnox stopped flailing. With a vile, rattling sound, the wyvern breathed its last and flopped to the ground, dead.

The audience applauded politely at the huntresses' victory, though Ellie could tell that a majority of them were disappointed that both of them had managed to survive. The merchant that had sent them out into the arena in the first place was particularly vocal about his disappointed, cursing and raging and demanding that Moloch send out another monster to finish them off, but though most of the audience was simply there for blood, there were others that had a tiny bit of respect for the hunters that were fighting, and they told him to shut up and let the huntresses live. There was a bit of dispute in the stands for a minute or two, long enough for several guards to come and surround the huntresses and take the weapons they'd been given and bind them down, which wasn't a challenge considering their condition. Eventually it was decided by the audience to let the two live to fight another day, though the man who'd sent them out to fight was seething at the decision.

But they'd survived somehow, despite the danger the Gigginox had presented to them. That didn't mean much here in Malefica, but it did mean that they were allowed to live to fight another day. Ellie's ears were still ringing as the announcer, a wiry, blonde-haired man with a surprisingly powerful voice, spoke them out of the arena. His voice was dull and hollow in Ellie's ears, with her hearing still recovering, but he played off their skill to the best of his abilities, before striking off into a tangent on the next hunter that would find themselves on the arena floor, some unfortunate hammer user that would be fighting an Uragaan that they'd brought from the Volcano hunting grounds.

The guards were rougher with her than they needed to be as they shoved her and Kerry out of the Coliseum. Ellie could barely stand up straight thanks to the effects of the poison that still filled her veins, and a couple of the guards were ready to write her off and let her lay where she fell. It didn't help when her churning stomach made her vomit up what little was in her belly all over the feet of the guards that were holding her up. But a few sharp words from a couple of the supervisors in the prep room had them begrudgingly carrying her to the infirmary to get patched up and given an antidote.

* * *

Ellie coughed and groaned nauseously as she tumbled back into her cell. Her stomach turned and heaved inside her, and even though she'd already thrown up not that long ago, she still felt as though she could vomit up her insides at a moment's notice. She had gained all that much more respect for Levin as a hunter now, managing to last so long alone against a creature like the Gigginox in the Orage Dell Arena before finally getting overwhelmed. Even with Kerry with her, it had been a tight battle, and Ellie certainly didn't care for the creature's vile poison.

As she lay down on her bunk, she felt her stomach settle a little bit, though the weariness and disorientation wasn't going away much faster at all… The doctors had told her in passing that, even with the antidotes working inside of her, the after effects of the poison would continue to disorient her for a couple hours more. She reached under her bed, pulling out a small mirror she had and looked into it; she looked positively green. Both she and Kerry had been surprised when they realized that they were offered mirrors. It seems the hunters were given them in order to pretty themselves up for the benefactors that got to pick which hunters they wanted to see fight; nobody wanted to pick between dirty, unkempt people after all. Honestly, most huntresses here viewed that as a reason to let themselves grow filthy, but that usually resulted in them getting unceremoniously getting dropped into a tub and forcibly hosed off. That was never a pleasant experience, so Ellie and Kerry generally did just enough preening to make themselves presentable, and no more.

A clanging sound nearby meant that Kerry had been escorted back to her cell as well. 'Escorted' being the key word there; the guards hardly touched her these days when they didn't have to, and treated her far more kindly than any of the other prisoners were, though it was through clenched teeth of fear and anger that they did so. "All you alright dear?" Kerry asked quietly as the guards quickly walked to the other end of the cell block. "That poison is never good to get caught up inside of you. I've been afflicted with it myself before."

"I'm fine, Kerry," Ellie replied, sitting up and turning to lean against the wall. "I just need a little bit of time to recover."

"Are you sure?" Kerry pressed. The bowgunner was worried about her; she always was after a battle here in the arena, considering the danger of the place. Ellie smiled gratefully. It was rare to have someone caring for your well-being, or at least having them within hearing range in a place like this. "That Nox got hold of your arm, and I know personally how sharp those teeth can get…"

"I'm fine, Kerry, I promise," Ellie said reassuringly, though she knew her voice sounded ragged. She did have some bandages on her arm from where the Gigginox's numerous teeth had pierced her flesh, but at least the creature's fangs weren't poisoned, just the vile gas it regurgitated from the venom sacs deep within its body. They hurt, but they were mostly superficial. "Nothing a bit of sleep and another potion couldn't fix. What about you? It had you pinned there for a little while with all those Giggis it managed to lay eggs for. You didn't lose too much blood from the little suckers did you?"

"No, I'm alright," Kerry replied. "My armor kept them from really digging into my skin too much or anything…"

"That's good to hear. I just… hopefully no more of the merchants or nobles will want me to fight today. I'm not sure if I have the strength too after that. I just… need some rest."

"Take your time, dear," Kerry said, and the squeaking sound of the woman sitting down on her own cot creaked through the cells. "If it's all the same to you, though, I'm going to meditate for a little bit. I need to be ready for anything that might happen soon. And… I can feel it welling up inside of me. Something is sure to happen soon if I'm not careful."

"Okay, you do that. I'll just… take a nap or something, and hope I feel better when I wake up."

"I hope so too, dear."

Ellie sighed as she heard her friend begin taking deep, slow breaths in the other cell. Kerry spent a lot of time meditating these days. Ellie wasn't really sure if it was necessary, but it made her friend feel better, so she didn't say anything about it. Not to mention it creeped out the guards and got them to stay away from their cells most of the time, which wasn't bad at all. Kerry said she was trying to 'focus her curse' when she meditated, or at least was trying to hold it back until the right time to let it loose. Ellie still really didn't believe in the whole 'curse' nonsense, much less that it could be controlled with a little bit of focus… but she had to admit, the string of bad fortune that the guards that got near Kerry were experiencing was getting a little beyond sheer coincidence.

But either way, it was keeping the guards clear of them, which was a blessing, considering how some of the other female prisoners were being treated. Kerry was trying to get her curse to effect the guards that hassled the other huntresses on the block as well, but said it wasn't working as easily, which was why she spent so long meditating, Ellie presumed; the guards were keeping away from their cells, sure, but most of the other women on the block weren't so lucky. Cries of pain, or worse, could be heard from some of the other cells from time to time, things that made Ellie shiver in terror.

Ellie shook her head, trying to rid herself of such terrible thoughts. Though she said she'd try and get some sleep, she had one last thing she needed to do before passing out. As quickly as she could, she pushed herself to her feet, wobbling a little as disorientation hit her a little bit. But she managed to lean a hand against the wall and make her way along the side of the wall to the window separating the two cells and looked in.

Nat was still alive. That was something. The doctors had taken Micah's threats to heart, understanding that Kim would not take it well if Nat died from her wounds. Her injuries had been patched well, or at least they were better than how most of the other hunters were treated. Tightly wound bandages coated the huntress's legs and body as she slept on the far cot in the room. And there were many injures to cover; the bomb's explosion hadn't only taken Nat's legs, but had also left terrible burns across her lower torso and waist. Half of the woman's body seemed covered in gauze and bandages at the moment.

Fortunately, she seemed to have stabilized since she'd been injured, and was breathing relatively peacefully at the moment. Kim lay awkwardly next to her on the cot, sleeping gently as well, clutching tightly her best friend's arm as the two dozed. Even with her friend's condition improving from what it was, the lancer had spent most of the time in the cell either crying in sitting in silent misery. Ellie had tried to pull the huntress into conversation to cheer her up a bit, but hadn't been very successful very often. Kim's demeanor had been recovering far slower than the injuries were, and at this point, Ellie was more worried for the lancer than she was for the bowgunner. The huntress was slowly slipping into something along the lines of insanity, and Ellie didn't have the slightest clue what she could do to help. This wasn't like the madness that bit into the psyches of the Lost, but a terrifyingly real psychosis.

Nat really needed to wake up again soon, if Kim was going to be kept from getting much worse. The bowgunner had been awake for a few minutes the previous day, according to Kerry, but she hadn't been awake very long; just enough to ask a couple questions before drifting back to sleep to continue her recovery. Ellie was sad that she'd missed the chance to talk to her; the guards had sent her off to help relocate some random materials that had been brought in, and she hadn't wanted to wake the huntress up just for small talk.

Nat began to cough a bit, and Ellie began to get worried. If something happened to the woman, there was little she could do to help, and with the guards so far away, she might not be able to call for help quickly enough if something went wrong. Thankfully, though, the fit subsided soon enough. Kim seemed on the verge of waking up when her partner began coughing, but once it ended, the lancer instinctively clung tighter to her friend, pulling her closer as though to protect her before falling back into a deep slumber. Ellie sighed thankfully. Honestly, both of them would be better off sleeping as much as they could, rather than trying to deal with the problems they had to deal with in the waking world… Ellie's stomach turned over, and the huntress groaned, slouching to the ground in frustration as the Gigginox's poison continued to pester her from the inside. She hoped the effects of the venom wouldn't last too much longer; she wanted to be able to go to sleep without her guts raging at her.

As she tried to take some deep breaths though, a clatter of sound began to sound from the far end of the block, and Ellie groaned in frustration. Were the guards trawling the cells in search of more hunters to send out into the Coliseum? She thought the majority of the arena fights would've been done by now. But there weren't that many guards coming through, judging by the sound of footsteps coming their way. The guards always came in groups of six or so when they were picking out hunters to go fight, so they were safe from the Coliseum for now.

But something made Ellie nervous about what was going on. The entire cell block felt it, and most of the huntresses had stopped talking, worried about what was coming. Something Ellie noticed immediately was that the guards weren't talking with each other; no banter or talk of what was going on elsewhere in Malefica, no disgruntled muttering about their jobs, no shouting or barking orders at the prisoners on the cell block. They were just walking through the block, looking into the cells. Ellie got to her feet and tried to look out at where the guards were, but the angle of her window made it impossible for her to see much more than a dozen yards or so.

There were some quiet words spoken that Ellie couldn't make out over the echoing that the cell block created. There were some quick words spoken between the two in hushed voices, but two words made it through loud and clear: "That one." Ellie didn't know what it meant, but the fearful feeling that crept through the block told her it was certainly nothing good. The sound of one of the cell doors being unlocked rang through the cells like a gong.

Furious, terrified shouting and cursing began to echo through the block as one of the huntresses began to shout threateningly at the guards, and amused, uncompassionate laughter followed. Some of the other huntresses in the cells around the one from the screaming woman began shouting frantically, calling for help or flinging threats or whatever they could do, but nothing seemed to be making any difference, and the voice of the huntress that the guards had picked seemed to grow increasingly desperate and horrified. The thick iron door of the huntress' cell creaked loudly and slammed shut behind the guards as they entered the cell of the huntress.

Ellie realized that she was frozen where she stood in terror. Fear and shock had welled up inside her when she'd figured out what was going on, and she realized the horror of the entirety of what Malefica was had abruptly hit her full force. Her heart pounded and her breath caught painfully in her throat as the sound of pleading and screaming continued to echo down the hall. She tried to cover her ears to blot out the sound, but her fear was so great that she couldn't even bring herself to do that much.

Kerry's face appeared through the bars to Ellie's left, and Ellie cocked her head in surprise. Her friend didn't have the same hopeless expression most of the other huntresses around seemed to be sporting, but rather a cold, resigned expression that Ellie had never seen on the redhead before. The bowgunner's hand shot through the bars on the door, and Ellie realized that Kerry had brought the mirror that she'd had in her cell over to the cell door and had held it out the bars of the thick steel door. She tilted the mirror, shifting it quickly and precisely, allowing herself to get a clearer view down the hallway. Her eyes sharpened on something, the terrible thing that Ellie just couldn't see from her vantage point, and the bowgunner's eyes narrowed. Then she put on a… tense expression of concentration, and seemed to be glaring intently at whatever it was she could see reflected in the mirror. The look was also mixed with an angry but guilty look. Ellie realized that the huntress was actually trying to force her 'curse' to do something at the moment.

"Kerry, wait! I don't think you can-"

A loud cracking, wrenching sound ripped through the cell block. A cry of shock echoed through the cells a moment later, followed almost immediately by a loud, bone-shaking crash and a howling scream of pain. Cursing and swearing followed immediately after, along with more terrible cries of pain, but this time, the sound was coming from the mouths of the male guards instead of the captive huntress. Ellie's eyes were wide in shock as she looked at her friend, but she listened closely, trying to make out what had happened down the hallway.

A scream of fury echoed down the cell block. It sounded like the huntress from before, and it was followed immediately by the sound of a beating, an enraged assault accompanied by the sound of the guards crying out for mercy and forgiveness, as well as the occasional meaningless threat. The entire cell block was silent for a long minute or so, shocked at what happened. But a shouting from one end of the block opened the floodgates, and in moments every cell was filled with the sound of cheering and jeering, with every huntress that could still shout rooting for her and telling the woman to hit harder and where.

It wasn't that long after that when some of the other guards nearby caught on to what was happening, and the clattering of boots filled the cell block as several red-armored men rushed in to see what was going on. Momentarily, Ellie could hear the victim huntress being pried away from the wounded guards, and the enraged shouting of some of the other guards managed to be heard all the way on Ellie's side of the block.

"What the hell happened?!" one of the newly appeared guards asked one of the injured guards. Ellie had a hard time making out what was being said over the screaming of the other injured men and the cursing of the huntress and the shouts of the other huntresses in the cell block.

"The door!" one of the wounded guards cried out. "That damn cell door! It broke loose and broke my legs! Damn it all, I can't feel either of them!"

"Oh, suck it up!" another of the guards growled. "You're better off than Weiss there. He's… oh, geez, I didn't think the cell doors were heavy enough to do that to someone. Ugh… I think I might be sick…"

"Be sick elsewhere!" another guard snapped. "Get these two out of here and to the infirmary! And get that huntress into a different cell, dammit! I'm sick of hearing her screeching." The sound of movement, as well as some struggling could be heard from down the cell block as a couple of the guards forced the screaming, cursing huntress into another nearby cell. She was putting up a real fight by the sound of it now, and managed to get a few good hits in before they managed to shove her into one of the neighboring cells, to share a room with one of her neighbors. Many of the other huntresses were in the cell block were in an uproar now, swearing at and threatening any of the guards within earshot.

"It's the demon woman!" one of the wounded guards cried out, pain clear in his voice. "She did this to us! She wants us dead! She's going to kill us all!"

"Oh shut up, you superstitious fool! The pain's gone to your head! She's on the other side of the cell block! There's no way she could have done anything to you! Someone get him off the floor and get him to the doctor… and send someone to clean up the blood while you're at it!"

It took a few minutes more, but the guards managed to carry away the injured ones of their group, all the while being heckled and cursed at by nearly all of the prisoners on the cell block. Even after the guards had carried away the wounded and the block was essentially unguarded, it took the huntresses awhile longer before they felt like quieting down. A few, especially the victimized huntress, shouted thanks to Kerry, making the bowgunner blush bright red in embarrassment from the attention, but many kept silent, not sure what to make of Kerry or her 'curse'. Soon enough though, the block returned to normal, which just regular chat filling the cells, though the topic of discussion was the recent attack.

Ellie spent the entire time gaping at Kerry in shock. Her friend's face seemed to take on a relieved but miserably guilty expression as she pulled away from the door, tossing the small mirror back onto her bunk. She gave Ellie a sad, resigned smile as she walked back over to the cell window, and Ellie worked her jaw, trying to find the words to say. Her breathing was slowing down, and she found that she could start to move once move again as the feeling of terror slowly began to fade away from inside of her. She hadn't actually thought the curse was real, but…

"How… I don't…"

"Well, that was quite interesting," a subdued voice said quietly from the other cell. Immediately, Ellie's heart leapt and she rushed to get back to her feet. She nearly lost her footing getting back up to look through the barred wind.

"Nat!" she cried gratefully, looking into the cell. Sure enough, the crippled huntress' eyes were open now, and she was smiling weakly towards the barred window where Ellie was looking in. Her face was gaunt and tight with suppressed pain, but she seemed genuinely pleased to meet a familiar face after so long. "You're awake! Thank goodness… I thought… I was worried that…"

Ellie choked a bit as her breath caught in her throat, and she realized that her face was wet from crying. She laughed slightly, a little out of relief and more so out surprise. She hadn't thought that Malefica would be able to get the better of her like this, to make her so afraid and worried over things. She had been trying so hard to keep a tough exterior in the face of the guards and everyone else that worked to keep her imprisoned but… it was getting harder to keep the mask maintained. Nat smiled gently at her.

"Oh, it'll take more than this to kill me," the huntress said with a chuckle, though she grunted in pain when she laughed, and quickly quieted down. Her voice was raspy and worn, but her tone seemed strong and confident, despite her appearance. "Though I have to admit, I don't think I'll be able to hunt again after this."

"Nat… I…"

"Don't you worry about me. You've done plenty enough by keeping me alive from what I've heard, convincing Kim to let those butchers operate on me. I don't trust them any further than she does, but I know I probably wouldn't have survived if they hadn't fixed me up. Poor girl," Nat sighed, running her fingers lightly through her partner's hair. Kim sniffed in her sleep and clung tighter to Nat; the lancer winced as Kim's hands brushed her wounds, but smiled nonetheless. "I've always tried to protect her from the nastier, more dangerous things in the world, but I didn't… I can't even guess at how I could have protected her from a place like this."

"You did the best you could, I'm sure," Ellie replied. "Better than I could ever do… I mean, look at me. I've only been here a week and I already feel like breaking down. I can't even imagine holding on as long as you have. All while supporting Kim as well… jeez. I can barely imagine surviving under that kind of pressure… Look at me now, crying and freezing up."

"You shouldn't be too hard on yourself dear," Kerry reassured softly. "This is hardly a place that someone can prepare themselves for."

"But I just… feel so useless here," Ellie groaned. "Kerry, you absolutely terrify the guards with that curse of yours, and if half what the guards talked about were talking about is true, then Nat and Kim were both absolute terrors for them from the moment they arrived. As for me… all I can do is glare and shout. I can't do a thing here."

"You kept me alive, didn't you?" Nat said quietly. "I wouldn't count that as nothing, though I'll admit it's a bit of a biased opinion." Ellie blinked in surprise at the words, and Nat grinned at her. "And if you think I never broke down and cried in despair since I've arrived here, you must think that I'm a far stronger woman than I really am, I can guarantee you that. The trick is just to never let the guards or anyone else see you doing so. As long as you can do that, they'll become just as scared of you as you are of them, if not more so. I can't count the times I've thought of just giving up, crawling into a corner and waiting to die. Right now… with my injuries being what they are, now is one of those times."

"How in the world did you deal with it?" Ellie asked.

"Hope, mostly," Nat replied, looking down at her sleeping partner. "And the desire to see Kim here safely out of this hellhole. Master Richard is here too, of course, but this place is eating up Kim from the inside, and I don't know how much longer she'll last. This place is changing her, slowly but surely, and I'm terrified to see what it's going to turn her into. I can't let her… I have to get her away from here, before she gets turned into someone that isn't… her anymore. She's not meant for a place like this… she deserves to be free. And I'll do whatever it takes to make sure it happens, even if these injuries aren't the worst of it."

"I think you've suffered enough as well," Kerry said quietly. "I recall that you were quite the serious young huntress when I met you in Orage Dell all those months ago. That hasn't changed, but you seem much colder and harsher than you were before, and killing always has an effect on a person's psyche, no matter how much the victim deserves it. You need to be freed of Malefica just as much as Kim does."

Nat frowned and sighed sadly at the words, and her eyes seemed to grow even wearier. The wounds across her body seemed to stand out even more so in even starker contract to her gaunt, pale skin. "I can hardly remember how it feels to be free anymore, it seems. Fresh air, green grass, tall trees… I can barely remember them, only dark hallways, iron bars and the damn Coliseum. Every time I see that red armor, I just… I almost killed another captive a week ago, you know? He was wearing… Agnaktor armor, I think, and I just saw the red and… I just barely stopped myself from killing him out of instinct. Maybe you're right. This place… Malefica is killing me inside, slowly but surely. And now… now it's killing me physically too." Then her face hardened in fierce determination. "But I can't give up, not yet. Not until Kim is free of this place. Then after that, not until I've done all I can to destroy this place. Either that, or until this place finishes me off for good."

Ellie winced a bit at her friend's words. Kerry was right; Nat really had been changed by Malefica, even if it was more subtle than how badly Kim was taking it. She seemed to have become very fatalist about the whole situation, and appeared certain that Malefica would be the end of her, whether or not she would be the end of it as well. Not to mention she looked like she had given up on saving anything at all aside from Kim and maybe her hunting master… Ellie felt a sinking feeling swell through her. Both Kim and Nat were breaking down, she was certain of that. She thought she could help Kim once Nat was lucid again, but how was she supposed to help Nat? There had to be something she could do to encourage the both of them.

Nat was quiet for a moment, then she shook her head and chuckled a little. "Maybe we've been talking about serious things too much. There's enough serious business going on in Malefica as it is without us going over them over and over again… please, Ellie, tell me what's been going on outside of this place. Tell me what you've been up to since the last time we met. I want to hear about everything."

Ellie smiled painfully. Maybe this was something she could do to bring up Nat's spirits again. So she slowly began to speak, talking haltingly at first, trying to remember what had happened to her since the last time she'd seen the other huntress. It was actually rather therapeutic, she had to admit. She told Nat about their egg hunt and their escape from Yara the Rathian, and their subsequent Lagiacrus battle and their victory over it. She went through their journey to Loc Lac, their meeting with Pugnax, and her injury during the Barroth fight. After that, the storytelling got easier, because Kerry was able to help her. They went through their failed Rathian hunt, then their journey to the Tundra and their falling out with Pugnax during the Barioth hunt. Then there was their work searching for Lost awakening points in the Tundra and the Volcano regions, including their fight against the strange blue-fire Rathian, followed immediately by their ruinous meeting with the Alatreon back in the Tundra, which led to them getting in trouble with the Guild. After that… the Silver Rathalos and the Meridian tower, and then… here.

Nat listened quietly the whole time, smiling happily as Ellie told her all of the adventures she'd had. She asked a question every now and again when something Ellie said surprised or confused her, which was often enough considering how strange Ellie's life had been since they'd gotten to Loc Lac. She had a sort of melancholy expression on the whole time, regretting that she hadn't been able to share in such adventures or have any of her own. But she loved hearing what Ellie had to say nonetheless, and Ellie began to hope that maybe there was a chance that she could pull the lancer from the fatalistic tendencies she seemed to be steering towards.

"Quite the story," the lancer said quietly once Ellie finished. She'd cut off the tale after returning to Loc Lac from Nastre; Ellie didn't see much point in explaining what had happened after that. Nat gave Ellie a slightly guilty look. "I have to admit Ellie… I honestly didn't think you'd last that long as a hunter after we parted ways at Orage Dell. You or Levin. I thought it was more of a distraction to you both, something to do to vent your frustrations at having been overrun by monsters back wherever you two came from, and the novelty would wear off eventually. Clearly I was mistaken though. A Silver Rathalos… quite the story, indeed."

"The Lost can surprise you," Kerry said with a smile from the other cell, when Ellie frowned in disappointment at Nat's words. "I didn't know what to make of them when I first met them, and didn't think much of them either. They may not be as big or as strong, but they're surprisingly resourceful… and certainly quite tenacious, which is a useful, if not admirable trait in a hunter."

"Gee, thanks… I think," Ellie muttered.

"Oh, cheer up dear. Every hunter has their faults if you look at them. You and Levin just have a stubborn streak a mile wide."

"Speaking of which, I heard you and Levin are an item now," Nat said with a smile. Ellie blinked in surprise.

"How'd you hear about that? I didn't think I told you about that…"

"Oh, the walls on this place talk," Nat replied. "Also, Kerry may have mentioned it to me when you were out in the arena without her around to help you. She didn't trick me, did she?"

Ellie shook her head with a small grin. "No, it's true. It took a while, though… he's a really dense guy."

Nat chuckled. "Too bad. I was hoping you'd be too shy to make a move on him before we met again. Looks like you beat me to the punch."

"Looks like it," Ellie replied. "Though… if makes you feel any better, life has been pretty hectic ever since we first started our relationship. All the injuries and problems, our vendetta with Pugnax, our troubles with the Guild, and that's not even mentioning our problem with the Alatreon… Life has been anything but happy and simple since Orage Dell."

"Do you regret your relationship with him?"

"No, no, not at all," Ellie replied quickly. "I love him and I want to help him, but… is it too much to wish that life was simpler and safer?"

Nat chuckled lightly, gently stroking Kim's head as the redhead slept next to her. "I have to admit, I'm not sure if I could have dealt with a lover wanting to go after the Alatreon like you have, but then again, I'm not one of the Lost, so I don't exactly understand your pain. But we're hunters Ellie. If life is simple and safe, you're not doing it right. A hunter's life isn't complete if there aren't challenges to deal with that they didn't expect… Actually, you could probably say the same for relationships as well. Though, there are some things that could be done without, even for hunters. The world wouldn't miss an abominable old city used for nefarious purposes by a sinister old man."

"Isn't that right," Kerry agreed. "I would like nothing more than to see this place destroyed."

"You seem to be doing a fairly good job of it, considering that 'curse' of yours," Nat noted.

Kerry sighed. "I don't think my curse is enough to incapacitate all the guards fast enough to stop what they're doing here in Malefica though. There are just too many of them."

Ellie chuckled. "Seems like you're actually finding your 'curse' useful for once."

Kerry grumbled under her breath. "Well… this is the first time I've actually really wanted to see someone dead before. No matter how cruel or malicious people were to me due to the whole 'companion killer' thing, I never wished any of them dead. Not even Pugnax, before your falling out in the Tundra. I mean, I wouldn't mind seeing him meet a bad end now that he's started working here, but before they caught us, I still wouldn't have wished death on him. Even now I… I don't really want to kill any of these men or women. Honestly, when I meditate, I'm trying to get this damn curse of mine to wound or cripple them, not kill them but… I guess it still doesn't listen to me at all, and does what it wants. At least it seems like it's going where I'm aiming it now, rather than just hurting anyone around me."

"You make it sound like it's got a mind of its own," Ellie said.

"Maybe it does," Nat replied. The other two huntresses looked her way in confusion. "With all the strange things there are in this world, is such a thing so hard to imagine?"

Both Ellie and Kerry grimaced at the implications. "If it's all the same to you… I'd rather not," Ellie muttered.

"Hmm, as you wish," Nat sighed quietly. The huntress began settle back into her cot, her eyes drooping wearily. "It's been fun, talking with you two. It seems like forever since I've been able to talk so casually with a friend. But if it's all the same to you two, I think… I think I'd like to sleep a little bit more. I'm just… so very tired right now."

"Go right ahead," Ellie said with a nod. "You need all the rest you can get."

"Can you wake me up when Kim wakes up? I don't think I've been able to talk to her, not since… not since…"

"I'll wake you up," Ellie assured her, and Nat smiled gratefully.

"Good, good. I think she's been lonely… and worried since then. I want her to know that things will be alright. I'm sure of it. One way or another…" Nat's eyes began to close as weariness overtook her. "Oh, right, before I forget, I got in contact with someone in one of the other blocks. He might be able to… to…"

Ellie was about to ask what, but before she could, the wounded huntress' drowsiness got the better of her, and Nat drifted back to sleep in her cot. She instinctively pulled Kim closer to her as she fell into dreamland, and an almost peaceful expression filled her face. Ellie sighed and walked back to her cot, lying down as her stomach churned a bit. She wondered what the huntress had been about to say, but… well, she'd just have to wait until the lancer woke up again and ask her then.

"Do you think she's right?" Ellie asked quietly. "Do you think we'll ever be able to escape this place?"

Kerry was quiet in her cell. "I don't… I really don't know, dear. I certainly hope so. I don't think there's really much more we can do than that, and wait… looking for a chance to escape. There must be something we can do. No place is impregnable… not even the things that the Meridians built."

Ellie nodded thoughtfully. As much as she tried to keep her confidence about getting free of this prison, sometimes she wondered if there was even a chance. Nat and Kim had been struggling to escape since they'd arrived so many months ago, and they were still captives of Malefica, despite them being lauded as the most skilled rookies west of Loc Lac. What chance did Ellie and Kerry have? All they really had aat their disposal was Kerry's curse… how could that help to free them? And every day, Moloch's influence over the place grew stronger. Their odds of getting out alive were growing perpetually slimmer…

A few shouts and swears came from down the hall, and Ellie looked up in irritation. Nat had just gotten back to sleep! Couldn't they keep their voices down a little bit? But the resounding footfalls of booted, plated feet could be heard approaching the cells, the telltale sign of one of the guards returning, and if Ellie was right, it sounded like one of the hunters under Moloch's employ. But the sound continued to grow closer and closer, and Ellie began to grow worried. Had word of the guards' injuries spread up through the ranks already? If so… someone might have decided Kerry had gone too far; there was only one person coming their way, as far as Ellie could tell, so maybe someone had thought enough was enough?

But the coming person finally got close enough for Ellie to see through the bars of her cell door, and she realized that it was a familiar face: Micah. The long sword user glanced at her for a moment before passing by her cell and quietly looking into Kim and Nat's cell. He frowned at the sight, and for a moment, Ellie thought he would say something, but eventually the man sighed and pulled away from the door and leaned against the far wall. Ellie and Kerry both watched him uncertainly as he stood there. He had a strange, pained expression on his face. After a few minutes of silence though, the young man turned and looked at Ellie with a subdued look.

"I suppose I should thank you," he said quietly, leaning against the far wall. "If you hadn't intervened, she might have died."

Ellie wasn't sure how to reply. Micah was one of the men that worked for Moloch, wasn't he? Why did he care whether or not Nat died or not? Likely he had some ulterior motive of some kind, though Ellie couldn't guess at what it could be. Ellie felt a wave of obstinacy swell over her, absolutely overwhelming the depression and fear she'd been feeling earlier, and she glowered at the man angrily. How dare he act so sorrowful and meek over Nat's injuries! How dare he pretend he actually cared! He'd helped keep Nat alive, sure, but he was still one of the top dogs in Malefica, so Ellie wouldn't allow herself to trust him or even like him. She still couldn't think of anything to say to the man though, so she kept silent, deciding instead to glare at him. Micah shifted uncomfortably under her glare.

"Are you… are you friends with the pair of them? I haven't seen those two trust too many people since arriving here, not even the other prisoners around here. There's that old hunting master of theirs, but he's kept in one of the other cell blocks."

Again, Ellie refused to say anything to the man, and Micah seemed to grow frustrated at her refusal to reply. He didn't seem to be used to being ignored, not here in Malefica at least. But he sighed, pushing down the anger that was welling up inside of him, and the miserable and guilty look once again appeared on the man's face.

"Anyway, I want to thank you for helping keep Nat alive. I don't… I didn't… oh, never mind. I guess I should tell you that word of what the redhead there did to the guards is making its way through Malefica. Or rather, what they say she did. Curses and hexes and all that kind of thing. I thought you should know that the guards are starting to get fed up with all that's been happening to them. If you're not careful, they might try and pull something on her when they think they can get away with it."

"And how's that different from anything else in this place?" Ellie snapped angrily, her temper getting the better of her. Micah flinched in surprise at the sudden outburst. "What's stopping that bastard Moloch from throwing us into the pit to die when he gets tired of us? What's keeping the doctors from ignoring our injuries if they don't have someone like you breathing down their throat? Did you even hear about what those men were trying to do when they got crushed by that door? Do you even care?"

Micah shifted uncomfortably where he stood. "Yes, I heard about it, and of course I care. And I don't approve of it, if that's what you're getting at."

"Oh, he doesn't approve of it. How comforting. Now everything will be better."

Micah shook his head despairingly. "There's just too much here for me to watch over," he said sourly. "I'd keep this kind of thing from happening if I could, but… argh, my subordinates and I can't be everywhere! We're the only ones here that try to stop this from happening. I've tried to convince Pugnax and Lilith to keep a closer eye on their lackeys, but it's like trying to convince a monster to stop its young from killing! It's like I'm the only one here with a conscience at all!"

"A conscience? Really?" Ellie snapped coldly. Micah winced at the tone.

"Perhaps that was a poor choice of words…"

"I doubt someone with what a real conscience would be in a place like this, at least not as willingly as you seem to be," Kerry said quietly. "People with a conscience generally don't endorse and help out with kidnappings and thievery, especially not just to provide amusement for cruel, wicked wealthy people. I don't think someone with a conscience could so easily be willing to stand back and let people die terrible deaths at the beck and call of an audience, or let them sit around waiting to die in cold cells or doing slave labor, with the constant threat of abuse from the guards. I especially doubt that anyone with a conscience would be so willing to work for a twisted, greedy, despotic man like Moloch in the first place, and find himself lauded as his top lieutenant."

Micah slouched against the far wall and glared at the bowgunner. Though, to Ellie, it didn't seem as though the man's heart was in the look at all. "You don't know him like I do. You make him out to be a monster, but he's a man that commands respect from those below him. And he treats his followers well… provided that they are able to follow his orders."

"And what about the people that aren't his followers?" Ellie replied angrily. "What about Nat? What about all the hunters and huntresses he's captured just to make some money off of watching them die? You think that how he treats his lackeys makes up for this kind of thing?"

"You think I don't know that?" Micah moaned miserably. "I don't like this capturing business any more than you do. I didn't mind the drugs or the extortion or any of the other things from back in our world, but this stuff…"

"Then why the hell do you follow him?!"

"He saved my mother's life!" Micah snapped, and Ellie flinched back. "And he didn't owe her anything!"

Ellie's eyes widened in surprise. Micah seemed to catch himself at what he'd said, and deflated a little bit, stepping away from the door and sitting back in his chair, a frustrated and angry look on his face. He crossed his arms and stared in irritation as Ellie, and opened his mouth to say something else, but there was a groan and shifting from Kim and Nat's cell, and the hunter froze, not wanting to wake up either of the huntresses in the other cell. A few moments passed, and the shifting stopped, and the pair of huntresses drifted back to sleep. Micah glowered at Ellie as though it was her fault, but the expression vanished quickly enough as the man sighed in frustration.

Ellie was quiet for a minute or two, before finally making her way over to the cell door and looking over at Micah. "What… what do you mean, he saved your mother's life?" she asked warily. Micah slouched and seemed to be straining himself in indecision, and Ellie could see the pain in his eyes at whatever painful memories were going through his head. The man sat in silence for a long time, contemplating what to say and whether to say it or not.

"When I was young… about seven or eight years old," Micah began slowly, hesitantly. Every word seemed forced, and it was clear he didn't like telling this story, much less telling it to people who greatly distrusted him. But he kept glancing over to Nat and Kim's cell, and continued to talk. "My mother and I lived in a… disreputable and unsafe part of town. The slums, to be honest, kind of like how the South District of Loc Lac is right now, but worse. No madmen or lunatics, but… far more crime, and not the 'noble' kind like you see from the Lost, trying to feed themselves or other such things. Just… crime and drugs and murder for no other reason than greed and power and other such things."

Ellie opened her mouth to comment that it sounded very similar to how things happened in Malefica, but decided to keep her silence. She was surprised to find herself genuinely curious why Micah would ally himself with a man like Moloch. The long sword user seemed less and less like someone who would be willingly following a man like Moloch without a good reason. It still didn't sit well with Ellie that he was able to be a part of the man's organization though, but she wanted to hear his reasoning.

"I won't go much further into detail about where we lived. Needless to say, living there was very unpleasant, to say the least. My mother and I feared for our lives at night if we weren't inside, and it wasn't that much better in the daytime, either. As for Moloch… everyone knew him. He was in charge of the area; the sort of control that only a mob lord could have. Everyone knew who he was, whether they worked for him, hated him, or feared him. My mother and I didn't care about him either way; we were just trying to get by, and if you wanted to do that, it either meant working for Moloch or avoiding anything to do with anyone in the area; my mother chose the latter. We kept to ourselves. When she wasn't at work and I wasn't at school, we were at home, where it was safe enough. The place we lived in was a cheap set of apartments. A really terrible, rough place for anyone to live."

Micah's eyes grew hard and miserable for a moment, before he continued. "One night… there was a fire. An electrical problem or something like that. The place was never really that well maintained. It… it didn't take long before the entire building was lit up. We were on one of the higher floors, so by the time we realized what was going on we…"

Micah coughed, struggling to clear his throat. Ellie realized that he was trying to get control of himself. When he began to speak again, his voice was flat and monotone. "My mother was very badly burned carrying me out of the apartment complex. Very, very badly burned. The doctors that came for her and took her to the hospital said that it was a miracle in itself that she had managed to survive the wounds that she received. She would live somehow… but… we weren't… We didn't have much money in the first place. Saving my mother's life took everything we had. We didn't have any family to call on; there was only us. None of my mother's friends had enough money to help either. None of the doctors were willing to do something charitable for us either. They had her written off. The fire hadn't killed her outright, but her injuries were still grievous enough that she wouldn't last for much longer."

Micah shivered a little where he stood, before turning to look directly into Ellie's eyes. A bold confidence and determination that hadn't been there before had appeared. "That's when Moloch appeared at the hospital. He came to my room one day. My mother was on her last legs, and she didn't have much longer left. He gave her one look, and without a second thought, volunteered to pay for her full recovery. Every burn wound healed to the fullest extent, and any surgery needed to make sure she was the exact woman she had been before. My mother hadn't been the only one injured in the fire, either. Moloch helped them all out. Men, women, children… there were at least a dozen people with wounds just as bad as mother's, and he didn't hesitate to help them all. All of us were seen to, no matter the injury or the cost. Because of him, my mother lived!

"That's why I dedicated myself to working for him. You may look down on what he's doing now, but you don't know him like I do. As soon as I was old enough to hold my own, I volunteered to join the organization he had made in our city. My mother didn't care for it of course, but… I wasn't about to let the debt go unpaid. I wasn't the only one, either. There were seven of us, children like me whose families were saved by Moloch's charity. Seven of us who were spared from a life of misery thanks to him. That's why I work for him! I don't care for the crimes he commits, or the terrible things he's done, but… but that doesn't matter, not to me. Because of him, my mother lived, and that's enough for me.

"I was the only one of us that made it from there to here, this… hunter's world, or whatever it is. My mother… my mother didn't make it either, as far as I can tell. But that doesn't change my debt, and my loyalty to him. So say what you want about him, or the crimes that he's committed, it won't change a thing to me. I know the kind of man he can be, and that's what matters to me."

Ellie kept her silence as the man finished his story. Ellie had to admit, she could see why Micah felt that he needed to follow Moloch as such a loyal subordinate. If Moloch had done the same for her, bringing Levin back from death's door, she likely would have felt the same way, willing to look past the crimes and misdeeds that the man had committed in order to pay the debt that was owed him. But… Ellie couldn't shake the feeling that the man's plan had been just that, to instill Micah and several others with a sense of debt and loyalty. Ellie had to admit that the plan was simple and subtle, if it really was the man's plan as she suspected: pay for the medical treatment of numerous downtrodden people with the appearance of charity in order to instill a sense of debt into the wounded and their families. It was a gamble, Ellie could see that much, if that really was Moloch's plan. It was a lot of money to try and guarantee loyalty, but… it had paid off with seven loyal followers, even if Micah was the only one that had been put to sleep in the blue crystals.

She was tempted to mention the idea to Micah, but… the long sword user had a fierce expression on his face at the moment. Telling his story about his mother and Moloch's involvement in her recovery had reignited the fervent loyalty in his heart, and Ellie suspected that trying to press him about the issue wouldn't end well at the moment. She'd have to wait and see if his devotion faded again before trying…

From the next room, Nat began to cough painfully in her sleep, and Ellie could practically feel the pain in her gasping breaths. Micah's expression jumped quickly from determined faithfulness to worry as he made his way over to the door of the cell and looked in worriedly. A trickle of bright red blood slid down the side of the huntress' mouth, and the woman unconsciously wiped it off, spreading a smear of blood across her hand and face. Her breathing grew ragged for a moment more before settling down a little bit and returning to normal. Ellie and Micah watched her fearfully for a few more moments before Micah pulled away from the door, an apprehensive look on his face once more.

"I've said enough," he told Ellie sternly. "I don't care if you agree with my decision or not, but now you know why I've decided to follow Moloch and his wishes, and I suggest you keep you criticisms of him to yourself from here on when I'm around. I don't want to hear any more of it. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go get one of the doctors again to see to Nat's condition. They'll be down soon… try to keep Kim from killing him, if you could. If she actually kills one, it will become significantly harder to keep her alive once they avoid her out of fear of dying."

Ellie glowered at the man, opening her mouth for a moment to retort before closing it in frustrated resignation. She wanted to snap back at him and tell him to shove it where the sun didn't shine, but… she likely would have to make sure that Kim didn't do anything drastic when the doctor came to look at Nat's wounds. So she likely would do what Micah told her to, though she didn't like the idea of taking orders from the man.

"I'll give you one last word of warning," Micah said, and Ellie glared angrily at him.

"If you think I'm going to do whatever you say just because I'm willing to take care of Nat-"

"Would you shut up and listen? I'm trying to keep you alive, you stupid bitch!" Micah snapped irritably. He sighed, calming himself for a moment, before continuing. "I just thought you should know that Lilith has set her eyes on you since we captured you at the caravan. Also, your friend there has piqued her interest with all these 'devil woman' rumors that are making their way through Malefica. Trust me when I say that she is not a woman that you want to start a vendetta with, not with you being incarcerated and her having the freedom to wander around. You think what those guards were doing earlier was bad? It'll seem like a nap in the sun compared to the things she does to captives for fun. And when she shows herself, you won't see her coming. She's doesn't stand out in the open like Pugnax or Filcher do when they're off studying a hunter that they chose to prey on. You don't have to do what she says… but try not to get her too riled up when you do talk to her."

"I'm not afraid of her," Ellie said stubbornly. "I've seen her in action."

"Yes, but she had onlookers when we attacked your caravan," Micah replied. "That psychotic freak doesn't like to let loose when there are people she doesn't trust around that might choose to interfere. She tones it down when she's got eyes on her."

"You call how she acted out there calm?" Kerry asked in surprise.

"Calm for her. When she has her… 'prey' cornered, and only her lackeys are around, then she really shows what kind of person she truly is. I've only seen it once, and it is not pretty, to say the least. It may be a challenge to do so here, but do your best to stay on her good side. Believe me when I say that the alternative is not something you'll want to think about. You may not like it here in Malefica, and you may consider it cruel that we are forcing you to fight in the arena and clean out the tunnels in the Downs, but those tasks are far less terrible than anything Lilith would do to you if given the chance and the motivation."

Ellie looked over at Kerry, and the bowgunner shifted uncomfortably where she stood. Lilith had been incredibly erratic from what little Ellie had seen of her when their caravan had been attacked. But neither she nor Kerry had seen hide nor hair of the wicked huntress since then. She couldn't be that sneaky… could she? The guards that had mentioned her certainly had shown fear in their voices when speaking of her, but Ellie hadn't thought too much of it. But how much could a woman like her get away with in a place like Malefica? Micah had gone on about 'wasting resources' when they'd been captured, so how could Lilith get away with doing what Micah was implying? Perhaps the old man didn't have as much control as he liked to presume he did…

Micah nodded to himself, taking their silence as understanding. "I've told you what you need to know. Whether you listen to me or not is up to you, but my conscience is clear enough knowing I at least warned you about her. I'd take what I've said to heart, if you want to survive longer in this place. Now if you'll excuse me, I have other business to attend to."

As the man began to walk away though, he paused for a moment longer. "Oh… and… I'll see about making sure my subordinates are the ones that are in charge of this cell block from here on in. Consider it… repayment for keeping Nat alive." And with that he strode away, the sound of his footfalls eventually vanishing into silence.

The two huntresses stood quietly for a minute or two, before Kerry whispered to Ellie nervously. "Do you think he was serious? About… Lilith, and what she would do to us?"

Ellie frowned. "I don't know… it's possible. If he wanted to just scare us, he would have told us that he would be the one doing terrible things. But he said it was that bowgunner woman instead… I don't like this."

Kerry glanced outside her cell nervously. Ellie didn't blame her; with Micah's words of the woman stalking them, she couldn't really shake a feeling that she was being watched at the moment, even if it was just her imagination… she shook her head, trying to force down the fearful thoughts. She couldn't afford to think about this kind of thing in a place like this. If the psychopath was there, then she was there; nothing Ellie could do about it right now.

"We'll deal with it if something comes up," she told Kerry with confidence she really didn't feel. "We'll figure something out, I'm sure of it."

Kerry fidgeted nervously for a moment before nodding in agreement. "Yes, you're right dear. Right now… isn't the time for such thoughts. Right now, we should do our best to get some rest. The crowd will be here for a few more days yet, and I'm sure that merchant you've irked will try to get you back into the arena again. Let's get some rest, shall we?"

"Yes, lets," Ellie replied. But before she made her way over to her cot, she turned once more to check in on Nat and Kim. The doctors liked to take their time making their way down to the cells, even with Micah on their heels. She could afford a short nap before they arrived…

For a moment, Ellie thought she saw Nat's eyes open. But the huntress sighed in her sleep a moment later, and rolled a little closer to Kim. A second later, Ellie could hear the lancer breathing deeply in sleep. She must have just imagined it. Ellie sighed tiredly, making her way over to her cot and laying down on it. Her stomach was feeling a little better now, thankfully, but she really did need some more sleep if she was going to feel any better. Almost immediately she felt drowsiness beginning to overwhelm her, and she drifted off into uncomfortable sleep.

* * *

A rapping at his door brought Zhanin out of his concentration on the papers and notes in front of him. The councilman growled in frustration. He was having trouble pressing through the documents in front of him, and the last thing he needed right now were interruptions! Recently many of the merchants and nobles that dwelled in his North District were acting… strange and erratic at times, and some of the business and political operations that swelled in the district were getting thrown off. Business plans between a lot of people were getting thrown into disarray, and it was making work a challenge for Zhanin to deal with.

Likely some newfangled pastime had come to the attention of the wealthy in the district, and Zhanin knew how much the rich liked their odd hobbies. This kind of thing always happened when a new game began working through the wealthy; someone discovered something to do that only the rich could take part in, and the next thing you knew, everyone that wanted to seem in-the-loop was trying to do the same thing, and it ended up distracting them so much that it threw off a lot of work that was supposed to be done. Zhanin wondered if it was another phase of collecting dangerous monsters as pets again. A couple years ago, he'd been this busy when every noble worth their salt was trying to make hidden pools to raise pet Gobuls in. Did they even realize how hard it was to have a pool in the middle of a desert? The oasis near the Loc Lac tower allowed the people of the city to quench their thirst, but there wasn't nearly enough to keep a water-dwelling creature alive for a long time. On the bright side, the price of seafood had dropped significantly for a while after that fad had worn off.

Zhanin stood up in frustration, making his way over to the door of his office and opening it wide, giving an irritated glance at both his receptionist, as well as the man who appeared to be the one that had asked to see him. Laura winced a little at the look, but the man didn't seem bothered by it at all, but rather seemed amused by the look. It took a moment for Zhanin to recognize the man; he'd only met him once. He was one of Zhanin's informants, sent out to try and uncover something that he could use against the Lost or to rile up the populace of Loc Lac. No wonder Laura had been willing to interrupt his work; likely the man had given her one of the code words that allowed them to see Zhanin without waiting. That meant that he had either something very valuable or very urgent to tell Zhanin, and with the smile on the man's face, Zhanin assumed it was the former.

"…Fine, get in here," he grumbled, allowing the man to enter. The informant nodded gratefully, following Zhanin into the room. Laura watched warily as the two entered, before the door closed loudly behind them.

"Now, what do you want?" Zhanin asked irritably, walking to the other side of his desk. "I'm certain that I told all of you that I was not to be disturbed… unless the information you had for me was absolutely vital. You had best not disappoint me."

The informant smiled confidently. "Oh, I'm sure that you'll appreciate what I've brought to you, sir. However, before we begin, I'd like to take a moment to discuss… payment."

"Your price for information was agreed upon when I hired you," Zhanin snapped. "Should your information prove fruitful, you'll be paid what I said I would, and not a zenny more."

But the man continued to grin. "Ah, but I do believe that the information that I've found is far, far more valuable than the price you agreed to. You aren't the only one in the city that would pay for this information, Zhanin. So much so, that I'm sure you wouldn't be adverse to paying… double what we agreed upon.

Zhanin scowled at the man. "Double? You're pushing your luck. The only way you're getting that much out of me is if you've got sure-fire information that I can use against the Lost."

The man grinned confidently as he sat down in the chair. "Oh, I'm sure you'll like this information, Zhanin. I think it fits right in with what you're looking for."

Zhanin glared at the man, but eventually settled back into his own chair and stared intently at the other man. "Fine, I'll hear you out, but I won't agree to your terms until I hear this information you have for me. I'll be the judge of its value."

The man nodded, accepting the terms. "I'm sure you'll enjoy hearing what I have to say, and I look forward to receiving my just rewards."

Zhanin continued to scowl at the man as he began his story. Apparently the man had been one of those information gatherers that had been trying to uncover any dirt on some of the more prominent members of the Lost. There weren't many, but there were enough that Zhanin was certain that one or two of them had skeletons in the closet that he could bring to light. He had several off in the east, investigating the works of a couple Lost that he'd heard the names of: some fellow named Silas that was apparently causing some trouble, and another was a hard-to-find man called Moloch, whose name Zhanin had actually picked up from some of the nobles in the north district. Both of them were being investigated at the moment, but so far nothing had come back. But this man had been one of those that had been tailing around the few Lost hunters that traveled the country in search of monsters to slay. There weren't that many; at the moment there were only thirteen members of the Lost that had managed to attain the title of 'hunter' in the Guild's eyes. Several of them were relatively fresh, though, so they weren't anything worth investigating. But the others were making a name for themselves, even if it was only among the Lost in the South District, so Zhanin had several investigators looking into them, searching for signs of criminal activities or illegal actions. So far, he'd come up flat. The Lost hunters tended to be fairly straight-laced from what people had seen, though some had pushed the limits of Guild hunting restrictions, bordering on overhunting monsters.

But Zhanin's eyes widened in shock at the news that this man had brought him. He had been the one assigned to keeping track of those two hunters from Boma Village off to the east. The pair had been on close watch since the male hunter had made a scene of himself claiming he wanted to go after the Alatreon several months ago, but the pair had been relatively clean since then. But news of trouble in the Tundra area had brought attention back to them, and once the chance had arisen, the information gatherer had gone north to Hearth to try and find out what had really happened up them.

And the story he told Zhanin left the councilmember stunned. An Alatreon attack that had been stopped by the Lost? That wasn't exactly what Zhanin had been hoping for, and the councilman said as much. Such an act would have the Lost lauded as heroes! But then… why had news of it not reached Loc Lac yet? But there had been more. Apparently the man had uncovered more information from some of the more informed people in Hearth by means of alcohol and, when needed, physical persuasion. And what the man had uncovered was certainly of great interest to Zhanin. The Lost hunters had gone off and provoked the Alatreon itself! And not only that, if what the interrogations had uncovered were true, then the Lost were all in Loc Lac due to the Alatreon's power, and if pressed, the Lost would all prove to have a personal vendetta with the beast!

Zhanin was almost in a daze when the man finished telling him what he'd found. He'd followed instructions, and had written everything he'd discovered down on paper as well. Zhanin excused him, promising to pay him the price he'd requested of him, and the man left the room with a pleased expression on his face. Zhanin barely noticed at all, he was so astonished and lost in his own thoughts.

This information… it was impossible for the Guild to not have received the report from Hearth! Or at least, it had to be in the possession of at least a couple of the higher-ranked individuals in the Guild, and maybe a few others as well. But why would this kind of information be kept from the public? If people knew that the Lost were all personally tied to the Alatreon itself, the entire populous would move to push all of them from the oasis city! The Lost may argue and try to resist, but… what could a collection of madmen and transients do against the people of Loc Lac? That meant that the information was likely in the hands of a Lost sympathizer, someone with high influence with the Guild, and someone that didn't seem to care about the threat that the Lost possessed.

Zhanin flipped through his informant's written report, skimming the information again. There was some information there that the man hadn't mentioned in his vocal report, things he likely considered too bland or too boring for what he'd told Zhanin, but there was still enough in there for Zhanin to raise a few more conclusions of his own that his informant hadn't. The Guild had made a very powerful effort to keep this information from getting out, but now that Zhanin knew about it…

But it wasn't enough, not yet. Zhanin trusted the words of his informants; he'd paid enough to buy their honesty in these matters. But the words of one man wouldn't be enough for the rest of the Loc Lac council, Zhanin knew that much. He'd need more concrete proof to bring to them before he could further his goals and finally push the Lost out of Loc Lac. But where would such proof be? He wasn't a member of the Guild; he couldn't just walk into the Guild's offices and demand to see the secret documents that he wanted to see. He'd need to do it with more discretion, which meant he'd have to hire somebody to sneak around and…

No! He'd waited long enough for this! Subtlety had been required before, but now he was so close to his goal, he could practically taste it! All he needed to do was find the files and documents he was looking for and he'd accomplished his goals! He'd finally have his revenge against the damn Lost!

But who would have the files? Stergo, certainly; the old Wyvernian Guild master was certainly an outspoken Lost sympathizer and had been seen speaking with the Lost hunters in question before. But the old creature's office was well-protected by those that were loyal to him as well as his goals, so trying to attain the proof he needed from him was about as likely as… well, as surviving an Alatreon attack, which was no longer as impossible a task as it had been, but still a near impossible challenge. So who else was there? It would have to be someone that the Wyvernian held as a confidant, someone who was supremely on the Lost's side, considering the importance of the matter. Perhaps… Marco? Zhanin almost laughed aloud at the thought. The stuttering fool was the last person someone would trust with such vital information! Surely Stergo wouldn't be so foolish as to trust such a thing to such an incompetent person?

Then again... if there was a man who could be declared as a certain Lost supporter in the city, it would definitely be Marco. Zhanin didn't understand the man's support of the madmen and women of the South District, but Marco defended them fiercely (or as fiercely as he could with that ridiculous stutter). There weren't that many others that Zhanin could think of that would be compassionate enough to the Lost to hide such important information from the council. There were hunters, of course, those that shared Stergo and Marco's sympathy, but they were transients in the town for the most part, and picking out one of no doubt dozens of hunters that worked for the Wyvernian would be impossible.

But still… Marco? Really? That was Zhanin's best lead? The councilmember still heavily doubted it, but… there wasn't any sense in ignoring a possible lead. He'd call another informant, and have them tail Marco around, see if they could find some sort of hint on whether or not the man really had anything that he could use as proof for his allegations against the Lost. If there turned out to be a sign that Marco really did have something that Zhanin could use… well, Zhanin would have to make sure he got it, one way or another.

But for now… he had to put together his plans. His dreams were finally coming to fruition, and he needed to make sure he was ready for when the ball finally dropped and was able to act and force the Lost out of Loc Lac. He'd need to make sure he had the willing aid of as many city guards as he could get, and he'd need to move quickly and efficiently as well… and of course, most importantly, he'd need to have at least one of the guilty Lost in custody to use as a symbol of their collective guilt. Both would be better, of course, though the male hunter took priority, since his confession had him labeled as the primary aggressor of the Alatreon. The female hunter had a lot of guilt on her head as well, though not as much as the male had.

Zhanin smiled to himself. He was looking forward to putting the final pieces of his plan together. With luck, it wouldn't be too much longer before the Lost were out of Loc Lac, and if he was lucky, out of the country as well. All he needed was some physical proof, and one of those Lost hunters to publically condemn for the masses. It wouldn't be much longer now, and he would finally have his vengeance against the Lost.

* * *

**Author's Note: Please Review! Bah, once again I have to cut a chapter in two.**

**Surprisingly, despite my moving almost 1000 miles, I actually managed to keep my 1000+ word promise for this chapter (for the most part). Hopefully I'll be able to keep it up, even though my life is going to get quite a bit busier after this. Although, with work being what it is, and my desire to play MH3U also being what it is, I may reduce my Mon-Thur word count to 500 words a day. It will drop my word count down 2k words a week, but I'll be able to play games, hopefully with a couple of you guys. **

**I've gotten way too invested into Tumblr recently. It's just… so much stuff that I like, in a wave of gifs and ideas and jokes and weirdness. I think my own Tumblr is filled with about 90% Monster Hunter and Mass Effect stuff, and 10% miscellaneous junk. I think one of the things on there that hit me the hardest in the feels, though, was a Tumblr called 'Imagine your OTP,' which is basically a collection of little prompts for characters in a relationship. Now, OTP can apply to anything, but for the most part, I've been applying them to Levin and Ellie or Harker and Kerry and it's absolutely filling my brain with dozens of little mini-stories about their lives. I considered writing a few of them, but a lot of my time writing is spent trying to get these obscenely long chapters to you readers on a decent schedule… maybe I'll create a mini-series of one-shots once TLC is done and before any other stories that I begin working on. Anyway, if you want to know my Tumblr account, just let me know.**

**Reading: **_**The Two Towers**_** by J.R.R. Tolkien, **_**Pawn of Prophesy**_** by David Eddings, **_**Queen of Sorcery**_** by David Eddings, **_**Enchanter's End Game**_** by David Eddings  
Playing: MH3U (obviously)  
Listening: Pillar, Mika, Blind Guardian, Beirut, Fun, Daft Punk, A.C. Newman, Iron & Wine, Snow Patrol  
Watching: Little Witch Academia (surprisingly good anime OVA)**


	40. Doubt

Doubt

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. Most of the characters in this story are mine. Richard Jr. and Monique belong to Hoenn Master96_

_Edited by: Hoenn Master96_

_A chill air surrounded Levin. The hunter glanced around in surprise at the feeling, uncertain where it came from. Hadn't he just been in his cell in Malefica…? He found himself in a barren and frozen waste of some kind. The ground was covered in ice, though no snow could be seen anywhere nearby; just the pale white and blue crystals that were scattered around the area. The icy coating completely covered everything around him; numerous metal objects jutted from the earth around him, twisted and torn, but still covered in the thick frozen coat. _

_It took Levin several minutes to realize that this was a dream, one of the Alatreon's mystic phantasms again. He wouldn't have figured it out for even longer, had he not realized that he could hear the sound of the creature's presence in his mind. It was fainter than it usually was; usually the elder dragon's voice came through as a sort of thunderous roar, now it seemed more of a tidal crashing, still loud but duller than before. But the anger, hatred, and incomprehensible confusion rattled through Levin's skull as the beast continued to rage. Had it been howling in fury this whole time, even since the last time he'd had one of these dreams? It didn't even seem to realize that Levin was there at all, though it was clear that the dragon's thoughts were still focused solely on him. Images of his face, and the word 'boy' could be heard seething through the Alatreon's thoughts as it raged. Had it summoned him unconsciously?_

_Levin yelped and stepped to the side as a sudden wave of heat washed over him, despite the icy surroundings. The frozen blue floor next to him began to sear a deep orange and yellow color for a moment, then the next the icy floor vaporized into a cloud of piercing steam that gushed into the air, blasting outwards from the eruption point. Levin gasped as the steam washed over him, but blinked in surprise. He could feel a light heat enveloping him, but not the usual painful bite that he'd expected from the steam. Then he realized that the cold of… wherever the hell he was, didn't chill him all that much either. It was more of a phantom feeling than anything else; if the Alatreon hadn't intended him to bring him here, maybe the full force of the illusions weren't as bad either._

_It was actually rather fascinating, watching as heat gushed up from below the ice. It was a challenge to see through the steam, but Levin realized that what was swelling up from below the ice wasn't just any heat, but actually a spout of magma! A small spout of boiling red lava swelled through the frozen floor, gushing across the surface and sending even more steam into the air. Levin realized that there were more spots of light sprouting up from below the ice, and more geysers of magma searing their way through the thick frozen layer. _

_But a sudden bellowing roar blasted across the ice. A massive crack erupted in the ice, splintering a massive line across the floor. The air grew chiller, and pale whitening filled the smoke and haze around Levin. Levin could practically feel a surge of power swell through the sky, and from above, massive ice spears began to plummet to the earth, smashing into the plumes of magma that were sprouting up from below. The fierce cold of the spears immediately froze the lava and solidified it, abruptly creating a hardened shell over the magma spouts and momentarily recreating the icy layer that covered the earth around Levin. Clouds of shimmering ice shards fluttered into the air with each ice spear that crashed into the each, filling the air with glittering light that swept around Levin like snow. The hunter realized with shock that, wherever he was, it was the Alatreon's lair. The beast, in its fury, had actually frozen over the volcanic peak where it had made its home! Levin had been told that the elder dragons were possessed with the power to match natural disasters, but seeing such power in person…_

_Flashing images began to jump through Levin's head, different ones than the usual that the Alatreon had been unconsciously been sending out before. These were… focused, and intent, directed somewhere… and to something. There were no words or orders, just images and ideas and… compulsions. Was this the power that the Alatreon had used before, the ability it had to order around other monsters? Levin didn't feel any pain though, and the force of the Alatreon's will before, when he and Ellie had been assaulted by the Lagiacrus and other creatures around Boma, had been physically painful for them, and they weren't even the ones receiving the orders! This compulsion seemed different, almost as though the Alatreon wasn't giving orders, but rather making an offer instead. Images of villages, towns, and numerous, countless humans flitted through Levin's mind, though he couldn't guess what purpose they had to anything…_

_A deep, bellowing roar thundered across the icy wasteland, and Levin felt himself shake from the force of it. He frantically searched around in shock. What had made that roar? It certainly hadn't been the Alatreon; the elder dragon's own cry was not nearly so deep or rumbling as this one had been, but higher and more piercing than this new one. It was vaguely familiar; Levin recalled hearing it before in one of these 'visions' that the Alatreon had sent him, but he still didn't know what sort of creature the cry was associated with. But a dark shadow moved through the smog and ash around him, each step creating an detonation of sound as its heavy steps smashed down, shattering the ice below it in resounding crashes. Levin watched in shock as the shape lumbered past: he'd seen it before, but he'd forgotten how horrifyingly massive the... whatever it was, was._

_Oddly enough, a feeling of delight, and maybe even respect sifted through Levin mind from the Alatreon as the beast passed by. More images began to filter through Levin's skull as the elder dragon relayed more information to the creature. They were... directions, Levin thought, but not in a familiar manner. There were images of hills and valleys and rivers and mountains, one after the other. Levin would have expected something more along the lines of... migration paths, or comparisons to magnetic north, or following the sunrise or something primal like that. But this sort of directional sense was like explaining something to a child or something very simple; go here, then look for this and go there, then climb that mountain you see. _

_But there was something sinister hidden in the instructions. The Alatreon repeated the path the massive beast would take several times, and Levin realized that the path wove back and forth a little, not a complete straight line. It was to be expected, he supposed; the beast would need to go around lakes or over mountains, but... This beast was being led close to villages and towns. They were only flickers in the images that the Alatreon gave the beast, but Levin would occasionally catch sight of huts or a smoke trail, signs that there was at least a little civilization close by. Levin had thought that the Alatreon would have preferred to keep out of sight of humans, not send this hulking creature off too close to human dwellings. _

_But the images abruptly cut off, the Alatreon apparently satisfied with the information that it had given to the creature. Levin wasn't sure where exactly the elder dragon had given the monster directions to, but it was a long journey, he could tell that much, and he thought that it ended somewhere near the ocean. The creature grumbled loudly, though Levin couldn't guess at the meaning of it. Was it perhaps disdain, or understanding? The Alatreon didn't seem to be forcing this monster into whatever it was doing, so maybe... Either way, the creature, whatever it was, turned slowly away and began to thunder off towards whatever destination the Alatreon had set for it, its steps thumping one after the other with a brisk pace that belied the incredible bulk that the monster had. _

_A sense of satisfaction slid through the Alatreon's thoughts for a moment as the monster lumbered away. Then its attention pulled away from the creature as it walked away, and swept back across the frozen waste, scanning over the icy coat that covered all its metal trophies and the rest of its 'nest'._

_Then its attention found Levin, and seething fury and hatred burned through him. Frigid cold began to dig into Levin's flesh, and the elder dragon's mouth opened to roar, and-_

Levin snapped awake, gasping for air and toppling from his cot to land hard on the floor of his cell. He gasped in pain and rubbed his arm that had struck the floor, sitting back up and glancing around his cell. It was night time; the only real sign that the sun had gone down was the habit the guards had gotten into of putting out some of the torches that lined the walls of the prison. The sound of snoring could be heard from some of the other cells nearby, as some of the hunters tried to rest away their pain and worries, at least for a little while.

With a sigh and a grunt of effort, Levin pulled himself back onto his bed, groaning in pain and scratching his bandages. Apparently this upcoming weekend was supposed to be some big gathering for the benefactors of Malefica. There were some that had come a few days early though, and Moloch wasn't one to leave his guests bored and vacant, so several of the captives, Levin included, had been forced to fight a couple bouts in the Coliseum for their entertainment. Levin had gone up against a pair of Qurupecos himself, with several Jaggis freely released into the arena every time the noisy pair called for help. It had been exceptionally rough, especially since he and Harker had managed to boost their popularity in the Coliseum enough to become second-tier hunters in the arena, earning them the chance to have to deal with the traps that could be activated along with the monsters that were trying to kill them. Levin had nearly fallen into an actual spiked pit when it had opened up a step behind him during the fight! Thankfully, one of the Qurupecos had been lunging for him at the time, but hadn't seen the pit open up, and had sailed right into the pit and hit the spikes before it had been able to beat its wings and catch itself. After that the next one had fallen to his blade after taking a bomb that had fallen from the ceiling; Levin had been watching out for that specifically, after hearing what had happened to Nat.

Levin grumbled in frustration. After that 'dream' that he'd had, he wasn't too sure that he would be able to get back to sleep very soon. Not with his mind so bothered as it was. What was that creature that the Alatreon had been communicating with? Why had the elder dragon been so… maybe not friendly, but at least amiable with it? Why wasn't the creature forcing whatever its minion was into following its orders, and better yet, why was the lumbering creature so willing to do what the Alatreon was offering it? And for that matter, what exactly was the Alatreon offering it to earn its loyalty, or at least its inclination?

"Bad dreams?" A voice in the darkness asked. Levin looked up in surprise. It was the faceless voice of... the architect, whatever his name was.

"You could say that," Levin replied.

"This place creates such things," the man murmured. "It builds on them, or births them outright. There are no pleasant dreams in this pit. Such things are crushed in Moloch's grip… All those in Malefica's walls dream such terrible dreams of their time within, with no kind thoughts of the outside to comfort them."

"Aren't you cheery?" Levin sighed cynically, leaning against the wall. "If it makes you feel any better, I wasn't dreaming about Malefica or anything that's happened to me here. No, my dreams are worse than that… at least in my opinion."

"There is nothing is this world more terrible than this pit," the architect replied coldly.

"I dreamed about the Alatreon," Levin explained quietly, and the architect shifted silently in his cell. "I guess you've been here a long time… but to me, right now, the elder dragon still scares me more than anything Moloch could threaten me with. But then, I guess that could change if I'm here for too much longer, if what's become of you is any indication."

The architect didn't reply, and Levin sighed again. Maybe Moloch really would break him before long. He or Pugnax would try, that was certain, or kill him in the process. Wryly, he wondered how the Alatreon would react if it were to learn that he'd been killed. Would the elder dragon be happy? It had seemed rather intent on killing Levin… Maybe Levin would get lucky, and the Alatreon would get angry enough that someone else had killed its prey that it would come and wipe out Malefica? If he could imagine Ellie surviving the attack, that would be the closest thing to an optimistic thought that he'd had in a while…

"Tell me about your dream." Levin looked up in surprise at the words. He hadn't expected the man to say anything else to him that night. "I want to know… what it is your dreams are like."

Levin shrugged to himself. What was the harm? So he began to describe what he'd seen: the volcano top, frozen over by the Alatreon's power, the massive shadow of a beast he'd seen stomping through the ash and haze, and the strange visions he'd seen the beast passing on to whatever the other creature was. The architect listened intently as Levin told what he'd seen, and sat in silence for some time after the hunter had finished speaking.

"Have you had many of these dreams?" the man asked.

"Some," Levin admitted. "None like this one though… usually the Alatreon likes to taunt me or threaten me. I don't know what brought this last one on."

"How strange," the architect murmured. "I wonder…"

"Wonder what?" Levin asked. But he got no response from the man. Levin tried calling out the architect a few more times, but the man refused to respond any more, and the hunter grumbled in frustration. Whoever this architect was, he really didn't like to give away what he was thinking about.

Telling the story about his dream had worn Levin out a bit more by now though, and the hunter found that he was yawning, yearning for sleep. Levin doubted that he would be able to speak to the architect again for a while anyway, so he lay down again and closed his eyes to try and get back to sleep. He knew he likely wouldn't be able to sleep well, but… some restless sleep was better than none.

* * *

"Are you sure you're okay?" Ellie asked worriedly. "Kerry, you…"

"I'm fine dear," Kerry replied, followed immediately by a very wet, painful cough. "I just… took that hit a little harder than I really should have. I got a little caught off guard by the Baggis they released into the arena, that's all, and… just couldn't move quick enough to get out of the Diablos' way." Ellie looked miserably through the bars at her friend, and the bowgunner tried to smile encouragingly from her cot. The wounds and bandages that covered her arms and torso drastically took away from the sentiment, though.

Apparently some of the recently arrived benefactors had overheard some of the guards of Malefica talking about Kerry's curse earlier today, and had demanded to see her go up against one of the nastier beasts that the Coliseum had available, in order to possibly see her so-called 'curse' in action. Thankfully (or unthankfully, depending on your view of it), they'd also heard the rumors about her that had circulated around in Loc Lac as well as those that they'd caught in Malefica, so they'd requested that she be placed with a full team of hunters to accompany her in the fight.

Unfortunately, even a full squad of hunters would have trouble against a pair of Diablos in an enclosed area like the Coliseum, along with yipping Baggis sent in through smaller holes regularly throughout the fight. Ellie didn't know the full story of how the fight went down, but she'd heard the important bits: one Diablos had been impaled by the other by accident, but only because one of the other hunters had gotten between them, and hadn't been able to get out of the way in time. After that, it was three on one, with Baggis around as extras, spitting their sleep-inducing bile at anything that wasn't one of their pack. One of the other hunters had been brutally maimed before Kerry and the last of her teammates managed to wear out the second Diablos to the point where they could fully attack and take it down. But before the creature had fallen, one of the last Baggis had managed to get Kerry with one of their noxious blobs of spit, and the bowgunner had stumbled just enough that one of the Diablos' last charges managed to catch Kerry in the side. The horns themselves had missed, but the creature's bulk was enough to wound the huntress pretty badly, though not enough to declare her pointless to keep alive, much to Ellie's pleasure and the guards' disdain.

Ellie had been a nervous wreck waiting for her friend to return from the Coliseum. She hadn't been too worried at first; she knew her friend was a skilled hunter in her own right, far more so than she was to be honest. But once she heard what her friend was fighting, that was when the terror for her friend's life began to set in. Diablos' were one of the most dangerous monsters in the world for hunters to battle, due to their size, strength and speed, not to mention how quickly they were enraged. And Kerry and the other hunters had been sent out to fight two of them! It was a stroke of good luck that one of the horned beasts managed to take down one of the other, but even fighting just one had killed two of the other hunters and badly wounded Kerry.

"It's not really as bad as it looks," Kerry was telling her as the bowgunner sat up from her cot and leaned wearily against the wall and clutched her side. "It's just a few scars, and a couple bones that will need some time to mend… honestly I feel worse for the other two hunters that died out there in the Coliseum… I feel like there's something I should have been able to do to keep them alive. I wish they'd just sent me out there by myself, then I wouldn't feel so guilty right now…"

"Don't beat yourself up, Kerry," Ellie tried to encourage her. "You didn't do anything wrong. Two Diablos' at the same time… I've only fought the one in the arena in Orage during the hunters' exam, and that was enough to put me off from the beasts altogether. Two at the same time in such a small space… you should consider it good fortune that two of you managed to get out of there alive like you did."

Kerry grinned thankfully at Ellie, before looking down at her wounds with a sort of melancholy look on her face. "You know something Ellie? This may sound odd, but… I kind of like these wounds. Oh, don't look at me like that, I don't mean that I actually enjoyed receiving them, it's just… how do I say it? I think… I think this is one of the first times I've really been injured during a hunt, specifically when I've been working together with a team of hunters. It's just… never really happened before for me."

Ellie's eyes widened at the words. "You don't… never? Really? I find that hard to believe. There must have been some time when you've taken a big hit or something. I mean… I can't imagine a hunter managing to get so far along as you have without taking a few bad wounds or burns or… something."

"Well, I'm not saying I haven't been hurt during a hunt or anything," Kerry explained. "Just… not when I've been with a group of other hunters out working together. Before I met Harker, back when I spent my time hunting alone, yes I did get pretty badly hurt during some hunts, and spent my fair share of time in the hospital. But… whenever I'm working together with other people, nothing ever seems to happen to me. It's how I the curse works, after all: people around me get hurt, and I'm usually just fine at the end of a hunt. It's why people avoid me, because if they're with me when I'm hunting, all sorts of bad things will happen to them but never to me."

"I thought it was just because there were so many deaths," Ellie muttered. "No, you've been on a lot of hunts with us since we first met… there must have been some time that you were injured while hunting with us…" But try as she might, Ellie just couldn't seem to think of a time when Kerry had been badly hurt during one of their hunts. Even against the Silver Rathalos they'd fought on top of the Meridian tower, she'd walked away with only minor burns from the dragon element flames, nothing that couldn't be dealt with using some bandages and potion painkillers.

"It might sound odd," Kerry continued, as Ellie furrowed her brows trying to think of an example of Kerry's injuries, "but it's somewhat comforting to know that I'm not the only one getting off scot-free during hunts anymore. Maybe since I've been trying to actually… specifically direct who my curse harms, there's not as much power in it left over to hurt the hunters I'm fighting alongside. But even if it weren't, I've never felt that it was fair that I could get away from a hunt without suffering like my teammates have… it's very liberating, somehow."

"I'm… not sure if I share that sentiment," Ellie admitted, "but if you're happy, I guess that's okay… I wouldn't get too fond of the idea of being able to take hits from monsters though. It's not that much fun after the first couple times, I'll guarantee you that."

Kerry laughed lightly. "I'll take your word for it, dear."

Some noise echoed in from the other window of Ellie's cell, and the huntress worked her way over to look in on Kim and Nat. Kim was caring for Nat at the moment, trying her best to replace the bandages that covered the former huntress' torso and waist. Nat was grumbling in frustration at the lancer's efforts, however, as her efforts were clumsy and awkward most of the time. But she was trying hard, which seemed to put Nat in a good mood. The spirits of both of them had improved considerably ever since they'd had the chance to talk freely with each other more. Ellie still got a bad vibe from them both, but considering how long the pair had been in Malefica, she couldn't really blame them.

The sound of gruff arguing caught Ellie's ears as Nat muttered out a curse, wincing from Kim's overenthusiastic attempts to tighten the binds that wrapped around her waist. Some of the guards down the hall seemed to be having a dispute about something, so Ellie made her way cautiously to the cell door. Fights between the men that worked here were commonplace enough, considering how efficiently they had sequestered themselves off into four different groups under the highest-ranked hunters in the city, but this one seemed a little more... threatening than the others. There weren't that many ways for the captives in Malefica to amuse themselves, but watching the occasional fight between the guards that watched over them was a pleasant enough amusement. It was an admittedly dark sort of entertainment, but there really wasn't much more available to them at the moment.

A couple of excited shouts from the huntresses further down the cell block showed that something was happening between the guards at the other end of the block. And the sound of exchanged blows could be heard even as far as the cell that Ellie was in. But the fight was short-lived, and several groans of disappointment could be heard from some of the other huntresses that could actually see the fight. Heavy footsteps made their way down the block towards them, and Ellie strained to see who it was that was coming their way.

Before she managed to catch sight of whoever was coming, there was a shout of anger and another, lighter pair of footsteps came running in Ellie's direction. There was a grunt, followed by a loud thumping sound and a yelp of surprise and pain. A moment later, a red-armored body came tumbling across the floor, rattling across the floor in front of Ellie's cell. From her neighboring cells, Ellie saw Nat rush to the door to find out what was going on; Kerry tried to get to her feet as well, but Ellie quickly urged the bowgunner to stay where she was for the moment, though her friend clearly didn't like the idea of holding still.

The guard that had been sent to the ground groaned in pain where he lay, but didn't try to get back to his feet. A deep, amused chuckling rolled through the air from the other direction. "Not a bad fight," a low, familiar voice said cheerily. "You're a little too young and too scrawny to take me on though. Maybe if you were a little quicker that would help, but right now you're just too weak."

From the dim light of the hallway, Filcher appeared before them, grinning eagerly and looking directly at Ellie as she stared through the bars of her cell. The massive man wore no armor at the moment, wearing instead loose civilian clothing, and bore no weapon either. It was an odd look on the man; he seemed built for hunting and battle, and seeing him wandering around without any of the standards of his profession made the massive man seem... out of place.

On a thought, Ellie glanced down at the wounded guard, and realized that the man wore a sword at his belt, and that it was half unsheathed, though whether that was from an attempt to bring it out or just from the force of him being thrown down the hall, Ellie couldn't tell. Filcher had gone up against an armed man, and tossed him aside with hardly any effort at all. What kind of man did that so fearlessly, and even came out victorious in the end? Then the man turned to look directly at Ellie.

Filcher looked viciously through the bars at Ellie, eyeing her piercingly and rubbing his beard in thought. The huntress shivered from the look; it reminded her of how Marshall had first looked at her when they'd first met, judging her inside and out. But his look was more predatory, as if sizing up his next meal. Ellie didn't find it hard to believe anymore that he had once been Marshall's hunting partner; the pair seemed so very similar, now that Ellie looked closely. Then he grinned at her.

"I think it's story time, little girl," the hammer user said with a vicious grin. "I want you to tell me a story, and if it's not good enough… well, I'm not a pleasant man to disappoint, I'll tell you that much."

Ellie felt a twinge of fear. If the man was any at all a match in strength to Marshall, she doubted that he was bluffing at all, and that anything the man could do to her was just as bad as anything that Moloch had promised to them when he'd brought them to his office. But after their victory over that Uragaan and its bomb-flinging, Ellie was feeling particularly defiant towards her captors and glowered at the man. "Go ask someone else," she growled. "I'm not here for your amusement."

A dark, angry look came over the man's expression, and he glared at her with almost painful intensity. Ellie almost withered under the look, but managed to maintain resolute, keeping a stern, unbending expression on her face. The man continued to glare at her, and Ellie could feel her determination fading, but then the man grinned in amusement and laughed.

"Ha! Quite the guts you've got, little girl! Though I would expect nothing less from a huntress that old bastard would choose to take as an apprentice. You're still a veritable disappointment, but not as much of one as I'd been worried about. You're not a bad fighter, I've seen that myself, but standing up to monsters is different than standing up to a man like me."

Ellie frowned. "So… what exactly do you want with me?"

"I already told you little girl," Filcher smirked. "I want to hear a story! And I'm not leaving until you tell it."

Ellie tensed and glared at the man. "I already told you, I'm not going to-"

"Oh, yes you are!" Filcher laughed. "One way or another, I'll get the story from you. You see, I'm not here for just any story, but a very specific one, and it's one I can only get from you. You see, word around Malefica is that one of your friends over in the men's cells made a rather interesting statement not too long ago. Rumor has it that you and your friends had a run-in with a very interesting monster recently: a silver Rathalos, to be precise."

Ellie felt a shiver go up her spine. Levin or Harker had mentioned the silver Rathalos? Why? What good would that have done for them? She tried to keep her face blank, but the hammer user must have seen something change in her expression, because he grinned excitedly.

"I thought there might be some truth in that. Nobody makes a claim like that unless they're a great fool or actually managed to do it. And Marshall wouldn't have picked up liars for apprentices, I know that much. Now let's hear the story, little girl."

"Why should I tell you it?" Ellie snapped. "I don't see anything in it for me."

"Well, if you impress me, I might make things easier for you while you're here," Filcher replied with a smirk. "You and the rest of your friends here. After all, I'm a man who appreciates strength and skill in men and women alike, and people that prove to have them easily find themselves in my good graces."

"No thanks," Ellie growled. "I don't want to owe you anything."

"Ha, quite the stubborn one, aren't you? Lucky I happen to like that in a huntress as well. How about just telling a good story to an interested party, then? I've yet to meet a hunter that doesn't like to brag about their best hunts. And like I said, I'm not leaving until I hear about your story." Ellie continued to glare at him, and refused to speak at all. The hammer user continued to smirk though, and a dangerous look came over his face. "Or… if you waste too much of my time, I could resort to threats. Do you think your friend here could stand long in a one-on-one with me in the arena, especially after that nasty little bout with that pair of Diablos? Or what about one of those two men you were traveling with? Do you think they're good enough to provide me a decent challenge?"

"I think you're underestimating us," Kerry growled, though there was a tone of worry in her voice. Filcher laughed.

"Ah, yes, the girl with the 'curse,' or whatever those wimpy guards keep blathering on about. I wonder if that curse is enough to deal with me. Perhaps we should find out in the arena. What say you, little girl? Should I duel your friend in the arena, or would you rather tell me a quick tale about one of your hunts, eh?"

Ellie growled angrily, gritting her teeth in rage at the man. Then Nat spoke up from the other room, a steely tone in her voice. "Just tell the story, Ellie," she said. "Trust me when I say that men like this working in Malefica usually mean what they say, and from what I've seen here, a story's not much of a price to pay." Ellie grimaced, and grumbled in frustration. "If it makes you feel any better, you can pretend you're telling me the story again instead of him."

"Ha! That's the spirit!" Filcher laughed. "Always nice to see a huntress with a good head on her shoulders. I must tell you, little miss bowgunner, I find it a shame I never got to fight you one-on-one in the arena before your little 'accident' last week. You got quite fierce since Lilith and I got hold of you outside Orage."

Nat scowled viciously through the bars, and Kim growled menacingly at the massive hunter. Filcher didn't seem to care though, as he turned back to Ellie. "I'll admit I'll be a bit disappointed if you tell it: I was hoping for an excuse to see what kind of fight the Lost really have… now that you're not a bunch of Ludroth-hunting rookies anymore, that is."

Ellie glowered at the large hammer user as the man smirked victoriously at her. She was going to have to tell the man the story, one way or another, and they both knew it. So she began, slowly at first, telling it from the start, when they'd arrived in Nastre.

She hoped to be able to trick the man somehow, making the story more... boring than it was supposed to be or something, so that he'd lose interest in her or walk away or something along those lines. But despite her abhorrence at having to regale the man with her tale, she really couldn't bring herself to dumb down the story. After all, if she did so, that would degrade the skill of her friends that had fought with her, and though she knew that Levin wouldn't mind having his abilities spoken down by her, she really didn't want Kerry, Harker, or Tenebris to be displayed as unskilled or just lucky. They'd helped to take the Silver Rathalos down, after all, and she couldn't just write them off.

So she told the story to the best of her abilities, trying not to exaggerate too much. Luckily she had Kerry with her to help fill in the gaps in her story; after all, she'd been a bit overwhelmed with emotion when she'd fought against the Silver Los to remember every little detail. Filcher turned out to be a surprisingly good listener. The hammer user never gasped in surprise or cheered or responded to the story in any other way that most audiences did when a hunter was telling a story, but neither did he interrupt her or ask questions when Ellie said something out of place or slipped up in her telling. He simply sat there, absorbing the story and staring intently at her as she told her tale. Ellie supposed that a man of his age had heard enough stories in his life to not be surprised by much, and had enough experience of his own to piece together the gaps in her story that she'd forgotten to fill.

Finally though, her tale came to an end, with the five hunters finding the corpse of the Rathalos impaled on the wooden wall that had surrounded Nastre. Filcher continued to stare expectantly at her, and Ellie shivered in fear. Had she... disappointed him, or was her story not good enough to impress him? She remembered his threats from earlier, and she immediately began to grow fearful for her friends.

But a moment later, the large man laughed. "Ah, not bad, little girl, not bad at all! Quite the story. I wish I'd had the chance to fight the creature myself! There are so few truly interesting monsters in the country these days. Shame you got to the beast before I could. I was hoping your story would be a little more interesting too, but I suppose I shouldn't expect too much from a young little thing like you." Then he stroked his beard and looked at her thoughtfully. "But... you are a fair bit tougher than I thought you'd be, little girl. More so than a few of the men and women that follow me, comparatively. Perhaps you'll reconsider your previous decision and choose to come work under me?"

Ellie gave him a sour look, and Filcher shrugged. "Ah, well, I thought I'd try. I suppose not every hunter shares the enthusiasm I have for hunting."

"Not everyone gets off on hunting and killing other hunters either," Kim snapped spitefully. But Filcher shrugged without care.

"We all find fun our own way, girl," the man said. "While I do find some of the people that Moloch brings in distasteful, or some of the 'hobbies' he promotes disdainful, I can't help but enjoy the thrill he's offered me with his so-called 'Coliseum.' I don't care what title he gives that arena of his, I find the challenge of it all quite incomparable, and that's all I need to stay."

"What kind of man lets himself sink into the depravity of this place just for a challenging fight?" Kim growled.

Filcher laughed at the question. "Surely you can see what kind of man I am, little girl. I am a man who wants nothing more than a challenging fight, and this place… this is like a haven for me. I've spent my entire life as a hunter, and have fought countless creatures during my time. So much so, that the game has become boring and tedious. It came to the point where I was desperate for something, anything, new and challenging. So many hunters, both those that are captives and those that volunteered to work here, are terrified of what could happen to them due to those traps and dangers that Moloch has filled the arena with. But me? I revel in it. Killing monsters in the wild is one thing, but battling them in a place where the earth, the walls, and ceiling can kill you just as easily as the monster itself? And doing the same thing, while fighting another hunter is another challenge in and of itself. There's nothing in this world like it, and I can't get enough."

Ellie gaped at the man. Was he mad? "Do you not even care that you could die? This place is so… unforgiving! In the wilds, you can… you can just run away when things get rough, but here…"

Filcher grinned. "Ha! This pathetic little place isn't enough to kill me, little girl. I've spent decades fighting beasts so powerful that it would make your toes curl just to hear about them. I had high hopes for this Coliseum when I first joined Moloch's merry band of criminals, but honestly, despite a couple decent fights, for me it's been a great disappointment. It's a challenge, for sure, but I had been hoping for so much more. Honestly, I've been asking Moloch for more difficult battles when he makes me fight out there in the arena, but… ha! I suspect he fears that he'll run out of monsters before I'm satisfied!"

"That can't be all," Kerry said with certainty. Filcher looked at her curiously. "There must be something else. People don't make the choices you've made just for the sake of a challenging battle. There's something else driving your action, I'm sure of it."

"You sound very certain," Filcher replied, amusement in his voice.

"Just ignore him," Ellie sighed, shaking her head. The hammer user looked at her as she turned around to head over to her cot. "It doesn't matter what sort of reasons a guy like him has for doing what he does. He's just an overstuffed thug who gets his jollies from beating up hunters who can't make any other choice but to fight back. He's like the rest of the people Moloch hired, another brute that wants to have control over people and can only do it in a place like this."

"You really want to know why I'm doing all of this?" Filcher asked, and Ellie froze as she was walking away. The man's voice had taken a very serious tone all of a sudden. "You want to know why I'm here, doing what I'm doing? It's because it's my… destiny. It is what I'm fated to do."

Kerry scoffed from her cell, and the hammer user's eyes turned towards her in amusement. "That's a bunch of crap!" she snapped. "No one does the kind of things you've done and says it's their destiny! You're just trying to make yourself look better than you are by trying to add a silver lining to all the crimes you've committed! Destiny… fate wouldn't condone something as cruel as you!"

"Oh really?" Filcher chuckled. "You're one to talk, being a 'cursed' woman. Pugnax told me about you, you know. Said you're quite the superstitious type. Also said you had quite the respect for the Veggie Elder as well, though what that old codger told you didn't exactly appeal to you."

"What are you getting at?" Kerry replied coldly.

"Only this: you say that I'm lying about my fate, but I know for certain that what I said is true. You see, it was the Veggie Elder himself that pronounced my fate to me. It was him and told me my destiny!"

"No!" Kerry gasped, and Filcher laughed.

"Yes! He told me that it was my destiny to face the greatest, most dangerous challenge that a hunter has ever known! What a fate! What providence! You ask why I am here in this arena, working under Moloch? Where else would I be able to find the challenge I seek, the danger I desire? It is my fate to be here, facing the most perilous battles that the world has to offer! And I revel in it! I look forward to the day that Moloch finally gives me what I seek, the greatest challenge that the world has ever seen!"

"You're wrong," Ellie said quietly. Filcher rolled his eyes and looked back at her.

"So you say girl, but the Veggie Elder is a noted prophet. He has foreseen my fate, and I look forward to meeting my destiny. You Lost are quite the collection of skeptics, I've heard, but one day you'll see the truth in my words. One day, Moloch will give me my great fight and I will-"

"The Veggie Elder isn't always right," Ellie snapped, cutting the man off. Filcher glowered at her, and opened his mouth to argue, but the huntress continued before he could. "If the Veggie Elder was always right, then I'd be dead right now." That gave the hammer user pause, and he looked at her skeptically. "Maybe you think I'm lying? We met the Veggie Elder near the Flooded Forest hunting grounds. He told me, he guaranteed me, that Levin would leave me to die, that he would walk away and let me meet my end. He told me that it was certain. But Levin came back to save me! He didn't let me die! That damn old bastard was wrong!"

"No… no, you're wrong!" Ellie flinched back as Filcher suddenly roared at her in fury. "You're lying, you little bitch!"

Ellie scowled at the man. "I don't care if you believe me or not. I told the truth, but if you don't think I am, you can go off and find the old bastard yourself, if you think you can find him. But the damn creature lies, and it isn't always right."

"No. No! Dammit, you're lying to me!" Filcher roared, smashing his fist against the cell door. Ellie flinched back in fear as the force of his blow shook the hinges and rattled the walls, even despite the strength of the Meridian stone. "I was promised a battle! I was promised unparalleled glory! You… you aren't going to take this away from me! I am going to find my fight, and until then, I refuse to die! This is my fate, and I won't let you take it from me!"

Once more the hunter smashed his fist against the door of the cell, and this time Ellie could swear she heard the metal in the door hinges begin to creak from the strain. Filcher let off one more guttural roar before turning from the door and stalking away from the cells in a fury. Ellie could hear the man ranting and raging for a long time before silence filled the cells once more.

"He's a very disagreeable sort of man, isn't he?" Kerry said quietly.

"Indeed…" Nat said quietly. "I think you may have shaken his confidence just a bit, Ellie."

"Good," Ellie sighed in reply, sitting on her cot wearily. "There are too many inflated egos in this place as it is already."

"What's all this about the Veggie Elder?" Kim asked curiously. "I don't remember you mentioning that earlier."

Ellie groaned in frustration. "I didn't want to mention it," she admitted. "It's not something I like to think about."

"Would you mind telling us about it?" Nat asked. "There were a few strange stories about that weird old thing back in Orage. I've always wondered about what sort of things people thought about him."

Ellie sighed in dismay. "Fine, I'll tell you. I'm warning you though, thinking about that little bastard really kills my mood, so-"

"Dead men walking!"

The sound of a multitude of boots sounded from down the block, following a booming voice of one of the guards, and Ellie tensed. That many guards coming through the halls meant only one thing in Malefica: it was time for some hunters to be selected for a fight in the Coliseum. There were some quick steps as some of the guards that had recently entered hurried to the side of the guard that lay unconscious in front of Ellie's cell. Some of the red-armored men began to shoot dangerous looks at the women in the cells, specifically Nat and Kim, but the unconscious guard slowly sputtered to life, and thankfully mentioned Filcher's name. The guards seemed more irritated than anything else at the news, showing that the large man had made a common occurrence of things like this.

After that it was down to the methodical pick-and-choose. The guards went through the block, picking out huntresses that had been picked for battle in the Coliseum. Those that had been specifically requested by a benefactor were plucked up first, and after that, a fair mix of the difficulty tiers were picked out. Several of the guards looked long and hard into Kerry's cell, wondering if they could throw her into the arena despite her injuries. But none of the patrons liked boring fights, and sending a hunter into the Coliseum to get rolled over was nothing if not boring to watch. So they skipped over her, pulling Ellie out of her cell and shoving her along the hallway with the rest.

* * *

Levin ached. He ached in places he didn't even know he could ache. The end of the week had rolled around, and another large collection of wealthy merchants and nobles had popped up in Malefica demanding a show in the Coliseum, and Moloch had been more than willing to abide them. As such, many of the hunters, both the captives and the captors, had been brought out to provide entertainment for the paying men and women who had come to gamble and play here in Malefica.

Of course, with both Moloch and Pugnax having a sour disposition to Levin at the moment, it really came as no surprise that the hunter had been chosen to go out and fight something in the arena. Levin had thought that the lancer would try and push him up through the ranks to the third tier of battles, but apparently Moloch took the whole 'popularity' rankings seriously, and since none of the merchants knew who he was, he was still a second tier, which was something. At least he had a partner to help him out in the arena, some male hammer user from another cell block that Levin had never met before, though the man had about as much arena experience as Levin did: very, very little. Somehow they managed to survive the fight; a battle against an exceptionally brutal Barroth. Thankfully, whoever had been pulling the levers for the traps up in the control room didn't seem to have any idea what they were doing, because the only traps that were sprung during the fight were some rather vicious-looking spikes that sprouted from the walls, easily avoidable by simply staying away from them. The four pillars that sprouted up from the floor of the arena actually ended up proving to be very helpful, since the furious Barroth ended up smashing its crown to pieces on the far more solid stone. The hammer user ended up being fairly badly wounded in the battle after getting sideswiped by the massive creature; Levin had asked about him, hoping for some word, but there hadn't been anything positive yet.

Levin had received polite applause upon managing to survive the brute wyvern fight, but it hadn't exactly been something he cared for. He'd received from odd, speculative looks from several of the audience members, however, as well as a few less-than-comfortable looks from some of the female noblewomen. Levin's recalled that Moloch had mentioned selling certain appealing hunters into slavery to those that could afford them, and Levin had gotten a little worried that some of the merchant women would put forward offers. But then, he doubted that Moloch would give him away so easily, and so quickly.

So now he was back in his cell, slowly recovering from the fight. The Barroth had managed to strike his side with its small clubbed tail during its death throes, and though the wound had been seen to, he hadn't exactly gotten enough potions to numb the pain as much as he would've liked. The doctors of Malefica were skilled, but they simply didn't really care about their patients as much as they could have. They seemed to only be doing enough to make sure the hunters were able to fight again, and not much more. But then, they also had to care for every single hunter that went through the arena and managed to survive the fight. Still, the hunters that had actually agreed to work with Moloch rather than remaining captives definitely received preferential treatment a majority of the time, which meant there was far less time for Levin and the other captives.

Harker and Richard had fought their own battles as well. The long sword user had been put up against a Barioth that they had managed to bring in. The creature was old and worn out though, and Harker was at a great advantage in the Coliseum, since there wasn't any ice around to give the Barioth supremacy in the fight. It was still fairly fast, but its claws couldn't firmly grip the stone floor and sand on the Coliseum floor properly. Harker told Levin that the Barioth had spent so much time recovering from its leaps and lunges, trying to right itself, that the long sword user had plenty of time to break its claws to improve his odds. After that the fight had become almost laughable, and the beast had fallen not long after. The audience had still been impressed, though, and Harker also claimed that he had received some uncomfortable interest from some of the merchants that had been in the stands, and the long sword user seemed surprisingly baffled by the attention he was getting. Richard was still out doing his own arena battle at the moment. Levin hoped the man was alright; Richard had managed to gain enough popularity from the audience to push him up to the second tier a couple weeks ago, and if what some of the guards had been saying was true, he'd be third tier before the week was out.

Levin rubbed his face fitfully, as a wave of fear and dread set into his soul. It had been… two weeks now since he had last seen Ellie. He missed her terribly, but more than anything else, he was horribly worried for her. Except for a few stories about her managing to survive in the arena, he hadn't been able to get any information on how she was faring over in the women's cell block. He'd picked up a few horror stories from some of the other guards that were chatting with each other during their shifts, and none of them were very comforting at all. Ellie was alive and surviving in the Coliseum, but other than that, Levin really had nothing to go on. Being alive was good, but there were so many terrible things that could be done to someone while they were alive, and the terrifying possibilities ate at Levin's heart constantly, never giving him any rest and filling his thoughts with fear.

To be honest, the fear in itself was enough that Levin was tempted to actually accept Moloch's offer to work with him. He didn't know if the old man would accept Levin's request, especially after the show he'd made of refusing when he'd first arrived, but if that meant that he'd be able to move around freely and make sure Ellie was alright…

"Dead men walking!"

Levin grimaced at the words, as numerous footsteps sounded from down the cell block. During one of his talks with Harker and Richard in the cells one day, the switch axe user had referred to the captive hunters as such in passing, and the guard outside his cell had turned out to like the phrase. Apparently a fair number of guards found the phrase very accurate, and equally amusing (at least to them). Since then, the phrase had caught on, and whenever the guards came around to pick hunters for the arena, they called out the same damn saying when they came in, just for fun and to get the hunters riled up. Occasionally they tried to spice it up by changing the phrase to 'the Walking Dead,' or just 'the Dead,' but the meaning was the same in the end, as far as the captives were concerned.

Levin wanted to kick himself for getting the whole thing started. Harker and Richard had both volunteered to do it for him, since they were getting just as frustrated about it as everyone else.

The second round of battles must be coming up soon, and the guards were going around collecting the next 'Dead' that would be sent out to fight. Levin was glad that he'd gotten his own fight out of the way already. After that Barroth, Levin was glad that he had a chance to rest a little bit.

"You two! Get up!" Levin looked up in surprise at the words. One of the guards was glaring at him through the bars of his cell. Levin frowned in confusion, and the man growled angrily. "Did you hear me, stupid? Get up, Dead Man! You're going to be fighting in the arena!"

"What! Why?" Levin snapped, pushing to his feet. He immediately regretted the quick motion, grabbing at his side as a bite of pain snapped through his body. The bandages held though, and the guard snorted in amusement. "I've already fought today!"

"So?" the guard replied. "When were you Dead ever told you only had to fight once a day? Someone let slip that you and that other one there are Lost hunters, a bit of a novelty, especially here, and now the audience is really interested in seeing you both fight again. So the pair of you are going back out there and giving them a show: Moloch's orders. But please, feel free to resist; I've had a bad day, and I could use a chance to vent my frustration."

"Surely the fight could wait until tomorrow?" Harker said through the bars. "We're both still wounded from our battles earlier, and the fight won't be nearly as good as it could be…"

The guard rolled his eyes. "You think I care about that? The boss said to bring you two to the arena, and that's what I'm going to do, wounded or no. You got a problem? Deal with it. You can take it up with whatever monsters Moloch's got you set up to fight. Maybe they'll be willing to show you leniency, but you won't get any from me."

Leaving no room for the pair to argue, Levin and Harker were pulled out of their cells and pushed through the halls of Malefica by the guards at a brisk pace. Levin had the route practically memorized by now. The guards had taken some efforts at first to lead them on different routes to confuse them, but the entirety of Malefica's purpose centered around the Coliseum and the fights within, so it was impossible for them to completely baffle any of the captives, not when their main paths went around or into the arena. The place was still a maze, but not nearly as much of one as it had been when Levin had first arrived.

As they neared the antechamber for the arena, the sound of shouting began to resonate through the halls, even above the dull roar of applause and battle coming from the arena itself. Someone was furious over something, and as Levin got closer, he realized that it was Pugnax's voice he heard, though the words were still dull and hard to make out over the sound of the arena. Levin strained his ears to hear what had infuriated the lancer so much, but he and Harker entered the antechamber before the sound could clear up, and the door slammed shut behind them, cutting off the noise completely.

Levin caught sight of a couple huntresses in the room near the staging area, and for a moment his heart leapt hopefully, but sank again as the pair turned towards him curiously and he realized that he didn't know either of them. He recognized them; he'd seen them around Malefica here and there during work shifts, but he didn't know either of them personally or anything. From one corner of the room, one of the Malefica workers nodded to him, motioning to some nearby benches, where his allotted armor and weapon were laying waiting for him. Levin still had yet to figure out how they always had the right armor and weapon prepared for the right hunter, and how it always fit so well. He wished he had his own armor and weapon, but… apparently the system here kept true enough to the ways of other arenas that they wouldn't just let a hunter go out there in their most familiar outfit.

After getting their armor on, Levin and Harker really had nothing else to do but to sit around and chat quietly as they waited to be shoved into the arena. Whoever was in the arena right now, they seemed to be lasting a while, against what sounded like a Jaggi or Baggi or something like that. Levin had to admit the antechamber was a disconcerting room to be in. It was kept dim, with only minimal light used to see. Unclean blood stains were splattered across the floor, coloring the floor a dark black. Shards of metal, the remains of armor and weapons and other things littered the room as well, brushed against the corners of the room, casual reminders of the danger that could befall any hunter that passed through. All the while, the sounds echoing in from the Coliseum itself could be heard loud and clear, every roar and howl, every clash of steel, and every cry of pain.

There were a few oddities to the room that Levin couldn't figure out, though. Several thin pipes poked out of the walls of the room that neither he nor Harker could determine the use for. It occurred to them that it could be one of the traps that the architect had told them filled the structure, but neither of the hunters could figure out what the pipes would do if activated. Across the room was another mystery, a pair of large hole in the wall that simply dropped down into the bowels of the structure. It was too small for anyone but a child to fit through, so trying to dive through it wasn't really an option without getting stuck, but there was still usually a guard nearby to make sure that nobody tossed anything inside. None of them seemed to know where the hole went either, but they were told not to let anything be dropped down it, and they intended to do as they were told. Levin wondered if the hole was a dumbwaiter or something like it, but Harker figured that it was just an unknown that hadn't been figured out yet, and Moloch didn't want to risk breaking something that he didn't want to.

The Coliseum suddenly went quiet, and Levin could hear the death throes of whatever beast had been released into the arena. There was a smattering of polite applause from the audience, and Levin could tell that it hadn't been a very exciting fight, even if the hunter had managed to come out on top. A sloppy, squishy sound came in from the Coliseum. Levin shivered at the sound; Gigginox were being released into the arena to clean up the 'remains' of the monsters, and possibly the hunters, that had been slain in the fight. Slurping, crunching sounds followed close behind, and even the guards in the room seemed to grow green in the dim light at the sound. A moment later, the door to the arena opened, and a young hunter was shoved through from the Coliseum, a worn and tattered expression on his face and his arm clutching a nasty-looking wound on his arm. With a few gruff orders, the hunter was stripped of his armor and weapon before being escorted out to see a doctor about his injuries.

The guard closest to the door leading to the arena gave an intent look at the pair of huntresses that sat in the room with them. The two looked at each other nervously, fearfully, but didn't argue and didn't fight. They both knew that doing so wouldn't help them out in this situation. The pair stood and made their way over to the door, stepping into the arena to the sound of the announcer's voice and the excited cheers of the crowd, which, Levin had no doubt, was not applause directed at the hunters. The sound of that applause seemed less like encouragement to the hunters that walked through those doors, and more like a funeral dirge.

A couple more hunters were shuffled into the room as the two huntresses out in the arena fought against their opponent, with what sounded like a Rathian, or maybe a Rathalos; Levin couldn't tell. The two that came behind them seemed like… very skilled hunters to say the least. They were several years older than either Levin or Harker, worn but strong, weathered by the numerous years they had no doubt spent out in the wilds, hunting dangerous beasts. They seemed to be very recognizable to the guards in the room, though Levin didn't know who they were, and they seemed to be very familiar with the way things went here, well enough that they were armored up in a quarter the time it took Levin and Harker to put on the unfamiliar armor. Not to mention that they both had an expression in their eyes that Levin could only define as weary resignation. It pained him to see such experienced hunters look like that.

A sudden hissing sound came from the arena, a sound that Levin didn't recognize. He was sure it wasn't a sound that a Rathian couldn't make, not to mention that that the guards around him seemed to grow very uncomfortable as the sound continued to hiss. Several of them looked anxiously at the thin window that let in a stream of light from the brightly lit Coliseum. Levin winced back in shock as a wave of pale purple-tinted haze began to stream through the gaps, pouring over the edge and into the antechamber and pooling together on the floor, sending streamers of fog crawling over the stone tiles.

"What the hell is that?" Levin gasped, scurrying away from the mist as it crawled across the floor towards him. The hunter would have thought that the guards would have barked at him to hold still, but they were backing away from the stuff just as much as he was.

"Poison gas," one of the other hunters in the room replied, a tone of distaste clear in his voice. "It poisons anything that's in the arena if you breathe it in, and its effects get worse over time. It hovers close to the ground at the start, but if you don't finish the fight fast enough..." The man didn't need to finish his sentence for Levin to understand. "There's another mist that they release on occasion as well, some orange and yellow stuff that slowly paralyzes you if you breathe it in."

"Hey, keep to yourselves!" one of the guards snapped, though his voice was dulled as he covered his mouth with a handkerchief.

"Just trying to give these kids fair warning," the hunter replied, looking at Levin and Harker sadly, and the guards nodded sullenly, clearly not liking the pale mist any more than the hunter.

The sound of applause roared through the room, and Levin looked up and the small window looking into the arena just in time to see the purple mist beginning to thin out a little bit, and soon the haze stopped pouring over the edge into the antechamber completely. The other hunter shifted uncomfortably. "That's not the applause they give victors. Not here at least."

Levin nodded painfully at the words. Sure enough, a moment later the announcer's booming voice announced with false sympathy that the huntresses had both met their fate in the arena, thanks mainly to the 'well-timed' injection of poison gas into the arena. The piteous tone in the man's voice only lasted a moment longer before the fake empathy vanished and he began to congratulate the gamblers that had wagered on the deaths of the two huntresses rather than on their success. By the satisfied tone in the stands, Levin was sure that there were very few in the audience that had been in favor of the pair winning.

The next moment though, the gambling was thrown into a loop as the announcer suddenly announced that the monster they'd sent into the arena seemed to be succumbing to the effects of the poison as well, and some of the gamblers hadn't seemed to have wagered on that happening. Levin could hear the death throes of whatever wyvern they'd sent out to fight in the arena. If such a massive creature like that could succumb to the effects of the poison gas, then the huntresses… The hunter shivered at the thought.

Once again the sound of Gigginox being released into the arena could be heard, though the announcer was going on about how the mess would take some time to clean up, considering the size of the dead monster, but the guards working in the Coliseum would remove the rest of the body. This time the slurping, crunching sounds of the Gigginox made Levin begin to tremble in horror. He'd heard the sound before, of course, but he never managed to get used to it.

He was still shaking when the guards looked intently at him and Harker, motioning for the two of them to enter the Coliseum. It took Levin a few moments to gather the strength to do so, and a couple threats from the guards before he got to his feet and headed into the arena. Hopefully, whatever battle Moloch had planned for him and his friend would give him enough to think about without having the sound of the Gigginox eating working through his mind. He winced back as the door to the arena was opened, and a thin wave of lingering purple haze swept into the antechamber. A layer of the stuff still blanketed the floor of the arena. But that didn't stop the guards from shoving Levin and Harker through anyway.

It was always blinding for a moment, stepping out of the dark room and into the shining lights of the arena. The Coliseum was always well-lit, despite being underground, thanks to some massive glowing stone that hovered in the center of the wide dome covering the whole thing. It was similar to the glowing stones that a lot of buildings in Loc Lac used at night, but far larger than anything that Levin had ever seen before. Levin thought that Harker would have shown interest in the thing, but since arriving in Malefica, the long sword user seemed to have grown more uncertain about things that the Meridians had built, and some of the things they'd seen here had actually made the man turn his head to avoid looking at them.

It was a Rathian that the last hunters had fought. The body of the massive beast was sprawled across the floor against one of the four pillars in the arena. Looking at the creature made another wave of disgust and horror fill Levin; the beast looked as though it had been through hell in the last fight. No scale or plate remained unbroken, and the thick leathery wings had been torn all to hell. The huntresses, whoever they were, must have been winning their fight with the creature when the gas was released into the arena. They'd been doing so well, and yet…

Levin's mail boots touched a slick spot on the floor of the arena, and he looked down. Through the thin fog of purple poison, it was hard to tell what he was looking at for a moment. Below him was a dark red stain on the floor, still wet, mixed with a pale white substance; the remains of one of the huntresses, not fully 'cleaned up' by the Gigginox they'd released. Levin flinched back in disgust. He still didn't understand how they could bring themselves to do that. Couldn't they at least give some dignity to the dead?

The crowd seemed excited up in their seats as Levin and Harker entered the arena, far more so than Levin had seen them act before. "Yes, indeed! It's time for a real show!" the announcer boomed to the crowd. "You've all been crying out to see these two out fighting for your amusement, and we have heard your demands! That's right; tonight we'll be seeing how well two Lost hunters can do in a fight! I can assure you all, this is a rare treat! There's only about a dozen Lost hunters in the world right now, and at the moment, we have three of them available for your viewing pleasure!"

There was a moment of cheering in the stands, but it was followed almost immediately by a bit of disappointed murmuring. The announcer caught on quick, though. "Ah! Well, you may be wondering why number three isn't here. As you may recall, the Lost hunter Eleanor put on quite a show earlier today against a Rathian, but she's a little under the weather from poisoning and other injuries at the moment, and we'd hate to let her put on a disappointing show for you all! But don't worry, she'll be open for a show tomorrow, we guarantee it! Though, our two Lost boys here might not be so lucky!"

Levin had felt a shiver of fear go up his spine, and his eyes widened in horror at the words. Ellie had been thrown up against a Rathian, and been injured in the process? For a moment, the switch axe user began to hyperventilate in terror and worry, but Harker quickly put a hand on Levin's shoulder and shook his head. "It's not as bad as they're saying," he said quietly. "I heard the guards talking about it before you came back from your arena fight. Miss Eleanor did fight against a Rathian, but there were two other huntresses with her, and they managed to beat it fairly efficiently. Miss Eleanor was injured, but not to the degree that the announcer is letting on. Likely Moloch just doesn't want all his eggs in one basket… so to speak."

"Then why is he putting two-thirds of them in?" Levin muttered.

"Perhaps we're just quite the showstoppers," Harker replied wryly. "Or more likely… we're the ones he wants rid of first."

"Now I know that you all want a very unique fight to see what these two boys can really do, to see whether or not the rumors about the Lost are all true," the announcer said, pulling shouts of agreement from the crowd. "And I'm sure you've already had your fair fill of monster battles today, and are looking forward to watching something a little more... exotic, am I right?"

Levin's blood grew chill as the crowd roared in excitement. He didn't like where this was going. He and Harker shared a worried look as the announcer looked around the room, a satisfied smile on his face. "I thought you might like that, folks. Now, on the one hand, it'd be a waste to lose such rare hunters right off the bat... but then again, we can't exactly go easy on them, can we?"

"I'm not certain I care for where this man's going with this," Harker muttered sourly.

"Now we were tempted to throw these boys up against another Rathian, like the huntresses that fought in the last round to see if they can do better than they did, but… well, that's just not the best way to find out whether or not a Lost is better than one of us, now is it? Fighting a monster is one thing, but here in Malefica, we have a challenge that will really decide who's the better hunter, now don't we?"

Painful certainty filled Levin now, and he looked at Harker fearfully, getting a look of equivalent horror in reply. From the far side of the arena, a pair of massive steel doors slowly creaked open, the groaning and strain of their motion accompanied by the sound of wheels and axles squeaking as the mechanisms controlling them worked them open. The slow splitting of the doors was mostly for show (Levin had seen the doors snap open in an instant before), to give the audience and the hunters themselves a sense of tension and expectation as they waited to see what manner and number of monsters would appear through the darkness beyond. But it wasn't a monster, not in the literal sense, which came through the door, but rather two red-armored hunters, with their weapons already in their hands.

The hunters' expressions were excited, through the slits in their face-plates, and certainly seemed far more prepared for this battle than Levin felt. They both seemed to have a confidence about them as they practically strutted into the arena, waving at the audience with certainty of their victory. It was clear that they'd fought against other hunters in the arena before, and judging by their attitudes they'd obviously come out on top. They didn't stand out that much in Levin's opinion, but then again, the switch axe user didn't imagine that he really gave off much of an impression at first glance himself.

Both of the hunters that he and Harker faced were blade masters, thankfully; Levin wasn't sure he would be able to deal with a bowgunner, since he wasn't very skilled fighting at range. One of the hunters was a sword and shield user, carrying a short blade made from what Levin guessed was Barioth materials. The other was a hammer user, though Levin didn't recognize the weapon he carried. It was a very... shiny weapon, though, made from some smooth and solid monster material that seemed very rock-like in appearance.

"I don't suppose we'll be able to just wound them or incapacitate them, will we?" Levin muttered painfully to Harker as the pair of hunters continued to revel in the cheers of the crowd. He could feel his hands beginning to shake and tightened his fists to try and calm himself. He had been able to keep himself from having to kill anyone so far while he'd been here, even though he'd wanted to on occasion, but it looked as though he wouldn't be able to keep his hands clean anymore. Harker shook his head sadly.

"I fear we might not be able to avoid such a thing anymore, my friend. Even if we managed to simply knock them out or something along those lines, I doubt they'd be allowed to live much longer after losing, considering the lack of compassion the facilitators and audience Malefica seems to gather." The long sword user rolled his shoulders in frustration. "Perhaps we'll get lucky, and the traps that hide in the walls will kill them for us... if you can consider that luck."

"I don't."

"I thought not."

Now the pair of hunters grinned enthusiastically at Levin and Harker, calling out a few taunts from the far side of the arena. It was about what Levin expected it to be, with threats of enjoying watching them die, and drawn out descriptions of how they'd go about killing them. Honestly, it wasn't much different than the threats Levin had heard given and received before barroom brawls back in Loc Lac. But the words still sent a cold feeling down Levin's spine. In Loc Lac the words were often little more than the bluster of men who wanted to try and show off their strength. These two… these men genuinely wanted to kill the two Lost, and would enjoy the act while they did it. There was a desire to show off in their voices, but Levin could tell by their expressions: they were doing this for the fun of it.

"Let's not waste any more time dillydallying, folks!" the announcer boomed. "I hope you've made your bets, ladies and gentlemen, because the fight begins now!"

The second the words left the man's mouth, the two red-armored hunters shot forward across the arena, kicking up a cloud of sand behind them as they bum-rushed Levin and Harker where they stood. The pair barely had time to bring out their weapons to defend themselves as the battle was initiated. Through some unspoken agreement, the red hunters split up, each of them picking their prey and charging towards them, the sword and shield user going after Harker, and the hammer user making a beeline straight to Levin.

The first swing was enough to show Levin that he was terribly outmatched against the man in hunter-on-hunter battles. Levin reeled back as the massive weapon smashed against his axe, sending the hunter skidding backwards across the sandy floor. That hit had been hard enough to rattle his teeth, and the man just kept coming, swinging in slow but methodical swings, smashing Levin further and further back across the arena floor. His motions were cold and calculated, clearly designed to wear Levin down through attrition, and use Levin's poor defense to either break through Levin's resistance in order to smash him apart or to simply strike at him until his weapon broke and he was left unarmed.

Thankfully, Levin was quick on his feet, and upon realizing that his switch axe wouldn't last long taking heavy hits from the hammer, he was at least able to keep out of the man's way. His opponent, like so many other hammer hunters, was made more for durability and strong blows rather than speed and maneuverability, and if Lynn had taught them anything, it was how to keep moving during a fight. The man was way more agile than Levin expected from a man carrying around such an unwieldy weapon in his hands, but Levin still had more mobility than he did.

Harker didn't look like he was faring as well, though. The long sword user was managing to keep the sword and shield hunter away from him by using quick, wide swings and forcing the man to keep his defense ready, but the red hunter was far more agile and fluid in his movements than Harker was capable of being with his long weapon. So with every sweep of Harker's blade, the red hunter was able to push a little closer, slowly gaining ground on him, pressing in to attack inside of Harker's guard.

Levin thought he and Harker were doing pretty well at first, though Harker was having trouble keeping up with the speed that the red hunter could swing the smaller blade. However, it wasn't long before Levin realized that he and his friend were at a great disadvantage, however. No matter how well he and Harker did, neither of them were aggressively trying to harm the other hunters, not in any permanent way, at least. If this fight kept up, even if he and Harker managed to wear the other hunters down… what would happen? He doubted that he and Harker would just be allowed to leave the arena.

The hammer user lunged forward suddenly with a speed that Levin hadn't been expecting. Swinging the massive hammer up from below, the hunter smashed his weapon against the hilt of Levin's switch axe, thankfully missing Levin's hand but successfully knocking the blade upwards and knocking Levin horribly off balance. The hunter barked a laugh, rushing forward again as Levin tried to catch his footing, before swinging his hammer around to smash it into Levin's side. Levin cried out in pain as the massive blunt weapon smashed against him, cracking a couple ribs and sending him toppling to the ground.

The crowd roared their approval and Harker shouted in worry as Levin tumbled to the ground, clutching his side in pain. A sour, putrid smell caught his nose though, and Levin gasped, pushing himself quickly into a sitting position as his vision began to swim and a faint acidic sensation filled his throat and lungs, forcing him to cough fitfully. The poison gas that had been released during the last fight still lingered as a thin haze that blanketed the ground. Levin couldn't afford to take a heavy hit like that again; if his head stayed low to the ground for too long, he might inhale more of the poison, and he'd seen how nasty that stuff could be.

The hammer hunter was flaunting for the crowd nearby, feeling secure in his certainty of victory. A feeling of anger and frustration seeped through Levin at the sight. The switch axe user wasn't sure if it was just his own infuriation or pure blind instinct, but a moment later Levin lashed out at the man, swinging his switch axe around at him. The man spun about, hearing the tip of the blade tearing across the stone floor towards him, but Levin wasn't going for a direct attack, not yet. Rather, he kept his blade low to the ground, swinging it around the man's legs, and catching the hook of his switch axe around his enemy's legs before snapping them out from underneath him.

The red-armored hunter tumbled to the ground with a shout of surprise, and his hammer crashed into the stone floor with a resounding thud. The hammer user cursed viciously at Levin as he pushed himself to his feet, but his shouts were cut off by a fit of coughing as some of the poison slipped into his mouth as he yelled. As he struggled to catch his breath, he also tried to reach for his weapon, but Levin had already leapt back to his feet, and with a swing of his switch axe in a low arc, Levin struck the other man's weapon and sent the smooth hammer skittering across the stone floor of the Coliseum. Though he hadn't intended to do so, to his great pleasure he'd also managed to send the hammer in the direction of the other red-armored hunter that was still attacking Harker. The sword and shield user was caught off guard as the heavy weapon smacked him across the shins, toppling him over onto his knees and giving Harker the opportunity to regain the distance he needed. His opponent growled in anger at Levin, but a snapping motion from Harker's blade forced his attention back to the long sword user, and he stumbled back, trying to keep his shield blocking the quick slashes that Harker was attacking him with.

A muffled cough brought Levin's attention back to the weaponless hammer user, and just in time for Levin to pull out of the way of a heavy-handed punch that the bulky man sent at him. Now Levin found himself in the same position as Harker had before, with his attacker coming at him with a much more close range fighting style, though this time he was fighting a man using only his gloved fists. The red hunter was clearly unwieldy using his hands as weapons, but with the man's proximity and with the size of Levin's weapon, it was hard for Levin to fight back with his switch axe.

So he didn't. Rather than trying to use the blade of his weapon against the man, Levin pressed forward, swinging the hilt of his blade and smacking it against the red-armored man's chest plate, making him gasp a bit. Levin followed up with an enraged growl and a kick to the man's gut, bending the metal slightly and winding his opponent, making him keel over a bit. Levin still wasn't sure where the battle frenzy he was feeling came from, but with a roar of anger, Levin lunged forwards, grabbing the man's helmet and pulling it towards him before directly head-butting the other hunter in the forehead, creating a ringing sound as their armored heads clashed together. The impact sent the hammer user staggering back, shaking his head dizzily, but the blow had effected Levin just as badly, and the hunter's vision swam a bit as his forehead throbbed a little in pain.

With a growl, Levin swung his switch axe at the red hunter, the edge of his weapon smashing into the chest of the other hunter. He felt the crimson armor denting a bit under the blow, and the other hunter groaned in pain as he stumbled backwards. But the man rushed forward again, fury blazing in his eyes. Levin quickly activated the switching lever on his weapon, and the switch axe hissed as the mechanisms inside lurched the weapon into its sword mode. As the hammer user pressed towards him cautiously, Levin swung the blade towards him. The weapon itself missed, but a shock of energy from the weapon cracked to cover the distance, snapping at the hammer user's shoulder with a lance of energy. The hammer user clutched his shoulder with a hiss of pain, pulling back from Levin as his armor steamed from the heat of the energy snap.

Levin's delirium still controlled him as he rushed after the other hunter, swinging his charged weapon at the unarmed man. Blasts of energy burst from the blade as it struck the hammer user. The man was agile enough and skilled enough to keep Levin from hitting any gaps in his armor, but not enough to keep fully out of Levin's range. Blow after blow from the energy-powered sword smashed against the man, denting his armor terribly and sending jolts of energy into the man's arms and wherever else Levin could land a hit. The red hunter was pushed further and further back as Levin pressed his back, striking again and again.

Sparks flew as the sword continued to glance off the red hunter's armor, and the man pulled himself more and more into a defensive stance as Levin continued his onslaught on him. Eventually it got to the point where the man's arms were covering his face to the point where he couldn't even see in front of him. Levin swung low, and the man wasn't even able to flinch as the switch axe struck the man in the shins, toppling him to the ground with a thump. Levin pulled his sword up behind his head, preparing to swing it down onto the downed hunter. But before he could drop the weapon down, the switch axe suddenly hissed wildly, its energy phial having run out and the automatic mechanisms returning the blade back to its axe mode.

The red hunter looked thankful at the relief from the assault, but Levin tensed again, perfectly ready and willing to continue to the attack with the axe instead. The weapon swung over his head, coming down right at the man's head. The red hunter looked up in horror, fear and shock in his eyes. The look struck Levin, and he froze where he stood, his switch axe hovering menacingly over the hammer user's head. Why was the man so afraid? He'd thrown himself into this fight, willing and even excited to try and kill Levin and Harker. Why should he be able to show fear? Why should he be so terrified of being killed, when he was so very willing to kill someone else? The crowd above was groaning in disappointment that he hadn't finished off the hammer user like they'd wanted him to.

Then something clicked back into place in Levin's head, and the frenzy he'd been feeling drained from his thoughts. He couldn't… bring himself to kill this man. Despite the fact that he'd tried to kill him, Levin just couldn't find it in himself to kill someone. He was just as afraid of dying here as Levin was; how could Levin bring himself to make the decision to kill him. But how was he supposed to get away with sparing the man? He didn't think Moloch up in the booth would allow surrendering, and he couldn't knock the man out either; the poison gas lingering on the floor would kill the man just as easily as a blade to the skull…

An exclamation of shock and wonder caught Levin's attention, but in his befuddled state, it took him a moment to turn his attention away from the red hunter in front of him in search of the source of the sound. His gaze led him to Harker. The long sword user was still standing across from the sword and shield user that was his opponent. Levin realized that Harker wasn't moving, though. The long sword user stood rooted where he stood, staring intently down at the ground below him. The madman's eyes were scouring the sand-dusted floor, darting around and looking at the carvings and designs that lined it.

"Harker! What the hell are you doing?!" Levin snapped. Harker looked up at Levin, almost in surprise, before his gaze returned to intently study the floor of the arena.

"Hold... hold on, my friend," he muttered distractedly. "I'm in the middle... I've almost got this figured out. The Meridians... I think I almost understand them. Their goal here, it was to..."

"You shouldn't put your guard down, boyo!" the short sword user snapped excitedly, leaping towards Harker. The long sword user gasped in shock, having gotten so distracted that he'd completely forgotten about their opponents entirely.

Harker pulled away from the red-armored hunter as the man swung at him, trying to keep the blade from connecting, but he was having trouble doing so. The long sword was most effective at a fair distance from whatever opponent you were facing, and the short sword user knew that, and pressed forward, intent on keeping himself close to Harker so the hunter couldn't get any good swings in with his own blade. The madman tried to pull away from his assailant, but the other hunter was adamant on pressing forward, his smaller, quicker blade snapping back and forth and forcing Harker to remain in a perpetual defensive stance, unable to do much more than defend with his much longer blade.

And yet for some reason, Harker was still trying to look down at the floor beneath him. As the long sword user stepped away from his opponent, his eyes darted to some shape on the floor that encircled a nearby column. His attention was focused so much on whatever was drawn there that the red hunter was able to leap forward, getting right up next to him, and making Harker turn in surprise to find the man. With a quick cut, the sword and shield user brought his blade around, cutting into Harker's side with his weapon and sending a bright spray of blood onto the arena.

Levin shouted in horror as Harker stumbled back, dropping his long sword and clutching his side in pain. His opponent laughed wickedly, lunging after him and kicking him in the gut and sending him toppling onto his backside before his back slammed into the column he'd been staring at. The sword and shield user plunged after him as Harker tried to push himself back to his feet, and sent the sword directly between the gaps in Harker's armor and right through his shoulder. A terrible screeching sound filled the arena as the tip of the blade caught against the stone column on the other side, scraping against the edge with a painful noise, and Harker's face went white.

"No! Harker!" Levin howled. He could barely hear his own voice over the roar of approval from the crowd. But the next moment, the sound was dulled, and Levin couldn't hear them anymore. His vision narrowed as rage and anguish and he roared in fury before tearing across the arena towards the sword and shield user. The man grinned sadistically at Levin, before yanking his weapon free from Harker's chest, pulling another spray of blood from the wound. The man snapped the weapon around, slinging the collected blood on the blade to the floor, before charging to meet Levin.

The battle when the pair met was fierce. The red armored hunter was very skilled with his short sword, but Levin was fueled by fury, and even the blows that the man blocked with his shield sent him skidding back across the sand of the arena. Levin's fury pushed him into ignoring attempting any sort of defense at all, however, and when the red hunter's nimble swings managed to get through the gaps in Levin's armor and pierce his flesh, Levin hardly felt the pain, blindly pressing forward and continuing his assault on the man, using the attacks to get close to his somewhat unnerved opponent when he lunged.

The red hunter had been confident in himself when his fight with Levin had begun, thinking that Levin's fury would make him careless. To his credit, it really did, but Levin had far greater stamina than the other man, and his rage fed his attacks, and the short sword user found himself wearing down while Levin's attacks still struck with unrelenting force. More and more the man was pulling away from Levin's blows rather than trying to slide through them to slice at Levin's vulnerable points. And still Levin pressed forward, ignoring his injuries and charging to continue smashing the short sword user.

The man's shield was dented all to hell when Levin changed up his attack style by switching his weapon to its sword mode. Blasts of energy erupted from the weapon with each swing as the short sword user desperately tried to block the attacks, hiding behind his shield as waves of energy crackled over it. Levin continued to attack over and over again, not giving the man a chance to rest. Once, however, Levin over-swung an attack, and the red hunter quickly leapt to the side, and quickly jabbed his weapon at Levin's arm. Levin howled in pain as the sword pierced flesh, thrusting right through his arm and jutting out the other side. The red hunter grinned victoriously, but Levin growled in anger, and the man's eyes widened in shock as Levin ignored the injury, releasing a hand from his weapon and grabbing hold of the man's sword arm and tightening his grip so that the man couldn't pull away. With his impaled arm, he raised his switch axe to smash it down on the red hunter's head.

Before he could strike though, a searing heat blazed through his side, and he gasped in pain. Using the distraction, the short sword user swung his shield arm around, bashing it into Levin's chest and shoving him away, pulling his blade out of his arm as well. Levin winced in pain, clutching his arm as blood poured from the wound, before glancing to see where the heat he'd felt had come from. He dully realized that someone in the control booth had activated a trap in the arena, one he'd seen before; small holes in the columns and walls were spitting out flames from some interior mechanism. One of the jets of flame was firing not a yard behind him, creating a barrier of fire.

A shout of attack sounded from his front as the sword user charged forward, thrusting wildly at Levin's chest. Levin ducked out of the way, though it was tricky; with the flames so close, it was hard to move safely. Though the wound on his arm hurt like hell, he lunged towards his opponent, swinging his weapon at his opponent. The man raised his shield to block, and Levin was shocked when his blade abruptly ricocheted wildly off the man's defense. He realized that his weapon had gotten dulled and worn far faster than he'd been expecting it to, and any attack he tried would likely bounce off the man's thick red armor. The sword user grinned viciously, realizing Levin's disadvantage at the same time. His own blade was still sharp and perfectly capable of cutting into Levin.

But another jet of flame shot out from one of the pillars that sprouted from the floor of the arena, and the red-armored hunter yelped in pain as the flames blazed not a foot behind him, making his armor glow red-hot. Levin, still red-eyed with fury, swept his blade low when the hunter raised his shield to block. His switch axe was still dull from the battle, but it still clanged loudly against the crimson armor on the hunter's calves, and the hunter's legs were pulled swiftly out from underneath him, and he began to topple over. However, before the man could drop to his knees, Levin swung a hand free of his weapon's hilt and grabbed hold of the other hunter's red helmet, and with a quick swing of his arm, sent the man tumbling directly into the path of the fire.

Despite the bright color of the armor, the red suit did not repel the flames as well as Levin's green Rathian suit could have, or even any at all. The man tried to raise his shield to deflect the flames that blazed across his armor, but it was to no avail. The bright flames washed over him, and seeped through the gaps in his plate mail. The next moment he was screaming in horror and pain, even as he flailed out of the jet. The force of the flamethrower inside the column had set aflame all the underclothes beneath the armor that it could touch, and through the screams, the man was frantically trying to pull off his armor to put himself out. But Levin wasn't going to let him even get that far. With a hiss from his blade's interior mechanisms, the hunter's switch axe flipped over to its sword mode, and Levin swung the blade around, sending the edge of the blade piercing into the man's side.

The red-armored short sword user howled in pain, both from the flames that still bit into him and from the blade and dark energy that cut into his side. Deep red blood, darker than his armor, flowed from the wound freely as the man dropped to the ground in agony. But his screams grew dimmer, and his struggles to staunch the flames and his blood flow grew less frantic, and momentarily there was little the man was doing but lying on the ground and wheezing short, painful breaths.

"You bastard! You son of a bitch!" Levin turned as hammer user he'd been fighting roared, lunging towards him. The man had recovered his polished weapon, and was furiously attacking him with it. The switch axe user ducked out of the way as the massive metal slab swung over his head, nearly taking it off at the shoulders.

The hunter pulled the hammer around, intent on swinging his weapon down on Levin's head, and Levin knew he wouldn't have time to swing his blade around before he did. He kicked out his foot, smashing his boot against the man's gut, sending him back far enough that when the hammer dropped, it smashed to the ground in front of Levin rather than through his skull. Levin leapt forwards at the man, swinging his dull weapon around and smashing it into the man's shoulder, though the worn weapon glanced off the armor. It still pulled a cry of pain from the man, and he swung a fist out, punching the side of Levin's helmet and knocking the switch axe user back a step, far enough for him to pull up his hammer and swing it around to strike at Levin again.

The hammer swung inches from Levin's chest, coming so close that the smooth weapon slid across the switch axe user's plate mail, sending a piercing screeching sound across the arena as the metal weapon rubbed harshly against the armor. Levin pulled his weapon upward, swinging the tip of the weapon forward into a thrust; his weapon smashed into the hammer user's chest, making him stagger back against one of the pillars. The red-armored hunter grunted in pain as his back slammed against the column. Levin roared in fury, charging towards the man as he was pinned against the pillar, dragging his switch axe behind him as he rushed the man, the tip of the blade kicking up sparks as it skittered across the stone floor. In his enraged state, the switch axe user took a very primal pleasure from the look of surprised fear that appeared on his opponent's face. The man swung his hammer back around, trying desperately to take off Levin's head as the hunter charged him wildly.

But Levin wasn't so out of it that he wasn't able to deal with imminent threats. He slid to a halt, just barely out of range of the hammer user's swing. He could feel the gust of wind as the massive blunt weapon swept a couple inches in front of his faceplate. Levin grunted in effort as he swung his weapon up from the ground, aiming the blade at the man's jaw. The hammer user was quick though, and managed to pull his own weapon back around in an attempt to block the blow. A resounding clang filled the arena as Levin's switch axe collided with the red-armored man's hammer, and the other man's weapon tumbled out of his grip, dropping to the floor with a loud thud.

The man attempted to recover his weapon, but Levin wasn't done yet as he pulled his weapon up and around, sending it downwards at a slant and smashing the axe into the man's shoulder, pulling a cry of pain from the red-armored man. Levin's rage continued to seethe through him though, and he used the momentum of his attack to swing his weapon around to strike at the man's other side, slamming the weapon into the other hunter's elbow, breaking the arm.

Fury continued to seethe through Levin, and he continued to attack the man ruthlessly, using the inertia of his swings to lead into his next attack. Over and over he continued to brutally assault the red-armored man, the switch axe clanging and crashing against the thick red armor as Levin continued to swing his weapon at the man. Over and over he assaulted the man, seething in anger and hatred and venting his frustration at Harker's wounding on the man. He'd had enough! He was sick and tired of all these bastards in Malefica getting the better of him and staying in control of him! If they thought they could just tear him down bit by bit or kill him outright in the arena, they had another thing coming!

He would kill anyone that tried to hurt the people he cared about!

Levin's switch axe suddenly slipped from his grip, sliding out his hand and clattering across the arena floor. Levin cursed in anger, wondering why his clutch had loosened. He wasn't done attacking this Malefica hunter yet! He'd keep attacking until his weapon broke! But as he looked down at his hands, he realized that his palms were shaking and worn, and now that he thought about it there was a painful soreness and ache coming from them, as well as from the rest of the muscles in his torso. He found that he couldn't very well close his hands. He frowned in frustration; why was he so weak? He hadn't been fighting that long had he? But his hands were worn and pained, and he felt so tired. Then he remembered the hammer user, and his arms went up defensively, to protect himself before the man could counterattack. But when he looked down at the man, it took him a moment to register what he saw.

Had Levin seen what remained of the man at another time, he might have thought that the man had lost a battle with a Diablos or something else so large and fearsome. The visible flesh that wasn't covered in blood was blackened and bruised. The man's arms were shattered and twisted at nightmarish angles, and most of his armor was dented in and crushed to the point where it was likely impossible to be removed. A large, bright pool of blood was collecting below the man, mixing together with the sand on the stone floor as well as with the other bodily fluids that were escaping from the man's countless wounds. Levin couldn't see the man's face, but the helmet was just as dented as the rest of the armor, if not more so, and strange, unfamiliar fluids were mixing with the blood that dripped from the man's head down onto his chest plate.

Levin stepped back in shock at the sight in front of him. Had he done that? Had he actually been the one that had so… brutally killed this man? Then he remembered the other hunter, the short sword user and looked over to the man. The body lay where it had fallen, black and charred. Some flames were still sliding up through the cracks in his armor in a few places. The armor was just as dark from ash and soot as what remained of the body, and small sections still glowed brightly from the heat of the flames that had burned him. This time Levin could see the man's face, all cracked and cooked from the flames that had consumed him. One of his eye sockets was completely empty, the fire having eaten away the entire eye, but the other had somehow survived the heat entirely, and it stared lifelessly into nothingness. To Levin, it seemed like it was staring straight at him, accusing him.

Levin's hands began to shake when he realized what he had done to the men. His enraged strength disappeared, and his legs gave out from underneath him, sending him dropping to his knees in horror at what he'd done. The sound of rapturous applause filled the arena, Levin realized, as his head began to clear. Bloodthirsty calls from the crowd screamed and howled in joy at the show that he'd given them. Several of the audience members seemed amused at Levin's surge of shock at what he'd done, and the announcer was even poking fun at him, saying it was disappointing to see him like this, after the show of strength and ruthlessness he'd given earlier. Levin was barely paying attention, and his eyes remained on the bloody remains of the hunters he'd killed. He barely even noticed when the guards roughly grabbed him and dragged him back to the antechamber. The last thing he saw before the door of the prep room closed was the monster gates opening, and a Gigginox emerging from the darkness beyond.

Come to clean up the mess.

* * *

Levin stumbled and fell as the guard shoved him roughly back into his cell. He smacked his shoulder as he struck the ground, and pain lanced through his body. But the hunter couldn't bring himself to stand up again, or even grasp at the injury as he lay on the ground. The image of the brutally crushed man and the burned corpse stood out too strongly in his mind at the moment, and the horror at what he'd done still overwhelmed him.

The cell next to his clanged open as well, and Levin heard the guards dragging Harker into his own cell, before placing him on his cot and leaving. The long sword user gasped painfully and groaned from his wounds. For a moment, Levin wasn't sure he could manage to get to his feet, but his worry for his friend overwhelmed his self-loathing at what he'd done, and he pushed himself up, weaving over to the window to his friend's cell.

Harker looked worse for the wear, but his injury wasn't as bad as Levin had thought it was. The blade that had gone through the hunter's shoulder had gone through cleanly, and it seemed to be patched up well. The wound on Harker's waist was worse off, but it looked as though their popularity as Lost had made them valuable, and so he had received better treatment than normal. But compounded with the poison that had seeped into his lungs and into his wounds thanks to the lingering poison gas, the long sword user looked as though he was on his deathbed. The man's skin was pale, making his numerous other scars stand out brightly against it. His face had a sickly green tint to it, and his breathing came in gasps. The blood marks on the gauze had a faint diseased tint to it as Harker's body fought against the poison in his veins.

Levin tried calling out to his friend, but the long sword user was still unconscious, and didn't respond to any of his calls. The hunter's sleeping was restless and ragged. Though Levin was worried, he knew that the madman needed to get his rest. He just wished that Harker was say something, anything to soothe the sense of dread that was coursing through Levin at the moment. Would his friend live? Die? End up crippled like Nat had been? He still had all his limbs, but there were other ways to end a hunter's career than losing a limb…

"Are you alright over there?" Levin perked up at the sound of Richard's voice from the adjoining cell. He'd almost forgotten about the man; the other hunter had clearly managed to survive his own bout in the arena as well. "I thought you two would have been back before me. Did something happen? I've asked the guards about you, but they were being particularly tight-lipped about it."

"They sent us out to fight again," Levin replied. Richard muttered in surprise, but he must have caught the tone in the switch axe user's voice, because he waited patiently for Levin to continue. "I guess one of the guards must have let slip that we were members of the Lost, because some of the patrons up there started asking to see us fight in particular. Moloch must have wanted to make sure that they got the best show he could, so… he moved me and Harker straight to the third tier."

"He did _what_? Then you… he made the two of you…" Richard's tone began to grow sick.

Levin turned and sunk to the floor, leaning miserably against the wall of the cell. "Yeah, he did. Harker didn't, he was… Harker was wounded in the fight and I had to… If I hadn't, they…" Levin's hands began to shake again, and the hunter balled them into tight fists, trying to get the feeling in his gut to go away. The captive hunters sat in silence for a long time before speaking again.

"It hurts, doesn't it," Richard asked solemnly, "taking a life?"

"I didn't… I didn't want to do it," Levin gasped. "I just… I got so angry. I thought they'd killed Harker, and they were going to come for me next and… I just lost control. I threw… I threw one of them right into the path of some flames, and the other… the other I…"

"You don't need to say it if you don't want to," Richard told him. "If it's too hard, I can wait to hear the details for later. It's not as if I can't hear the story from the guards. But… it's a challenge, dealing with having killed someone. It's a hard choice to make, whether or not to kill another person or not. It's a choice that shouldn't have to be made by… hardly anyone, if life were kind. But it seems Moloch has taken that decision out of the hands of many people, bringing them to this place, and forcing unfit people to bear the burden of taking someone's life."

"You've had to kill people before?" Levin asked quietly.

"Yes… not often, but a few times. The Guild has me track down poachers and, well, sometimes they don't come quietly. Now and then, they're determined not to come at all, even at the cost of their own lives. I'd rather let them run and catch them at a later date, but… when they decide that the only way out is to kill you, it doesn't really give you that much flexibility."

"How do you deal with the guilt?"

Levin heard Richard shift uncomfortably. "It's… different for everyone, I think. There isn't a set method, I don't think. Thinking that you did it because if you hadn't he would have killed you isn't very consoling. Telling yourself that you had to do it might help, but… I never found any comfort in that; It seems too escapist and unrealistic. Knowing that you were forced into killing someone, that you didn't have a choice considering the circumstances, doesn't assuage the guilt of the situation, nor does it lessen the weight of it and the abhorrence for it. I managed to comfort myself in the knowledge that if I hadn't done what I needed to do, the poachers might have irreversibly upset the ecosystem or eventually killed other hunters that had the misfortune of running across them during their criminal activities. It wasn't much… and really it still isn't, but it helps keep me going."

Levin didn't reply, and sat in silence on the stone floor of the prison. Richard sighed after a few minutes. "Maybe that's not the best way for you to cope with it, but it's all the advice I've got for you. Just… try not to blame yourself for this. You really were forced into it. If it's anyone's fault you had to do this, it's Moloch's… but like I said, that doesn't really give comfort, I suppose. Try… try and get some rest. With the way things are now, you'll probably need it from here on in. We'll talk again tomorrow, and see if there isn't something you can do to keep your mind off of it…"

It was still a couple hours before Levin could bring himself to move from his spot. All he could do try to keep his hands from shaking, and listen fearfully to Harker's shaky breathing. He was afraid of sleeping; he knew his dreams would be haunted, and not by the Alatreon this time. But he could feel his body growing weary and taut. Richard was right; though Levin was afraid to go to sleep, and he knew that he would have trouble doing so even if he lay down, but he needed to at least try. Likely with his show in the arena, they'd want to see him fight again soon enough. So he slunk over to his cot and lay down on it, though sleep did not come quickly for him.

Levin shivered to himself as he lay on his cot, listening to Harker in the next cell coughing every now and then. His body ached and groaned from the stress of the battle, and his body begged for sleep as weariness washed over him. But he just couldn't close his eyes. Every time he did, all he could see were two bodies, one burnt and blackened, and the other smashed and bloodied, both beyond recognition of their original forms. Their empty eyes stared at him, asking him why he'd killed them, whether it was worth it to end their lives.

Levin stared at his hands, calloused and worn. He knew they were clean, but they felt slick and wet to him, as though covered in blood. He shivered again, putting his hands under him and out of sight. He couldn't bear to look at them. So he continued to lie there, just staring at the ceiling, and trying to fight off sleep. He knew his dreams would be haunted the second he closed his eyes, and he could do nothing to fight it off.

He had managed to survive his fight. He had lived another day in Malefica. But it wasn't a good thing right now. He would find no relief in the thought. Not tonight at least.

* * *

It was snowing in Frost Town, for the first time in over seven years. It wasn't really that much, truth be told, but it was enough that it had people talking, and people had dug out the old sweaters and coats that had been all but forgotten in the back of their wardrobes. It wasn't really so much snow as much as it was small ice shards, like it had been chipped off a glacier with a pick, which made it all that much stranger. Rather than soft frozen flakes of falling water, the 'snow' was more a sort of mix between sleet and hail instead. Thankfully, it wasn't hard enough to prove a danger to the young ones playing in the snow. Children ran excitedly in the streets, screaming and laughing as they played in the thin white layer that coated the roads. Some talked of making a snow man, one of those legendary creations they'd only read about in stories or heard about from the occasional traveler; there wasn't near enough of the stuff on the ground to actually make one of decent size, but that wasn't stopping them from trying. The older townsfolk that had seen snow before were a bit surprised, this was the biggest snow any of them had seen before. Even the oldest of the Wyvernian artisans hadn't seen a snowfall of this kind before, not in Frost Town at least.

A cloaked pair of travelers made their way through the town, looking around at the small forging town now blanketed in a thin layer of white powder. They frowned in confusion at the strange weather as they stepped out of the way of a collection of children running past. It was strange… not twenty miles outside of town the weather had been positively sweltering, to the point where both had been forced to remove their cloaks to avoid heat stroke. But as soon as they'd passed into the shadow of the volcano to the south, the temperature had plummeted sharply, and now it was even snowing! They'd heard tell of the strange weather Frost Town could experience, but they hadn't believed a word of it until now…

Strong clanging sounds resounded through the town even so, the hunter-based commerce of the town continuing on, despite the drop in temperature. As the travelers made their way through the town, hawkers shouting their wares and proclaiming their proficiency with a smith's hammer to any passerby that looked like they could hold a weapon with even the mildest of proficiency. And the two travelers had weapons of their carried at their sides, one bearing a sword and shield, and the other carrying a folded bowgun across their back, so they were certainly not spared from the assault of offers and promises of unparalleled craftsmanship. They pressed on through though, ignoring the vendors and salesmen that pressed and urged them to stop, continuing on to the far side of the city.

Further into the city they came to the more specialized shops. The sound of clanging and banging dropped in this area of town, as the amount of actual smithy work had dropped as well. Most of the shops here were more varied and unique than those in the main market of town, and the artisans tended to put in far more thought into their work, resulting in less noise, at least until they were ready to get to work on whatever project they were working on at the moment. Most of the hawkers and salespeople were gone as well in this part of town; if you were looking through these shops, chances were you knew what you were looking for.

The pair of cloaked hunters were forced to wander around a bit in search of the shop they were looking for. Many smiths saw them walking around, but none of them cared to help them find their way to wherever it was they were going, or even to ask whom they were looking for. They simply didn't care, and if someone was in this area of town in the first place, they should know what they were looking for already.

Eventually the pair managed to reach their intended destination, a small shop which was hidden fairly well near the center of the district. A couple weapons were displayed out in front of the shop, but it appeared that most of what had been there had been carried inside to protect them from the snow that was falling gently from the sky. The pair of hunters stood outside for a little while, glancing around curiously. The shop keep was nowhere to be seen, but the sound of clattering could be heard from deep within the confines of the shop, and the hunters were perfectly willing to wait for the owner of the store to return to the front. They were in no hurry.

Eventually though, the shop keep glanced out from the interior of the shop and realized that the pair were there. A quick scurrying of sound came from the back as the sound of weapons and other knickknacks were placed elsewhere, before the owner stepped out into the snow to meet them.

"Yes, can I help you?" the smith, an older woman with slightly graying brown hair asked of the pair.

"We think so," the sword and shield user replied, pulling back the hood of her cloak to reveal herself, a short blonde-haired waif of a huntress. Her voice was sharp and quick, and she had a very confident expression about herself. "Would you perhaps be Monique?"

"I am," the woman replied in a business-like tone. "I don't think I recognize either of you… I try to recognize the people I've done smith work for. Did someone suggest you to me for some weapon or armor work? How rare. I usually don't receive work through recommendations. Or are you here for some restoration work? I'm not the best in this town at such work, but old Angelo is usually too busy to help every single person that comes by…"

"We're not here for weapon repair or restoration," the other hunter said. Monique glanced over in surprise at the other hunter. His voice was far deeper than she'd expected to hear, and it was made more surprising as he removed his own hood to reveal a young but scarred face. His expression seemed more hesitant than his partner's. "We're here to ask you about… other work."

"What kind of work?" Monique asked curiously. "I don't do much else outside of my smithing and restorative work…"

"Actually, we are here for your smithing work," the huntress said quickly, shooting an irritated look at the hunter.

"Well, only in a technical sense," the hunter replied with a frown. "But it's more of an… um… advisory job. We don't actually want you to do anything for us… but… um… Well, we do want you to do a little work, but…"

Monique looked between the two in confusion as the huntress groaned in frustration. "Damn it, why did the boss choose to send you with me? He should've let me take Riley instead! At least she's got something that can be called a brain in her skull."

The hunter's face darkened a little at the words. "I'm not stupid. At least I know how to navigate. You and Riley both couldn't find your way out of a paper bag. If the boss hadn't sent me along, you'd be lost somewhere up in the Tundra right now."

"Why you-"

"Excuse me," Monique cut them off curtly, "but… what do you two want from me?" The two paused, the looks on their faces clearly showing that they'd forgotten about her during their argument. The huntress cleared her throat as the hunter scratched his head in embarrassment.

"As I was saying…" the woman continued, trying to brush off her embarrassment, "we would like to hire you for your particular expertise as a smith. We wouldn't necessarily need you to actually make weapons or armor for us, but to mostly act as an advisor on particular weapon designs. You might be asked to… provide examples for us personally, but for the most part our employer will simply rely on your advice and do things himself."

"An advisor? I've never been asked to advise someone on smith work…" Monique replied uncertainly. "I'm not… sure exactly what it is your asking of me."

"Our employer is trying to work with a certain weapon and wants you to help him get it work," the deep-voiced male hunter said simply. The huntress glared at him irritably. "I don't know much about it myself… seemed too complex for me to think about. I like my bowgun myself; nice and simple."

"Like you, you twit," the huntress muttered.

"What kind of weapon?" Monique asked curiously, and the hunter shrugged.

"I… hmm, I don't remember, actually. I wasn't really paying attention… All I really know is that when he tests it, things keep going wrong and…"

"Shut up you dumb bastard!" the huntress hissed. Monique quickly looked at her with a chastising expression and the huntress tried to collect herself, taking a few deep breaths. Then she shifted nervously. "It's… um… a trade secret. We're not… erm… supposed to talk about it in public. We'd just… prefer it if you could come with us to meet our employer, and he'll explain all the details himself. Don't want to risk his secrets getting out and all that."

"And who exactly is your employer?" Monique asked dubiously. "He doesn't exactly sound… friendly."

"He'd… prefer to remain nameless, until you meet him," the huntress replied succinctly. "He prefers to keep his business private. He'll tell you everything you need to know when we bring you to him."

Monique shook her head at the words, and the huntress grumbled angrily. "I'm sorry, but I think I'll have to turn down your offer if that's the case. If you're not going to give me your employer's name or what he wants me to do, then I'm not going to go with you in hopes of helping you with something that I might not even understand. Besides, I have a lot of work to do here, and I can't really afford to leave my projects behind to go off on some random job…"

"We can pay you two hundred thousand zenni for your services," the bowgunner said, and Monique's eyes widened in surprise. The huntress groaned in irritation.

"You idiot! That's the high bar! Do you even understand the concept of haggling?" The woman shook her head in frustration before looking back at Monique. "But… yes, we can pay you a substantial amount to cover your losses… provided you are willing to help us with our work. And should your work prove helpful, our boss might be willing to offer you further work, in exchange for further… boons."

Monique frowned, clearly uncertain. "That's quite the offer, but… I'm sorry, this still seems very strange to me. And your boss still doesn't sound very trustworthy."

"I can assure you, Miss Monique," the huntress said encouragingly, "that our employer, while… interesting, is very trustworthy, and only has the best interest of hunters in mind."

Monique was quietly for a while, silent with thought. After a few minutes, the huntress was starting to get irritated and fidgety, and seemed to be ready to demand an answer. But before she could lose her patience, Monique looked back at them. "I suppose… that I could go and speak to your employer, for a bit, just to see what he wants at least."

"Well, that's good to hear," the huntress nodded enthusiastically. "Now we can-"

"But only on one condition," Monique cut her off quickly, earning an irked look from the huntress. "If we're going to be traveling west, I want to make a stop somewhere on the way. I've been meaning to make the trip, actually, but the opportunity hadn't presented itself quite yet."

The huntress frowned. "Stop where? Our route is leading us west, but we shouldn't dawdle on our way back, so if it's too far out of the way…"

"Loc Lac. I'd like to go to Loc Lac."

The huntress blinked in surprise, and the pair of them shared a nervous look with each other. "What do you need to go to Loc Lac for?" the deep-voiced hunter asked.

"There's someone… I need to talk to," Monique replied. "Someone who might be able to help me find someone else I'm looking for. Hopefully he'll be able to give me the information I need. I'm not sure where he is, so it may take a few days to seek him out, but I'm pretty sure he's in the South District of the city. After I talk to him, I'll continue with you to the west."

"Can't it wait?" the huntress argued. "I'm sure… we could probably drop by Loc Lac on the way back from getting you to our boss, rather than on the way there. He's a stickler for time…"

"No, not at all," Monique told the huntress stubbornly. "This is more important to me than money or business. So if I'm going with you, it will have to be through Loc Lac. Otherwise I'm staying right here, or going to Loc Lac by myself."

The pair of hunters glanced at each other for a moment. "That's… acceptable," the male one told her. "Our employer will not be pleased at us taking a detour, but… a quick stop in Loc Lac should be fine."

"He didn't want us to go through any cities, remember?" the woman grumbled angrily.

"Not much we can do about it," the man shrugged. "Besides, it's not that much of a detour, considering how slow it is going around the desert compared to how fast the sand ships go. If going to Loc Lac is her only condition to meeting with the boss, I'll take it. It's easier that way…"

"Bah, you're too compliant."

"Why doesn't your boss want you going through cities?" Monique asked warily. Both hunters grimaced at the question. The woman seemed flustered, and looked at the man for help, and he seemed to struggle with the answer.

"It's… a personal thing," the bowgunner replied cautiously. "We prefer to keep a low profile due to the nature of our work. Let's call it… professional discretion. Can't let other people get hold of trade secrets and all that. And our boss prefers us to keep out of the public eye while working. Let's just say he's not that fond of the Guild as it is… too many people he's made political enemies with and all that."

Monique gave both of them a suspicious look. What kind of employer didn't want his employees to be seen in the public eye? There were some businessmen, she knew, that tried to keep secrets from people… alchemists, some merchants, and of course, politicians. But most of the time, such things were done by those with less-than-respectable occupations, like smugglers, thieves, and the poachers her son had dealt with. But… then again, if she passed through Loc Lac with them, if her travels with them built up the distrust in her, she could probably dawdle in the desert city long enough to find her son or husband and ask for their advice. And if worse came to worst… maybe she could lose them and hide somewhere in the city, or at least report them to the Guild, since they seemed to be trying to avoid the hunters' organization.

She nodded in acceptance, and the hunters seemed to deflate a little bit, relieved. "All right, I'll go with you. I'll just need to close up shop and gather up my things…"

"We can wait a little bit," the huntress told her. "But we'll want to leave today if we can. Our employer is a very busy man, and we can't keep him waiting too long. The sooner we're off, the better. I just hope we have enough money to afford tickets to and from Loc Lac…"

Monique tilted her head as the huntress shifted and began to dig through her pack. The artisan's eyes, experienced from years of her craft, immediately caught sight of the armor that lay beneath their cloaks. Both wore strange, bright red armor under their cloaks, a pristine sort of material. Monique didn't recognize whatever the armor was made out of, which she immediately found as odd; living as an artisan in a smithing town, she'd worked on most of the armors available to hunters, and those that she hadn't, she'd at least studied other smiths working with out of professional interest. But whatever the red armor that these two hunters wore was, it's source and makeup eluded her. Was it… monster material? It seemed somewhat organic, but she just couldn't figure out what it was.

The huntress noticed her look and quickly covered up the red armor nervously, looking around to see if anyone else had seen. The other hunter frowned at her worriedly, but none of the passerby seemed to have noticed. Monique looked closely; the other hunter was wearing that same red armor as well. But why were they trying to hide it? Was it new or unique? If that was the case, wouldn't they be showing them off? They had said something about trade secrets, but was that all there was to it?

"Anyway, gather up your things," the huntress said quickly. "We'll leave as soon as we get the materials we need for the trip to Loc Lac. Make sure you have what you need; it may be a long journey."

"Very well, just give me enough time to close up shop and let my neighbors know I'm leaving so they can keep an eye on my shop. I'll be ready in an hour at the most."

"Good to hear," the huntress replied, before smacking her partner on the shoulder. "Come on, idiot, let's go get what we need for the trip. We'll be back in an hour with the things we need, alright? Be ready by then, and we'll hit the road."

Monique nodded, and hurried back into her shop as the hunters walked away. As they made their way around the corner, the huntress sighed and the hunter mumbled to himself. "That went better than expected," the hunter said quietly. "I'm glad she accepted."

"Yeah, it's easier this way," the huntress replied. "Money's a lot less messy than other methods, especially inside towns… Still don't know why the boss is so interested in that weapon of his anyway. Too much backlash to those trying to use it. I say he should just throw it away and forget about it."

"That would be best," the hunter nodded, and then frowned worriedly. "Do you really think we can get through Loc Lac without being seen? Our armor really does stand out…"

"Bah, she wants to go through the South District anyway. I haven't been back in a while, but I hear it's gotten a bit messy there. We'll be fine as long as we pass through quickly. No one looks too closely at hunters in that town anyway, so we'll be fine. We'll go in, let her talk to whoever she needs to, then hop on the first ship heading west. After all, a compliant escort is better than a resisting one. Hopefully none of the Guild workers will recognize me though… I didn't really leave a good impression the last time they saw me."

The hunter frowned in concern, scratching the stubble on his chin in thought. "Would we really have to force her to come if she'd said no? I don't like the thought of that…"

"You know how the boss gets about this sort of thing. When he wants to see someone, he sees them, no matter what. It's not like we haven't had to take drastic measures before. Besides, we've had to do worse under his orders."

"I don't like it…"

"Well, quit if you don't like it, if you think the boss will let you go without a fight," the huntress shrugged. "I don't like it either, truth be told. But the rewards for doing what he says are good enough, and the work suits me well enough. Mercy knows the Guild wouldn't want me back after all this…"

"We could both leave together, if you wanted to," the hunter told the huntress quietly. "I'm sure we could get away clean working together."

The huntress looked up in confusion at the bowgunner next to her, before her face tinted slightly red. "What are you talking about?" she sputtered. "Why would I ever want to do something like that with you? I'm fine as I am. The work's not… that bad."

The hunter stood in sad silence for a moment, and the huntress shifted uncomfortably, before awkwardly patting him on the shoulder. "Thanks for… um… offering, though. I'll be fine. You can leave if you really want to though… I can just say I lost track of you in Loc Lac or something, or you got eaten by a Rathalos…"

The hunter shook his head. "No. I'll wait."

"You'll wait? Wait for… never mind." The huntress shook her head in frustration. "Look, let's just get this smith woman back to the boss. We'll think about… the other things later. We've got a bit of a trip ahead of us through the desert, and we'll have to be careful what we say around the woman. Let's gather the materials we'll need to get to the city. We'll buy a wagon for the smith to ride in on the way back; don't want to scare her off before we get back."

"That sounds like a good plan," the bowgunner nodded.

"Of course it is! That's why I'm… urgh, never mind. Just… go buy some food while I get the wagon. You know I'm no good with cooking or anything. Then we'll come back and get on our way. We don't want to dawdle here any longer than we have to. Don't want to be recognized before we get out of town. And try not to mention the boss anymore alright? You talk about him too much."

"Okay," the hunter replied with a nod.

"Well… get to work! There's a lot to do." The bowgunner nodded at the words and quickly turned, making his way towards the other side of town. The huntress watched him go, an uncertain look on her face, before she shook her head and went off in search of a wagon to buy.

* * *

**Author's Note: Please Review! Once again, I must apologize to my readers. I don't have nearly as much time to write as I used to during the workweek, so I lose about 2k words a week. So I'll warn you all in advance: the next chapter is lengthy, so I can't even estimate how long it will take to write… I ask you all to be patient with me.**

**I like how, when you're browsing the MH fics, and you select a character name to filter the stories by, you get a whole long list of submitted OCs that you have no idea who they are. I wonder if I should throw Levin and Ellie in there. Also, out of boredom, I decided to try and learn how to write Tolkien elvish. It's actually a very lovely written language. And very space-efficient…**

**I've mentioned that anyone that's playing MH3U can friend me and play with me if they want to, and I've gotten a couple friend requests from readers. But I feel like I should shout out a website I use to make hunting parties when I want to fight a specific monster with friendly people: teamworkcast .com. I've been posting hunting parties the last couple weeks to hunt certain beasties that I need to accomplish my 3U goal: to collect all the weapons and G-Rank armors (the hunt series is called the Armory if you're interested). On the one hand, I'm looking forward to MH4, but on the other hand, I hope it doesn't come out too soon so that I have time to finish my goal…**

**And oh… oh God… BioShock Infinite. Played it. Not… sure what I think of it. I loved the previous two, this one was fun too, but… oh sweet mercy the ending. I won't spoil anything, but let me warn you in advance, if you don't understand the basics of quantum physics, time travel, and all that other messy business, you will not understand what happens at all. I thought the end of the story was… fitting, I'll leave it at that. I'm also being thoroughly distracted playing Disgaea: Hour of Darkness again, but I'm following along with a playthrough while I'm playing it, so it shouldn't eat up too much of my writing time. **

**Reading: **_**Enchanter's End Game**_** by David Eddings, **_**Guardians of the West **_**by David Eddings, **_**Dogs: Bullets and Carnage**_** by Miwa Shirow, **_**The Highwayman**_** by R.A. Salvatore  
Playing: MH3U (this train ain't gonna stop for a while), BioShock Infinite, Game Developer Tycoon, Disgaea: Hour of Darkness  
Listening: Explosions in the Sky, Built to Spill, Album Leaf, Smooth McGroove  
Watching: RWBY trailers (yay for Yang and her shotgun gauntlets)**


	41. Destruction

Destruction

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. Most of the characters in this story are mine. Richard Jr. belongs to Hoenn Master96. Vincent belongs to__ squeezycheesey. Kai and Kei belong to SG-Kai._

_Edited by: Hoenn Master96_

_Could have split this chapter in two or three. Chose not to. Prepare your butts for a long read._

"Keep an eye out for them, he said. It'll be easy, he said. Damn it all, what the hell have I gotten myself into?"

Vincent was not happy with his circumstances, not at all. He'd only been in Loc Lac to visit a couple hunting partners before heading out on a quest or two out in the eastern forests, but somehow he'd gotten roped into something completely different thanks to a chance meeting with an old acquaintance of his. He'd been hoping to join his friends on a hunt for… something, he wasn't sure yet what he was in the mood for. But he'd been wrangled into another job by an old drinking buddy, Marco. Of course, the man was also the councilman of the South District in Loc Lac, but that really didn't matter much to Vincent. The man could keep up with all but the heartiest hunter when it came to drinking, and had a sharp tongue once inebriated, and that made him a lot of fun on rowdy nights.

But what he'd been asked to do really wasn't Vincent's style. Spying? Mercy, why did they think he would be a good candidate for this kind of thing? Tailing people, listening in on their conversation, trying to pick out the important snippets… Didn't Marco know that hunters had the collective attention span of goldfish? But in Loc Lac, nobody looked twice at a hunter, no matter where you were in a city. From the most dangerous slums to the most highbrow mansions, you wouldn't be too unlikely to find a hunter somewhere close by. Still, despite his pitiful efficacy towards this kind of work, Vincent had done his best to do what he could.

As for who he was tailing in the first place… apparently things in Loc Lac were worse than he'd thought. Marco had hired Vincent because he was certain that he was being followed. Apparently the councilmember had come across some dangerous bit of information, and was worried that there was someone tailing him, trying to get the information. Vincent wasn't so sure about that himself. Marco was an adequate enough councilman, and no doubt he had a couple random bits of information that might be valuable enough to wonder about, but nothing worth being tailed for. Still, Marco didn't seem the type to be paranoid for no reason at all, so Vincent had reluctantly agreed to his request. He figured at best, it was just someone trying to get some dirt on the man, but nothing dangerous.

However, though Vincent had been doubtful, he had been surprised to realize that maybe there was something to the man's fears. He hadn't figured it out at first, but not long after being hired, Vincent began to realize that there really were people following Marco around. It was well-planned, from what Vincent could tell; it was never the same man following Marco from day to day, but there was a rotation of them, and they all seemed to tail the man despite the weather or odds.

Vincent had spent a good week trying to figure out if these men had anything to do with each other, and more importantly, what information they were trying to collect. It was a bit of a challenge for Vincent to tail the men, considering that they were quite skilled at vanishing into the crowds, and Vincent didn't exactly have the greatest attention span in the first place. But he'd finally managed to keep track of one of the men as they made their way through the maze that was Loc Lac. Vincent had been forced to tail the man all the way to one of the western warehouse compounds. But as luck would have it, he was actually meeting up with another one of the men that had followed Marco around every now and then.

Unfortunately, the pair seemed to be taking precautions about showing that they were working together, and had been sitting casually next to each other as though they had nothing to do with each other for a long time now, and had barely even looked at each other. Vincent had placed himself around a nearby corner, just inside a small alleyway between two large warehouses, and was getting close to giving up and heading back to Marco's office if they didn't do something soon…

"Have you found anything out?" Vincent perked up at the words. The two were talking to each other? Finally, some sign that there was some correlation between the two of them! He'd been waiting almost an hour for the pair of them to say something to each other…

"Yes, I've got some valuable information for you," the other man replied. The man was someone Vincent wouldn't have pegged as a spy. He was aged and weathered, broad and strong, and looked far more the part of a mercenary than an information broker. Stealth didn't seem to be his forte, but then again, it wasn't Vincent's either.

"You have proof?" The man Vincent had followed here replied. Now this was a man that could be pegged as a sneak and eavesdropper. He was a reedy, rat-like man with slick black hair, a long nose, and keen eyes.

"Nothing physical, unfortunately. The man's incompetent, but keeps tight control of his paperwork. Took some heavy cash to get one of his loyalists drunk enough to give up the goods before I could be certain. But it's confirmed: Marco and Stergo knew about the whole thing."

"That might be enough for our employer…" Damn it, they could have said who had hired them. "We're hired to gather information, but if he's got a tight hold on the proof we need, it'll be up to him to get it himself. We're not being paid for breaking and entering. He wants those papers? He can sneak through the office and find them himself."

"Unless he pays us extra for the risk, of course," the weathered man said with a chuckle.

"Of course," the rat-like man replied with a smirk. "Of course now we'll have to decide who's going to deliver the news to our employer…"

"You do it," the weathered man muttered, pushing himself to his feet. "I met with him last time. Besides, you're a better negotiator than me, and if someone's going to be sneaking into that old bumbling man's papers, it's certainly not going to be me, now is it? I'm one for breaking through doors, not picking them open."

"Hmm, yes, well we'll see if it comes to that. Despite his reliance on us for gathering information and spreading dissent, he's not too unintelligent to think of other things that he could do to get those papers. Hopefully it will be something profitable for us, but we'll have to wait and see what it comes down to."

The weathered man grunted in reply, stretching to loosen up his joints. Vincent began to slide further down the alley. He hadn't gotten much from the men, but he doubted he'd get much more. Now all he had to do was get back to Marco and report what he'd heard and he could finally-

"Hey!" Vincent flinched at the shout, and turned to find the rat-like man he'd tailed glaring down at him. He'd been caught! The other man was eyeing him darkly, his hand twitching slightly towards the knife that hung at his belt loop. "What the hell do you think you're doing here, hunter?"

Vincent was quiet for a moment, before cocking his head to the side and giving the man a lopsided smile. "I'm hunting of course. What else would I be doing?"

The man frowned in confusion, looking at his associate before glaring at Vincent. "Hunting? Really? Right in the middle of Loc Lac? Do you take us for fools?"

Vincent rubbed his beard thoughtfully. "I never had before. Did I say such a thing? I don't recall doing so. Have you given me a reason for taking you to be fools? Have others called you fools before? Or do you yourselves believe yourselves to be fools, and therefore are sure that I take you to be such as well?"

The two looked at each other in bafflement, and Vincent chuckled in amusement. The rat-like man sputtered in dismay, "I don't… you… what the hell are you talking about? I'm no fool, you damn bastard!"

"Ah, wonderful! It's great to hear that you don't believe yourselves to be fools! Such a thing can't possibly be healthy. And you don't believe yourselves to be fools, there is no reason for myself to consider you as such either. Excellent! Things make much more sense now!"

"They don't to me," the weathered man muttered sourly. The rat-like man rolled his head back and forth in bewilderment for a moment or two before glaring at Vincent again.

"Answer my question, hunter," the man snapped. "You obviously weren't hunting here, so what were you doing?"

"Well now I'm confused," Vincent replied with a sigh. "I'm certain that I was hunting. But if I wasn't hunting than what was I doing? If neither of you are fools, perhaps I am one instead! But am I only a fool if I think of myself as one? If I chose not to think of myself as such, do I stop being one? Pardon me sir, but did you stop being a fool once you thought that you weren't one, or was something else required to-"

"No! No, no, no! Stop that at once, I don't want you trying to confuse me again!" the man snapped. "I'm no fool, and you're not here for hunting! You're here to spy on us, aren't you?"

"Why would I want to spy on someone? Is there something you're doing worth spying on? And why would I want to spy on you for it?"

"Because we were discussing… no! I'm not going to just say it! You… I… argh! Fine! Then tell me this, hunter! If you were here to hunt something, what were you hunting? Answer me that!"

"Why, Bnahabra and Altaroth, of course!" Vincent replied. "I'm the leading expert in hunting down the bane of food storehouse managers, those pesky insects that manage to sneak into the city every now and then."

"You're hunting… bugs?" the weathered man asked dubiously, looking up and down Vincent's well-used Rathalos armor. "That seems unlikely."

"Ha! Shows what you know!" Vincent laughed. "There's plenty of need out there for people like me to take them down. Say what you will, but the 'bugs' as you say can be plenty nasty if you're caught off guard by them! Besides, there's plenty of profit in collecting the materials you collect from them! Ask any hunter, and they'll tell you how much of an annoyance it is to hunt down the bugs and collect their materials."

The men looked at each other uncertainly. He was getting to them, making them wonder if he was telling the truth or not. "Shouldn't you be out hunting in the wilds or something?" the weathered man asked. "Like… going into hunting grounds or killing bigger creatures? Rathalos for example?"

Vincent cocked his head to the side. "Why would I want to do that?"

The two were looking nervous now, and Vincent grinned in amusement. He lightly rapped the side of the building he was standing on, drawing their attention to it. "Now, are you gentlemen going to keep me much longer? Though it pains me to rush you, the man in charge of this warehouse has requested I clear out his storehouse. Nasty infestation of the Bnahabra in there; big ones too, the tough guard drones that you really only see in the Flooded Forest! Quite exciting if you ask me! Actually, why don't you two join me? You don't appear to be hunters… but that just means it'll be that much more of an adventure!"

Now the men looked afraid. Skilled in their own occupation they might be, but even against the smallest and most irritating of monsters, they were hesitant and even fearful of getting involved. "The man's mad," the weathered man muttered to his coworker. "Probably one of the Lost or something. Just let him be… we've got work to do right now; no time for this nonsense."

The rat-faced man glowered at Vincent before nodding grudgingly. "Fine. Let's go. Have fun bug hunting, hunter."

With that the pair stalked away through the crowd, sparing only the occasional look back at Vincent until they'd passed out of sight. Vincent allowed his lopsided smile to remain on his face until they were gone, before sighing in relief. It was amazing how easy it was to get people to ignore you if they thought you had some screws loose. Not that Vincent hadn't actually hunted bugs out of warehouses here in Loc Lac before; it honestly was a lucrative job if you didn't mind the monotony of it.

"Hey out there! No loitering now!" a short, harried man emerged from one of the doors of the warehouse that Vincent stood next to. "Away with you. I've no patience for suspicious folk round these parts. I saw those sketchy pair you were with earlier! Something going on out here?" the man asked warily, giving Vincent an untrusting look.

"Hm? Oh, nothing," Vincent replied. "Just meeting a couple of people about a thing… Ah, out of curiosity, what do you keep stored in this warehouse?"

The man scratched his head. "Nothing but old broken airship parts. Mechanics sometimes come here and buy spare materials off of me. Gotten a bit more business than usual recently…"

"Any problems with Bnahabra or Altaroth?"

The man shook his head. "Not at all. Don't expect to either, 'less they get a taste for metal and scrap. Nothing here for them to eat. Why do you ask?"

"Hmm, no real reason, just curious," Vincent replied, before turning and walking away. He had his information; the men really were working together, and had found whatever it was that they had been looking for, though Vincent still didn't really know what it was they had found. Marco and Stergo had been really nervous about the whole thing though, so it couldn't be good… He needed to get back with the information as soon as possible, and make sure that whatever info Marco had was locked away tight.

* * *

It was cold in Malefica. Or at least it felt that way to Levin at the moment. The ground pressed close against Levin's skin, the pale stone chill to the touch. The frozen feeling seemed to envelop him, chilling him to his soul. Levin hardly noticed, and hardly cared at the moment.

He'd hardly moved these last couple days, barely eating or sleeping at all, afraid to face the nightmares he knew would come. The only time he'd eaten was when he'd been pressured by Richard to do so, and almost the only time he'd moved was when the guards had dragged him out of his cell, forcing him off to the Downs to work, or to the gyms to keep himself in shape, both met with lackluster enthusiasm in their eyes, but Levin wouldn't do anything else for them. The only time he'd gotten any sleep was when his body had given out from weariness and he'd simply passed out. He just… couldn't bring himself to sleep, because the images of the men he killed would haunt him relentlessly.

Pugnax and Moloch may or may not have come by to see him during that time. Levin vaguely remembered someone shouting at him through the bars, taunting him. But he'd ignored the words in his state, and his provocateur had eventually given up and walked away, leaving him to his solitude in the cells.

And the whole time, Harker had yet to wake up from his injuries. His friend was in a fitful state, constantly fighting off a bad fever, and his wounds were healing far slower than they would have thought. The doctors that had dropped by now and they suspected that the poison gas that had been in the arena was causing the slow recovery, but it could have been anything: stress, his living conditions, or maybe the hunter that had stabbed him had coated his blade with something dangerous for all they knew. Either way, Harker was still unconscious, and the doctors were losing patience. Too much longer, and they would simply write him off.

Richard had been trying to snap Levin out of his depression the whole time, whenever they were in the cells, and when the guards weren't yelling at him for talking too much. They'd fallen on mostly deaf ears. His misery over what he'd done had worsened since the arena battle; his guilt at killing the two men in the arena, accompanied by his fear of Harker dying, had essentially incapacitated Levin, and the hunter rarely did anything but try and blot out the memories of what he'd done. Sometimes he heard what the other hunter had to say, but rarely replied or even acted as though he knew the man was there. The only time Levin's attention left his own painful memories were when Harker's coughing fits became prominent, or when the doctors came to look at the long sword user. But Richard kept talking, despite it all, his voice continuing to come through the window between the cells almost constantly for the full two days that Levin wallowed in his despair.

It was nearing night of the second day since the battle in the arena. Levin was particularly lucid at the time, and was partially listening to what Richard was talking about at the time. The other hunter was regaling him with stories about his time as a ranger in the Volcano region. Richard had previously spent his time trying to make Levin feel better about what he'd done, but it hadn't really worked so far, so the man had inundated Levin with stories of his time working for the Guild in the south, about some of the things he'd done and some of the stranger troubles he'd had down there. They always had to do with Levin's guilt though; the one he was telling now dealt with a pair of poachers that had decided that they preferred to fight rather than going quietly. Needless to say, a fight had broken out, and one of the poachers had ended up dead and the other badly injured. That's how the stories Richard had been telling him usually went the last couple days, with some example of how he'd had to deal with his own guilt at what he'd done. It rarely made Levin feel better though…

"Not a bad way to wake up, listening to a story... though I could speak better of the condition of my body upon returning to the waking world. Bah, and had I thought Rathalos burns would be the worst of it all..."

It took a few moments for the words to register in Levin's mind. But then it clicked; that had been Harker's voice! His mind leapt to life as he jumped to his feet, nearly losing his footing as his worn out legs groaned from the surprise usage. But upon looking through the small window between their cells, he indeed found Harker awake at last, grinning weakly with worn out eyes.

"I must have been out for a while, judging by my condition, and by your own appearance," the long sword user muttered quietly. "I suppose I should be grateful to be alive though… heh, it would be quite inconvenient to meet an untimely death at this time. If I must meet my fate, I'd like it to be outside the walls of Malefica."

"Jeez… damn it Harker, you had me worried," Levin laughed, chocking back a sob and realizing that his eyes were misting a bit in relief. He'd thought Harker was done for! He saw Richard grinning at him from the other cell, a look of relief on the other hunter's face as well, and likely relief that Levin appeared to be recovering from his depression a little bit. "Damn it… don't do something so reckless again, you bastard. I thought you were…"

"I apologize, my friend," Harker replied with a smirk. But a moment later the long sword user seized up, sinking into a vicious coughing fit, so bad that specks of blood flew from his mouth, misting the walls in a light spray of red. Levin could only look on worriedly until the fit subsided, and the long sword user was able to catch his breath. "Sorry," Harker muttered painfully. "I suppose that I'm not quite healed from the wound I received… though I suppose that's to be expected considering the severity of the injury. Though now that I think on it, what happened after I was stabbed? I very much doubt that I would have been allowed to live had you been defeated by those men as well. Levin… did you…?"

Levin didn't reply, but he didn't try to hide the expression on his face as the memories of the arena battle came back to him. Harker's worried expression changed to one of sorrow, and he sighed. "I'm sorry, my friend," Harker said sadly. "It seems that I've placed a rather terrible burden on you thanks to my carelessness. If I hadn't… if I hadn't been so easily distracted by the floor of the arena, by my curiosity with the Meridians and their creations, you…"

"It's not your fault Harker," Levin muttered. "If I hadn't had to do it… One of us would have to do it in the end. Moloch wouldn't have let us leave without the other two hunters being dead. If we couldn't bring ourselves to kill them… they would have just killed us."

"I doubt that thought makes you feel much better," Harker sighed apologetically.

"It really doesn't…"

"So once again, I must apologize."

The two stood in silence for a couple minutes. Levin didn't mind; though he was still haunted by killing the two men in the arena, he was overjoyed to know that Harker was still alive after all. However, the silence was originally broken when Richard cleared his throat in the next cell.

"Pardon the interruption, but if you don't mind me asking: Why didn't you fight?" the hunter asked. "What was it you saw that made you stop in the middle of the fight?"

Harker sighed, and Levin could see his eyes growing brighter by the second. "I realized I could see it, some answer to a question I hadn't even known I'd been asking."

"I don't understand."

"I didn't either at first. It was a shame that my realization came at such an unfortunate time. I've always thought that there was something strange… about the floor of the arena, but I couldn't place it for the longest time. I was too low… too low to see things as clearly as I could have," Harker explained patiently.

"What do you mean?" Levin asked. Harker usually didn't make sense to him, but not due to being as vague as he was now…

"The arena floor!" Harker laughed painfully. "The answer was on the arena floor the whole time!"

Levin frowned. "Harker, you're not making any sense." There wasn't that much on the arena floor but blood and sand. But now that he thought about it, there had been some large images drawn on the stone floor that he had seen when he'd been in Moloch's booth way up over the arena. Levin had to admit that he'd always been more focused on the battle that had been going on in the arena instead, though.

"It's something that can only be seen from above, in Moloch's booth," Harker explained. "It's far too large to be made out when you're standing on top on it, unless you look hard. I've tried to study it during my bouts in the arena, but there were always other… distractions to keep me occupied. But I've finally managed to unravel it! I understand what the Meridans were doing here! Perhaps it wasn't the most opportune time for insight to strike me, but it a moment of clarity, I was finally able to understand the true purpose of this structure! It's all written there, on the floor of the arena!"

"And what did it say?" Levin asked.

"Well, I admit I didn't have the chance to read all of it," Harker admitted sheepishly. "But… though it's hard to see, I was able to make out what I believe to be a way to beat the Alatreon!"

"What?!" Levin explained in disbelief, eyes widening.

"Perhaps a precise method of killing it is incorrect," Harker said quickly, with a touch of sheepishness. "It's not a 'follow this process and kill the beast' description or anything. But… the thing I did see was a massive carving of the Ouroboros, with the dragon element symbol in the center."

"I don't see how that's supposed to help us."

"I didn't at first either. But the more I thought about it, the more sense it made to me." Harker paused for a moment to painfully cough a bit, before catching his breath to continue. "When we first arrived in Malefica, I told you that I couldn't imagine why the Meridians would desire to build this place. I also told you before that the symbol of the Ouroboros has many meanings, but I believe the Meridians created their own meaning for the sign: I think to them, it was not a symbol of reincarnation or anything similar, but rather of a creature's power consuming itself."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Richard asked, perplexed. "Monsters don't normally try to harm themselves."

"Not usually , no, but as it's been seen, the Meridians were the first civilization with the idea to take materials from the monsters they fought and try to mold them to their own use. They must have used this place to get monsters to fight one another and discover their weaknesses. They discovered that certain monster abilities, certain _elements_, were more effective against other beasts, and from there, created what would become the armor sets and weapons that hunters use today!"

"But how does that help us against the Alatreon?" Levin asked.

"Recall the Meridian tower we found, my friend! All those drawings of the beast, and the power they studied inside the tower. They wrote it on the walls! The symbol of the dragon was placed inside the symbol of the Ouroboros! The dragon element is the Alatreon's weakness!"

Levin's eyes widened in shock. Harker was right! He recalled the drawings he'd seen written on the walls of the tower. And now that he thought about it, when he'd come across the elder dragon in the Tundra, the creature had not been fond of the dragon element energy bursts that Levin had struck it with.

"What exactly does the dragon element do?" Levin asked uncertainly.

"It's a dangerous power," Richard remarked from his cell. "One that few creatures other than elder dragons are capable of. I know the power has some peculiar effects on armor when used by a monster on a hunter, but I've never personally needed to use a dragon element weapon against a monster myself."

"My own experience is rather limited as well," Harker replied. "At the moment, all I know of the dragon element comes from the battle I took part in against a silver Rathalos, and my observation of the effects that Levin's sword and Tenebris' ammunition had on it. But from what I saw… it seems it really might be of some great use against the more powerful dragons and wyverns. While the effects of a monster's dragon element on a hunter might be a tightening of armor, giving trouble with mobility and motion, it seems that the 'bottled' element that hunters carry around have almost the opposite effect. From what I saw, when Levin attacked the silver Rathalos, the creature's thick, ancient scales seemed to grow… loose and brittle, far easier to break through than they had been before."

Richard let out a low whistle. "I see why the Meridians would think that dragon element is the key to fighting the Alatreon. Their devastating power aside, an elder dragon's greatest strength is the thickness of its scales and plates, making it a challenge to truly cut into them without spending time breaking several holes in their armor. But if dragon element is able to loosen their scales and open up a weak point, why hasn't this been used before, though? Dragon element weapons aren't common, but you'd think someone would have learned of this before and tried to use it to their advantage."

"I imagine there are few hunters that would take the time to ponder the implications of what the dragon element is capable of," Harker replied. "And far fewer are willing to even willing to consider the act of taking on the Alatreon. It either takes a sizable ego, or… a particular touch of madness, which we Lost have in spades. Only those that make and test the weapons are likely thinking deeply about the implications, but it's useless if the hunters won't take the initiative, and even worse with the Guild having such a harsh punishment for those that try."

"But still, it's something we can use!" Levin said excitedly. He could feel his blood starting to boil again, the urge and desperate need to kill the Alatreon swelling up again. "We could fight it and kill it! All we'd have to do was use the dragon element to weaken it, then-"

"I think you're getting ahead of yourself, Levin," Richard sighed from the next cell. "We still need to find a way out of this place before you can think of going off in search of the Alatreon. I doubt the creature will be generous enough to come here to you."

The feeling of bloodlust abruptly faded at the blonde's words. Richard was right: there was little point to thinking about the Alatreon so long as they remained in here. Levin deflated a bit, sliding away from the window to Harker's room and slouching onto his cot. "Well… how do we do that? You've been here longer than any of us. Have you found a way out?"

"A couple," Richard admitted. Levin looked up in surprised. "But they'd only work for a few of us," Richard amended quickly. "Three or four at the most. And if we managed to escape, the masters of this place would know about it soon enough, and would have plenty of time to make their escapes… and to clean up any loose ends left behind. And if that booth Moloch spends his time in has even half the power he claims it does, it would take scarcely any time for him to get rid of his loose ends. And I'm not going to let that happen, not when there's a chance at finding a better way out of this mess."

"Yes…" Harker groaned from his cell. "But is there any sort of guarantee that we'll live long enough to find a better way to escape this place? There seems to be limited forgiveness once you've attained the higher tiers in the arena. And our luck will only hold out so long…"

"There has to be a way…" Levin muttered. "Some way we can distract the guards long enough to start an escape attempt."

"And what price would you pay for such an attempt? What is your freedom worth to you?"

Levin looked up in surprise at the voice. It was that man in the far cell, the architect. "What do you mean?"

"There is a way..." The voice muttered quietly. "There is a method that... could be used to create enough havoc for an escape."

"There is?" Richard asked excitedly. "Why haven't you mentioned it before? We could have escaped long ago if that were true! We could've... There has to be a reason you held back. Tell me, what sort of method is it that you are talking about?"

"Hah... not one that is either safe or a respectable chance, hunter," the old man replied. "You three are too optimistic and idealistic for what I will suggest, too intent on saving the majority rather than taking care of what needs to be done."

"At this point, I really don't have another choice, now do I?" Levin replied dourly. "Me and my friends are in the third tier of battles now. If we don't escape soon, our luck will run out. If we're going to do something to escape, it must be now or never."

"Hmm... you are desperate... and perhaps that is enough. We'll see, I suppose. Desperation is what drives me now, after all, so I suppose that I have no choice in the matter either." The sound of the man scratching his beard in thought could be heard as the architect pondered the situation for a moment. "Tell me this, boy. You killed a couple men in the arena not a couple days ago, and it left you close to comatose with guilt. Could you do it again, boy? Kill again, and more than two this time? The plan that I have in mind will likely come down to it, and if it's freedom you desire, it's the price you will have to pay."

"If that's what I need to do to get myself and my friends and everyone else out of here… fine." Levin wasn't comfortable with how sure of his word he was, but the architect seemed to accept his words.

"One last thing. If I am to tell me about my plan, you must make one last promise to me, all of you. Should we undertake this plot, the end goal is not freedom. That will be a boon should things go well. The final goal of this plan is to destroy Malefica, no matter the cost."

"I'm not going to sacrifice lives, if that's what you're implying," Richard snapped adamantly. "This isn't a mission to kill, it's one to liberate!"

"Then you'd best follow the plan well, and hope for no hold ups! But if you want to know what I know, you must promise that the destruction of this place is prioritized."

It was obvious that Richard was not pleased with the idea, however. "Innocent lives will be lost if we-"

"How many innocents have been killed already?" the architect asked sharply, cutting Richard off completely. "This city must fall. If we fail to escape, we must try to end this place at the least, so no more may suffer. That is why it is prioritized."

Richard growled irritably. "…Fine. The city falls even if the plan goes afoul. But I'm not going to think about destroying this place until we've saved as many innocent people as we can. Malefica will be destroyed, but only _after_ we've done everything we can for the rest of the captives."

"So be it," the architect replied sourly.

"Perhaps you should enlighten us on your plan now," Harker suggested. "You've allocated our willingness to kill, and willingness to destroy. Is that not enough for you?"

The man was quiet for a moment and grunted in contentment. "Fine. It will do for now. How to begin… Underneath the arena, or the Coliseum as Moloch has seen fit to call it, there are… many, many rooms. There are cells for the monsters they throw out at the hunters that fight in the arena, weapon arsenals, miscellaneous hunting goods, and so on. In one of the rooms, however, is where he keeps many hundreds of stockpiled bombs, the ones he sends falling from the ceiling onto some unsuspecting hunters and huntresses when he feels compelled to. The first step of the plan on its own is simple enough: all we need to do is set off those bombs."

"How straightforward," Richard muttered thoughtfully. "I don't see how well that will work, however. A couple weeks ago, one of the women that were captured along with these two here managed to set off some of the bombs while transporting them up to the contraction in the ceiling above the arena that drops them. I doubt the guards will be slack when it comes to keeping that room guarded now."

"Hah, perhaps they think so, but there are always ways around guards," the architect replied. "That is Moloch's greatest weakness, believing that he knows more about this place than any other man. Perhaps this is true of that which he has uncovered since my imprisonment, but of that which was uncovered beforehand, there are none but me that can claim supremacy in the workings of this place."

"The greatest flaw of men like him," Richard agreed quietly.

"But how do bombs help us?" Levin asked, breaking into the conversation. "The stone that this place is made of is… durable. I don't think just some bombs are going to be enough."

"There are more than normal explosives in that room," the man replied calmly. "Moloch keeps a few Anti-Dragon bombs in there as well, weapons designed for use against elder dragons. Trust me, when they detonate, the effect will be more than enough of a distraction to begin a true escape attempt."

"Anti-Dragon bombs? Really? How did Moloch… never mind. Well, how are we supposed to blow up the bombs?" Richard asked in surprise. "Unless you have a guaranteed way to get the guards away from the doors, not to mention get ourselves away from the guards that are keeping us under guard…"

"Hey! Lights out, Dead Men!" Levin winced at the harsh voice of one of the guards as the red-armored men made their rounds. "Shut up and lay down, all of you! Unless you're sick or dying I don't want to hear a peep from a single one of you, get it?"

"We'll discuss this more in depth later," the architect said quietly. "There is much to discuss and more to plan, and even I do not have all the information that I need to accomplish this. When there is time, we will complete the plot in full."

The four sat in silent as the guards made their rounds for the evening, making sure the captives were quiet and calm, before making their way back to their post. They'd walk around to make sure that nobody was talking or acting up every once in a while, and their ears were sharp, so they couldn't plan anything out tonight… maybe the guards would go out to drink tonight if they were lucky. Levin was already anxious; finally, a chance to create an escape plan!

"If I might ask," Harker said quietly some time later, "what is your name? You seem to know enough of us, and have confidence in our words, but we know so very little of you."

"Hah, true enough," the architect sighed. "I suppose… the name given to me was… Francis. But I don't have any real use for names anymore. Call me by that title if you wish. Or don't. It matters little to me."

"Francis, eh? Well, a pleasure to make your acquaintance. And I look forward to working with you in this little… demolition project."

"And escape plan," Richard added adamantly. "We're going to save as many people as we can as well. I won't consider this plan truly successful unless we can save as many as feasibly possible."

"You three have courage, and optimism," Francis muttered. "They are rare and almost useless here in Malefica. But they have their place, I suppose, especially if you wish to escape. You even wish to hunt and slay the Alatreon, an act of even greater stupidity than even the most unplanned escape attempt from these cells."

"Gee, thanks," Levin grumbled.

Francis laughed softly. Levin was surprised; from all the dour words the man had given since Levin had first heard him speak, he would have thought that Francis couldn't laugh at all. It was a rugged, uncomfortable sound, but it was laughter nonetheless. "It's strange… I never thought I would feel these emotions again," the architect said. "I almost feel as though there may be a little bit of hope. More than I've felt in so long. Maybe you really will be able to free the captives of this place and escape Malefica. It's almost enough to make me want to… ah, never mind. This is enough for me."

Levin kept his silence as the man chuckled a bit. "Hey, boy. In case I don't get the chance to say it again… good luck if you really try to take on the Alatreon. You'll need all the luck you can get if you really mean to do so."

"Wish me luck once we're out of here," Levin replied. "I need all the luck I can get just trying to escape this place. Once all of us are free and this place is gone… you can give me what luck you have to offer."

"Once we're out… hah, we'll see about that, boy. We'll see."

* * *

Ellie yelped in pain as a massive stone dropped on her toes. She leapt back, cursing in pain. One of the guards shouted at her, telling her to get back to work, and Ellie stifled her venting, though she continued to hiss angrily under her breath. Kerry looked at her apologetically.

"Oh… sorry, Ellie," Kerry said quietly. "I guess I wasn't really paying that close attention."

Ellie grumbled a bit but sighed. "It's alright, Kerry. Just… try not to do it too much. I only have so many toes, okay?"

"Sorry…"

Ellie looked at her friend sadly. The redhead had dark bags under her eyes, and had scarcely slept the last few days. Kerry had since recovered from the wounds she'd received during the Diablos battle she'd been in several days ago, but her mood had taken a sharp turn, thanks solely to her having received news that Harker had been badly injured during a fight in the arena. Originally she hadn't been too dismayed, as Harker had been badly injured before, and Kerry seemed to quickly write off the man's wounds, but upon hearing that Harker was unconscious and unresponsive, she had descended into severe worry and melancholy, and she'd been desperately asking the kinder guards for any information that they had to offer, but none of them seemed to have anything positive to tell her. The rest of the guards, having finally found a weakness in her, had taken great pleasure in informing her constantly of how badly Harker was hurt, and several times had joked that he was dead just to depress her even further.

The knowledge that all of the Lost hunters had been promoted straight to the third tier of Coliseum battles hadn't really made either of them feel much better, either. The knowledge that Harker had been directly attacked by another hunter, once that intentionally tried to kill him, not for their own safety but for the fun of it, just made things worse. Even if Harker recovered, he and Levin, as well as Ellie, would likely have to fight in the arena against even more hunters that wanted them dead, or even worse… against other captives that would have to fight for their own lives as well.

As Kerry sighed miserably, hauling another stone from the pile that blocked the hall entryway, Ellie had to admit that she wasn't feeling too happy either. Along with news of Harker's injuries, they'd also received news of what Levin had done in the arena, and his reaction to doing so as well. Most of the guards were laughing about the whole affair; there were also some that were clearly forcing their laughs, particularly those that had yet to match themselves in a battle against another hunter themselves. That was what Ellie was most fearful about at the moment: how was Levin doing? Was he really as bad as the guards were saying? She never imagined that either of them would find themselves in a place where they'd need to kill another human to survive…

Actually, the entire city of Malefica seemed to be in a bit of a state as it was. A large gathering was planned for the upcoming weekend, from what Ellie had heard, with the largest crowd that the Coliseum had ever seen, and several hundred sponsors and benefactors and gamblers were expected to show up to see the fights that where planned, and gamble on the hunters or against them. Most of the captives spent their days out of their cells these days, getting everything all primed and ready for the crowds to come in just a few days.

Not everything was all excitement for their captors, though. There were some other issues that were giving the guards concern. Mostly logistic problems, and some issues with some of the prisoners, but the biggest problem was that one of the four generals of the red-armored hunters, Filcher, had up and vanished in the night a couple days ago, and nobody seemed to know how he'd left or where he had gone. The men and women that had worked under him were in a bit of an uproar, uncertain what to do or who do defer to. Ellie had her suspicions about why the man had left, considering her last conversation with him, but as to where he had gone… who knew? Ellie had to admit, she was rather amused watching all the battle-crazy hunters that had been under Filcher's control running around in confusion.

Either way, it didn't matter to Ellie. If the hulking hammer user wanted to run off in search of the Veggie Elder, or whatever he was doing, he could do what he wanted. Ellie had her own concerns to deal with, such as trying to keep herself alive, and start worrying about how she was going to handle being thrown up against another hunter in the upcoming days like Levin had… She really hoped that her beloved was doing well after having to kill someone. The thought of Levin bit at her mind a little, and the huntress sighed a bit as she and Kerry shoved a large boulder off balance and toppling over. She'd realized in the last few days how much she actually missed the man. She hadn't thought the feeling would be as strong as it was… Damn it all, this love thing was a messier business than she'd thought it would be, especially as a hunter. They were always in danger or in trouble, and she was always worried for him if not for herself, and… dammit all.

"Hey… isn't that Levin?" Kerry asked. Ellie froze at the words, her eyes darting around in shock. Levin was here? How? They hadn't seen each other at all since they'd first arrived in Malefica! Sometimes a hunters' and huntress' block worked together to clean out the Downs every once in a while, but Ellie's block and Levin's had never met up with each other. Sure enough, Levin was standing on the far side of the room, shoving rocks out of one of the high-arching hallways leading further into the earth. He was talking to a hunter that Ellie didn't recognize, some blonde-haired man. Harker was nowhere to be seen, however…

Ellie felt an enormous sense of relief fill her at the sight of Levin. She had been worried about how Levin would be, considering what the guards had been saying about him before, but the switch axe user didn't seem nearly so depressed and wasted as they'd said. Rather, he seemed absorbed as he spoke the hunter next to him, and determined about something. It was an unfamiliar expression to see on any of the captives. Either way, without considering the guards or her work or anything else, Ellie began to walk away from her post and toward the switch axe user. After a couple steps she began to break into a run.

"Levin!"

The hunter flinched at her shout and turned warily, but upon recognizing her, his eyes widened in shock. A myriad of emotions flashed across his face, before Ellie crashed into him, wrapping her arms around him tightly and squeezing him desperately as the pair of them tumbled to the ground.

"Ellie!" Levin gasped, trying to sit up, but was stopped when Ellie pressed her lips forcefully against his, pulling him into a passionate, desperate kiss. Levin grunted in surprise at the display of affection, hesitating for a moment, before returning it in kind. Ellie felt a primal sense of joy in the show; clearly he had been yearning to see her again just as desperately as she had him. She was glad that she wasn't the only one that had been feeling like she was…

An acute cough caught the pair's ears, however, pulling their attention away from each other. The sound came from Kerry, who was slightly flushed in embarrassment. The blonde hunter that Levin had been talking to was smirking in amusement at the sight, but most of the other captives around them were looking at them in irritation or frustration, and the occasional sign of jealousy. The pair of hunters laughed nervously as they pushed themselves to their feet, thankful that none of the guards had been paying enough attention to take note of the display of affection.

"You're alright!" Ellie said joyously. "And safe! For the most part. After everything I'd heard that had happened to you, I thought that maybe…"

"Don't worry," Levin replied soothingly. "I'm fine… for the most part. I'm glad you're alright as well. Really, really glad… especially after all that's happened since we arrived here."

"Is Harker okay? Is he alive?" Kerry asked, abruptly interrupting them with desperation in her voice. Levin looked at her, for a moment looking pained and guilty, but he covered it up quickly and nodded.

"He's fine. Well, he's recovering. I won't lie to you, he's not doing well. There was some poison gas in the arena when he and I fought, and the doctors that looked at him said that some of it probably infected the wound Harker received during our fight, so he's not recovering as quickly as he should be. But he's awake and lucid, and seems to be getting better, but… well, I'm sure you've seen how little the doctors that work here really care for us captives. But he's alive."

"Right… Thank you. I understand." Kerry nodded. She still had a worried expression on her face, knowing that Harker's condition wasn't fantastic, but she seemed relieved that the long sword user was alive, which was more than the rumors had been saying.

Ellie returned her attention to Levin, and gave him a smile. "Levin… I really am glad to see you, you know."

The hunter smirked in reply, the amused expression that Ellie was used to seeing on Levin returning for a short moment. "Don't think this place will get the best of me so easily, Miss Ellie. I'll have you know that-"

"Levin!" The switch axe user turned in irritation as the other hunter he was with hissed his name. The blonde-haired man motioned towards one of the entries to the area. "Your friend's here."

Levin's eyes widened slightly, before narrowing and glancing towards the entrance as well. Ellie followed his gaze curiously, and she frowned in anger when she realized what the other hunter was talking about. From the darkness of the hallways, Pugnax strode into the brightly lit hall, glancing around casually as he spoke with the woman next to him, the crazy sadistic bowgunner woman that Ellie had fought during their capture. It was the first time she'd seen either of them since arriving here. Both looked imposing in their bright red armor, though they each had their visors up so that everyone would know it was them.

"Ellie..." Levin muttered nervously. "You're... going to want to stay back."

"Wait a second, what are you doing?" Ellie asked quickly. "What are you gonna-"

"Just trust me!" Levin snapped. He lowered his voice worriedly. "I'm doing something stupid and dangerous, but... hopefully it may give us an opportunity to escape this place."

"What?" Kerry gasped. "You have to let us help! You can't just do this yourselves!"

"I don't have time for that!" Levin replied. "I'll explain later if I can, but I have to do this now, or else we may lose our chance. Richard, do you think there are enough people here for this?"

"Two cell blocks and a fair number of guards... most of them under Pugnax's command, I think. There have to be at least seventy people in the room right now," the blonde hunter replied. "That should be enough for the plan. Though with that woman Lilith here..."

"We'll have to risk it... besides, if rumors about her are true, she's not exactly the voice of reason around here." Leaning down, he picked up one of the crimson crystalline stones that littered the ground under them, hefting it a little and testing its weight. "This will work, I guess... Ellie, Kerry, you two will want to stand back a bit. It's about to get really noisy, and I don't want you to get caught up in this... not yet, at least."

"Wait, Levin, what are you-"

Before Ellie could finish, Levin pushed through the crowd of hunters and other captives in the room, holding the stone he'd picked up tightly in his grip. A few of the guards had noticed Levin's deviation from his work, and began to move to intercept him, but by the time they began moving, it was too late for them to stop him. With a swing of his arm, Levin hurled the stone he'd picked up through the air, directly at Pugnax's head.

The rock failed to connect however, as before the stone had left his hand, Lilith had caught sight of him, and shouted a quick warning at Pugnax. The lancer turned instinctively, pulling up his shield to just barely deflect the stone as the projectile smashed apart against it. Pugnax growled furiously at the assault, pulling his shield away to glare around in search of his assailant. His attention finally landed on Levin, who had been quickly grabbed and thrown to the ground by several guards, and his face filled with surprise for a moment before quickly switching to a strange mix of anger and amusement.

"Well look who it is," Pugnax growled, striding over to where Levin was pressed against the earth. He motioned to the men holding him down, and they hauled him roughly to his feet, letting him meet Pugnax's gaze. "Last I saw of you, you were crying like an infant on the floor of your cell. And now you're throwing rocks at people behind their backs. Such a coward you've become, Levin. Are you so frail that taking a life has made you as pathetic as you are?"

Levin glowered at the words, but Ellie noticed that his eyes darted around quickly. Numerous guards were turning to watch the encounter between the two, and the now unwatched prisoners were turning away from their designated work to watch as well. Ellie realized that must have been Levin's plan from the start, to gather attention. That other hunter that had been with him, Richard, had moved away from Ellie and Kerry, and was making his way around the crowd behind Pugnax and Lilith, though Ellie wasn't sure what he was trying to do. The switch axe user turned his attention back to Pugnax.

"Big words coming from a man who gets his kicks killing Barioth pups."

Pugnax smirked. "You always come back to that, Levin. Is that all you have to insult me with? Need I remind you that I also managed to beat you in battle, not to mention that woman of yours and a Barioth? And here… do you really think you can imply the man leading a quarter of the soldiers in Malefica is a coward?"

Levin rolled his eyes. "Yes, you're so daring. Terrorizing unarmed captives while you're fully armed; making threats when you're surrounded by your little minions; fighting hunters against their will in an arena where your employer is the one pulling the levers. Oh, yes, you're so courageous Pugnax, and it must be so easy to be that way when all the odds are clearly stacked against you. Clearly I and the rest of the captives are a major threat to you in these conditions."

Pugnax laughed. "You all have already lost to us, remember Levin? We defeated you back alongside that caravan we captured. You lost the right to earn a fair fight long ago. You're slaves now, as far as Malefica is concerned. All you can do now is wait for your turn to die in the arena. Besides, at the moment, aside from certain absent parties, I hold the highest record of victories in the Coliseum than any other! Do you really think that kind of distinction should be mocked, especially by a weakling like you? You barely managed to defeat that pair of wimps you fought a few days ago. You're on the right track to earning yourself a fight with me in the arena! Do you really want that, coward?"

Levin grinned. "Fine. I accept." Ellie gaped in shock. What was that idiot doing? He was actually trying to pick a fight with Pugnax? Why? The lancer seemed taken aback by the words as much as Ellie had.

"You… accept? You actually want to fight me in the arena?" The man hesitated for a moment uncertainly. Several of the red-armored hunters around him began to shout in excitement, and Lilith giggled excitedly next to him. Pugnax shook his head and laughed in amusement. "You really are suicidal, you fool. I've got infinitely more experience in the arena than you do. Do you honestly think you can beat me in a Coliseum battle?"

"Yeah, I do," Levin replied.

Pugnax scoffed. "Really? And how do you plan to do that? I beat you soundly last time we fought. What's changed since then? What makes you think fighting me now will go any differently than the last battle?"

"Because," Levin growled, his voice dropping down to menacing tone, "last time I just wanted to stop you from killing those Barioth pups. This time though… I want to kill you." A look of surprise crossed Pugnax's face, and Levin glared viciously. "I'll admit, killing those men in the arena a few days ago hit me hard. Very hard. I'm not like you, Pugnax. I can't just walk around killing random people in gladiator combat for kicks. But you, Pugnax… you've been nothing but a bastard to me from the start! I know you, and I have an extensive list of reasons to hate you. A list of reasons to _kill_ you!"

Levin's face split in a wide, mad smile, and Pugnax and several others took a step back, eyes wide. Lilith seemed amused more than anything else by the whole thing, however. Levin laughed twistedly. "Look at you now, Pugnax! Flinching in fear at the thought! Where's your courage now? Are you afraid? Afraid to fight someone who has fought you before and knows how you fight? Are you afraid to fight someone who has a personal vendetta against you, rather than someone who only knows you as a name and a title? Are you afraid to fight someone that wants nothing more than to rip that lance from your hands and shove it through your throat? To light you on fire and watch you burn to death? To throw you from a great height and laugh as you splatter across the earth?"

Pugnax glared at Levin, a look of revulsion on his face. Lilith giggled at the words, though, actually looking thoughtfully at Levin for a few moments, earning a look of exasperated irritation from the lancer. "You Lost really are mad," he told Levin, and the switch axe user laughed hysterically.

"You're just learning this now, Pugnax? Are you deaf and blind? Have you been paying attention at all? Of course we are! And I'm the worst of them, as far as you're concerned, because there's nothing I'd love more than watching you die in the worst ways possible!" Ellie realized that the crowd around them was getting excited, and many began to shout cheers for the men. Pugnax began to look around as the guards in the room began egging him on to fight Levin in the arena, certain that their general could take him on. The captives were shouting just as loudly for Levin, growing increasingly confident that Levin might be able to take Pugnax on. Levin giggled ecstatically.

"Look at you, so proud and tall, Pugnax, general of exiles and thugs in your little hole-in-the-ground city! You asked how I've changed since our last fight, and you haven't changed at all since last we met! Just a coward preying on those weaker than him, and pretending that makes him a kind! You think you can kill me? Try me! Let's settle this in the arena, once and for all, and we'll let the whole city see whether all that pride you've gathered is enough to stop me from gutting you alive!"

Things seemed to be going according to… whatever sort of plan Levin had concocted, Ellie realized. She'd figured it out a while ago, especially once Levin got going at that 'madness' shtick of his; he'd used the Lost madness as a trick before, and his real insanity was far more... serious than this show he was putting on now. Pugnax was practically seething, but seemed torn whether or not to actually fight Levin. But why challenge Pugnax to an arena fight anyway? What purpose did that serve, besides putting his head on a chopping block? And what role was Richard supposed to play? The other hunter was still hovering on the edge of the crowd, looking for an opportunity of some kind. Was he going to try and attack Pugnax or something? Join in the fight? Or to step in should one of the other guards or Lilith try something like-

Wait a minute. Now that Ellie thought about it, where was Lilith? Ellie realized that the twisted bowgunner was no longer by Pugnax's side. Ellie looked around, and realized that the bowgunner had slid away from the center of the room while everyone's attention was on Levin and Pugnax. Ellie saw the huntress begin to smile wickedly, pulling her bowgun out from its sling. Ellie gasped in shock when she saw Lilith hoist the gun up, aiming it at Levin as he and Pugnax continued to glower at each other, waiting for the other to move first. Pugnax was in the way at the moment, but if either hunter moved, she'd have a clear shot. Richard was too far away to do anything, focusing on the argument between Pugnax and Levin. Ellie cursed to herself; damn Levin if he thought she was just going to sit back and let himself get killed, not when she could help him! As quickly as she could she pushed through the crowd to where Lilith was; the crowd was too focused on Levin and Pugnax's interaction to notice her, and even Lilith's attention never wavered from aiming at Levin until Ellie was already on top of her and her fist was swinging at the banshee's face.

"Damn cowardly bitch!" Ellie snapped as her fist smashed into the huntress' nose in the gap in her armor. Lilith howled in shock and pain as she tumbled back, clutching her face as a line of blood trickled down her lip.

"How dare you!" the woman snapped furiously, trying to snap her bowgun around to face Ellie instead. But Ellie had seen enough of her battle strategy to know how the woman worked; she depended almost entirely on range. Ellie wasn't armed, but if her time being trained by Lynn had taught her anything, it was how to throw a punch. So she rushed forward again, getting past the barrel of Lilith's gun, and smashed her fist into the side of the huntress' helmet. It hurt like hell, striking her bare flesh against solid metal, but it was so satisfying to hear the ringing sound the helmet made when she struck it, especially with Lilith's head inside of it. The bowgunner dropped to the ground in pain, clutching the side of her head and hissing vicious curses at Ellie. But Ellie didn't care; the woman had tried to take a cheap shot at Levin! She'd beat the woman into submission if she thought Ellie would take that lying down!

But before she could lunge at the woman and continue attacking her, she was abruptly slammed into and thrown into the ground by a few red-armored guards, quickly pinning her to the cold stone floor and holding her hands behind her back. He could hear Levin shouting her name, but by the sounds of it, he had been pinned down by some more of the guards as well. Kerry was nearby as well, shouting at the guards to release them, but she was the only one doing so; all the other captives were keeping silent, not wanting to put themselves in danger, and the guards were pushing everyone away from Ellie and Levin, keeping anyone else from interfering. A moment later, Pugnax was at Lilith's side, looking at the banshee with mild worry in his expression. He offered a hand to help her up, but the bowgunner scoffed in contempt, pushing herself to her feet and glowering furiously at Ellie and Levin.

"Take the little bastard's challenge, Pungax," she growled. "I want to kill both of this little bitch, and her precious lover! Moloch's orders be damned, we'll kill both of them, and I'll do it in front of hundreds of people, so they _know_ who's in charge around here! And I will make them both _suffer_."

Pugnax still seemed hesitant, but by now the other guards in the room were shouting excitedly, demanding Pugnax to accept Levin's challenge for a fight in the arena. They all wanted to see the fight, especially after the harsh words the pair had given to each other. Lilith was still glaring viciously at Ellie, a carnivorous look in her eyes. The lancer didn't seem to have much of a choice in the matter, it seemed, not if he wanted to avoid looking bad in front of his subordinates. Ellie supposed that was what Levin's plan had been from the start. Pugnax growled angrily, before smiling deviously at Levin.

"Fine. You want a fight, Levin? You've got one. You think you're an opponent for me after that one pathetic show in the arena, you've got another thing coming. Come the end of the week, I'll have the pleasure of killing you in front of hundreds of people. And that woman of yours will be there too, since she seems to have so much interest in dying alongside you."

Several shouts could be heard from one side of the room, and one of the guards shouted in pain as they were tossed through the crowd. A number of other guards were struggling to control Kerry as the woman fought against them, shouting in anger at them. "You let them go you bastards! Don't you dare hurt them!"

Some of the guards were hesitant to get too close to Kerry due to her reputation, but Pugnax laughed at the display. "Looks like you two aren't the only ones looking for an early death. Fine. The 'cursed woman' wants to meet her fate at my hand, she can do so if that's what she wants. I must admit, I've been hoping for a chance to get rid of her as well. She'll have to wait until I'm done with both of you, of course, but I'm sure she won't be much of a challenge for Lilith and me."

A cry of pain came from the crowd, and one of the red guards was flung unceremoniously to the ground near Pugnax, groaning in pain. The lancer looked down at the guard in irritation as Richard emerged from the crowd, shaking his hand to ward off the pain of striking his bare fist against the red armor. Pugnax grumbled irritably as the blonde hunter glared at him.

"How about you even the odds for once, Pugnax? Why not fight against me, instead of that so-called 'cursed woman'? Surely your pride and arrogance demands a more savory kill. I can offer you a fight you'll never forget: That is, if you will walk away from it at all," Richard spoke up, a scathing tone to his words.

Pugnax smirked in amusement. "It seems everyone wants the opportunity to meet their end by my hand! Perhaps I should. Moloch and Micah have been looking for an excuse to have you killed for a while now… but no. I don't think so. You'll have to sit on the sidelines this time around, 'dog of the Guild.'"

"You don't wish to fight?" Richard sneered tauntingly. "Do you fear me? I recall leaving you badly wounded the last time you at I met in battle."

"Ha! Hardly, dog. But you forget: this is Malefica. This is a city built on entertainment. A fight with me and Lilith, two generals of the city, against two famous Lost hunters, as well as the 'Companion Killer'? That's a show! The benefactors will look forward to this battle like no other! But you? Who are you to them? Why should they care about some hunter that does rough work for the Guild? Half the hunters and huntresses we've jailed here could say the same! And you're only a second tier fighter as well. What kind of general would I be if I wasted my time in the arena with you?"

"Coward!" Richard snapped viciously. "Perhaps if you stopped hiding behind excuses and showed some backbone-"

"Shut him up," Pugnax said irritably, motioning to the red-armored hunters around him. The next moment Richard was tackled to the floor, the guards holding him tightly as he growled at them, but otherwise didn't resist. "Maybe you should start taking your arena battles more seriously if you want to fight me in the Coliseum, dog. You think I haven't realized that you're holding back out in the arena, especially after how you fought out in the forest? Prove to the audience that you're worthy of fighting in the third tier; after that you and I can settle this hunter against hunter. But you'll have to wait your turn: I'll play with you once these three fools are dead."

Lilith giggled wickedly at his side as Richard was pulled away. "Wonderful, wonderful! I'm going to enjoy playing with them! Look forward to our fight, little bitch! I'm going to make you beg for death before I'm done with you, girlie! You just wait!"

"Look forward to our battle, Levin," Pugnax said to the switch axe user. "You'll regret the day you decided to stop cowering on the floor like a sniveling child." The lancer turned back to the guards. "Now, let him up, and get him back to work! No sense letting him laze about just because he's going to die in a few days, is there?"

With that, the lancer and bowgunner stalked out of the room, and the guards began barking at the captives, ordering back to their work. A few of them seemed hesitant to get close to Levin at first, thanks to the show he'd made of being crazy earlier, but there were enough to force the hunter back to work, along with Ellie, Kerry and Richard. Before Ellie could demand to know what Levin had been trying to pull, picking a fight with Pugnax, she realized that Kerry had a miserable expression on her face.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I tried to help, to stop them, but I…"

"Don't worry Kerry," Ellie replied soothingly. "There was nothing you could do, I think. I don't think anything would have gone differently either way. At least you tried to help us, unlike the rest of the captives…"

"And that's where the blame falls to me," Richard said, his head dropping somberly. "I was the one who was supposed to fight alongside Levin in the arena, not you or Kerry. That was the plan; he and I were to provoke a fight with Pugnax when we saw him next, and call him out to fight us in the arena. I was waiting for the right moment to pick a fight, but Lilith… she threw a wrench into the plans. I didn't think she'd try to pull what she did back there, so I wasn't really paying attention to her; I'm sorry for that."

"Yeah…" Levin sighed. "I really didn't want you to get involved with this plan Ellie. There's way too much that can go wrong with it."

"I don't regret doing it," Ellie replied sternly. "If you think I was going to let you get shot by that crazy woman just because you wanted to keep me out of danger-"

Levin grinned thankfully. "No, no, I'm glad you did it, Ellie. If you hadn't… urgh, I'm afraid to wonder what sort of ammunition that woman had in her bowgun, and what she would have done to me. No, I really do appreciate you stepping in to help me. I just didn't want you caught up in all this… I'm not exactly confident about whether I can beat Pugnax in a fight, or even keep him occupied long enough to do everything we need to…"

"You're not… why the hell did you challenge him if you're not ever sure you can beat him!" Ellie snapped angrily. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"It's the only way we can do what we need to," Richard said apologetically. "With luck, the fight will be enough to pull the attention of most of the guards and spectators in Malefica. It will give us time to pull off our plan without too many people around to stop us or catch us."

"What sort of plan?" Kerry asked. Levin and Richard shared an uncertain look. Clearly neither of them wanted to get any more people involved than they had to. "You might as well tell us. We're put our heads on the line just as you have, whether you like it or not, so you may as well fill us in."

"Fair enough," Levin muttered. "It's not a clear-cut plan, but I suppose a couple more trustworthy people being filled in wouldn't be too bad of a thing."

"Agreed," Richard replied. "Today's a fine example of how things can go wrong with our plan. It'd be better to have a couple of other people in on it in case things take a turn for the worse… Francis won't be pleased to hear we brought some more people into the scheme, though."

"I don't think he's ever happy with anything as long as he's in here," Levin muttered. "But let's try and explain the plan as well as we can anyway…"

The rest of the time they spent in the Downs was used explaining the plan that Levin and Richard had pieced together with this Francis fellow that they'd met. They didn't have enough time to explain everything, but the plan seemed… decent. But as Richard had said about what happened earlier, it seemed full of holes, and a lot of what they'd plotted seemed to rely on luck and fate falling in their favor. It also needed some adjustment, now that it was Ellie that was going to be fighting in the arena instead of Richard, and Ellie would be in the antechamber during the fight. Despite all the issues though, the plan was still their best bet. Harker was badly injured, and apparently Levin and Ellie had both been vaulted to the third battle tier, though Ellie hadn't had the misfortune to have to fight other hunters in the arena yet. They really did not have the time to spare trying to think up a better plan than they had right now.

"I don't like it," Ellie muttered. "It's really risky. And you're putting a lot of faith on whether or not we can do this before the fight in the arena, and if worse comes to worst, whether we can successfully fight Pugnax and Lilith."

"Well, this might actually make it a little easier for us," Richard said. "With Kerry here in the antechamber during the fight, she should be able to do what Levin can't, should the fight start too quickly. I'm sure there is some other trouble I can cook up since I can't exactly help out in the arena."

"Well, we'll see," Kerry said. "I'd feel better it if there wasn't a fight, but I can do what needs done if Levin can't. I am Harker's lab assistant, after all."

From around the room, the guards began shouting at the captives, ordering them to get into line to head back to their cells. Levin sighed at having to leave Ellie behind, and turned to say something no doubt encouraging to her. But Ellie decided not to let him talk, and instead cut him off by quickly kissing him.

"Be careful, you moron," Ellie whispered, when she pulled away from him. "You have this… tendency to throw yourself into danger to protect people, whether you need to or not. I don't want you throwing your life away when you don't have to, okay?"

"Ellie… I don't know if I can promise that. There's too much at stake here for me not to give it everything that I have."

"I know, I know, but… just try, alright? Don't… don't let this place beat you, okay? We've dealt with too much to lose to a bunch of power-tripping murderers and maniacs."

Levin smiled sadly. "Whatever you say, Ellie. I'll do my best to stay alive. You do the same, and we'll be just fine."

"Just as long as you understand…" Ellie said softly, before kissing him again. The shouting of the guards intensified, and more of the captives began moving back in the directions of their cell blocks. She pulled away from him. "See you in a few days… for the fight."

"Yeah, see you then," Levin replied sadly, nodding and moving towards his own group of prisoners. Ellie sighed miserably as Kerry came and walked next to her.

"Don't worry, dear," she said reassuringly. "I'm sure things will turn out all right. I mean, at least there's a plan now and everything. And we're all alive, if not… in the best condition. That's more than we've had the entire time we've been here. It's something to look forward to."

Ellie nodded after a moment and grinned. "You're right, Kerry. At least it's something worth anticipating in this hellhole. And who knows? Maybe I'll actually get a chance to enjoy knocking some decency into that bastard Pugnax and Lilith. But… we can't get cocky about it. We only managed to beat Pugnax last time with a lot of luck and some help from a Gobul. I don't think he's gotten any easier to beat since coming to Malefica."

"Well, at least this time you have a bit less than a week to prepare yourself," Kerry replied. "And… don't hold back at all. People like Pugnax and Lilith aren't the kind of folk you should be pulling your punches with."

"You've got that right," Ellie muttered. "I didn't want to kill him last time, but after all he's done… I still don't feel comfortable wanting someone dead, but I might have to make an exception for him."

"Just do what you have to, dear," Kerry said. "Hopefully this will go a little better than that, and you won't have to fight him at all."

"Hopefully…" Ellie replied quietly as they made their way back to their cells. "But I wouldn't put my faith in it."

* * *

It was ominous outside, as far as Marco was concerned. A sandstorm was brewing close to the city, and some people were whispering fears of a Jhen Mohran lingering close to Loc Lac, in plans to attack the city. It was a fine time to stay inside and avoid going outside entirely, for fear that the Jhen would actually attack the city, and to be fair, most of the people of Loc Lac were hiding in their homes, waiting for the storm to pass. Blacksmiths, construction workers, and other various shops were shut down as the biting sand washed over the walls of the city, stinging the skin and biting into whatever else was exposed to the elements as the winds carried clouds of it over the walls. The only places that remained open while the storm raged so close were a couple grocers, sundries, and the bars. Obviously the bars needed to remain open.

And, much to Marco's disgruntlement, anyone involved in any political dealings were pretty much expected to continue their work on days like this as well, which was why Marco found himself bundled tight with a coat, fighting his way through the biting sand to his office. The flecks stung painfully against the bare skin that he hadn't managed to cover completely, and the man couldn't help but grimace the entire time as he fought his way through the storm. He had so much to do, and he didn't know if he had the courage to try and make it to the Oasis afterwards either… Damn the Jhen and it's annoying storms!

Now that Marco thought about it, why did Jhen Mohran attack Loc Lac every now and then in the first place? Was it simply a territorial thing? It couldn't be for food; the creature sustained itself from whatever creatures it could snap up in the sand, which must be plentiful, considering the beast's size. Maybe it had something to do with the Loc Lac tower, which most people assumed was a giant Jhen tusk shooting out of the ground, though a Jhen that had a tusk that large… Marco shivered at the thought of a Jhen Mohran that could have supported such a thing.

The town looked so strange with the streets empty as they were. Loc Lac was supposed to be a bustling town with people everywhere, filled with hunters and smiths and other such people. But during storms, it became a veritable ghost town. Everyone that wasn't vital to the survival of the city was inside waiting out the storm to pass, but people of even mild importance needed to be at work every day no matter the weather, much to Marco's chagrin.

He was nearing his office when a loud rattling sound caught Marco's attention from one of the alleys leading to the next road over. Marco paused and looked to the side worriedly. A drunkard perhaps, stumbling back from the bars in a delirium? Or maybe someone who'd gotten their streets mixed up? A groan of pain echoed from the alleyway and Marco flushed worriedly. This was not weather for someone to be caught up in! If someone was hurt or passed out in there… well, Marco wouldn't stand to let them stay there if he could help it! The paperwork could wait for now.

Marco worked his way carefully through the buildings, dodging past trash and garbage that littered the earth. He looked around carefully; the alley was already filling with sand thanks to the storm, and if whoever was hurt had been here too long, they might be covered up somewhere by the dust and sand in some hidden corner or shadowy nook. It wouldn't be the first time someone had met foul fortune in some hidden corner during a sandstorm.

"H-hello? Is someone there? I c-c-can help you! If you can hear me, say something!"

Another sigh and moan came from nearby, and Marco finally caught sight of the source. There was a pair of legs sticking out from behind a large pile of old garbage. Marco hurried over to the fallen man, but stopped in confusion at what he'd found. There was a man there, certainly, but his face was covered by a large sack, and his arms and legs were bound as well.

"What is this?" Marco murmured, leaning down to help the man. The man seemed to hear Marco's voice, and flinched back fearfully. "What happened t-to you? Are you alright?"

"Oh, he's just fine." Marco spun around at the voice, and found himself face to face with a hooded man smiling at him. "He's perfectly alright. Just… a touch disoriented."

"W-w-what's going on? Who are y-you?" Marco asked, stepping away from the man. The man continued to smile, cocking his head slightly.

"You're so charitable, Marco," the man told him casually. "A kind, compassionate man. Especially towards the Lost. You would even stop in the middle of the day to help a strange man in an alley. Shame it has to be your downfall."

Marco gasped as cold steel slid through his side. A painful whine slipped through his lips as he stumbled away from the man, trying to cover his wound as the man pulled the blade from his body. But his legs gave out from under him, and Moloch already knew it was too late for him to do anything. With a painful grunt the councilmember's back slammed against the wall of the building next to him, and he wheezed in agony as a trickle of blood slid from his lips. The man that had stabbed him knew it too; he wasn't even looking at Marco anymore, and turned expectantly as another, larger man appeared from the shadows behind him, leaning down to pick up the bound man that had been used as bait.

"Pretty devious of him," one of the men muttered to the other as they dragged the man closer to Marco and threw him to the ground. "Kill the old man and blame it on the Lost… pretty quick thinking if you ask me, considering we only told him that info about those two hunters a couple days ago."

"With that man? I doubt it," the other man replied, shoving the blindfolded man to the ground. Whoever they'd brought groaned in main, and let out a slow moan. "Likely, he's had this plot dancing around in that devious head of his for a while; he just needed an excuse to execute it."

With a quick tug from one of the men, the bag over the man's head was pulled free, revealing their captive's face. It was a man that Marco recognized, surprisingly. He was a young man that Marco recalled meeting when the Lost first appeared in Loc Lac. Marco couldn't remember the boy's name, but… he remembered that the boy was one of the Lost that had been declared to be the most unstable of the lot of them, easily sent into maddened frenzy and willing to attack anyone and everyone around him, save for a few rare people that he trusted above all else.

And Marco wasn't one of those people. With horrifying realization, Marco realized what the men were planning now, as they took the knife they'd stabbed Marco with and handed it to the young man, making sure to wipe some of the blood on his hands and clothes. The boy reeled back from the men in fear, babbling incoherently to himself. In his deepest thoughts, Marco wished that the boy would lose control and attack the men, but he doubted that would make the situation better.

"There we go," the first man said. "One murdered councilmember, a Lost sympathizer of all things, and his killer, one of the very Lost he wanted to protect. How poetic."

"Looks like Marco ain't quite dead yet," the other man noted, pointing at him.

"Give it time. Men don't bleed to death in a second. Besides, the scene will need to be gruesome for whoever finds him first. The more shock value there is, the better. That way there will be less thought about whether he actually did it or not, and people will simply start blaming the Lost for it." The man knelt down next to Marco, looking at him with that same smile. "You've been an irritation to many people for a long time Marco. But chin up. In a little while, you won't have to worry about such things any longer. Don't you worry though. The Lost will be… taken care of once you're gone. I guarantee it."

The man laughed, standing up and striding away out of the alley, with the second man following quietly behind, leaving Marco gasping in pain and the poor Lost boy babbling and sobbing to himself, the bloody knife in his hands. After a few minutes, the Lost boy seemed to decide on something, or simply didn't like the biting sand on his face anymore, and with the blade still in his hands, stood and stumbled awkwardly down the alley without aim. Marco tried to call out to him, but couldn't seem to get the boy's attention.

Time slowly passed, as Marco clutched his side in pain. He didn't want to die! He couldn't die! Not like this! Not as some… deceitful trick used to curry support against the Lost! But he couldn't move, and his hand wasn't stopping the blood well enough…

"Holy crap! Hey, are you alright?"

Footsteps echoed down the alleyway, and a pair of dark-haired hunters appeared in front of him, worried looks on their faces. The one closest to him was a woman, a long sword user, and the man behind her bore a weapon Marco didn't recognize. They looked similar. Marco idly wondered if the pair were related.

"Oh, geez, this is bad. Kai, go find a doctor, quick!"

"Right… hold on, mister, I'll be right back!" The hunter dashed off quickly, but more sounds could be heard coming from the street. The commotion in the alley must have attracted the attention of people in the nearby buildings, and a crowd was beginning to gather, despite the howling winds and biting sand from the storm.

"Someone call the town guard!" the huntress shouted, before leaning down and trying to smile encouragingly at Marco. "Don't worry sir, you'll be alright, I promise… and we'll make sure your attacker is held accountable."

"No… no…" Marco muttered painfully. "The boy… the boy…"

"Don't worry, we caught him!" someone nearby said, trying to reassure him. "He didn't get far… looks half mad to me. Must be one of the Lost. He'll get what's coming to him, sir."

"No, no… no…" Marco voice was cut off by painful coughing, accompanied by a hot coppery taste in his mouth. He couldn't find the strength to talk anymore, but he had to tell them that it wasn't the boy's fault! He was being set up! It was… it had to be Zhanin's doing! He was sure of it! But he just couldn't manage to get any other words out. Zhanin… damn him!

Anger swelled inside of the councilmember for another couple moments, but the blood loss was getting to him, and before he could say a thing, he lost consciousness completely.

* * *

The week went by quickly; painfully so as far as Levin was concerned. The weekend had rolled around rapidly, and word of Levin's challenge and Pugnax's acceptance had swept through Malefica like wildfire. Not a day after his confrontation with the man, nearly every man and woman, whether free or captive, knew of the impending battle. Most were excited about it, even the captives, who were excited more than anything else for the chance that someone might be able to kill Pugnax before the week was out... and Lilith. Especially Lilith. Though Levin hadn't really had a run-in with the bowgunner, rumors of the woman's cruel disposition had reached him, and some hunters that had run afoul with her had never returned to their cells...

With the plan being as well laid-out as they could manage it, though, there was really nothing left for Levin to do with his time before the end of the week but worry fearfully, wondering if the plan would go together like they hoped it would. And if it didn't... could he really beat Pugnax in mortal combat? Would he be willing to kill the lancer? He still remembered the horror he'd felt after killing those two red hunters, and though Pugnax had committed countless crimes, could Levin bring himself to really try and kill the man? Neither Harker nor Richard seemed particularly adverse to the idea, but they all were hoping that everything would go according to plan, and Levin would barely need to fight Pugnax at all.

Even if everything went as planned, there was still a lot that could go wrong, even if everything went as they hoped it would. The plan was more of a start to an escape than a full plan, so there was a lot that could unhinge everything. At worse... they could end up killing themselves and everyone in Malefica all in one go. But assuming Francis knew what he was doing, that shouldn't happen. Still, this was the same man that seemed perfectly willing to bring down the entire city to erase the reminder of his crimes and Moloch along with it, so Levin couldn't be certain about him at all.

As the fated day arrived, Levin could almost feel the hundreds of sponsors and gamblers that were showing up at Malefica's doors to shout and cheer as they watched hunters fight and die for their amusement. The captives certainly received no small amount of attention as well, as the more generous of the benefactors were allowed to come down and look at the hunters, giving them a chance to pick out their prey before the battles began, deciding who they'd demand to see fighting in the arena. The cells were silent as the evening of the day began to set in, the sponsors having made their decisions and returned to their seats. Every hunter in the block knew that the guards would be coming down soon to begin picking out men and women to be thrown out into the arena to meet their fate against a monster, or another hunter. Though, today they had a few minutes of a reprieve, for Pugnax had scheduled his battle against Levin to be one of the first battles of the day, so they had at least a little bit of time before they would be picked out.

Levin didn't argue or put up a fight when the guards came to collect him, pulling him from his cell and marching him down the hall towards the Coliseum. Harker and Richard nodded solemnly to him as he was taken away, a silent wish for luck. Levin would need it if things went sour.

Oddly enough, the guards began calling out to the other captives to leave their cells as well. Apparently the block had been selected to continue working in the Downs for the rest of the day, while the rest of the blocks supplied the hunters needed for the arena. Several of the captives sighed in relief. It wasn't long, but another day without fighting in the Coliseum was enough of a reprieve for them. Levin wondered about it, however. The block going to the Downs wasn't in the plan… but it might actually make things a little easier for them.

Eventually Levin and his escort began to circle the arena itself, and Levin half-listened to the booming voice of the announcer through the paths and entryways leading to the stands. The man seemed to be putting a lot of work into hyping up the oncoming fight, though Levin didn't know why the man was trying so hard so soon. Levin wasn't even suited up yet, for crying out loud! How much of a show did Pugnax want to make this fight?

Ellie and Kerry were in the room waiting for him when he arrived in the antechamber, and both were already fully equipped in their armor, those strange, uncomfortable armor sets that the guards in Malefica liked to give them, so unfamiliar from what they were used to. Levin was getting used to at least putting them on though, and was momentarily suited up in full armor, though it pinched at him in certain places… such was the problem with wearing armor that wasn't sized for you. Of course, they weren't given the weapons they'd need for the fight, not yet. They'd get those just before they entered the arena.

As the announcer continued to hype up the crowd, the three hunters sat close to each other. The guards looked at them untrustingly, but shrugged it off, assuming they were trying to create a last-minute plan to try and survive the fight, and they saw no problems with that.

"So… where is it?" Kerry asked curiously. Levin turned and glanced subtly at the large hole in the wall on the far side of the room, and the bowgunner nodded in understanding. The guard that stood near the hole was looking bored, and was several strides away from it, straining his neck to try and look out the thin window looking out into the arena.

"Really? That little thing drops down to the bomb room?" Ellie asked in surprise. "No wonder there's always a guard watching it."

"I don't think they know," Levin muttered. "Francis said the chute comes out way in the back of the bomb room, so it wouldn't be surprising if they hadn't found anything that was already dropped down the chute."

"So this is why you needed to pick a fight with Pugnax," Kerry said thoughtfully. "You needed certain access to that single hole in the wall. So… how are you planning to ignite the bombs below?"

Levin shrugged awkwardly, and glanced over at the pile of random hunting goods off in the corner. "Well, Richard knows a fair number of guards. We were hoping to have time to strike up a conversation with one or two of them, long enough of a distraction so that I could sneak over and swipe a small bomb, or something I could rig up into an explosive and toss into the shaft…"

"That's a bit risky," Ellie said, dissatisfaction clear in her voice.

"I was hoping they'd keep a few of the smaller bombs lying around. It was the best we could do…"

"Do you even know how to rig up an explosive?" Kerry asked skeptically.

"Well, Harker did give me some pointers while we were planning... I figured if worse came to worse, I could throw together a bunch of unstable things he'd told me about, light it, and throw it down the shaft."

"That's… not a good idea," Kerry moaned in frustration. "Listen, how about you just leave it to me to create the bomb? It may not have been my intention while working with Harker, but I've learned what things mix together to create a bang, even a small one. If the bomb room you mentioned has as many explosives as you claim, it won't take much to set them off. You and Ellie try to distract the guards, and I'll see what I can do… they try not to look at me that much anyway. Seem to think coming into eye contact with me will curse them."

"Sounds like a plan. So how are we going to get the guards' attention? We'll need to-"

"Alright, you two: you're up," one of the guards abruptly told them. Levin glanced up in surprise. Already? That was fast! He'd barely had any time at all in the antechamber... not nearly enough time to rig up an explosive, had he been required to do it himself.

"Go on," Kerry whispered. "I'll see if I can get a chance to set something off as quickly as I can, okay? It might be a little tricky with just me here, but… Just try and stay safe until then, okay?"

The crowd outside seemed to be really excited as the pair made their way over to the door. There was a bowgun near the door, as well as a switch axe, already prepared for the two of them. The pair picked up their respective weapons, slinging them over their shoulders to their sheaths. Levin never really liked the weapon they offered him; it was a switch axe made from Barroth materials, and it always felt awkward and unwieldy to use. Ellie didn't seem to like her bowgun much either, made from Agnaktor materials. The guard near the door frowned as they approached before reaching behind him and unlatching the door, allowing the pair to pass through.

An explosion of sound hit them as the door opened, the crowd riled up and excited to see the fight about to start and the hunters finally entering the Coliseum. Ellie stepped onto the frame first, looking around as though expecting the fight to start immediately, but it didn't look as though either Pugnax or Lilith were in the arena yet. Levin followed warily, wondering what Pugnax was planning. The lancer would surely make a show out of all this…

"Hold it," the guard near the door snapped quickly, grabbing hold of Levin's arm and pulling the hunter back into the dark room.

"What do you want?" Levin asked. Ellie was already in the arena by now.

"Change of plans," the man said sharply. In a flash, he grabbed hold of the hilt of the switch axe slung across Levin's back, and yanked it out of its holster.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing!" Levin snapped, reaching for the weapon. But he groaned in pain as the red-armored man punched him in the gut, winding him. A moment later, the man pulled out a pair of objects and shoved one into Levin's hands and strapped the other to his forearm. Levin realized that it was a short sword and shield. "What are these for? I'm not a-"

"Consider this a handicap," the man said with a vicious grin. "Courtesy of Pugnax. Have fun, hunter."

"Wait, you can't just-"

"Sure we can. You don't mess with us boy, and you don't mess with Pugnax. Remember that... with what little time you have left." Before Levin could retort, the man shoved him roughly out into the arena floor, swiftly slamming the door and locking it into place.

"Levin!" Ellie called out. "What's-"

"Don't worry about me," Levin growled furiously, quickly trying to bind the shield to his arm, but he hadn't tried to equip a shield since he was an apprentice. He'd need Ellie to help him… The shield was loosely bound as he stepped forward. If he was quick, Ellie could tighten this damn thing correctly before-

"Levin, stop!"

Levin froze in place and stumbled back as the stone floor in front of him began to slide and shift beneath him. Just after he took a step back, a wide panel in the floor opened up, extending several yards across and leaving Levin with only a couple feet of stone floor to stand on. More hissing could be heard around him, and even more pitfalls began to open up alongside the first, then more aside them, and more aside them. The mechanics continued to work, on and on, opening ever more traps in the floor that curved and spread around the entire arena, until almost the entire floor had a wide gaping moat around the perimeter with large jagged spikes filling the pit below, and only a small section to stand on encircling the far edge of the arena.

Levin looked down in shock at the pit. Sharp spikes lined the bottom of the hole. Levin would have died for sure if he'd fallen, despite the thick armor he wore. What the hell was Pugnax trying to pull? Was he trying to kill Levin before the fight even started? And how was he supposed to fight like this? There was only a few feet between the wall and the circular pit that surrounded the arena, and the gap itself was several yards long, far too great a distance for Levin to jump, especially in full armor.

Then a rattling sound echoed from the far end of the arena, and the massive doors leading into the guards' armory opened up, and Pugnax and Lilith emerged from the darkness beyond. The crowd cheered a bit at their appearance, but the act of separating Levin and Ellie had left them confused and curious, not knowing what to expect. The announcer was bellowing out dramatic speech, though he seemed just as baffled by everything that was going on as well.

The announcer was still in mid-sentence when Lilith swung her massive bowgun out of its holster and fired, a massive round blazing through the air towards Ellie. Ellie yelped and ducked to the side, just barely dodging the shot as it sailed over her shoulder before smashing into the far wall. A moment later the round detonated in a massive blast of fire, leaving a wide burn mark staining the wall of the arena. Ellie gaped in shock as the other bowgunner howled with her high-pitched laughter, and pulled out her own weapon as the banshee-woman continue to press forward.

"Damn it!" Levin cursed. "Pugnax! What the hell are you doing! This is supposed to be a two on two fight, you bastard!"

The lancer didn't reply, but Pugnax turned a cold, hateful look in Levin's direction. And then Levin understood. He had thought that Pugnax would want a fair fight, would want it to be a two versus two battle. He had thought that Pugnax would want nothing more than to prove that he was better than Levin on even ground, so he could flaunt in his superiority. He had thought that he could play at Pugnax's ego, and the lancer would fight him on even footing, sure that he would win in the end. He had thought that Pugnax was fighting for his own pride.

But he'd thought wrong. Pugnax was fighting for vengeance. He was fighting to kill.

The pit that encircled the arena's center was simply too wide. Levin could only watch in horror as the one-sided battle unfolded before him, and there was nothing he could do to help. The fight was a game to Pugnax and Lilith, and they acted as such during the battle. Despite Levin's screams and howls of anger, his threats and curses, the battle continued, with the pair of Malefica generals toying around with Ellie during the fight. He could hear Kerry screaming in fury as well, her shouts mixing with those of the guards, coming from the small window to the antechamber. Ellie put up a valiant fight of course, but aside from her scuffle with Pugnax in the Tundra during the Barioth hunt, she didn't have much experience fighting against other hunters. She was outnumbered as well, dueling against a pair of hunters that were very experienced in hunter vs. hunter battles, and her weapon didn't offer her much maneuverability either, since she was not used to it in the first place. She didn't have a chance from the start.

Levin was numb by the time the fight was over, his voice hoarse and worn from the shouting and screaming. His mind felt empty, with only cold fear and blind fury seeping through him. Ellie had been cornered and pinned by the pair, with Pugnax's lance smashing against her leg at the same time as one of Lilith's flaming shots had blasted the bowgun from Ellie's hand, and the huntress had been slammed roughly against one of the arena's stone pillars when Pugnax had smashed into her with his wide shield. The fight was over, but they hadn't killed Ellie yet. She was near to losing consciousness, but Lilith shouted for Pugnax to hold back so she could toy with Ellie for a little while longer. Pugnax seemed content with that, and motioned up at the control booth up above them.

The crowd was groaning in disappointment up in the stands as the floor slabs extended back over to the door to the antechamber, slowly closing the massive trap that surround the arena. Clearly they hadn't been expecting a battle so one-sided, so balanced in the favor of the reigning champions, and so... boring. The announcer was trying to play it off, make it sound better than it was, but he wasn't having any success. Levin hardly took note of them as he stumbled into the center of the arena, his mind seething so much so that his balance was wobbly and unsteady and the short sword they'd given him swaying awkwardly in his grip. Pugnax laughed at the sight of him.

"Welcome, Levin!" the lancer said dramatically, ignoring the shouts of disapproval from the crowd. "You wanted a battle, didn't you? Well now you have it! Or wait... did you actually think I'd fight you fairly? Evenly matched with our best weapons? Do you really think I'd let you feel like you have a chance? I don't offer such niceties to people I hate, Levin. I don't offer hope to people that have disgraced me! You're going to suffer, long and slowly... like your woman there. If I time it well enough, you'll die just after she does, just long enough for you to truly suffer at the knowledge. Though that's assuming Lilith there doesn't finish the job too quickly."

Levin's gaze swung over to the maniacal bowgunner as she prodded and laughed at Ellie. His beloved leaned limply against the pillar she was up against, struggling hopelessly as the banshee laughed wickedly, swinging her knife threateningly in front of Ellie's face. Levin's eyes narrowed and his grip tightened on the sword in his hand.

Pugnax laughed, moving to approach Levin. "You think I'm going to let you interfere in her fun, Levin? I'd keep your attention on me if I were you! You'd best forget about caring for anyone but yourself for the rest of your short life. She'll be dead soon enough anyway, though I'm sure Lilith will try to draw it out as long as she possibly-"

Levin's arm moved instinctively, and Pugnax tensed. But Levin wasn't attacking him. Rather, he pulled back his arm, and with a quick swing of his arm, he flung the sword forward and released it, sending it sailing through the air directly towards Lilith as the woman continued to threaten Ellie. The entire arena seemed to grow deafeningly silent as the blade spun through the air.

Lilith was in the middle of one of her high-pitched, wicked laughs, when the blade sunk itself through a gap in the armor on the woman's side, burying itself inside her waist all the way to the hilt, the tip bursting out at an angle a few inches past her navel. The woman's laughter immediately cut off, and she let off a short, shocked gasp, looking down in disbelief at the blade that protruded from her side, before blood began to gush from the wound and the bowgunner toppled to the floor, clutching her waist in horror. Blood immediately began to pool below her, in an increasingly widening circle of crimson.

The arena was dead silent in shock, but the silence didn't last long. As soon as the blade had left his grip, he had lunged towards Pugnax, and by the time Lilith had fallen to the floor, he was almost on top of the man. He unleashed a howl of primal fury, a bellow of anger and hatred so powerful that Pugnax quavered back in shock and fear. Levin swung, and his fist smashed into the top edge of the lancer's shield, twisting it to the back and making the man stumble a bit from the blow. Pugnax tried to pull away, but before he could, Levin's other arm shot forward, his hand reaching for the man's face like a claw, and the lancer panicked, struggling to get away from him.

Levin's fist, still pressed against the tip of the shield, reached up, grabbing up to grab the side of the metal plate and pulling fiercely against Pugnax's attempted retreat. The lancer skidded to a halt, trying to pull his shield from Levin's grip, not willing to so freely give up his greatest source of defense. He repeatedly smashed the side of his lance into Levin's shoulder, but it hardly wounded Levin at all without striking him with the pointed tip. With one hand clinging tightly the edge of Pugnax's shield, Levin howled in rage and swung his other arm down, smashing it into the inside of the elbow of Pugnax's shield armor.

The lancer screamed in pain at the blow, and Levin swung again, trying in his fury to break Pugnax's arm in half. But Pugnax had suffered enough, and his fear of Levin's assault overpowered his need to keep hold on his shield. As quickly as he could, he yanked his arm out of the straps that strapped the metal wall to his arm, pulling away quickly before Levin could break his arm. Levin roared in anger, swinging the shield around and throwing it akin to a massive discus at Pugnax's skull. The lancer yelped in shock, ducking just in time to avoid having the shield crush his windpipe.

"No! Damn you!" Pugnax roared as his shield clattered across the ground. He held his lance out awkwardly, holding it like a great sword, though it was clear that it was uncomfortable to do so. Levin charged the man, howling in rage, his eyes ablaze with pure fury and his hand reaching forward, clutching the air in anticipation of closing around the lancer's throat. Pugnax blanched at the blind charge, but this time stepped forward to meet Levin's assault, lunging and sending the lance towards Levin's face.

Levin ducked down towards the ground, a hand pushing off the stone floor to keep him steady as he rushed forward like a beast himself. His other hand didn't go down fast enough, however, and the tip of the lance nearly impaled itself in Levin's palm, just barely grazing the back of his hand and wedging itself between Levin's arm and the small metal shield that remained strapped to Levin's own arm. Levin continued to push towards Pugnax however, straining and bending the metal plate as it screeched closer to the hilt of the lance. In a panic, Pugnax managed to whip out his hunter's knife, and swung it wildly at Levin as the maddened hunter's free fist clawed at his face. In his rage, Levin reached out as Pugnax tried to stab at him, grabbing hold of the blade with his gauntleted hand and trying to shove the weapon back towards Pugnax.

The blade screamed as the edge scraped against Pugnax's thick armor, and Pugnax cursed viciously, trying to kick out at Levin to push him away, but Levin continued to press forward. Both his hands were occupied, one clutching Pugnax's knife and the other strapped tightly to his spear along with his shield, so Levin instead chose to use another weapon: his teeth. A sliver of flesh could be seen between the breastplate and the red metal helm, so Levin would tear it out!

Pugnax gasped in horror as Levin let out a savage growl and lunged at his throat like a wolf. In his desperation, he swung his head forwards to feet Levin's, and the two's helmets collided, letting out a resounding ringing sound. Levin stumbled a bit as his brain rattled, and Pugnax twisted the knife in Levin's hand, turning it out of the switch axe user's grip. With a quick swipe, the lancer's small blade cut through the straps that attached Levin's small shield to his arm, breaking the hunter's weapon and setting Levin's arm free. With a wild swing, Pugnax slammed his freed lance into the side of Levin's helmet, sending Levin tumbling to the ground, though Levin was up in an instant, his blind rage pushing him beyond pain.

Pugnax growled angrily as Levin glared at him, and looked around in surprise. The audience was cheering! They were ecstatic! Overjoyed! They were crying out for blood! His blood, not Levin's! Pugnax's hands began to shake, and he turned a red-hot glare at Levin. "You think I need my shield to beat you? You think I need anything other than my lance? This is my realm! My kingdom! I am a lord here! You're nothing, Levin! Just a soft-hearted fool! You threw away your chance of killing me and impaled it into Lilith's spine! No sword or shield; you can't beat me without a weapon, without your precious switch axe!"

Levin's eyes narrowed, and he growled viciously, before charging Pugnax again. The lancer raised his weapon to meet the assault, but Levin slid to the side, and the tip of the weapon slid just underneath his arm. Levin swung the arm around, twisting it about the lance and tightening his grip on it. The lancer pulled back, trying to free himself from the grip, but Levin twisted his other arm around the lance as well, trying to wrench the weapon free from Pugnax's grip. The red-armored hunter seethed viciously, and raised his other hand, bringing his hunters' knife down to pierce Levin's spine. But Levin slid forward, further up the lance, letting the knife glance off his thick shoulder armor, before loosening the grip on one of his arms and thrusting his crooked arm forward, smashing his elbow into Pugnax's exposed face.

Pugnax howled in pain, and Levin grinned brutally at the satisfying feeling of Pugnax's nose shattering under the force of his blow. With a fierce wrenching motion, Levin tugged at the man's weapon, and ripped the lance from Pugnax's grip, tossing the weapon to the floor of the arena. The red-armored hunter stumbled backwards clutching his nose with one hand and waving his hunter's knife wildly in front of him, trying to keep Levin away.

But Levin was not through with the man, not yet, and he charged Pugnax again, ducking past the flailing knife and smacking the blade aside before directly tackling Pugnax and slamming the lancer to the sandy stone floor, before climbing on top of the man and bringing both hands to either side of the general's red metal helmet and squeezing tightly, feeling the armored helm give under the force of his grip. He smiled viciously at the look of horror on Pugnax's face.

"Useless without my switch axe?" Levin growled, tightening his fists around Pugnax's helmet. The lancer struggled below him, trying to break loose. Levin could feel the metal bending under his grip, and Pugnax hissed in pain as the twisting metal bit into his skin. "You weak, cowardly, pathetic little man! You think hiding behind a shield will save you? Scales and metal and bits of bone, shaped into a useful form, that's all that my switch axe is, Pugnax!" Levin pulled the lancer's head up, making him wince as his neck was stretched, until his opponent's face was only a couple inches away from his.

"It's not my weapon you need to fear, Pugnax! It's ME! Weapon or no, armor or no, I will RIP YOUR THROAT OUT!"

Levin tore off the red metal helmet, cutting flesh on the jagged edges and flinging it across the arena before pulling his fist back and smashing it into Pugnax's undefended face. Over and over Levin punched and struck at the lancer as Pugnax tried to break free or defend himself. Fury burned through him and each blow just fueled the fire as Pugnax's face began to bruise and bleed under the onslaught. The roaring crowd fed the flames even further, and a feeling of joy began to swell in Levin's chest as he imagined the lancer reduced to sticky red pus under him.

But the lancer had more strength in him than Levin had thought he had left, and with a quick swing of his fist, Pugnax struck Levin in the side, followed by another blow to the side of the switch axe user's skull, knocking him off the lancer. Pugnax struggled to get to his feet before Levin could grab hold of him again, swaying wildly as he dragged himself towards the edge of the arena. Levin could hear the man trying to shout, but his voice was muddled and broken, and was easily overpowered by the sound of the roaring crowd. Levin hissed furiously. He was not going to allow Pugnax to run!

His gaze landed on the ground next to him, and Levin realized that he had landed next to where Pugnax's lance had rolled. With a wild, vicious grin, Levin reached to the floor and picked up the uncomfortable, unwieldy weapon, holding it awkwardly with the point aimed directly at Pugnax. By now the lancer had reached the curved wall of the Coliseum, and had leaned against the stone, trying to catch his breath as he turned his attention back to Levin. His eyes widened in horror at the sight of his own weapon being hoisted by Levin. He tried to wave his hands to signal something, but Levin immediately charged, rushing to impale Pugnax with his own weapon. The lancer was not going to get away from him this time!

"That's quite enough, I think."

Levin almost paused as a voice boomed through the arena, but kept charging, intent on ramming the spear in his hands through Pugnax's throat. But an unfamiliar hissing sound could be heard around him, and not ten feet away from where the lancer stood panting against the wall of the arena, Levin felt his legs buckle underneath him, and the hunter dropped to the floor. Levin cursed viciously as his muscles began to clench and spasm against his will. Pugnax had dropped to the floor as well, his arms and legs twitching wildly. Levin realized that several of the holes in the wall were releasing a pale yellow gas into the arena: the paralysis mist that he'd been told about, he realized. Moloch was cutting him off from killing him!

Levin roared in anger, his eyes blazing into Pugnax as the other hunter sank to the ground, trying to keep from falling before Levin. With the last vestiges of his strength, Levin pulled his arm back and flung the lance at Pugnax like a spear. The lancer's eyes widened in horror as the tip of the weapon sailed towards him, but the slow effects of the paralyzing gas had thrown off Levin's aim, and the point of the lance grazed Pugnax's shoulder, leaving a large scrape in the red metallic armor, before sailing past and crashing against the wall of the arena and bending horribly from the impact.

Fury seethed through Levin as his body refused to do what he wanted it to, and he tumbled to the ground, his muscles and nerves tight and unmoving from the paralysis effect. As his face hit the dirt, his eyes were aimed towards where Ellie was propped up against one of the columns. Her eyes were open, he realized, and though she seemed close to losing consciousness, with blood oozing from her wounds, she was still looking at him with a sad, worried expression. Levin felt his fury fizzle out a little bit at the expression. The look was breaking his heart. The two kept their eyes locked on each other, and the longer it lasted, the more Levin's anger faded, until he felt tired and empty, so much so that he couldn't even think about how swiftly and thoughtlessly he'd killed Lilith… he was more concerned with Ellie.

Despite her wounds, now that Levin looked closer, it didn't seem that the injuries she'd received from Pugnax and Lilith were as life-threatening as he'd previously thought they would be. She was in no condition to be out in the arena at all, and aside from the injuries she'd received from the Lagiacrus and Barroth they'd fought together, Levin doubted she'd gotten wounds as bad as these. But she wasn't nearly as close to death's door as Levin had been led to believe upon finally being allowed to step out from the antechamber. The paralyzing gas wasn't helping at all, though; Levin had to try and get her help as soon as he could. He could kill Pugnax later…

By the sound of things, it seemed like Moloch's decision to stop the fight was not one that was popular with the sponsors and gamblers in the audience. Booing and shouts of disapproval could be heard from all sides of the stands. They didn't seem to care that Levin was the one about to come out on top at all, but were simply furious to have been deprived of the bloodshed that they so desired, even if it was Lilith and Pugnax's blood that was spilt rather than his and Ellie's.

But even as guards appeared at his side, lifting him roughly to his feet, Levin couldn't help but wonder: why had Moloch stopped the fight? He certainly didn't care about Pugnax, or anyone but himself, Levin had no doubt, so why infuriate the crowd? What did he gain by doing so? And what was Kerry doing? Why hadn't she set the bombs off yet? The questions nagged at him, even as he was dragged out of the arena, chased away by the grumbling and frustration of the audience in the stands.

* * *

The crowd out in the stands was still angry when Levin and Ellie were shoved into Moloch's control booth up above the arena floor. Looking out over the collection of nobles, Levin could see several fights breaking out between some of the gamblers and their bookies, feeling completely gypped at the result of the fight, and demanding that they'd been cheated.

Levin cared little for the complaining masses out in the stands, which had gambled on his and Ellie's lives as though they nothing. At the moment he only had eyes for Ellie. Worried eyes, for that matter. The guards had rushed them straight from the arena to the control booth, despite Ellie's condition. They'd doped her with potions aplenty though, and roughly patched her wounds, so despite the burns and injuries that covered her exposed body, she was able to remain conscious and standing on her own power, though her expression was slightly glazed and unfocused.

But not long after they arrived in the booth, Pugnax appeared through another of the doors, looking just as battered and beaten as Ellie was, though most of the man's injuries appeared to be on his face thanks to the beating Levin had given him. He and Levin glowered angrily at each other upon catching each other's eyes, and the lancer growled viciously at him.

"You-"

"Shut the hell up, Pugnax, you imbecilic fool!"

The room went silent. Moloch had been standing at the control panel the entire time, his back turned to everyone else in the room. But as he turned about to look at them, Levin felt a shiver go up his spine. The man's eyes seemed to burn with fury and the promise of death. But the seething gaze was focused on just one person in the room: Pugnax.

"What the hell was that supposed to be, you pathetic excuse for a hunter? You got your ass handed to you in view of five hundred paying customers!"

"Hey!" Pugnax snapped. "I didn't need you to save me! I didn't need you to keep watch over me like some rookie!"

"You think I did this for your sake, Pugnax?" Moloch scoffed. "Hardly. Under other circumstances, it would have been nothing to just let Levin kill you as he would have. You're supposed to be infallible and undisputed leader of men! And look at you now, a failure, nearly dying to a boy that attacked you with but a shield! You don't deserve to live after an abysmal show like that!"

Pugnax frowned in confusion. "But I've… I'm… then why did you stop the fight?"

"Because you chose to be such a pathetic failure at such an inconvenient time!" the old man snapped. "Think, boy! How do you think the guards in Malefica are ordered? They are organized into four groups, each catering to the desires of various types of hunters! It's worked wonderfully so far, each to their own: the more thoughtful and cautious hunters work under Micah's command; those that desire strength and skill above all else side with Filcher; any that want nothing more than to fight and battle other hunters work with you; and the rest of the lunatics… those were Lilith's to command. But now... now you've gone and done a fine job of messing everything up!"

"What!" Pugnax balked. "What have I done?"

"You've nearly gone and thrown everything into chaos, you damn fool!" Moloch growled. "I almost lost control of a majority of my hunters thanks to you! Filcher's up and vanished like a fart in the wind, gone who-knows-where, and because you and Lilith were so stupidly sure of your victory over these two, the banshee's dead and you were a second away from having your face impaled upon your own lance! If just one of my generals were gone, I could find a replacement quickly enough, and maybe have some trouble fixing things if I lost two. But three? The rest of the guards would be out of control in a night, fighting for leadership of the four armies! Micah has his fair share of respect here, but you've gone and turned your own followers into brutal maniacs, and kicked up a rivalry between your subordinates! None of them would listen to him just out of spite! Right now I can't afford to have you gone, despite that abysmal performance you just gave!"

Pugnax glowered in anger at the words. "I didn't need your help!" the man snapped. "I would've been just fine!"

"Oh, really?" Moloch scoffed. "Please. You'd be a red stain on the inside of those Gigginox's bellies right now had it not been for me interfering. I let you live this time, Pugnax, but make no mistake: the next time you screw up like you did today, I will not so casually pull your ass out of the fire. And you had best stop feeling comfortable in your current position of dominance. As soon as I can find suitable replacements, I'm going to get the hunters back under the control of decent leaders. And after that show of pitiful intelligence and strength out there, you'd best hope none of your subordinates are too aggressive or power-hungry, or you'll quickly find yourself overtaken by someone more effective than yourself. I want intelligent men in positions of leadership here, not vengeance-hungry morons getting themselves killed over petty slights of pride!"

Levin could feel Pugnax seething at the words, just barely containing himself from assaulting the old man in fury. As Levin kept Ellie steady where she stood, he noticed that Micah had a pleased, amused look on his face, clearly enjoying the scathing words that Moloch was forcing onto Pugnax.

"You've made a right mess of things, you foolish lout. No doubt the confidence our customers have in my ability to provide has plummeted thanks to you… But contingencies have been prepared for just such an occasion as this. Things are not as hopeless as you might have made them. We can still recover from this. We'll just need to… accelerate a few of our plans before they've reached the ripeness I'd hoped for."

"Which plans?" Micah asked, a dark undertone to his voice.

"First we'll need to release some samples of that altered Felvine to our audience members," Moloch replied, rubbing his beard thoughtfully. "According to our chemists, we've finally managed to create a batch that offers humans the same effects that Felynes undergo. It should quite popular, though it's merely a carryover until we make something more… potent. It's not as addictive as I'd like, and there are some side effects that I'd like to be rid of as quickly as possible, but it will have to do for now. We'll keep the price low for now; once more of them succumb to addiction, we can start working up the price. And make sure they know that Malefica is the _only_ place they can buy it!"

"That can be arranged," Micah nodded. He seemed a bit relieved at Moloch's decision.

"Also… I suppose we'll have to start up the servitude program. That will rile them up a bit, especially after that show out there. Some of them have been asking about that rather persistently for a long while now. I have little doubt that the boy there will make a fine plaything for some high lady out in the stands… or high lord, I suppose. The girl might not sell for as much, but I'm sure we'll make a fine enough profit off her in the end despite the trouble the pair of them have given me since they arrived. Their friends too. I want them gone and out of my hair!"

Levin felt a chill go down his spine in horror. They were going to sell him into slavery! Him and Ellie! And Harker, and Kerry! He couldn't! Moloch had mentioned the idea, but Levin had thought…

"What? No!" Pugnax snapped. "Levin's mine! He's mine to kill! I'm the one-"

"Wrong!" Moloch barked. "He is mine! Mine to do with what I so please! All of Malefica is mine to do with what I will! And you? There's nothing here that's yours, not anymore! Right now, the only reason your life is still yours is due to my waning mercy. You'd best think twice before claiming that anything here is yours, whether it be a room or a bed or the clothes on your back! And be thankful for that much!"

Pugnax growled angrily, but Moloch shook his head, turning away from the man again. "Back to business… We'll need to really catch their eyes with the servitude program. Keep the third tier hunters besides these Lost off the shelves for now; we'll need them for some real battles to keep the audience's attention and trust back in the arena. But sell off those that we can… like those two huntresses we got from Orage Dell. That merchant lord from the east has been pestering me about those two for a while now, despite the injuries, and he's offering a generous price…"

"Hey, wait a minute!" Micah shouted.

"These interruptions are beginning to annoy me," Moloch hissed, but Micah persisted.

"Sir, with all due respect, you told me that I had responsibility and control over those two! I don't want them sold!"

Moloch groaned irritably. "Micah, I realize you feel some foolish desire to control them, maybe to care for them, but now is not the time to keep yourself bound by such foolish sentimentality! This organization needs to recover order, and if selling those two bitches is what it takes to keep control of the crowd, then that's what's going to happen!"

"You promised me!" Micah replied, his tone sliding closer to pleading.

"No, Micah," Moloch replied adamantly. "If you want, you can visit them wherever the merchant lord decides to stash them, but they are being sold, whether you want me to or not!"

"You can't!" Micah snapped. "I won't allow it! After all the years I've worked for you, all the loyalty I've had for you, you owe me at least this much!"

"_I_ owe _you_?…" Moloch's eyes flared furiously for a moment, but a moment later the anger faded and the man smiled apologetically. Micah looked relieved at the change in attitude. "Yes, perhaps you're correct Micah. You have been loyal for many years. I did say that you could keep an eye on them, after all. But… the merchant lord won't be pleased that we're holding them back from him, especially after so long, and after he's been so very persistent."

"I'm sure I can convince him otherwise," Micah said acidly, and Moloch chuckled.

"I'm sure that won't be necessary," Moloch said, walking over to Micah. "But there are ways we can divert his attention for a little while. We'll need to be cautious about how we approach this… the man is one of our greatest contributors after all."

"What do I need to do?" Micah asked enthusiastically, and Moloch grinned.

"How very energetic of you! It's rather simple really. All you need to do, Micah-"

Micah suddenly gasped. With a wheezing cough the hunter stepped away from Moloch, and Levin stared in shock. A long, elaborately decorated knife was wedged in to the long sword user's side, and a wide stain of blood was beginning to spread across Micah's shirt. The hunter gaped in shock at the wound, as though he didn't know what had happened, and couldn't believe that it had actually occurred.

"You've always been too sentimental for this line of work," Moloch muttered, shaking his hand in disgust as he wiped specs of blood off onto a handkerchief. "Honestly, I might have done this earlier if you weren't so wonderfully loyal."

"I don't…" Micah sputtered. His legs were starting to shake, and he stumbled, needing to lean against the wall to stay standing. "Why? Why are you-"

"Because you seem to have developed the idea that you're better than me!" Moloch snapped. "Loyalty and dedication is expected, Micah! It's not something that I should have to award you for! You think you can make demands of me, Micah? Nobody can give or take anything in this city unless I say so! Nobody, you understand? I control everything in Malefica, you hear me! I owe you nothing!"

The room was silent as Moloch glared at the hunter as blood began to spill onto the floor. The old man sighed in frustration. "After all that mess to keep Pugnax alive… At least your subordinates won't be too troublesome. They'll stay in line for a while… a fair bit longer if we just tell them you're on a private mission or something like that. Much easier than having them all know you're dead…"

"I've have been… nothing but loyal to you," Micah gasped.

"Yes, you have, exactly as I wanted it, which makes this that much more of a loss," Moloch replied.

"Exactly as…"

Moloch gave Micah a calculated look and shrugged nonchalantly. "Of course. All of my most trusted generals are picked very meticulously for their certain loyalty to me. It's the most valuable attribute in this line of work, so those chosen are picked with great care. And in some cases, I go so far as to make sure they are bred for the job."

"Bred?"

Moloch smirked in amusement. "Yes, bred. Like you."

Micah looked absolutely baffled. "But I… I joined you because of my mother…"

Moloch laughed. "Yes, that was one of my better schemes. Two birds with one stone, as they say!"

"I don't understand…"

"I suppose you wouldn't," Moloch replied. "I'll simplify it for you as quickly as I can. In short, at that time, myself and the men in my organization back in the old world were in search of a rat, some sneak that was giving away our secrets to the police at the time. He was hiding in that ruin of an apartment building you called a home at the time. We knew he was there; all we needed to do was smoke him out. And so my lackeys did just that, and in the most literal way possible."

Micah's eyes widened. "You…"

Moloch nodded. "Yes. It was remarkably easy to blame it on faulty wiring or some… other stupid thing, I can't remember exactly what. Of course there were casualties, worthwhile sacrifices made to be rid of the snitch that was giving away my secrets. But there was a call for aid then, an annoying donation fund that cluttered commercials and radio waves for weeks. It was all very tiring." Then the man smiled. "But then again, that was what gave me one of the better plans I've had, which is saying something. It was so simple! All I needed to do was act the noble philanthropist and offer to pay for the treatment of those wounded by my own actions, and I might be able to gain some loyal followers right from the start."

Micah's face was indescribable, a mix of horror. "No… you… from the beginning, you…"

"Yes, exactly! My plan worked just as expected! I managed to get six of the most loyal followers I ever could have dreamed of obtaining, willing to do anything I asked, even though I was the one that killed and maimed their families and friends in the first place! A shame that none of the other five were able to accompany me here to this 'hunter's world' as well, but you did well enough as I rebuilt my empire. You were always the frailest and most emotional of the six, but you were more than enough. A shame it had to come to this, with your reach exceeding your grasp. But for the amount of time you've been useful to me, I'd say you were still a profitable expense. I might have to raise more like yourself…"

"No… no…" Micah muttered painfully. "Everything I've done…"

"Yes, yes, it was all for naught, and all that nonsense… Actually it's been some time since I heard someone say that to me. It's rather refreshing, to be honest. But I'm afraid that I have no more time to spend on you, Micah. Take him down to his room and wait for him to die. Tell people… he was attacked by the Lost here and needs medical attention."

A pair of guards moved in to take hold of Micah. The man seemed completely destroyed. "No… no… you… because of you, I…" One of the guards grabbed hold of his shoulders, and suddenly the man lashed out. "No! Damn you!"

The guard howled in pain and blood sprayed across the wall of the booth. The guard reeled back in pain, clutching his face as blood poured from a wide gash across his face. Levin realized that Micah had ripped the knife Moloch had used on him out from where he'd been stabbed, and was brandishing it against the guards that were coming for him. The other guard paused uncertainly as his partner stumbled away, howling in pain, but the hesitation was a mistake as Micah flung the knife at the man, sending in sinking into the guard's chest and dropping him to the floor.

"Stop him!" Moloch roared, but the confusion at Micah's sudden fury kept the guards from reacting quickly enough, and the long sword user turned his attention at the old man himself. Moloch yelped in fright as Micah charged directly at him, ignoring the wound in his side and roughly grabbing hold of the old man's throat.

"You took everything from me!" Micah roared furiously, smashing Moloch furiously against the glass. "My mother, my home… All these crimes I've committed for you… you took away my life!"

"Let go of me, damn you!" Moloch gasped, struggling to break free of Micah's grip. "Someone get him off me, dammit!" But the confusion and shock of the guards in the room was long enough for Micah to unsheathe his hunter's knife and press it to the old man's throat. The guards that were making their way to help paused, uncertain how to proceed.

"You've taken… everything I've ever cared for," Micah hissed. "You've turned me… turned me into a monster like you. You… you… everything is your fault!"

"Think this through, boy," Moloch sputtered desperately, and Micah growled furiously, pressing the knife even closer. "Perhaps… no, certainly the fire was my fault. But I healed your mother didn't I? I gave her a new life, didn't I? I didn't force you to do what you did! You did it all on your own! And I've given you a life, haven't I? I've given you wealth and safety and all you've ever wanted! Perhaps I've overreacted about that girl down below… you can have her and the other one if you like! They're yours to do with what you wish! Take them!"

Micah hesitated, but the blade against Moloch's throat didn't pull away. Through his fear and desperation, the man growled angrily. "Damn you Micah, let go of me! Release me already! You owe me too much to kill me like this!"

Fury seethed back into Micah's eyes, and he bore his teeth in a vicious snarl. "I owe you? I OWE YOU? Damn you, you black-hearted bastard, I owe you nothing! I've paid my debt to you with the crimes I've committed for you tenfold!"

"What do you want from me?" Moloch snapped. "I'll give you what you want! What have your sins earned you, boy? The girl? She's yours! The other one too! You want rid of me? I'll let you leave Malefica, and take them with you! Do what you will with yourself, if you think you can do anything without me! If you've got a price, name it, Micah!"

Micah glared at Moloch for a moment, before responding in a low voice. "What I want? What do I want?" With a quick motion Micah yanked Moloch away from the console, dragging him over to the open balcony overhanging the arena. Micah shoved Moloch forward, and the old man cried out in horror as Micah smashed him into the railing, holding him precariously over a long twenty yard drop straight down. "You can't give me what I want!"

Moloch screamed in terror as he struggled to grasp hold of the railing or anything to keep him from falling. From the window, Levin could see the sponsors in the crowd pointing up at the booth, shock and confusion in their expressions. Below, the sickening rasping noises of the Gigginox pair cleaning up the arena could be heard growing louder, curious anticipation in their tones.

"Please Micah! Name your price! Whatever it is you want, I'll get it for you!"

Micah roared in anger, and his knife plunged down, piercing Moloch's side in the same place that his own injury was. The old man howled in pain, and Micah stared down at his furiously. "I want my life back you son of a bitch!" He pushed the man, and Moloch toppled over the edge of the railing and down into the arena.

There was silent shock in the control booth for a second, though Levin could hear an audible gasp come from the crowd, and an excited squeal came from the Gigginox pair below, followed by a sickening crunch and a horrible scream of pain. Immediately, the guards in the room rushed to the window, jostling Levin and Ellie along with them as they pushed to see what had happened. Levin looked down into the arena, though he could already imagine what he would see. Moloch lay on the edge of the arena. He was still alive, but Levin could see that the fall had not treated him well. Both the man's legs were broken, as well as one of his arms; all three appendages were twisted and snapped at odd angles that made Levin cringe.

"Micah… Micah! Damn you!" the old man howled in furious pain. Even through his injuries, his rage was focused on his former subordinate. Then he realized how many people were looking down at him. "Someone… someone get me out of here!"

But silence emanated through the arena, with only his voice filling the room. The backers and benefactors looked down at the man in shock. "Get… get me out! Now! I order someone to get me out!" His voice trailed off, as a moist suction-like sound caught his attention from behind. Moloch struggled to turn, and found himself face-to-face with the Gigginox pair that had been sent into the arena to clean up the 'mess' left behind. The old man howled in horror, trying to scoot away from the creatures, but his shattered legs prevented him from moving quickly at all. He howled in terror, trying to escape as the two rubbery creatures crawled after him menacingly, and he called to the guards, the hunters, anyone who might be able to help him escape the creature.

Levin kept expecting bowgunners armed with Sleep Shot to appear from the antechambers, but this was Malefica, the Crimson Coliseum. There was no saving anyone who could fight well enough in the arena. Such preparations weren't made to save a hunter's life when they were cornered by a monster. Not here.

"Someone! Please! I'll pay anything! Anyone! Help me! Save me!" But none moved. They simply sat and watched. The Gigginox closed in on him, growling and snapping at each other greedily, and still none came to the man's aid. Then the larger of the Gigginox forced its way past the other and lunged at Moloch in a fit of hunger, and Moloch screamed in horror. Levin turned away, though the others in the booth and in the stands watched on. Even though he hated Moloch, he couldn't bear to watch what happened next. The scream was soon cut off, and the wet, noisy sound of the Gigginox eating filled the silence of the arena. It was a sound that Levin had heard many times since arriving in Malefica, but now, with the silence of the coliseum being so piercing, every noise and crunch could be heard clearly. It just seemed so much more… _profound_ this time.

Eventually light murmuring and whispering began to filter back through people's throats as sponsors and backers out in the stands hissed worried words and fears to each other. Were they safe here anymore, if the master of the house had been so… unceremoniously killed? Some of the guards around began to look between themselves worriedly, uncertain what to do.

"Someone grab him! Capture the traitor Micah, before he escapes! And restrain the other captives as well!"

A mad frenzy erupted in the viewing booth at the barked orders. The guards, desperate for some form of authority to latch to, immediately followed the orders, despite not knowing the source. Levin found himself roughly grabbed and pulled against the a wall, the guards pushing him down and glaring at him as though he had been the one that had thrown Moloch off the ledge. Ellie and Micah weren't treated much better, despite their injuries, and the guards around Micah actually seemed like they'd be willing to kill the man right then and there. But another couple shouts, sharp orders, cut them off and pulled the men into line, standing at the ready.

And before them all stood Pugnax, looking every bit the leader of the guards, and not showing weakness or hesitation at all. He gave off the appearance as though he belonged in charge of them all, and even the wounds and bruises that Levin had given him not long ago seemed to enhance his image. The man had effortlessly stepped into the leadership role that had so abruptly opened up by Moloch's death, and the guards in the booth had readily accepted it.

"It may look as though things have gone to hell here," Pugnax said, addressing the guards. He looked poignantly at Micah, held tightly by two of the red-armored men, but the former hunter was pale, and looked as though his consciousness was fading fast. "But I won't allow this place to fall apart. Moloch may be gone, but his organization, this haven for men like us, will not fall. I won't allow it. The old man may not be able to lead us anymore, but I can in his place."

There was some uncertain muttering in the room, but most of the guards seemed to accept the man's words. Despite his loss, with the loss of Moloch the men seemed desperate to find new leadership, and with Micah's betrayal, Lilith dead, and Filcher missing, there was only one option available. It seemed that the lancer had far more popularity than Levin had thought. This whole situation was spiraling out of control… neither he nor the others had counted on Moloch dying like he had, and Pugnax was working quickly to wrest control of Malefica into his own grip… What was Kerry doing? If something didn't happen quickly, things would take a turn for the worst.

"The details of leadership can wait for now," Pugnax continued, speaking with authority. None of the guards were disputing his words at all. "For now… go calm the sponsors, tell them there has been a bit of a hitch, but the show will go on as planned. We still have that cursed woman ready to fight. Promise them a messy fight, and they'll forget about Moloch quickly enough. And as for Micah… send him to the cells. We have no use for traitors in this organization. Go on, now."

Several of the guards filed out, following the orders without question. Micah was dragged through the door without a struggle, leaving a trail of blood in his wake. There were only a few guards left in the booth now, but still enough to keep Levin and Ellie held down. Pugnax waited until the door closed before turning a vicious smirk in Levin's direction.

"Well, things have turned up quite strangely, haven't they?" the lancer asked. "I never imagined things would turn out like this. Not so quickly at least. I suppose I owe Micah a favor… I doubt he'll live long enough to be repaid though. You however…" The man made a show of slowly removing his hunters' knife from its sheathe. "I still have plenty of time to make sure you receive your just rewards for what you've done to me. Lilith was merely a fun distraction, but I will miss her company, so I'll make sure to pay you back for her death as well. I'll try my best to emulate what I'm sure she would have done to you."

Pugnax twirled the blade nimbly between his fingers, before reaching forward and grasping Levin tightly around the neck with his free hand. The two guards flanking Levin backed quickly away as he chocked and gasped for breath, trying to wrench his hands free of his binds, but being unable to. Despite her injuries, Ellie began shouting and cursing and struggling against her captors trying to free herself to help him. Pugnax smiled viciously and held the blade up to Levin's face.

"We've got a little bit of time before your friend meets her end in the arena. I'll make sure to save her corpse so you can see the results of what happens when you cross me. But until then, I've sure I can give you a small taste of what to expect from me while I savor the rest of our time together. I will make your suffering very slow and very, very painful Levin. I will carve a true vision of horror into that foolishly noble head of yours! Before the end, death will be a release for you, and you will be begging me to-"

The stone earth under Levin lurched violently, and for a moment Levin felt as though he was falling through the air. His feet hit the earth and he tumbled to the floor roughly, smashing his shoulder painfully against the stone. A clattering noise rattled past his ear, and a cold feeling pressed up against his arm, followed by a small but sharp pain. He heard Pugnax cursing and some of the guards yelping in surprise. Screams of shock and fear could be heard coming in from the stands outside, and a deep, emanating rumbling sound continued to shake the arena floor.

Levin realized finally what the earlier cold feeling had been; Pugnax had dropped his knife! As quickly as he could, he tried to twist himself around to grab it, finally getting hold of it and immediately working the blade against the bonds that held him. He could hear the guards recovering though, and the sound of a scuffle broke out nearby, making Levin hurry all the faster to free himself before the shock from the explosion wore off. With a satisfying snap, the ropes broke, and Levin pushed himself to his feet. A baton lay nearby on the floor, and Levin grabbed it, before lunging at one of the confused guards and striking the man over the head. The man dropped to the floor with a thud, knocked out immediately, and Levin turned to continue his fight with the rest of the guards.

But there were no more guards. Levin looked around in surprise. There had been six guards in the room, and he'd taken out one, but the others were already unconscious. Had they hit their heads? Levin realized that Ellie was standing over one of them, holding the man by the collar brushing her hands off on his coat. She was wearing a satisfied expression on her face. She looked quickly at Levin and smiled thankfully when she saw he was alright, before turning and glaring at the guard she held before clocking him in the jaw and letting him fall to the floor.

"I can't believe I was ever afraid of these guys…" she muttered sourly. "They really skimp on the training here, don't they? They're good and tough when they're armed and you're not, but catch them off guard and they fall like flies…" She glared at Levin. "You could have told me Kerry's distraction would be as big as it was! I was expecting a couple bombs, not an earthquake!"

Levin chuckled lightly, glad that Ellie was so spirited. "Francis said there were only a few bombs. I didn't think it would be that big, either. I guess those Anti-Dragon Bombs were just as powerful as he said they'd be…"

"Anti-Dragon…? Levin, you really need to pay attention better," Ellie sighed, shaking her head in dismay. "Don't you remember? Marshall told us that they use Anti-Dragon bombs to ward off the Jhen Mohran when it comes around to attack Loc Lac. Those are bombs specifically made for elder dragons. Of course they'd have enough power to damage even Meridian stone! I mean, you should try to-"

The huntress' voice cut off with a cough, and Ellie reeled over in pain, clutching her chest painfully. Levin rushed over to her, grabbing hold of her shoulders as she coughed fitfully, spitting out a mist of bright red blood from her mouth. The loose bandages that wrapped around her lit up with the color of blood as the wounds she'd received from Lilith and Pugnax opened. She struggled to get back to her feet, but her legs gave out from underneath her, and Levin realized that her face had gotten pallid. She gave him a weak smile though.

"Hah. I guess… I guess I'm still a little worn out from my fight earlier. I must've gotten some adrenaline when I thought Pugnax was going to hurt you… Wait, Pugnax!"

Levin jolted in shock, realizing that he hadn't seen Pugnax amongst the bodies of the guards, and turned to look for the man. But the room was completely empty, aside from Levin, Ellie, and the unconscious guards. The door on the far side of the room was ajar, however. Levin realized that the man must have made a break for it when the explosions had gone off, but before he and Ellie had finished off the guards. For a moment, anger welled up in Levin, and he was tempted to chase after the man, but another groan of pain pulled Levin's attention back to Ellie, and he hurriedly tried to staunch her injuries.

It was a very wrenching few minutes for Levin. The sounds of panic and screaming coming from the benefactors out in the stands, as well as the continuous wrenching and shifting of the now unbalanced arena certainly weren't helping at all. The injuries that Lilith and Pugnax had inflicted upon Ellie weren't as horrible as he'd first thought, but they were numerous, and all of them in the most painful locations possible, without being excessively lethal. Lilith and Pugnax had certainly wanted the huntress to suffer before they killed her… had Levin not been lucky enough to defeat them in his delirious rage. Thankfully, there were a few emergency medical materials tucked into one of the corners of the room, so Levin was able to do what he could to patch his beloved up to the best of his abilities, though he was not nearly as skilled as a doctor, or even adequate at battlefield medicine. The best he could do was patch the wounds as best he could, though it wasn't nearly enough to truly heal the injuries… maybe he could threaten one of the Malefica doctors? He needed to do something!

"Looks like those bombs made quite a mess of things…"

Levin spun around quickly, brandishing the hunter's knife he'd gotten from Pugnax, but he realized that the one speaking was Richard, flanked by a pair of other hunters. The three of them were wearing makeshift armor, an awkward mess of different materials and all of it improperly sized. They all seemed awkward in what they had on, and their weapons weren't too much better. Levin knew that Richard was a long sword user, but the man had a lance hooked under his arm, and was clearly carrying it uncomfortably, though not improperly. The other two seemed worse off, however, looking at the weapons they'd scavenged with clear discomfort.

Levin relaxed a little bit. He'd been expecting some of the guards to have returned, not allies. "Did you rescue any doctors?" He asked quickly. "Ellie is… Pugnax, he…"

A flash of bright red rushed past Richard, and Levin stumbled back as Kerry suddenly shoved past him, looking down worriedly at Ellie. Ellie seemed surprised at her friend's sudden appearance, but smiled thankfully as the redhead began apologizing profusely to her.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, Ellie! I was supposed to set off the bombs, I know, but… when they sent you out there all by yourself to fight those two… those two…" Kerry bit off a curse so foul that almost everyone in the room balked in shock at the words. "I'm sorry, Ellie, I was just so angry that I lost control and forgot myself. I tried to break out of that room to help, but I wasn't able to get past the guards, and I…"

"Kerry. Kerry!" Ellie said soothingly. "It's alright. I know you tried to help. You did everything you could, I'm sure. And you set off those bombs too, which was wonderfully timed."

Levin glanced at Richard as the blonde hunter chuckled a bit. The long sword user leaned in close and lowered his voice. "She says she wasn't able to get past the guards in the prep room, but she got close. When we found her there after the bombs had gone off, she'd killed four and knocked out three others, along with breaking every piece of furniture and shelving that there was. They had to chain her and hogtie her to keep her from doing any more damage, and she still managed to break one of her bonds and send a bomb down into the storage room below."

"Do you know where I can find one of the Malefica doctors?" Levin asked quickly. He grimaced sadly, looking at Ellie. "I'll do whatever it takes to drag one of them here if I have to…"

Richard nodded, motioning to one of the former captives behind him, a man awkwardly carrying a large hammer in his hands. The man sighed thankfully, dropping the weapon to the floor and letting the heavy weapon smash against the Meridan stone, before hurrying over to look over Ellie. Levin pulled away from his beloved warily for a moment, before noting that the man certainly had the keen eye of someone that had studied medicine, at least more so than he had.

"We found him on the way here," Richard explained, looking out into the arena. "Apparently Moloch kept an entire wing of cells filled with prisoners that weren't hunters. There were almost fifty of them… that didn't stop them from wanting to rampage through the compound with the rest of us that had gotten free though."

For the first time since the Anti-Dragon bombs had gone off, Levin looked out the windows of the booth, realizing how the arena had changed since then. The bombs truly were weapons designed for taking down elder dragons, considering the terrible damage they'd done to the Meridian stone of Malefica. The floor of the coliseum had ruptured straight down the middle, creating a massive rift that broke the earth itself. Now that Levin listened closely, he realized that there were more sounds coming from the stands now. Shouts of anger and the clanging of steel against steel sounded, and Levin could see more hunters in poorly-coordinated armor fighting their way through the halls and stands in one of the corners of the arena. Screams of fear and begging could be heard as well as the benefactors and gamblers scattered, trying to bribe the freed captives for their lives. Some of the escapees seemed to have received orders to keep as many of the sponsors alive as possible, and were tying up the surrendering nobles… but many were cut down in the rage of the prisoners, either because they hadn't heard the request for them to be taken captive, or because they'd ignored the appeal.

"Where's Moloch at?" Richard asked, pulling Levin's attention away from the ensuing chaos. "If we can get him, the Guild's work will be far, far easier. He hasn't escaped, has he?"

"No…" Levin muttered, glancing down into the arena. The Gigginox pair were still scuttling around, uncaring of the chaos around them, licking at bloodstains on the floor and picking at the remains of anything deceased inside. "He's dead."

Richard frowned in disappointment, but nodded in understanding. "Did you…?"

"No… it was Micah. He… I'll explain later. I've got to get back and free the rest of the prisoners."

"I'm going too," Kerry said sternly, getting to her feet and stepping away from Ellie. "I know the fastest ways around the women's cell blocks, and can free them quickly. Besides… Pugnax and Lilith's subordinates are the ones on guard of those blocks today, and I'm not satisfied. Not yet. They tormented all of us in that block… and I'll make sure…"

"Be quick," Richard replied. "Empty out the rest of the cells as soon as possible. It won't be long before word of what's happening spreads through the Downs. If the guards are smart, they'll barricade themselves somewhere safe, and use the rest of the captives as hostages… or worse. Desperate men commit desperate acts. Try to capture those you can, if you can. No sense letting them die when Filcher pulls whatever he's got up his sleeve to bring this place down. I'll gather up those that I can and try to take the doors and as many wagons that we can get our hands on. We'll need as much transport as possible for all the captives they have here."

Then the blonde hunter looked over in to the corner of the room, where the refurbished Gatling gun sat waiting, as though ready at any time to be used for its intended purpose. Richard seemed to contemplate something for a long moment, before shaking his head. "No… never mind. I suppose there are some things of the Lost that shouldn't exist, no matter their power or purpose. Something like this could be used at one of the fortresses, but… I suppose this thing is better off going down along with the rest of Malefica."

Levin nodded, but gave a worried glance at Ellie. Richard smiled encouragingly. "Don't worry, I'll make sure she's kept safe. Trust me, preventing loss of life is the most important thing right now." He looked quickly out the window to where many captives were still charging through the audience booths. "Well… for the most part. I'll try and calm them down, though. And we'll try and find the controls for the front gates as well, though it may take some experimenting with that panel…"

"Thanks," Levin replied.

"Oh, yes, and before you go," Richard said quickly, a worried look on his face. "My father is somewhere in Malefica. I'm not sure exactly which cell block they're keeping him in, but…"

"I'll look for him," Levin promised.

"Thank you," Richard replied thankfully. "It would also be nice if you could find my old Rathalos armor and my long sword, but more than anything, I'd like to know that my father is still alright."

"I'll do what I can on both accounts."

"Much obliged," Richard said, before Levin and Kerry hurried out of the room.

Outside Moloch's booth, there were over a dozen liberated hunters milling about, looking ready to fight. One explained that they were there to help him free the rest of the imprisoned hunters, chosen as such for their calm attitudes. Levin was a bit uncertain, unused to being in command, but nodded quickly and hurried off. He had a lot to do. Maybe he could try and find his armor and weapon while he was at it… not to mention he had to keep an eye out for Pugnax, wherever the bastard had gone into hiding. Then Francis could set off whatever traps he had planned to bring this place down, and finally after that…

Freedom.

* * *

Micah stumbled as he made his way down the dark hallway, nearly losing his footing as yet another rippling quake shivered through the earth below him. Several hunters and guards were running past, and tripped up as they continued to run. The explosions that had gone off below the arena not long ago had been heard through the whole city and spooked almost everyone, and now many people that Micah had seen were frightened and running, many of them clearly trying to escape Malefica. The city seemed to be falling apart. But the Coliseum still stood. It hadn't fallen yet.

Which meant that Micah still had time.

He didn't know why he was doing what he was doing. He'd managed to shake loose of his captors and run when the explosions had shaken the city, but the pain in his side was overpowering, and he could hardly think straight, much less keep moving as he was. But he pressed on, ignoring the burning, piercing agony that bit into him. He knew he was leaving a red trail of blood behind him as he staggered through the halls of the Coliseum, but anyone that got close enough to see it didn't care enough to stop. They were too concerned with their own survival. They had no time to take the lives of anyone else into account. This entire structure swelled with selfishness.

And he had helped create it. But there was nothing he could do about that now. Whatever sort of place the Coliseum was, it was falling apart because of whatever Levin had done, or whatever whoever was working together with him had done. It had to have been Levin… he'd incited Pugnax into fighting him, despite his aversion to fighting other hunters. But there were things that needed to be done before this structure could fall, crimes he had to pay for before he died, before he succumbed to the wound that Moloch had given him.

Micah felt himself gasp in misery at the mere thought of the man he had thought of as a father figure for so many years. The wound on his side throbbed even more painfully, and he stumbled, falling to his knees and gasping for breath as he clutched his side. His vision swam, and he was growing dizzy, but he still forced himself to his feet again, and continued to press on. He wasn't done… he was still alive. He had to keep moving. There was something that needed to be done before death took him.

He wasn't sure how long it took him to get to the women's cell block. Pain was dulling his senses even more than it had been before, and the passing of other people in the hallway began to blur together into a fluid haziness. The occasional shaking of the floor below him was the only thing that slowed him down at all on his way; everyone else was running around, trying to figure out what was going on. But still Micah pressed on. Darkness began to encroach on the edge of his vision, his vision swam, and he wondered if he was even going the right way anymore.

It wasn't until he realized that he was actually looking into Kim and Nat's cell that he figured out that he'd managed to make it so his location. Kim was glaring at him, anger and hate in her eyes, though there was a touch of confusion in them as well. Micah wondered how much of his pain was showing on his face. Could she see the blood that covered him? Was she worried about what he was here for?

Nat was… awake, but in pain, much as she had been for the last couple of weeks. She wasn't looking at him in anger; she didn't seem to have the energy for that. But she certainly seemed to be trying to brace herself for whatever he'd come there for. He supposed he didn't blame her for that.

Rapid footfalls came from around the corner, and a guard rushed around the corner, shouting frantically. "I couldn't find the keys, Miss Kimberly. All the guards are in a fuss about the quakes, and I can't find anyone that can-"

The man froze when he caught sight of Micah. The long sword user turned to face the guard (What was his name… Stephan? That sounded right…) who looked Micah over warily, taking note of the spreading red blot that was covering his side. Micah could see the man contemplating his odds; he was no hunter, but could he manage to bring Micah down before he managed to pull out his long sword? Micah figured he could. The long sword user barely had enough strength to stand at the moment, let alone fight off an attacker.

Micah's hand dropped to his pockets, and Stephan tensed nervously. But all Micah did was pull out a small ring of keys, much to the guard's surprise. Micah numbly flicked through the selection of gold and silver he carried, before finding the one he sought, and pushing the key into Kim and Nat's door. Both the huntresses' eyes widened in surprise as the bolt clicked open. Kim tore away from Nat's side, rushing forward towards the door, eyes full of anger and determination.

But Micah's strength gave out before the huntress got to the door, and he stumbled backwards, slumping against the opposite wall as Kim burst out of the cell, eyes glaring down at him. Her eyes widened in surprise at him for a moment; Micah supposed she really hadn't been able to see his injuries after all. But that likely wouldn't save him, he realized, as her fists clenched in hate. Micah didn't suppose she had any mercy for him. He knew this would likely end in his death. But he didn't mind.

More footsteps stopped Kim from throwing herself down on him, and both she and Stephan turned in worry as armored feet made their way towards them. But the person that came around the corner was that woman that Pugnax hated, Kerrigan, as well as a half-dozen other hunters, each wearing armor that was clearly theirs and weapons that they were skilled with. The woman had somehow found her old armor in the storeroom that it had been left in, as well as her old bowgun, and appeared far more menacing than she had before. She hurried down the hallway, receiving shouts and requests for freedom from the other hunters on the cell block. She continued to run down the hall towards Stephan and Kim though, sparing only a cursory glance at Micah on the ground, before writing him off.

"We've got to go, now!" she said quickly. "The entire Coliseum is in an uproar right now, and things are in chaos! If we're going to escape, we've got to do it now!"

"Wait, wait, what's going on?" Kim asked quickly. "What did you guys do? The entire Coliseum has been shaking!"

"We blew up some bombs under the arena after Levin and Ellie fought Pugnax and Lilith in the arena," Kerry explained quickly. "It's made the entire complex… unstable, and things might fall apart soon. Richard's capturing as many of the rich folk as he can and collecting our transport out of here, and Levin's off to free the men's blocks and rig up a trap to finish the job once and for all. Also, Moloch is dead, so the benefactors of this place are in a panic. We need to use this chance to-"

"Moloch's dead?" Stephan asked in astonishment. "Wait, how? I thought Richard wanted him alive!"

Kerry frowned at the interruption. She gave a poignant look at Micah. "He did it," she said simply, and both Kim and Stephan's eyes widened in shock. Micah didn't say anything; he was too tired to move anymore. Kim opened her mouth to ask more, but Kerry cut her off with a sharp look. "We can talk more later, once we're gone from here! We've got to get the rest of the hunters out of their cells in this block. Levin should be off to get Harker and the hunters in the other blocks. Now where are the keys? Quickly now! It will take time to unlock all of the cells, and we'll need to be quick if we want to do it before the building collapses."

"There's a switch," Micah muttered quietly. The three standing over him looked down at the words. Micah struggled to hold up the key ring, motioning to an oddly-shaped key, made of white stone. "There's a hatch under the… the desk at the… the end of the hall. If you… you… open it, there's a lever underneath. If you… if you pull it, it will… will open all of the cells… on this… block all at once. All the blocks have one like it…"

Kim snatched the keys out of Micah's hand and he slouched further down the wall. The huntress quickly passed the keys to Kerrigan, who took them and ran off up the hallway. Stephan hurried into the cell to check up on Nat, and soon emerged from the cell carrying the former huntress on his back. However, though she checked to make sure Nat was alright, once she had given Kerry the keys Kim turned back, and kept her eyes on Micah untrustingly. Likely she thought he was lying, and was looking for an excuse to kill him.

But from the ceiling, a loud hissing sound emanated from the walls, and with a symphony of clicking sounds, every cell door from one end of the block to the other unlocked and swung open. There was a moment of silence before cheers rose up from the formerly incarcerated, and a wave of people swept from the cells. Kim looked around in amazement as the hunters clustered together, shouting and crying at the joy of freedom. Kerry reappeared from the far end of the block and shouted over the dim.

"Now's not the time for celebration!" her voice boomed over the chattering hunters, and the hall was silent. "We're not quite free yet! Many guards will be standing between here and open air! There's a storeroom close by where all the things that were taken from us were put, as well as some other goods, and we'll need to get whatever we can if we're going to fight our way out of here!"

The thought of having to fight, after so long wasting away in the cells seemed to discourage some hunters, but Kerry continued. "Don't lose hope! This organization is in chaos! The leaders are dead and scattered, and only the weak or stupid remain behind! We're going to arm ourselves, and destroy anyone that gets between us and freedom! The guards called you the Dead, but we'll make them eat those words! Any that try to stop us will find that the dead still have some fight in them!"

A cheer rose up from the captives, and the small army slowly began to work their way towards the arena, and towards the exit. An excited and bloodthirsty look alighted upon Kim's face for a moment, before it was replaced by a look of worry as she turned to check on Nat. The wounded hunter, however, smiled weakly at her friend.

"Go on ahead of me," Nat said quietly. "You're one of the strongest hunters here, so they'll need your help getting through the guards. Make sure to clean away any threats. I'm sure Stephan here can help get me out of here well enough."

"He better," Kim growled, and Stephan nodded nervously and tightened his grip on Nat. Kim stared menacingly at Stephan for a moment longer, before nodding in acceptance. She turned and glowered at Micah, before kneeling down next to him. Micah looked at her wearily. The blood flow from his side was beginning to slow down.

"I won't kill you, even though I should," Kim growled. "But the least I can do is take consolation in knowing that when this place comes down, you'll be buried underneath it. It's a better punishment than you deserve, you bastard."

"Hurry up, Kim," Nat urged her friend. "They'll be leaving soon, and you and Kerry will need to be at the front."

"Right, right," Kim nodded, pushing herself to her feet. She gave one last look to make sure Nat was secure, before running off after the other hunters to prepare to push their way to freedom.

The hall was mostly empty now, save for a few stragglers, those that were too wounded or weary to help fight against the guards that would stand between them and freedom. A few friends and non-hunters stuck back to help those that needed helping. It gave Micah an odd feeling, seeing everyone freed and leaving their cells. As the last of the people began to leave, Stephan began to move towards the exit with Nat on his back. However the huntress quickly stopped him, ordering him over to where Micah lay. The former hunter looked up painfully as the two approached, and struggled to focus on them, though doing so was a challenge.

"Why are you doing this?" Nat asked, looking down from Stephan's hold on her. "Why save us? Why let us go? You could have saved yourself and escaped this place."

Micah could feel his consciousness fading. His clothes were wet with his own blood. He felt… cold. His vision was fading away. He could feel death's hand on him, pulling at him.

"Because I have nothing left," he said quietly. "I once thought… I believed that you were mine to use, to see to, to… to protect and care for. It was stupid, and selfish, but this… is all that remains to me. I want to think… to think that I've protected at least one thing before… before I die. All I could think of was to release you, and now I've done it… I can… I can't…"

Micah felt his arm slump to his side. He couldn't move or speak anymore. All of his strength was gone now. He couldn't keep his eyes open much longer anymore. His eyes remained on Nat as the last of his strength failed, and hers were on him, watching him die. Finally she looked away from him, though, talking to someone nearby, one of the few people that hadn't left yet. Micah couldn't even hear what she was saying anymore. She looked back at him again, with a strange look in her eyes. But that was the last of Micah's strength. He closed his eyes, and the cold washed over him. He felt as though he was being lifted up, and he let himself float away into the darkness.

* * *

Levin gasped for air as he leaned against a nearby wall. One of the hunters with him bit off a curse as another one next to him tied off a painful-looking wound that stretched down him arm, the final blow of a red-armored guard that had stood between them and the cell block where Harker and Francis were waiting for them. Levin rubbed his shoulder a little; one of the men that had gotten in their way, some bowgunner that seemed like one of Lilith's former henchman, had managed to tear a hole in Levin's armor with a Pierce round before getting overwhelmed by the other escapee hunters. Levin's wound wasn't bad and certainly not the worst received by the group, however.

But they'd managed to make it back to the cell blocks, though they'd been forced to kill several of the red soldiers that they couldn't simply knock out or overpower. Levin personally had needed to end the lives of three of them, two hunters and one huntress. He could feel an intense sense of guilt welling up inside of him again like it had before, but he had to press it down for now. He didn't have the time or the convenience to deal with the pain of his conscious, not yet. Some of the other hunters he was with seemed to be suffering from similar guilt trips, but they were swallowing their feelings as well. There would be a time and a place to deal with what they'd done, but this wasn't it.

They'd passed several other cells blocks on the way here, and managed to free as many of the captives as they could find. Many seemed intent on rampaging around like so many others had, but a lot of them seemed to heed Levin's words to head back to the main gate and wait for them to open. He'd had to organize a recovery effort for the hunters that were too wounded to get back themselves, but they'd somehow managed to get everyone out.

Levin wasn't sure whether or not he'd managed to find Richard's father or not, but there was an older man that resembled him who had been unconscious and needed carried back to the main gate. Levin hoped that had been the right man. He hadn't really had much time to search for Richard's armor and weapon, but he'd made sure that the escapees raided every armory they could find and take what they could with them, if for no other reason than to keep weapons away from the guards.

The cell block that Levin had been incarcerated in was mostly empty when the hunters arrived to free the captives inside, since most had been with Richard in the Downs at the time of the explosions, but there were still many cages to unlock and hunters to free and equip, hopefully with decent enough armor that they could help fight on the way back to the entry hall, or at least enough to survive if they ran into a squad of soldiers between here and there. Some were suffering from injuries, and they had to find captives that were able and willing to carry one or two prisoners back to the gates. It was harder to do than Levin would have thought; many prisoners were more than willing to ignore others and bolt at the first chance they could.

Finally they got to the last couple cells, where Harker and Francis sat in wait. They found Harker standing, much to Levin's surprise. The madman seemed to be trying to put on a confident, easygoing expression, but Levin had spent far too much time with the long sword user to be fooled by the façade. He was doing his best to hide his fatigue and pain, but Levin could see the tightness at the edge of his eyes and the strain he was under.

Next they freed Francis. Levin was surprised at the man's appearance. He'd expected some bedraggled wisp of a man, a shadow of what he'd formerly been. And while the architect did look worse for the wear, certainly worn down and weary from his time as a captive, he maintained hard eyes and a stern, implacable attitude about him. He was a touch shorter than Levin, only so due to his slouched posture, with pale white hair that tangled about his head. A long, unkempt beard showed the length of his incarceration just as well as his weak arms and legs did, but the man emerged from the confines of his cell with strength, his determination driving him. Levin nodded politely at the man, before turning to face Harker.

"You're not coming with us, Harker. Find someone to take you back to the main gate while Francis and I go carry out this plan of his."

Harker grimaced and frowned in frustration. "Come now, Levin my friend. All this time sitting down is making me feel useless. There must be something I can do to help…"

"Not a chance Harker. You barely look strong enough to stand up! You're not coming with us to destroy Malefica in your condition! Someone will carry you back to the entry hall. I'm sure Kerry is waiting for you there anyway. Don't you want to see her again?"

Harker winced. "Ah, you're a cruel man Levin. You know my feelings about her… but if there is something I can do that will finish this place, then I must…"

"Let him come," Francis said quietly, and Levin frowned irritably. "He seems to know his way around explosives, assuming the conversations you've had with him are any indication. That may prove to be valuable, considering how things will likely develop."

Levin sighed, though Harker seemed happy. "I don't like the sound of this…"

"You cannot deny the logic, my friend," Harker said, pleased to find that he could provide them assistance. "Though I admit that it was not my intention to do so, I have become quite adept at the art of incendiaries."

"I'm pretty sure you've never actually tried to study explosives, Harker. You just have had a lot of your other experiments go foul on you."

"Perhaps, Levin, perhaps. But I do learn from my mistakes, and I can remember everything I've ever done in my experiments. And I suppose everything I've done wrong as well. And while they may have failed to accomplish what I intended them to do, my experiments have given me insight on countless ways to create and explosion in a variety of ways."

"Either way, his knowledge will be useful," Francis said. "But before anything else, boy, tell me: is everything else going according to plan? Or have you reached these cells through a stroke of fortune?"

"There were some snags," Levin replied. "But things are going closely enough to plan. I think Richard's likely taken control of the entry hall by now, and we've cleared out most of the guards between here and there. All we need to do is free the last of the captives and do… whatever it is you want to do in the downs, and we should be golden."

"And what of Moloch?" Francis asked, a dark look crossing his face. His eyes bored intently into Levin. "What of him? Does he still live?"

Harker gave Levin a curious look as well, and Levin shook his head. "No. He's dead."

"You're sure?"

"Yes. I saw it happen," Levin responded.

"How did he die?" Francis pressed.

"Does it matter?"

"It does to me."

Levin was quiet a moment before replying. "…Fine. He got in an argument with Micah… one of his generals-"

"I know who the boy is. Get on with it."

"Okay, okay! Anyway, they got in an argument about… a few things, and Moloch tried to kill Micah. But Micah survived and threw Moloch into the Coliseum. There were a couple of Gigginox in the arena at the time, and… well, the Gigginox were hungry. They... well, they made short work of him."

Francis was silent for several moments, a deeply sour expression on his face. But his expression slackened, and he nodded soberly. "Very well, that's… that's enough. A fittingly horrible end for an equally horrible man. My only regret was that I couldn't do the deed myself." The man sighed remorsefully, before turning and walking slowly down the hall. "Come on, boys, there's just one thing left to do. We must wipe away the stain of Malefica and all its crimes forever."

Levin and Harker followed the man dutifully, both curious to see what sort of mechanism Francis had that could bring down the entire city upon itself. They had to stop several times as they went, allowing Harker time to rest, as his wounds and the effects of the poison still affected him badly. Francis was patient though; it seemed having the end in sight had given the man a bit of peace. Besides, the weary old man needed time himself, having been cooped up inside a cell without freedom for countless time.

Francis led them far into the dark catacombs of Malefica, the deepest recesses that Levin had never dreamed existed. Levin was sure that had to be quite deep into the earth, as the air grew cooler and more stifled. He supposed that Francis and his survey crew had decided to dig deep, rather that outwards like Moloch had chosen to do with the Downs, for they had to be at least a half mile below the surface of the earth when Francis finally stopped in front of a massive stone archway, leading into a dim room.

It took Levin a moment for his eyes to adjust, but once they did, he gasped in shock. The room was an absolute arsenal of explosives, filled from floor to ceiling with massive barrels. There was barely any space to walk in the room, and the only other things taking up space in the area was a round Meridian-stone pillar right in the center and a couple of the glass containers Levin had seen in the Downs, carrying that same odd yellow goop, as well as a few odd utensils and tools nearby. He'd thought that the bomb room that kept the barrels for the arena had been a dangerous place to set foot in, but this room was another story. And every single barrel had a large warning sticker on it, as well as the stamp seal of the Guild plastered across the side. They were Anti-Dragon bombs, every one, the same type of explosive as the two that had ripped a fissure into the floor of the arena.

"Sweet mercy," Levin muttered, looking around the room. "How many of these are there?"

"Just over sixty," Francis sighed. "Moloch was stockpiling them, I have no doubt. I thought they were for excavation of the rest of the city, but… I suppose he was saving them for another purpose. If the Guild had caught wind of this place and surprised him, I doubt they'd expect to have such powerful explosives being used against them."

Levin shivered at the thought. An image flashed through his mind of a hundred hunters charging the gates of Malefica, to have dozens of the massive bombs flung at them. Such a thing… "We need to destroy this place," Levin muttered. "Where do we roll these? Is there a load-bearing wall around here? Some weak point where we can to the most damage? Or will we have to spread them around the city?"

"They don't need to go anywhere," Francis replied, and both Levin and Harker stared at the man in surprise. "The column in the center of the room is the load-bearing column that holds up a majority of Malefica and most of what Moloch has unearthed. Moloch put them here before I told him the importance of this room, and he imprisoned me before I could tell him how dangerous it was… I suppose it worked in my favor in the end."

"And this will… this will bring down the entire city? Malefica has expanded pretty far since you were imprisoned."

"I'm fairly certain these will be more than enough," Harker said, poking at one of the barrels cautiously. "This many bombs could bring Loc Lac to ruin. It should be enough to destroy Malefica as it is."

"It will," Francis replied, certainty in his voice. The architect walked over to one of the Meridan's glass pots near the wall, looking down at a small pool of the yellow substance inside. "I have thought of nothing but the end of this place since my imprisonment. I have calculated the damage many, many times. These bombs will deal a fatal blow to Malefica, and the flames will reach far enough to ignite the other armories that have been made around the city. Moloch's creation will be naught but a memory once these go off."

"Right… so what do we need to do?" Levin asked, looking around nervously. "Do we need Harker to rig up a fuse or something? Timers that will give us time to get back to the surface?"

"That won't be necessary." Levin tensed at the man's tone. Something was different now, and Levin didn't like it. Harker seemed to have noticed as well, and was giving Francis' back an uncertain look. "You two got me safely here, and for that I have to thank you. My greatest worry was encountering some guards down here, and it turned out to be needless. But now I have no more use for you."

"What are you talking about?" Levin asked. "What are you planning on doing?"

"There will be no need for a fuse or anything of the sort," Francis replied. The man idly reached down to the floor, where a half-buried ladle of some kind, a Meridian utensil Levin guessed, lay. Francis picked it up and looked at it for a moment, before turning to look at the two hunters. The man's eyes were tired and weary, but there wasn't any malice or ill intent in them. "I will set the bombs off personally. I will light them myself, to make sure that the bombs go off for certain. I will… I will be destroyed, along with Malefica."

"No!" Levin shouted angrily. "You're not! Enough people have died here! You don't need to-"

Francis' hand swung back, still gripping the ladle in his hands. The man dipped the utensil in the yellow fluid in the glass container behind him, and with a snap of his wrist, he flung the substance at Levin. The hunter yelped in surprise, trying to dodge out of the way, but was not quick enough as the goop splashed against him, seeping through the gaps in his armor. The fluid reacted quickly, just as it had done to the researcher in the Downs, and Levin seized up painfully, a feeling like electric voltage coursing through him. His twitching muscles cut off a scream as he fell to the floor, his body refusing to listen to his commands.

He heard Harker growl angrily and take a step towards Francis. "Wait." The word was said simply, without urgency, and Harker stopped. "He's not dead," Levin heard Francis say. "Just… numb. It's a simply paralyzing agent. He won't be able to move or speak for a good thirty minutes or so. I didn't give away all of the secrets of the M… Meridans to Moloch, you know. I did it just to keep him from interfering. I won't splash you with the stuff, so you can carry him away from here."

"Why do this?" Harker asked. "We can't just leave you here to die! There has to be another way! I'm sure with a minute or two I can rig up a fuse of some kind…"

"No. Just… no," Francis said wearily. "I have… I have too much to atone for. Much more than any rehabilitation or prison can offer. I… I cannot bear to live with the sins that have been committed due to my own foolish negligence and trust in Moloch. This place… this stain… this epitome of my sins… I cannot allow it to continue, just as I cannot allow myself to continue. I will set these bombs off myself, and my ashes will be buried under the most indestructible material the Meridians could make."

"Surely there must be another way?" Harker pleaded. "It wasn't you who-"

"Don't try to claim it wasn't my fault. I have heard the argument plenty. While others may be able to forgive me… I will never be able to forgive myself. Now take your friend and leave this place. In thirty minutes I will bury this city under the swamp."

"But…"

"You won't talk me out of this young man," Francis said quietly. "This is my decision, and I will see it through. No matter the cost. You cannot stop me. And I will fight you if that's what it takes to see this through to the end. Can you overpower me as you are? You are wounded as is. Do you think you can really drag both of us back to the entrance and still set off the bombs? Could you stop me if I tried to end it all right here and now?"

There was silence for a moment, and Francis sighed. "Forgive me, young man, but you cannot save me. Neither of you can. Moloch is dead. That is all the peace I need. You gave me a little bit of hope, and I managed to gather the courage to help release all the captives that had been pulled in by Moloch's greed. But my own freedom… that was something I never intended or even wanted. Your freedom is more than enough. Go now, take your friend and live your lives free. I will give you time to escape this hellhole, and all you can save as well. You have thirty minutes. That should be plenty of time to get you and him to the entrance. Go now, and please… never speak of me. I do not wish to be remembered. Not for this."

A few moments later Harker shifted, and Levin felt himself being hoisted to his feet. His head rolled lazily, without the strength for him to control himself. For a moment, his eyes landed on Francis, but the man had a sorrowful, resigned look in his eyes. But there was a small light of happiness in his eyes, a flicker of contentment. Levin wanted to try and speak to him, to try and dissuade him, but he simply couldn't. He could only listen to Harker's ragged breathing as the long sword user hurriedly dragged him away, leaving the broken architect behind to the fate he had chosen for himself.

* * *

Ellie wheezed in pain, and a coppery taste filled her mouth. A man with poor-fitting mismatched red armor looked down at her worriedly, giving her a once over, but Ellie waved him off. The man nodded in acceptance, but not before uncorking another of the green potions he'd gotten hold of and forcing it down her throat, making her cough again. But the numbing sensation from the pain in her body wasn't unwelcome, though her mind was getting a bit fuzzy from the volume of the green fluid that had been forced into her in the last hour or so. She'd been worried at first that she'd been taking medicine that could be going to someone in worse shape, but from the number of potions that the captured doctors seemed to have recovered, there was no shortage of them in Malefica. The knowledge kind of irked her; all this time, the doctors under Moloch's employ had been stingy with the potions, despite clearly having access to a large number of them.

She was in the back of a wagon at the moment, along with several other wounded hunters. Some, like her, had been wounded in the arena battles, but there were a few others in there with injuries that were fresher; a pair of lancers had been lain close to the back flap, and hunter and huntress that had been wounded during the fight to take control of the giant doors that served as the main entrance to the city. One was an older fellow that looked similar to Richard, actually… a relation perhaps? And Nat! They'd managed to pull Nat out of there, thank goodness. The dark-haired huntress lay nearby; she was sleeping despite the noise, thanks to the numerous potions she'd been given to dull the pain of her injuries. Ellie could hear shouts and cries coming from the other former captives, moving people around to other wagons to accommodate the injured, and from the sounds of things, more and more were showing up all the time, though whether from previous injuries or the continuing fight with the red-armored guards and hunters of Malefica, Ellie couldn't tell.

They'd managed to take control of the entry hall not long ago, after Richard and a few others had managed to bring a majority of the furious hunters back to their sensibilities, getting them to cease their rampage around the arena killing any of the sponsors that they could find. From what Ellie had caught from random conversation, there were about ninety sponsors and gamblers remaining alive as far as Richard had found, not including any of their guards and escorts that had surrendered. A large number, until you realized that there had been five times that number cheering in the stands not but a couple hours ago. Survivors were being looked for, but the initial rage of the escaped captives had been harsh and vicious, and there was little hope of finding more for questioning. The ones that were alive were cowering under guard, packed like sardines into the back of a few uncomfortable wagons. Though more injured were coming in and being placed in the flatbeds all the time, and some were discussing throwing the lot out to make space.

The problem was, as many guards as they'd already killed or taken captive already, there seemed to be just as many of them as there had been captives, if not a bit more thanks to the merchant bodyguards that had joined them. The entry hall was constantly being attacked by waves of red-armored men and women, made all that much more difficult for the escaped hunters since they had to try and help gather up the rest of the captives as well, getting them either around or through the hordes of Malefica guards. But the line Richard had established was holding, somehow or another, and the red guards were being forced back towards their barracks and away from the entry hall. It had been getting sketchy not too long ago, with the numbers of guards almost breaking through, but thankfully Kerry had shown up just in time, alongside Kim, leading a veritable army of fully-clad huntresses from the women's blocks and had spearheaded a charge that sent the Malefica soldiers back to their bunkers.

Ellie hoped that Levin would be back soon with whatever plan this Francis person had cooked up for them. The captives in the entry hall had almost figured out the mechanism that opened up the tall stone doors between them and freedom, and a deep feeling of restlessness was growing in the escapees as they waited for the doors to open. They were so close! If Levin wanted to help Francis destroy Malefica, he had better hurry up, because when those doors opened, he'd lose any help getting out he might want when everyone bolted at their first chance.

A high-pierced roar shook the stone walls around them, and many of the captives shivered fearfully. Richard and a few others had tried to open the main gates using the levers and buttons in Moloch's control booth earlier, but they'd never been certain what mechanism did what, and many wrong switches had been pulled. One of them had apparently been the master switch to every single one of the monster cages deep below the arena, and now the lower halls were flooded with beasts of every shape and size. At least the prisoners' cells were in a completely different section of Malefica, so freeing the captives didn't lead to too many foul run-ins with the monsters. The guards however, were not nearly so lucky.

Some shouting could be heard from the far end of the entry hall. Ellie perked up at the sound; she could hear Levin's voice among the hollers! And unless she was mistaken, she thought she could hear Harker speaking as well. Ellie sat up a little, trying to look out the wagon flaps to see what was going on, when the rushed sound of someone hopping into the driver's seat of the wagon could be heard from the front. More noise began to fill the wide room as well, and a desperate sense of urgency began to fill the entry hall, leaving Ellie to wonder what was going on.

A loud, wrenching sound filled the hall, a deep rumbling of stone rubbing against stone, which Ellie had only heard once before. They were opening the gates to the city! They were finally leaving this place! A light breeze swept through the wagon as the groaning doors slid to a halt, and Ellie sighed in relief at the feeling. She felt the wind during her time in the downs on occasion, but this time it just felt so much better. The sound of squeaking wheels and spinning axles began to match the shouting of the hunters as the wagon train began to move forward.

"It's been forty-five minutes since then," a familiar voice outside said. "I'm sorry… in my condition I couldn't move swiftly. Likely he's giving us a little spare time just in case, but we do not have long at all."

The flap on the back of their wagon swung open as the wagon Ellie rested in began to slowly plod forward, and a pair of hunters were on the other side. One was Richard; the man had a miserable but unsatisfied expression on his face, mixed with what Ellie thought was disappointment. Ellie gasped in surprise when she realized that the pair was helping to keep both Levin and Harker standing next to them. Levin didn't look well, and had a noticeable limp in one leg, and one of his arms was twitching a bit. Had they been attacked? He didn't seem to have any more injuries than he'd had before…

"Don't you worry about him, Miss Eleanor," Harker told her with a comforting smile. The long sword user was obviously in even worse condition than Levin, with pale skin and a slightly sickly color to his face, as well as bags under his eyes. Clearly the poison Levin had told her about had taken its toll on the man. But Harker didn't seem too worried about it. "He'll be fine," the man continued. "He was given a bit of a jolt, and should be back on his feet soon enough. Like the Bnahabra's temporary paralysis; just give him a few minutes and he'll be alright."

The words seemed to bother Levin, and the hunter lowered his head, a pained and frustrated expression on his face. He muttered a few angry curses under his breath as well, though when Ellie asked him what was wrong, he refused to give an answer, but returned to referring to someone as a 'damn idiot'. Harker shook his head sadly.

"Leave him be, Miss Eleanor. Levin's just… disappointed."

"In what? Or who?"

"Perhaps later," Harker replied, as their wagon lurched forward. "He's simply unhappy to find that he can't save everyone… and that not everyone wants to be saved."

Ellie nodded, though she wished she knew what had happened. People were in a rush to get out, which was understandable, but several hunters near the rear seemed to be pushing them rather hard. There was definitely a sense of urgency to what they were doing. Many of the supply wagons were out of Malefica already, but there were still many more filled with people making their way out of the city. Some of the escapees began urging those that could walk out of the wagons and were rushing them towards the exit.

"What's going on?" Ellie asked worriedly, looking around as the wagon began to pick up the pace. Harker grimaced nervously.

"Due to… certain circumstances, escaping is no longer our only problem, I'm afraid. It seems we must also now play a game of beat the clock to get as many captives out that we can."

Ellie gulped. "'Beat the clock'? What exactly are we trying to beat?"

"Let's just say that it would be best if we could be as far from Malefica as we can get before it happens." Harker replied, and Ellie shivered in fear. "If you thought two Anti-Dragon bombs were bad…"

It was another five minutes before a majority of the captives managed to funnel out of Malefica. Kerry and many other hunters were still fighting back the red-armored guards that remained in the city, trying to recapture the escapees, but only a couple dozen wagons remained inside the city, Ellie's included. The sense of nervousness and urgency had spread to the rest of the escapees, and many were running as fast as they could to get out, though they still didn't know why they needed to run. Ellie was getting nervous now. Both Levin and Harker were looking more and more panicky.

"I can't stand this anymore," Levin muttered, hopping out of the wagon to the floor. He stumbled a bit, still being affected by whatever had gotten him earlier, but managed to stay on his feet. "Get the wagon moving, I'm going to go get Kerry and tell her and the others that we leave now or never!"

"Levin, wait!" Ellie shouted. "You can't-"

"Don't worry! Just go!" Levin shouted, dashing off to where the fighting was still going on.

"Damn it, just… damn it!" Ellie cursed as the wagon bumped away. She glared at Harker angrily, wanting to shout at the long sword user to vent, but her frustration just dissolved into rampant cursing, wishing she wasn't so injured to keep her from fighting.

In a few moments, the wagon finally made it through the gates of the city and into the open air. Ellie looked up in awe at the sky and open air for the first time in the longest time. It was cool and wet, natural for the Flooded Forest, but there was something comforting about it all the same. There were still quite a few wagons behind her own, but in a few moments, the last of them finally left Malefica and began moving away from the tall city gates. Ellie stared back at the gaping opening worriedly for several minutes as they worked down the road away from the massive doors, before sighing in relief as a massive wave of escapee hunters surged out of the gates, with Kerry and Levin in the lead alongside Richard and many others, and sprinting as fast as they could away from the city. Several dozen red-armored guards chased after them for a little while, but the mass escape and the chaos around them seemed to have left the red soldiers with a collective defeated feeling, and soon the chase was abandoned.

Shouts for them not to slow down could be heard coming from all the wagon drivers, though nobody was really trying to reduce the speed of the wagons as they hurried away from Malefica. As the hunters that had acted as the wagon train's defenders caught up with the wagons, many looked relieved to finally be away from the fighting and some began to laugh happily as the feeling of freedom began to sink in a little bit. But neither Levin nor Harker looked comfortable yet, and a feeling of tight expectation still filled their expressions. Ellie wished that whatever they were expecting to happen would just happen already, if for no other reason than to relieve them of the horrible tension they all felt.

A deep, horrible tearing sound erupted across the wet road. There were several screams of pain as the air itself seemed to quaver under the force of the noise, and the wagons shook violently from the force. For a moment Ellie thought it was a monster's roar, more deep and terrible than anything she'd ever heard before in her life. It was as though the terrain below them was shaking apart. The other injured hunters in the wagon reached desperately for something to cling to as the shaking nearly threw them out of the flatbed. A blast of hot wind nearly knocked the wagon onto its side, blasting past the caravan of escapees and tearing the cloth covers from over the heads of nearly a dozen of them. Ellie watched as most of the hunters walking alongside the caravan were knocked off their feet and sent to the ground.

It was chaos for another few seconds, which screams of fear and pain barely audible over the roar of sound. But the terrible noise began to dull eventually, and the hot wind began to die down. Ellie twisted around to prop herself up, letting herself look around worriedly. Had anyone been hurt? People seemed to be getting back to their feet, but a few of the wagons had been overturned by the blast. But what had caused the noise? Was that what Levin and Harker had been expecting? Ellie looked around to where they'd come from.

There was a mushroom cloud on the horizon. Ellie reeled in shock at the sight. Fire rolled through the black clouds as the dust and ashes rushed skyward from the immense heat of the explosions. The force of the Anti-Dragon bombs had gone off with enough force to blast an eruption of flame from the deep storeroom where they'd been all the way up and to the surface, through numerous levels of the Meridian stone that had been stacked one on top of the other. The sun was blotted out as fire and dark ash sailed into the air, spreading upwards and outwards from the blast zone. A few people were screaming in horror at the sight, and Ellie didn't blame them. That blast could have leveled half of Loc Lac with that much force! But at least the worst of it was over for now…

But Ellie had spoken, or thought, too soon, as another wrenching, tearing sound, even deeper than the explosions before them, began to shake the earth once more. The initial rumblings weren't as loud as the explosions had been, and shouts from the back of the caravan could be heard over the din. Ellie could see a lot of people running as fast as they could from where they'd come from, and the Aptonoth leading the wagons were being pushed as fast as they could to keep ahead of… something. Ellie could see a wall of smoke rising up from the ground behind them , a wave of dust and mud being hurled into the air behind them, coming closer and closer to the caravan, and was gaining quick on the people that were lagging in the back. Ellie realized that there weren't that many people behind them anymore, and with a shiver of fear, she realized that _her_ wagon was one of those wagons that were lagging in the back. There was a yelp, and Ellie nearly fell out of the wagon as the Aptonoth were kicked up to speed, making them lurch forward as they rushed to keep ahead of whatever was coming up behind them.

The earth continued to rattle and shake around them, and Ellie's eyes remained locked fearfully on the uprising earth behind them as the wagon bumped and rattled along the roughshod path. Ellie realized that the earth wasn't rising up like she'd thought, but rather sinking down. The swamp was vanishing downwards, as though it was being swallowed up by the planet itself, and the force of the displacement was so powerful that thousands of tons of stone and soil were being hurled into the sky, and still the cataclysm continued to spread, falling in on itself. How many miles of tunnel lay Malefica? City nothing; there had to be an entire metropolis buried under the waters of the Flooded Forest!

The sinking earth was gaining on them with horrifying speed, and massive, crashing waves of water were cascading into widening hole. Waves of water collided with the upheaved dirt and mud, and entire swaths of trees and brush vanished underneath the tidal wave of water than washed over Malefica as it collapsed in on itself. The earth continued to fall, the implosion of Malefica spreading further, and the devastation continuing to gain ground on the fleeing caravan. The rear wheels of Ellie's wagon began to shake even more wildly than before as the earth right behind the wagon began to drop, and the wagon began to tilt back as the rear wheels began to dip into the soil as the earth under them began to heave. But with a loud clack and a wild lurch, the wagon leapt forward, jumping out of the danger zone as the collapsing earth finally began to slow its spread. Those in the wagon let out an intense sigh of relief as they pulled away from the threat behind them. The rumbling and shaking of the earth continued to fade, and the collapsing earth began to slow its fall.

Another hundred yards, and a powerful silence finally fell over the forest as the chain reaction finally ceased and Malefic stopped collapsing in on itself, or had reached the end of its seemingly endless tunnels. The rest of the caravan was waiting in front of them, having realized that the destruction had stopped, and were looking back at what lay behind them as a few doctors and others like Levin were rushing to help. Ellie had to encourage her beloved that she was alright as he looked at her worriedly; a bit shaken up, but fine. A few dozen yards later the wagon driver rolled to a halt, looking back at the ruination and whistling in awe at the sight. Ellie turned to look, as did everyone else close by, and she had to admit that it was an impressive view; horrifying, but impressive.

The entire world seemed to have dropped ten yards down, as far as Ellie could tell. The ruins of Malefica truly had spread far and wide, for as far as could be seen, the earth had been upheaved. They were at least a mile away from the broad stone doors that they'd initially fled out of not twenty minutes ago, and everything between here and there and much that lay beyond had sunk into the earth, forming a massive crater that dipped into the wet soil of the Flooded Forest. Dark smoke still billowed upwards from the blast zone in the center of the crater, though the fires that had blazed through it previously had burned out or been covered up. Nearly every tree and the rest of the foliage had been uprooted by the upheaval, and there were panicked calls and cries from the countless creatures that had been caught up in the disaster coming from the twisted brambles.

Water was still pouring into the new depression in the world, millions of gallons of water cascading in from the swamp and wetlands surrounding the crater and slowly beginning to fill the wide hole in. Ellie could see small gaps in the devastation, where the collapse of Malefica had revealed the remains of a tunnel or room that had once been a part of the city, but it was all slowly vanishing under the torrent that was slowly filling everything up with murky water and mud. All the horror and pain that had been created in Malefica was being buried once again by the wilderness and nature, this time likely never to be uncovered again.

There was little speaking as the newly freed captives stared at the sight in front of them. The sight filled them all with a powerful sense of relief and melancholy. All the pain they'd been caused, all the suffering they'd been subject to, and the source of it all as well as almost everyone involved was now buried in a watery, muddy grave. Save the almost hundred sponsors that had been spared certain death to provide testimony of the crimes committed in Malefica.

At the thought, Ellie looked around the caravan of escapees. She was surprised at how many of them there actually were, since she'd never gotten a real look at their numbers from inside the wagon. She hadn't imagined that there would be so many captives in Malefica; there had to be at least four hundred of them there. Many of them wore the stolen red armor that had been taken from the guards in the city, but a lot had recovered the armor they had worn beforehand. Ellie wondered if her Lagiacrus armor had been recovered, but… considering the rush and chaos of their escape, she doubted anyone but Kerry would have made the effort to look, and her friend had been otherwise occupied at the time.

The freed captives stood where they were for well over an hour, watching Malefica and all it symbolized vanish below the waters of the forest. The deluge and sinking of the remains was a slow process, one that would take the rest of the day, most likely, but it was still a therapeutic feeling for them all, watching Malefica die permanently.

But eventually the need to leave, to return to their homes and families, became more powerful than anything else. Those that had come to Malefica with friends or allies began to seek out those they knew, and with freedom attained, the newly freed now had time to find comfort in their loved ones. Tearful reunions between those that hadn't seen each other in weeks or longer could be seen all around the collection of former captives, though it seemed that just as many seemed hopelessly lost, not seeing those that they looked for.

Soon enough, a few of those that had taken up the roles of leadership began to call for the escapees to begin gathering up and preparing to move out. After some quick questioning of the captive sponsors, they'd discovered that the nearest town was a good twenty miles to the east of where they were. With their numbers, it would be slow going, and they'd make fine bait for a monster attack from the beasts that dwelled in the forest. But the group was made up mostly of hunters, and having obtained their freedom, morale was higher than Ellie had ever seen anyone in before. They'd managed to escape hell; walking twenty miles through monster-infested forest was nothing compared to what they'd left behind.

Laughter and mirth filled the camp of hunters, and even those that had been scarred the worst by Malefica began to smile happily, overjoyed at their escape. Singing could even be heard coming from some of the other escapees on the other side of the group, and more songs were being picked up by others. Levin, just twenty minutes ago looking miserable and defeated, began to laugh and joke with Harker and Kerry and anyone else close by as they began to move out, all while smiling in relief while sticking close to Ellie's wagon. Ellie was grinning as well as they began their journey away from the wreckage, itching idly at her wounds. They were finally free. Finally, finally free!

* * *

"As you can see, the Lost must be contained!"

Uncomfortable muttering filled the council chamber in the highest reaches of the Loc Lac tower. Many of them certainly didn't like the plan that Zhanin had laid out before them, even the ones that had supported the suppression of the Lost from the start. But Zhanin had little care for what they thought.

"This is scathing proof…" one of the councilmembers sputtered in shock. "Sweet mercy! A fight with the Alatreon... a connection between the Lost and the creature… and the Guild has been hiding it this whole time? Has Stergo gone completely mad? What is the meaning behind all of this! It should have been brought to our attention a month ago!"

"I cannot begin to try and understand what Guild Master Stergo was trying to accomplish with this secrecy," Zhanin told the men around him. "But this is a problem that should have been dealt with long ago. Weeks! Weeks it has been since the Alatreon was agitated in the Tundra, and its provocateurs have been living in Loc Lac the whole time! And the Lost themselves… the Guild has recognized that there is a bond between them and the Alatreon, one that threatens the lives of every living person near them! The whole of Loc Lac is threatened! We must take action now!"

The men were silent, still uncertain. "Why do you hesitate? If we do not deal with this now, the situation will only be exacerbated! Surely you've heard the news; Marco, the very man championing the Lost sympathizers in Loc Lac, was assaulted recently! The Lost are beginning to attack the very people trying to aid them! Soon enough, what will stop the violence and crime from spilling over into the rest of Loc Lac? Steps must be taken!"

"With what army?" another councilmember asked. "The Lost are overwhelmingly numerous here in Loc Lac! They are only allowed to remain in the South District, but still they number a third of Loc Lac's population. How are we supposed to contain such numbers of them? Even if but a sparse few are soldiers or guards or hunters, the sheer amount of them…"

"I have personally seen to that," Zhanin replied, shocking the men around him. "In preparation for this, I have delved into my own personal funds in order to hire contracts with numerous guards-for-hire and mercenaries in Loc Lac, as well as nearby towns and cities as well. Given my calculations, there should be more than enough of them to contain the Lost. Or remove them, should the council heed my advice."

"You… have already hired the soldiers we'll need for this?" Farrell asked, and his eyes narrowed on Zhanin. "It seems as though you've been planning this for a while now, Zhanin."

"Unlike the rest of you, I chose to be prepared," Zhanin replied sternly. "I have little doubt that many of you will think me as ruthless, or paranoid." A few uncomfortable coughs verified the words. "But I have never trusted the Lost, and with good reason, and I have always tried to keep myself prepared in case something as dangerous as this would befall Loc Lac. Perhaps the madness of the Lost was not a great enough threat in and of itself, but do you still think of me as unreasonable in my actions with the knowledge of the Alatreon's relation to the Lost in your heads? Am I still paranoid? Perhaps. But if you still do not trust me, then I offer to give control of the men and women I've hired over to the control of the Loc Lac council. They are yours to do with what you will. I only hope that you will use them wisely."

The council looked around at each other for several minutes, none of them certain how to proceed. Zhanin hid his excitement. None of these men were bold enough to take control of such a situation, each too cowardly to be willing to suffer any backlash that could come back to get them. They feared being known as the ones who led an army against the Lost, but Zhanin was willing to take that mantle for the sake of his goals. Soon enough they would cede all control to him, and then Zhanin would-

"Very well," Farrell said quietly. "The council accepts your offer. We of the council will take control of the guards you've offered in order to restrict the movements of the Lost."

A wave of shock circulated through the room, and Zhanin couldn't hide his surprise for a moment, but collected himself quickly enough. Farrell seemed to be struggling with his decision, but still nodded sternly. "Though I do not like the circumstances, the information you've brought before us cannot be ignored, and something indeed must be done about the Lost. While I do not like the thought of being the one who makes the decision to do this, above all it cannot be you that does this, Zhanin. You are simply too… biased for this kind of work, whether or not the full extent of your accusations are accurate or not. This must be done in a non-partisan manner, for the sake of Loc Lac and not for… other, personal reasons. I do not care much for the Lost, but I will not see them treated unfairly.

"So, I will take control of the soldiers you have so generously offered and lead them in the name of the council… assuming that none here have any objections to this plan?" The room was quiet. None did. "Very good: With that we will begin cordoning off the Lost, as laid out in the strategy Zhanin has placed before us. This is not a permanent plan, but it will give us time to create a better one, one more balanced. The Lost, while dangerous because of their affiliation with the Alatreon, are merely victims of circumstance, and while we can punish some for disobeying our laws, we cannot bear down on all of them for something they did not intentionally do."

The men around the table nodded enthusiastically. Zhanin had to keep himself from scoffing; the men were just glad that they wouldn't have to suffer the blame if this policy went afoul. Farren would take the brunt of the punishment if this backfired, and no doubt the rest were planning their excuses about why they had been pulled into this scheme without wanting to.

Zhanin was quiet for a moment, nodded. "Very well; I respect the council's decision, and appreciate your acceptance of my proposition. I pray that the process of containing the Lost proceeds without incident."

"Yes, yes," Farrell nodded. "How gracious of you. And now… now we must plan for how best to proceed with these guards and mercenaries. We must do what we can to maintain order, and keep from causing any… dangerous situations."

Zhanin sat down again as Farrell and the rest of the councilmembers began to plan how best to use the soldiers that Zhanin had hired. Though there was discomfort among them, they were clearly leaning towards the plans that Zhanin and his advisors had drafted up. Zhanin hid a smile; while he had planned to lead the army of men against the South District himself, this turnout was certainly not… unwelcome. He may not be the one personally in charge, but his plans were still coming to fruition.

Soon… Soon the Lost would not just be contained to the South District. Soon the people of Loc Lac would unite against them, and the Lost and all their supporters would be chased out of the city. Out of the desert. Out of the country! And there was nothing that they could do to stop him anymore.

* * *

Loc Lac was sandy and hot, just like the last time she'd been here, Felicia thought sourly. At one point in her life it had been a familiar place, but now… bah, she wished she'd never been convinced to come back here. Why couldn't hunters gather someplace nicer, like a tropical port or something like that? Someplace the sand wouldn't bury itself in your extremities and make you itch all over. But there was no sense complaining about it now… she just needed to do her job and get out of this town as quickly as she could.

"Oh good, we're finally here." Felicia sighed and turned at the voice. Monique emerged from the passenger cabin, eyes blinking painfully in the bright sun. Little wonder either; Frost Town was in a perpetual state of twilight most of the time with all the ash clouds from the Volcano, so it had likely been a long time since she'd been under the direct light of the sun, if at all. "I was hoping we wouldn't be too much longer."

"Yeah, yeah. I hope you don't take too long here. We're running behind schedule, and my boss won't be pleased if we're not back in good time."

"Well that was hardly my fault. How was I to know that there were transport issues? I didn't know that the Jhen Mohran was passing through at the time, and we wouldn't be able to get to Loc Lac for a week."

"Yeah, I know, I know," Felicia muttered sourly. "Nothing we could do about it. But it still pisses me off."

A lumbering stride could be heard behind them, and Felicia turned to find her partner approaching. "I spoke with the captain. We should be arriving soon, Miss Monique."

"Thank you very much, Rowan," the smith replied gratefully, and Felicia grumbled in frustration. How had that idiot managed to get in the woman's good graces, while Felicia still got looks from the smith as though she had a personal vendetta against her? Gah, she couldn't wait for this damn job to end…

Thankfully, once they got into port, it seemed that the smith really did seem to know where she needed to go. Or at least she knew who to talk to about finding the person. Their path led them almost immediately to the Lost District, where she began asking around Guild buildings for leads on a particular person, some family members of hers from what Felicia could tell. But the going was slow, and often they were turned away at the door, due to some sort of emergency that had happened recently; an assassination attempt or something like that, though Felicia couldn't get any details from anyone.

The worst part of it was trying to keep herself anonymous the entire time. Of course Monique would be visiting every Guild structure in town, the one organization she and Rowan were trying to avoid. Thankfully, it seemed most of them that actually saw her face didn't recognize her. Maybe she wasn't in as much trouble with the Guild as she had thought… either way she wasn't taking any chances, and kept out of sight when she could get away with it.

Actually, Rowan was calling more attention to them than anything else. The large, clumsy oaf kept bumping into people in the packed streets. His size and need to apologize to people that he struck kept stopping them, and with all the people looking at them, Felicia was getting nervous. As they approached their next location, she pulled back to whisper angrily at him.

"Dammit, Rowan, get your act together," Felicia muttered sourly. "Don't catch the attention of the Guild while we're here, got it? You may not be someone they care about, but if they catch sight of me…"

"I won't let them take you," Rowan said sternly. "I promise."

"It won't be a problem if we don't get found out!" Felicia hissed. "But… thanks for the concern. Let's just hope that the woman finds who she's looking for quickly enough. We keep going the way we are, someone's going to find us out."

The next place they were heading was a bar. Felicia supposed they'd run out of Guild buildings to ask around at, so they were settling for an inn and hoping for the best. Well, the bartenders and innkeepers in Loc Lac tended to be on top of local hearsay, so it wasn't a bad idea, though she wasn't so certain how well they'd be able to pinpoint a single person.

Either way, they made their way to the most well-known bar in the South District, some big place not too far from the center of town called the Dual Horn Oasis. As they approached, Felicia expected it to be noisy or rowdy, judging by how it had been described by those that had given them directions. But the barroom was quiet as the three travelers entered, and Felicia could sense an anxious feeling in the air. People were milling about and drinking of course, but many eyes looked up at them untrustingly as they made their way through the bar. There was a lot of fear here, though Felicia couldn't guess why.

"Excuse me, miss," Monique asked, approaching the woman behind the bar. Felicia gaped in shock as the barkeep turned around; she was one of the biggest, most dangerous-looking women she'd ever seen! But Monique didn't seem too bothered by the woman's appearance. She must have seen plenty of hunters in her day as a smith… "I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions."

"Sure ting," the woman replied, with some… thick accent. "Vhat hyu vant to know, hey?"

Felicia began to tune out a bit as Monique went about her business asking questions of the barkeep. It was the same questions over and over; have you heard of my son, have you heard of my husband, do you know anyone who might, and so on. Meanwhile, she began to glance around the room some more. Everyone was really on edge, and whispered conversations were all about this Marco person that had been stabbed. Was he really so important to the people here? The last time Felicia was in Loc Lac, the only people that cared about the city council were the rich folk in the north that profited the most from their decisions. Few else really cared about what choices the men made up in that tower, and if one or two had gotten attacked, not many would have taken much thought to it. But Marco…

"You've heard of him?" Monique gasped excitedly, pulling Felicia's attention back to the conversation.

"Eh, maybe…" the innkeeper replied. "Tink I might have seen de boy shtay here a night. Folk don't vear old armor like dot much anymore, least not de younger folk. Not sure vhere he went once he left… though, hy tink he said he vas vorking for vun of the Guild men, Jonathan. Hyu might try dot man if you vant more information. Sorry hy ken't gif hyu more den dot."

"No, no, you've given me plenty," Monique replied, relief and joy clear in her voice. "Jonathan, you said? Does he work near the Guild tower? I'll need to get there as soon as possible."

"Hy'd be careful if hy vas you," the barkeep warned. "De city's in a bit ov a buzz because of… recent events. Lotta pipple on edge, hey? Lotta pipple looking sideways at folks, and not a lot o' pipple trusting pipple they don't know, 'specially here in de South District."

"Why is that?" Monique asked worriedly. "I was always told that people were friendly here in Loc Lac…"

"Hyu gots to excuse dem, hey?" the barkeep told them. "Hyu hear abott ol' Marco gettink attacked?"

"Yes, we did," Monique replied. "He was one of the city councilmen, wasn't he?"

"Ho yez, he vas, und vell liked by doze dot live in de South District. Especially de Lost, hey? Not dot many pipple stand up for dem, and none but him on de city council. De pipple here need him, und now…"

"But wasn't he assaulted by one of the Lost? That's what people are saying…"

The woman glowered at the words. "Bah! Somevun's tryink to pin dis on de Lost! None of de Lost vould attack Marco like dot, not even in dere most desperate moments, hey? Und hy've met de vun dey said did it… he should've heve been dere… his friends were supposed to be watchink him…"

The barroom quieted, and Felicia glanced around cautiously. There was a fair amount of noise coming in from the street, accompanied by loud, determined voices and footsteps counting in time. Mercy, but it sounded like they were sending in an army! Felicia made her way quickly to one of the front windows and glanced out into the street, frowning at what she saw. There was a contingent of about a dozen guards making their way down the street. Someone's personal guard, judging by the finery of their armor (normal city guards never looked that nice), but they bore the seal of Loc Lac on their breasts. So the Loc Lac council had hijacked the loyalty of some noble's soldiers… or had they been offered freely? And to what purpose?

The man leading them was a Guild representative of some kind; quite high ranked if the embroidery on his clothes were any indication. So the Guild was working directly with the city on something… The soldiers paused outside the Oasis, and the Guild man made his way into the bar, followed by a majority of the soldiers following him. Felicia slunk into the shadows in the corner of the room, not wanting to be picked out as the rest of the people in the room stared uncertainly at the man, wondering what sort of news he brought, and why he needed an armed escort.

"We come bearing a proclamation from the Loc Lac council, concerning the South District and its inhabitants," the man announced, once he was certain he would be heard. "Due to the recent assault on the councilmember of the South District, as well as news from the west of an exceptionally dangerous and sinister organization founded by members of the Lost, the Loc Lac council has decreed that, until further notice, the South District will be cordoned off. Until more information about this organization has surfaced, we must keep the Lost contained until we know whether or not there are other foul motives or more hidden members of said organization within the walls of Loc Lac."

Shouts of shock and horror could be heard around the barroom, and Felicia cursed viciously under her breath. "Dammit, this is the worst timing…"

"What organization do you think they're talking about?" Rowan whispered worriedly, and Felicia paled slightly. They couldn't mean… no, their boss was too intelligent to be uncovered by the Guild… wasn't he?

"Now hold on dere!" the innkeeper growled angrily. "Vhat right do hyu got to do sometink like dot? Hyu ken't jest keep everyvun pinned here 'cause ov a few troublemakers, hey? Und hy'm pritty sure dot de Lost veren't de only vuns involved! Hyu got no right to blame everybody!"

The man kept his ground, which, Felicia had to admit, must've taken some courage, considering the woman's size and vicious temperament. "It is the council's decision. However, I can assure you that there have been… other charges brought up against the Lost that have been taken into account; charges that have far more gravity than any possible associations with criminal organizations."

Now the innkeeper looked worried, an expression that was likely unfamiliar to the woman. The Guild representative missed it, but Felicia hadn't. Did the woman know something about… whatever it was that the Lost had done? She did seem fairly in the know… But that wasn't Felicia's concern. She wasn't a Lost; what did she care what Loc Lac thought of them? But her employers were Lost, so… she might have more trouble because of this than she thought. Still… blockading an entire district because of the crimes of a few Lost? What had happened to make the Guild and the Loc Lac council go this far?

Felicia supposed it didn't really matter to her, though. She and Rowan needed to get out of there as soon as they could. If the Guild was cracking down on the district like they said, getting out of the area was about to get many times harder than she thought it would be. She shot a quick look at Rowan, and motioned to the door. They'd need to leave in a hurry; they could return for Monique once they'd found a couple good disguises. She'd probably be too busy looking for clues on her family to care either way. Felicia began moving towards the back of the bar, hoping there was a rear entrance; the front door wasn't looking too safe at the moment…

"Hold on there, huntress," the Guild rep barked quickly, making Felicia wince. "You're taking off in an awful hurry there. Where are you off to? If you think you're going to be able to leave the district…"

"No, no, nothing like that," Felicia replied, nervously pulling her hood closer. "I just… need to meet with a friend, and I-"

"Really, now?" the man said doubtfully. "Why are you going to such efforts to hide your face? If you're just off to meet someone, surely you don't need to hide anything from me. Come here." Felicia didn't move, though, glowering at the man from under her hood. She frowned as Rowan began to move her way defensively, and Monique kept her distance, staring at them untrustingly.

To her surprise, the Guild rep lunged towards her, grabbing her hood and throwing it back, revealing her face and the bright red armor that lay beneath her cloak. "Strange red armor…" the man muttered, before looking up at her face. For a moment he frowned in confusion, and his eyes widened in recognition. "You… I know you! You're-"

"Get away from her!" The man's words were abruptly cut off as a thick fist smashed into his jaw, sending him smashing into a nearby table and splintering the wood. Felicia glanced up at Rowan, not sure whether to berate him for his actions or thank him for his help. However, from the looks they were receiving from those around the bar, she didn't seem to have much time for either.

"Dammit all… come on Rowan, run!"

The two hunters bolted through the entrance to the inn as shouts of anger from the other Loc Lac guards followed them out in anger. They'd need to be quick if they were going to escape. Maybe they could get out of the South District before-

Felicia and Rowan froze only a few steps outside the doors of the bar. At least two dozen town guards were standing right outside the bar, and even more were milling about down the road. She thought they hadn't created the blockade yet, but it looked like they were already prepared to lock the South District up! At least eight of the guards were glaring at the pair of them angrily, clearly having heard the outburst in the bar, and most of those were going for their weapons. Rowan's hand went to his bowgun, but Felicia was trying to gauge their odds. They could fight, but that would only call more attention to them. They could run… but with the South District contained, where could they go? There were no docks in the area, so they couldn't just skip town.

No sense standing around, though! She grabbed Rowan's arm, and as quick as they could the pair bolted for the nearest alleyway, hoping to escape before the guards could rally together. Shouts and orders, demanding their capture followed them like shadows through the dark path, and much to their dismay, upon getting to the next road they found just as many guards waiting for them in readiness. Felicia yelped in shock, trying to go for her weapon to fight them off, but she was smashed to the ground before she could, her blade skittering away across the ground away from her as the guards grabbed at her to detain her.

Rowan roared in fury, furiously attacking the men with his fists, and managed to knock a few of them away. But there were simply too many of them, with more coming at the sound at the commotion, and it wasn't that long before he was overwhelmed as well. The pair struggled, trying to break free, but it was fruitless. Soon, the Guild rep that Rowan had clocked earlier appeared from around the corner, rubbing a bruise on his cheek and glaring at the pair in anger and irritation. From the windows of the inn, many civilians stared out in interest, including the woman Monique.

"You know the Guild was wondering what had happened to you," the Guild man muttered sourly. "After what you did, I'm surprised you escaped the pursuit. I wonder what you've been up to this whole time… well, I suppose we'll find out soon enough."

"Like hell you will! Let go of me!" Felicia growled, kicking at the men holding her. The pair were struggling, but they managed to keep a firm grip on her. Rowan was still putting up a better fight than her, with his size and strength making the guards have to work hard to keep him down.

"Stop struggling! I don't want to have to hurt you before we take you in for questioning. That will only make the process that much-"

The man's words cut short as one of the other guards raised a foot to kick at Rowan to make the man settle down. But the heel of the man's boot cracked right into the stock of the bowgun on the man's back, and somehow struck just right to knock the weapon out of safety. With a thump, the weapon fired, and a thick shell smacked into the ground between him and Felicia. Everyone froze, glancing down at the round. Felicia's eyes widened in shock; it was an incendiary! Rowan hadn't emptied the rounds when they'd gotten to Loc Lac!

The round detonated, and a powerful shockwave and blast of fire burned into Felicia's side, knocking the huntress off her feet and sending her to the ground. She could hear Rowan roar in fury, trying to rush to her, but not much else. The blast had been too close, and had hit her hard, and now she could feel her consciousness fading under the deep pain in her chest and side. She just barely felt someone lifting her to her feet before blacking out completely.

* * *

**Author's Note: Please Review! I hope you all are satisfied with how this chapter turned out! I know that not everyone is accounted for, but… we'll figure out what happens soon enough, readers, soon enough.**

**And argh! Soul Eater, one of my favorite mangas, only has two more chapters left before the end! I'm getting antsy to see how it all turns out, but at the same time, I don't really want it to end… Also, I watched Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Again. That series never gets old for me. I only hope that I can match the character development that Arakawa manages to create with all of her fantastic characters. For those that are curious, when it comes to designing characters and trying to find a place for them in the story, I try to follow Arakawa's ways of doing so, since her writing is so good.**

**So, E3 happened recently. For the last few months I've been wondering about which system to purchase once released, the PS4 or Xbox One (I already own a WiiU, and with MH4 coming out for the 3DS, I'll be getting one of those as well sooner or later). Let's ignore the technical specs and DMR issues for now, since I'm sure you've all heard those arguments to death. But E3… Sony announcing Final Fantasy XV and Kingdom Hearts 3 all at once? I'm sold. Square Enix still has a firm grip on me, even after all these years, and after the disappointment that was Final Fantasy XIII… Anyone else planning on getting either of these systems?**

**Reading: **_**The Highwayman**_** by R.A. Salvatore, **_**Ava's Demon**_** by Michelle Czajkowski, **_**Yumekui Merry**_** by Ushiki Yoshitaka, **_**The Silmarilion**_** by J.R.R. Tolkien, **_**The Eye of the World**_** by Robert Jordan  
Playing: MH3U, Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, Minecraft 1.6.1 (horse update, yay), Battlefield 3  
Listening: Imagine Dragons, The Mountain Goats, Built to Spill  
Watching: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Pacific Rim (GREAT MOVIE), Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Hataraku Maou-sama**


	42. Punishment

Punishment

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. Most of the characters in this story are mine. Richard Jr. belongs to Hoenn Master96_

_Edited by: Hoenn Master96_

The desert was hot, as per usual, though Levin didn't know why he'd expected anything else. Maybe it was the chill fear that seemed to have settled in his chest in the last week. Most things seemed cold to him these days, though the blazing heat of the desert seemed to be the only exception to the rule.

The deck of the sandship was quiet for the most part, save for the whipping of the wind and the sound of the hull sliding against the ever-churning sands. Nobody really spoke all that much these days; the mood was too somber for that at the moment. Levin could see three other sandships sailing nearby along with them, and the atmosphere aboard the other ships was hardly any better.

Levin looked up as Kerry came to stand next to him against the railing, looking out towards the horizon along with him. The large mountainous wall that held the oasis of Loc Lac was just poking over the horizon of the desert. Even though the city was now in sight, it was still a long way off from where they were now. It would be getting close to sundown before the sandships made port at the city. Turning from the view, Kerry gave Levin a reassuring smile.

"It's always so interesting talking to people," Kerry said with a smile as she teetered against the rail. "I never would have thought that Richard would turn out to be the son of Kim and Nat's hunting master."

"Yeah, small world," Levin muttered quietly, staring off into the distance. Kerry was quiet for a moment, then sighed.

"Cheer up, dear. We're only a couple hours away from Loc Lac now. Plenty of time to get Harker and Ellie to a doctor. I'm sure it's nothing but a bug… with all the hunters that pass through the Flooded Forest in search of monsters, the doctors there are sure to know how to make her better." Levin nodded somberly, but it didn't really ease the sense of melancholy that had descended on him.

"She's lucid right now you know," Kerry said quietly. "If you want to talk to her, now might be a good time."

Levin's eyes widened in surprise, and Kerry smiled again. "I thought you might like to hear that. Go on now, before the fever gets the better of her again."

Levin didn't need telling twice, and turned to hurry to the stairs that led below deck. He leapt down the steps several at a time, pushing his way past the sailors and anyone else that got in his way as he made his way to the lower levels of the ship. He could hear Kerry close behind him, but paid no heed as he made his way to the storage bay. The storage room was dark as Levin finally reached the lowest deck of the ship, lit only by a few dim lamps with light kept low so the flickering wicks wouldn't catch the ship aflame. As Levin entered the room, his eyes immediately went to the far side of the room, and he carefully made his way over to a makeshift bed that had been set up in the corner.

Ellie was pale and pallid, just as she had been for almost a week now. Unlike before though, this time her eyes were open, and she seemed to be conscious of her surroundings. She smiled weakly as Levin strode over to stand next to her. "Hey there, Levin. How long have I been out of it?"

Levin grinned slightly. "A little too long; you're getting a little lazy, Miss Ellie, lying around all day. But don't worry; you'll be back on your feet in no time, I'm sure of it."

"Good to hear," Ellie replied listlessly, her eyes drooping a little bit. "I've been feeling a little under the weather recently, and I'd hate to think that I was-" The huntress' head slumped back again, and fitful breathing came from her mouth in short gasps as she slipped out of consciousness again. Levin looked on painfully, wishing that there was something… anything he could do to help her. But he was no doctor, and was useless for something like this.

He realized that Kerry was standing next to him again. "She'll be alright, Levin," she said reassuringly. To Levin, it sounded as though the bowgunner was trying to reassure herself just as much as him. "I'm sure she'll be right as rain once the doctors in Loc Lac get a look at her. So will Harker. So will everyone else…"

Levin turned to look through the rest of the room. The entire sleeping quarters were filled to the brim; each bunk was filled with other injured hunters, gasping or groaning in pain. A few doctors and inexperienced medics were tending to all of them, trying their best to keep everyone comfortable and cared for. But none of the injured were doing well. They were all infected, sick and feverish, thanks to a nasty virus that had spread through them all.

Levin looked down at Ellie. The huntress, his beloved, was pale and sickly, sweating profusely from the fitful fever that the virus caused. In the bed right next to her, Harker lay, just as ill and pallid as Ellie. The huntress had been one of the first infected. Not long after, Harker had caught the bug as well.

Levin sighed miserably. He'd thought all their problems were over after they'd escaped Malefica. But nothing ever seemed to improve for them…

* * *

The escapees from Malefica hadn't really had any problems after leaving the ruins of the Meridian city, not immediately at least. Traveling was slow, since they couldn't really rush with all the wounded that filled the backs of the wagons, but several hunters that were capable were sent on ahead of the others in an advance group to get the attention and aid of the nearest town. In the meantime, there was a lot of work that needed doing in order to make sure that everything was organized in the caravan of escapees, keeping everyone comfortable and safe in case of a monster attack.

Firstly, there was the whole issue of what to do with the sponsors and gamblers that had been captured back in Malefica. Most of them seemed to think that they might be able to bribe their way out of captivity, or purchase the silence of the escapees concerning their involvement in everything that had gone on in Malefica. From the reactions those offers had received from the former prisoners however, they soon switched their offers from buying their freedom to buying their lives. Most of the escapees seemed perfectly willing to kill the sponsors outright, use them as frustration-venting punching bags, or just toss them out into the Flooded Forest to fend for themselves as best they could. Somehow or another, better heads prevailed at the end of it, and the former captives were convinced that the sponsors would find a lot more misery living the rest of their lives in prison rather than whatever suffering they'd feel dying at the hands of the vengeful escapees.

There was a lot of organization that needed to be done as they traveled as well. Though the escapees had managed to steal back a large collection of equipment and goods from the storehouses of Malefica, they hadn't managed to retrieve everything that they'd lost when they were captured. Only about half the hunters that escaped had recovered both their armor and weapon; others had one, but not the other, or nothing at all. They'd managed to capture a fair number of the red metal armor the Malefica hunters had used, as well as a small collection of random, unclaimed weapons, so the group managed to mix and match where they could to at least give those that guarded the caravan some sort of protection. Levin and the others had their share of losses as well. Kerry had somehow gotten lucky and managed to recover both her armor and weapon, and Levin managed to recover both as well, but was missing one of his dragon element phials for his switch axe. But neither Ellie nor Harker were as lucky. Ellie's Lagiacrus armor wasn't recovered from the storerooms at all, and had been buried when Malefica was destroyed. Harker's long sword had been lost as well, one of the numerous weapons that hadn't been picked up during the escape. Oddly enough, his armor had survived, despite the absolute mess of random pieces that made up his selected armor. Kim had managed to recover her armor after being released from her cell by Kerry, and Levin had somehow found all of Richard's armor and his weapon when they were scavenging after the arena battle

Then there was the whole issue of food and medical supplies. Thankfully, a fair number of the wagons had been stocked with a bit of food that the escapees could eat, the captured wagons having been used to deliver food to Malefica from the nearby towns. But there wasn't much to work with for the number of escapees, and it certainly wouldn't last them forever. Then there was the need for medical supplies. Though they had managed to pilfer a fair number of potions and other goods from Malefica prior to their escape, they didn't have nearly enough to last them long, especially with the sheer number of wounded that there were. The closest place they could get what they needed was a trade city that hugged the edge of the forest border, and soon enough the forward team had gathered the attention of the townspeople, and aid wagons were sent to provide food and medical supplies to the rest of the escapees, as well as a number of volunteer doctors that were willing to brave the dangers of the Flooded Forest.

Still, for the first few days, as the caravan began their slow march back to Loc Lac, it was nice to finally be free of the threat of death that Malefica had imbued in the captives. Levin spent most of his time traveling around the caravan, keeping track of people he knew and trying to do what he could to help keep the caravan moving and safe while his friends recovered from their wounds. The journey also gave Levin time to catch up with everyone he knew that had been in Malefica. He spent hours with Ellie, Harker and Kerry, the four of them catching up with each other after spending weeks apart from each other, save for the scant time they'd had to try and piece together their escape plan. There was little to tell, or at least little they really wished to talk about, but it gave the four friends time together, which was more than they could have hoped for just a week earlier.

He also managed to catch up with Kim and Nat. The former proved to be quite a bit less outgoing than Levin remembered her being. Kim had been hit hard by her time in Malefica, and though her appearance was the same save for a few extra scars, the huntress' personality had changed drastically, and where Kim had once been bubbly and outgoing, the huntress seemed to have receded inwards, and was now cold and sharp-tongued to almost anyone around her. She seemed to loosen up a slight bit around Levin and the others, those that she still considered friends, but avoided offering anything but minimal trust to anyone she didn't know, which was almost everybody there. She had also been one of the more vocal people wanting to kill the benefactors and gamblers outright, but had managed to be talked down from inciting the rest of the escapees thanks to some quick talking from Nat.

As for Nat, she seemed very much the same as before. Like Kim, she seemed a little harder, a little colder and untrusting, but it hadn't hit her nearly as hard as it had hit her hunting partner. Maybe it was because she hadn't had as far to fall when it came to trust and optimism, or maybe because the loss of her legs had changed her outlook on life. But the former huntress seemed off-kilter most of the time, distracted by something that Levin couldn't even guess at. She was one of the few vocal people that had initially spoken out against the execution of Malefica's patrons, which Levin honestly found odd, considering that they had been cheering when the city had crippled her. Either way, with her injuries as they were, she spent most of her time in the medical wagons recovering. It always pained Levin to see her in the condition she was in, as well as the injuries that many others had suffered. Nat had been popular enough with the crowd to be kept alive after such a terrible injury that she'd received, but there were others that were in nasty condition as well. One of the huntresses that Nat shared a wagon with was suffering from extended poison exposure after a close fight with a Gigginox, and her lungs were constantly on the point of giving out. There was another hunter there as well, with bandages covering his entire face and chest. Levin wondered what had happened to him, but the man's injuries kept him unconscious during the entire journey, so Levin could only speculate; he assumed it was burn wounds from a Rathian he'd fought…

Then there was Richard. The man did his level best to help keep the caravan going as it was, organized and optimistic, but his mind seemed elsewhere a majority of the time. Levin had been right in the assumption that he'd managed to find Richard's father in Malefica and send him back to the caravans for the escape, but the man had suffered terrible physical and mental strain during his time in the underground city. Moloch had not been gentle with the elder hunter, and the man had suffered great wounds in the arena. That, mixed with the knowledge of his son captured as well as one of his apprentices being crippled, had overwhelmed the man's psyche and left the man drained and weak, and he had fallen into a near-comatose condition. The medics claimed he would recover sooner or later, but it would take time, and could take a long while.

But still, even with all the wounded that filled the caravan, the group of escapees seemed to be in good spirits, and they were able to make good time getting out of the Flooded Forest area, moving on towards the mountains with the help they received from the towns they passed through on their continuing path to Loc Lac.

However, their optimism and good fortune wasn't to last. Much to the dismay of many of the former captives, many of the wounded had been infected with some nasty virus that occasionally popped up in the Flooded Forest. Many of those that had been wounded were exceptionally susceptible to the bug, and over a dozen of the escapees had come down with a terrible fever that none of the doctors from the trade town could heal.

Ellie and Harker had both caught the virus. The two hunters, as well as the rest that had caught the bug were bedridden thanks the sudden sickness that overwhelmed them, leaving them delirious and weak almost constantly. Harker seemed to be fighting the virus rather well, despite everything, but the illness seemed to hit Ellie particularly hard, and the huntress was unconscious most of the time, and almost too weak to speak anytime else. Her condition didn't seem to be getting much worse as they went along, but at the same time, it certainly hadn't improved at all.

They passed through the town as quickly as they could, only stopping long enough to look for any doctor that might know of a cure for whatever bug the hunters had caught. None did, but several thought the sickness seemed familiar and advised them to seek help from the doctors in Loc Lac. They tended the wounds and sicknesses of injured hunters all the time; they were sure that someone there must know more about this virus than they did. So the group of escapees from Malefica split in two. A majority of the former captives, almost four hundred hunters and other civilians, stayed behind, choosing to take a slower pace. They kept the sponsors and gamblers that they'd taken prisoner with them as well. The rest, a group of almost a hundred other escapees, a collection of the wounded and injured and those that had caught the virus in the forest, as well as those that were closest to them, and a few select others, chose instead to hurry back to Loc Lac at a far greater speed than the rest for the sake of those that needed medical attention.

Levin was shocked at how quickly word of Malefica and everything that occurred to them spread before them, however. A group of about ten hunters had been sent ahead to Loc Lac and most of the towns in between in order to let them know that there were injured people coming, and to prepare space for them if they could. The group had also been sent to Loc Lac to give a full report of everything that had happened in Malefica, and Every time they stopped at a village or town for the night, moving closer and closer to the desert, they found that the people there had already heard the story, or something close to it, and were dying to hear the full tale before the caravan moved on to Loc Lac the next day. Levin never participated in the story telling; he was far too worried about Ellie to get in the mood for such things.

While Levin didn't really pay attention to the words and questions of those that they passed on the way back to Loc Lac, there was an odd sort of tension hanging in the air over the heads of those they passed, and it grew stronger and stronger the closer they got to the desert city. It was as though, even though they'd only just escaped from one terrible fate, they were charging headlong into another. Levin didn't like it at all, and he wasn't the only one. All the other hunters and travelers that were along to tend to their sick loved ones and friends could feel it too, though they couldn't tell what to expect either.

But they were finally getting close to their final destination, most thoughts of such things were ignored by the travelers, and the urgency to return to Loc Lac for the sake of the injured gained dominance in their minds.

* * *

The sandship seemed to crawl into the port when the hunters finally arrived at the wide gates of Loc Lac. Thankfully though, there seemed to be a great number of medical wagons waiting for the arrival of the docking ships to finally land. For what seemed like the first time in a long while, Levin felt a wave of relief wash over him. As the ropes of the ship swung over the side to be tied to the dock, several wide gangplanks were already swinging up to connect with the deck, and numerous medics rushed up the wooden slab to aid the infirmed as they were carefully brought up from below deck.

It was actually interesting for Levin to watch. The medics and aides that rushed onto the ship to recover the injured escapees all had worried expressions and tense demeanors. But with all the worry and fear that seemed to swell onto the ships as the doctors came aboard, the same feelings appeared to vanish from those that were accompanying their friends and loved ones. After such a painfully long journey with the people they cared about suffering, and with nothing they could do about it, it seemed a massive relief for all of them to finally somewhere that they could get the help they needed. There was still some latent fear lingering under the surface, though; what if the doctors didn't have a cure for those that needed it? But their fears were soon sated however, as one of the doctors gave one of the sick escapees a thorough examination.

"Oh, goodness, you must have gone deep into the Flooded Forest," the man muttered in surprise. "This is Pin Venom Virus. I thought this strain had died off years ago, but I suppose there was still a bit of it trickling around in the darker parts of the area."

"Are you able to cure it?" Kerry asked the man worriedly, and he nodded absently.

"Should be able to, not much of a problem… trouble will be finding enough antivirus to fix everyone up. We'll have to scrape the bottom of the barrel to get it all. Haven't seen a case of this in almost a decade, so we might need to find the materials to make more. Might be tricky… not sure if there's many folks that remember the right recipe. Someone should though. Lotta old folks around; one of them should remember."

"Wonderful," Kerry said gratefully.

Levin stayed on the ship as long as he could, helping the doctors collect up the wounded and sick from the ship, watching tensely as the numbers were carried carefully to numerous wagons to be carted around the city to the hospitals that could take them. He was one of the last ones to leave the ship, tailing along beside Ellie as a pair of medics carried her to the last of the wagons, laying her next to Harker and a few other hunters that were being taken away.

A small crowd had gathered near the ship docks when Levin finally left the ship, milling around in interest and watching as the wounded escapees were carried into wagons and carted around the city. Several people seemed to be friends or relatives of the infirmed, and hurried forward when they saw someone they knew and loved. But at the same time, Levin began to feel an eerie feeling once more on the faces of those he saw around him. While some seemed happy and joyous at the return of so many lost acquaintances, most of them had other expressions on their faces, ones of worry or distrust. Levin wished he knew what it meant; he'd expected… well, he hadn't known what to expect upon returning to Loc Lac, but it certainly wasn't this. The town seemed… different somehow, more tense, as though coiled up and waiting for something to happen.

As Ellie was loaded into the last of the wagons, alongside Harker, Nat, and Richard Sr., Levin finally managed to break away from her and let her rest. Kerry came with him, looking anxious at leaving Harker behind, but at the same time glad to be doing something else. The doctors had given her a better medicine, so she could sleep soundly until they managed to gather some medicine for her. As for Levin… he had other things he needed to do. While it pained him to do so, Levin knew he had to leave her behind for a while so he could report what had happened to them. Stergo would want to hear the full story, especially after hearing from the advance hunters that had gotten to Loc Lac before them. Levin winced at the thought; he hoped the old Wyvernian would be gentle about it. He and the others were supposed to stay under the radar, but no doubt this would be spoken of for a long time, even if Levin wanted nothing more than to forget about everything that had happened to them.

Richard was already speaking to someone as Levin walked away from the wagon, an obvious man of the Guild with his well-cut clothes and bright red Guild symbol patched onto his breast. There were several Guild guards around him as well, each suited up in bright… actually, Levin realized that these Guild guards were a little more worn and battle-ready than the prettied-up guards that usually lounged around the Guild halls. Levin supposed they hadn't gotten the memo that the captured sponsors were still with the rest of the returning escapees, who were still a good week away from Loc Lac yet.

As Richard waved Levin over, the council rep gave Levin a long glance. The look made Levin nervous, to be honest. It seemed more focused than any of the other looks he was getting at the moment, like the man was scanning him over, trying to find discrepancies in him.

"You are... Levin, correct?" the man asked.

"I am," Levin replied.

"I've heard you played quite a role in this whole situation," the man said. "If I might, can I ask you a few quick questions before anything else?"

"Yeah, sure," Levin replied. "I was going to give a full report to Stergo at the Guild offices, but I guess I can answer a few questions now."

The Guild man gave Levin a long look and one of the guards behind him coughed. "Very well. First of all, you're a Lost hunter?"

"I guess so, yes." Levin frowned at the question. What did it matter whether he was one of the Lost or not?

"Alright, next question. Is it true that you've been working closely under the command of Stergo the Guild Master frequently in recent months?"

"What does this have to do with anything?" Richard asked sharply, a worried look in his eye. "That's hardly got anything to do with what happened in Malefica."

"Please, allow me to ask my questions," the Guild man replied simply. "There is a purpose behind them, so I'll ask you not to interrupt them. Now then: have you been working for Stergo?"

"Yeah, I have, but…" Levin shook his head. "I mean, he hasn't been sending us anywhere or anything. Except one trip to the Volcano hunting zone in search of a Lost awakening zone or something like that. Other than that we've really just been doing our own hunts…"

"We haven't done any direct work for the man in a long time now," Kerry added.

"Right... another question. Is it true that you were in the employ of a man named Noi for some time in a town called Hearth in the Tundra?"

Levin felt a chill go up his spine. He didn't like where this was going. Should he lie? It probably wouldn't work; the man probably already knew the answers to the questions he was asking, and just wanted vocal confirmation. "Yes... that's also true."

The man's eyes narrowed. "I see. Were you present in the town during the Alatreon attack that occurred several months ago?"

"Yes," Levin said quietly.

The man nodded. "I've heard enough then. By the laws of Loc Lac and for the safety of all citizens within this country, I'm placing you under arrest for intentional provocation of the elder dragon, the Alatreon."

There were several gasps of shock from around the surrounding crowd as the civilians in the area overheard what was said and began to spread the word to those that hadn't. Looks of horror and anger began to glare down at Levin. A pair of the rough guards immediately moved to Levin's side, stripping him of his weapon and confiscating it. Kerry began arguing with the men, but neither of them cared to listen. Levin didn't fight back though. Though he'd hoped it wouldn't, he'd really known this was going to happen eventually.

"Please stop!" Kerry cried. "Let us talk to Stergo! He'll be able to-"

"Stergo was arrested four days ago," the Guild man told them, and Kerry's eyes widened in shock.

"You arrested the city Guild master?" Richard asked, stunned.

"Of course. After all, he is guilty by association for knowingly keeping information from the city guards, and keeping Levin and his comrades from being arrested, despite the heinous nature of their crimes. He knows the consequences of what these foolish hunters have done better than any other, yet he allowed it to happen for reasons unknown, and without reprimand. As such, he has been found criminally incompetent at what he's done, and has been taken into custody as well. We are currently seeking the arrest of all others that were aware of the situation and yet did nothing to bring those guilty to justice. Several of those that were brought on as their 'handlers' to keep them out of trouble have been arrested, thought there are several hunters that we have yet to bring to justice. But they will be, sooner or later."

"That seems unnecessarily excessive…" Richard muttered, bringing an armored glove to his chin.

"Where are your other comrades?" the Guild man asked sharply. Levin looked up in surprise. "Don't play stupid, now. We've investigated the matter thoroughly, and we know that you weren't the only one to instigate the Alatreon's anger. You also had the help of your current lover, Eleanor, as well as two other hunters by the names of Harker and Miller. We know that Eleanor and Harker were with you during your time in Malefica from the reports we've received. Now tell us where they are. It will be far easier for all of you if you just-"

"They died." The words slipped out of Levin's mouth so quickly that even the hunter was surprised at what he'd said for a moment, before withering a bit under the scrutinizing glare of the Guild man. Levin lowered his gaze under the man's intense glare. "They… they're dead."

Richard's eyes widened in shock, and the representative's eyes narrowed. "Really? Both of them? Are you sure?"

"Do you know what kind of place Malefica was?" Levin growled, and the rep paused.

"I've heard… rumors, and notes from the report given by the hunters that got here before you. But hearsay and truth are different things. I make my judgments once I've heard the full story from multiple sources."

"Well, you can ask as many people as you want here, and they'll all tell you the same," Levin responded, motioning to numerous escapees around him. "Malefica was… unforgiving, and a lot of people were killed there. Including Ellie… and Harker."

"I had heard that all three of you were involved in the escape, though," the man pressed. "As your friend here was quick to say, you were lauded as heroes among the liberated captives of Malefica."

"Yes… we were," Levin replied. "But Ellie and Harker… they were both badly wounded before we could escape the city. We all managed to escape together, but… their wounds got the better of them before we could get them to a proper doctor."

The council rep frowned uncertainly, glancing at Kerry and Richard. Kerry lowered her head sadly, and Richard closed his eyes somberly. "The Flooded Forest is a dangerous place to travel when you're injured. It's very easy to pick up a sickness there, and when you're already wounded…"

The man raised his hands, signaling them to stop. "Fine. That's enough for me. You need not speak more if you do not want to. Their crimes for aggravating the Alatreon are serious… but there's no honor in speaking unkindly of the deceased."

Levin nodded thankfully, hiding his relief that the man had bought the lie.

"However," the man quickly sad, making Levin blink in surprise, "while their crimes can be glossed over in light of their deaths, yours cannot."

"Wait!" Kerry gasped. "After everything he's done to-"

"While his actions in Malefica are to be lauded, aiding in the freeing of many hundreds of hunters and civilians from such a terrible place, that does not change the fact that he has incited the anger of the Alatreon. A single act, no matter the measure of heroism, cannot displace the act of him calling down the wrath of the most dangerous dragon in this country. Reports are coming in from the northwestern forests of ruined villages and towns, wiped out completely, and all signs show that it was the Alatreon that did so. The similarities in the methods of decimation are simply too similar to be anything else."

Levin stood frozen in horror, and both Kerry and Richard shared the same shocked expression. The council representative looked at him accusingly. "Now do you see? You saved many lives and did a great service in aiding with the destruction of this criminal organization and their base. But how many people have been killed because of your agitation of the Alatreon? How many people lived in those villages that are no more? That is why you are to be arrested. There are some crimes for which there can be no forgiveness or mercy, and you've committed one of them."

"As for you," the man said, turning to face Kerry, "the reports from Hearth seem to indicate that you were not one of the hunters that chose to incite the Alatreon during its attack on the town of Hearth. As such, you will be allowed to retain your freedom here in Loc Lac for now. We hope that you will be wise and refrain from acting on the same sort of impulses that your former hunting partners chose to follow."

Kerry nodded somberly, looking at Levin in dismay. But the council rep wasn't done speaking yet. His eyes narrowed on Kerry and he gave her a very distrustful look. "Also, considering your… affiliations, the council would like you return to the South District and remain there until further notice. Due to the recent political issues that have come up, there is certain distrust towards the Lost and Lost supporters in the city right now, and we'd like to maintain separation until the situation has diffused somewhat."

"Wait, what's happened there?" Richard cut in urgently.

"If you really want to know, you can ask around and find out for yourself," the Guild man said. "I have other business to attend to. Bring him along."

Levin lurched forward as the guards pushed him forward, dragging him away through the crowd. He shot one last glance back at Kerry and Richard, and the bowgunner gave him a quick, encouraging nod. Levin sighed in relief. At least Ellie and Harker would be taken care of; Kerry would get them somewhere out of the way where they could recover without getting caught by the guards.

"So where exactly are you taking me?" Levin asked the Guild man. "I wasn't aware there were any real prisons in Loc Lac."

"There's only one," the man replied. "Most people don't know about it, but it's not really confidential knowledge. It's outside the city walls, wedged up against the thickest part of the stone barrier that gives the city its wall. You can only get to or from it by sandship or climbing the walls of the city, or attempting to swim through the sand sea. As you can imagine, it's nearly impossible to escape. We like to keep it that way."

"I've been in worse places," Levin said placidly. The Guild man scowled at him.

"So you say. But then, that's not where you're going."

Levin blinked in surprise. "You're not sending me to the prison?"

"No, we're not. You're being given to the city council. Specifically, Zhanin. He'll be the one that decides what to do with you."

"What! But he hates the Lost! Why would… how could you even allow this!?"

"The council has its reasons, I'm sure," the man replied. "You're in no position to complain either way, Levin. Your crimes have taken away what freedom you had, and no matter what punishment you are allotted, you will have deserved it, given the lives that have been lost because of you. You'd best accustom yourself to paying for your crimes, no matter what punishment the council decides to allot to you."

Levin felt a sinking fear go through him. He had thought he was prepared for the punishment he was expecting, but… what had he gotten himself into?

* * *

Ellie felt… tired when she woke up. And hungry. Ravenous, even. She groaned painfully as her eyes cracked open, blinking against the bright light of the room. She realized she was in a hospital bed. Again. Ellie sighed internally. How many times had she woken up like this since becoming a hunter? She knew the occupation was dangerous, but still… Her stomach growled painfully in response to her awakening, and a quick laugh sounded from in front of her.

A doctor stood at the foot of her bed, looking down at her. He seemed ragged and worse for the wear, more so than most of the other doctors that had the misfortune of treating hunters on a regular basis. But he still seemed to be in a good mood, despite everything. He nodded towards a bedside table next to her, which had a small plate of stale-looking food, some bread and meat. Ellie had no desire to be picky though, and immediately grabbed the plate and began to eat what had been given to her.

"What happened to me?" Ellie asked, pausing between bites to speak. "I don't remember… I remember leaving Malefica, but after that…"

"You're very lucky you know," the doctor told her gently. "You and several others in that caravan of escapees managed to come down with a rather nasty virus strain that exists in the Flooded Forest area. That bug you caught is very rare, and most hunters that get it don't always have the fortune of having people around to help them back to Loc Lac. But we've seen the disease before, and had some medicine that works wonders to help get rid of the bug quickly. We've never had this many people catch it at once though... had to use every last drop of the antivirus, and hire some old folks to teach us how to make more. The people that live in the Flooded Forest are usually immune to that particular strain, so they usually don't have the medicine they need to get rid of the virus. Hunters that travel that area aren't always so lucky though."

"How many of us caught the virus?" Ellie asked. She was surprised at how raspy her voice sounded. How long had she been sleeping?

"A good number of you," the doctor replied. "Most of you that caught the bug were sent to other hospitals, but... you and a few others were brought here instead, thanks to the recent issues in the South District. Luckily we had enough antivirus to cure you all, or things may have gotten rough. It's been difficult getting supplies from the rest of Loc Lac for the last few days, but we're holding on well enough."

Ellie frowned in confusion. "I don't... what do you mean? What issues are you talking about?"

"I suppose you wouldn't have heard the news, considering your condition," the doctor replied thoughtfully. "I don't think I'm the best person to ask, but..."

"Perhaps you should leave the explanation to me, then. I'm sure the news will come more gently from my mouth instead of yours." Ellie looked towards the door, and smiled at the sight of Harker hobbling in, with Kerry supporting him gently. Harker looked as though he'd been through the ringer as much as she had, with his face still pale and tired, and the wounds he'd received in Malefica tightly bound by bandages. The doctor's expression soured at the sight of the long sword user, however.

"How many times are you going to ignore my orders to get bed rest?" the man snapped irritably. "You shouldn't be standing up in your condition, much less moving around!"

"I think there are greater concerns for people in the South District right now than whether or not I should be walking about or not," Harker replied simply as Kerry helped him into the bed adjacent from Ellie's own. "Besides, considering certain circumstances, it would be best if Lady Kerrigan here and I were to lay out what has happened recently for Miss Eleanor here."

The doctor looked concerned by the words, and gave worried looks at both Ellie and Harker. He shook his head in frustration. "Fine. Mercy knows I've already taken enough risks just letting you all recover here. Do what you want, but don't blame me if condition worsens again with all this moving around. I've got other patients to see to anyway, and with the barricade up I've had to be frugal with everything the last few days."

"My offer to mix you some medicine is still open if you-"

"For the last time, no!" the doctor snapped. "I don't want you to... never mind. I have too much to do without worrying about you! Just keep out of trouble, and out of the medical supplies, got it? If many more of my medicine goes missing, I'm tempted to rescind my decision to keep your being here a secret."

Harker smiled in amusement as the doctor made his way out of the room, but the expression faded once the man was gone, replaced by one of worry and concern. He looked back at Ellie, and the look seemed to grow more pronounced. Ellie began to grow worried at the expression; it wasn't something that she had ever seen on the long sword user's face.

"What's happened?" she asked quickly. "What did he mean that there was trouble in the South District? And where's Levin at? Is he alright?"

Harker frowned thoughtfully, clearly uncertain how to proceed. Kerry cut in, however, moving to sit at the end of her bed. "Ellie, dear, I don't like telling you this, but… Levin… the Loc Lac council discovered what happened in Hearth." Ellie's blood seemed to freeze in her veins, and her eyes widened in horror. "The city called for his arrest. When we docked in Loc Lac, they were there waiting for him, and had him arrested."

"They what?" Ellie gasped. "But… but after everything he's done… after all we've been through… Because of him…"

"The Alatreon's been attacking villages in the northwest," Kerry explained. "A lot of people have died because of the Alatreon. Even if we and Levin have done a lot of good… he provoked the most dangerous creature we know, and people are dying because of that. And besides… neither of you really understand the fear that people feel towards the Alatreon. It's not something so simple that it can just be ignored. People are more afraid of it than they are of anything else. The creature is simply too dangerous to ignore. And… he knew it. He knew what he'd done and confessed to the crime, and went with them on his own accord."

"But… but… but why only him? I'm just as much to blame as he was! I fought against the Alatreon too! Why is he the one taking all the blame? I don't understand!" Ellie said, nearly shouting. "Harker, I helped fight the Alatreon back in the Tundra! And both you and Noxramus fought it with us when it attacked Hearth! Why aren't we in prison as well? Why is Levin taking the full punishment by himself?"

"He lied to the Guild and the Loc Lac council," Kerry replied sadly. "He told the representative of the council that... that you and Harker both died due to your injuries on the trip back from Malefica. They bought it, and both of you have been declared deceased to the public."

"But why? It wasn't only him! Why would he-"

"You were sick, Ellie!" Kerry cried. "Both of you were! Do you think people would have cared whether or not you got taken care of if you got arrested for messing with the Alatreon? If he hadn't lied to them, you and Harker might have… might have…"

The room was silent as Kerry trailed off. Ellie understood. The virus she'd caught had been held in check during their trip back to Loc Lac thanks to the care she received from those around her. But if she'd been imprisoned… she might not have been so lucky, especially considering how much disdain people that had incited the Alatreon seemed to receive. Maybe Kerry was right; maybe Levin had saved their lives by saying they'd died, rather than just tried to keep them from meeting their punishment from the law.

"Please," Ellie whispered quietly. "Tell me what's happened to him. You have to know more! If people's fear of the Alatreon is really so bad, people must be talking about him. Where is he? Is he still alright?"

"That councilman Zhanin has been parading him around like a show pony these last couple of days," Harker told her sourly. "Seems the councilman wants as many people as he can in the other districts to know what Levin's done, provoking the Alatreon. And the information about the Lost's connection to the beast; it's supposed to be a council secret, kept from the public, but obviously he's been spreading that around as well, because dissention towards the Lost has been skyrocketing recently as well."

"We've been trying to keep track of what's happening to him as best we can," Kerry added. "It's a bit of a challenge getting information when you're not allowed to leave the district, though. I was hoping that they would be able to let me through, since I'm not one of the Lost, but apparently they're not letting hardly anyone through, especially Lost sympathizers. They recognize me, and know about me and Harker, so... Anyway, there are a few points were the barricade is thin enough to slip through without getting caught, but enough hunters in the city know who know me that it would just get me in trouble."

"We have to do something," Ellie said painfully.

"What can we do?" Kerry asked. "Levin did break the law, as did you two. The only people in the city that would call for his release are the Lost, and they're not really in a position to make requests of the council right now..."

"But still," Ellie sighed, "Levin's considered as a hero to a lot of people right now. How can they treat him like this?"

"That's the thing," Kerry replied. "Most of the people who consider Levin a hero at the moment are either hospitalized or still on their way to Loc Lac. After people started getting sick with that virus on the way back, we had to take the sick people and hurry back to Loc Lac as quick as we could. Most of the hunters that would have stood up for Levin are still several days away from the desert. And those that are here are either recovering from the virus or staying close to their friends who are. Not all of them are recovering as quickly as you and Harker did. As for the rest of Loc Lac… most of the Lost have other concerns right now."

"Like what?" Ellie asked. "You keep saying that things are bad… and the doctor said something about a barricade? What's going on?"

"Yes, things have gotten far more complicated than they were the last time we were here," Harker noted sullenly. "It seems that information about the Lost's connection to the Alatreon has sparked the fear of the rest of the city, and… well, to be honest, things are deteriorating. For the Lost and the city in whole as far as I can tell."

Harker proceeded to explain what he'd picked up since awakening from his fever. The stabbing of Marco, the containment of the South District, the hired men that had rounded up the Lost and shoved them all together. It seemed as though Loc Lac had gone straight to hell in the time they'd been in Malefica, and with the people getting riled up over the Lost's connection to the Alatreon, it seemed like it could only get worse from here…

"So Marco's dead?" Ellie asked, shocked. "He always seemed so nice…"

"Don't write him off quite yet," Harker replied. "Though he was stabbed, it seems as though he didn't quite die. He's in critical condition in this hospital, actually. Though, not that many people are actually aware of that. It seems that the blockade came up too quickly for news of his survival to leave the district."

"Do you think he could help us? Somehow?"

"I doubt it," Kerry sighed sadly. "Outside of the Lost District, he's not really looked upon very fondly anymore. People found out that he and Stergo hid your guys' encounter with the Alatreon, so a large number of people actively hate him now. Stergo was well-liked even as the Guild master, and he was still sent to prison, so if Marco survives, he'd probably be jailed too as soon as people found out about it."

"So what do we do?" Ellie asked. "There must be something…"

"I'm sorry dear," Kerry said sadly. "I think… I fear that with the way things are at the moment, there's really nothing we can do. Levin's in prison, the Lost are trapped in the South District, and anyone who can help us is either in the hospital or miles away. By ourselves, we can… we could fight monsters or deal with criminals, but… what can we do against an entire city that's against us?"

"I don't…" Ellie slouched miserably against her bed. "I don't know…"

"We've got… we've got some friends," Kerry said, trying to cheer Ellie up. "Richard is around somewhere in the South District. I haven't seen him too much since the arrest, though, so I'm not really sure what he's up to. I think his father is being treated somewhere in this hospital. Nat's recovering in a room down the hall too, and Kim's with her. Kim hasn't left Nat's side though, and doesn't seem to have any intention of doing so, though I think she's gone to visit her hunting master a few times to check on him. They might be willing to help us do something, but with everything that's going on right now, they might have other things that concern them."

Ellie pulled her legs close and wrapped her arms around them, and the three hunters sat in painful silence for a long time. She felt miserable like this, unable to do anything to help Levin out. But then again, as much as she really wanted to help Levin out of his predicament… should she? No matter how much she loved him, he had broken the law, and so had she and Harker. What was she supposed to do? Break him out of prison and flee the country? Spend their lives on the run from the law? Could she bring herself to leave everything behind, leaving the rest of the Lost to whatever fate the city dealt out to them? Levin had accepted the consequences of his actions… maybe she should too.

But it hurt… it hurt so much to do so.

A vicious curse and a wall-shaking smash echoed through the room, and several medical items and sundries dropped to the floor. Angry swearing echoed through the wall from the next room, and Ellie immediately focused her attention on the words, glad for something else to think about other than Levin's incarceration. Kerry groaned in dismay as another smashing sound rattled the walls and sent a few more things tinkering to the floor.

"She's at it again," she muttered despairingly, seeming just as thankful for a distraction. Ellie looked at her questioningly, and Kerry shook her head. "There's some huntress in the next room that's been raising a fuss since we arrived in town. I think she's a criminal or something, because some Guild guards have had her under watch the whole time, but they haven't arrested her or anything… I don't know why."

"What did she do?"

"I don't know. I didn't ask. A Guild man gets permission to come into the South District to question her every other day or so, then leave again when he's done, but it doesn't seem like he's getting anything out of her than curses and a half-dozen pieces of furniture thrown at him. Honestly, I'm surprised you never woke up earlier than you did, with all the racket she was making."

Another rattle shook the wall, and Ellie's bed shook this time. This time the cursing was loud enough for Ellie to hear clearly through the wooden walls. "I told you already, you bastard, we're not working for this Maleli… whatever you called it! I'm not guilty of any of this crap you're talking about!"

Ellie blinked in surprise at the words, bolting upright in her bed. Kerry and Harker's eyes were just as stunned as hers, and the redheaded bowgunner gasped in shock. "I didn't… she was… I had no idea!"

"You're lying!" another voice shouted. "Strange red armor, mysterious and incriminating work, refusal to answer our questions… Admit it! You two were outliers for Malefica! It'll go easier for you if you just tell the truth! We have someone here that will confirm that you were part of that criminal group!"

"Well, I never said that," another voice said quietly. "I only said that they seemed suspicious and that their decisions seemed strange and underhanded, and they seemed accustomed to working around the law. I assumed they were doing something illegal, but I've never known who they were really working for."

Ellie looked back in surprise. She thought she recognized that voice Kerry yelped at her in surprise as the huntress abruptly got out of bed and pushed herself to her feet. Her friend leapt forward to catch her as she wobbled unsteadily, helping her back up before trying to get her back into bed. Before the bowgunner could say anything about her needing her rest however, Ellie cut her off.

"I think I know someone over there. Just... let me check really quick. Please?"

Kerry glowered at her for a moment before sighing despondently. "Fine. I swear you can be just as bad as Harker sometimes, Ellie dear." The bowgunner helped Ellie to her feet once more, slinging the huntress' arm over her shoulder to keep her steady as they made their way out of the room. Harker flailed a bit wildly behind them, trying to stand as well, but clearly he was just as worn as Ellie at the moment, because he was having trouble doing so. Kerry smiled in mild amusement. "He'll figure something out."

Ellie was mildly surprised to find that Kerry hadn't been kidding about the next room being guarded, as two Guild guards stood at attention on each side of the door. They seemed worn out by Ellie's judgment, and Ellie wondered if they'd been here since the crackdown on the Lost District had started. She doubted there were many volunteers that were willing to enter the district by their own volition. They gave Ellie and Kerry curious looks as they approached, clearly unthreatened considering Ellie's condition.

"She's being too loud isn't she?" one of them asked. "Sorry for the trouble. She's kicked up a racket every day since she arrived. Not sure why they haven't moved her yet."

"What did she do?" Ellie asked.

"I don't know," the man admitted. "Seems she's supposed to be part of that criminal organization everyone's been talking about, but she's denying it with every fiber of her being, her and that big fellow with her. Not sure why they haven't arrested her yet though."

"There's someone else in there with her?" Kerry asked, surprised.

"Yeah, not many people know that. He doesn't talk much, so I suppose nobody really knows he's in there."

"There was another voice I heard," Ellie said, struggling to straighten up. "Another woman's voice. I thought it was someone's I know."

The man scratched his chin thoughtfully. "The smith? You know her? If you want to talk to her, you'll have to wait. She's the only character witness these two have against them, but she's not yet given us anything to use that can be legally binding."

The door suddenly creaked open behind the guard, and he turned in surprise as a woman walked out with a weary expression on her face. Ellie was right; it was Monique from Frost Town! "Such a mouth on that girl…" the smith muttered. "And I thought I'd heard all the vulgarities there were from all the hunters back home. Who taught her all those words?"

The woman paused halfway through the door, looking at Ellie and Kerry in surprise. Ellie could see her frown in thought as she looked at her, the her eyes widened in realization. "Oh!" Monique gasped. "You're... Ellie, correct? I remember you. Yes, of course; I refurbished that old bowgun for you to use. That was interesting. I haven't seen too many old weapons like that, at least none that were in good enough condition to repair back into usable condition. How's it working out for you? I hope those injuries weren't caused because of a failure of my smithing abilities..."

"No, no!" Ellie said quickly. "These are from... something completely different. No, the bowgun is working well, when I have the chance to use it. I also tried to look for your son like you asked, but I haven't really had much luck..."

"Oh, you don't need to worry about that anymore, Ellie. I've actually had the luck to find him here, and my husband as well! Turns out that they were both caught up in that whole Malefica business. I've found them here at this hospital and… hold on now, were you involved in that whole disaster too?"

"Ah, well, yes."

"Oh, you poor girl; it must have been terrible. The way people are going on about it all…"

"It's… it's in the past now. That whole business is concluded, and the place is gone. I don't really want to think about that place if it's all the same to you."

Kerry nodded solemnly at the words, and Monique nodded understandingly. "Yes, that's understandable, I suppose. With even half of what I'd heard of the place, it sounds like the worst place in the world." The smith paused in thought for a moment. "Though… I know you don't want to think of Malefica anymore, but could you help settle something really quick? You've been to that terrible city, so perhaps you can answer a question for us."

"What's that?" Ellie asked.

"Please, come in and I'll show you." One of the guards opened his mouth to retort, but Monique shook her head. "Oh, it won't take long. I just want her to look at something for me." Then she quickly led Ellie and Kerry into the room before he could stop them.

The scene in the room was about what Ellie imagined it to be. Close to the door was a scowling Guild representative, glaring angrily across the room. On the far side of the room, near the window, was a short, blonde-haired woman who was returning the Guild rep's look with an equally dark glower. She had numerous bandages wrapping around one of her legs and her torso, and the edges of her injuries showed a clear burn wound hiding beneath the wrappings. In the corner of the room closest to the huntress sat a tall, scarred hunter with black hair. He seemed tense, as though waiting for something bad to happen or ready to step in should a fight start. He had injuries of his own, but his looked to be the result of a fistfight, with numerous bruises on his body and a nearly healed black eye. He was the only one to give Ellie and Kerry a scrutinizing look as they followed Monique into the room. The other two were too busy glaring daggers at each other to notice.

"How long are you going to keep bothering me, you persistent jackass?" the huntress growled angrily. "I've already told you, I'm not a part of this stupid organization you keep saying I'm part of!"

"Quit trying to get out of this, Felicia!" the Guild rep snapped. "You bolted as soon as we saw your armor, girl! It's not Rathalos or Agnaktor armor. It's obvious you were a member of the Malefica organization! Who else wears this unique red armor? The reports have come in already, and we know that the hunters in that group wore this armor, so stop trying to deny it!"

Ellie glanced down as the man gestured to a wooden crate lying on the floor nearby. Inside was a pair of well-polished sets of crimson red armor. But it wasn't Malefica armor. Ellie certainly didn't recognize it though; she didn't think she'd ever seen an armor set like it, not in her entire hunting career. It seemed made of organic materials, as far as she could tell. Red, scaled plate mail, bound together into gently curved armor and red leather, save for the helmets, which bore a pair of menacing horns sprouting from the back.

"That's not Malefica armor," Ellie said quietly, and the Guild man turned to glare at her sternly. He gave a sharp look at Monique for letting the pair of them in before turning back to Ellie.

"Oh, really? An unfamiliar red armor, worn by a couple of hunters that refuse to release their affiliations? Sounds like a pair of hunters from this Malefica organization to me. And who are you to say whether or not this is the same type of armor or not?"

Kerry growled at the man. "For your information, the two of us were captives in Malefica until the breakout last week. I think we'd know what kind of armor they wore there, and this isn't the same kind!"

"You see?" the huntress Felicia snapped, a victorious grin on her face. "I told you we weren't part of this Male-whatever. Now give me back my armor and let us go! We've got other things to do, and you're holding us back!"

The Guild rep growled angrily and turned back to the huntress. "Don't think just because you may not be part of the Malefica organization doesn't mean you're not off the hook yet! Besides, if this armor isn't the armor that was used by that criminal group, then what is it made from? It's certainly nothing that anyone in the Guild has seen before!"

"And why should I tell you?" the huntress sneered. "You're a member of the Guild, aren't you? I thought your kind kept a record of every monster out there. If you want to know about it, why don't you get out there and find out yourself?"

The Guild man glowered at Felicia for a moment, before speaking in a threatening tone. "Perhaps you're not part of the Malefica group, but that's not the only thing that we can pin on you, woman: Assaulting a Guild representative as well as several guards, vandalism in a certain inn. And… we've finally managed to look up some information on you Felicia. Turns out that you're the primary suspect for the arsonist fires that nearly burned down the East District several years ago. In fact, you're the only suspect, though for some reason the desire to try and arrest you for the crime is practically nonexistent. But I'm sure we could find someone who's willing to press charges…"

Felicia's eyes widened slightly in shock at the words, and for once the woman didn't seem to have a sharp reply to the man's accusations. The Guild rep smirked victoriously. "I see we've hit a soft spot. Maybe those arson accusations have something to them after all? Now perhaps you'll be willing to give me more information about your armor. It might help your case if you at least pretend to be cooperative."

Felicia huffed indignantly, but eventually sighed in surrender. "Fine. I'll tell you. It's... Volvidon armor."

"Vovi-what?" the Guild man asked sharply. "I've never heard of such a creature. I'm not going to tolerate any more lies if you insist on-"

"I'm not lying!" the woman snapped viciously. "It's made from a monster called a Volvidon! It's some... rare, new creature that's been migrating to the volcanic area and the desert in the south recently. Not many people know that much about it."

"Oh, really?" the Guild man replied with clear distrust. "And how did you manage to not only discover a creature that the Guild has not recorded, but slain enough to gather the materials for two armor sets?"

"It's part of my job!" Felicia growled. "I'm hired to go and hunt down possible new species and bring their bodies back to my employer. And you know... a few other tasks as well." She averted her eyes from Monique's intent stare.

"You go around... killing these things without the Guild's knowledge? That's poaching!"

"It's only poaching if the Guild has their names recorded in their annals," the huntress replied swiftly. "You've never even heard of them before now! What do you care if I kill one or two? And that's all that I've killed, for your information! Two! That's all we needed to make the armor sets and satisfy our employer."

"There's another thing: who made that armor for you anyway?" the Guild man pressed. "No smith would resist the chance to brag about armor only he knew how to make! Tell me the name of the smith! And also, your employer! You've danced around his name long enough!"

"Screw you! I don't have to tell you crap! I told you the name of the armor, the Guild can figure out the rest if they're so great!"

"Do you want to spend the rest of your life in prison? You may have... connections in Loc Lac keeping your arrest delayed, but even if they felt compelled to come to your aid, this damning evidence and your refusal to cooperate, as well as the accusations we have on you on the arsonist fires is more than enough to send you to prison for the rest of your natural-born life!"

"Up yours!"

"Felicia..." Ellie's eyes widened as the hunter next to Felicia suddenly spoke. It was the first time he'd opened his mouth this whole time, and Ellie was shocked at how deep his voice was. "I think... maybe it's time we told them who we're working for. We'll get in bad trouble if we don't..."

"Screw that!" Felicia growled. "The Guild won't get anything from me! If they want what I know, they'll have to beg for it!"

"If you won't tell them, then I will."

Felicia gasped and glared at the hunter. "Traitor! You wouldn't!"

"I will if it keeps you out of trouble. I want you to stay safe. And… The boss wouldn't like it if we got sent to prison."

Felicia growled angrily at the words, but slowly her vicious expression faded as the hunter stared at her pleadingly. Finally she huffed in defeat. "Fine, do what you want. But if our boss gets angry because you gave him away, it's on your head!"

"Very wise of you, Rowan," the Guild man said, looking very pleased with himself. "Now, tell me your employer's name, as well as that of the smith that made your armor, and we'll see about how guilty you two really are."

"They are one and the same," the hunter Rowan replied, surprising the Guild man. "Our employer goes by a few names... but I guess he prefers to be called Shinra."

Ellie frowned in confusion. What an odd name... she'd never heard the name before. After all she'd been through, and all of Felicia and Rowan's blustering, she would have thought the man's name would have been familiar to her. However, she realized that both the Guild man and Monique both had shocked expressions on their faces.

"Shinra?" the Guild man gasped. "I don't... How... He's still alive?"

"Of course," Rowan replied simply.

"That old bastard wouldn't die unless you fed him to an elder dragon," Felicia muttered. "And even then, he'd just cut his way out and be more crotchety than he already is. He's gotta be ten times my age and he'll still likely outlive me."

"Who is Shinra?" Ellie asked, and both the Guild man and Monique looked at her in surprise.

"He's a... unique individual," the Guild man said, though his tone seemed to indicate a hesitation to say anything else.

"Unique? Ha!" Monique laughed. "He's a veritable legend! Well, at least among smiths and artisans. He's supposed to be the best Wyvernian smith in the country! Any hunter worth their salt would pay anything to buy a weapon made by him, and any smith would do just as much to learn from him. They still auction off things he's made in Frost Town for a tidy fortune. But... I've heard some of the older smiths in Frost Town talking about training under him as children, so I didn't think he was still alive."

"Yeah, the old bastard is positively ancient," Felicia muttered. "But he still goes on as if he'll never die."

"But I don't understand..." Monique said in confusion. "I thought you two were criminals of some kind. You could have told me that you were working for Shinra."

"Just because it's Shinra doesn't mean they haven't been involved in criminal activity," the Guild man replied sourly. He earned a dark look from Monique, but met it in kind. "I suppose that smiths and artisans wouldn't think too much on the rumors about him that don't concern his skill with the blacksmith's hammer, but the man has a less generous reputation with the Guild."

Felicia scoffed in amusement, and Rowan nodded. Monique frowned uncertainly. "But why? I've never heard anything but the most superb words about him…"

"Of course you wouldn't hear anything bad!" the Guild man snapped. "You only hear the praises he gets from hunters and other smiths! Why would they do anything but laud his accomplishments? But the Guild… the Guild does not hear his name with the same shining status that others do. He's far too willing to go outside the rules of safety than is allowed, and his work toes the line of legality far more often than the Guild likes."

"Ha! The Guild rep talking about legality like they have the right to talk," Felicia growled. "That's a laugh…"

The Guild man shot the huntress a foul look before continuing. "Were he not so… popular, and his work for hunters and the Guild not so valuable, he would have been imprisoned by the Guild long ago. For example… Miss Monique, you mentioned worrying that these two hunters here might try and kidnap you or something like that if you refused to travel with them to meet their employer. They may not be truly part of a criminal organization as you first believed, but perhaps you should ask them if the option wasn't something that they hadn't considered if you were adamant in not accompanying them to meet with Shinra. Or if Shinra hadn't ordered them to do so if you proved to be stubborn about it."

The room was silent, and Shinra's two subordinates shifted uncomfortably where they sat. The Guild man nodded, content in his point being proven. "We would've been gentle about it…" Felicia muttered sourly.

"I suppose I should also ask what other activities Shinra has had you two partake in during your time working for him."

"Why don't you go ask him yourself, Guild man?" Felicia growled. "If you can find him! We have a hard time getting a hold of him, and we work for the old coot! Maybe if you let us go, he'll feel a tiny bit of obligation to give the Guild a few snippets of what he's created the last few years, and you'll lap it up like the greedy dogs you are."

The Guild rep seethed at the woman's words. "You seem quite against the Guild, huntress. Pressing your luck against it is a very bad idea! After everything you've done in this town, you should think yourself so lucky you're not in prison already! Keep up this attitude, and I'll-"

"You'll what?" Felicia snapped. "You'll throw me into the Gullet, just like all the other secrets the Guild needs to hide?"

The room went silent, and Ellie sighed internally. Wonderful, another reference she didn't understand. But she realized that nobody else understood what Felicia meant either. Kerry had a blank face, Rowan looked baffled, and Monique looked just as confused as they did. But the Guild man, however… his face was pale and his eyes were wide, and he was looking at Felicia in horror.

"You… I… how do you know about that?" the man sputtered. Felicia scoffed at the man's face.

"Oh, so you're one of the ones who've heard of it. Congratulations on being trusted enough to know; your poker face needs work though. Those were some pretty words coming from a Guild representative, lecturing me about legality and ethics, especially when you know about the Gullet. Why do you think the Guild wants me back so badly? Why do you think they haven't thrown me in prison already? It's not just because I set half the East District on fire, you know. They're afraid of what I know about them… or more importantly, they're afraid I'll tell people."

"You wouldn't…" the man gasped. His eyes were focused entirely on the huntress now, and Ellie realized that the man had completely forgotten about everyone else in the room. "People wouldn't believe you."

Felicia laughed. "I would do it if I needed to. And you'd be surprised at what people will believe if you give them enough detail. I know enough information that I can prove my words. I have names, too. Besides, it'll be easier to convince people after that show you just gave to everyone in this room."

The Guild man winced in horror, looking around the room in shock, remembering that there were four other people in the room. For a moment he weighed his options, then glared at Felicia, though his gaze was unsteady. "Don't think this gets you off the hook. I'll return later, once I've made some… contacts, and we'll see how tough you really are. You'd best keep your silence until then." With that, the man strode quickly out the door, pushing past the two guards in a flurry as he rushed out of the hospital.

Felicia laughed, amused. "Well that worked. He won't be back again, not for a long time."

"Is it… is it true that you were the one that caused the wildfire that burned down most of the East District?" Kerry suddenly asked. Felicia looked at her nervously, but didn't reply.

"I remember that fire," Kerry said quietly. "One night several years ago, an arsonist set fire to a couple of weapon and material warehouses over in the East District. It got way out of control though, and ended up burning through almost four dozen storehouses, apartments and weapon shops before it was finally contained and put out… That was you?"

Felicia laughed impassively. "They thought it was some kind of espionage from a competitor that went wrong. I guess that part's true enough; I certainly didn't mean to burn down anything but the two warehouses. But like I said, they thought it was the work of some rival business. Or at least that's what was reported. The owner of the warehouses knows I did it though, and he knows why."

"But why?" Kerry asked. "You could have burned down the entire city if it hadn't gotten contained! A friend of mine was badly burned during that fire! If the alarm hadn't gone up, a lot of people could've died!"

"I'm well aware!" Felicia snapped viciously, though there was a remorseful undertone in her voice. "I told you, I didn't mean for it to get so badly out of hand! A few things went wrong and… never mind. I've done what I've done, and even though things didn't turn out as well as I wanted them to, I'm not going to apologize or regret my actions!"

"But you could have killed a lot of people!"

"I don't care! It would have been worth it to get rid of everything that was made thanks to…" the huntress trailed off, snapped her mouth shut and glaring at the rest of the people in the room. "I've said more than enough. I don't care whether you like what I've done or whether you trust my words or not. But I'll tell you this much: those warehouses needed to burn, damned be the consequences!"

"But why would you-"

"My reasons are my own!" Felicia snapped. "Just go away… all of you! I don't even know why any of you are still in here."

"Wait a minute! What's… what's the 'Gullet'?" Ellie asked uncertainly. Felicia glowered at her. "You mentioned it earlier, and I was wondering-"

"You're better off not knowing, trust me," Felicia replied. "It's something that very few people know about, and the people that know about it try to keep it that way by any means possible. It's something that needs to be destroyed… but it can't be. I'd just forget hearing about it if I were you. You're better off that way."

"But-"

"I'm not saying anything else!" Felicia snapped. "You've helped me out of trying to talk to that idiot Guild worker, and I'm grateful, but you're not going to get any more information out of me about anything. Just… go away. I have enough problems to deal with right now without someone pestering me about things I don't want to think about."

The three visitors to the room stood quietly for a moment, before Kerry nodded. "Fine. Let's go, Ellie. I… I should check up on Harker anyway. He's been awfully quiet for a while now…"

The bowgunner turned, helping Ellie hobble out of the room behind Monique as the smith held the door open for them. Ellie spared a last glance at the two hunters in the room behind them, and saw Rowan reach out and take Felicia's hand in a comforting gesture. The huntress flinched and growled at the man, but didn't pull away as a guilty expression covered her face. Then the door closed and Ellie lost sight of them.

"Thank you for the help," Monique told them as they walked back into Ellie's room. Harker was where they'd left him, but he'd somehow gotten himself tangled up in blankets and several metal rods. The smith gave him a concerned look before shaking her head and continuing. "I never really believed that those two were legitimate or legal in what they were doing, but I wasn't sure whether they were really working for someone truly foul. I suppose hearing that they work for Shinra is a relief, but what that Guild man had to say about such a renowned smith is… distressing to say the least. I always had nothing but respect for the man's designs, but now… Ah, I should be getting back to check on my husband. Be sure to stop by sometime to chat… I'm afraid I don't know too many people here, and those that are in this hospital… well they have other issues that are concerning them right now."

"Yeah, sure," Ellie replied as Kerry helped her back into her bed. "I'll stop by when I can. I hope your husband gets better."

Monique smiled gently. "Well, he's come back from hunts in worse condition than this before. I'm sure he'll recover soon enough. All he really needs is time." The woman glanced out the nearby window, watching as a thin trail of smoke spiraled into the sky from deep within the South District. "I just wish everything else that seems to be going wrong were as easily fixed…"

Ellie slouched back into her pillow, gazing out the window as well. Everything seemed to be falling apart; for her, for Levin, for all of the Lost. She had hoped that things would settle down after everything they'd gone through in Malefica, but there didn't seem to ever be any rest for them. Now that she was still again, and didn't have anything to distract her from her thoughts (other than whatever Harker had tangled himself up in), her mind traveled back to worrying about Levin once more, and misery began to sink in once more. She wished she knew where he was, how he was doing, whether or not his punishment was as bad as she feared it was.

Please, please let him be okay.

* * *

Levin groaned in pain as the two guards flanking him dragged him through the dark hallway. He wished he knew where he was, but he had been unconscious when they had brought him here, so he didn't know where in the city he even was. It was cool however, so he assumed that he was underground somewhere. But Loc Lac was large. He could be anywhere in the city now.

The last few days had gone by in a blur. Levin barely remembered what had happened to him in that time. Zhanin had dragged him around the city the entire time, though, giving speeches to crowds of people in parts of the city that Levin didn't recognize. Levin had been out of sorts the entire time however, so he wasn't exactly sure what the man had been talking about, but he could take a good guess, judging by the furious and fearful reactions that the audience had experienced. They had thrown things at him after Zhanin had finished speaking, every single time… Zhanin's men had kept the people from doing too much damage, but they'd certainly let them get a few good hits in before intervening…

Levin wished he knew where the men were taking him. He'd either been in solitary confinement or being dragged around Loc Lac to show off to Zhanin's audiences since he'd been taken in by the council guards. But this was the first time they'd ever brought him to a place like this. He wished he knew why he was here and how they'd gotten him here; he'd been drugged when they were transporting him so he didn't even know where he was in Loc Lac… or even if he was still in Loc Lac at all. Maybe it was a prison of some kind. There were barred doors on each side of the hallway as they made their way further down, but the interiors of the rooms seemed a bit too big to be jail cells, and Levin doubted that they were taking him somewhere comfortable to live in imprisonment…

Levin heart leapt into his throat as a bloodcurdling scream ripped out from one of the nearby doors. The sound was quickly muffled up by something else, probably the victim being gagged or something similar, followed the sound of disgruntled muttering and some words that sounded more disappointed that malicious or cruel. Neither of the guards that were dragging him down the hallway seemed too bothered by the sounds coming from the room, and pressed Levin on without thought or care for whatever noises could be heard from the hall. Levin shivered in horror; what kind of place was this? Even Malefica hadn't had people as detached from people's suffering as this.

The place was a maze, as far as Levin could tell, a hive of intertwining hallways and stairwells, with hardly any defining features to help him try and figure out where he was and where he'd come from. For the life of him Levin thought that the guards were intentionally leading him around in circles just to confuse him. This place couldn't be that large, could it? But it seemed no matter where they went, it seemed to be endless dark hallways with doors every dozen yards or so.

But eventually they reached their destination. It was just another cell, nothing special or unique about it. Levin was led into the room, and barely had any time to look around before he was dragged to the far wall and promptly forced into shackles, bound both hand and foot to the stone walls. The guards rattled the chains a bit to make certain that Levin was properly incapacitated, before making their way back to the hallway.

"You think that's enough?" one of the guards muttered. "You know those hunters. That isn't enough to hold some of them…"

"Ah, this one doesn't look strong enough to break those chains. He'll need help, and he won't get any of that here. If all else fails, then we'll go find some Carbalite shackles later, but until then, leave it alone. The doc will be here soon enough and he can call for more chains if he thinks it's necessary."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Now let's head up to the northern tunnel. One of the subjects bent their shackles trying to get out, so now we need to replace them with new ones. I think it happened when the man testing him tried to-"

The man's words were cut off sharply as the pair slammed the cell door shut loudly behind them. The room's acoustics were oddly tuned, and Levin's ears rang for a while before he could hear properly again, and by then the pair were long gone. Levin hadn't liked what he'd heard though. Testing? What kind of testing? What exactly did they do to the prisoners that they brought to this place, wherever it was?

Now that he was alone, however, Levin took a moment to have a good look around his cell. It was definitely not a prison, or at least not a normal one. The room was far too big for something like that. It was a good ten yards across at least, despite seemingly being made for just one person. There was only one set of chains against the far wall after all, and it didn't like there was anything else around that could be used to hold down a prisoner. The rest of the room though… despite the size of the room for just him, what was kept against the other walls were giving Levin a very uncomfortable feeling.

There were four tables against the other walls of the room, each too far away from Levin for the hunter to reach without breaking his bonds or dislocating several joins in his arms. They each had a collection of various items on them, and Levin didn't care for anything that he saw. The one on his immediate left was covered with various metal objects that Levin dared not imagine the use of. Gloves and rods and other such things littered the table as well, including needles and ropes and other such things.

The two tables in the middle were different, though similarly intimidating. Both were pushed together and stacked front to back with various laboratory equipment, ranging from test tubes to mixing phials to beakers and strainers and bottles and mixing rods. It was something Levin would expect Harker to love to death, and was certainly a more complete laboratory than the one that the long sword user actually had in his room back in the Oasis. Levin didn't like the look of the fluids that were piping through the tubes, either, and the hissing and steam rising from some of the bottles seemed very ominous to him.

The last table on the right had very little on it compared to the others. There wasn't much, just several large, stopped bottles that were precisely arranged next to each other in a row; a few of the bottles seemed to be glowing a little from some internal reaction… There were several large containers filled with various random things, some which Levin recognized. There were Kelbi horns and some bugs and a few mushrooms, numerous things which hunters commonly picked up for gathering missions and personal use.

The only other thing in the room was off in the farthest corner, on the floor and wedged up against the wall; it was a large iron chest, molded thick and durable, with a hefty padlock binding it shut. Levin couldn't help but wonder what sort of thing was buried away inside, considering all the rest of the things that littered the room.

Light steps could be heard coming from the hallway. It was hard to tell where the steps were coming from and where they were going with the strange echoes that the room created. But Levin thought that someone had stopped outside his door, and was talking quietly to another person. But the conversation stopped soon enough, and Levin could hear someone walking away. Once the sound faded away, the door squeaked as the lock was undone, and the door swung wide. A tall figure strode into the room from the hallway, closing the door behind them, before making their way to the center of the room. But the person paused mid-stride.

"Levin? Is that you?" The hunter looked up in surprise at the voice. It was tricky to see the man in front of him in the dim light, but Levin realized that he recognized the man before him. Dark hair tied back behind thin glasses… Levin really did know this man!

"Farren? You… why are you here? What is this?"

The researcher seemed to recover from his shock at the situation far faster than Levin did. Farren sighed, a painful, distressed sound. "Damn it all… I never imagined that someone I knew would find themselves here. What did you do to get yourself…?" The man snapped his fingers, realizing what had happened. "Ah, that's right. They said you'd provoked the Alatreon. I'd heard it was one of the Lost hunters that had done it, but I didn't think that you'd do something as harsh as that…"

"Hold on now!" Levin snapped. "Where are we? I expected to be thrown into prison for what I'd done, but… what is this place? This isn't a jail! I don't… I can't even guess what kind of place this is! And what are you of all people doing here? I thought you were a scientist for the Guild or something like that!"

"I am indeed a scientist for the Guild," Farren replied quietly. "I didn't lie about that. However, I must admit that the work I do for the Guild is not always something that they would like to bring to light. And as for where we are, you are correct in your assertion that this is not a prison. Or rather, you are partially correct. This place here is a... laboratory of sorts, used by the Guild to research certain things. That is why I am here, and why you are here: to aid in that research. If you'd like a name... people that know of its existence have decided to call this place the Gullet."

"The... the Gullet? What does that... Wait, if this is a lab of some kind, why am I here? I know I was supposed to be imprisoned for what I've done, but this is..."

Farren sighed sadly. "I really wish that this had happened under different circumstances Levin, I really do. Most of the time, those that are brought here are criminals in the most serious sense: murderers and rapists, assassins, arsonists and other dangerous individuals, the worst scum of the city. However... though it pains me to admit it, sometimes there are individuals like yourself, who find themselves here, whether they deserve it or not. Most often it's people like political dissidents, revolutionists, rebels, and other such people that find themselves sent here. Anyone that certain people in the Guild or the council simply wants to... disappear. Someone that usually won't be missed or cared about if they were never seen again. Likely that's what Zhanin wished of you: to just disappear."

"But what about my friends!" Levin shouted. "Ellie! And Harker and Kerry! What about them? If they don't hear about me, surely they'll-"

"Ellie? Harker?" Farren asked, a bemused expression crossing his face. "Odd. I'd heard that those two had died on the return from that illegal arena you shut down. Then again... I suppose that was on your word..." Levin's eyes widened in horror, and Farren laughed quietly. "Oh, don't worry, Levin. I won't tell anyone that you might have exaggerated the poor health of your lover and comrade. There's nothing to gain in revealing such a thing, not for me. Besides… I have little care for Zhanin and his goals myself. No, you're the only one of your friends that will have to dwell here."

Levin scowled at Farren, and tugged lightly at the chains that bound him to the wall. He looked poignantly at the equipment and materials that lined the tables as well. "And what exactly will happen to me during my time here, Farren?"

The researcher idly picked up an empty bottle next to him, twirling it in his fingers and staring at it intently, trying to avoid Levin's gaze. "You will… aid in necessity, Levin."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Levin snapped, swinging his arm forward angrily and cursing in pain as the metal bit against his skin.

Farren grimaced and set the bottle down gently. "I will not skim words. The Guild takes great efforts to ensure the safety of the materials and weapons they provide their hunters. Doing so requires extensive testing, to guarantee the stability of what they offer, from medical supplied to their weapons to the armor on their backs. The Guild must do their best to take no chances with the safety of their hunters, and so comprehensive analysis is conducted to study every eventuality that could appear. However, some of the studies that must be done go beyond the bounds of what could normally be considered… ethical.

"Thus, the Gullet. Here, the Guild can solve two problems simultaneously: Firstly, the removal of criminals and undesirables from the public eye; second, the ability to conduct the tests that would otherwise be disallowed by ethical committees and personal rights groups, without the public learning of their existence. That is why you are here Levin, to be the subject of these tests, to provide the Guild with information that they could otherwise not attain through normal means. You will remain here… until you are of no more use, or until the experiments lead to a premature death."

"I don't understand," Levin gasped, horrified. "How... how can the Guild allow a place like this to exist? Why would they condone what goes on in this place if they knew what was happening to the prisoners here?"

"What makes you think the Guild knows what's happening here?" Farren replied. Levin stared at him, dumbfounded, and Farren shook his head. "The Guild, or rather, the Guild as a whole, for the most part does not know a thing of what occurs here. Very few individuals in the organization are aware of the Gullet's existence. Even Stergo, the Guildmaster, was blissfully ignorant of these cells and what occurs here. You've met the man. Do you really think he'd be the type to allow this sort of thing to go on under his nose without doing anything about it? No... if the existence of the Gullet became known to the general public, it would easily be shut down within a week, if not sooner." The researcher smirked sourly. "Then I'd likely find myself imprisoned just as you are, ironically enough."

"If Stergo didn't know about all this, then who...?"

"I won't name them, if that's what you're after. Honestly, I'm only personally aware of one of the men that run this place, and the rest are kept secret from me. There are very few besides those that work the experiments that know the full extent of what occurs here, maybe... six or so overseers. It's most likely so, if this place is uncovered, only the researchers will be arrested and they will remain free. All of them keep themselves extremely discreet in the Guild, while retaining their power and influence at the same time. It's rather impressive to be honest. Likely they think Stergo as a figurehead of some kind, though considering the power and influence he once retained, I imagine they'd find that wasn't true if the old Wyvernian actually got wind of the Gullet..."

Levin stared at Farren for a long time. "What… how many… how many people have died here from the experiments that you've run on them? How many people have been killed by this place?"

Farren lowered his head, guilt in his expression. "I suppose most other researchers here would try and distract from this question by trying to tell you about the lives that have been saved by our work here. But I said that I'd be honest with you, and I plan to continue being so. I cannot even guess the number of those that have met their fate in these walls, Levin, but… I know that I personally have witnessed the deaths of no less than eighty-one people by my experiments in the fifteen years that I have worked in the Gullet. There must me dozens of other scientists within these walls, and I like to believe that my own experiments are some of the safer and cautious ones that are conducted. So, during the course of the Gullet's existence… there must have been thousands dead."

Levin gaped in horror at the man. "You… thousands? Why? It… it can't possibly be worth all that! So many people dead… Even if they were criminals and scum, they didn't deserve to suffer like that, dead where nobody would know or care about their lives! What you're doing here can't possibly be worth what you've done…"

"Some people would argue otherwise, Levin," Farren replied. "Some would argue that, while horrendous and despicable, the experiments conducted here are indispensable for the work that the Guild and its hunters accomplish out in the country, defending people from monsters."

"Like who?" Levin snapped angrily, his temper rising. The Guild researcher seemed to accept his anger, keeping Levin's gaze unflinchingly.

"Have you heard of potion addiction, Levin?" Farren asked, leaning casually against one of the tables. "Have you ever seen someone that was suffering from it?"

Levin was silent for a moment. Where was Farren going with this? He decided to play along; the researcher didn't seem to be one to go on needless tangents from what Levin had seen. "Yeah… once. There was a hunter at the Orage Dell hunter's exam that the overseers of the first test said was addicted."

"How would you describe the man? Do you remember?"

"Ah… I'm not sure… Kind of fidgety and nervous, but still a bit slow-moving and slow-reacting, very dull. Short tempered. Easily riled up over the wasting of a potion?"

"Not a bad diagnosis for an untrained hunter," Farren remarked. "But close enough. Likely, from your description, the man was past the early stages of potion addiction, but not too deep that it would be impossible for him to break loose of the addiction without medical assistance. He was likely hooked on the numbing effects that the potions offered. Perhaps he got lucky and managed to recover."

"He seemed pretty bad to me," Levin said quietly. Farren turned and gave him a hard look for a moment, before smirking mirthlessly.

"I suppose it would seem like that to you," the researcher said. "Potion addiction can appear rather harsh to those that are seeing it for the first time these days. But… what would you think if I told you that things were far, far worse for hunters only fifteen years ago?"

"What do you mean?"

Farren motioned to the vials and tubes and bubbling fluids that lay on the table before him. "Alchemy is a science, Levin; A precise art that is constantly evolving and improving itself to make our creations more potent, more effective, longer-lasting… and in the case of potions, less addictive. You may think that potions are addictive now, but fifteen years ago, they were far, far worse. One in every hundred hunters succumbs to the addictive effects of potions these days. To me, and to many others, that may seem like a terrible, unacceptable number, but not that long ago, it was one in every fifty, and before that, one in every twenty. In the time since I have become a researcher, we have managed to reduce the addictiveness of potions by five hundred percent, all while retaining the effectiveness of them." Farren waved vaguely at the walls behind him. "And the research? All of it was done here, in the Gullet. The methods we use here may be foul and uncouth, but they are successful. And they are necessary."

"Necessary? All this? This… this torture and pain, just to make potions less addictive?"

Farren shook his head. "There is much more done here than potion study, Levin. Many things have been investigated and understood for the sake of hunters across the country here under Loc Lac. Dangerous materials, proper combination ratios, testing antidotes and remedies for negative side effects. But let's focus on the issue of potion addiction. Perhaps you underestimate the… severity of the dependence. You've seen the early stages of addiction, Levin, but you have yet to witness how bad it can be when someone has sunk so far that they almost rely on the numbing sensation of potions to stay alive.

"Pain is a terrible thing, Levin, but it's a staple of life. Humans need it to live, to know when they're hurt and whether something is dangerous or not. Without pain, humans would indeed be able to surpass their own limitations, but at a very steep price, more often than not ending their lives. Once enough potion has been consumed by a hunter, it makes them numb to the world around them. It dulls their pain to almost nothing, and they think themselves invincible. But they cannot feel their wounds, and cannot know when they've been dealt an injury that requires immediate attention, and soon their body fails them, all while they go about thinking they're perfectly fine.

"But the worst part of potion addiction is the crash. To come out of that endless immortality they think they've found… I've heard it compared to being burned alive. Can you imagine, Levin? You accustom yourself to the pain you feel in your body as you live. The ache of joints and old wounds, a crick in your neck you got the previous night, the itch of your clothes against your skin, the pinch of your armor as you chase after the beast you hunt. Once you've dealt with those feelings long enough, they don't bother you anymore, you forget about them. But imagine if all that feeling was gone, all at once, for a few minutes, a few hours, a few days. Imagine getting off the potions, and those feelings smashing against your nervous systems again, all at once in a wave of pain. And it's just the pain of living, not even one of wounds and injuries. How horrible it must be, asking yourself why living hurts so much. How easy it would be, to just take another potion to dull the pain that existing offers, to hide from what hurts. How easy it would be to… to willingly give up all good sensations, just to be free from the bad ones."

Farren shifted where he sat, and Levin could see a pained expression on the researcher's face as he stared blankly at the floor of the cell. "After that, it's a spiraling descent. You don't feel pain when your stomach growls, so you forget to eat. You don't tense your body, so your muscles begin to atrophy. Your body grows slow and sluggish, and you can't do anything but try and fight off the feelings with more potions, and more, and more."

The two sat in silence for a long time, broken only by the occasional groan from one of the nearby rooms. But Levin was focused on Farren; what he'd described was horrifying to try and picture in his head. Levin could see why the man was so dedicated to his work. Though he still didn't agree with the man's willingness to conduct the experiments he did, he certainly could see why the man could feel compelled to. But Farren seemed… bound to his work, on a personal level. The researcher shrugged painfully, then looked up to meet Levin's gaze.

"My older sister was a hunter you know." Levin felt his blood chill. Now he understood. "Jezebel… She was… well, I thought she was a great hunter, though I was quite young at the time. It might have just been the awe and respect that I held for her that made her seem so grand in my eyes. She was well-respected in the town we were raised in though, so maybe she could have been something truly great if… if…

"Around the time that she became a three-star hunter, she began to develop an addiction to potions. It was after a rather nasty battle her and her partners experience fighting a Barroth, she was badly injured during the fight. The doctors had her drinking potions for weeks while she was recovering from her wounds. In that time… it was enough to get her addicted to the stuff. Very addicted. I always thought my sister was strong enough to stave off such things like addictions… but I was clearly wrong. The others and I ignored the warning signs, thinking my sister would get over it on her own power…"

The man paused for a moment, taking a couple deep breaths. "It was during a Great Baggi hunt. Jezebel was in deep with her addiction, and spent almost all of her time numbed beyond anything, from pain to the gentlest touch. She and her comrades got separated in a snowstorm that got kicked up without warning, and she found herself alone. It was then that the Great Baggi and its pack appeared, ready to fight her while she was away from the others. Ha… likely she would have killed them all if she'd been at her best, but…

"The potion's effects were strong. So strong that she didn't realize that one of the injuries she received during a previous hunt were still bothering her. During the fight, one of her legs gave out from underneath her, and the Baggis were able to hit her with their bile, nearly knocking her out. Now, even with the effects of the Baggi bile putting you to sleep, one good bite from the creatures will wake you up. You'll pass out, but any injury will wake you. But… my sister was completely numb from the potions. She couldn't… she couldn't feel when they began to bite into her, or when they tore off her armor. She didn't wake up at all.

"She couldn't even feel it when the Baggis tore her arm off. Or when they tore her leg off either."

Levin stared in shock at the man. Farren seemed pained by the words, but it was an old pain, one that had long since seeped through him and one that he had accepted. "The potion addiction had numbed her completely to pain and any other feeling that could be felt. The effects of the bile finally wore off after she lost her leg, but she could only watch as the pack devoured her bit by bit. Had it not been for the arrival of the other hunters she had traveled with, she would have been forced to watch herself be eaten, without even the comfort of being able to pass out from the pain."

The man shifted uncomfortably where he sat. "She survived. Somehow. I can't guess how a person could survive a fate as terrible as that. But her allies managed to chase off the pack and keep her alive long enough to get her back to a doctor, and they managed to keep her alive." Farren sighed; it was a painful, aching sound. "Alive… if you could call it living. She was never the same person after all of that. Such a terrible experience, one I imagine that very few people can possibly imagine. And the doctors banned her from using potions, even to numb the pain of her recovering injuries from then on. It would be too easy for her to regress into the same state she'd been in before. The withdrawal tore her apart. It changed her, made her something completely different from the beautiful, vibrant woman that she used to be. As someone who knew her, who loved her… it was devastating to watch. Each second of her descent into self-destruction would eat at my own psyche just as much as it would eat at hers.

"There came a day when I couldn't take any more. I couldn't bear to watch her suffer any longer. I ran away. I left her and the rest of my family behind. I didn't have anywhere that I wanted to go. I just… had to get away." The man sighed, relieved to be past the worst part of the story. "It wasn't long before I ran out of food, and money. I found myself working for an alchemist in one of the towns at the edge of the Loc Lac desert. I was already fairly experienced in the trade, having studied alchemy back home, and it wasn't long at all before the Guild scouted me to work for them. By a stroke of strange fortune, I met the Guild's potion expert while he was trying to reduce the addictiveness of the Guild-mandated potions. It seemed like the cruel, but absolute lead of fate. I immediately requested to work for him, and threw myself into this work with unmatched zeal. Not long after that, the Guild reached the end of what it could research ethically, and I was hired by one of the men who run the Gullet. The work was… horrifying, but I couldn't bring myself to let that stop my mission. I began working here and swore myself to the Gullet's service. It's been fifteen years since then."

Levin sat stunned on the floor. He'd heard horror stories of hunts gone wrong before, but this… this was absolutely horrifying. The Gullet… he still couldn't agree with their methods, but if this place really did save hunters from such terrible fates… He looked up in surprise as Farren got to his feet once more, striding over to him and looking down at him on the floor.

"Do you understand me now, Levin?" Farren asked, looking down on him. The researcher's eyes were piercing, penetrating into Levin's own. "Do you see the necessity of this labor? The dire need to see this kind of research done, despite the depravity of the work? I understand you Levin. You think this kind of thing despicable and unthinkable. You'd try and find another way to complete this kind of study, something safer and more ethical. But ethics… ethics are not priority to me, Levin. My priority is urgency. I will do what I must to see this research completed, no matter the price, in order to maintain the safety of the hunters that the Guild sends to fight for our own safety each and every day. And if that means that I must make sacrifices... like the prisoners here in the Gullet… or like you, Levin, then I will gladly make them."

Farren's expression softened slightly then, and his eyes lowered. "If one of your deaths can save the lives of a hundred other hunters through this research, then I will not hesitate to be the one that commits the crime of doing so, no matter the guilt and shame that I feel. It is a burden that someone must bear, Levin, and I have already taken on its weight, if for no other reason than so no other will have to do so in my stead.

"Be proud, Levin," Farren told him. "Your life will be used to save the lives of so many others. Zhanin and his brood want you gone, to vanish like a flame snuffed out, never to be seen or heard from again. You've made a fine poster boy for what he thinks to be the sins of the Lost, and you've served his purposes well enough. He thinks this is a place where we torture people for fun or amusement or something of the like, and we'll pick you apart like a dissected frog. But we mean to have you live as long as we can, so that you can provide us with as much valuable data as you can. To the rest of the world, Levin, you are a shadow that has vanished in the night, but here, you are irreplaceably valuable, and your contribution shall be remembered and cherished for what you have given up."

"Given up without my consent," Levin growled. Farren smiled sadly, the piercing expression he'd had a moment ago fading back to an apologetic look.

"Unfortunately, yes. But such is the way of necessity."

"Necessity… a pretty little word to make you feel better about what you're doing here."

Farren nodded, agreeing without hesitation. "Yes, Levin. The idea of my work's necessity is all that carries me through what I've done. Without it… well, my conscience has long since been scarred and crushed under the weight of my actions here. I try to keep my subjects alive and healthy as long as I can… but I have little doubt that there will be little forgiveness for my crimes, in this life or the next. But I've accepted that long ago, and do what work I have to for the sake of countless others. But… while many of the other researchers in the Gullet have a variety of subjects that they study while they are here, I must admit that you've struck at least a small measure of fortune by finding yourself under my care, Levin. My research is not always as dangerous or invasive as some of my fellow scientists here. That's not to say that you will remain unharmed, but you will certainly not suffer nearly so much as you could. And I will do my best to keep you healthy, if not happy."

"That's hardly a comfort," Levin muttered sourly. Farren grinned gently.

"It should be. Now, I should probably explain what you're going to help me research. I won't leave you in the dark at what to expect; there's no sense in leading you through this blindly. As for what I'll be having you assist me with while you're here, my main source of study has always been potion research, and recently I've come across some very interesting information that I cannot help but desperately desire to study." From the table, Farren picked up two large bottles, each filled with a swirling, viscous fluid. One was a bright red color, a bright color that seemed to glow from some internal light. The other was a brilliant gold color, and while it didn't glow like the other one did, it certainly seemed potent… whatever it did.

"What… what are those?" Levin asked nervously.

"Potions, of course," Farren replied. "While homemade potions are certainly not encouraged by the Guild, since so many things can go wrong in the process and the hunters can end up poisoned or worse, there is the occasional diamond in the rough that appears. Apparently some of the Guild hunters in the east managed to pick up a couple of very interesting recipes from our neighboring country, recipes that could very well change the course of hunting as we know it, should we manage to find a way to reproduce what they've created."

"And what is that?"

Farren pointed to them each in turn. "The yellow potion here is a unique blend. Word has it that it restores a hunter to their full medical health, and bolters their endurance as well. I imagine such words are an exaggeration, but the properties it bears are certainly strange, so we'd like to discover the full extent of its capabilities. The red one… foreign legend says that the mixture is a sacred blend that has been used since ancient times to revive hunters from even the most terrible of injuries, not only sealing their wounds but also offering a stamina boost as well. It's quite the fascinating discovery, one that the Guild is quite disappointed in not having unearthed earlier."

Levin had to admit the idea was impressive. The potions sounded like something Harker would cook up in his lab. Though, he had to admit that the supposed potency of the potions seemed a bit too fantastical to be real. Something that fully healed all of your wounds with one drink? It was too unbelievable to be true. How would that even work?

"Godbugs, Dragon Toadstools, Kelbi horns…" Farren continued, motioning to the rest of the goods that littered the table. "The list of materials made it a challenge to gather what we required, but we've stockpiled enough to thoroughly test this. With fortune, the information we've received about the mixture instructions are accurate… but it's rarely that easy."

Levin looked fearfully at the two bottles. He'd be forced to drink Farren's attempts to replicate those over and over again? He had to admit, that didn't sound that bad… but then, with Harker around, he'd seen what could happen if a concoction was mixed incorrectly…

Farren gently put the bottles back into their place, before turning back to Levin again. "I truly am sorry about all this Levin. I wish you hadn't found yourself here. But… it seems that fate has conspired to treat us both quite horribly. Get some rest, Levin. I will give you a night's respite, but tomorrow… tomorrow I must do what is necessary."

Farren turned to leave, but paused as he reached the door though, and the researcher glanced at a large metal box that lay in the corner of the room. He seemed to mull something over for a moment, and then turned back to Levin. "I must be honest with you Levin," the man said, a dark tone in his voice. "I didn't want to mention this at first, but… I always feel the compulsion to be completely honest with those that I work with."

"What else are you going to do to me?" Levin grumbled curtly, and Farren sighed. The researcher walked over to the metal box, picking it up with a grunt and hoisting it up onto the table with the potions on it. He dropped it down quickly, shaking his hands as though he had been burned, before pulling a key ring from his pocket and unlatching the box to open it up. The researcher carefully put on a pair of large, thick gloves before he turned back to Levin.

"I have only two projects which absorb my time right now. The first, as you know already, is my study of potions and their effectiveness and addictiveness. It takes up most of my time and attention. The other… well, I'll spare you the long-term goals, but I'm trying to uncover the secrets of a rather mysterious and dangerous material." He reached into the box and carefully removed a large, misshapen object, placing it gently on the table. "I'm sure you of all people will recognize this particular substance."

Levin eyes widened in horror, and he shivered involuntarily at what Farren had pulled from the box. It was Dark Metal, the very same ore that he'd helped collect in the Tundra! The substance was the same as Levin remembered; a dark, empty mass of jagged black stone. The metal was all in one massive lump now, unlike the numerous shards it had been in before. The darkness of the metal seemed almost alive as Levin looked at it, sifting and churning and seeming to disappear in the shadows of the room. Levin pressed back against the wall as a painful chill swept across him. The old scars where the ore had punctured his skin so long ago seemed to grow cold on his back at the sight, his memory of the pain growing strong.

Farren nodded in understanding at the sight of Levin's fear. "Your reaction is understandable. This ore… its existence is haunting. It seems with every bit of knowledge I unearth concerning the Dark Metal, I find a dozen more things about it that make no sense at all. I didn't mold it into the shape you see before you, you know. When I returned to Loc Lac, I found that the fragments and shard had… bonded together into a single shape somehow. I wish I had been paying attention, or known it was going to happen, then maybe I could have studied the process."

Levin didn't answer; his attention was riveted on the metal. As he stared, the shapeless mass seemed to… shift and twist under his gaze, changing form as he watched. He thought it was a hallucination at first, but soon he realized that the Dark Metal was actually writhing about on its own! The metal was alive!

"How odd…" Farren muttered. "I've never seen it quite as active as it is today. Perhaps it... remembers you, Levin."

Levin stared in horror at the researcher. "It… it can't…"

"I would not say that the Dark Metal can or cannot do anything, Levin. Its properties remain a mystery to me, even after all this time. There is much to learn about it, and it having a living conscious of its own would not surprise me all that much." The researcher stared intently at Levin. "This is my other focus of research, Levin: the Dark Metal. And, though I regret doing so, I will be using you as the test subject for figuring it out."

"What? No!" Levin cried. "You can't! If that touches me, it'll… it'll…"

"Kill you? Yes, most likely. Few people can survive extended contact with Dark Metal in its pure, untouched state. As of now, I have lost twelve subjects to the life-draining effects of the ore. But then, that's what I hope to study and overcome: a method of diluting the poisonous effects of the Dark Metal while still maintaining some of its… unique properties." Farren lowered his head sadly at Levin's fear. "Perhaps now you understand the dedication this place has to accomplishing the research it needs to. It seems that becoming a subject of potion research did not scare you, but not all projects in the Gullet are as kind as that. Prepare yourself, Levin. Your time here will not be as pleasant as you thought. I will give you one night to recover and steel yourself. After that… I cannot promise that you will find such rest here again."

With those words, the researcher quickly turned and strode out of the room. The latch on the door locked shut with a deafening certainty. Levin's eyes remained locked on the chunk of Dark Metal that lay on the table, however. The ore seemed to swell now that Farren was gone, and in the silence of the room, the subtle movements of the metal sifting and churning made it look like it was trying to move itself towards Levin. The hunter pulled away in horror, tugging desperately against his chains to try and increase the distance between himself and the black metal, but the chains were too thick to break, and he could go no further. The Dark Metal seemed to crawl towards him, intent on chasing down the chained hunter.

A howl of pain echoed through the halls outside of the room, some unfortunate hunter suffering through whatever experiment that some researcher was working on. Levin looked to the door worriedly as the scream slowly trailed off into silence once more. He turned back to stare at the Dark Metal again, but the ore seemed to have settled down now. It was motionless now, with only the swirling darkness of the material changing it at all. The subtle writhing and shifting had stopped, and the metal just sat there on the table.

Had the Dark Metal really moved at all? Levin couldn't even tell anymore. The lump of ore didn't… seem to have stirred, but at the same time, Levin could have sworn he'd seen the metal move closer to him. Was he really so afraid of the Dark Metal that he was jumping at shadows? He had hated seeing the metal again… he'd never admitted it to the others, but the feeling he'd felt when the Dark Metal had pierced his skin in the Tundra had haunted his dreams. It was so cold, and it felt like his life was flickering out inside of him…

It felt like dying. Or at least what Levin imagined dying would feel like.

Seeing the metal again had only rekindled the fear he'd felt for the evil material. And seeing it move like it did, as though it was alive, only fed the flames of his fear. Now he couldn't help but picture the metal coming to life and crawling towards him, piercing his skin again and sending him into that cold death once again. The stone had settled down for now… but how long until the metal began to writhe again?

Despite Farren's words, Levin doubted he would be sleeping tonight, as long as he remained in the same room as the Dark Metal.

* * *

**Author's Note: Please Review! Got into a bit of a TV and anime kick recently. Not sure why…**

**Heard some interesting MH4 information that's got me pretty excited. It seems that ****Hiro Mashima**_**, **_**the man behind the **_**Rave Master**_** and **_**Fairy Tail**_** mangas, as well as the Monster Hunter Orage manga, is planning on writing yet a Monster Hunter/Fairy Tail crossover manga sometime soon! I'm quite excited for it! Hopefully someone will get on the translation and put it online as soon as possible! Also, it seems that the man is also helping to design at least one of the armor sets in the game, if not more. Not to mention more and more videos are being released with the game coming out in Japan soon. I'm looking forward to the game even more than I was before!**

**I found a deliciously eerie podcast that I've come to love recently: Welcome to Night Vale. It's got a very Twilight Zone feel to it. It's played like a radio news show for the small desert town called Night Vale, anchored by a strange man named Cecil. But the town has a lot of weird things going on, like hooded figures haunting the dog park, angels doing chores for an old woman, police chasing down five-headed dragons for identity theft and insurance fraud, and glowing clouds erasing people's memories and demanding people to obey it. But the entire time it's played off like it's all just another day for the people in the town who have come to accept the town's weirdness. It's great, and I suggest downloading it off iTunes for a quick listen if you've got the time!**

**Reading: **_**Dresden Codak**_** by Aaron Diaz  
Playing: Minecraft, BF3, MH3U, Mass Effect, Worms Revolution  
Listening: AC/DC, American Hi-Fi, All-American Rejects, Aiden, Arcade Fire, The Album Leaf, Assembly of Dust, The Almost, The Dead Workers Party, Welcome to Night Vale  
Watching: Adventure Time, Servant x Service, Chuunibyou Demo Koi Ga Shitai, Gatchaman Crowds, Laputa: Castle in the Sky, Spirited Away, Once Upon a Time in the West, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind**


	43. Final Straw

Final Straw

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. Most of the characters in this story are mine. Many characters belong to others, as stated in previous chapters._

_Edited by: Hoenn Master96_

"The Alatreon's the reason for all your problems, remember? Of course you do… you hate it don't you, for everything it's done to you and your people?"

Kerry paused at the sound of the words coming from the alley. She'd heard words like it countless times since returning to Loc Lac. Though the Lost had been unaware of it at the start, somehow the knowledge that the Alatreon was the cause of their removal to this 'hunter's world' as they called it, as well as the source of their madness, had been spreading like wildfire through the city. Memories had been stirred within them, and what had once been repressed had blazed back to life in the minds of the Lost, kicking up flames of fear and anger which could be seen and heard by the rest of the city. It seemed to Kerry that someone had to be stoking the fire; for every single Lost that remembered their foul relationship with the Alatreon, the fear and resentment of the Lost by the rest of the city grew larger.

"Try and remember woman!" another voice snapped angrily. Kerry tensed; she didn't like the tone of the man's voice… "Surely you remember the fires, the destruction of the Lost's world! All the terrible, horrible things that the Alatreon has done! If you don't remember, I'm sure we can find some way to remind you…"

"Just leave me alone…" a pained voice pleaded.

"Not until you remember! After all, the Lost need to recall all the terrible things that have happened to them, don't they? People need to know that the Lost have been dealt a terrible hand! Surely you remember… the fire and flames, the destruction and chaos?"

"No… go away…"

"Not yet! We need you to remember, woman! We need you to make as much racket as you can so others can remember too! The more Lost that get riled up from memories of the Alatreon, the better…"

Kerry had heard enough. She charged into the alleyway, and found a young Lost woman backed against the wall by a pair of menacing-looking men. Kerry could immediately see what was really going on now; the woman eyes had the fearful, jumpy look of someone who was suffering particularly badly from the effects of the Lost madness, a look that became easier to pick out the longer you spent around the Lost. The men pinning her in were hired thugs of some kind, and definitely not Lost from what Kerry could tell.

"Hey! Get away from her!" Kerry shouted, and the pair of men tensed, turning warily. They relaxed at the sight of her however; Kerry wasn't wearing her armor at the moment, and even she had to admit that without the Diablos materials encasing her, she looked about as menacing as a cotton ball, despite her experience as a professional hunter. The man closest to her, some rat-faced man, grinned in amusement at her arrival, though he seemed somewhat irked when he realized that she was a good head taller than him.

"Why don't you just leave us to our own business, girlie?" the man growled.

"You leave her alone!" Kerry snapped, pushing past them and wrapping her arms around the woman's shoulders. The woman clung tightly to her, looking nervously at the two men and clutching her head painfully. "We've got enough problems without people like you around."

"Maybe you should leave," the other man, taller and broader than the first, replied. He stepped forward menacingly, bringing his hand up and placing it firmly on Kerry's shoulder. "We still have some things to discuss with that woman, so why don't you just leave her here and bugger off to wherever you-"

Kerry glared at the man, reaching up and roughly grabbing his wrist and prying it from her shoulder. The man's eyes widened in shock as Kerry overpowered him, and the bowgunner repressed a smirk. People always assumed she was weak from her physique, but for some reason her body simply didn't seem to display how strong she really was. Despite her appearance, she knew that she was actually quite a bit stronger than most hunters, even those that carried around great swords and hammers all the time. Maybe it was because she'd spent so long carrying a heavy bowgun around. She never understood how that worked; Harker had been very curious about it at times, but any attempts on his part to investigate the details of her physical state usually got derailed by… other, less scientific distractions. She tried not to use her strength too often when she wasn't hunting… but it came in handy in situations like this one.

"You are going to leave her alone!" Kerry growled, tightening her grip on the man's wrist and pushing him down to the ground as he groaned in pain. It was strange to be in this position, Kerry had to admit; just a scarce few months ago, she would have been too meek to assert herself like this, but after everything that had happened in Malefica, she couldn't bring herself to put up with people like this anymore. "You are going to walk away from here, and you aren't going to bother anyone else again! If I catch you trying to do so…"

The smaller man from the side suddenly rushed her, and Kerry yelped in surprise as the man swung at her with a knife. She pulled back, just barely dodging the blade of the weapon and releasing her grip on the other man's arm. The rat-faced man smacked his comrade, and the pair bolted down the alley, running away as fast as they could. A flash of anger went through Kerry, and for a moment, she was tempted to chase after them, but then she remembered the Lost woman, and leaned down to make sure she was alright. The woman was quavering a bit, but seemed in control of herself enough to be calming down.

"Are you alright?" Kerry asked, trying to soothe the woman.

"Yes… yes I'm fine. Thank you for helping," the woman replied, nodded thankfully.

Kerry glanced in the direction where the two men had run off, frowning irritably. "What were they saying to you? What were they trying to get from you?"

The woman shook her head in dismay. "I don't… I don't know, really. They kept telling me to try and remember something about the Alatreon, that monster that everyone's been talking about recently. I don't even know what they were talking about, I haven't seen a monster since before I got to Loc Lac, much less one of these… elder dragons, or whatever they're calling it. They kept telling me I needed to be afraid of it, that it wanted to kill me and hurt me… Thank you so much again for helping me, again. I was so scared of them."

"It's no problem," Kerry replied gently. "People like them shouldn't be doing what they do."

The woman smiled, but a moment later the expression faded and she shivered fearfully. "It's just… as strange as it sounds, the more they pushed and pressed me, and the more afraid I got… it seemed almost like I was really remembering something about the Alatreon. Like a repressed memory or something… I don't know. I don't want to know. For all I know it could have just been another hallucination… I have them every now and then. Lost madness, you know. If they'd kept going, I think I might have really believed what they were saying about the Alatreon. I don't know what I would have done if I had…"

"Hey! Is there anyone here?"

Kerry looked up at the familiar voice as someone entered the alleyway from where the two men had run off. She blinked in surprise; it was Richard. What was he doing here? The other hunter's expression was one of surprise as well upon catching sight of her and the Lost woman.

"What's going on here?" he asked worriedly. "I saw a couple of men running out of here in a hurry… I thought they'd been attacked at the rate they were going, but it seems like I may have been mistaken. What happened?"

Kerry looked at the woman as she clung to Kerry's arm, giving an untrusting look at Richard. "They were provoking her for some reason," Kerry explained. "They were trying to instill a fear of the Alatreon in her, and scare her. I don't think they really wanted anything material from her. Anyway, I found them like that, and chased them off before they could really do anything. I… may have been a little rough with one of them, but they were being very rude, so I lost my temper a little bit."

"That's a fair enough reason to be rough," Richard replied. He gave the woman a comforting smile, but the woman was still on edge from earlier and the expression backfired, the Lost clinging even tighter to Kerry's arm, and pulling away from him. Richard sighed dejectedly. "Anyway, we should probably make sure she gets back home safely. I'll go with you; those men might have friends, and I doubt they'll take too kindly to being overpowered by a single person."

The woman's apartment wasn't far thankfully, but Kerry kept looking over her shoulder, afraid that Richard's words would ring true and the two men she'd chased off would return for revenge. But apparently the men had taken enough and didn't plan on coming back, because the streets remained quiet the entire way. The woman nodded thankfully to Kerry, disappearing into her house with fearful urgency, not wanting to risk being in the streets anymore. Kerry was glad that she was safe though, and she and Richard began to walk away back towards the hospital.

"Where have you been recently?" Kerry asked. "I would have thought you'd be at the hospital with your father, but I've barely seen you at all these days."

The hunter shrugged. "I've been… busy, I suppose. After the ship docked, I needed to come to the South District to make sure my father was alright. Once that was done, I hoped to go see the man who hired me in the IS to give my full report on Malefica, but… well, leaving the district has proven quite a bit more challenging than I'd thought it would be. Unless you plan on trying to sneak over the wall at night, you need paperwork from people in high places to get out of the district with permission. And I can't find anyone that's able to cross that's willing to deliver a message for me. So since I can't leave, I've been finding other things to bide my time with."

"Such as?"

Richard scratched his head in thought. "There has been word around the district that there's a collection of Lost trying to rally up a collection of… more sober individuals that can act as proper representatives to the city for the rest of their people, and try and talk some sense into the Loc Lac council. I've spent most of my time trying to find them and help them if they'll take me, but I can't seem to figure out where they meet." The hunter shook his head in dismay. "Considering those two men earlier though, it's possible that they're intentionally hiding, and certain people are trying to stop them. Or maybe the situation is just too chaotic for me to properly find them. Or maybe the rumors are just that: rumors, and there's no group like that at all in the city. It's hard to tell these days. But what about those men back in the alley? What were they trying to do?"

Kerry sighed. "I'm really not sure. I'm not nearly as learned on the Lost madness as I should be, despite the man I love being one of the worst, but… I think they were trying to stoke memories of the Alatreon in the woman. I know… I know that some of the Lost have personally seen the creature, or remember seeing it before they were put in those crystals, but I didn't think a lot of the Lost had actually come in contact with the elder dragon."

Richard frowned in thought. "I didn't either, not from what I'd heard. I know Levin met the creature, but I wasn't sure how many others did."

"Ellie didn't," Kerry said. "And I'm pretty sure Harker didn't either. Ellie told me that she never saw the Alatreon until she fought it in the Tundra."

"So what were they really trying to do? What point is there in trying to rekindle memories that don't actually exist? They can't just trick people into thinking that they were attacked by an elder dragon, can they? That's something that people would remember if it really happened."

A chill feeling went up Kerry's spine. "What if… they didn't need to?" Richard gave Kerry an odd look and the huntress shook her head. "This is the Lost we're talking about remember? A fair number of them suffer from delusions and hallucinations. If someone wanted the lost to raise a fuss about the Alatreon, all they'd really need to do is find one of the Lost that's prone to such things, then press and scare them until their madness takes over and turns whatever their being told into something real, at least in their own minds. It's not that hard to find the Lost that are most susceptible to the madness; you just have to ask someone and they'll point you to ones they know about. That woman we were talking to seemed… jumpy for a Lost, and she told me as much that she felt that the more they talked to her, the more she felt that what they were saying was true."

Richard's eyes widened. "And the wilder Lost aren't known for being quiet either. If one of them were to start thinking they'd met the Alatreon, they'd talk about it, and loudly. Then more and more people would hear about it, and those that were more susceptible might start to think that they'd met the elder dragon as well. It could easily spiral out of control until every Lost that was suffering particularly badly from the madness was shouting about it. And the rest of the city would get word of it of course…"

"And the opinion of the Lost would only get worse," Kerry sighed miserably. "I didn't think it could, but if a large number of the Lost begin screaming about the Alatreon loud enough for the rest of the city to hear…" The huntress trailed off. No more needed to be said.

The path the pair of hunters took back to the hospital led them close to the barricade that blocked off the Lost District from the rest of Loc Lac. Kerry had to admit, were it not for the wall's terrible purpose, Kerry would have been impressed at the speed that the barrier had been constructed to block off the district. Large timber beams, strengthened with thick iron rods stretched across the main road out of the district, standing over two dozen feet tall. Kerry knew that there were more walls just like this one blocking the other roads and alleys that gave egress out of the district, just as tall and just as thick. On the back of each wall there was always a collection of soldiers, mercenaries whose loyalties had been bought by Zhanin himself and given to the Loc Lac council, which was surprising to Kerry. All the walls were guarded, but this one the most, since this one was the only one built with an actual door into it, where only those with express permission could leave the South District.

In front of the main wall was the most depressing sight of them all: over fifty Lost were gathered in front of them, crying out to the men on the walls to let them pass and leave, or at least to have the Guild send more food and medical supplies into the area. The Lost were surviving well enough in the district, but food and medical stores were running low, since those that lived outside the district were growing increasingly hesitant to enter thanks to the spreading rumors of the Lost's connection to the Alatreon, even to deliver food. There were others that had managed to obtain work and occupations outside the district as well, asking for permission to leave so they could keep their jobs. But none were allowed to pass. Only perhaps a dozen people were allowed to come and go freely through the gates, and that number was dropping as the people outside grew increasingly afraid of the Lost.

"It's like a kettle getting close to boiling," Richard muttered. "As it is the Lost seem to be staying meek and obedient for now. They're still accepting enough of their situation to try and appeal to the good will of the rest of the city rather than… other options. Most of them seem to be too worried about their friends and family to try anything drastic now, but… if this keeps up as it is, the Lost won't be content to sit back and wait for the city to accept them. And if that doesn't happen first, the rest of the city's anger and fear will get the better of them, and the result won't be much better."

Kerry frowned at the words, looking back at the numbers of Lost pressing against the wooden walls. She could hear the desperation in the people's' voice, and see it in their eyes. Their worry was greater than anything else, but Kerry could feel another feeling seething below the surface: resentment. Richard was right; the Lost were growing passing past the misery they felt at the fate the Alatreon had forced onto them, and it was slowly changing to anger. And without the elder dragon itself around to focus their frustration on, their sights were starting to set on a closer target, one more recently aggravating: the people of Loc Lac. Every day Kerry was growing more and more afraid of the day when everything finally came to a head.

Kerry looked into the sky, across the city to the far walls of Loc Lac. A sandstorm was brewing on the other side, a tall pillar of sand and dust that had been circling the city for days now. Those who still had the foresight to think about things other than the Lost and the Alatreon feared that a Jhen Mohran was close by, but there had been no sightings yet. If there was one there, riding in the center of the storm, it was circling the city like a buzzard. Like the rest of the city, the storm seemed to be waiting for something to happen, but Kerry couldn't guess at what, and feared what would happen when it finally arrived.

A dark feeling suddenly surged through Kerry's body, and the huntress dropped to her knees in terror. Richard quickly knelt next to her, a worried expression on his face as she clutched her chest in pain. A cold feeling seemed to grip her heart, and a terrible fear welled through her. The feeling was familiar, one that horrified her. It was a horrible sense, like a strange mix of terror and foreboding, one that could mean nothing good. She had only begun to touch on the sensation back in Malefica, when she was trying to stay alive and keep her friends safe. But it was so much more powerful now, like nothing she'd ever felt before, something great and unstoppable.

She could feel it deep within her; the terrible curse that killed and maimed those that she loved and trusted was blazing back to life. She'd tried to learn to control it, but it had been like trying to tame a raging river: all she could do was try and redirect it somewhere else. It was more of a prescience than anything else, a subtle wariness and fear that came over her, taunting her with impending suffering like the menacing calm before the storm. But this time… this time it was so much more powerful, more horrible than anything she'd felt in Malefica. If the incidents before were storms… this one was a hurricane, a disaster unlike anything before.

"What's wrong?" Richard asked worriedly. "Are you alright? Did those men hurt you when-"

"Something… something horrible is coming," Kerry gasped, clutching her chest. "I can feel it welling up. The curse can sense it in the air, and it's laughing, taunting me. Something terrible is going to happen soon, something worse than anything that's happened before. And it can't be stopped…"

"What are you talking about? What's coming? And why can't we-"

"I don't know!" Kerry cried. "But it can't be stopped. I can't stop it… I never can! No matter how hard I try, it's never enough to stop it!"

Richard frowned in confusion, and shook his head as Kerry hung her head in despair. The huntress hated this feeling. She'd always hated it. Whenever it came, people died, and all she could do was hope that when it appeared, it didn't take anyone she loved. Even people she hated didn't deserve the fate that was handed down by the curse, death in the most painful of ways. And this time it was so powerful, so potent; Kerry knew that it wouldn't be just a few that died, but dozens… maybe hundreds or thousands. It was like pinwheel trying to judge the speed of a hurricane. She hated it. She hated it so very much…

All she could do was wait, and do everything in her power to protect those she cared for when the curse came calling for those that would die. She'd keep them safe. Ellie and Levin…

Harker…

She do whatever it took to save them. She'd protect her loved ones this time, no matter the cost.

* * *

**Wake up, human.**

Levin shifted uncomfortably in his cell, opening his eyes. His cell was dark, enveloped in shadows. He couldn't tell whether it was day or night here. Time seemed to course past blindly, and Levin couldn't even count the hours with any certainty. He thought it was nighttime though… or at least, Farren was letting him get some rest now.

Levin coughed for a moment or two as he sat up, groaning in pain and shivering against the cold room. The chains that were latched to his arms and legs rattled as he moved, and he slowed his movements to keep the noise to a minimum. He had learned early in this place, the 'Gullet', to try and keep himself from standing out. Even if he was supposed to be Farren's research subject, the man couldn't be there all the time, and several of the other researchers weren't averse to using other test subjects, especially when one of their own had recently died and they were waiting for another prisoner to experiment on. Levin realized now that Farren hadn't lied to him; there were worse researchers he could have been given to, despite Farren's experiments on him using the Dark Metal.

Levin shivered at the thought of the Dark Metal, and looked over at the worktable, where the lump of ore still sat. Just looking at it made the hunter cringe in pain, and the wounds he'd received in the Gullet burned. The void-like darkness continued to swirl inside of the metal mass, but at least it hadn't tried to crawl towards Levin again. It seemed to know that there was no need for it to get over to Levin on its own effort. It knew that it would come in contact with Levin again. It would have help. Levin shook his head. He had to try and get these thoughts out of his head. He had to just be imagining all this, that the Dark Metal was alive. But even Farren had told him that the Dark Metal could move, or at least shift its shape a little, though there was no proof that the ore had any particular intent or needs that it tried to fulfill. Levin couldn't help but think that it was alive, though. He just felt like he could... _feel_ the Dark Metal's desire to get to him.

Levin clenched his fist and shivered again. His paranoia and fear of the Dark Metal had only grown in the last couple of days, thanks to the experiments that Farren had run using him as a test subject. He looked down at his body and winced at the sight of the numerous bandages that covered it. Farren had not been gentle with him while he'd been here. From direct contact with the Dark Metal and taking a jagged edge and piercing his skin with it in countless places, to testing the effects it had on various parts of his body, Farren was certainly being thorough about his study of the Dark Metal effects on Levin's body, and vice versa. Levin's whole body was covered in bandages and gauze, blotted red from the countless places where the Dark Metal had impaled his flesh. The only rest Levin would get from the painful effects of the Dark Metal's chilling effects was when Farren would take the ore away to chip off a shard and heat it or cool it or coat it in a thin layer of some fluid or try to charge it with electricity; but soon enough, he'd bring it back to see if his work had made a difference in the life-draining effect of the metal. It never really did.

Farren always seemed so excited about the Dark Metal tests too. Despite claiming that his true calling was his work with potions, the man seemed positively ecstatic to begin his tests on Levin with the ore. He claimed that the Metal seemed to be reacting differently to Levin than it had to other testers, and that the ore seemed more benign than usual when it came to the hunter. Levin found it hard to believe; the blinding pain and blood-freezing chill of the Dark Metal could hardly be considered 'benign' in his books. What sort of torment did the others that Farren tested the Dark Metal on have to endure? The man liked to talk to himself while he worked too, always muttering under his breath about what he was trying to accomplish. Words like 'need' and 'necessity' were always there, though the words had long since been ones that Levin had grown to despise.

The man's potion studies had been tested on Levin as well, just as Farren had promised. It seemed that Farren was pleased with how things had turned out. The man would start by spending time testing the effects of the Dark Metal on Levin's body, and trying various methods to try and change the reaction the ore would have. Then, once Levin was bordering on losing consciousness, the man would immediately switch gears, changing from studying the Dark Metal to studying the effects of the potions. However, the potion tests were nearly as bad as the Dark Metal tests. The concoctions that Farren cooked up would get close to the effects that he seemed to be hoping for, but they were never perfect, and often enough there would be painful, sickening side effects attached to the potions when the red or gold fluids were forced down Levin's throat. Every once in a while, whatever Farren had mixed together would actually make him feel a little better, but most of the time it reacted violently, and Levin spent more time bent over in agonizing pain than he did after suffering the Dark Metal tests. Levin had spent all of yesterday suffering from a fever and wild delusions thanks one especially poorly mixed attempt at the red potion. Twisted visions tormented his dreams that day and he spent the day in terror of things that weren't there. The fever had faded eventually, but only after several hours of torment.

He sighed, rattling the chains that bound him as he shifted around, trying to ease the pain on his wounds. At least at night, or what he took to be night, he could escape the pain and torment that the experiments brought him. He'd long since learned how to blot out the sounds of the other suffering prisoners, those whose researchers seemed tireless in their efforts to experiment their study of choice.

**Look at you.**

Levin groaned. He'd almost been expecting this. Life in the Gullet was like balancing on a razor wire, and falling either way meant either finding yourself in torment or dead. With his life in constant flux, each touch of the Dark Metal or drink of a potion could easily end his life, one way just as miserable as the other. With his life always at risk, he'd been expecting the Alatreon to check in sooner or later to mock him. He wondered how close to dying he was right now, for the creature to be speaking to him as it was. If Farren had pressed the Dark Metal any deeper into his body than he had, would Levin be dead now?

**Look at you, boy, writhing in despair, betrayed and convicted by your own species. You suffer for your crimes, for bearing a weapon against me. Is this not fair, boy? Is this not just? This is truly the reward you humans deserve to receive when you go against my desires. You would never have suffered like this if you had only followed my commands. **

"You wanted me to let Ellie die," Levin groaned. "Do you really think I'd let that happen, you bastard?"

**You were a hair's breadth from doing so, if you'll recall, boy. But your foolish human sentimentality kept you from following my command! **

"And I'd do the same thing again."

**Would you? Would you really?** Levin tensed at the tone of the words. **Think about it boy. Would you really have chosen the same option as before? Would you have walked away from me as you did? Look at where you are. In chains, suffering under the watch of a sadistic man, writhing in agony while the entirety of the city urges it on, demanding you suffer for what you've done. Your people, you 'Lost', are being chained down as well, your crimes being the tipping point that moved the hatred of the city into driving them into a cage. Because of your foolish sentimentality, you have doomed yourself to torment, and your people to exile, outcasts of humanity! All because of you!**

Levin laughed quietly. "For a monster that goes on and on about how worthless and pathetic I am, you sure are quick to tell me how much influence I've had on the city of Loc Lac. You really don't understand humans at all, do you? Everything that's happened in this city, all that's gone wrong for the Lost and everyone else… do you really think it all comes down to just what I've done? There's so many things that have gone wrong in Loc Lac, so many people that have made the choices that led to all this. I've had nothing but time to think about all this since they brought me here…

"Hah… are you trying to make me seem greater than I am to feel better about me ignoring you? It you that's done this, dragon. It's always been you. You made the Lost mad, you invoked this fear in the locals, you're the one that kills out of spite… If I hadn't turned you down and had died fighting you, another Lost would have stirred up this trouble sooner or later. But… I don't care about you anymore. Run from me if you want, and hide yourself away in some hidden location where I'll never find you. I made my decisions, and if I can't kill you, then so be it. Now leave me alone already; I'm trying to get some sleep."

Levin could feel the Alatreon seething. **Fine then, human; it seems your impudence knows no bounds. You say you would not change your decision to counter my demands of you? Then you will know true horror. I will make you despise your decision to disobey me! Your existence will be naught but hatred and self-loathing!**

"You're a child," Levin growled viciously, and the Alatreon's rage flared. "You throw tantrums when you can't get what you want, and cry and moan when you're not in control. I've accepted the fate I've received, even if I don't like it, but all you do is throw a fit when something goes wrong. You have no control over me, monster, and you won't have control over the rest of the Lost either. Human's aren't the playthings you want them to be!"

The elder dragon's fury blazed for a moment more, then fizzled away in an instant. Levin frowned in confusion. The feeling... the Alatreon seemed intent on something.

**Is that so, human? You believe humans won't obey me? They will act against my desires? How little you know, boy. How little you know. Humans have always obeyed my commands! For centuries they have quailed and moaned at the sight of me, and when I called for them, they came! You humans have lost your place in the world! You have become too chaotic and unruly! Your egos have inflated beyond your capabilities!**

"You're one to talk, dragon."

A snap of vicious irritation cracked through the bond. **Fine! Humans seem to have forgotten their place in this world! They think themselves grander than they are! It would appear that a lesson must be taught to remind them where they belong, to show them that I am not a creature to be disobeyed or ignored!**

**Enough is enough, human! You disgusting, overly proud creatures have lived too long with your inflated egos! You think yourself indomitable in that city you've created for yourself on the bones of those you call 'monsters'! If you think yourselves grand, I will show you the folly such ideas! I will destroy this city of human vanity! I will raze your precious 'Loc Lac' to the ground!**

A chill of terror swept through Levin. "You couldn't... This is a city of hunters! Every living creature would be up in arms to kill you!"

The Alatreon laughed through the bond. **I think you overestimate the courage humanity has to offer, boy. They shall cower and die, helpless against me, every last one! The city shall be laid to waste, every living being slain by my power! Every being except you, of course. I shall leave you alive, boy, to remember and despair in your misery. You will spend the rest of your life knowing for certain how foolish it was to go against my will!**

And then the bond vanished, and the Alatreon's presence was gone from Levin's mind. "No. No! Come back! What the hell are you trying to pull!? You can't attack the city! If you do I'll-"

Levin gasped in pain as his wounds flared back to like, and he dropped to the floor, smacking his head against the floor. His vision swam from the pain, and he choked back a sob. But he pushed through it, leaping back to his feet and pulling desperately against the chains. The iron rattled and clanged loudly, echoing back and forth across the walls, but held tight against his arms and legs. He pulled even harder, and the cold iron bit into his skin, tearing flesh as he desperately tried to bend the metal, to wrench himself free from the binds.

He couldn't afford to just accept his fate anymore! He had to get out of here! He had to warn somebody! Anybody! If he didn't… Loc Lac would be destroyed!

* * *

Ellie sat up in her bed, looking around nervously. Her hairs were standing on end on the back of her neck. Something had woken her up, but what? She glanced through the window, seeing that the sun was just starting to come up over Loc Lac. The room was silent. Harker was sleeping soundly in the next bed, with Kerry lying next to him. Ellie had thought that the bowgunner had said she was going to sleep in one of the nearby chairs... Oh well, no sense hassling her friend over it.

Her friend had been awfully tense and nervous the last day or so, staying close to her and Harker and watching them like a hawk, but Ellie couldn't blame her. Things in the Lost District seemed to be getting worse day after day, and tales of the Alatreon seemed to be spreading like wildfire through the city. A majority of the Lost seemed to have realized the connection they had with the elder dragon now, and were openly discussing it, trying to figure what they should do about it. The whole situation was making the rest of the city tense as well from what she'd heard; people didn't even like talking about the Alatreon, and now it was on the lips of all the Lost. It wasn't making their situation any better, that was certain.

But Ellie frowned in confusion, wondering why she had woken up like she had. She hadn't had a nightmare or anything like that, as far as she remembered. She just felt... strange. She felt as though someone had woken her up... but why? Nobody was around. She shook her head in frustration. This whole situation, with the Lost and the South District and Levin, must be getting to her at last.

Harker suddenly sat up in his bed. His eyes were wide and he looked around the room in confusion. Ellie gave him a concerned look and he frowned in frustration as Kerry sighed in her sleep next to him. Harker looked at Ellie, concern in his eyes.

"That's strange," he muttered. "Did you wake me? I feel as though someone tried to wake me up."

"Yeah," Ellie murmured. "The same thing happened to me... But why would-"

**Lost.**

Ellie froze as the word rang in her head, and Harker's eyes opened in shock. Had he heard it too?

**Lost: it's such an appropriate name for such a people as you. You have lost so much, haven't you all? Your homes, your lives, your world, your precious technology. All gone, leaving you with nothing but the broken raiment that is left to you.**

Ellie began to quaver where she lay. She recognized that voice, so very well. She'd heard it mocking her, taunting her and Levin back in the Tundra. But Levin wasn't here. Why would she be able to hear the creature's words? "Is that..."

**No doubt many of you are wondering at the words that you hear, and their source. No doubt a great many of you are questioning your sanities, and wondering whether this voice that is resounding in your skull is just another like the ones that are already there. But let me assure you of this: I am something far, far worse. I am a creature far beyond your power and understanding. I have existed for millennia upon millennia, looking upon humanity as it crawled about, trying to attain the dominance over the world that it believed it deserved. I am the one that would reduce the pride that humans had in themselves, to show them how to properly fear the world around them and the beings that deserved their respect!**

**It was I that erased the world of the Lost, reducing your cities and technology and weapons to nothing! It was I that wiped out the civilization you'd built up to conquer the world and everything in it! And it was I that imprisoned you all in the crystals which carried you here from your ruined existence, allowing you to live in this time in hopes that you would learn from the failures of your past and come to respect and fear my existence!**

**It was I, the creature that you humans have seen fit to deem the 'Alatreon'!**

Ellie shivered in despair. She had hoped she was wrong, that maybe she was hearing things, or that… maybe another creature or person had developed the ability to speak like this into people's minds. But at the same time, Ellie was confused. The Alatreon was speaking as though it was addressing many people, but how many? Harker's stunned and confused expression, tilting his head as though it would help him hear better, showed that he clearly could hear the voice of the elder dragon as well, but the Alatreon had addressed the 'Lost', not just them. How many people were receiving the voice of the elder dragon? There were thousands of Lost clustered up in the South District of Loc Lac alone, and hundreds more in towns and cities outside of the desert. The Alatreon couldn't be talking to all of them… could it?

**I once had hope for you 'Lost', **the creature continued. **I imagined that with your intelligence and anger towards me, you would become a fine species of human, one that would provide me with challenge and respect. I hoped that you would be able to properly become a notable example to your species, one that feared my existence and came when I called. **

**But you have all failed me! You are all weak disappointments! You have offered me nothing to enjoy with your pathetic lives! Your kind has done nothing but infuriate me since you awoke from the crystal prisons I buried you in, refusing to show the respect and fear towards me that I deserve! That is my right! **The image of the Loc Lac tower flashed into Ellie's mind. The vision bored into her mind, and she could feel the Alatreon seething at the sight.

**I've had enough of you! I despise all humans! Your resistance to follow the path that has been laid out for you is abominable, and I will suffer your opposition to my will no longer! Your kind has proven nonconforming to what I demand of you, and I will not allow this to continue! You should fear me! Hate me! But you have proven too chaotic to even follow those simple tasks, fleeing and hiding and ignoring me due to your pathetic sentimentalism! **Again the Loc Lac tower flashed into Ellie's mind, anger and resentment blazing through the bond.

**But enough is enough. I am sick of you Lost, and I am disgusted with humans entirely! I am coming to your city, Lost, the precious fortress your species has built. Humans! I am coming to the impending grave that you have called 'Loc Lac'! I will burn the memory of your people from existence, along with the rest of the humans in that city! I will reduce to ash the arrogance that human 'monster hunters' have built for themselves! Let them never forget the power I possess, and the place of dominance I hold over your species! Loc Lac will be destroyed by my power!**

**Bide your time well, Lost. You have one day to prepare yourselves for death. It was a mistake for me to transport you here to this time, but it is one that I will soon rectify. I am coming for you, and when I arrive, you will suffer, and you will die, as will the rest of your precious Loc Lac. **

Then the presence in Ellie's mind seemed to vanish, leaving her mind feeling empty and hollow. She looked at Harker in horror. The man shared her fearful expression, and even his seemingly infinite curiosity and enthusiasm seemed to be overwhelmed by the words that had been spoken to them.

"You... you heard that too, didn't you?"

"I did," the long sword user replied somberly. Kerry stirred in her sleep next to him, but didn't awaken. "It would seem that the city is in a dire situation. I can only wonder how many others heard what the creature-"

The long sword user paused as the sound of frightful screaming came from the hallway outside the room. Kerry bolted upright in the bed, eyes darting around fearfully, her hand going instinctively to the hunter's knife at her belt. She calmed down a moment later, but the screaming had yet to cease.

"It's coming!" a howling man's voice cried. "It's coming to kill us all! The Alatreon is coming!"

Kerry's eyes widened in horror, and her eyes looked fearfully at Harker. "What's going on? What's he shouting about? Did those men from the alley…"

"Men from an alley?" Harker asked. "No, no, this is… this is something far worse, I fear."

More howled of despair could be heard coming in from the hall, and Ellie cringed with each one. She felt like crying out herself, but… she had to hold herself together somehow. Kerry's face grew pale with each miserable sound that filled the halls, and she turned to Harker, horror on her face. "Harker, please, what's going on? I thought… why are there so many people panicking? What's happened?"

Harker's face was miserable as he looked at Kerry, but he quickly explained what had happened to the bowgunner. The woman's expression was to be expected from someone who still retained her superstitious fear of the elder dragon, growing even more ashen than before as the long sword user explained their impending assault from the Alatreon. Once Harker finished, Kerry sat in stunned silence for a long moment before burying her face in her hands.

"No. No, no, no… How am I supposed to stop this? How am I… why did it have to be this? I can't stop this… what do I do? What do I do?" Harker looked at her sadly, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her close as the huntress quivered fearfully.

Ellie glanced out the window. Multitudes of Lost were pouring out of the houses and apartments that covered the South District, filling the streets as the massive numbers began milling their way through the alleys and paths. Arguments and shouting were rising above the noise of the migration, and Ellie could guess what all the commotion was about. The Alatreon had spoken to every single member of the Lost in Loc Lac, and done so to frighten them. And it had worked. The entirety of the Lost District was in a terror, knowing that the elder dragon was coming for them, with a desire to kill them all. They would try and run, but with the barricade in place...

"What do we do now?" Ellie asked quietly. Harker shook his head in dismay.

"I wish I knew, Miss Eleanor. I wish I knew."

A crash came from outside the building, followed by angry shouting and pitiful moaning. Kerry shook her head at the noise. "No… no. No! Damn it all to hell, no!"

Ellie jumped in shock at the curse, and Harker looked just as stunned at the sudden vulgarity. He pulled back in surprise as the huntress leapt from the bed to her feet, her eyes ablaze with fury. "Screw this curse, and screw the Alatreon!" she hissed vehemently. "I'm sick of this all! I'm done! Done with feeling helpless and weak and pathetic because of all this crap that's going on! I don't give a rat's ass if the curse thinks it can take everything from me! I'm not letting it rule my life anymore! I have friends and allies and a man I love! If it thinks I'll just curl up and take them from me, it'll have to take me down first!

"I'll find a way to do something, damn it!" Kerry raged frantically. "I'm not… I'm not just going to sit back and let this destroy everything I love! If the Alatreon… if the Alatreon thinks that it can take the man I love from me, it'll have to get through me first, and I'll go down kicking and screaming and drag him straight to hell alongside me when he does! If it wants to destroy me, I'll be damned if I don't do everything I can to destroy it first, and to hell with the laws that the Guild and the city if they think those will stop me from fighting back!"

Ellie and Harker gaped in shock at Kerry as the huntress glared viciously out the window towards the Loc Lac tower, as though daring the Guild and the Council to stop her. Ellie was stunned where was the Kerry from before, the sweet-natured woman who was horrified of even the idea of battling the Alatreon, the nightmare of the locals? Not that she was complaining… Harker suddenly laughed and Kerry looked at him in surprise.

"What a shock!" the long sword user said with a smirk. "Who would have thought that the lovely Lady Kerrigan would be the one to pull Miss Eleanor and me out of our despair? No! On second thought, it is I that should be ashamed for thinking that you would not be able to spark the flames of resistance under my backside. Forgive me for my doubt, my dear Lady Kerrigan!" Kerry's face suddenly brightened red in embarrassment from the praise, realizing everything she'd said, and she sputtered a bit. Ellie couldn't help but grin; there was the Kerry she remembered. Harker laughed before continuing. "You're right: there is no point in becoming a cowering craven when the Alatreon comes for us. How pathetic we've been, sitting around miserably waiting for things to happen. Though the dragon is truly a force to be reckoned with, it's not infallible, as we discovered in the Tundra. There is surely something we can do to, if only to chase it away like before. All we have to do is figure out what that is."

Kerry nodded in agreement, an excited expression on her face. "Yes, good! Maybe… maybe we can gather up people that can fight with us?"

"That might be a challenge," Ellie said glumly, looking out the window. People were racing around in fright, uncertain what to do or where to go. There was a large number flocking towards the barricades though. "It looks as though most of the Lost are in no condition to prepare to fight an elder dragon. I think they're more concerned about running right now. And I'm not sure if we can call upon the rest of the city for help in the state that the Lost are in…"

"She has a point…" Harker muttered sourly. "This is the worst timing for the Alatreon to pronounce its assault… Only the Lost heard the voice of the Alatreon from what we know, and there are only so many Lost hunters. Could we even get people other than ourselves to believe us, despite the Lost all proclaiming the same thing? We are not known for having the most trustworthy words, thanks to the Alatreon's curse of madness. All we really have is the message from the elder dragon."

"The message?" Kerry asked. "Yes. Yes! That's something. Okay, so… you say the Alatreon contacted all of the Lost at once?"

"As far as we can tell," Ellie replied, getting to her own feet as well. She found that she was standing lightly. The despair she'd felt earlier had nearly vanished, replaced by determination. Levin wasn't here… that wasn't something they could help right now. Whatever they did next, it would have to deal with the Alatreon first. "We can't be certain, short of going around and asking every Lost in the city."

"That could be something…" Kerry said thoughtfully. "The Alatreon… the Alatreon is the most feared elder dragon in the country, and not without reason. It's never been beaten in centuries, and as far as stories go, nobody has been able to even injure it. But… attacking an entire city full of hunters? Even with the fear that the locals fear towards it, such a move would be suicidal on its part… wouldn't it?"

"Perhaps," Harker replied. "It could be entirely relying on the city's distrust of the Lost, and our underequipped standing to think it will be able to destroy Loc Lac. I cannot guess at the strength of the Alatreon's power, or the durability of its scales. All we know is the assertions of the Meridians that I saw in the tower north of Nastre and the writings on the floor of the Malefica arena, suggesting the beast would fall prey to the effects of the dragon element. I haven't truly fought the beast myself. At this point in time only Levin and Miss Eleanor have any experience against the creature."

"And I couldn't even scratch it before…" Ellie said sadly.

"But still, there must be something we can do," Kerry muttered. "That message he sent the Lost; can you tell me about it in detail? Surely contacting so many Lost would strain it somewhat. Maybe it gave away something we can use."

"Perhaps so," Harker agreed. "It wasn't a long message, but there might be more to it than the creature wished to release."

Ellie nodded as well. Talking about messages and visions… it wasn't much. Who knew how long they had before the Alatreon arrived? The creature said they had a day, but… who knew if it would keep that promise? It had lied before. And who was to say that it's perception of time wasn't different? Either way, they needed to work fast to find something that would help them. With a nod, Ellie quickly began to repeat the message that the Alatreon had sent them to Kerry. Hopefully they would be able to find something they could use…

* * *

Foul cursing filled the air around the base of the Loc Lac tower as Zhanin strode up the main entry steps. It was almost hard to hear thanks to the din of so many people around him, but then again he had been expecting to hear it, so he knew what to listen for. It was uncharacteristically loud in the Loc Lac Tower square, but considering the recent circumstances, it was to be expected. As he reached the top of the steps, where two tall doors led into the high Loc Lac Tower, he turned around, looking down into the square below him, and smiled to himself at the sight.

A massive, angry collection of Loc Lac citizens stood spread out below him, filling the tower square. And all of them were his, rallying behind his call, come to the Tower in order to see justice done at last.

The cursing grew louder, and Zhanin turned to face the tall tower doors. The wooden doors were cracked open, but with a loud moaning they opened wide as a collection of people pushed through the gap and led out into the bright sunlight. It was the rest of the Loc Lac council, collected and forced down to the street by a number of people that had been in the crowd before Zhanin had 'requested' that they be brought before those that had gathered. At the head of the group was Farrell, the current lead of the council, biting off vulgarities more vehemently than any of the others in the group.

Farrell gaped in shock at the crowd, and Zhanin smiled at the man's face. Even he had to admit that he'd managed to gather far more people at the doors to the Loc Lac tower than he'd thought he would. A good seven hundred people crowded around the base of the tower, shouting up at the men as they emerged from the safety of the tower. He'd even managed to fill the crowd with a notable number of hunters as well, standing out like beacons in their shining armors. It was nothing compared to the many thousands of people that filled the city, hunter and civilian alike, but the wide tower square that lay open around the most notable building in all of Loc Lac was positively filled with people, all of them rallying behind Zhanin and calling for the immediate removal of the Lost from the city and country. He wished he had more of course… but this many was plenty for his final move in his mission against the Lost.

He had never dreamed that the men he'd sent to the South District would be so wonderfully effective in their work! He'd hoped that they would be able to rile up enough of the worst Lost to catch the attention of the rest of the city, but somehow they'd managed to get the entire district howling about some impending attack by the Alatreon! They'd definitely earned their pay!

It was only a couple hours ago when Zhanin first heard the news, that nearly everyone in the Lost District had suddenly erupted into a panic over an impending attack that they'd apparently dreamt up. Zhanin had been expecting something like it to happen, but even he had been stunned at the speed in which it had swept through the district. It happened so abruptly that for a short moment he'd almost believed that, just maybe, the elder dragon really was coming to attack the city. Certainly there were many others that thought the Lost might be onto something, and many full sandships had shipped out of the city with hulls full of people fearing the truth behind the Lost's words.

But as for the rest of the city, a wave of anger unlike any before rose up in those that had grown tired of the Lost. How dare these people mock their fears with their madness, scaring them with their greatest threat? It was the perfect situation for Zhanin's plan! He couldn't have asked for a better situation, even when he'd hauled that Lost hunter around the city for all to see! One criminal was something, but an entire district? It was like a gift, specially wrapped just for him for the sake of banishing the Lost from the country forever!

"What's going on here?" Farrell muttered, looking at the massive congregation before him. "What is all this? What have you done, Zanin?"

"I'm doing what should have been done a year ago!" Zhanin replied, loud enough for the crowd to hear. "I'm ridding this city of the filth that's plagued it: the Lost!" He motioned to a large collection of soldiers, those he had hired and previously given control of to the council. "These men have received their orders, and they are going to be the force that throws the Lost out of Loc Lac. Out of the very country itself!" A roar of approval erupted from the crowd, and Farrell look in horror at the rage in their faces.

"What is the meaning of this Zhanin?" Farrell growled angrily. "Have you lost your mind? You gave control of these men over to the council, and we have yet to give such orders as-"

"Damn the council!" Zhanin snapped, to the approval of the crowd. Farrell gaped in horror at the words. "Your cowardice is destroying the city! The Lost are out of control, and you sit in the tower, wasting time with your inane contemplation when you should be taking action! Their crimes have gone beyond their worth! It was the Lost that created that vile organization that brutally murdered countless hunters to the west! You can hear the madness seeping from the Lost, all of them raving and ranting about the Alatreon! How long before that madness spills over and Loc Lac is buried by their insanity?"

"They are contained! They don't pose a threat at the moment! Why waste time and risk lives just to get them out of the country? You're just letting your prejudice get the better of you Zhanin! The council is trying to find a peaceful solution, one that will keep both sides of this happy!" Farrell turned to the crowd. "Do you all really think that this path is the best to take? Throwing a whole people out of the city just because they make you a little jumpy? Have you all become so cowardly? I thought this was supposed to be the city of hunters, of bravery and courage against all odds against the most terrible threats! Where is that courage now, when all of you are calling for the removal of people that are afraid just because you don't like hearing what they say? They might not be… all there in the head, but is it wrong of them to be afraid, of the Alatreon no less, the creature that every living being fears?"

Zhanin glowered at his fellow councilmen. Some of those in the crowd were looking a little sheepish at the words, particularly the hunters. Those types clearly didn't like their bravery questioned, considering their occupation. Zhanin would need to make sure they were on his side…

"There is nothing wrong with fearing the Alatreon," Zhanin admitted, and the hunters in the crowd looked at him uncertainly. "But there is a difference between ourselves, the rightful people of Loc Lac, who know and respect the beast's power, and the Lost, who brought down the wrath of the creature down upon our heads! It's no secret that a pair of Lost intentionally aggravated the Alatreon, despite knowing the laws surrounding the creature, as well as the consequences that their actions would incur! What about the countless deaths of the unfortunate souls that have been annihilated because of the Alatreon's wrath, in all those towns and villages to the west? Where is their comfort, knowing that the Lost remain in Loc Lac? And what of the rest of the Lost? What's stopping them from doing the same, should they be freed from the confines of the South District? Hundreds dead from only one of them ignoring the laws of the country, their madness driving them into provoking the deadliest creature in the world! How many more must die before the Lost conform themselves to the rules and regulations that we've had for centuries? Let the Lost damn themselves; let them doom their own people to devastation if they feel compelled to ignore common sense and chase after the elder dragon and anger it! Let us force them from this city and make them fend for themselves, rather than endangering the rest of our people!"

The crowd roared in approval and Farrell looked around worriedly. "What is wrong with you, Zhanin? You accuse the Lost of madness, but leading an unruly rabble against an entire section of the city is an even greater insanity! Stop this foolish business, Zhanin! Leave the business of the Lost to the city council! We have been chosen as the voices of the city, and we will not allow a single man to-"

"Look around you!" Zhanin said confidently, raising his arms and motioning to the crowd around him. "You call yourselves the voices of the city, but the city has obviously made its own decision! Do you see all these people? They come from every corner of Loc Lac, from every district, including your own, and all of them are speaking against the Lost! What better voice represents the will of the city than this one?"

"Don't try to pretend that this is the will of Loc Lac!" Farrell barked furiously. "All you've done is gather an angry mob! You've brought together a great number of angry men and women, but this is not all of the city! This is not even a fraction of Loc Lac, even without the Lost included in their numbers! Where are the day workers and shipwrights, the housekeepers and shopkeepers? This is not the majority, this is just a rabble!"

"A rabble you say? I call them servants to the city, doing what is right, even when those who are in a position of responsibility do not! If the council will not see to their removal, then the people of the city will!"

"Have you lost your mind, Zhanin?!" Farrell shouted. "You can't try and force them out! They won't just sit back and let you do this!"

Zhanin laughed. "Of course they will! Have you seen them since the barricades went up? All they have done is cower and beg for help and mercy! The Lost are weak and selfish, and Loc Lac will not suffer their existence within our walls any longer! So the people of the city have spoken!" The crowd behind him roared their approval, and Zhanin smirked victoriously. "Until the Lost are gone from our lives, I will do whatever it takes to make sure that they are removed! You've proven yourselves incompetent in this respect, so you cannot be trusted to be the voice of the people any longer, not while the Lost still poison our country!" Zhanin motioned to the men next to him. "Now restrain these men! We cannot have them interfering with us until the Lost are permanently removed from the country!"

Farrell could only look on in horror as a group of hunters came from the audience, a pair of them flanking each of the councilmembers and dragging them away. Zhanin grinned regretfully; he honestly did not like doing this to the other men, but since the Lost had arrived, most of them refused to see reason, allowing the Lost to live in Loc Lac despite their insane nature. "Treat them well," he called to the guards. "Foolish and misguided though they are, they did have the best wishes of the city in mind."

He hoped that the other councilmembers would not be treated roughly, but at the moment, he had other concerns on his mind. He turned back to the crowd, now looking at him expectantly. "We march!" he cried. "Now we finally rid the city of the Lost!" A joyous cry rose up from the men and women before him and he quickly began to stride away, heading south with those that would follow him trailing behind. "Those that are neither soldiers nor hunters, please return to your homes! We don't want to risk innocent lives on the Lost's madness! Stay safe, and we will celebrate once the Lost are finally gone!"

Many irritable grumbles could be heard coming from the crowd at the last words, but it didn't take much to encourage them to remain. Clearly they were fearful that they might meet a Lost that would attack them in a frenzy or something of the like. Zhanin was afraid the momentum would be lost once those that could not fight remained behind, but was pleasantly pleased upon seeing that he still had a good two hundred hunters and soldiers still with him, alongside his own men. This would not be a challenge at all! He basked in the calls of the warriors behind him as they closed in on the barricade of the South District.

"Sir," Zhanin turned as one of the men he'd hired strode quickly up to him. "We've received word from one of our informants in the District. We've found where the resistance group is meeting today."

"Wonderful," Zhanin replied quietly. "Keep your voice down. The crowd believes that the Lost are completely craven in their current state, and that they'll be easy to remove from the city. If they knew there were some that will be willing to fight back, we could lose our momentum. At this moment, momentum is a necessity. Once the soldiers have all been gathered, we go there first, to make certain that the Lost lose any leadership they might be able to gather. Let's hurry up and get there as soon as possible; we can't have them running away on us, now can we?"

The man blinked in surprise. "Sir, you can't mean to go with us into the South District can you? It's too dangerous for you to do so! You should stay where it's safe or else-"

"I am well aware of the risks," Zhanin said, cutting the man off. "But those that follow me must see that I have the confidence to lead, even into risky situations, or their confidence in their actions may waver, and we cannot allow that. Besides, the Lost are no threat at all. Their madness has reduced them to rambling, scared lunatics. Their numbers are their only strength, and once those that could possibly lead them are dealt with, they will never be able to use it against us. Besides, I would like to be there for myself to watch the Lost be forced out of the city, then the country. I won't just sit back and wait for reports, not at a time like this."

"Sir, I have to again recommend-"

"Recommendation noted! Say what you will, but I will not sit this out, not when I've come so far to see this plan to fruition! The populace must see me entering the district alongside the soldiers; any other show would be nothing but cowardice, and their decision may waver before the Lost are fully expelled. If it's your payment you're worried about, then you'd best do your damndest to make sure nothing goes afoul once we're in the South District."

The man scowled at the accusation, and Zhanin grinned encouragingly. "Don't worry. I promised you a quick and simple job, didn't I? The Lost will be overwhelmed quickly, I guarantee it."

The man continued to look worried, but Zhanin ignored him. He'd calm down quickly enough, once they started getting the Lost to the sandships and sending them away. There might not be enough ships in the harbor to get them all, after that exodus the frightened locals of the city had gone on after hearing the rumors of an Alatreon attack, but that was a hurdle they would leap once they got there. The biggest hurdle they had was the time and effort it would take to gather up all the Lost and get them out of the country. Zhanin had calculated the costs of such an endeavor, and it would be costly; the man would be able to pull it off though, and it would be worth it. Let another country take them on!

He could hear the men and women behind him talking excitedly. Some of them were wondering if he was planning on taking sole control of the city once the Lost were gone, and Zhanin sighed to himself. He regretted what he had needed to do to Farrell and the others. They were good men, if too wrapped up in council red tape to do what needed done. Some of them were Lost sympathizers as well… but soon that would no longer make a difference. They needed to be pushed out of the way for Zhanin to accomplish what needed doing, to press past the unending bureaucracy and complete his mission. Likely he would be lauded by the people for his initiative in ridding the country of the mad Lost, and some would call for him to become the singular leader of the country. Some, though not many. Zhanin had no desire to rule the country as a solitary man though. Let the council return once the Lost were gone from the country, if the people would take them back after the show Zhanin had given them. Zhanin knew that having one ruler would one day lead to worse chaos than what even the Lost had created. Eventually level heads would realize that Loc Lac could not be controlled by one man and the council would be reinstated, though it may end up being different men and women in their place. Zhanin himself would retire, content in his accomplishments and lauded as a hero to the city.

But as for now, Zhanin led the city, and he would see to the removal of the Lost once and for all. And the city would praise him for it as long he lived. He was certain of it.

* * *

Ellie cocked her head as she looked out the window. There was a trail of smoke rising on the horizon. It was on the other side of the district… somewhere near the South District met the Southwest District, she thought, though she wasn't too sure. A lot of fires had been started here and there thanks to the general panic that had set in because of the barricade around the Lost District. This was probably another fire that had kicked up in a shop thanks to thievery or banditry. If they thought that things had been bad in the Lost District before, the barricades had just exacerbated things…

But Ellie's mind was too preoccupied by other things to worry about another fire kicking up. What about those images that had flashed through her mind when she and the rest of the Lost had been… 'contacted' by the Alatreon? Most of the rest seemed to have written off the strange images as nothing worth noting, but Ellie couldn't shake the feeling of their importance. The Loc Lac tower had appeared in the minds of the Lost… but why the tower itself? Why not the whole city? And the timing of it all had been odd as well… the image of the Loc Lac tower wasn't constant, but came and left at a couple of random times.

Harker and Kerry were nearby. The long sword user was scribbling in one of his numerous notebooks, but looked endlessly frustrated as he wracked his brain over the what he'd written down about the Alatreon's message. All three agreed, after taking note of everything they remembered of their contact with the elder dragon, that there might be something hidden within the Alatreon's words. But despite their efforts to try and uncover whatever was hidden, they'd been there for several hours now, and had accomplished very little… they'd made numerous guesses, but for the life of them, none of the hunters could figure out the Alatreon's thought process. Did it think similarly to humans, or did it have different goals and desires? They could only guess.

"If I may be so bold..." Kerry said quietly. Ellie and Harker both glanced up from their thoughts in surprise.

"Please! Feel free to speak, my dear Lady Kerrigan!" Harker said enthusiastically. "If some light of realization has shone on you in some way, I think we'd both like to hear what you may have discovered in your thoughts."

The huntress flushed slightly at the attention, but nodded, holding up a couple notes that she'd made herself. They weren't nearly so intricate as Harkers, nor as messy, but she'd taken into the habit of writing things down like Harker had. "Well, I've been looking over the timing of these... visions you said the Alatreon gave you. I can't really say for certain how accurate I'm being, since I didn't experience it for myself... but I've been looking over it. Ellie, you've said that the Alatreon has some sort of... personal issue with Levin, right?"

"Something like that," Ellie replied uncertainly. "I can only go off what Levin has told me, but the Alatreon seems to... to hate him personally, but the creature also said that it wouldn't attack him. Levin told me that the creature seems... torn about how to treat Levin, on the one hand wanting him dead, and on the other not wanting to break his promise to never allow Levin to have the chance to fight it again. I'm not... sure how to try and understand that though. Levin said that the Alatreon seemed to be wild and confused the last time he heard from it, like a child throwing a tantrum, but when it spoke to the Lost, it seemed in control of itself..."

"I see..." Kerry muttered. Her expression showed that she was clearly still uncomfortable talking so easily about the Alatreon, and its mental condition. Ellie didn't blame her; for the red head, it was probably like discussing the psychiatry of the boogeyman or a yeti or something. The huntress shook her head, however, putting on a determined face and continuing. "So it could be said that the Alatreon is somewhat… obsessed with Levin? Well, if that's true, then a lot of the complaints of the Lost stem from the complaints it has against Levin, right?"

"I suppose so."

"And the Alatreon has some ability that lets it... know where Levin is? Some kind of mental link?"

"It would seem that it has such a connection with all of the Lost," Harker noted. "Or perhaps it's an ability to contact humans in general, though it would seem that none but the Lost have been contacted by the creature... Perhaps it has something to do with the crystals that it created to seal us away all these years... But I digress. It would seem that the Alatreon can indeed track Levin, considering how easily it was able to find him in the Tundra."

"Not to mention when it sent a bunch of monsters after us back in Boma Village," Ellie added.

"Right," Kerry nodded. "Well, it's just that, I've been looking at this. If we take those two facts into account, we might be able to reach some sort of conclusion about where Levin is!"

"Really?" Ellie gasped. "How? Where?"

"Well... my reasoning isn't exactly as sound as I'd like it, but... From what you've told me, the Alatreon would send visions of the Loc Lac tower to the Lost while it was speaking to them. From what you told me, it did a lot of complaining about the Lost, or more specifically, complaining about Levin and his refusal to bend to the Alatreon's will, though it didn't say as much in its speech to the Lost."

"Okay..."

"If the timing you've told me is accurate," Kerry continued, flipping through her notes, "it would seem that whenever the Alatreon went off on a tangent about Levin being unruly or chaotic or whatever, that's when it would send the image of the Loc Lac tower."

"Ah. Ah! Yes, that's right!" Harker said excitedly. "I should have seen it myself! Then... by that conjecture..."

"Yes," Kerry nodded. "I think that every time the Alatreon complained about Levin's faults against it, it might have unconsciously used its locating power to search out where Levin was on impulse. And somehow, the search was sent through its mental connection with the Lost, showing them where it was looking. So every time the Alatreon was insulting the Lost and sending a vision of the Loc Lac tower-"

"It was showing us where Levin is!" Ellie cried. "That's great!"

"But... there's something strange," Kerry said uncertainly, and Ellie frowned at her friend tone.

"What's wrong?"

Kerry sighed. "Well, for one, everything I just said is mostly guesswork. I could be completely wrong. For another... why would Levin be at the Loc Lac tower? There aren't any compounds or cells there at all, just offices for the Guild and the city council. It's a place for pencil-pushers, not prisoners. Why would Levin be taken there of all places?"

"I don't know..." Ellie replied. As overjoyed as she'd been before, Ellie's excitement began to fade. There really was no sense in Levin being locked away in the Loc Lac tower, was there? Did knowing that Levin was there even help them at all? They really couldn't do much to break him out, could they, not with the Alatreon issue bearing down on them. And even if they did, it was still breaking the law. And Kerry was right: supposing so was a bit of a stretch, with all this conjecture about the Alatreon. It was probably just the way the Alatreon meant to show that it had its eyes on Loc Lac…

Harker had a curious look on his face, however, and was scratching his chin thoughtfully. "A thought stirs…" the long sword user muttered to himself. "We've gone over the Alatreon's… strained relationship with Levin. The creature despises our friend of course, but the creature is legendary for its temper and foul vengeful nature. Despite all this, it claims to have vowed that it will never fight Levin in direct combat, since that is one of Levin's greatest desires. Yet after making the vow, during their battle in the Tundra, it almost immediately assaulted Hearth, where Levin was dwelling at the time."

"Yeah. The creature seemed to let its anger get the better of it, or something like that," Ellie replied. "I don't think it took Levin's refusal to dance to its tune very well… I have little doubt that this whole attack on Loc Lac was sparked because of its anger at Levin."

"Then perhaps… perhaps we must rescind our previous decision on how to deal with Levin's imprisonment," Harker stated. Ellie gave the long sword user a surprised look, and Harker shook his head. "It's just an idea, but… it would seem that above the rest of the Lost, the Alatreon has a particular dislike towards Levin. If this threatened attack on Loc Lac is truly going to occur, it's out of spite for what the elder dragon perceives as a slight against it. Perhaps the best way to help Loc Lac is not to try and just chase it off, but rather, to give it another target."

Ellie stared at the man in shock. "You… you can't mean…"

Harker nodded somberly. "I don't like the idea, but if what we know about the Alatreon is true, then our best option to repel the beast may be using Levin as bait. The elder dragon obviously has personal issues with our friend, so if we can somehow free Levin from wherever he's being kept, and bring him to where the Alatreon is, the elder dragon might be distracted enough by him to forget about attacking Loc Lac. Or it will become so intent on keeping its word on not getting into a fight with Levin that it will leave to not risk going back on its promise. It's not a pleasant plan, of course…"

"You're asking us to sacrifice Levin!"

"Hardly that much!" Harker argued. "I simply think it might help the city if we provide a distraction of sorts to keep the Alatreon from wiping out Loc Lac! I'm not saying that we throw Levin to the wolves with no armor or weapon, just that we try and keep the Alatreon's attention on him rather than on destroying the city! And we can help him fight it if the elder dragon really does turn its attention on him rather than wrecking Loc Lac! Just long enough that people would be able to fight back or… or something. I just want to try and prevent the loss of life."

"He means well, Ellie," Kerry told her. Harker sighed, and stared at the floor sadly.

"Forgive me for my cruel-sounding words Ellie. As much as I'd like to free Levin just for the sake of freeing my friend, I know that we must do something to try and keep the Alatreon from destroying Loc Lac as it has promised. Levin is… Levin is my good friend, but he is also the one who has earned the Alatreon's greatest ire. Though I don't wish to see him harmed, he may be the best chance we have at keeping the elder dragon from doing great damage. I am not confident at all on whether or not we could challenge the beast in combat, but… make no mistake, Miss Eleanor, if Levin finds himself in a position where he must do battle with the Alatreon, I plan to be there next to him when he does."

"We both do," Kerry nodded in agreement. "You're both our friends, Ellie. Though the odds aren't in our favor, we won't leave you behind."

Ellie sighed and slouched where she sat. She knew Harker hadn't mean anything bad by what he'd said, but she just didn't like the idea of having Levin going up against the Alatreon again, not after how badly they'd been beaten by the creature last time.

"Besides, it's just an idea…" the long sword user muttered. "Maybe when the Alatreon actually shows up, the people of the city will be able to fight back well enough to send the creature running."

"Do you really think that will happen?" Ellie replied sourly. Kerry grimaced and shook her head sadly. Both the Lost and the locals were too afraid of the Alatreon to put up a proper defense against the elder dragon, should it attack the city. They'd be lucky if a hundred hunters decided to turn around and try to fight the elder dragon rather than running or hiding… "Besides, Kerry, you and Harker are the only ones that could fight between the three of us. You said you found my bowgun, but my Lagiacrus armor is gone now, and I'll be hard pressed to find another armor set that fits me in the South District. And how are we supposed to get past the barricade to find Levin, anyway?"

"Maybe we could find help," Kerry said. "I've heard that there are some people in the South District that are trying to improve the Lost's conditions, or at least make the council ease up on them. They're supposed to be a bunch of the Lost as well as sympathizers that are trying to get the Lost back into good graces with the rest of the city. With this whole Alatreon storm that's kicked up though, maybe they've decided to try and gather up something to counter it. Maybe if we find them, they could help us out a little bit figuring out how to prepare for the Alatreon."

Ellie rolled the idea over in her head. Kerry had mentioned this group in passing, though she didn't know much more than hearsay. It couldn't hurt to look for these people, she supposed. Maybe they really would be able to help prevent the Alatreon from wiping out Loc Lac. And she guessed it wouldn't hurt to tell them what they'd learned about the Alatreon, and see if they could rally more help getting Levin free.

A light rapping on the door pulled their attention away from their thoughts for a moment, and Ellie looked up at the door expectantly. She'd been talking to Monique every now and then to pass the time these last couple days, just to distract herself from the way the world seemed to be falling apart around them, and the woman came to visit when she wasn't with her husband or son. But when the door opened, it wasn't the older smith woman that came through the door, but a young huntress, dragging a large wooden crate behind her.

"Is this the right room? I swear I've checked every bed in this wing, so if- Oh! Finally! Hello again you three. I've been looking all over the district for you guys."

It took Ellie a moment to recognize the huntress, not having expected her at all. "Tenebris? You… what are you doing here?"

"Fine way to greet an old hunting partner," Tenebris replied with a smirk. "It was only one hunt, I'll admit, but as I recall it was a rather memorable hunt, wasn't it? And is it so wrong to visit an acquaintance when they're hospitalized?"

"No, not at all, but… How did you know I was here? People aren't supposed to know I'm still alive! And why are you in Loc Lac? I thought you spent most of your time around Nastre."

"Oh, please. You've fought and killed a Silver Rathalos! I don't know what all happened down in that Coliseum place, or whatever they called it, but it wouldn't be enough to kill someone who's gone toe-to-toe with a monster on par with an elder dragon! As for why I left Nastre… Ah, every hunter needs to venture out and see the world every now and then," Tenebris shrugged. "Not to mention Silas was getting a head too big for his shoulders. If I'd had to stay in that town any longer, I might've had to catch him alone in a dark alley and throttle some humility into him. I needed to get away for a while to cool my head. Besides, I had business to take care of here in Loc Lac and ended up getting stuck in the South District when the barricade went up. Just my luck…"

"Sorry about that…" Ellie sighed. "Because of me and Levin-"

"Oh, don't tie yourself up about all that," Tenebris said, cutting her off. "It's not like you could've done much about it anyway. I've heard the full story, remember? There isn't a person out there that would hold still with the Alatreon breathing down your throat like your loverboy did. Half the hunters in the city are talking down about Levin's choice, but they all know that if they thought they had a chance at killing that elder dragon, they'd jump at it just as quickly. It'd be the best way to make a name for yourself ever!"

"But what brought you to Loc Lac?" Kerry asked. "Especially the Lost District? There's not much in this district except… well, the Lost."

"Ah, yes!" Tenebris said with an excited grin, picking up the large wooden box and placing it on the bed. "Before I forget; I come bearing gifts! Or rather, just one gift really. I figured I'd bring you something nice, Ellie."

Ellie blinked in surprise. "You... brought me something? Why?"

Tenebris smiled and patted the box. "Well, I had to admit I kind of felt bad for you after you left Nastre in such a rush, and not even being allowed to savor the victory over the silver Rathalos we took down. Especially considering the personal vendetta you had against that particular Los. So... I may have gone against the Guild's wishes just a bit and done something they didn't actually want me to do. It took some work, but I finally got this done."

The huntress pulled the lid open and the three other hunters gasped at the sight. From the inside of the box came a powerful, shining silvery glow. Tenebris reached into the box and began pulling several objects out of the box. Harker whistled in impressed awe. It was a full set of silver Rathalos armor! Elaborate designs decorated the thick armor, and spikes and claws lined the edges of the bracers, greaves and shoulder pads. Countless scales and plates were meshed together into a tight-knit mail, smithed into what seemed a truly masterful work, and folds of smooth light-colored leather hung from the shoulders in a smooth capote that added another layer of protection to her arms. The helmet was made to be far more protective than most of the armors Ellie had seen as well, with long hanging sheets of scale mail hanging down around the head from a solid helm, and a thick leather mask to cover most of the face, with a shining crimson Rathalos ruby cresting the headpiece. For the first time since becoming a hunter, Ellie really felt like she was looking at a real, indomitable set of armor. Even her Lagiacrus armor had seemed like it couldn't compare to something like this! If only it was…

"Wait… you… you had this made for me?" Ellie asked Tenebris in shock. The other huntress grinned.

"Oh, yes. And let me tell you, it was a real pain in the butt trying to find someone that could work this stuff. There's only maybe one or two silver Rathalos hunted every year, you know. I had to search the city for a smith that had sized armor for you before to make sure it would fit you properly, some guy that made your Lagiacrus set… Not to mention I had to hunt down some crazy hermit in the mountains to the southeast that was the only one that seemed to know anything about working with the silver scales. At least I met someone that was willing to travel around with me and help me fight off monsters up in the mountains. They get nasty in that area, I'll tell you that much."

"You… I… this goes just 'a bit' against the Guild's wishes?"

Tenebris laughed. "Maybe more than a bit, but it's not like you haven't got other legal issues bearing down on you anyway. What's a bit of fancy armor to a girl that's fought the Alatreon?"

"But still, you did all this for me? I don't… I don't know how to thank you."

"Oh, don't worry about it. Like I said, it's something you deserved in the first place if it weren't for the restrictions the Guild had on you guys. I would've tried to scavenge more stuff for the rest of you as well, but… I'll be honest, it was hard enough stealing all the materials I needed for this armor set by itself. Trying to nick more for everyone else would've been tricky to get away with."

"Still… this seems like so much… thank you!" Ellie picked up the helmet on top and held it up for a closer look. It was no wonder that Tenebris had needed to search around for someone that was able to work with the materials; the scales seemed many times more solid than her Lagiacrus armor had been. And the work seemed so fine and precise… who was this hermit that Tenebris said she'd had to find to make the armor?

"Tenebris? Tenebris!" Ellie turned in surprise at the sound of shouting coming from the hallway. "Where the heck did you go?"

"I'm in here!" the huntress shouted loudly, and a clatter of footsteps approached the door before the knob turned and the door swung open. A frazzled-looking hunter entered the room.

"Sheesh, you're hard to find, you know that? How'd you move so quickly with that heavy box if you… Ellie? Harker? Kerry?"

Ellie's jaw dropped. "Noxramus?" Another familiar face! Where the hell were all these people they'd met coming from? "You… why are you here?"

"I could ask the same of you guys!" the long-haired hunter replied. "Noi hired me to search out some Wyvernian smith he wanted to do business with… not really work for a hunter, but he pays well enough. But I ended up meeting up with Tenebris here, who was on the search for the same guy. We eventually found him; he made some armor for Tenebris here, but shot down Noi's business proposal without even looking at it. Then once we got back to Loc Lac, this whole wall-off-the-Lost-District thing happened and… Wait, I'm getting off track!"

"What are you all worked up about?" Kerry asked.

"The city… no, that crazy Zhanin guy!" Nox said quickly. "Rumors are coming from the north that he's led a small army into the district! I think they're actually going through with the idea to exile the Lost from the country!"

"No!" Ellie gasped. "He can't! If he does this now, with the Alatreon coming…"

"The Alatreon?" Tenebris asked. "You mean those rumors about… Wait, you can't mean that what the Lost were saying was true?"

"I fear they are," Harker replied somberly. "Every Lost heard it, including us. The elder dragon is supposed to be here in less than a day."

"We've got to do something then!" Nox said. "If the Alatreon is really coming, people need to prepare! We need to be ready to defend ourselves! We need a plan! Something!"

"I think we've lost what little time we had left, Ellie," Kerry said worriedly. "What do we do now? With Zhanin and his army around, we can't get help from this Lost sympathizer group. What are we supposed to do? The only weapon we have against the Alatreon when it arrives is its weakness to the dragon element! If we just knew where Levin was, then maybe…" The room was silent for a long minute. None of the hunters seemed to have any answers or ideas. With the impending Alatreon attack, along with Zhanin come to banish them from the country, the Lost seemed stuck between a rock and a hard place, with no means of escape…

"Get your armor on, Ellie," Harker said suddenly, his eyes lighting up. "I think… I believe we may have to resort to our original plan. It seems to be the only option we have time for."

The other hunters stared at Harker in confusion. "What are you talking… oh!" Ellie gasped. "You can't… you want us to try and find and free Levin? How are we supposed to do that? We don't even know for sure where they're keeping him!"

"I have my own suspicions… I believe we might know someone that does," the long sword user replied. "And she's not far at all. Now come along. We have far less time than I previously estimated. Be quick! We have much to do, and far less time to do it in!"

* * *

"What kind of armaments do we have?"

"As of now? Something close to about ninety melee weapons, and forty bowguns."

"And how many hunters do we have available?"

"We've got about fifty of them around. Those were the only ones that were willing to help us. They're all around the district though, so it might take time to gather them all up. The rest are trying to talk their way out of the district. They're not getting much success, but they're really trying hard to get away from us."

"Dammit... I don't suppose we have anyone else that can fight, do we?"

"Well, there are a few Lost that used to be soldiers back where they came from, but... well, they aren't exactly familiar with how to use bowguns that well and blademaster weapons don't seem to be their forte, so..."

"Well... see if we can use them somehow. It's not like we really have many options in the matter. If the Alatreon is really coming for us like it said it would, we need to have everything we can ready. And if we can't get the help of the Guild or the Loc Lac council... well, we'll just have to do what we need to survive. Have we heard word back from either of them yet?"

"No... not at all. I doubt any of our ambassadors have even managed to get past the barricade."

"Dammit all..."

Lynn sighed from the other side of the bar. Underneath the counter, Logan looked up at her curiously, before turning his attention back to the stuffed Gobul plush he liked to carry around. Lynn had been listening to this for almost three hours now, but it didn't seem like enough was being done. A lot of talking and planning, but no action. But then, if what the Lost claimed was true... there was little they could really do but wait.

Since this... vision or whatever the Lost had all seemed to see earlier that day, everyone in the Lost district seemed to be in a near panic. Huge crowds of Lost were pressing against the council's barricade, begging to leave, to flee the city. Others had been shouting at the Guild and the city council guards, begging for them to help them when the Alatreon arrived. So far they hadn't gotten anywhere at all. The barricade hadn't opened at all to let anyone leave and no aid had come to protect the Lost in the South District either. Lynn supposed that the people of the city thought that the cries for help were just the effects of the Losts' madness, some shared delusion that was spreading across the district and gaining ground. It was making the rest of the city nervous though, Lynn could tell that much.

The innkeeper had to admit, she thought very much the same for a while... until she had found Logan crying in his room, telling her about the voice in his head. The voice of the Alatreon, decreeing that it was coming to wipe out the Lost, and Loc Lac as well. The boy was absolutely terrified! Logan was a troublemaker, that was for sure, but so far he'd never been one to lie to Lynn. And all of the Lost were claiming the same thing... it couldn't just be paranoia that drove so many of them.

The Lost were in a state of panic and despair, either bunkering down in what they hoped were safe places or trying to escape the district. Most of them were at the barricades, wanting to flee the city to escape their impending doom. Others, though they were a painfully small minority, had grown determined to try their best to fight against the creature when it finally arrived. It was the same collection of people that had been meeting in the back for a week now, trying to figure how to get the Lost out of the situation they'd found themselves in, but with this whole Alatreon business, they'd turned their focus to the more dangerous threat. They'd gathered here at the Oasis, and were trying to prepare... but it seemed as though the Lost District was painfully underarmed for dealing with an elder dragon. They'd tried to call for help from the Guild of the Loc Lac council, but that didn't seem to be working very well at all.

Lynn was growing worried though... The council had responded unexpectedly quickly once they'd discovered the connection between the Lost and the Alatreon. Now the Lost were crying out about the Alatreon coming to destroy them and Loc Lac altogether, and yet nothing had been done, not even a reply or refusal to recognize their claims. Lynn couldn't shake the feeling that something nasty was going to happen soon, and the Lost would need to be ready if-

Lynn paused in her thoughts. There was a lot of commotion coming in from the street. Lynn tensed worriedly; the last time there had been that much unfamiliar noise going in through her front doors, the council had put up the barricade cutting off the South District from the rest of Loc Lac. It sounded akin to marching… and there were some panicked screaming and shouting coming from the people in the street as the noise grew louder and louder. Through the windows, Lynn could see a large number of Lost running past, hurrying past the front of the bar in the direction opposite from where the barricade was. Lynn's blood ran cold; just earlier that day, a crowd had been rushing towards the barricades, not away from them. What was going on?

The shine of steel and the stomping of shoulders were enough to give away what was really going on, and Lynn frowned worriedly as a battalion's worth of soldiers and hunters strode past the windows in front of the inn towards the door. There was something worrying about the way they walked; there was no rhythm or stride that they followed, just a simple hurried walk. And there near the front… that couldn't be anyone other than Zhanin. Lynn quickly knelt down to where Logan sat in one of the counter's little crooks and whispered to him urgently, ordering him back into the storeroom, and to stay quiet until she came back for him. The boy huffed worriedly, but did as he was told, scurrying into the back room and closing the door most of the way behind him. Lynn grimaced as dozens of hard iron boots clattered up the wooden steps into the Oasis. She didn't know for sure what was going on, but she sure as hell didn't want Logan around when it happened.

The doors to the inn flew open, and a dozen men wearing just as many sets of armor pushed into the room, glaring daggers at the men and women in the bar. There was a confidence about them, one of dominance and control, and Lynn didn't like it, not at all. Behind the initial group of men and women that strode into the bar came Zhanin, as Lynn had suspected, followed by yet another dozen armored people, with even more waiting outside. More and more just kept coming into sight through the windows, over a hundred at least! How many people had Zhanin brought with him, and for what purpose? Lynn nervously stroked the hilt of the hunting knife she kept on her belt; she wished she had her old bowgun handy right now.

Zhanin looked around the room clinically, accusingly. Then he smiled, bearing the same confidence that the rest of the soldiers around him seemed to have. "So this is the best that the Lost have to offer? This is the collection of people that were trying so fruitlessly to fight for the sake of the Lost, the only ones in the district trying to actually save the wretched people?"

"Wretched? There's nobody here that fills that title; certainly none of the Lost." Those in the room turned to the voice. The hunter Jino sat in the far corner of the room in his full armor, nursing a glass of alcohol. "Unlucky, if you ask me. Poor, unlucky folks, and hardly getting luckier judging by the way the city's been treating them recently. Seems like they need all the help decent people can afford to offer them, and I figure it's the right thing to do anyway. Wretched? No, they're hardly that. But there certainly are others about that deserve a title like that."

"You think so?" Zhanin asked, glaring at the old hunter. "Would anyone but a wretch call down the wrath of the Alatreon? Would anyone but a wretch ignore the centuries-old laws of the country, endangering the lives of every living man, woman, and child for their own petty desires? Their madness and avarice is driving this city and country to oblivion. The Lost are a blight on the city, and you people are little better, helping a diseased wound fester when the sickness should be removed!"

"What are you here for?" a cold voice grumbled. This was the voice of another hunter, some young foreigner in odd armor that had joined the group a few days ago. He didn't talk too much… Lynn thought his name was Miller though. At least, that's what it said on the wanted posters she'd seen with his face on them for aiding and abetting Levin and Ellie in the Tundra. "You've got a small army with you, marching into a district of essentially unarmed people. What are you trying to accomplish here? Hurry up and say it, and leave your showboating for others. We have no care for your gloating."

Zhanin smirked at the man. "Bold words, hunter, considering your situation. You don't wish me to wax poetic? Fine then, I will make it simple for you all: The city of Loc Lac no longer can tolerate the condition of the Lost within the confines of our country. The people find you disruptive, unstable, and your madness makes you a stain on our city. A small number of the Lost created one of the most sickening organizations ever known in but a few short years, killing unknown numbers of hunters! Not to mention that your connection to the Alatreon leaves the citizens of our country in a threatened position for providing you aid. Countless men, women and children have died at the hands on the elder dragon because of but a single Lost's foolish decision to challenge the beast! The people of the city have spoken, and we will not tolerate the existence of the Lost within our country any longer! The Lost, and all of those that have supported them, are hereby banished from the country, so that their self-destructive existences will not suffer us any longer!"

"You can't do that!" a fiery-haired Lost near the center of the room shouted angrily. "You can't just throw out all of us just because a few of us messed up! Not all of us want to go after the Alatreon like you do! We're just as afraid of it as you are!"

"Besides, the Alatreon is coming!" another put in. "We've got to prepare for when it gets here! If it arrives before we're ready, it'll kill us all! We don't have time for all of this nonsense if you-"

"Please stop with this nonsense of the Alatreon coming," Zhanin snapped irritably, cutting the man off. "This is just another reason the people of Loc Lac want nothing more to do with the Lost. These frightful delusions and scare tactics will not be tolerated anymore!"

"Why is the council doing this?" one of the Lost shouted. "Why are they condemning us like this? We've done nothing wrong but try to survive!"

"The council has been deemed incompetent," Zhanin replied, and a wave of shock spread through the room. "They have proven ineffective at solving the issue of the Lost, and so they have been removed. The city of Loc Lac has come to a decision on its own, without their influence, and have deemed the Lost a threat to be removed."

"You overthrew the council?" Jino asked, horrified. "You're insane! The council has made the decisions for Loc Lac for… hundreds of years! You can't just-"

"It was not my decision," Zhanin replied. "It was the choice of the people of Loc Lac. The rightful citizens of Loc Lac! We will have no more of your madness in this country!" Several more shouts of anger and frustration rose up from those in the barroom, but Zhanin silenced them with a quick motion to the soldiers and hunters around him. "You wanted me to be concise, so I will be so. The Lost are exiled from this city and this country. Those that have tried to aid them will be banished as well. We will have no more of your madness infesting our country. Now arrest them, and remove the stain from our country!"

Immediately the men and women that had followed Zhanin into the South District stepped forward, eager and ready to begin the removal of the Lost from the city. Almost immediately, the Lost and their supporters began to try to fight back to keep themselves from being caught, but it seemed obvious from the start that Zhanin had the advantage, simply because there were so many soldiers and hunters alongside him. For every opponent the Lost managed to push away another two more appeared to take their place. Many of the Lost were overwhelmed almost immediately, some of them having little to no battle experience at all. Others went down not long after, overwhelmed by the sheer number of people that were after them.

Lynn growled furiously as a pair of men rushed her, their faces slightly wary due to her size, but confident they could overwhelm her. Lynn didn't give them time to regret their overconfidence, and smashed her fists into both of them, sending them dropping to the floor in pain. But more of the soldiers were coming for her, ready to give their all to stop her. Lynn cursed viciously at them as they came. She couldn't afford to be caught by them! She had to take care of Logan! They wouldn't take her, dammit!

* * *

Zhanin hid a smile as the Lost and sympathizers in the room began shouting, trying to struggle free of the grasps of his men, his ragtag soldiers and hunters. He knew it would be easy to overwhelm the Lost and those that sought to help them! If this really was the worst that the Lost had to offer in terms of resistance, then the South District would be rid of the filth of the Lost in a couple of days! Some of the hunters in the room were putting up better fights then the others, almost breaking free of their holders, like an old man in Deviljho armor and some foreigner in strange blue armor. And the innkeeper… she was surprisingly strong for a barkeep, but if she was aiding the Lost, then she had to go as well.

Zhanin frowned irritably though as the one of the Lost supporters managed to send one of his own soldiers skidding across the barroom, smashing into a barstool and raising a clatter as several bottles of alcohol crashed to the floor. Honestly, the Lost and their supporters were outnumbered; his men shouldn't be having any trouble at all. But over the din, Zhanin thought he heard a quiet yelp. Glancing over to the bar, where the soldier was returning to his feet, Zhanin noticed a small shape quickly slide behind the other side of the bar. None of the soldiers around him noticed though, and the councilman glowered in frustration, before stepping towards the bar himself.

As he turned the corner and got behind the bar, Zhanin looked down and found himself looking down at a young black-haired boy hiding under the counter. What was a boy like this doing here of all places? A strangled shout caught the councilman's attention, and he looked up as the innkeeper of the Oasis glared furiously at him, shouting vile curses and struggling to break free of the four men that were trying to pin her down. Her child, perhaps? No… the boy didn't bear any resemblance to her at all, and besides, Zhanin had seen the information on the woman before. She was supposed to be a widow, with no children. So this boy had to be one of the Lost. As the child looked up at him fearfully, Zhanin knew he had to be right. The Lost all had a… look of sorts about them, a hint of madness in their eyes, and this boy definitely had it as well.

"You too!" Zhanin snapped, grabbing hold of the boy's arm. The boy struggled, but Zhanin held tight, pulling him out from behind the bar and dragging him away. "The city has called for the removal of every Lost, no matter their age! You're going with the rest-"

"No!" The councilman jumped in fright as the innkeeper suddenly roared in fury, smashing through the guards that held her and lunging towards Zhanin. He pulled back instinctually, trying to pull out of the way, but still clung tightly to the boy's arm. He opened his mouth to shout for the aid of his guards, but before he could get the words out, there was a flash of silver.

Zhanin gasped as cold pain filled his chest. The innkeeper was right in front of him, growling viciously, but a moment later the expression vanished, replaced by one of shock and horror. At another cry of pain from the boy at Zhanin's side though, the woman grew worried and swiftly swept the boy out of Zhanin's grasp and pulling away from the councilmember. Zhanin tried to reach for the boy to stop her, but found that it was a struggle to do so. His legs suddenly felt weak, and he quickly grasped the back of a chair to keep his balance, looking down in confusion.

An old but well-kept hunter's knife protruded from his chest. Zhanin stared at the blade in wonder for a moment, and the room suddenly grew deathly quiet. Idly, he realized that the soldiers and hunters he'd rallied, and the Lost and their supporters, had all stopped their fighting. He reached up to the hilt of the knife, touching it lightly. Immediately, a flash of pain seared through him, and a gush of blood suddenly poured from the wound, staining his finery a deep fatal crimson. The councilman seized up in agony as the pain from the wound hit him fully. He looked up, staring questioningly at the innkeeper as she pulled away from him.

"Why?" Zhanin gasped, clutching the hilt of the blade as blood poured down his chest. The innkeeper pulled to boy away from him, clutching him to her chest tightly as he clung to her just as desperately. "Why… why save him? He's not... not worth it. He's just... just one of the Lost."

The woman growled viciously, baring her teeth as though she was a monster herself as she clung to the boy in her arms. "Hy don't care vether or not he's vun of de Lost! He's my son, hyu son of a bitch!"

Zhanin coughed painfully, and a coppery taste filled his mouth. Her son? He didn't understand... How could someone care that much for one of the Lost? They were mad! They were dangerous! They weren't worth saving or protecting! They were... they were...

_They are... less than stable, mentally, from what I've seen. But I don't think it's their fault! Whatever happened to them, I think it damaged them badly... Whatever happened to them must've been... terrible. But I've made it my goal to help them, one way or another._

"Salem..."

The chair creaked under the weight of the councilman, and with a wrenching, snapping sound, the wooden backing gave way, and Zhanin tumbled backwards, falling back and crashing onto the table. He landed on a couple plates, shattering them, and sending a dozen glasses falling to the floor as well. Silence filled the room as he gasped for air, staring blindly at the ceiling. His sight began to fade, and he could feel his breathing growing weaker.

"Salem..."

* * *

The mercenaries and guards that Zhanin had brought, as well as the Lost and Lost supporters that filled the room, stared in silence at the body of the councilmember, shocked at the sudden death of the man. Lynn had no time for shock, however, as she quickly pulled Logan away from the center of the bar and into the back room. The boy was sobbing quietly, clinging tightly to her chest as though his life depended on it. Lynn supposed that thirty seconds ago, it really did.

It pained her to do so, but she carefully pulled the boy away from her. She set Logan in the corner of the small storeroom and looked at him sternly. "Listen to me, Logan. Hyu goink to need to shtay here for a moment, hey? Hy gots to-"

"No! Don't leave me!" the boy cried, leaping forward and clinging to her again. "Don't leave me alone, mama!"

Lynn's heart clenched up at the words, and her breath caught in her throat. Logan really thought of her as his mother? She held the boy tightly for a moment longer, savoring the unfamiliar feeling that was welling up inside of her for a little while. But… though it pained her to do so, she regretfully pulled the boy away from her again. Lynn smiled gently at the boy. She always seemed to frighten people, even when she smiled, but Logan seemed encouraged by the expression. "Don't vorry, hyu leedle troublemaker. Hy'm just goink to get rid of dose idiot mercenaries out dere, den hy'll be right back to find hyu a safer place to hide, hey?"

"Promise you'll come back!"

"Ha! Hyu tink dose fools are enough to shtop me? Dey von't shtand a chance!"

"Promise me!"

Lynn looked down at the boy as he gave her a desperate look. The boy had already lost one mother already… that was one too much. He couldn't lose another. "Hy promise," Lynn said softly. "Hy'll come back for hyu, no matter vhat, hokay? So jest shtay safe for me, und don't move from here until hy come back, hey?"

Logan still looked worried, but nodded obediently, sitting down on a small stool. Lynn grinned at him. "Good boy," she told him. A small thought occured to her, and she reached up to the top shelf in the storeroom and pulled out an old hunting knife. Her old one was gone, buried in the chest of Zhanin, and Lynn had no intention to recover it. This one though… the leather sheath was stiff and dusty, but as she pulled the blade from its scabbard, the edge gleamed, just as sharp as if it was new. Unsurprising, considering it hadn't been used in years. She kept it for nostalgia, unwilling to actually use it, but now she knelt back down to Logan.

"Take dis," she told the boy, and Logan nodded, taking the blade in his hands and holding it awkwardly. It was heavier than a lot of the hunter's knives that were made these days. "Dis knife belonged to Oswald, my husband, before he died, hey? It's very sharp. If anyvun but me comes und tries to take hyu avay from here before hy come back… hyu try und hurt dem, hokay? Hyu do vhatever it takes, just make sure hyu wait here for me, hokay?"

"Yes, mama," Logan replied, holding the knife tightly. Lynn grinned.

"Good boy. Hy be right back, hey?" She didn't like arming the boy, but if things really got rough… No, she had to make sure she came back for him no matter the cost. Even if the city really did go through with this Lost exile, and even if the Alatreon came to kill them all… damn everyone else. She'd let them die if it meant keeping Logan happy and safe. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that, but if it did…

Lynn shook her head and got back to her feet as Logan wedged himself deeper into the corner of the storeroom. From the sounds out in the bar, Zhanin's thugs and the Lost had recovered from the shock of Zhanin's death, and the soldiers were once again trying to capture the Lost and their supporters. The Lost seemed to be putting up a better fight this time, and several loud crashes and thuds could be heard from out there.

Lynn needed to settle things before they got too far out of hand. People would start thinking of Zhanin as a martyr and rally together if she didn't dissuade them otherwise. She quickly worked to the back cabinet where, by itself on the shelf, lay her old bowgun. It was a massive thing, one made out of Diablos materials. She lifted it cautiously, waving it around a bit. It seemed heavier than she remembered, though it couldn't be heavier than a great sword at most, considered lightweight with her strength; retirement had made her weak! Still, it seemed to be in pristine condition. She wished she had time to clean it, but there wasn't time for that right now. She quickly grabbed a box of ammunition and slid the rounds into the chamber as she made her way to the bar door.

Lynn burst into the room as the shouting intensified. Several of the guards were attacking the Lost with weaponry now rather than simply trying to subdue them. The Lost and the sympathizers were beginning to fight back, however, and several had pulled out weapons of their own. More than a dozen tables and chairs and countless plates and glasses lay broken and shattered around the room. Lynn growled viciously. Nobody wrecked her bar! Not for any reason!

_BLAM!_

Her massive bowgun shook violently as she pulled the trigger and fired. One of the guards cried out in pain as the round blasted against his thick armor and sent him to the floor. Another of the guards yelled in anger and moved to attack Lynn, but the innkeeper turned the barrel of the weapon on him and fired again, dropping him just as quickly. Another pair turned, and Lynn fired twice more and the men dropped, howling in agony. The room went silent, save for the groaning of the injured men. Lynn looked around the room angrily and cocked the bowgun threateningly.

"Geet out of my bar hyu bastards!" the innkeeper roared, and the bowgun fired again, knocking yet another of Zhanin's thugs off their feet and to the floor. With that the men and women that had followed Zhanin had enough, and a rush of armored soldiers and hunters fled through the doors of the inn.

"Sweet mercy, Lynn!" Jino breathed with a low whistle. "A little overkill, don't you think? No need to kill the poor fools off like that… They weren't being gentle or anything, but that's still a bit much."

"Pah! Dose fools aren't dead yet, hey?" Lynn replied, patting her bowgun. She kicked one of the downed men in the sides and they groaned in pain. "Hy got some speshul ammo for shtupid shtuff like dis. Made some veak Pellet rounds for crowd control in case some great fools tried to shtart a big brawl in my bar. Don't vant some eediots breakink everyting, hey?"

Jino frowned and rubbed his beard with a surprised look on his face. "What fool in their right mind would try to start a brawl in _your_ bar of all places? No offence, Lynn, but you've got a… reputation about you. How often have you had to use those rounds?"

"Hy don't, rilly," Lynn shrugged. "Vell… not anymore, dot is. Vunce vas enough. Folks learn qvick, hey?"

Lynn looked down at the body of Zhanin where it lay. She shook her head in regret. She hadn't wanted to kill the councilman, despite everything he'd done, but when he'd gone after Logan, she... she'd lost her head. "Fool man; why did hyu have to do all dat? Vhat vas de goal ov it all? Revenge? Fool man..."

The sound of more shouting could be heard coming from outside, and judging from the tone of the voices, it sounded as though word of Zhanin's death was spreading to the rest of the soldiers that had come. There were a few shouts of dismay, and more of anger, but there was another sound rising up: the sound of resistance. A loud cry of many people roared from the streets, and as Lynn made her way out of the bar, a small wave of Lost appeared in the streets, throwing rocks and swinging makeshift clubs at the soldiers that had invaded the district. A few of them had even managed to get hold of bowguns or short swords as well. Many of Zhanin's men were still in the mindset of trying to rid Loc Lac of the Lost, but the abrupt shift and number of rallying Lost immediately caused them to question their own dedication to the cause.

There was a loud crash as the horde of Lost smashed into the soldiers and hunters that had come to exile them, and a short but violent fight broke out right there in the street. The Lost were poorly armed, their weapons weak against the thick armor of those that had come to remove them, but they drastically outnumbered the soldiers. The soldiers themselves were hesitant to retaliate. They had gathered behind Zhanin to round up the Lost and ship them away from the city, not fight or kill them! And Zhanin had been their sole leader in their mad dash to get to the South District and banish the Lost. There were a few willing to draw their weapons and fight back against the Lost, but most waited too long to decide what to do without a leader to give them orders, and were overwhelmed by the furious mass of Lost that washed over them.

Lynn rushed forward, bowgun firing in the air as the Lost began furiously smashing their makeshift weapons against the armors of the downed soldiers, Zhanin's followers crying out in fear and pain. She didn't like these men and women, but the Lost's image would only get worse if they murdered all the soldiers that had come to banish them. The gunshots frightened the Lost as the , and most of them scattered from the downed bodies of those that had tried to exile them. It wasn't much, but it was enough for those that had come with Zhanin to run away. Lynn wasn't sure if they would make it to the barricade to escape or not; if they were smart, they'd abandon their armor and weapons and hide somewhere, and if they weren't…

Several angry shouts called out to her from the Lost, angry that she had stopped them from venting their anger at the soldiers. She received a wide berth though, as most of the Lost recognized her well enough, and knew it was not a great idea to get on her bad side. Lynn looked through the crowd of people warily. Something had changed in them. Something tenuous had broken apart in the Lost.

Before… before the cries of the Lost at the barricades had been those of desperation or pleads for mercy, and later cries of fear for the coming of the Alatreon. But Lynn could hear it in the air, in the tones of the voices of the Lost. The atmosphere had shifted. Despite all their hardships, despite everything that had happened to them and everything they'd tried to do, the council had lashed out at them, telling them that they were being forced to leave! They were no longer welcome in Loc Lac! They were being treated like a plaque! How dare they! The begging was done. The desperation was gone. Fear still hung in the air like the stench of death, but it was slowly being overpowered. Overpowered by diminished patience and disgust. Overpowered by anger and hatred. The Lost had taken enough!

A feral cry of fury swept through the crowd, and through some unspoken word from the countless heads in the mob, a surge of Lost began to press towards the barricades. Makeshift weapons, unsteadily held, appeared in the hands of many as if by magic, and conjured by their building intent as they marched to the blockade. It was a slow march, one that hadn't quite figured out the direction it should take, but Lynn could tell already that even the slightest spark could set off this powder keg in the most horrible way possible!

Lynn chased after the mob. She had to try and stop them, before they did something terrible!

* * *

Ellie pushed open the door of the hospital room, ignoring the sound of the handle slamming against the wall as it smashed against it. Felicia jumped in shock at Ellie's sudden appearance, tumbling from her seat in a flurry. The huntress had been sitting on the edge of Rowan's bed, quite close to the deep voiced hunter, actually. But Ellie ignored the fact as she made her way over to Felicia as the other huntress leapt back to her feet, an irritated and flustered look on her face. There was also a note of clear surprise and some fear at the sight of Ellie in her Silver Rathalos armor as well; despite the two rooms being right next to each other, the huntress had still received quite a few looks due to her armor.

"What the hell do you want?" Felicia growled angrily, crossing her arms and glaring at Ellie.

"Tell me where the Gullet is," Ellie snapped. Felicia's eyes widened in stunned surprise.

"What? I... No! Why the hell would I tell you something like that? Are you an idiot? I told you before, you don't want to know about that place! You're better off that way! Get out of here you moron, before I-"

"Perhaps she can answer another question for us instead," Harker said quickly, cutting Felicia off and nimbly sliding between the huntress and Ellie. He and Kerry had followed Ellie into the room as well, though Tenebris and Noxramus had vanished off somewhere else when a rush of Lost had torn through the hospital halls. "The Gullet... whatever it is; is it possibly underneath the Guild tower?"

Felicia's eyes widened in horror. "How… how do you know that? You… you shouldn't know that! It's impossible! You can't know that! If someone learns that you..." The huntress paused. "Wait… you said 'whatever it is'... How did you… how did you figure this out!"

Ellie shook her head. "You wouldn't believe us if we told you. It's just... too strange, so much that even I can barely believe it."

"It's not too hard if you think about it," Harker added. "The 'Gullet'… it has the same name as a throat. Why would a secret place be called the 'Throat'? I've always wondered what could be buried deep beneath Loc Lac for the Loc Lac Tower to exist, considering the rumors of its creation, but the Guild never allowed me to look into it. I've always suspected that, if the Tower was a horn like some rumors say, there must be something buried underneath. Until you mentioned the Gullet though, I never thought that anyone had gotten around to digging down yet."

"But that's beside the point," Ellie grumbled, cutting Harker off. "Tell me what you know about the Gullet!"

Felicia blinked in surprise, and then glowered at Ellie again. "Screw you! I already told you before that I'm not going to tell anyone about this place, and that includes you! I don't care why you want to know where it is, I'm not saying anything!"

"Please tell us," Kerry asked. "We think… we're fairly certain one of our friends was sent there and… and we need to get him out of there."

"What? Really?" Felicia asked skeptically. "I think you're full of it! If someone gets sent there, nobody's supposed to know or care! How would you guys even guess that someone you knew was there? Besides, nice little hunters like you? What could you have done that would piss off someone enough to send you to prison anyway? Your friend punch a noble or something? Mercy knows that lots of holier-than-thou hunters get into trouble that way…"

"He battled the Alatreon," Ellie replied, and Felicia scoffed.

"You should have chosen a better lie than that if you wanted to fool me," the huntress snapped. "It's a good reason to arrest someone , but nobody fights the Alatreon and lives. Go away if you're going to be an idiot. I don't have time to deal with people that-"

"Felicia." The huntress jumped at the word when Rowan spoke. Even Ellie was surprised; the man spoke so rarely that it caught her off guard when he did.

"What do you want, idiot?" Felicia grumbled sourly, clearly irked at the interruption.

"I think she's telling the truth," he told her, looking at Ellie concernedly. "Don't you remember? That's the reason that they cut off the South District in the first place, when one of the Lost agitated the Alatreon."

"What? Really? That's… no! I don't care! If he's been sent to the Gullet then he… he…" The huntress suddenly began to shake and she clutched her shoulders nervously as she looked at the floor.

"Felicia, what's wrong?" Rowan asked worriedly, hurrying over to the huntress.

"Go away!" Felicia snapped, swinging wildly at the hunter. "I don't… I don't want to think about that place! Just leave me alone! Just forget about that place! You're better off that way…"

"We can't do that," Kerry replied adamantly. "Our friend may be there, and the Alatreon might attack the city soon. We need his help if we're going to stop the elder dragon from destroying Loc Lac!"

"What can one hunter do?" Felicia groaned. "If the Alatreon's really going to attack the city, then Loc Lac is doomed. You're better off just leaving him there and trying to run before it gets here."

"Why are you keeping this information from us?!" Ellie shouted angrily. "You act like this 'Gullet' is hell on earth, but you're not doing anything to stop it, are you? How come?"

"Shut up! I'm not telling you anything! Just go away and figure it out your own damn self! You'd better… you'd better just give up on that friend of yours. Whether he goes up against the Alatreon or stays in the Gullet, he's dead either way, so you should just-"

"No!" Ellie snapped, reaching forward and yanking Felicia towards her by the collar. "I'm not going to let him die! Not like that! If the Alatreon comes for us and butchers us all, so be it! But I'm not just going to sit here and let him waste away in some pit, just because you wouldn't give us the information we need! If we're going to die, than I'd rather we died fighting, instead of cowering here in the hospital crying like children! Now tell me what I want to know or so help me I'll-"

A heavy fist suddenly smashed against the size of Ellie's helm and the huntress tumbled to the floor. She was back on her feet in an instant though. The armor proved to be better than she'd thought it was; her head was ringing of course, but she wasn't really in any pain at all. Rowan pulled away from her, shaking his massive hand a little in pain as he pulled Felicia away from Ellie, glaring at Ellie angrily. Kerry and Harker leapt to Ellie's side, but Ellie shook her head. She had little doubt that if Rowan had really wanted to hurt her, he would've, despite the armor.

"Let go of me you idiot… Let go…" Felicia moaned, trying to shake off Rowan's grip. But her voice was quiet now, and her heart just didn't seem to be in it anymore. Rowan stood protectively in front of her, not willing to let Ellie try to rough up Felicia again. The huntress crumpled to the ground a moment later though, and the man turned a worried look to her. "Please… please leave me alone. I don't want to think about that place…"

Ellie paused. She recognized that tone. She'd heard it plenty enough on the way back from Malefica, before the virus had gotten the better of her. A lot of other escapees had spoken in tones like that when conversation had turned back to the underground city. It was one of fear, of those that had witnessed horrible things and wanted nothing more than to forget the images that haunted their memories. For others it was of guilt, the horrible memories of what they'd been forced to do to other hunters haunting them. Had Felicia gone through something similar, some terrible incident that she didn't want to remember? She acted tough, but even the most durable hunter could crumble under the right circumstances…

"Please tell us," Kerry asked gently. "I know it doesn't seem likely we'll succeed, and we may die anyway with the Alatreon coming, but we have to try. Please help us save Levin."

Felicia didn't say anything at first, and remained sitting on the floor behind Rowan, the massive bulk of the man hiding her waifish frame completely. Rowan remained where he was, adamantly refusing to move from between the huntress and Ellie at all. But after a minute of silence, Felicia began to speak. "It's... a prison of sorts, in the best sense," Felicia said quietly. "A few high-ranking bastards in the Guild set it up and keep it secret from the rest of the organization. They send the worst kind of criminals there for the most part, but they also send undesirables there too when they need to, the kind of people they just want gone. I guess it would kind of make sense that they sent your lover there if he really went after the Alatreon like people say."

"It's only a prison?" Kerry asked. "The way you and that Guild man went on about it-"

Felicia laughed, but it was a hollow sound. "I said it was a prison in the best sense. In the worst it's a torture chamber and executioners block. The people in charge of the place pretty it up saying its existence is a painful necessity, or they're doing it for the greater good, but the things there do there... there's nothing necessary or good about it. The people that work there might be twisted idealists, thinking they're doing what they do for the right reasons, but the overseers are only doing it for their own profit."

"What are they doing there?" Ellie asked worriedly. Felicia shook her head and shrugged uncertainly. "Please! Tell me! What are they doing to Levin?"

"I couldn't say for certain... a lot of things, I guess. The people that are sent there are used as live experiments for the scientists there, testing everything that they can't under the public eye. Horrible things... I only know of one of the experiments that they were doing there, but it was more than enough to scare me away from the place, and who knows what else they were doing there?"

"What were they doing?" Harker pressed, stepping forward with a concerned look on his face. "What did you see them doing there?"

Felicia shivered painfully for a moment, clearly uncomfortable with the memory. "They... Someone had found a Gigginox out in the wilds that had developed a more potent poison gland. There haven't been many others like it, but one of the researchers in the Gullet was trying to develop an antidote that could counteract the effects of the poison." Harker made a confused look, but Felicia continued speaking before the long sword user could retort. "Like I said, it's made to sound like they're doing it for the right reasons. But the testing... their test subject was some criminal; I can't remember what crime he'd committed, but they were constantly injecting poison into his blood, letting it gather up inside of him before testing new concoctions of the antidotes on the prisoner. The antidotes didn't always work, so their 'test subject' spent so... so very long suffering from the poison's effects. And... And sometimes the antidote mixtures were... worse than even that even the Gigginox's poison. It was... it was horrible. At the end of it all, their 'test subject'... he eventually... he..."

Felicia crumpled even more so into misery, choking back a sob. In a flash, Rowan was at her side, supporting the huntress as she quivered under the strain of the memories. The room was silent as the information sunk into all of them. Ellie felt like falling to her knees as well after hearing what Felicia had told her. Levin had been sent to what was essentially a torture chamber? But how? Why? How could the Guild be willing to do something like this? Levin had committed the crime of provoking the Alatreon, for sure, and Ellie understood the reasons behind his incarceration, considering the annihilation of several villages in the west, but were his crimes really so bad that he deserved... whatever it was that they were doing to him in the Gullet, if that's where he really was?

Kerry stepped forward and knelt down, speaking in a quiet, soothing voice to the shivering huntress. "If I may ask, how did you first come to know about this place, the Gullet, in the first place?"

Once again the huntress was quiet, and Ellie could see that her shivering had worsened. "Did you escape from there?" she asked nervously.

Felicia laughed hollowly again. "Nobody escapes from the Gullet. People have tried, hundreds of times, but they never come close. No… I know about the Gullet because… because of my father." Once again the woman was silent, and the other hunters in the room looked at each other questioningly. Her father? What had he done to make his daughter aware of such a terrible place, enough that she was able to see the kind of horrible things that the Guild was conducting? "My father… Ha. He's not a part of the Guild or anything. He's… he's a merchant lord in the East District. He's the Guild's spin doctor for all the stuff that they produce in the Gullet, feeding all the alchemists and shopkeepers in the city fake reasons why the mixtures in all their potions and antidotes have to change. And he's good at it too, the best damn liar in the entire city, twisting paperwork and research notes so that nobody suspects the truth, not even other people in the Guild.

"The rest of the men that control the Gullet… they're in it for the safety and well-being of the hunters that work for them, at least a little bit. Sick and twisted though they are, they actually think they're doing the right thing conducting their experiments. But they're all greedy too, and they wouldn't be doing this if it weren't for the profit they're in it for. Every time they find a better mixture for hunters to use, they're able to charge shopkeepers and other merchants more to replace all their stock with the better ones. My father's the worst of them all. He doesn't care about hunters or anything at all. He just cares about the bottom line, and making as much profit as he can from the Gullet. The second it looks as though the Gullet will stop being profitable for him or get him in trouble, he'll betray everyone else in the group to save his own hide, and do it in a way that will make as much money as possible."

Felicia shook her head miserably. "My father hoped that I would take over his business for him once I was old enough to do so, and once he'd accrued enough money to retire in extreme wealth. I guess he thought that I was as cold-blooded as he was. I mean… I'm not above doing certain crimes of course. That's why the Guild caught me here in Loc Lac in the first place. But that place… One day he took me to the Gullet, thinking he'd introduce me to the things he was doing there, and… it was horrible. I'd cheated people and ripped off others during my time preparing to take over his business. I've hurt and ruined people for just as much… but the things that he was supporting in the Gullet…

"I… lost my head a bit after that. I hated my father for what he was doing. I had thought the world of him and he turned out to be this… monster. I wanted to destroy everything he had done, everything he had created and built thanks to that… that damn place! I had to destroy it all, everything that my father created thanks to that terrible place! I burned it all down, both of my father's warehouses, full of his gains from all of the damn things he was doing! I don't care that I set half the district on fire! It was worth it to see the look on his face when I'd told him what I'd done! After that he… he… I didn't stick around much longer after that. Before the fire was even put out I was on a sandship and leaving Loc Lac. I haven't been back since then.

"My father has high connections in the Guild and town guard. It's the only reason they haven't arrested me yet," Felicia moaned quietly. "With my father as one of the most influential members of the Gullet and its subsidiaries, they're afraid that my arrest will spark some... parental love inside of him and he'll back out, or worse, try to shut them down. And they can't afford risking putting their own asses on the line." The huntress choked out a strangled laugh. "Joke's on them though; my father has no love for me after I burned his warehouses down and nearly ruined him. He told me as much himself. All he cares about is profit."

"Felicia..." Rowan whispered quietly, holding her and comforting her. "If you dislike him so much, why haven't you turned him in yet? Surely there must be someone you could have told about what your father has done? Surely someone would have believed you… not everyone in the Guild are as bad as the people that work in the Gullet, I'm sure!"

"Because I'm a damn idiot, that's why," Felicia groaned. "Even after everything he's done, after all his crimes and essentially disowning me, I still think of him as my father, and I keep hoping he'll stop being such a bastard and change his ways. So I keep his crimes to myself, hoping that he'll turn himself around without me forcing it on him, even though I know it'll never happen…"

The room was silent was more as the huntress wallowed in her miserable memories. Ellie wasn't sure how to proceed anymore. She'd come into the room ready and willing to try and force the information on where the Gullet was out of Felicia if that's what it took, but… after hearing everything that the other huntress had gone through, she just didn't have the heart for it. Thankfully, Rowan still seemed willing to help them, despite her getting rough with Felicia earlier. "Can you tell them where the entrance to the Gullet is, Felicia?" he asked quietly. "I understand that you… want to stay loyal to your father, but if they think that getting their friend out of there could help do something to slow down the Alatreon when it comes…"

Felicia sighed quietly. "Fine: I'll tell you if you really want to know that badly. I don't even care anymore… It's one of the most closely guarded places in the city though, but hey, if you want to risk it, it's your funeral. Anyway… your reasoning was correct: it's like the throat of the Tower. From what I saw, the Gullet spreads out pretty far, too. There are a lot of tunnels and paths down there. I think it'd be safer to say that there's a prison underneath the entire city of Loc Lac."

"The entire city!" Kerry gasped, looking at the floor in disbelief. "But… but how? Surely someone would've found it before if…"

"Not likely," Felicia said, shaking her head. "It's pretty deep… and there are really only a couple entrances that will get you down there. One is submerged under the oasis near the tower, so no going there unless you can really hold your breath for a long time. The other… the other is hidden inside one of the storage warehouses at the base of the Loc Lac tower. It's the one where keep all the cannon ammo for the city walls, so they have an excuse to keep it really well guarded. If you want to try and break into the Gullet through there though, you're going to have a lot of trouble ahead of you. You guys may be legally dead, but they'll recognize you anyway, I have no doubt that you'll have a hell of a time just getting out of the district."

The three hunters looked at each other uncertainly. Felicia did have a point… "I don't suppose you'd have a suggestion for making our task easier?" Harker asked, but the huntress barked a laugh in reply.

"Hardly: I haven't been back to Loc Lac in years now, so I can't give you any answers. I only got into that damn place because my bastard father took me in. If you're going to break into the Gullet, you're going to need either a small army or a natural disaster to keep the attention away from the front doors, and that's only if you can get past the barricade that they've set up around the South District."

Ellie looked at both Kerry and Harker, and the pair nodded to her. "That'll have to work then," she said adamantly. "It's not much, but we really don't have much of a choice right now. We'll have to wing it and hope for the best. I've never actually been to the Tower though…"

"I've been a few times," Kerry replied. "Mostly to visit the main Guild hall nearby, but I've been around the Tower's base, and I think I know what storehouse she's talking about. Hunters don't usually go to the Tower much… it's a place for bureaucrats, not us."

"Then let's hurry up and go!" Ellie said. "We've still got to get past the barricade, then after that…" Ellie paused, looking at Felicia for another moment. "Thank you, Felicia. I know it must have been hard to tell us all this, but… I hope it'll be worth it in the end."

"Yeah, yeah," the huntress muttered. "Just go already. And… good luck. You'll need it, that's for sure."

"Right," Ellie nodded. They really would need luck for what they planned to do. Ellie hurried out the door with Kerry and Harker close behind. They could only hope they could find some way to get past the barricade before Zhanin and his henchmen cracked down on the entire district.

* * *

A blast of flame erupted across the barricade as another bottle smashed against the timber wall. Desmond flinched back in pain as the heat blazed past his face, and he raised an arm to keep the fire from catching his face. He stumbled a bit, and nearly fell off the walkway that had been constructed on the other side. Thankfully, a hand caught his arm and pulled him upright again before he could fall, keeping him from a rather painful-looking drop.

"Careful now, kid; don't want'cha taking a dive just 'cause things get a little hot, eh?"

"More than just hot," Desmond muttered sourly. He quickly grabbed the edge of the barricade as the platform under him shook wildly. He looked over the side, down at the thrashing mass of South District dwellers that had gathered at the walls that had been quickly built around the district, and shivered nervously at the sheer number of them.

Since the barricade had gone up, there had almost always been at least a hundred or so Lost and sympathizers near the wall, demanding to pass through and the wall to be taken down. Earlier, the number had jumped dramatically, a frantic mob of people showing up and begging to be released, claiming that the Alatreon was coming for them. Most of the guards and soldiers at the barricade had gotten nervous then, but their commanders had pretty much forced them into staying, claiming the words of the Lost were madness, no matter how many of them were saying it.

Then Zhanin had shown up, pressing into the Lost District with a small army of soldiers and claiming that the Lost were being 'relocated at last', before pushing right into the district to do... whatever it was he was planning to do. He hadn't really given an explanation to the men on the wall though, and Desmond didn't really know what he was trying to accomplish. All he was supposed to do was wait for the councilmember's signal, and then the rest of the soldiers would press into the district to deport the Lost. But the signal had never come. About an hour after the man and his soldiers had entered the district, a massive surge of Lost had appeared from the alleys and streets, smashing furiously against the walls of the barricade, demanding freedom and doing their best to break down the walls. The barricade was holding so far, but the guards on the wall were getting nervous; it wouldn't be long before something broke, and there weren't nearly enough soldiers there to fight back the sheer numbers that were pushing against the timber.

"What the heck are they throwing at us? I didn't think there were any explosives stored in the South District..."

The woman who'd caught him, Cecily, laughed mildly. "It's alcohol, boy! You never heard of a cocktail? Those Lost out there are getting creative..."

"But why are they doing this?" Desmond asked, stepping to the side as a large rock flew past his head. "Just an hour ago they were calm... well, mostly calm, if a bit desperate to leave the district. They weren't getting violent or anything like that. What happened in there?"

"Zhanin messed up, that's what," Cecily muttered sourly. "I think he underestimated the control he had over the situation; head got a little too hot, right? Mercy, a third of the city's people all in one spot, and he think they'll just file out of the city all meek and quiet, 'specially if they think the Alatreon itself is on their tail? We can hold the barricade, sure, all of us that man paid for, and chase off anyone trying to sneak through or over, but forcing them out of the city in single files lines? Not with our numbers. Asking for trouble if you ask me, and it sounds like he finally pushed them over the edge. Don't know what happened to him in there, but I imagine he won't get out as clean as he thought he would."

"What do we do?" Desmond asked fearfully. "If they break through the wall..."

"Then we're well and thoroughly screwed, we are. At least, us guards will be. Don't think the Lost will think too kindly of us after pinning them in like we did. Personally I say we lose this shiny armor before they turn into well-polished targets on our backs, damned be the pay. But maybe we'll get lucky and some of those other Lost will calm the other ones down. Seemed some were trying to calm down the others. Smart thinking; this whole situation's going to hell if one side or the other don't cool their heads a bit."

"Hard to hear sense over all that noise," Desmond muttered as another roar of anger shook the barricade. Cecily chuckled.

"Yeah, but some folks are trying, least on that side of the wall. Saw some big girl smacking around some of the rabble-rousers, but there's a lot of 'em raising hell. And all that Alatreon talk certainly ain't smoothing things over for the rest of the city, I'll say that much. Even I don't like words like that, and I hardly give a rat's ass, yeah? Now come on, let's get back on the wall, yeah? No sense in canceling our contracts before we hafta."

Very little changed over the next few minutes, save for the flames of the first cocktail going out, though it was quickly replaced by a few more smashing against the barricade. The numbers of the Lost just kept growing, however, spreading further and further into district. Desmond saw that more and more of the Lost were armed as time went on, though none of them were wearing armor. Most of the Lost seemed to be favoring bowguns, oddly enough; Cecily told him that she'd heard the Lost came from somewhere where everyone used long-range weapons, and rarely used swords or other melee armaments. It was strange, but the Lost really did seem comfortable with the bowguns slung in their grips.

The anger of the Lost never seemed to fade at all as time passed, though the shouting and attacks on the wall began to die down a bit. The Lost seemed to be wavering a bit, uncertain how to proceed, stuck between breaking down the barricades and bolting for the sandship docks, or conduction some greater chaos in the streets of Loc Lac. The scarce voices of reason that were in the crowd seemed to be gaining ground again. There were several shouts from the crowd, urging them to violence, but there never seemed to be anyone willing to take up the leader's mantle that the Lost seemed to need to go further than they were. The longer Desmond thought about it, the more he realized how much of a good thing that was: the only reason that the Lost hadn't truly done anything horrible was because none of them were wicked or vicious enough to try and push the rest into terrible action.

From the back of the crowd though, a single voice began to rise up over the din of the rest of the Lost. Desmond cringed at the tone; this voice seemed to demand respect more than the others that had come before. Desmond looked cautiously over the wooden wall, trying to catch sight of the man that was raising so much noise. It was easy to spot the man; whoever it was had leapt up onto a pile of wooden boxes near one of the nearby building and was shouting out to the Lost around him, to their rapt attention. He was a hunter, judging by his armor; Desmond wasn't familiar with monsters, but it was bright molten red and yellow, with frills lining the helm and the shoulders. Over his back was slung a lance, and a broad shield covered his right arm. He was too far away for Desmond to make out his face though.

"People of the Lost!" the man cried. "Why do you let this happen to you? Why do you allow the Loc Lac council and the rest of the people of the city push you around? They treat you like garbage! They treat you as if you're not worth the dirt on their shoes! How dare they do this to all of you, when all you've done to them is ask them for help in your greatest time of need!"

A shout of angry agreement rose from the crowd, and another wave of rocks and cocktails smashed against the barricade as the Lost were riled up. A moment later, the cries died down, as the Lost waited for the man to speak again.

"But… are they the only ones to blame in this?" the man asked quietly. The Lost were quiet, enough to hear the man despite their numbers, and even the guards on the barricade were silent. "Can you not also blame yourselves? Can the Lost not also say they are at fault for what is happening? Look at yourselves! So meek and meager! Begging for scraps from the hands of those outside the walls of the barricades! Where is your pride as Lost? You claim that your people once held dominion over the entire world, that you conquered nature, and yet you cower here, content to dance to the tune of the Loc Lac council and men like Zhanin! Even now, when the city threatens to leave you flat, to banish you from their country, you stand craven inside this district, too cowardly to break out and demand justice for the crimes against your people! A people that once ruled the world should have wills of steel, yet your anger bounces off these wooden walls like cotton!"

Many of the Lost grumbled in reply at the words, clearly not liking what the man was telling them. But more vicious, violent eyes began to turn towards the timber walls of the barricade. "Where is your anger?" the man continued. "Where is your rage? Why haven't you shown Loc Lac what the true power of the Lost entails? Where is the strength and dedication that once conquered the earth and all upon its surface?"

"What are we supposed to do about it?" one of the Lost cried out.

"Isn't it clear? You must fight back!" the hunter roared, and the Lost shouted their approval. "What better time than now? The Alatreon comes, and the city would have you penned in, ready for the slaughter! If the people of this city will not listen to reason, then they must listen to force! They cannot save you from the Alatreon's coming, then you must save yourselves! Break loose of these walls that hold you, and take back the control over this world that is your legacy!

"Now come!" the man shouted, reaching down into the crowd and pulling a bowgun from one of the Lost. He hoisted it awkwardly, not able to grip the weapon very well with one hand, but he didn't seem to need to try very hard to do what he planned. With clear intent, he aimed the barrel of the bowgun over the heads of the Lost around him, directly at the center of the barricade. "Show the city of Loc Lac the true strength and determination of the Lost! Let them see the fallacies in their efforts to try and control you! Take control of this city for yourselves!"

A series of blasts echoed across the heads of the Lost as several heavy rounds fired from the barrel of the bowgun, soaring over the crowd and smashing against the timber walls a few feet below where Desmond stood. Screams came from the nearby Lost as those that were closest to the impact point fled from the rounds as smoke trailed from them. Desmond stood dumbly, staring down at the rounds as the smoke quickly turned to flame, shock making it hard for him to comprehend what was happening.

"Get down you fool!" Desmond was suddenly yanked off his feet as Cecily grabbed him and threw herself and him from the top of the wall, falling quickly to the stone path below and tumbling across the earth. The pain from the impact knocked sense back into Desmond, and he scrambled to his feet, trying to get away from the wall. Heat blasted across Desmond's back as the explosive rounds erupted behind him, and he cried out in pain as burning shards of wood smashed into his back. Most were deflected by the fine armor he'd been offered, but one caught him in the arm and another in his leg, both piercing his skin and dropping him to the ground in pain. Cries of agony around him made it clear he hadn't been the only one to suffer an injury from the attack, but Desmond was too concerned about his own wounds to care much at the moment.

Desmond coughed painfully, clutching his arm as blood poured from his wound. His vision was swimming, but he tried to sit up and look towards the barricade. Where had Cecily gone? Was she alright? Fire and smoke blurred his vision, but what he saw was clear enough; hordes of Lost were pouring through the gap in the wall, assaulting any of the guards that tried to get in their way. Though the soldiers and mercenaries were armored and bearing weapons, they were easily overwhelmed by the sheer number of furious Lost that swelled like a wave out of the South District.

Desmond crawled painfully towards the wall of a nearby building, wincing each time one of the Lost ran past him. Somehow the horde of people was ignoring him, pressing out into the city in a wave of anger. The man leaned up against the wall, groaning in pain as his arm and leg throbbed from the shard of wood that still lay imbedded in his skin. The Lost continued to rush past him, ignoring him. Desmond watched in dismay as the mob began breaking windows and smashing doors. Flames leapt into the air as buildings and houses caught fire from overturned lanterns or just lit up by furious arsonists.

And still the numbers seemed to keep pouring from the South District in a constant flow of angry Lost. A third of the city, bottled up and let loose into Loc Lac... a riot unlike anything the city had seen before. How had it all come to this? What had the council been thinking, trying to exile the Lost all at once?

A man stopped in front of Desmond, and the guard looked up. It was him! It was that hunter that had fired upon the wall and rallied the Lost! The man smirked in amusement at the sight of him, taking in the image of Desmond bleeding, with burns covering his body. The guard coughed painfully. "Who are you? Why are you doing this?"

The man smiled widely, a vicious grin that made Desmond shiver. "My name is Pugnax. Remember it, guard. It is a name that will be remembered for eternity!"

A flicker of recognition went through Desmond's mind at the name. "Pugnax… you… you're wanted by the Guild, for that… that thing that happened in the western forests."

Pugnax laughed at the words. "People will forget that quickly enough! After all, should the Lost succeed in gaining control of Loc Lac, they will laud me as a hero! And even if that should fail, when the Alatreon arrives in Loc Lac, I will be there waiting for it. I will be ready for it, and slay the elder dragon myself!"

"The Alatreon?" Desmond asked, shaking his head. "It… it's not going to come here…"

Pugnax smiled, a twisted expression crossing his face. "You all think that, don't you? The entire city, save for those in the Lost District, telling themselves that the Lost are lying or mad, and that the Alatreon isn't bearing down on them all. But it's true! I assure you, it's true! You've seen it in their eyes, haven't you, and heard it in their voices? It's not madness that drives them now, but fear! They know! They know that the Alatreon is coming for them, that it will appear raging in the skies to annihilate them, as well as the entire city! The rest of the city is just fooling themselves, afraid to admit that their greatest fear is upon them! All this bluster from Zhanin and his goons on how weak and cowardly the Lost are, and yet it's the Lost that are the only ones willing to face their greatest threat! How laughable!"

"Why are you laughing?!" Desmond gasped. "If the Alatreon is really coming, then-"

"What? We should run? Flee for our lives?" Pugnax asked mockingly. "Where's the fun in that? No… this is a chance, a wonderful opportunity! This is the perfect time for the Alatreon to fall! The perfect time for someone to meet it head on and slay it, becoming a legend for all time! I will be the one to meet such a challenge, while the rest of the city cowers beneath the creature's power!"

Desmond shook his head in dismay. "You can't… nobody can fight the-"

"You doubt me! I will return a hero!" the man hissed. "The blood of the Alatreon will be a beautiful stain on my armor! The people will cheer my name for all eternity, the man who single-handedly slayed the greatest threat the country has ever known! And the battle… the battle will be glorious, unmatched in the annals of history! And after that…" The man cocked his head, and Desmond could see the madness in the man's eyes. "I will scour the city until I find Levin, wherever he's hiding, and I will personally execute him! All this time he has looked down on me, despite my strength and skill. Everyone has always looked down on me! Moloch, Micah, Filcher, and Levin… Even when I held Malefica, he looked at me like scum! We'll see… we will see which of us is greater than the other, when I carry the head of his nemesis in one hand, and slit his throat with the other! And the people will praise me for it, for slaying the man that brought the black dragon down on them!"

"You're mad… You can't-"

"Nobody tells me what I can or can't do!" Pugnax snapped, growling angrily. For a moment, his hand went for his lance's hilt, and Desmond feared that the man intended to kill him then and there. But after a long moment, the hunter's face calmed, and he smiled, amused; "You'll see. Everyone will see! You doubt me now, but soon the Alatreon will come, and soon after I will slay it! Then you will know the truth in my words, and I will have the respect I rightfully deserve! But until then…"

Desmond gasped as Pugnax suddenly brought his boot up, and swiftly kicked the guard in the head. With a flash of pain, Desmond blacked out, sliding into unconsciousness.

* * *

**Author's Note: Please Review! I find that some of the best scenes in stories are the ones that don't give you time to prepare for them. They just sneak up on you rather than those that have a big buildup followed by a dramatic confrontation. Short and surprising is just the way to go sometimes. Hopefully you guys agree! Still watching as many Ghibli films as I can. Howl's Moving Castle is such a great movie… I've also started to really like Gatchaman Crowds, a new anime. It's a unique one for me, because as good as the story and animation is, what really makes it is the soundtrack.**

**When I was trying to describe the Silver Sol armor that Ellie got, I decided that I wanted her wearing the bowgunner armor rather than the blademaster armor. I don't know why, but for most armor sets, I always seem to think that the gunner armor looks so much cooler than the blademaster armor (despite me preferring to use bladed weapons), and this is no exception. There are a few with cooler blademaster armors, but not the Silver Sol.**

**I'm starting to get a little disappointed in Capcom's marketing for MH4. Admittedly, they're certainly hyping the gameplay and new features very well, and I'm looking forward to the game even more than before as new information becomes available… But something that's irking me is how freely they're giving out information on this Goa Magara monster. The early trailers had a very mysterious feel about the monster and the power it possesses, but it just seems like Capcom's releasing so much information on the creature, including how it fights and the effects of the 'Dragon Virus' or whatever it's called, that there won't be any mystique to it by the time it hits western shelves, or even Japanese shelves in September. Hopefully there will be another beast in the game that's a better kept secret than the Goa is turning out to be. Like that Raviente-type thing they hinted at…**

**Reading: **_**Sengoku Youko**_** by Mizukami Satoshi  
Playing: MH3U, Prison Architect  
Listening: Barenaked Ladies, Bastille, The Apples in Stereo, Assembly of Dust, And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead, Annuals, Gatchaman OST, Animal Collective, The Academy Is…, Alkaline Trio  
Watching: Princess Mononoke, Kiki's Delivery Service, Gatchaman**


	44. Elder Dragon

Elder Dragon

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. Most of the characters in this story are mine. Some characters belong to others, as mentioned in previous chapters._

_Edited by: Hoenn Master96_

Loc Lac was burning. At least, it certainly seemed that way when Ellie, Kerry, and Harker strode through the streets in shock.

Upon leaving the hospital, they'd found the streets empty for the most part, and had feared the worst until rumors and hearsay had reached them, about how Zhanin's final attempt to exile the Lost had been started, and then so abruptly ended. They'd arrived at the barricades half an hour ago, expecting to see hordes of Lost still trying to break out of the district for fear of the Alatreon, but instead found an empty square, and the destroyed ruins of what had once seemed an impenetrable timber wall keeping the Lost contained within the South District. Numerous guards and civilians lay wounded or dead against the nearby buildings, shoved to the sides as the horde of Lost had rampaged through the gap that had been blasted open in the barricade. Even now, a steady stream of Lost were trickling through the gap, either looking to vent their anger on the city that had done this to them, or simply looking to escape the cage that they'd been kept in and hoping to flee the city.

Beyond the barricade, things were little better. Numerous soldiers and hunters had been overwhelmed by the wave of Lost that had surged through the destroyed walls, and lay battered and wounded in side alleys and paths, and many had been stripped of their weapons and occasionally their armor. Thankfully, there didn't seem to be many civilians among the wounded; the Lost seemed to be focusing their anger on the city guards and hunters that had tried to pin them in the South District for so long, giving those that couldn't fight a chance to hide and barricade themselves into their homes. Several shops and storehouses had been lit aflame, however, the targeted vengeance of the Lost that had suffered discrimination from those particular businesses, the poor treatment of the Lost not forgotten by those that had suffered from it.

"How did this happen?" Kerry asked in horror as they passed by the remains of a ruined sundries shop. The burnt remains of a hand-painted sign reading 'No Lost Allowed' swung precariously from a thin wire, swaying in the breeze. "I don't… how could the Lost have done this? I thought… I thought that they…"

"It would seem as though Zhanin's last effort to exile us was the breaking point needed to push the Lost over the edge," Harker surmised, disappointment in his voice. "There is only so much people will take before their anger boils over. Zhanin's attempt to exile the Lost came at the worst possible time, and the backlash was too much for him to handle. I fear that the entire city will suffer because of this, and this sort of action will not fare well for the city's opinion of the Lost. I doubt there is much the Lost could do to gain the acceptance of the city after this… the backlash will likely be too great."

"The city forced them into it…" Ellie muttered, though she knew Harker was right.

"Be that as it may, if the Lost are able to collect themselves enough to stop this madness, the city's opinion of them will no doubt be worse than it was before. Even without a man like Zhanin working so tirelessly against them, the people of Loc Lac will not be willing to continue supporting the Lost like they have, not at the risk of something like this happening again…"

"Can we… not think about this right now?" Kerry asked the two Lost. "We can… I think we should focus on other things."

"Lady Kerrigan is correct," Harker sighed. "This is all conjecture at the moment. None of this will matter if the Alatreon isn't warded off when it arrives. Let's worry about the elder dragon for now, and consider the fate of the Lost once that is dealt with."

To the three hunters' surprise, the damage to the city actually began to decrease the further into the city they traveled. As the Loc Lac Tower grew larger the closer they got, the number of fires and destroyed shops began to dwindle. Though all the doors and windows to the surrounding houses were all boarded up and blocked, more people began to be seen on the streets. Ellie realized soon enough that they were Lost, all of them having branched off from the initial mob that had started the riot in the first place. But these men and women didn't appear angry or sullen or even too injured to continue, but they rather seemed worried and afraid. Several were hiding in alleys watching the three hunters pass, or scavenging stores for food. Some were actually trying to help the wounded soldiers and hunters that had been caught up in the frenzy of the Lost mob.

Finally, the three hunters came to a large square. Ellie felt a twinge of guilt at the sight of the place. She and Levin had often come to this place to eat when they were hungry. There was a shop over in the eastern corner where the Felynes that ran the shop actually knew them by name… but the shop was completely boarded up now, blocked off by a thick wall of wooden planks. At least it was still standing, compared to some of the other shops in the area; Ellie supposed that the Lost really had nothing against Felynes, and most that were unused to the small creatures tended to try and avoid them outright.

But the greatest surprise that awaited them in the square was the mass of Lost rioters that sat in the middle of the square. The lot of them didn't seem as angry as they had once been though. Rather, they seemed… fearful and despondent, much like the other Lost they'd seen that had broken off from the others back on the streets here. The group of them felt… defeated, though Ellie couldn't guess at why. Many had even thrown their weapons to the ground, discarding them and leaving them where they lay. They'd had inertia and rage not an hour ago! What had made them stop?

Several of them tensed as the three hunters approached, and those that were still armed raised their weapons threateningly at Ellie. But from the center of the group, one of the Lost began to shout at the others. "Wait! Stand down! I recognize that one in the mess of armors. They're Lost! They're on our side!"

Harker chuckled to himself at the words, and Kerry smiled as well. "I never thought your fashion sense would get us out of trouble."

"Yes, well… I suppose standing out like this has to have its perks every now and then."

The Lost still seemed tense as the hunters made their way into the group of Lost. Most of them continued to eye them warily though, until Ellie removed her helmet, allowing them to see who she was. Several more relaxed at the sight of her face, recognizing her; moderate fame among the Lost wasn't worth much in Loc Lac, but it seemed to gain the Lost's trust. There were several guards and hunters within the circle of Lost as well, though compared to those the three had seen on the way here, they seemed to have suffered far worse injuries. Some of the wounded that were conscious seemed torn as well; it was clear that they didn't like the Lost for starting the riots and wounding them, yet at the same time, other Lost were tending to them, trying to heal them. The hunters continued on to the center of the group, where a collection of a few Lost seemed to be taking up the mantle of temporary leadership above the others, though by their expressions, it was clear it wasn't something they wanted. In fact they seemed relieved upon seeing Ellie and the others approach, hoping for a chance for someone else to take control of the situation here.

"What happened?" Ellie asked as they approached. "What are you all doing here? I mean, I'm glad to see you all aren't rioting anymore, but what caused you to stop?"

The Lost looked at each other nervously, before one of the women spoke up. "It was because… we couldn't stand to follow that man that was leading us anymore. When we broke out of the South District, we thought he would lead us in getting back our respect in the city. I mean… it sounded nice to take over all of Loc Lac, with the Lost as leaders instead of being repressed, but… Well, I don't really care about all of that. I just wanted to make sure I was safe before the Alatreon arrived."

"Who was it that led you when the barricades were destroyed?" Kerry asked. "I've heard that a hunter showed up and started this riot, but I haven't heard who it was."

"We didn't catch his name. I'm sure someone knows it, but… well, nobody really bothered to ask. He was just a nameless hero who was telling us what we wanted to hear. They were pretty words… but once we got here, all of us saw his true colors."

"What did he do?"

"He's killed at least a dozen hunters that tried to stop the Lost from rioting," a man nearby said, shivering fearfully. He was clutching a bowgun tightly, on edge. "I know we're trying to take control of the city and get revenge for what the city's done to us, and I know that he's the one that gave us the courage to push through the barricade, but… what he's doing… I don't like it. When we were still charging through the streets, it was easy to forgive a few deaths when a city guard or hunter got in our way. But then we got to this city square, and… there were a lot of hunters here. A bunch of them took off, but a few stood their ground to try and stop us. They didn't really stand a chance against all of us, but that man… he just laughed and charged them. The hunters in our way were trying to slow us down, but that man just… executed them without mercy."

Another man cringed at the words. "He was laughing as he did it. We were angry… all of us Lost were angry, but this was… he wasn't killing those men and women for justice or anything. He was just doing it for fun. And it was so brutal… what kind of man would do things like that with a smile on his face? People call us Lost mad, but… Once we saw that, a lot of us just… stopped. A lot of others continued on with him, but everyone here gave up. The idea of venting on this city and taking control is nice, and we knew there would be a cost to do so, but…" The man trailed off, looking over to one side of the square. Ellie followed his gaze, and caught sight of several white sheets dotted with blood, covering the bodies of several dead. There were almost two dozen of them, and Ellie cringed at the sight. She heard Kerry's breath catch in her throat, and knew that her friends were just as horrified by the sight as she was.

"A lot of the others are still following his lead," the first Lost woman said. "There are still so many Lost that are perfectly willing to follow that man, and some are even enjoying the mayhem they're creating. But most of us… when he killed those hunters that got in his way, and the way he was laughing when he did it… I don't care how pleasant his words were, with the Lost taking control of Loc Lac, I'm not going to follow a man like him around. A lot of others backed out of this whole thing when they saw him do that, all of us here. We thought he was a man that would lead the Lost back to their former glory, but then we saw his true colors."

"I don't even care about this city or the Alatreon anymore," another man said. "If we survive the Alatreon, I'm leaving this city. I don't want to be here anymore…"

"What are we supposed to do?" another Lost woman asked. "With the Alatreon coming, how are we supposed to survive? Even if we could run, where would we go? What do we do?"

Ellie realized that the Lost were all looking at her, hoping for answers. She grimaced nervously, uncomfortable with having so many people rely on her. But it was clear that she was the one that the Lost would look to, considering her fame and popularity among them. The silver Rathalos armor didn't hurt either, she supposed.

"Ah, well…"

"I think the first thing that needs to happen is to help as many people as possible, right?" Kerry supplied. Ellie nodded thankfully, grateful for the help.

"Right! If you're going to do anything to stop this situation from getting worse, you've got to try and help the people that have been hurt by this riot! It doesn't matter if they're town guards or hunters or even some of Zhanin's old lackeys, we've got to help as many people as we can, got it?"

Several of the Lost were nodding enthusiastically, glad to finally have some leadership and direction. Some were obstinate, however. "Why should we help them?" one of them shouted. "They tried to cage us! Then they tried to exile us! Why should we care what happens to them?"

"They also helped you all when you first arrived in Loc Lac!" Ellie replied. "They took us in when we first arrived, didn't they, despite our madness and despite our numbers! All this anger and hatred for the Lost… it's just fear! They're just as afraid of the Alatreon as we are, if not more so! Yes, we've lost our old world and everything we created because of the dragon, but they've had centuries of it killing their people and loved ones to grow to fear it! Can you blame them for lashing out when we started shouting about it?

"And now that very monster is coming for us! Despite what they've done to us, do you really think now is the time to be caring about any of that? I don't give a damn about what the people of Loc Lac have done right now, not with the Alatreon coming for us! Shouldn't you be worrying about that instead?" A few of the dissenters were begrudgingly nodding in agreement now. "If you've got problems with the locals, save it for later! We should be trying to patch up our strained relationship right now anyway, not trying to blow holes in it like you blew a hole in the barricade! And if that's going to happen, we're going to need to survive the Alatreon first, and we can't do that if the city is at arms against each other! So start looking for the injured guards and hunters and anyone else you can find and help them! Show them that the Lost aren't just a bunch of lunatics trying to burn the city to the ground! Show them that we just want to help each other!"

The mob of Lost began to move now, finally having something that they could to do, glad that they had instructions now. Small clusters began to branch off, heading down alleys and streets in search of wounded or trying to put out fires that had been started. Ellie knew their work would be a challenge; after all the Lost had done since breaking through the barricade, there was little chance that they would be met without aggression or doubt. A few stayed behind though.

"What about the others?" one asked. "If… if we're going to stop rioting and try to fix what we've done, what are we supposed to do about the rest of the rioters?"

Ellie shrugged and looked at Kerry and Harker, hoping for an answer. Harker spoke first. "Well, these Lost were dissuaded from continuing their mob mentality once they saw the rabble-rouser's true colors. Perhaps if we… detain this nameless leaser of theirs, the rest of the Lost will lose their motivation to keep this riot going."

Ellie frowned in disappointment. "I guess… I suppose that's better than nothing. But do we have time for that? We need to get to the Gullet and free Levin!"

Kerry shook her head. "You're right… but we can't just leave the city to cave in on itself can we?"

"I guess not… alright. We'll continue to head towards the Loc Lac Tower towards the Gullet. If we happen to find this guy that riled up the Lost, we'll do what we can to stop him. But before that, I think we need to focus on getting Levin out of the Gullet. If we're right, we'll be able to distract the Alatreon by getting Levin out."

"And if we're wrong?" Kerry probed.

"Then we'll just have to hope that people can get their act together long enough to try and chase away the worst elder dragon the Guild's ever known."

"And do you really think that will happen?"

Ellie shrugged. "I can only hope so… but with the way things are, hoping's really all we can do."

Kerry and Harker nodded sadly at the words, and the three hunters continued on through the square, heading off through the city towards the Loc Lac Tower. Just over the horizon , a dark plume of smoke curled into the sky, closer to the base of the Tower. Ellie grimaced in anticipation; it looked as though they really would meet up with the rest of the Lost mob after all. Hopefully they could take care of this self-proclaimed leader that had riled up the Lost quickly enough. They didn't have much time to waste on some chaos-loving psychopath.

* * *

The roar and furious screams of the Lost as they rampaged through central Loc Lac could be heard in every corner of the city. From the quiet hills of the North District to the ironworks of the Southwest District, from the warehouses of the East District to the sandship docks in the West District, the anger of the Lost emanated through every street and alley. News spread quickly, and within the hour of the first Lost breaking through the barricade, windows and doors were boarded up and civilians hid themselves away in fear of calling upon the aggression of those that charged through the town seeking revenge for the perceived crimes against them. Trails of smoke began to twirl into the skies as well, as fires were lit intentionally or by accident due to the riots.

With all the chaos that filled Loc Lac, it was easy to miss the passing of two men as they slunk through the back alleys of the city, hiding in the shadows as gangs of Lost passed by the entries into the small paths between buildings.

"I don't like this," one of the men growled angrily. He pulled his hood back to look around the corner, searching for more Lost, and revealing his rat-like face before pulling back into the alley. "Damn that Zhanin! He was supposed to exile the Lost, wasn't he? What the hell did he do to cause all this?"

"Obviously he pissed off someone he shouldn't have," his partner replied. The other man wasn't trying to hide his face, revealing a weathered, more sturdy build. "He moved too quickly and got too excited at the idea of getting rid of the Lost, most likely. Probably underestimated them too… he always thought less of them than was safe."

"Damn him! We haven't even been paid in full yet!" the rat-faced man hissed. "After all we've done, I'll rob his home if that's what it takes to get what I deserve!"

"Keep quiet!" the bigger man snapped, glancing around the corner. "The last thing we need is to have some of those Lost called down on us!"

"Oh, calm down! Those fools aren't looking for men like us. They're on the hunt for people that raise a sword against them and anyone wearing the finery of the wealthy, or people in the city that they have a personal problem with. It's better to not catch their eyes, of course, but… They're not after us, so they won't look twice, even if we were the ones that gutted that fool Marco-"

"What did you just say?"

The two men turned abruptly, both of them reaching for the hilts of the daggers that they kept hidden below their cloaks. From around a nearby corner, connecting their alley with another, a pair of hunters had emerged from the shadows of the side street. A man and a woman, looking similar enough to each other to label them as related, likely siblings. The man was wearing a mix of armors, mostly Qurupeco materials, as well as a large, unfamiliar weapon on his back, and the woman bore a full set of Jaggi armor and a long sword sheathed behind her.

The huntress glowered at them. "Say that again. What did you just say about stabbing Marco?"

The larger man growled menacingly. "None of your business girl. You're hearing things. Get out of here, unless you want trouble."

"I think we might want trouble," the hunter replied angrily. "You want to know something? It was my sister and me that found Marco nearly bled to death in that back alley. It was us that found that Lost that took the blame for it wandering aimlessly through the sandstorm with the bloody knife in his hands, and brought him in. So if you're implying that you might have been the ones behind all that, that you were the ones that set it up so an innocent man would take the blame for your crime, then yes, I think we do want some trouble! Don't you agree, Kei?"

"I do, Kai," the huntress replied sourly. "I know Lynn asked us to help try and calm down the Lost here and there and try to send them back to the South District… but I think we can hold off on that for a moment to see what else these two have to say about poor Marco's injuries. By force if necessary."

Kai smirked viciously in reply. "If these two are really behind Marco being infirmed, we might have to use force whether it's necessary or not."

The rat-faced man looked worriedly between the two hunters as they glared at him and his accomplice. Could they take on the pair by themselves? Hunters were in a league of their own in terms of physical strength and skill compared to other humans, but most of that skill was reserved for fighting monsters, not men. He and his ally had their fair share of experience in fights against other humans, Wyvernians, and even some Shakalakas, but hunters were always a trick to fight, and these two didn't seem to be willing to underestimate them and hold back, either…

"Close your eyes," his partner murmured. The rat-faced man nearly missed the words, but closed his eyes quickly enough to avoid being blinded as his partner slid a flash bomb from his sleeve and dropped it. The bomb went off with a short crack, and a flare of light filled the alleyway, making the two hunters cry out in surprise. A moment later, the rat-faced man felt his partner pull on his sleeve, dragging him away. "Run!"

The clatter of iron rattled through the back alleys of Loc Lac as the men tumbled through the alleys of the city. The two hunters were close behind as they ran, after recovering from their temporary blindness, but not quick enough with their armor and weapons to quite keep up with the unladen men, and losing ground quickly. The two men were nimble, well-trained in the ways of ducking through the back alleys of Loc Lac, and knew the routes far better than most others.

Behind them, Kai and Kei were trying to catch up, but were slowly losing sight of the men. Every corner they turned chasing them, they saw less and less of the men before they turned another corner and vanished out of sight. How many alleys could Loc Lac have? If they didn't catch up soon, they'd lose the men entirely!

Kai cursed under his breath as he gasped for air. "Damn it! How do these guys move so quickly? The only way we're going to catch up is if we lose our weapons!"

"We can't do that!" his sister replied. "What if they turn on us? The big one seems like he knows how to use a knife, and neither of our armors are enough to stop him from stabbing us if he tried. We need to stay armed against these guys! Besides, what if one of these rioters finds them and steals them?"

"Then what do we do? We're going to lose them! We can't just let them escape after what they've done!"

"Damn it!" Kei growled, before screaming into the air. "Please! Someone help us! Those were the men that stabbed Marco!"

The rat-faced man smirked to himself. The cry was getting further away. Even if someone heard it, he and his partner were too far away for someone to catch. Forget Zhanin and his pay, he'd come back and get his due later! Ahead of them was the last turn they'd need to take, an opening into a main street that led into a cluttered market area. He and his partner would lose these annoying hunters there for sure! For now he could just leave the city, leave the Lost to burn and pillage all they wanted! Once the fighting was over he'd return, with no one the wiser to-

The rat-faced man's heart leapt into his throat as a massive timber beam shot through the air like a spear not five feet in front of them, the pointed tip smashing into and blasting a hole through the brick wall of the building next to them. The two meet slid to an abrupt halt, just barely stopping before the beam wrenched loose of where it had landed and dropped to the ground, smashing onto a pair of metal garbage bins below and bending them in half under its weight. From behind them, the two men could hear the pair of hunters chasing them round the corner they'd just turned, and the rat-faced man cursed as the siblings skidded to a halt not a dozen feet behind them, just as stunned at the sight as they were.

"Vhat did hyu just say?"

The two thugs' eyes widened in shock as a tall, powerful-looking woman turned the corner at the end of the alley, from the direction where the timber beam had flown from, wielding a massive, heavy bowgun in her hands. The rat-faced man recognized the woman: she was a former hunter, the innkeeper and bar owner of the place that Marco had always gone to drink at. He'd never considered her much of a threat, save for her height, but that had been what he could see from a distance. But now that he saw her up close, he could see that she was actually very, very strong, one of the most powerful-looking hunters he'd ever seen in his life, easily hoisting a bowgun that would make a normal man struggle just to drag along. And her face… her expression was one of furious rage, her teeth bared like fangs and her eyes practically glowing from the flames of her anger. The thug shivered in fear. Though he'd never actually been in the wilds or had the misfortune to come face-to-face with one of the large monsters that dwelled in them, the woman made him think that this was what it was like to find yourself being stared down by a beast, some furious monster that wanted nothing more than to crush your neck under the strength of its fangs.

"Dot vas hyu?" the woman growled, her eyes boring viciously into the pair of them. "Hyu vere de vuns dot shtarted all ov dis? Hyu vere the ones dot stabbed Marco? Dot pinned it on de Lost? Dot made dem vant to exile all of dem? To exile Logan? Damn hyu!"

"Get out of the way woman!" the bulkier man snapped, unsheathing a knife from and pointing it at the innkeeper.

"That wasn't smart…" they heard the huntress behind them mutter. The large woman glowered at the small weapon, and without looking away, reached forward and grasped hold of the blade. She winced as a line of blood trickled down her arm, but with a short wrenching of her wrist, the woman bent the iron knife in half. The man gaped in shock at his ruined weapon, and stumbled back, tripping over trash and iron bins, falling to the ground as the woman tossed the worthless weapon away.

"Hy'm goink to rip hyu apart for vhat you've done! For everything hyu've caused!" the woman howled, smashing her fist against a nearby wall in frustration. The two thugs gaped in shock as the pale sandstone bricks shattered under the force of the blow, leaving a crumbling imprint behind as the woman stepped towards them. The rat-faced man turned and Looked pleadingly at Kai and Kei. Kei shook her head.

"Don't look at us for help," she said unsympathetically. "We're not dumb enough to try and stop her, even if we wanted to…"

"Good luck though!" Kai shouted. "You'll need it."

With the innkeeper in front of them and the hunter siblings behind them, the pair of thugs didn't have much room to maneuver. Surely they could take down one woman, no matter how big she was, couldn't they? The rat-faced man leveled his own knife at the massive woman. But the look she was giving him… he realized that in the woman's state, he could likely stab her all he wanted and she would keep coming until he was a bloody pulp on the ground. Was it too late to try and force his way past the two hunters behind him?

The large woman dropped her bowgun to the ground, letting the weapon clatter about a bit. She flexed her hands menacingly, before tightening them up into fists. With a howl of anger the woman leapt towards them, smashing her way past trash cans and garbage and lunging at the rat-faced man. The two thugs cried out in fear. It was far too late to try to escape.

* * *

The Dual Horn Oasis was silent, save for the quiet groans of the few injured soldiers that had come to invade the South District, as well as a few Lost that had taken a beating before Lynn had chased them out of the bar. There were a few hunters and remaining schemers left behind as well, those that didn't have the courage or desire to follow the others that had charged towards the barricades blocking off the district from the rest of Loc Lac. Others were Lost sympathizers, those that couldn't bring themselves to try and stop the Lost from mobbing together and uncertain how to stop the terrible situation that was unfolding.

At the back of the room, behind the bar, the small door that led to the storage room opened quietly, and a small boy peeked out from behind it. Logan was worried; it had been well over an hour since Miss Lynn had left him there, promising she would be right back. Was she alright? Was she hurt? She was strong, very strong… Logan didn't think he'd ever met anyone that was a strong as his mama, even though he'd seen so many hunters come through this bar.

He shifted a little uneasily. It was still odd for him to think of Lynn as his mother. He still remembered his real mother very clearly, especially how she had died… though he didn't like to remember that if he could avoid it. Could he really consider Miss Lynn his mother? She took care of him, and she disciplined him when he did something wrong. And she did love him, he thought, though he wasn't sure. But she had called him her son when that one man had tried to take him away, and that meant that she loved him, right? And if she loved him and took care of him, then it was okay if she wanted to be his mother, right? He loved her too, so it should be fine if she became his mother.

She had told him to stay put, but it had been so long since he'd last seen her. He was getting worried, and the sounds of people yelling angrily hadn't stopped coming in from the street in all that time. And he was getting worried for himself; the men that had come with that man mama had stabbed were still in the bar. They were knocked out, but they were there. What if they woke up before mama returned, and they got angry at him for what she did? Even with the hunters knife she'd given him, he didn't think he'd be able to fend off a real hunter. Maybe he should find a new hiding place for now, and he could come back once things settled down a little bit.

Logan carefully made his way out of the inn, taking the back hallways out into the alleyway behind the inn. The side street was quiet for now, though Logan could still hear the underlying sound of anger that seemed to fill the streets. If he strained his ears, Logan thought he could make out the sounds of the Lost mobs that roamed the city. He could certainly smell the cinders and smoke of the flames that had been started throughout the city.

The main street out front of the city was just as empty as the alleyway. Most of the Lost in the district were either out rioting right now or hiding themselves away, waiting for everything terrible that had happened to blow over, and hoping they'd survive the fallout. Logan walked nervously through down the road; it was like a ghost town here, not a soul in sight. Where should he hide? There were plenty of places, he supposed. In fact, there was a warehouse just a street over where he and a few other children would play when they had the chance. Maybe he could hide there for a while. Some of his friends might be there as well.

Logan got there quickly enough, since the warehouse wasn't too far. It was a tall building, with several others like it sitting around it. A couple of the other warehouses nearby had been lit aflame in the chaos of the riots, and wide, billowing curtains of smoke were rising into the air, blotting out the hot midday sun. As Logan cautiously entered through a side door, a creaking wooden one with a broken latch that never locked, he entered into the dark room. Towering iron and timber shelving rose up to the roof of the building all the way to the thin windows that provided dim light to the interior. It was always so eerie in there, like wandering through a dark wooded forest. But then, that's why Logan and his friends liked it here; they could easily pretend to be hunters, wandering the overgrown wilds here, or whatever other games they felt like playing at the time. And though the owner of the place always chased them away when she caught them playing there, she never seemed to try and replace the locks to keep them out, and it was more fun to hide from her than any of the other children.

Logan had been here often enough that he knew the best places to hide here, especially when he was playing hide and seek with his friends. In the back of the warehouse was an especially well-hidden alcove, back and away from any of the entrances. It was behind a towering pile of boxes and barrels, and was hard to find if you didn't know it was there already. It would be the perfect place to hide, until everything settled down and the riots were over.

But as Logan worked his way through the twists and turns, weaving his way through the towering shelving and piles of goods and knick-knacks, he finally came upon the hidden alcove, and found that he wasn't the only one that was had thought to find this place to hide. In fact, there were a good two dozen Lost hidden away in this back area, young and old. Logan had thought that only children like him, and maybe the warehouse owner, knew about this hiding place. There were a lot of his friends, children like him, here, crouched against the walls and boxes, but there were also several adults, parents and family of the children and maybe a few others, gathered together here to hide, waiting for the storm to pass. Several people jumped or cringed at the sight of him, but calmed down when they realized that it was only another little boy coming to find a hiding spot.

"Logan? That you, child?" The boy blinked in surprise when he realized that the warehouse owner herself was here hiding alongside of the rest. She was an old woman, one of the locals of Loc Lac who had been here her whole life, but she'd never had anything against the Lost. She looked very weary and worried, looking around nervously. "Goodness, get in here boy. No sense standing around out there, not if there are any of Zhanin's men still wandering around. Oh no, is Lynn alright? Surely she'd be looking after you…"

"Mama's okay," Logan replied. "She went to try and stop the riots."

The warehouse owner smirked. "'Mama'? I see… Well, that figures. That girl never was one to sit still, not as long as I can remember. She hasn't really changed since she first came here as a hunter. I suppose I shouldn't worry about her too much. That girl can deal with whatever the city has to throw at her, I'm sure. But… I imagine you're not exactly doing what she told you by being here are you?"

Logan shook his head sheepishly, and the old woman chuckled. "I figured not. You're an awfully rambunctious child, you know that? I suppose even if you aren't blood related, you certainly take after your… mother. But no matter; sit down here with the rest of us and keep quiet, child: We'll wait out this mess together. I'll keep an eye on you until Lynn comes back for you."

"Where'd you get that thing, boy?" one of the men asked, pointing to the hunting knife that Logan held. The boy clutched the blade tighter to his chest. "Looks like one of those blades that hunters use. You didn't steal it did you?"

"No! Mama gave it to me to keep!"

The man grimaced, looking at the other adults and shrugging. "Fine, whatever you say, boy. But give it here. If one of those soldiers comes back for us, it'll do a lot better in one of our hands than yours."

"No! It's mine! Mama gave it to me, and I'm going to keep it for her! It's special!"

"Just leave the boy alone," the warehouse owner sighed. But the man shook his head and growled angrily at Logan.

"Just give it here! If someone comes for us it won't matter how special you think that little knife is, it won't mean a thing unless-"

The man paused, looking up as a loud, rapid clicking sound suddenly emanated through the warehouse. The Lost began to look around nervously. Logan cringed; he knew that sound, and he knew it wasn't human. It was a sound he desperately feared. A moment later there was a low hum, which began to grow into a droning buzzing sound. Not long after, another droning noise appeared, humming alongside the other one. Then another appeared. Then another.

"What the hell is that?" one of the Lost asked worriedly. The warehouse owner cursed under her breath.

"Damn it all… that's the sound of Bnahabra, for sure. Ben said his warehouse had an infestation a couple weeks ago, but it looks like they were chased out by the fire and smoke. They're looking for a new place to build a hive, I have no doubt. Anyone a hunter or got a weapon on them?" A quick look showed that there were none. Everyone here was a civilian, and completely unarmed as well. The woman shook her head in dismay. "Luck is not on our side it seems. Quickly now, get one of those barrels and block the entrance. Those things can be deadly if they get you, and none of us can fight back. Close it up before they find us! As long as there aren't any warrior drones, we should be-"

A loud, high-pitched clicking suddenly filled the hidden alcove, and Logan spun around in fear. On the other side of the small entryway, a large red insect with bright yellow wings clung tightly to the beams of the tall shelving that towered up to the ceiling of the warehouse. A pair of piercing, unblinking red eyes peered directly into the small alcove, and the Lost looked back in terror. The insect was almost as big as Logan himself, and a long needle extended from its back that was as long as the very knife that mama had given him. The red eyes seemed to swirl and twitch at the sight of them. The hiding Lost looked on in horror; none of them were hunters, and none of them could fight, even against one of these insects. The next moment, the creature's mandibles began to click together wildly, and the Bnahabra's wings spread.

"It's calling its kin!" the warehouse owner cried. "Quickly, cover the gap before-"

Logan didn't hear the rest of what the old woman said though. A flash of memory burst painfully into his mind, a painful image of a beautiful woman with black hair like his, smiling encouragingly at him as cold rain fell on her. In a moment, his thoughts vanished from his mind, and with a feral scream he leapt at the Bhanabra through the gap in the shelving. The large insect detached from the surface it clung to, but it wavered in the air, the tight spaces in the warehouse making it hard to collect itself in the air.

It was just enough time for Logan to pull the old hunters' knife from its sheath and swing it down just above the insect's head. The creature let out a painful, high-pitched squealing sound, its wings and legs flailing wildly and its mandibles clicking together rapidly. But the knife was heavy, almost too much for even Logan to hold well, and the insect dropped to the ground, the blade still wedged inside of it. It twisted and scraped at the floor for a moment with its thin feelers and legs, but then it was silent as a trail of bluish-green slime pooled on the floor below it.

Logan was shaking wildly where he stood. His hands still clutched the hilt of the heavy knife where it lay buried in the body of the Bnahabra. He'd done it! He'd managed to kill one of the Bnahabra! But his reverie was short-lived, as the sound of angry buzzing and clicking echoed through the warehouse, and another two of the insects swept around the corner, their abdomens swaying as they swung their stingers at Logan.

The boy yelped in fear, pulling the heavy knife out of the dead Bnahaba and stumbling back as the next two lunged at him. A wind swing of the blade nearly put Logan's arm right into the path of one of the insects' stingers, but the knife managed to cut through the better part of one of the Bnahabra's wings instead, sending the creature out of control of its flying and smacking into the wall of shelves nearby. The second was far more cautious, darting about and lunging at Logan where it could, but there wasn't much room for the insects to move around, so the creature spent more time bouncing back and forth, trying to jab at Logan as best it could.

Logan tried to swing at the creature when he could, but the insect was too fast, and the old knife was too heavy. Eventually the boy swung too wide, and the knife was nearly thrown from his grip. At that moment the Bnahabra lunged, swinging its needle towards Logan's chest. The boy yelped in fear, tumbling backwards, and the Bnahabra's needle sailed just under Logan's arm, the venomous barb missing him. Logan screamed in fear as the creature's mandibles clicked wildly at his face and neck, trying to bite his flesh as its abdomen swung around, trying to bring back its stinger to stab the boy.

Once again, it was fortune that saved Logan, as an awkward swing of the hunters' knife caught the Bnahabra in the side of the head with the hilt of the small blade, and the insect squealed wildly as the blow crushed the side of the creature's head and it squirmed away. It took to the air, swinging wildly through the air, trying to stay airborne but failing miserably with its half-crushed skull throwing it off. Like the second Bnahabra, it smacked into the towering shelving, falling to the floor next to the second insect, which was still writhing on the floor, trying to recover. However, this one hit the towering shelving far harder than the first one had, and one of the many boxes that was stored rattled loose from one of the upper shelves, sending a large pile of metal pipes and tubes falling to the ground on top of the two insects. Both were crushed almost immediately, and the pool of insect slime grew larger.

Logan lay gasping for breath on the floor, clutching desperately to the hilt of the hunting knife that he still held in his hands. His heart had never been beating faster…

But the emanating buzzing sound that filled the warehouse had yet to cease. It was quieter, but at the same time, deeper. From around the corner came yet another Bnahabra. But this one… Logan's heart seized up in fear at the sight of the insect. It was positively massive compared to the others, at least three times the size of the first three and easily bigger than Logan. Was this the warrior drone that the warehouse owner had mentioned. Logan was frozen in horror as the massive insect clicked its mandibles at him, waving its abdomen as its stinger swung lazily around. With a decisive clicking sound, the Bnahabra lunged, tearing through the air straight towards the boy. Logan screamed in terror.

There was a flash of metal, and the Bnahabra abruptly exploded in the air, its frail body shattering and its blood and guts splattering to the floor. Logan gasped in shock as green slime sprayed across his shoes and legs.

"Whew! That was a close one, boy! Nice swing there lad." There was a grunt in reply, and Logan looked up as a pair of hunters stepped into sight. Both were familiar; Logan remembered seeing the pair of them at mama's bar. The first was the man with the weird blue armor, and the one behind him was the old guy that liked to armwrestle people. The man in the blue armor had a great sword slung over his shoulder, and the blade was dripping with the slimy green blood of the Bnahabra. The older man stepped past him and looked down worriedly at Logan. "You okay boy? You're not hurt?"

"Yeah… yeah, I think I'm okay," Logan said quietly, still clutching the slime-coated hunters knife in his hands.

"Thank goodness," the man sighed. "Lynn would have beaten me to death if we hadn't been able to save you. What are you doing out here in the first place, boy? I thought you were supposed to be hiding until this riot was over."

"Jino," the blue-armored man said quietly. The older man looked up and the great sword user motioned to the corner, where the rest of the Lost parents and children were huddled inside the alcove.

"Ah, I see," Jino said, nodding. He looked across at the corpses of the three Bnahabra that littered the floor, and gave Logan an appraising look, taking note of the old hunters knife in his hands before grinning encouragingly. "Well done boy. Looks like you may have saved some folks' lives. I doubt Lynn will be happy to hear you've gone against what she'd told you, but you did the right thing, and you've done it well. You've got the make of a hunter about you boy, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

"Jino… we've got trouble," the blue-armored man said urgently. Jino looked up, and Logan cringed at the sight. The fire, as well as the death of four of their hive-mates had agitated the rest of the Bnahabra from the nest. A swarm of the winged insects, several dozen of them, buzzed into the air in the warehouse, whizzing through the air angrily at the creatures that threatened them. Several of the cowering Lost cried out in fear at the sight, and the blue-armored man grunted in irritation. "There's an entire hive here. I don't think they've taken too kindly to what we've done."

"Well then, we'll just have to get rid of them, won't we, Miller?" Jino replied. "Can't let them make a meal of these innocent folks, can we? Shouldn't be too hard… though I suppose neither of us have the quickest weapons to take out such speedy little things. Sure you can handle this many, lad? They might be too fast for you with that great sword of yours."

"I'll be fine," Miller replied simply. "Though it seems like with everything that's going on right now, I feel like there might be more… urgent work that should be done."

Jino laughed at the words. "Yes, not exactly the noblest of work is it, Miller, killing bugs while the rest of the city's off rioting or trying to prepare for the Alatreon's coming? But if everyone else is off doing other things, who's left behind to protect the people that can't protect themselves? It may not be as pretty as story as repelling an elder dragon, but someone's got to do it, right?"

Miller grunted in frustration, but shrugged. "Maybe you're right. I suppose the hunters in the city may not praise us, but the citizens and children will certainly speak well of us."

"Who better? Children always take to the stories better anyhow. They'll be talking about our heroism for longer that way! Let's get to work then!" Jino said with a smirk. "I doubt this will be the only hive in the district that needs taken care of thanks to all this chaos, so we'll have to look for anyone else that needs help. Stand back Logan, and leave this to the real hunters, alright?"

Logan nodded as the hammer user pulled his weapon from its sling on his back. The hive of Bnahabra were agitated now, and dozens of them filled the interior of the warehouse, filling the building with a deep humming bordering on a dull roar. Logan hurried away, joining the rest of the children in the corner of the room. This time, as he approached, many of them, even the adults, looked at him with a note of awe. But Logan really didn't care about that. His eyes returned to the hunters, as the swarm of insects swept towards them, and the pair laughed, rushing out to meet them.

* * *

"Die, hunter!"

Ellie gasped, leaping away as a tall man wielding a stolen long sword swung his blade at her. The weapon was poorly handled, but still struck her in the arm as she held it up to defend herself from the weapon. Her silver armor deflected the strike for the most part, keeping the blade from cutting into her, but the impact still hurt like hell. She swung her bowgun around, pistol-whipping the man with the stock across his jaw and sending him to the ground with a cry of pain. But before Ellie could take a moment to rest, she caught sight of a woman to her side, leveling the barrel of a bowgun in her direction and grinning viciously.

But as the woman pulled the trigger, there was a flash of steel. Harker seemed to appear out of thin air next to the woman, his long sword slashing into the side of the weapon and smashing apart several parts of the weapon's frame. The bowgun bucked wildly as it fired, and a long, deadly pierce round seared through the air a few scant feet from where Ellie was standing, the round continuing through the air before blasting through a stone pillar under an overhang of a nearby building. The woman growled angrily at Harker, dropping the heavy, now useless bowgun to the ground and whipping out a knife from her belt and swinging wildly at Harker. The long sword user found himself forced into an awkward defensive stance as the woman slashed at him, his weapon not made for extreme close range encounters.

Ellie winced at the sound of a bowgun firing behind her, but the weapon wasn't aimed at her this time. Rather, it had been Kerry's bowgun which had gone off instead. Ellie gaped in shock when she realized that the bowgunner had fired upon the woman that was attacking Harker, but a fraction of a second later when the round hit the woman, there was puff of bright red gas as the round struck the woman in the forehead. The woman stumbled back, cursing and rubbing her head in pain, then began to wobble unsteadily on her feet. In a flash, Harker was behind her, wrapping his arm around her throat. The woman gasped and struggled for a moment, but in a few seconds she passed out and Harker gently laid her on the ground.

Ellie looked curiously at Kerry, and her friend flushed slightly, ejecting the cartridge from her bowgun and holding it up for Ellie to see. "Tranq rounds," she said simply. "It takes a few shots to work on monsters, but one works pretty well on humans if you get them to breath in the gas." Ellie nodded, looking around and realizing that there were several others like the woman that Kerry and Harker had knocked out, with lingering welts and red powder on their foreheads. It was a miserable sight, and one that filled Ellie with immense guilt.

They'd managed to catch up with the remaining rioting Lost almost twenty minutes ago, in hopes of talking them down. Ellie had even removed her helmet before arriving, thinking that maybe they'd recognize her again and give her a chance to talk them out of it. But before she, Kerry or Harker could get close enough to speak with any of the Lost, a loud voice had called out to the Lost from the front of the mob. Ellie could barely see who was speaking, but it looked like a hunter, someone wearing Agnaktor armor and motioning towards them as they approached. The next moment, just over a dozen Lost broke away from the others, making their way towards the three of them. Ellie had hoped for the best, but soon realized that all of the Lost that were coming for them were armed, and each had a twisted look in their eyes. Before Ellie knew what was happening, the Lost had begun firing on her and her friends with their bowguns or assaulting them with whatever bladed weapons they'd managed to scavenge.

And now the Lost that attacked them lay scattered on the ground around them. Somehow they'd managed to defeat them all, despite being outnumbered four to one. Ellie guessed it was because the Lost that had attacked them were neither armored nor skilled with the weapons they carried around. They only had them because they had stolen them, and didn't really know how to use them correctly. The Lost that carried around bowguns had been eerily accurate with their shots, however, though the size and weight of their weapons were unfamiliar and had made them too ineffective to shoot well. The three hunters had been forced to fight back as best they could against the Lost, and Ellie hoped that they hadn't killed any of them by accident… but then, she had been forced to strike some of them quite hard to get them to go down, and she feared from the sight of blood on the ground that she might have overdone it…

"Hmm… it seems we've discovered how this rabble-rousing leader manages to keep so many Lost under his wing," Harker said solemnly, kneeling down next to one of the fallen at his feet. Ellie and Kerry looked at him uncertainly. "It would appear that most of these Lost are particularly powerfully affected by the madness… or at least the way the madness affects them makes them susceptible to whatever this man's telling them. I'm sure plenty of them are doing this all out of anger or cruel intentions, certainly, but the Lost madness is most definitely exacerbating things."

"What do we do?" Kerry asked worriedly. "If this leader of theirs keeps sending people to fight us every time we show up to stop him, he'll have us fighting hundreds of Lost! We can't keep hurting people like this, even if we are the ones being attacked first!"

"And even if we did, we'd be overwhelmed eventually, especially if we do our best not to kill any of them," Ellie replied fearfully. "How are we supposed to stop this mob if they're so willing to cause chaos for this guy?"

The three sat puzzling over the conundrum, uncertain how to proceed. At the same time, they could feel the pressure of time weighing down on them. Each moment brought them closer to the arrival of the Alatreon, by which time they needed to have Levin out of this 'Gullet', in hopes that it would help them do something to distract the Alatreon long enough to either rally a counterattack or at least chase the creature away. At the same time, they had to do something about this man that was leading the Lost, or else the Alatreon would easily destroy Loc Lac anyway, as long as he was distracting the Lost from preparing by running them around, burning buildings and killing the city's guards and hunters. What was this person trying to accomplish by doing all this anyway?

"Perhaps we could simply distract the Lost following this hunter?" Harker suggested.

"What do you mean?"

"Simply this: most, if not all, of these people following this man are not hunters. So therefore they would be almost entirely ignorant of hunters' equipment, yes? Perhaps the answer is more simple than we think it needs to be: rather than trying to fight our way through these hordes of Lost to get to this hunter, we should instead try to get the hunter away from the Lost."

"But how do we do that?" Kerry asked.

"A surprise attack, perhaps?"

"But how would that keep us from having to fight this leader of theirs?"

"Hmm… well, as I said it would be best if we separate him from this mob he's rallied. Perhaps… perhaps we could use one of these?" The two huntresses looked on curiously as Harker reached into his pouch and pulled out a cylindrical metallic object. Immediately both of them flinched in recognition.

"You… you made more of those damn super flash bombs?" Ellie cried. "Why?"

"Well, I'll admit, I intended to use them when we found ourselves in combat with the Alatreon again. They seemed to work rather efficiently in Hearth… but if it is necessary for me to use one at a time like this, then so be it. I have three of them made that I'm certain will work as intended. Perhaps we can cut off this mob and the hunter leading them somewhere. We can call attention to ourselves, and then throw one of these flash bombs to blind a good portion of the Lost following him. Once they are so incapacitated, we can hurry and grab hold of their leader and drag him away. Once that is done… with fortune the Lost will lose their momentum and desire to continue their chaotic charge through Loc Lac."

Ellie and Kerry thought about this for a moment, before looking at each other and nodding. "Sounds like a good plan to me," Ellie told him.

"Are you sure we'll be able to get this hunter away from the Lost quickly enough?" Kerry asked worriedly. "If we're not quick enough, the Lost will just end up recovering and coming after us when we're right in their midst."

"Just pick him up and throw him over your shoulder!" Ellie replied. "Mercy knows you've got the strength to do it, though I can't imagine where you hide all that muscle away. Besides, this is Harker's flash bombs, remember? They'll blind you even if your eyes are closed and covered…"

Kerry grinned. "I suppose you're right. But we'll have to be careful, lest we get blinded as well."

"Don't worry," Harker said. "This time I guarantee I will do my best to give as much warning to you as possible, so that we will be the only ones that remain un-blinded by the flash bomb."

However, it was easier said than done. Though there were only three of them, and the mob of Lost was moving quite slowly in such great numbers, it took ample time for the three hunters to find a place they could cut off the rioting people. It seemed that the mob was paranoid, and every time the group passed an alley or side street, several of their number would enter, looking for guards or anyone that they might consider a threat. It made it a challenge to get ahead of them, but eventually the three were able to loop around the mob, getting a couple blocks ahead of the collection of Lost. It was getting close, too: the mob wasn't too far away from the Loc Lac Tower, and none of the hunters were sure what would happen if the throng were to arrive there.

They'd wedged themselves through a thin alley that was only a few short blocks away from where the streets opened up into the Tower square. The mob was getting close now, and when she peeked around the corner, Ellie could better make out this man that was leading the Lost around. He was in Agnaktor armor, as she'd thought, but there were too many weapons held up by those around him for her to tell which one he was using. It made Ellie shiver though, that she was considering the man's weapon choice; after escaping from Malefica, she was hoping she'd never have to fight another hunter again, but now she and her friends had to once again try and determine the best way to fight an armed human in battle.

After the three hunters waited a few moments longer, Harker nodded to the two huntresses and stepped out into the street. Ellie could hear shouting coming from the mob, but they'd planned this out well, hopefully: even if there were some hunters besides the one leading the mob in the group, and they recognized that Harker had a flash bomb, they wouldn't know to expect the flash bomb to be overpowered like Harker had made them. They'd be blinded even if they closed their eyes. Ellie saw Harker motion to the two huntresses, and she and Kerry immediately closed their eyes, covered them by pulling down the helmets, and turned away; they couldn't be too certain!

The sound of several Lost charging the long sword user could be heard, but there was a shuffling of leather as Harker tossed the bomb into the air, then a thump as he threw himself to the ground. A moment later there was a loud popping sound that could barely be heard over the charging Lost, but Ellie still winced as a quick glare pierced through her eyelids, despite her precautions, and there was the sound of screaming as the rioting mob was immediately blinded.

"Now!" Kerry hissed, though she sounded slightly pained. Ellie opened her eyes, and though she was still seeing spots, she hurried into the street. Harker was getting back up as well, though he was blinking painfully, trying to get his bearings straight, but he turned as well as the three rushed to grab hold of the man leading the mob.

But he wasn't there. The horde of Lost were all still there, most of them clutching their eyes and groaning in pain or fear, and many of them had fallen to the ground or released their weapons. But the hunter with the Agnaktor armor wasn't there! Ellie was sure he'd been at the head of the mob when Harker had walked out into the street! Where could he have gone? There was a clattering from a nearby alleyway, and Ellie's eyes darted toward the sound. She only barely caught sight of the hunter as they vanished around the corner of the building, with a pair of garbage cans and other random items rattling to the floor as he ran.

"He's getting away!" Ellie cried, dashing towards the alley. Both Kerry and Harker seemed shocked at the very idea, but they tailed after Ellie as she dashed into the thin alley, giving chase.

"How was he not blinded?" Kerry cried incredulously as they ran through the sidestreets of the city.

"I don't know!" Ellie replied. "The only way he could've avoided it was if he knew what to expect! How people have seen these flash bombs of yours, Harker?"

"It couldn't be more than a dozen!" the long sword user said. "I'm sure there are some people from the Oasis that knew I'd made them in my room, but the only people that have really seen them in action are a scant few people we've hunted with!"

"But who would that leave?" Kerry asked. "The only real people that you've used those flash bombs around are-"

Ellie suddenly yelped in shock as a massive plume of smoke erupted into the air in front of them. The gas swept through the alley towards them. Ellie would have been enveloped in the gas a moment later, had not Harker suddenly grabbed her by the collar, pulling her away just in time to avoid the wave of white smoke.

"A smoke bomb," Harker said curiously. "Careful now, Miss Eleanor, the man might be trying to-"

Ellie gasped as the pointed tip of a lance suddenly burst through the smoke, aimed directly at her face. Only instinct saved her, and she tilted her head just enough so that the edge glanced off of her helmet, sliding past her face. She could hear the edge scraping the silver scales, despite their hardness and durability. A curse came through the haze, and the lance pulled away, before darting out again, this time aimed at Ellie's chest. This time, Ellie was ready however, and she moved to the side to dodge, though the tip of the lance still struck her in the shoulder, making her wince in pain even as the blow was deflected by the plate armor.

There was a blast from the side as Kerry fired her bowgun into the smoke, sending several rounds into the haze where the hunter was supposed to be standing. There was a grunt of irritation as the round ricocheted off of something hard and metal, and the spear vanished into the smoke once more, and the sound of footsteps began to hurry away. Ellie cursed, and despite her better intelligence, dashed through the smoke and gave chase. Kerry and Harker both shouted fearfully, but Ellie could hear them following behind her as well.

She was tense as she ran through the smoke; this lance user could attack her at any time! But the hunter's footsteps kept a fair distance ahead of her, enough to compel her to continue the chase. The smoke filled a lot of the alley, but eventually it ended. It almost shocked Ellie at how quickly the haze became visible again, and for a moment she was unbalanced, looking around for the hunter she chased, while Kerry and Harker followed her out of the smoke. She finally caught sight of the man a distance away, near another turn in the alley. Ellie froze as the man in the Agnaktor armor turned and looked at them. His visor was up, so Ellie could see his face clearly as his mouth twisted into a vicious smile at the sight of them. There was no mistaking it.

"Pugnax!" she gasped, and both Kerry and Harker gasped in shock as well. Ellie thought the man had died in Malefica! She saw the man laugh at their recognition, and then the lancer quickly turned dashing through one of the alleys that crisscrossed the city streets and vanishing from sight. Ellie growled angrily, taking off to give chase, but Kerry shouted at her, making her stop. "What are you doing?"

"Ellie, we can't… How are we supposed to fight him? You know what kind of person he is! He'll try to kill us!" Kerry cried, looking worriedly between Ellie and Harker. "We might have been able to reason with someone else but… I can't… I don't think… He's just too ruthless! I don't want to risk losing either of you to him!"

"I know the risks!" Ellie replied. "I know what type of man Pugnax is, better than almost anyone else! I know what he'd do to us if he got even the slightest opportunity… but that's all the more reason for us to go after him now! But I was there when he had the opportunity to take over Malefica. He's power-hungry, Kerry! If he sees a chance to profit from all of this, we can't let him have it. We can't just leave him alone! The Lost are out of his control for now, but we have to make sure it stays that way!"

Kerry grimaced at the words. "I… you may be right, Ellie."

"While I agree that we should contain Pugnax before anything else," Harker cut in, "the man's never been one to go quietly. What are we going to do if he fights back? When we hunted the leader of the mob, we hoped to restrain him, or incapacitate him if necessary. I doubt he will try to hold back his attacks if we should force a dispute with him. He does not restrain himself against even the hunters that he has no vendetta against, as these Lost have told us; what do you think he will do if he meets us in a confrontation?"

Ellie and Kerry looked at each other worriedly, and Kerry paled somewhat at the idea. The redheaded huntress had been forced to take the lives of several people during their time in Malefica, either due to her curse's effects or during the fighting that had gone down during the escape. But the memory of killing haunted her, and Ellie wasn't sure the huntress had it in her to do it again unless it was absolutely necessary. And neither Ellie nor Harker had yet had the misfortune to need to kill another human being yet…

Ellie shook her head. "We'll deal with that when we get to it. For now, we just need to catch up with him and try to stop him from doing any more damage to the city and the Lost's reputation. We'll do… whatever it is that we need to do when it comes down to it."

The other two looked at each other worriedly, clearly not fond of the idea, before nodding in agreement. It would be better to capture him and make sure he faced justice for his crimes, but with the impending Alatreon attack and the city falling into chaos around them, they couldn't afford to have the lancer running around exacerbating everything. One way or another, they'd have to stop him, and if it looked like it would be too risky to try and take him in peacefully… Pugnax would have to die by one of their hands.

* * *

"Would you stop it already, you fool hunter!" the doctor snapped, striking Levin across the face. The switch axe user stumbled in pain, falling backwards and striking his head against the stone wall. "You've done nothing but shout and rave for the last seven hours! Be silent already, or I'll force you to be so!"

Levin worked his jaw from the pain and glared at the doctor. "You need to stop doing this! The Alatreon is coming! You've got to warn people or else-"

"Or else nothing!" the doctor growled. The doctor was a callous, cold woman, a dark-haired researcher that did her work in one of the nearby cells not far from this one. Most of the screams and agonizing groans that Levin heard tended to come from her room, it seemed, judging from what the guards that passed by the cells said to each other when they were getting rid of her 'unsuccessful experiments.' It seemed that her work was unsuccessful rather often. She came by every once in a while when Farren was out or asleep. And what she did to Levin before Farren returned to chase her off… it seemed that Farren hadn't been lying when he'd told Levin that his work was usually more benevolent than other researchers'. "The Alatreon would not attack Loc Lac, no matter the power it has, Lost! Clearly Farren's work with the Dark Metal has addled your mind even further than this Lost madness already had."

"I'm not mad!" Levin snapped. "The Alatreon is really coming! You've got to warn the Guild before-"

The hunter winced in pain and the woman's hand snapped out at him. The doctor had been carrying a scalpel in her hand and the blade bit sharply into Levin's cheek, drawing blood and leaving a gash on his cheek. The woman looked at him in vicious irritation. "I'll have no more of this talk of elder dragons and spewing of madness from you. You are defective now, a waste of space, whether Farren chooses to realize the truth of it or not. However, you are not completely useless… not yet anyway. I plan to make better use of you then that nonsense Farren has you doing with that filthy Dark Metal."

"What are you-"

The woman smiled wickedly, holding the thin scalpel up to Levin's face. "Quiet down now, Lost. I've never had the opportunity to work on one of your kind before you showed up here. How different are your people, I've always wondered? Are they the same as us, separated by centuries, or has time made us a completely different species from one another, with the differences hidden away? Oh, I can't wait to find out! And how convenient: this is a study I can continue, even after you've died, when I can properly dissect you! Brace yourself, Lost. Farren might try to be gentle with his playthings, but I'm not so generous to people like you…"

"What are you doing here, Belle?" the cold voice of Farren hissed. The doctor turned in shock as the black-haired researcher strode through the iron-lined cell door, glaring angrily at the woman. "That man is my subject, and you have no right to be here. Go back to your own experiments and leave mine alone!"

"Piss off!" the female researcher, Belle, growled. "There are no official rules saying that I cannot test my own experiments on another researcher's subject. Besides, the one I was working on has gone and broken on me, and now I need a new one, and it takes far too long for those in charge to bring in another one from the prisons. Besides, the way yours has been going on all day, it seems your work with the Dark Metal has finally cracked his mind like an egg. The Alatreon? Really? Come now. Why don't I just take him off your hands, Farren? I know how much you like your subjects to be mentally stable, so why don't you just get rid of this one?"

Farren glared at the woman angrily. "Levin is not a plaything to be passed around so easily, Belle. I, and only I, will decide when I am done with him. And should I ever decide that he is of no more use to me, you would be the last one on the list of people I would offer him to instead."

Belle's expression soured for a moment before she sneered at Farren. "Levin, you say? Since when have you been known to be sentimental with your subjects, Farren? You've never cared about their names before. Perhaps you're slipping, breaking down? Is this boy's mad talk getting to you?"

Farren seethed for a moment at the woman's words, then relaxed slightly as he stared at her seriously. "Mad talk you say… not as mad as you think, Belle."

"Oh please," the woman scoffed. "The Alatreon attacking Loc Lac? Is that what you mean? If that's not mad talk, I don't know what is. Even the creature itself wouldn't be so bold to attack the central hunting city in the country."

"You think so? I wasn't so sure," Farren replied. "Levin slipped into what you think is madness far too quickly compared to some of my other… subjects. Like you, I initially suspected madness. After all, the Lost all seem to take to mental instability, why not assume that he would be affected faster than the others? But I had my doubts."

"What doubts? He's insane, that's all there is to it!" Belle snapped irritably. "Now are you going to give me him or not? Don't waste my time, Farren!"

Farren cocked his head. "Are you sure you want him? After all, he's not the only one of the Lost raving about the Alatreon right now. In fact… almost the entire city is in chaos because of the creature right now."

The woman's eyes widened in surprise, and she glared at Farren suspiciously. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Farren shrugged. "Reports from the surface are a bit… delayed, but it seems that at approximately the same time that Levin began shouting about the Alatreon here in the Gullet, every other Lost in the city began to shout very much the same thing up on the surface as well."

Belle's eyes were very wide now. "You're lying."

"I am many things, Belle, most of them terrible, but a liar is not one of them. Go ask the guards yourself. They'll tell you what they know."

The woman looked back and forth between Levin and Farren, clearly uncertain how to proceed. Finally, she cursed in frustration. "I don't believe in any of this," she snapped, but the woman quickly spun, striding through the door. As she closed the steel-lined door behind her, Levin took note of a clear expression of fear on her face.

Farren seemed to deflate a bit once the woman was gone, and strode over to the potions table. He seemed hesitant, but grabbed hold of the red potion bottle, the real one that had been brought from a neighboring country, not one of the many failed attempts that Farren had concocted. The researcher carefully poured out a precise amount into a small cup, before handing it to Levin. The hunter was wary for a moment, but drank it down greedily a moment later. Farren tried to reserve the use of the potion for his research, but occasionally when Levin had suffered more than normal, he offered the hunter some of the potion to soothe his injuries. The wound on his face wasn't the only injury Belle had inflicted on him. The red potion was severely bitter, but Levin could feel himself getting better almost instantly; the cut on his face felt as though it was closing as the potion pooled in his stomach. Levin sighed in relief. "Thank you," he murmured quietly. "If you hadn't shown up…"

"Don't thank me," Farren replied quickly. "If anything, I've only spared you torment at her hands to torment at mine. We try to keep rivalries out of the Gullet… but I suppose it's impossible to completely rid this place of such disdain between researchers that disagree with each other. Belle and I have never seen eye to eye on experimental methodology. She is simply too callus for my tastes."

Levin shook his head. "I don't… that doesn't matter right now! You have to get to the surface and warn people about the Alatreon coming! Please! If it comes to Loc Lac-"

"There will be no need for me to do such a thing," Farren said curtly. Levin opened his mouth to argue, but a sharp look from the researcher stopped his words before they left his mouth. "As I said before, the Lost are all up in arms about the Alatreon, last I heard. Do you think the word of a man like me would be enough anyway, bringing news from a mad prisoner in a place that should not exist? No, if the city chooses to believe that the Alatreon is coming to destroy them, it will be due to the many Lost that are clamoring about it in the South District. If they don't do that… well, then the Alatreon will fall anyway."

"People aren't prepared!" Levin pleaded. "If they don't listen to the Lost, then the city will be destroyed!"

"People like Belle may be susceptible to suspicion and fear of the Alatreon, but not me," Farren said coldly. "I am a man a science, and a man driven by necessity. I have no time to waste of legends and hearsay. The Alatreon is a powerful beast, and certainly unmatched as far as this country's Guild is concerned. But there are other countries, and other Guilds, and other monsters that inspire the same horror as the Alatreon does in the people in this country. Some have even been called 'gods' or 'demons' by those that lived in fear of them. And all those other monsters have been killed eventually, as I'm sure the Alatreon will as well. If the Alatreon is really coming like you say it is, I'm sure it will meet far more resistance than it believes it will against Loc Lac."

"You can't… you don't know how powerful it really is! I've fought the creature before! I know what it's capable of! It's not enough to say that the city will be able to deal with it!"

"Your people, the Lost, have a vendetta with the Alatreon, Levin. It's relatively safe to say that your view might be skewed a bit from personal bias. Besides, how long had you been an official hunter of the Guild when you faced the beast? A year? A few months more? How can your experience and word be the deciding factor against the strength of an elder dragon? Leave this business of the Alatreon to the Guild, Levin. They will handle the beast should it show its face here, I am certain."

"But you can't be-"

A rapid rattling sound cut off Levin's words, and the two men looked towards the sound. Levin cringed; the Dark Metal was writhing once more. The sinister ore seemed to be moving around a lot in the last several hours. Every time Levin looked at it, the Metal seemed to be trying to edge itself closer towards Levin. Levin would be cringing with fear at that very moment, had the threat of the Alatreon not been so predominant in his mind. Farren however, seemed intrigued.

"How strange," he said curiously. "It would seem that the Dark Metal is reacting to your… insistence that the Alatreon is coming. Or perhaps it's some other thing that is inciting it? I cannot guess… but I think I would like to find out. Forgive me Levin; I had intended for today to be used to research more into my potions study, but with the Dark Metal acting up like it is, I simply cannot resist this opportunity."

"Please no…" Levin groaned. His body ached just from the thought of Dark Metal touching him. He feared that Belle might soon be correct: the ore was draining him. Soon enough, the Metal might end up truly driving him mad.

"It must be done," Farren replied simply, striding to the door. "I will collect some materials I require. That will give you some time to ready yourself. I will… try to take my time. But the research must continue, despite what the Metal does to you, and despite what may or may not be happening on the surface."

The door closed behind Farren with a resounding, final tone, and Levin slumped to the floor miserably. He couldn't take much more of this… and the Alatreon was bearing down on Loc Lac, he was sure of it. Loc Lac wasn't ready for it, he was sure of it. But what was he supposed to do? Farren wouldn't let him go, and even if he did, how was he supposed to get Levin out? Could he even do anything to help if he escaped the Gullet anyway? Farren was right. There were more experienced hunters out there, and the Alatreon had wiped the floor with him the last time they had met. What chance did he have this time? But there had to be something he could do… something to help balance the odds. There were people he still cared for up on the surface, and he couldn't just sit back and hope for the best, not at a time like this…

**Hello? Levin? Are you still alive, boy?**

Levin's head snapped up and he growled angrily. "Shut the hell up, you bastard dragon! I swear, you better leave Loc Lac alone, or-"

**Hmm? Why are you angry with me? I haven't even… ah, you must think I'm the Alatreon. Now I see.**

Levin froze. Wait, the resounding voice echoing in his head wasn't the Alatreon's? But… but how? He didn't think that anything could pierce creature's thoughts like that… No, this was a trick! It had to be the elder dragon! He was being mocked!

The voice chuckled in his mind. **I can understand your confusion, Levin. After all, there are very few living beings besides the Alatreon with ability like this. But there are others, I assure you. Most Wyvernians live long enough that they could learn if they tried. Take the creature you call the Veggie Elder for instance; he can do it, though he's not very skilled. And you… thanks to the Alatreon's influence on you, I imagine you could learn how to mentally speak with others as well, given a few decades of practice. Your friend Harker has even greater affinity to the skill then you, actually, though I imagine him gaining such ability would be… aggravating. After all, the thing about this sort of communication is that the bond goes both ways; it's just as easy to speak to him as it is for him to you. I'd keep that information away from that madboy if I were you. And then there are others, like me.**

Levin was stunned. The voice… it really wasn't the Alatreon's, was it? It was more reassuring and joking than the elder dragon's. The Alatreon's mental bond always had a… pressure to it as well, but this was more gentle and curious than anything else. "And who are you?" Levin asked. "What do you want with me?"

**Ah, right to the point, eh? I suppose I should have expected as much. I don't have a name to offer, or at least not one you could pronounce. I'm a… Well, I won't call myself a friend. Under other circumstances, I guess you'd consider me an enemy or a threat. But for now… consider me a temporary ally. Time may change our relationship, but right now I want to assist you. As for what I want with you… I want to know where you are.**

Levin shook his head. What was this person talking about? Ally or enemy? A name he couldn't say? He was already tired from all the experiments they were running on him, and now this? Maybe he was just imagining it all… But what did he really have to lose? He couldn't break the bonds, and the Alatreon was coming… "I don't know where I am," Levin told the voice. "I'm someplace called the Gullet, though I don't know where that is."

**Hmm… interesting,** the voice murmured. **Can you create a mental image of the room you're in? It might help me.**

Levin sighed. Where was the voice going with this? It wasn't hard to picture the cell in his mind; it was all he'd really seen in the last… week? How long had he been here? But he did his best, and even tried to remember what the hall outside looked like.

**Ah! You're there?** The voice seemed shocked. **I didn't think… I thought that place had… never mind. No sense in thinking about it now. You wait right there Levin.**

Levin gasped as the presence began to fade from his mind. "Wait! Where are you going? What are you trying to do?"

**Just be patient,** the voice replied. **I'm coming for you.**

And then the voice was gone. Levin looked around nervously. What did the voice mean, that it was coming for him? And who was it? Was it even real? Levin began to shake in horror. Belle had been right! He was falling even further into his madness! He was imagining things now, voices in his head! But then… he'd heard voices in his head before, hadn't he? Right after he'd heard the Alatreon speak to him for the first time…

Levin dropped to the floor, shivering in terror. He couldn't take all this… The Alatreon was coming for Loc Lac, and he was falling apart at the seams. What was he supposed to do like this? Was there any hope for him? Was there any hope for anyone in Loc Lac at all?

It was getting harder and harder to find any.

* * *

"Take a bowgun and a box of ammunition then keep climbing! I want as many armed Lost up in the Hive and rooftops as we can possibly get! Come on, hurry up Nox! We need those rounds!"

Noxramus grumbled as he shoved another cart of ammunition up to the base of the towering walls of Loc Lac. He didn't know where Tenebris kept finding these boxes of bowgunner ammo, and honestly, he kind of didn't want to. No bowgunner kept this many shots stockpiled did they? If it wasn't that, then either the huntress had a lot of money to purchase a lot of ammunition in bulk (though who would be selling at a time like this, he couldn't guess), or there was a shop or warehouse somewhere that had suddenly had a bunch of its stock vanish into thin air. Nox chose not to ask; he didn't really care to know what the answer would be.

The hunter pulled off the Baggi material helm he wore, fanning his face wearily as he looked up across the tall wall that surrounded the city. He still hadn't accustomed himself to the heat of Loc Lac, after spending so long in Hearth working under Noi. But the sight above him was intriguing enough to stare at for a few good moments. He'd never seen the 'Hive', as the Lost called it, before. Small, makeshift huts and shanties that were tied to the walls of Loc Lac with thick ropes, or held up from below with precisely placed timber beams. It was amazing how many small houses the Lost had been able to cobble together with such minimal materials and space. Only the bold could live in them though, or at least those unafraid of heights; though there hadn't been any incidents as far as Nox had heard, the structures did look awfully precarious…

But right now the Hive buildings and walkways were swarming with Lost, or at least, as close as you could get to swarming with such tight walkways at that… he could see about thirty of them making their way up the stairs and ladders leading upwards, and there were even more on the ground as well, getting ready to make the climb themselves. And all of them were armed with bowguns, light or heavy, or at least carrying satchels of ammunition; there had not been enough scavenged bowguns to go around. Several more Lost, those that didn't have the fortitude to try to climb the Hive (and Nox didn't blame them), were perched on nearby buildings, again armed with a large amount of bowgun rounds. They weren't as high into the sky as the Hive walkways were, but there was plenty of space to move about.

"No, no, you hold it like this," Tenebris was saying, hurrying over to one of the Lost that was apparently holding their bowgun incorrectly. The huntress adjusted the Lost's grip on the weapon, making sure it was as good as they could get for a novice with the weapon. Apparently the Lost didn't need much instruction, because the woman seemed to grasp the concepts quickly. Nox didn't understand that; how could the Lost all collectively figure out bowguns with such ease? Well, not all of them, but most seemed to have a knack for it. Was it cultural? He didn't really know too much about the Lost, save for what he'd picked up from Levin, Ellie, Harker, and Kerry.

"Now hurry up and get up that wall," Tenebris told the Lost. "We'll need to be ready."

"Why are we doing this again?" Nox asked, approaching the huntress as the Lost began climbing up the ladders of the Hive. "Shouldn't we have gone off and helped Ellie, Kerry, and Harker with that prison break they were planning?"

"You didn't have to come with me, you know," Tenebris replied. "You could have gone with them and helped them out. As for me, I thought it might be better if I tried to help in another way."

"And what way is that? Sending armed Lost up to the roofs doesn't exactly slow down the riots, especially if they're all here in the Lost District."

"Call it a gut feeling, then," Tenebris said with a smirk. "Those four and I all worked together to take down a silver Rathalos a while ago, and we had to use unconventional methods to do it. I don't know how well they'll work against an elder dragon… but it's worth a shot I guess." Nox sighed and scratched his head uncertainly. "You don't have to stay if you don't want to."

"No, I'll stay," Nox groaned. "Mercy knows I couldn't catch up with them now if I tried. Besides, these Lost aren't hunters. If whatever scheme you've concocted is going to work, you'll need someone with actual battle experience to help you. You may have experience, but one hunter might not be enough."

"I don't know…" Tenebris said with a smirk. "Most of these Lost look like they can handle a bowgun better than you. They all seem to have an affinity for anything with the word 'gun' in it for some reason. Mercy knows Silas seemed to like that word in Nastre. You, however…"

Nox scowled at the huntress. "I may not be the greatest hunter in the world when it comes to using a bowgun, but I'm… adequate with them."

"I think you're giving yourself too much credit," Tenebris laughed. "I've seen you shoot. You know which side the shot comes out of, and that's about it."

Nox grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, okay, maybe you're right. But still, I feel like I should stay. The Lost may be able to shoot, but if the Alatreon is really coming, and they really fire at it, they might pull its attention onto them, and… well, even with all those guns, it won't help them if an elder dragon comes after them. Like I said, I have battle experience, and that's something no amount of bowguns can copy. If anything, I'll be able to distract the creature for a little while, even if it's just enough time for as many of them to escape as possible…"

Tenebris nodded, glancing over at the Lost. Despite their lack of experience and the fact that they were going up against the most dangerous monster the Guild had ever known, they all seemed confident in themselves. That would change quickly once they actually got into battle, she had no doubt. Tenebris wished she could have found actual hunters to aid her in this crazy plan, but most of the hunters that were still in the South District were either too wounded to fight, staying out of sight, or off in other districts. She didn't like having to rely on untrained Lost to do this kind of thing… but they were willing, and surprisingly competent with ranged weapons, if not armored or experienced. Besides, though it was hard to rely on amateurs, it wasn't like the Alatreon would spare anyone, civilian or not, if it really did show up in Loc Lac. It may have seemed harsh, but Tenebris figured that anyone that had the ability to fight should do so, especially at times like this.

Tenebris shook her head and grinned at Nox. "No sense worrying about that right now. We'll deal with it when the time comes, okay? Now grab the last of those ammunition boxes. We'll need every round we can get for this plan to work."

"Maybe you should help me carry these then," Nox grumbled, hoisting one of the boxes onto his shoulder. "These ammo boxes aren't exactly lightweight, thank you very much."

Tenebris laughed. "Oh, quit your whining. Fine, toss me one of them and we'll do the rounds, making sure everyone is fully loaded and armed."

As Nox passed Tenebris one of the crates, he paused, giving her a wary glance. He hesitated for a moment longer before speaking. "I've been meaning to ask… where exactly did you get all this ammo anyway? I can't imagine that you've had all this piled up in some little house or apartment in town…"

Tenebris smirked slyly. "You sure you really want to know?"

Nox frowned, looking at the huntress for a moment longer, before shaking his head. "You know what, never mind… I think I'm better off being in the dark."

"Wise choice," Tenebris laughed. "Come on now, let's start climbing. It's going to take some time to get this ammo to everyone that needs it."

* * *

To the west of Loc Lac, a thick sandstorm churned wildly over the sandsea. The raging storm was one of the deadliest forces in the entire desert, surpassing the threat of the churning sand swallowing up any living thing, the monsters that dwelled on the more solid areas of the desert, and even the Jhen Mohran itself couldn't match the danger of this storm. Admittedly, there were many sandstorms that made their way across the desert on a daily basis, but there were few like this one. Comparing the other storms to this one was akin to warm winds blowing across the sea on one of the desert's cooler days. There was no official name for them, but most of those that knew of them just referred to them as the blood storms.

It was an appropriate name though. A blood storm was far more powerful and dangerous than any other. The winds howled and raged with such ferocity that the grains of sand that were carried in the air could peel the very flesh off of any living creature that was not accustomed to its force. Humans, monsters, and even wyverns of every shape and size; none were spared from the force of the storm if they were caught within it. Even the mighty Diablos, living most of their lives deep within the sands of the desert, had been found with the flesh and muscles cleaned from their bodies by the force of the winds, leaving behind only bones and a few scales and plates, polished to perfection by the sands.

Some people believed it was the work of a Jhen Mohran. Not just any Jhen either, but one more powerful than any other that had been seen before in the desert. The elder dragons certainly did kick up sandstorms in their wake as they traveled around the sandsea, enveloping all they could in their maws to sustain their impressive bulk, but none of those storms were as terrible as the blood storms. The former storms were nothing worth noting, and only required minimal covering to avoid suffering injury. But the thought that a singular creature was creating such devastating storms was not one that was contemplated comfortably. Such a creature was frightening to imagine, and would certainly match even the Alatreon in power… if it existed. So far nobody really knew if anything was directly causing the storms, elder dragon or not. But it was not a pleasant thing to think about.

All of this went through Joshua's mind as the young man looked over the bow of Silas' refurbished sandship, down into the swirling winds of one of those blood storms. The ship was a good hundred yards above the top of the storm, but Joshua always felt like they were just barely hovering over the top of the storm. He could almost hear the low, rumbling moans and cries of a Jhen Mohran down under the cloud of churning sand… Calvert said it was all in his head, but Joshua still got a little jumpy when he looked down into the whirling storm below them. He always felt nervous knowing that they were flying so close to one of the most dangerous forces of nature in the world…

At least their ship was stable… for now. Joshua looked around at the ship he stood on. He'd spent weeks learning how to fly and maintain the thing properly. It was a far cry from sailing on the sea, but now he, Calvert and Captain Marcus knew this ship front to back. He had his doubts when he'd signed on with Silas to work on piloting the airship the man and his followers were designing, but he had to admit, the work was a marvel unlike anything he'd ever seen now that it was… mostly complete. Joshua was impressed that the Lost had been able to take the ruined remains of a decommissioned dragonship, formerly used on the sandsea to hunt Jhen Mohran, and turn it into an airship. They hadn't been able to remove the massive dragonator lance that protruded from the front of the ship though; it seemed that the ship was built around the anti-dragon weapon, and to remove it would damage the integrity of the ship. A massive blimp kept the entire thing in the air, the cloth folds rippling in the wind as they sailed through the air. Several balancing wings had been added to the side of the ship as well, with propellers attached for momentum. But the true work that the Lost had built onto the ship was two large, noisy objects that they'd attached to the hull.

Turbine engines, they were called, and Joshua had never seen their like before. There was a lot of talk between the Lost on maintaining the machines, and Joshua understood none of it. He knew three things about the engines, and that was all he cared for: they were loud, they were dangerous, and sweet mercy, they made the airship move with a speed he'd never dreamed was possible.

The things ran on some fuel that the Lost had concocted; they wouldn't work with anything else. But the stuff smelled nasty, and the Lost were always careful with the stuff, saying that improper handling could make the fluid light aflame and explode. Joshua didn't care much for the thought of two machines that could explode on either side of the ship, but they certainly made the ship move across the desert at speeds unmatched. They'd only taken off from Nastre a scant few hours ago, and yet they were almost to Loc Lac already! And this was the first prototype! The Lost were saying they could make it even better with time! Joshua suddenly understood why people could fear the Lost, but it wasn't because of their madness… Though, admittedly, Joshua had gained more respect for the Lost then fear thanks to their time in Nastre learning the workings of this airship.

To be fair though, Joshua had respect for a lot of the Lost that had helped with the creation of the ship, but not as much for the man leading them. Joshua looked to the stern of the ship, where the man was addressing several of the Lost that were on the ship. Silas was an enigmatic leader, certainly, and the Lost in Nastre seemed to follow him without question (or at least those that were building this ship), but Joshua wasn't sure exactly what the man exactly did besides being the one giving out orders. He certainly wasn't one of the Lost that had constructed the engines, that was certain. He understood the workings of the machine better than Joshua, sure, but Joshua was second mate after Calvert, and knew how to pilot the ship better than any of the Lost. Silas just seemed to be the one that kept the Lost going, giving them the momentum and encouragement to keep doing what they were doing. Somehow he'd gotten control of them, and now was clinging to that control as best he could, using those that followed him to accomplish… whatever it was he was trying to accomplish. Or at least, that's how it looked to Joshua. He never could understand the thought processes of the Lost.

At the moment, the man was speaking to a group of Lost around him, inciting them. The words the man was speaking still made Joshua cringe a bit. They'd only left Nastre that morning, but that was after a week of deliberation. Rumors had reached Nastre that the Lost in Loc Lac had been… quarantined or something like that, and word had it that they were supposed to be banished from the country! Silas had been in a rage about it the entire time. This morning had been when the decision had been reached. There was a foul feeling in the air about the Lost when Joshua, Calvert, and Captain Marcus had been asked to come to the building site and told that they would be flying to the desert city. Joshua knew that there was something else going on, something that the Lost weren't saying, but he couldn't guess what it was. Silas had told them, however, that he and the others were off to give a display of the Lost's prowess to the city, whatever that meant.

Joshua left the railing, walking up to the helm where Captain Marcus and Calvert were standing. Both of them had tired, annoyed looks on their faces. Silas had been preaching to his followers all morning, and even over the howling winds of the sky and the rumble of the engines, his voice could still be heard over it all.

"Be patient my friends! Soon Loc Lac will know the strength and superiority of the Lost! No matter what people are saying about us, they will be shown that we are not a people to be looked down upon!"

"But what about the stories we've heard from Loc Lac?" one of the Lost asked. "They're saying that our people are all detained! Caged in like animals and begging to be released! What are we supposed to do about that?"

"Rumors," Silas scoffed. "That is all they are. The Lost are the rightful ones to conquer this world. It was ours before, it will be ours again! They won't be so easily contained by despicable men like Zhanin. If the man has so foolishly tried to contain them, I have little doubt that our brethren would have broken their bonds by now. Perhaps when we arrive at the city, the Lost will have already taken control. Then I can offer this ship as proof of our superiority."

Joshua grumbled quietly. "He talks down on that Zhanin guy a lot, but the way he goes on, he sounds a lot like the councilman if you ask me…"

Captain Marcus chuckled at the words. "Right words, my boy, right words. Men like him actin' all tough, ain't nothing in 'em that can stand another fella spoutin' the same watsit that he is. You gotta pack 'o Jaggis, ya can't have two alphas in the same place, now can ya? Can't stand the sight o' each other, those Great Jaggis, and Silas be acting just like 'em with that Zhanin fella. Get tha two o' 'em together and they'll bite the other in half given the chance, though s'like two peas in a pod, right?"

Joshua scratched his head. "So if Silas is the Great Jaggi… what does that make us? The Jaggi?"

Calvert laughed. "No, the Jaggi are those fool Lost that think Silas is worth following. As for us… I'd say we're the flying Rathalos that are amusing the fool Great Jaggi that thinks he's in charge. After all, we're the ones steering this flying warship of his."

"Ya two can talk all pretty 'bout them Rathalos if it please ya," Captain Marcus told them. "If ya be comparin' yerselves to monsters, then think o' me like a Lagi instead, right? I'm a man what prefers the sea; this flyin' business pays, for sure, but gimme a fine ship on the sea any day!"

Joshua smirked, but a feeling of worry still bothered him. "Are you… are you sure we're doing the right thing here? Silas may be paying us, but I'm not so sure I enjoy working for him that much. All this 'Lost supremacy' stuff… what happens if he tries to do something, you know, drastic? What if things in Loc Lac really are as bad as they say? What do we do if Silas tells us to do something terrible or dangerous?"

Both Captain Marcus and Calvert had uncomfortable expressions. Clearly they had been thinking the same thoughts as he had. Marcus was the first to reply. "Ain't nothin' we can do 'bout it now, right? The man thinks ta try and throw us in against our own folk once we get ta Loc Lac, he'll find we ain't so quick to dance ta his fife like tha rest o' the Lost on this ship. See if tha boy can land this tub all clean an' pretty on his own, eh? Twit can pay us in pretty Zenni all we care to, but there be things and works that no decent folk would do, no matter the profit there be for us in it."

"Well said," Calvert agreed. "We'll keep working for Silas as long as he'll have us, but the second he asks us to do something foul, he gets to try and fly this ship his own damn self."

"Jus' said tha' much, din' I?"

Joshua grinned. He felt more comfortable knowing that Calvert and Marcus were behind him if things with Silas got hairy. They might have a fair amount of pull, actually. There were few men that could fly this airship properly, especially with those engines running, and most of them had been left behind in Nastre. If the three of them quit out, Silas would be out of luck…

"Captain!" Calvert suddenly called worriedly. Joshua and Marcus both turned to look, and the first mate had a worried face as he looked behind them. "We've got a… something coming up fast behind us. I think it's a wyvern or something!"

"Damn!" the Captain cursed. Joshua had to squint to make out what Calvert was talking about. Sure enough, there was something flying behind them, and heading their way. It couldn't be another airship; theirs was the fastest there was, for sure! The only other thing it could be was a monster. As the shape grew in size, Joshua realized that, whatever it was, it was definitely flapping a pair of massive wings as it closed in on them. The Captain turned to face the rest of the crew. "All hands, bind yerselves! There be trouble about! All what don't be crew or mechanics, be gone below deck!"

Around the rest of the deck, men began tying themselves down. Anything that went wrong could easily send a man overboard, and with the blood storm below them, they'd likely be long dead before they hit the ground. Others, those that were off duty or simply not part of the crew, began running below deck, bunkering down. All this was done without question; there had been enough troubles during the ships flight tests that when Marcus said jump, you did it without wondering why.

"What the hell is going on?" Silas snapped, leaping up to the helm and glaring at the men.

"Best get below deck, Silas," Calvert replied, not taking his eyes off of the creature tailing them. "We've got a monster coming for us, and we're not exactly well equipped to deal with a wyvern right now, unless you kept those cannons that were attached to the hull."

The man paled visibly, turning and following Calvert's gaze to the creature that was coming up on them. "No, of course not, they weighed the ship down too much… What are you going to do? You've got to fight it off!"

"'Sno good," Marcus growled. "Ain't no ship tha' can fight a wyvern in the sky. They too skilled in flyin' fer us to outmaneuver. We ought ta land somewhere, 'les the thing comes fer us 'gain. Let the beast go its way, I say, an' wait fer it's passing."

"No! Keep flying!" Silas barked. "I don't care if we have to fly through the sandstorm itself, we're going to get to Loc Lac!"

Calvert turned and glared at the man. "Unless you've got something to drive away monsters, that's not going to happen. You got rid of the hunting gong too, remember? We're not going to risk our hides and the hides of everyone on this ship, even you, just so you can get to Loc Lac in a hurry! If Captain Marcus says we land, then-"

"It's gone!" Joshua gasped. All three men turned in shock at the words. Joshua had hardly believed it himself when he'd looked. The creature, whatever it was, had vanished into thin air! But how? And where?

"It can'ta passed us…" Marcus muttered. "Weren't moving so quick as tha'…"

"It must've dropped into the storm," Calvert speculated. "Though… I can't imagine why… poor beast. Must've been lost and ran out of energy over the storm. Thing won't be living much longer now, I suppose."

"Poor beast?" Silas growled sourly. "Good riddance, I say, creature scaring us all like that. Call the crew back up. They must be sure they are properly prepared for what will receive us in Loc Lac, whatever that may be…"

"I'd get down with the rest of the passengers if I were you," Calvert told the man. "If that thing was a Rathalos or Rathian, it might have a mate nearby. Best to keep a weather eye out just in case for a little while."

"I'll be fine," Silas grumbled. "I'm not going to cower again for some creature that may or may not be-"

A terrible sound, like a dreadful shriek, tore across the deck of the ship, shaking the floorboards of the deck and rattling the very hull. Every single person on deck cried out in pain, clutching their ears as the sound pounded into their skulls. Joshua's vision swam as his skull shook, barely able to handle the pain in his head, but he just managed to catch sight of a massive shape that swept through the air, sailing up and over the blimp of the airship from below, before sliding through the air back below them. A few moments later, the sound began to subside, and the crew of the ship began to recover. Immediately, Captain Marcus turned to glare at Silas.

"Down below deck now, ya twit!" Silas didn't need any more motivation than that, and the man practically sprinted to the hatch, diving under deck and slamming the door behind them. The man was quickly forgotten by the captain though, as he scoured around in search of the creature that was taunting them. "Damn beastie! Wicked creature be hidin' low below tha clouds ta catch us off. What manner o' critter be so wicked as to do so much?"

"I don't care what it is, we need to get away from it!" Calvert replied. "Any creature mad enough to dive into a blood storm to fool its prey is not something we want to mess with! Can we get the engines to go any faster? I don't care if there's a risk of them exploding, it won't matter in the end if we can't-"

Once again, the screeching sound swelled around the ship, and once more the massive black shape appeared. This time however, it swept up from behind them, its bulk smashing against the hull and tearing a swath of wooden planks from the ship. It moved so quickly! Joshua couldn't even managed to make out any details of the creature. As flew up and over the ship, however, Joshua managed to catch sight of the monster as one of its broad wings clipped the edge of the balloon, tearing a gash into it and releasing air from the blimp.

"Damn it!" Marcus cursed. "Hol' tight yer ropes, sailors! Any loose an' you'll find yerselves fallin' far!"

Joshua gasped as the dragonship plunged, dropping out of the sky as the tear in the balloon howled free. Several of the crew howled in fear as their feet gave out from underneath them as the ship dropped, and several of them cried out as the ropes lashing them to the ship went taut, biting into their skin. Marcus strained against the controls of the ship, and the Lost's engine flared furiously. It seemed like forever to Joshua, but the ship slowly began to level out, and the flailing crew fell back onto the deck of the ship.

Joshua realized that his arms were beginning to hurt from how tightly he was clutching the railing of the ship. As the ship began to steady out a bit more, he finally pulled away from the side of the ship to look around, and his heart leapt into his throat as he did so. The bottom of their ship was actually skimming just over the tops of the swirling, raging sandstorm below them. Rouge winds slipped up every few moments, and a spray of sand slid across Joshua's face, biting into his flesh and drawing blood from the young man. Joshua yelped in pain, pulling away from the side of the ship, afraid to get too close to the churning winds.

"Joshua!" Marcus barked. "Up the rigging boy! Now! Gotta get that hole right an' patched, right quick!"

"What!?"

"Do it, boy! Tha bitin' storm below be all that's keepin' us up! Tha balloon gets much smaller, an' we'll drop right quick! Double time now, up ya go!"

Joshua shivered fearfully, but dutifully hurried over to the rope ladder and began to climb. He had to force himself not to look down as he did; this was the worst part of this flying work! Back on Captain Marcus' old ship, if you slipping and fell, assuming you didn't hit the deck at least you'd land in the water. Here though… even tied to the ship, there was a long drop below you into nothingness, and if the rope didn't catch you, biting into your skin, you'd have an even longer fall before hitting the ground. But with this sandstorm below them now… even if the ropes caught you, dangling for long in that storm with all the raging sand… Joshua didn't like to even think of it.

The hole in the balloon was tricky to climb to, but Joshua had gotten quite a bit of experience shambling across the lines that draped from the balloon by now. But at a time like this, with a monster attacking them and the lives of everyone aboard on the line, Joshua didn't know whether he could pull this off… But he climbed anyway, shimmying across the rope ladders and binding over to the tear.

He could practically feel the blimp deflating under him as he scurried across the leather and cloth balloon. But he tried not to focus on such things, and tried to keep his balance, even as the beast that hunted them swept through the air about them. Joshua had to do all he could to stay upright as the creature continued to smash against them, shaking the very ship with each blow. He didn't dare try and look at the monster; he knew that if he saw the beast, he could not be able to continue. He forced himself to only focus on the tear as he pulled himself closer and closer to the hole in the blimp.

It seemed an eternity, but Joshua finally reached the tear. It felt as though the blimp was near empty to him, but air still continued to hiss from the gash with such powerful force… He worked quickly, using the tools he kept in his pouch to quickly bind the wound in the balloon as fast as he possibly could. It wouldn't be perfect, and it wouldn't be clean, but it might hold them long enough to get all the way to Loc Lac, or anywhere safer than this! Like a deadly patchwork quilt, he strung the balloon back together with sturdy twine and trusty knots, before coating the stitching with thick slimy caulking, which hardened in the chill air almost instantly, to blot out the stream of air that flowed from the hole.

With a shout down to the crew below, Joshua could hear the fires of the oil burners below igniting, and warmth filled the skin of the balloon and he began to feel the blimp inflating once more. Joshua sighed in relief; they were safe for a while! All that needed to be done now was for them to somehow escape this monster that was dogging them…

"Joshua!" Marcus' strained howl came from the helm of the ship, and Joshua turned. As he spun about, he realized that there was a massive black shape behind him. He found himself looking directly into a large, piercing red and yellow eye. There was a deep, rumbling growl, and then the massive creature swept up and over the balloon of the airship. There was a flash as the creature's black talons lashed out, and another, greater tear ripped across the balloon, this one many times larger than the first.

Joshua gasped as the airship bucked once, and then plummeted down, falling into the raging winds of the blood storm.

* * *

Ellie winced as a blast of flame erupted to the side of her, and she cursed as she tumbled to the stone ground, wincing in pain as she pushed herself to her feet once more. Kerry quickly helped her back to her feet, holding her steady until she found her balance again, despite the ringing in her ears. She kind of wished the temporary deafness had stayed, however, as the sound of Pugnax's laughter could be heard once more as the sound in her ears faded.

"Damn him! How does he know how to do all this?" she growled angrily.

"It seems that we have been underestimating the man," Harker replied, rubbing his shoulder. The long sword user was covered in soot and ash, and the lining of his armor was badly burnt. "I suppose we choose to forget that Pugnax was, in fact, a well-known and well-respected hunter in the time before we met him, and before all the terrible things that happened in Malefica. It should have occurred to me that he would know his way around this part of town."

Ellie winced as another explosion shook the shop they were in. Pugnax had led them in a tedious, painful chase through the streets of Loc Lac. The man had intentionally taken them into a shopping district, where he had somehow managed to lay traps for them, using the materials and equipment that was sold in the buildings against them. Of course he would know what every shop sold and where they were kept; he'd been hunting in Loc Lac for years! The three hunters had been forced to dodge shock traps, poison smoke bombs, and a dozen other tricks that had nearly crippled them in their attempt to stop the lancer. And now, most recently, Pugnax had led them into a store that specialized in barrel bombs, and seemed to have no hesitation to use the explosives against them.

Ellie winced as a small, blue-painted barrel bounced across the floor past them, before it whizzed off with a jet of fire before detonating against the ceiling. They almost had the man cornered in the back of the storehouse! They just needed to close the gap a bit more, and then-

An especially powerful explosion rocked the building, and the hunters winced as a collection of bricks and shrapnel flew across the room, one nearly catching Kerry in the head. The huntress yelped, ducking as a wave of dust and debris floated across the floor of the room. Ellie cursed, dashing around the corner of the piles of wares. Sure enough, Pugnax had blown a hole into the wall of the shop, and had vanished out into the back alley. The three hunters cautiously followed, fearful that the man had set more traps for them.

But there was a glimmer of hope as they stepped into the thin side street. Pugnax had been laughing at them almost the whole time they had been chasing the lancer. But now Ellie could make out muttered curses coming from the man not too far away from where they were. The huntress rushed forward, trying her best to hold back in case Pugnax had any more 'surprises' for them, but eager to finally corner the lancer once and for all.

Sure enough, the hunters rounded a few more corners, following the trail of overturned garbage that Pugnax had left behind to find the hunter stuck inside a thin alleyway with no exit, a tall chain fence on either side keeping him from continuing his escape from them. Both sides of the alley had tall sandstone brick buildings towering upwards, keeping the man pinned in, with only a few small doors providing any way out of the area. He turned, looking at the doors hoping for an escape, but caught sight of the three hunters as they drew their weapons, Ellie and Kerry leveling their bowguns at the man.

But rather than cower or show any sort of fear, Pugnax actually smirked excitedly. "Well, well, I suppose this little game has come to an end, hasn't it? I was wondering if you would ever manage to pin me in."

"What the hell are you trying to pull, Pugnax?" Ellie snapped angrily. "What the hell are you doing, trying to drag the Lost into starting a riot here in Loc Lac?"

Pugnax cocked his head in amusement at the huntress. "Isn't it obvious, Ellie? I am here for the same reason that I became a general in Malefica. Power! Strength! When Levin and all of you brought down Malefica, I only managed to escape by the skin of my teeth. Everything I had made for myself, my name and glory, my respect and pride, vanished, all because of you pestering little flies!" His expression soured for a moment, and fury welled up in the man's eyes, but then they returned to the excited look they'd had before. "But look! Look around you, woman! Look at what you and Levin have turned Loc Lac into, all fire and chaos and anger and hate! You think I did all this by myself? No, this started with Levin, calling down the Alatreon's wrath on the city! All I did was… nudge the Lost in a more suitable direction! Look around! Rioting! Fighting! Humans fighting humans! Hunters coming out to battle against his fellow man! What more could a man like me ask for?"

"You… you did this for fun?" Kerry asked, aghast. "You… This won't last forever! The Lost won't dance to your tune! The riots will stop, and the city will see you for what you really are! You killed hunters and guards for fun, and you won't get away with it!"

Pugnax laughed. "Oh, yes they will! They will all turn a blind eye to me, I guarantee it!" The man pointed up towards the sky. "After all… I will be the one to slay the Alatreon!"

The hunters were flabbergasted at the words, and Pugnax laughed again. "Look at the fear in the city! People cower at the very thought of the beast! Just imagine how they will react when I carry the creature's head in my hands! Do you really think they will imprison me, no matter what I've done? No! They will cheer me, laud me, love me and fear me! It won't matter how many people I've killed or the crimes I've committed, I will be a hero to all of them! After that…" The man smirked wickedly. "Perhaps having the control you so swiftly stole from me in Malefica will be within my grasp. But I don't really care about that… all I really want is Levin's head. And perhaps the heads of you three as well."

"Like hell you're going to get them. Any of them!" Kerry snapped in a moment of surprise viciousness. Ellie and Harker, and even Pugnax seemed stunned at the tone of voice.

"Who's going to stop me?" Pugnax asked, recovering quickly. "When I kill the Alatreon, I will be able to do anything! Were I to kill the lot of you in public, on a stage in front of thousands of people, who would raise a hand to stop me? Who would arrest me? I would be the hero, the legend that slayed the Alatreon! None would dare to touch me!"

"You would challenge the elder dragon yourself?" Harker asked. "That would be… and though I try not to say such things of other people's idea, rather foolish, if I do say so."

"You're not going to beat the Alatreon!" Ellie snapped, swinging her bowgun up and aiming it at the lancer. "You wouldn't stand a chance. And you're not going to kill Levin! You're going to stop all this madness… or else!"

"Nobody tells me what I can and cannot do!" Pugnax roared, his amused expression vanishing in a flash. With a sweep of his arm, the lancer swung his weapon from its holster, pointing the tip of his lance at the three hunters in front of him. "And nobody ever will again! I had planned to savor your deaths after I'd finished off the elder dragon, but if you three are so desperate to meet your end early, then who am I to hold back now? The hunters that have thrown themselves at me in a pathetic attempt to stop me have been… lacking to say the least. I'm looking forward to a fight that I can truly enjoy…"

Ellie glared at the man. Harker had been right: Pugnax wouldn't go down easily. She still hoped she didn't have to kill him, but after everything he'd done… she could spare to maim him a little bit. Before Ellie could pull the trigger though, the alleyway darkened for a fraction of a second. A moment later the light returned. It was like a cloud passing over, but the darkness was deep, as though something had blotted out the sun for a moment. Pugnax's eyes went skyward, and a wide, rapturous smile peeled across his face.

"Finally! It's here at last!"

Ellie's skull suddenly felt as though it was splitting apart as an earth-shaking roar ripped through the city, and Ellie's hand instinctively went to her ears to blot out the sound. The buildings on either side of the alley shook violently from the force of the sound, and several windows shattered, spraying a rain of glittering glass to the ground from above. Above the building a massive black shape tore overhead, and a blast of wind tore through the streets and alleys, knocking Ellie off her feet from the force of it all. As the sound of the roar faded, Ellie could hear Pugnax laughing maniacally behind her.

"The Alatreon! The Alatreon has arrived!"

Ellie turned sharply, pulling her bowgun up again, but cursed when she found that Pugnax had vanished again, and the alley was empty save her, Kerry and Harker. One of the doors on the nearby buildings had been completely shattered, and the sound of sprinting feet could be heard within. But before she could give chase again, Ellie felt a deep pressure press into her skull, and both Harker and Kerry groaned in pain as well.

**Humans!** The voice of the Alatreon was like thunder in her head. **The time has come for you to suffer for your pride! Panic! Wail! This city will be razed to the ground!**

Kerry was quivering where she stood, and Ellie didn't feel much better than her friend looked. Below her, the earth began to shake and vibrate, rattling the garbage and pails that filled the alleyway and sending them clattering across the earth. Ellie realize that there was a deep, rumbling, rushing sound in her ears, and it was picking up in speed and intensity. She glanced towards the end of the alley, and her eyes widened in horror.

A pillar of fire was rising up in the center of the city, blazing red and yellow flames towering into the sky higher than any of the buildings. An earth-shaking roar washed over them as the sound of the fires eruption reached them, nearly knocking the hunters off their feet from the intensity as a wave of heat smashed into them.

But the heat didn't simmer or fade at all. Rather, it seemed to grow more and more intense! In horror, Ellie realized that the pillar of flame was growing! No, rather it was moving! It wasn't a pillar of flame, but instead a massive, horrible jet of fire that the Alatreon itself was firing down into the city. And the elder dragon was continuing to shoot the awful flames down into streets and buildings without ceasing, doing as it had said and razing the city. Horror clung to Ellie's heart, and terror froze her where she stood. Her breath caught in her throat. She couldn't think, couldn't breathe. She could only stare in horror as the flames swept across the city. As the flames swept directly towards her.

"No!"

The strangled cry nearly brought Ellie out of her frozen state, but her mind didn't truly start working until she felt herself hauled off of her feet and thrown over someone's shoulder. The heat was almost unbearable now, and she realized that she was being carried at an insane pace through the streets of Loc Lac, perpendicular to the line of the fiery pillar that was destroying Loc Lac. Ellie could hear strained gasping as she was hauled through the streets, dodging past vending shops and abandoned wagons. But were they going fast enough? The pillar of fire was bearing down on them, and coming fast.

The blaze just barely missed them. Ellie was nearly blinded as the flames smashed into the stone street behind them, and the blast was so powerful that it knocked the hunters off of their feet, sending them flying through the air and tumbling across the stone walkway. Ellie cried out in pain as the force of the inferno threw her through a storefront and crashing through several shelves full of sundries and goods. Ellie groaned in pain as she lay there, her body aching from the impact and her face red and raw from the wave of heat that had washed across her. Her ears were still ringing from the deafening sound of the blaze, but it was fading into a peaceful sort of silence, slowly but surely. She wanted to sleep… she hurt so much…

It was the laughing that pulled her from her misery. That awful, wicked laughing… She could hear it in the back of her skull, the Alatreon mocking their pain and suffering, their death and loss. It was amused and joyful at everything it was doing, and told them as much.

**Weep, humans! Cry out in misery! Know that the time has come for your end, and there is nothing you can do to stop it! Your arrogance and pride has led you to your fates, and there is nothing you can do to stop it! Despair! Despair! Lay down, and let death overtake you!**

But she couldn't. Not right now. It was a struggle to bring herself to move, but the huntress manage to find the strength to roll onto her stomach and push herself up to her feet. She felt as though the earth itself was weighing down on her, and she was sore all over. But she limped over to the entrance of the shop, drinking down a quick potion to numb the pain a bit. She glanced around the shop… she'd really made a mess of the place coming through the window. She'd have to come back one day to apologize to the owner… but that would come later. For now she had to try and find Kerry and Harker.

It was devastation outside, however. As Ellie stumbled out of the storefront, her eyes immediately went to the raging flames that covered the skyline. The pillar of flames had vanished; she hadn't been mistaken about that. But the fires left behind by the terrible attack still lingered, catching flame to that which was still standing. Thankfully, the Alatreon either hadn't decided to burn the entire city to the ground in one massive blaze of fire, or it simply hadn't had the power to do so all in one go. Either way, even from her perspective on the ground, Ellie could tell that with one powerful attack, the Alatreon had truly burned a swath of destruction through the city. This was the creature they intended to fight? Or at the very least, distract? How could they possibly match this creature for strength?

But those weren't thoughts she could have right now. The Alatreon was in Loc Lac. She needed to find Kerry and Harker. She needed to find Levin! But where had her friends gone?

Several buildings nearby had been leveled by the force of the blaze that the Alatreon had swept across Loc Lac. None were burned, and few had caught fire, but the sheer force of the inferno had sent out shockwaves that had toppled numerous buildings, collapsing them in on themselves. It was from one of them nearby that Ellie caught sight of movement, a shifting collection of beams and pillars that shook and rocked in a way that couldn't be natural. Ellie hurried over as quickly as her body would allow her, and sure enough, she could hear someone struggling beneath it. She worked her way across the debris, before desperately trying to move the wooden beams and get underneath them.

It was a struggle to work her way under the mess of fallen mess, but she managed to move them enough to finally catch sight of Kerry underneath all the mess. The woman was curled up and shivering, and clutching something very tightly. With a spike of horror, Ellie realized that it was Harker.

"No no no no no…" The red-headed huntress was whispering fearfully under her breath, and Ellie didn't blame her. Harker looked terrible. His face was eerily pale and covered in a line of blood. But despite the long sword user's clearly poor state, Kerry was in worse condition than him. She had apparently taken the brunt of the damage trying to protect him from the falling building, and several tears and gashes in her armor, though there was less blood on her than there was on Harker. But Harker wasn't moving either…

The bowgunner barely reacted as Ellie struggled to pull the pair of hunters from the debris. It was difficult to do, even more so with the sounds of destruction rolling in from the rest of the city. It seemed as though the creature was continuing its assault on Loc Lac, if not nearly in such a devastating way as before. The sound of the creature's flames came and went as they had in its initial attack, but now it was accompanied by other methods of attack; there was the roll of thunder as the beast sent lances of lightning down onto the city, and flashes of blue as spears of ice were dropped onto the populace. All of this kept going, while the sound of the creature's laughter echoed like a dull reminder in the back of their skulls.

"Harker… Harker, please no," Kerry sobbed, as she huntress placed the long sword user against a small, still-standing wall.

"What happened?" Ellie asked, as she fumbled for her medical supplied.

"We landed in the building," Kerry said in gasping breaths, still clutching tightly to Harker's arm as Ellie forced a potion down the hunter's throat. "But the curse… I could feel it! It wanted to kill him! When the building started to come down, I tried to cover him, to save him, but… but the curse… oh, no, it's all my fault!"

"Kerry, it's not-"

"It is! I knew this would happen!" Ellie looked helplessly at her friend as she sobbed over Harker, clutching tightly to the man in misery. "I could… I've been able to feel the curse welling up inside me for days now! I knew… I knew something terrible would happen, but I thought that I could stop it! But I can't… I never could… and now… now Harker is…"

"Forgive me if I ask you not to kill me off so quickly as that…" Kerry gasped as Harker's eyes opened, and the long sword user gave her a weak smile. Immediately, she threw her arms around him, sobbing thankfully. The man winced from the intensity of the affection, but smiled encouragingly at the woman he loved, returning the gesture and wrapping his own arms around her. "There now, my dear Lady Kerrigan. I won't die so easily. I have survived far worse than buildings falling on me. And I certainly refuse to do so whilst you are still living. It would pain me to leave you in mourning over a such a risk-taking fool like myself."

"But the curse!" The huntress cried. "I could feel it welling up… it wanted you dead, I know it! When the building fell on us, and the power of it vanished, I thought…"

Harker laughed softly. "I've told you before, my dear Lady Kerrigan, I don't ascribe to such things as fate and curses. Let them come for me all they like, they will meet with an impenetrable wall of skepticism. I decide how my life is laid out before me, and nobody else can tell me otherwise."

"That… I thought you were dead! The curse has always worked before, has always done terrible things… I was so afraid…"

"And yet I am still here, am I not?" Harker asked gently. "I fear no curses, Lady Kerrigan, and I certainly don't fear you. No matter what manner of threat you think this 'curse' bears towards me, I have no worry over its power, for if it is indeed a part of you, it can certainly not be something that I need fear."

The two sat in silence for several minutes, Harker quietly reassuring the huntress while Kerry cried into his chest, thankful that he had somehow survived what she imagined was the worst fate possible. Ellie couldn't bring herself to intercede, even as the sound of the Alatreon's destruction rang through the city. But eventually Harker pushed Kerry away.

"I do not mean to be rude, Lady Kerrigan, but perhaps this can be saved for another time? We have other things that we must accomplish right now, and while this 'curse' of yours may not have found its mark in me as you feared, there are still other things out there in Loc Lac that could be the end of me, or the end of us all. Let us save the relief and satisfaction of survival for when our other problems are dealt with, shall we."

Kerry seemed clearly unhappy with the decision, but nodded in agreement. "You… you're right. We have other things to do." The two got to their feet, a bit gingerly, and Harker seemed a touch unsteady where he stood, but it would have to do. "I suppose… I suppose that we may have to give up on hunting down Pugnax for now."

Ellie winced as a spear of ice shot down the street next to them. The frozen lance soared through the air for a great distance before smashing against one of the buildings down the street, ripping the top floor completely off.

"It would appear you are correct," Harker replied sourly. "It seems that the man will have to receive punishment for his crimes at a later time. For now, it seems as though we can no longer put off trying to recover Levin. We must find our friend…"

"And then we'll need to do whatever it takes to get the Alatreon away from Loc Lac," Ellie finished. It pained her to think about what they might have to do to accomplish that… but they'd do it, somehow or another. They had to. "Kerry, you said you knew where the warehouse Felicia mentioned was. How far are we away from it?"

Kerry looked around at their surroundings. "I'm not… certain. There's too much destruction to be sure, but I think it's a few streets over, and a bit closer to the Loc Lac Tower."

"Then let's hurry up and get there. We don't have time to waste…"

Though the warehouse really wasn't far, like Kerry had told them, the journey was a treacherous one. Panic had descended upon the city at the arrival of the Alatreon, and though there were some that were trying to fight back, the numbers were painfully small, and the sheer force and devastation that the creature had at its disposal had left so many people numb and horrified, and even more crying out in despair at their fates. It seemed that the Alatreon was no longer holding back its mental connection to just the Lost either. Several times they saw locals clutching their heads in horror, terrified at the voice of the elder dragon in their skulls, as the beast mocked them and taunted them, telling them that they were doomed to die. There were countless people running aimlessly through the streets, trying to find somewhere to hide, but where could they go?

Alongside trying to avoid the mobs of panicking civilians, the hunters also had to avoid the assaults of the Alatreon itself. The elder dragon didn't seem to be holding back with any of its attacks, and was assailing Loc Lac with all manner of dangerous powers and elements. Countless times, it seemed that the three hunters just barely avoided death as a wave of fire, lightning, ice, or dragon element blazed across their path, destroying buildings great and small alike. The city was breaking apart, and yet the hunters couldn't afford to slow down or take in any of the death and chaos around them. They had to force themselves onward, ignoring everything else in hopes of rescuing Levin and distracting the Alatreon.

When they finally reached the warehouse that Felicia had spoken of, they were glad to still find it standing, somehow. One of the structure's corners had been destroyed though, so part of the building had collapsed, but most of it remained upright. There was nobody outside the building, but there were some abandoned weapons lying near the door, and Ellie wondered if there had been guards there before that had run at the first sign of the Alatreon. The interior was dark as they entered, and filled top to bottom with random weapons and Guild materials for hunting. Felicia had been right; it was very inconspicuous. At any other time, Ellie would never have imagined that the building was anything but a storehouse for the Guild. But there had to be something more… The three hunters pressed back further into the building searching for a sign of the entryway into the Gullet.

It didn't take too long to find. Near the back of the warehouse was another smaller room, wedged against the far wall. It was built sturdily, made of solid stone and looking as though it would survive, even if the rest of the warehouse collapsed in on itself. There was the flickering light inside, and Ellie could hear a couple of guards inside, arguing about something. The hunters crept over to a thin window looking in, a challenge to do considering all the armor they were wearing. But as they got close, Ellie peeked through the thin opening, looking into the small room. The guards were nervous, arguing about whether or not they should stay where they were or not. It seemed both of them could hear the voice of the Alatreon. One of them was arguing that they run, while the other was claiming that they should stay, and let the hunters deal with the Alatreon and chase it off, though he was clearly not very confident in the idea.

Behind them, however, was what caught Ellie's eye the most: a wide, wooden gate, angled downward and covering what was almost certainly a stairwell leading down into the earth. The entrance to the Gullet! It had to be! A feeling of urgency was welling up inside of Ellie now; they were so close to finding Levin again, and the Alatreon was attacking… she couldn't afford to wait any longer! Kerry yelped in surprise as Ellie swung around, kicking her way through the small door that led into the small room. The guard closest to the gate was the first to catch sight of her.

"Hey! You there! What do you think you're doing in here?"

"Move!" Ellie snapped, swinging her bowgun around. The man tried to block, but the butt of the weapon cracked him in the side of the head, sending him tumbling backwards, smashing through the thin wooden gate and down into the darkness below, tumbling down the stairs.

The second guard turned to shout at her, going for his sword, but Harker lunged at this man, his long sword flashing. The blade smashed into the man's bracer, releasing a deep ringing sound, and the man cried out in pain, clutching his wrist as the blade toppled from his grip. Another swing of the long sword brought the flat end of the blade banging into the man's helmet, and the steel armor toppled from the man's head. Harker lowered his blade, and swung his fist, smashing the man in the jaw. But the blow didn't drop the man, and the guard turned, rubbing his chin and growling at Harker, raising his own fists. Another gauntleted fist came from the side, however, and smashed into the guard's face, sending him sprawling to the ground unconscious. Kerry shook her wrist irritably, before giving Harker a concerned look. The long sword user chuckled sheepishly.

"Ah… well, I've never been one for fisticuffs… weak arms, I suppose. I much prefer my sword."

"Well, you'd better be willing to use it to get past the guards from here on," Ellie replied, looking down into the dark stairwell leading into the Gullet. "They won't be the last ones we see, and I doubt any of the rest will be less aggressive in trying to stop us."

Kerry and Harker looked into the darkness, worry and nervousness clear in their expression. The building shook as an explosion erupted somewhere outside the warehouse, and the hunters looked at each other nervously. Harker shrugged, putting on a confident expression. "No sense waiting around here, now is there? Best get this done and over with. We've got a friend to recover, and a city to save."

"Yes," Kerry agreed. "Let's go, Ellie."

"Right," Ellie nodded. They had very little time… they would need to be quick. The huntress stepped forward and leapt down the stairs, with Kerry and Harker close behind. They'd get Levin out! Then they'd deal with the Alatreon…

* * *

A wide, excited grin was plastered across Pugnax's face, and had been since the Alatreon had first assaulted Loc Lac. Finally, the chance for him to prove his worth and strength to everyone! He couldn't guess at long he'd been climbing the Tower, but it didn't matter. The stairs of the Loc Lac Tower were long and winding, and seemed to go on forever as they spiraled into the sky. Any lesser man would be worn out trying to even get to the top of them, especially at the pace that Pugnax was going, but the lancer barely felt out of breath; his excitement was simply overwhelming at the moment. There were few in his way as he climbed, and none stopped him. They were all too cowardly, and trying to flee.

There was a burst of light as the hunter burst through the hatch at the top of the tower, climbing back out into the sunlight onto the roof of the Tower. Few came up this high, but it was well-kept for what it was: a flat, wide-spread area that stretched several dozen yards across. It had been chiseled out over years from the existing horn that the Tower had been, along with a thin barrier made of the same material that surrounded the entire space. It was the same size as the arena… a coliseum in the sky. Pugnax laughed; it would be the perfect location for this battle!

He could hear the roar of the beast, and the devastation it was causing below. He strode quickly over to the balustrade of the Tower's peak, looking down over the edge. The Alatreon was sweeping through the town, sending blasts of fire, arcs of lightning, and lances of ice down on the pathetic civilians and hunters below. Every once in a while, it even fired that black and red energy down, the deadly dragon element. And all the while he could feel the creature's presence in his mind, laughing and mocking the people of Loc Lac. So much destruction! It had cut a veritable swath through the entire city with its power! Pugnax began to grow ecstatic. Now was the time! As the people were panicking, he would strike the beast down here, at the highest point in the city, and all would bear witness to it! But how to get the creature's attention?

He could hear the voice in his head, just as he imagined every other soul in Loc Lac could as well. The beast's voice resonated in Pugnax's skull like thunder, but the lancer reveled in it. All this power that the beast held would only make it that much more of a victory when Pugnax slew the elder dragon! As the monster mocked the people of the city, Pugnax couldn't help but wonder: if the creature could speak to them, could they speak back?

'_Beast!_' Pugnax shouted in his mind, trying to send the call to the Alatreon. The elder dragon seemed to dip in the air at the call, and it's laughing was cut off. Pugnax smirked; it had worked! _'Fight me you cowardly creature! Ignore those pathetic people below you and meet my challenge! I will be the one to end you!'_ The creature's attention turned away from the city, and Pugnax saw the elder dragon's head turn to look up at the tower at him. Even from so far, Pugnax could feel his eyes meet the monster's, and his lips curled into a vicious smile. _'Fight me, dragon, and meet your fate!'_

The Alatreon was silent for a moment, then it beat its powerful wings and lifted itself skyward, soaring upwards higher and higher, spiraling around the Loc Lac Tower until in shot past the pinnacle of the structure. The dragon continued to circle, it's red and yellow eyes boring down onto Pugnax, before finally sweeping in and landing atop the Tower's peak, it's great form towering over Pugnax. But the lancer didn't care.

**Human**, the Alatreon growled into Pugnax's mind. **Foolish, prideful human. You wish to challenge me? To battle me in single combat? Where are your allies? Where are your comrades? You hunters always travel in packs. So it has been when such weak creatures as yourself fight me.**

Pugnax laughed, unsheathing his lance and pointing it at the Alatreon. "I have no need of allies or comrades. I am more than enough to slay a beast like you. I am Pugnax! And I will be the one who ends you, beast. I will be lauded for eternity for doing so! Come, fell dragon! Let's see if you deserve that infamy you've garnered over the years, or is all you're capable of the killing of helpless civilians as they cower in their homes?"

In his mind, Pugnax could feel the creature's fury grow, and it seethed viciously at him. Pugnax grinned happily, it was just as he wanted it!

The Alatreon moved like a flash, pushing itself into the air with its wings in one powerful motion, before another beat of the powerful appendages sent it tearing through the air towards Pugnax like a spear. The hunter had a fraction of a second to dive to the side before the Alatreon's powerful claws smashed into the roof of the Tower, splintering the building below and sending wide cracks like spider webs across the roof. The creature gave Pugnax no respite either, swinging upwards into the air again, before sailing down again, its claws once again smashing through the solid material of the tower. Twice more again it did the same, each time with Pugnax dodging and sliding out of the way of the deadly strikes.

The creature landed, growling irritably at Pugnax as the lancer grinned in amusement. "Is this all you have, creature? A few quick hits? I expected more from you!"

The Alatreon hissed furiously, and burning red light came to life in the back of the monster's maw. A moment later a massive fireball blazed from the creature's mouth, too quickly to dodge. But Pugnax slid just to the side, the burning orb glancing off the very edge of his shield. An eruption of fire detonated across the rooftop of the Tower, but the force of it was directed almost entirely away from Pugnax. His shield glowed red from the intensity of the inferno, and had it not been for his armor, the red-hot metal would have seared his flesh. But none of this mattered to Pugnax now. He was lost in his lust for battle.

Another blazing fireball welled up in the Alatreon's maw, but rather than dodge or try to block as he had before, the lancer lunged, charging straight towards the elder dragon. The Alatreon even seemed stunned by the move, the fires in it maw dimming for a moment before burning back to life. But it was enough time for the lancer to close the distance between himself and the elder dragon, and as the fireball burst from the monster's maw, Pugnax slid below the creature's head, his lance aimed straight for the Alatreon's throat, striking right on target.

But the blow was deflected. Pugnax froze in shock. No scales broken, no plates torn free of the flesh beneath, no shredded hide or gushing blood. His attack had done nothing! Again he struck, and again once more, but still the blows had no effect, glancing harmlessly off the elder dragon's thick scales and plates. There had to be a weakness, a soft spot to be exploited, somewhere on the Alatreon's body. But where? He gasped, leaping away just in time as the monster's leapt into the air, its tail whipping about and nearly taking off Pugnax's head with its jagged scales and spines. As Pugnax pulled away, putting distance between himself and the beast, the creature settled back to the ground, eyeing him like prey.

**Is this all you have?** The Alatreon's voice rumbled in Pugnax's skull, a smug tone in the words. **You cannot even harm me. My plates are thick and my power unmatched! I am an invincible existence! And you? You are merely an aggravation, a waste of my time that refuses to die as it should. Give up human, and I will grant you a quick death.**

"You seem awfully eager for me to give up rather than fighting, dragon!" Pugnax snapped with a smirk. "Are you afraid to fight me, Alatreon? Are you afraid of actually having someone that's ready and willing to fight you to the death in a fair fight? Coward! Is this how you've gained your notoriety over the years? Killing unarmed civilians and egging hunters into giving up? And you call humans weak! Even that scum Levin has greater courage than you!"

Pugnax was surprised to see the Alatreon's eyes widen slightly. He wasn't too used to seeing surprise on a monster's face. Fear, anger, hate, pain, agony, weariness… those were common enough, but surprise? That was rare. But it was replaced quickly enough, as a feeling of seething fury seared through the bond the Alatreon had made, such intense rage that vastly overpowered any sense of anger he'd felt from the creature from all his jabs and insults before. He wondered idly what sort of bond the creature had, if any, with Levin… No matter. Pugnax felt his excitement grow. Now the battle was getting interesting!

The Alatreon reared back, standing on its hind legs for a moment as it released a powerful roar, a terrible, ear-splitting screech of rage. But Pugnax raised his shield, an old trick he'd learned; as powerful as a monster's roar could be, he somehow had learned to hold his shield just right so that the howls would not be the deafening sound they normally were, but became instead something he could recover from nearly instantly. Even before the Alatreon's roar had ceased, he was already charging forward, the tip of his spear aiming for the Alatreon's gut.

As the Alatreon dropped back to all four legs, the lancer's weapon shot up from below, clanging off of the thick scales of the elder dragon's chest and underbelly. Pugnax cursed to himself; still his lance couldn't break through the creature's defenses! But there had to be a weakness somewhere, he was sure of it! At least the creature seemed surprised by the attack, growling viciously at the hunter as his lanced glanced off of its body, but still striking again and again.

Energy leapt through the air, and Pugnax slid out from under the Alatreon, pulling away from the creature as a massive surge of electricity seared the air, lighting up the sky around the beast as several bolts crashed down into the Loc Lac Tower, leaving behind several black marks burnt into the roof of the building. The dragon's head swung around, its eyes leveling on the lancer, before in growled angrily, lowering its horns and charging straight towards him, a surge of black dragon energy swirling around it as it bore down on him.

It took every ounce of skill that Pugnax possessed to defend from the attack. As the creature neared him, the lancer pulled his lance to the side as the Alatreon dipped its horns even lower to sweep them under the hunter. At the same moment, the shield and the horns moved, clipping and clashing against each other as Pugnax pushed away the jagged blades up and away from himself. At the same time, he swung his lance around using the momentum. The tip of the spear was aimed right at the Alatreon's eye, and for a moment, Pugnax knew that the creature had an expression of horror on its face.

But the attack missed. The Alatreon moved its head just enough that the blow instead glanced off of the beast's snout, ricocheting skywards. But though it did not strike its intended target, the attack was enough to make the Alatreon wince in surprise, and Pugnax smiled gleefully, pulling the lance back and striking again, hitting the dragon again in the face. The elder dragon reeled back, wincing as blow after blow struck its head and jaw, deflecting each time but sending sparks flying with each hit and with enough force to jolt the creature's skull with each resounding hit.

The Alatreon howled in anger, leaping away from Pugnax in a fury, its wings pushing it through the air far enough to carry it to the other side of the Tower peak. Steam began to swell in the dragon's mouth, and a blast of white freezing air blasted through the air towards Pugnax. The lancer braced himself, lowering himself behind the shield as the bone-chilling blast roared past him, turning the roof around him to ice coating his shield in a thick layer as well. Pugnax laughed at the attempt when the ice beam died away, swinging the base of his shield into the ground and shattering the ice coat on it as the Alatreon glared at him.

The Alatreon lunged at him, swinging its claws at him angrily, with dragon energy blazing along its talons. But Pugnax jumped back, dodging the strike and nimbly thrusting with his lance at the monster's claws. Finally, the blow refused to simply glance off the creature's thick scales, and his weapon found a weak point, shattering several of the creature's scales and piercing the elder dragon's flesh, pulling a trickle of deep red blood from the injury. Deep black scales skittered onto the roof of the Tower, shimmering brightly in the bright desert sun. Pugnax pulled his shield back excitedly. Ha! Let that be a lesson to the creature! It claimed to be invincible, but let the pain of its wounds teach it otherwise! Pugnax would slay this creature yet, so long as he could-

The Alatreon's claw slammed down, cracking the roof of the Tower. But Pugnax went down with it getting dragged to the floor as the beast's talons caught hold of the man's weapon, crushing it below the elder dragon's weight. Pugnax cursed as he pulled the weapon free; his lance was completely bent, nearly in half! The tip of the blade hung almost loosely from the end, hanging on by a small thread of the rent metal. Pugnax cursed, shaking the weapon and ripping off the destroyed tip of the lance. He could still use the torn points of the lance as a weapon against the creature. He didn't need the full lance against the Alatreon. He could still win!

But the Alatreon slashed its claws at him as he stood there, dark lightning dancing along its talons, and the power of the strike was enough to tear a shrieking gash through Pugnax's shield, nearly ripping the thick metal plate in half. The lancer howled in pain as the creature's claw tore through flesh as well, shredding through his Agnaktor armor as well and rending the flesh beneath. Pugnax clutched his arm in agony as bright red blood flowed from the wound, and he stumbled back in pain. He looked around in a panic. His lance was bent and torn, his shield was destroyed… he had to find something he could fight with, but there was nothing else on the peak of the Tower.

"I can't lose… I can't lose! I am unmatched! I will burn brighter than any other hunter ever! I have wounded you. I have made you bleed! I will kill you! I am strong!"

**You are weak.** The Alatreon's voice bored into his skull. **You are just another human, and nothing special. Injure me? Nothing can injure me. My scales are impermeable. You thought you could fight me alone and win? You are a fool! And I have no more patience in me for fools…**

The elder dragon's claws lashed out again, smashing against Pugnax's chest, shattering several ribs and sending him painfully tumbling across the Tower roof. He crashed against the thin ledge that encircled the edge of the Tower, splintering his armor even further. But he couldn't surrender, not yet! He had to win! He had to show the world how strong he was! He had to prove that Levin was weaker than him, that he was the greater of them! He painfully pushed himself to his feet, trying to ignore the screaming pain from his injuries as he clutched the balustrade.

**You are stubborn,** the Alatreon told him as it strode towards him. **You have more ego and pride than you deserve. You wish to burn brightly, human? Fine: I will grant you your wish. May you burn as an example for all of humanity, before I raze this city to the ground!**

Pugnax watched in horror as the Alatreon opened its maw, and blazing light swelled up in the beast's throat. A moment later a searing fireball burst from the elder dragon's maw, tearing through the air towards him. Pugnax raised his arms and the remains of his shield in a futile attempt to block the oncoming flames.

But it was to no avail.

As the fireball smashed into him and erupted into a massive blazing pillar, the fires seared through his armor, despite its resistance to flame, and coated the flesh beneath in the blaze. Pugnax howled in agony as the flames burned him alive, blazing with red-hot intensity beneath his armor. His arms waved frantically as the fire burned him, smashing against the thick armor, trying to put out the flames beneath. He could feel every inch of him ablaze as he flailed, trying desperately to free himself from the agony.

He could hear the Alatreon laughing in his mind as he screamed, and the mental bond that the creature had created between them blazed to furious life in his mind, and Pugnax realized that he was seeing through the elder dragon's sight; he was watching himself burn from the creature's point of view, even as he was burning! The agony and horror was too much for him, and his certainty of his victory and strength vanished in a flash. He screamed in despair and turned to flee from the elder dragon. But there was nowhere for him to run from the creature, and he struck the edge of the balustrade, toppling over the side of the Tower.

Pugnax cried out in horror as he fell, arms waving as he tumbled through the sky towards earth far below. The drop seemed to take so long, as the Tower was so very tall, and all the while the Alatreon's fire continued to blaze, consuming him. Finally, the earth swept up from below, one of the many warehouses that surrounded the Loc Lac Tower rising up to meet him. The last thing that Pugnax felt was a sharp pain as he struck the roof of the building, and then the pain of the fire was gone.

* * *

**Author's Note: Please Review! So MH4 is out in Japan now, and by the looks of it, there really does seem to be a real story to go with the game! Wonderful! Admittedly, the live-streamers I'm watching play it aren't translating, so I have no idea what the story actually is, but at least it's something more than 'train until you can kill this big monster, then kill the big monster.'**

**Gah, I've finally given in and bought myself a 3DS. With MH4 out in Japan and gameplay footage making its way onto Youtube, and Pokemon X and Y coming out, I'm hoping to get back into handhelds now that I'm making the money to afford them. I haven't played a Pokemon game since Silver… There are a lot of games I want to try, like Animal Crossing, the Professor Layton games or Fire Emblem: Awakening, and I might get a 3DS copy of MH3U, if only so I can play it without taking my WiiU with me when I travel. If you've got a game you think I'd like based on what you've seen me playing, let me know and I'll take a look! If you want to send a friend code, mine is 4828-4851-4244.**

**I think one of the trickiest things to do when writing, especially in a chapter by chapter method like I do with TLC, is figuring out how to start a chapter (or when considering the long run, the story itself). Personally, a lot of thought goes into what the first few paragraphs of a chapter should be, as it has to set the mood properly, or efficiently lead the audience astray so you can surprise them. Same goes with the ending of a chapter/story: there's always a lot to consider. How much do you give away? How should they feel at the end? Should they be content, or will you finish in a cliffhanger? It's all very important, and needs to be as good as you can make it. The middle bit, with all the story, conversation and development? That's the easy part, at least in comparison. **

**Finally, one of my readers, squeezycheesey, has actually written a fanfic of my fanfic! It's a short one-shot he made based on the MH world with the Lost in it that I've made with TLC. If you want, go give it a quick read!**

**Reading: **_**Eragon**_** by Christopher Paolini, **_**Shokugeki no Soma**_** by Tsukuda Yuuto, **_**King of the Murgos**_** by David Eddings  
Playing: MH3U, Chrono Trigger DS  
Listening: Atomship, Annuals, American Hi-Fi, The Almost, Augustana, The Apples in Stereo, Assembly of Dust, Aerosmith, Audioslave, All-American Rejects, Air, Arctic Monkeys, AFI, Beirut, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pet Shop Boys, Joshua Radin  
Watching: Freakin' MH4 livestreams**


	45. Retaliation

Retaliation

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. Most of the characters in this story are mine. Some characters belong to others, as mentioned in previous chapters._

_Edited by: Hoenn Master96_

The Alatreon looked down on the city as it burned, and laughed to itself at the sight. Such a beautiful vision, this mighty city of hunters, destroyed and reduced to rubble! Well, not yet, but it was certainly on its way there. Swaths of destruction ravaged the city, and fires burned out of control throughout Loc Lac, catching aflame those buildings which had been temporarily spared from devastation by one of the Alatreon's attacks. Spears of ice impaled other buildings, piercing through them in dozens of the taller buildings, and numerous other structures had been blasted apart by the elder dragon's powerful lightning strikes. It was a wonderful sight!

But now the Alatreon was slowing down a little bit. It had, of course, started off strong, giving the city a proper show of its power by carving a swath of devastation through the city. It had to have destroyed at least three dozen structures all at once in the initial strike, and dozens more in the next few minutes. How pleasing the screams of horror and cries of fear had been! How enjoyable it had been to take the lives of so many of these pathetic, egotistical humans!

Once the initial assault had ended, however, the Alatreon slowed down the damage it was doing, in order to take its time wiping out the rest of the city. To truly teach these humans the errors of their ways before their deaths, the Alatreon would have to give the destruction a more… personal touch. Utter annihilation through excessive power was satisfying, but there was so much more to be enjoyed if you simply took your time with the devastation.

Besides, if the Alatreon was honest with itself, it truly enjoyed seeking out the hunters that wished to fight it, and slaying them in a land battle.

It was a shame that there were so few hunters out there that could provide the Alatreon a challenge, or even the slightest bit of amusement to battle. Most were hiding, fearful of the elder dragon's power, as they should be; but at the same time, annihilating the entire populous without resistance was just so… boring. The Alatreon had to savor it when a hunter or group of them approached it, trying so futilely to slay it in battle. Honestly, the most challenging battle of them all had been that foolish lancer that had called the elder dragon to battle at the peak of the Loc Lac Tower. He had been quick and confident, and the elder dragon could tell that he was quite skilled. The Alatreon would have truly enjoyed that battle… had the hunter not aggravated it by making mention of Levin as it had. The elder dragon still had a sour taste in its mouth from the memory, and had thoroughly enjoyed watching the hunter die as it had.

The Alatreon soared around the city, scouring the streets for any hunters that were bold enough to dare challenge it, as it rained down death with its collection of elemental strikes, leveling buildings and shops alike. The creature was disappointed; Loc Lac was a city of hunters, filled to the brim with thousands of them, and yet only a scant few dozen of them were bold enough to take up arms against the elder dragon when it bared its fangs against them. So very disappointing… But there was motion below as the elder dragon approached the western side of the city. The Alatreon was actually surprised to find a large number of civilians were fleeing, hoping to reach the docks where the sandships rested, waiting to carry them to safety. The Alatreon growled angrily. He couldn't allow them to escape! This was a lesson for humanity, and none would be allowed to run! They were to die in this city!

The elder dragon swept low across the rooftops, picking up speed as it approached the docks of the city, swinging wide and close to the tall walls of the city. A couple ships were already trying to depart, making their way to the thin gap in the tall walls of the city, hoping to make it through before the Alatreon could catch sight of them. But it was too late. As the Alatreon swept over the yard, the elder dragon roared viciously, unleashing a powerful cascade of lightning bolts and sending them crashing down onto the boats. The first to be hit were the boats sailing for the gap in the wall. Wood splintered and the ships burst into flame as the powerful attacks utterly destroyed them, blasting them apart and setting them aflame. The next bolts of lightning struck other ships, tearing them apart and reducing them to ash before they could even leave port. The civilians that had yet to get aboard the ships screamed and fled, dashing away and scattering as best they could as the Alatreon sent more bolts down at them. Let them hide! Let them cower! They no longer had any way to run! The Alatreon laughed again, mocking the pitiful humans as it soared back up into the sky.

Along the walls of Loc Lac, there were dozens and dozens of hunters and guards defending the walls. Many had been rendered too horrified by the Alatreon's appearance, but some had gathered the courage to attempt to fight back. There were hundreds of ballistae and cannons that lined the tower walls, meant to be used against any Jhen Mohran, Diablos, or any flying wyverns that dared to challenge the walls of Loc Lac. But as easily as the weapons could be used against other monsters, they could be used against the Alatreon. Those with the intelligence to do so turned the massive weapons in towards the city, firing upon the Alatreon as it soared through the city, raining lightning, ice and fire down of the buildings below.

But the attacks were useless. The Alatreon was as nimble in the air as any other flying creature, and many of the shots that were fired missed, falling down onto the city itself and destroying building, statues, and walkways alive. And even when the ballistae or the cannon rounds managed to hit their target, the shots didn't seem to do anything to the elder dragon. Even the mighty cannon rounds, detonating powerfully on the creature's thick scales, did nothing to the creature. Not a single scale or plate was broken, and the only sign that it had struck the beast was a slight shivering in the monster's flight from the shockwave of the explosion. The weapons only seemed to irritate the Alatreon, earning its ire and immediate retaliation as the elder dragon swept along the top of the wall, sending a searing jet of flame down on top of them, catching flame to the ammunition and explosives they kept stocked there. Massive detonations erupted across the walls of the city, and gigantic stone boulders fell down on the helpless buildings below.

The Alatreon's laughter filled the minds of those in the city. Nearly every living being within the walls of Loc Lac could hear the creature's mocking words and jeering as it soared through the city, raining down destruction on all living things that it could find.

**Look at you! Pathetic creatures! All these years you have spent gathering, building up these walls and thinking yourselves safe within them! And now you lay helpless inside of them, the very barricades you built for yourselves to keep the danger out, now the cages which pins you in, unable to escape my wrath! Writhe, humans! Know despair, and regret your actions!**

The Alatreon reveled in his work. He could feel the despair of the Lost through the bond, the misery and fear and hopelessness they felt. Some still felt hope and the determination to fight, but it was a paltry number, so few that it was laughable. The minds of natives of Loc Lac were, unfortunately, out of his perception when it came to their emotions, but though it could not sense the humans' emotions, it could see them well enough. Those he saw were crouched or huddled on the ground in despair, clinging to themselves and crying out, begging whatever spirits or deities they believed in to survive. So many more of them were hiding, the Alatreon knew, barricading themselves inside their homes and shops, hoping the Alatreon would not find them, that its power would not destroy them. They knew the proper way of respect towards elder dragons! They knew how to fear that which they should respect! It was a shame such creatures would have to die, those that knew the proper respect that an elder dragon deserved, but they would have to die as well, for their pride had grown too strong in their time here in their precious Loc Lac. Humanity, all of it, would need to learn from the mistakes of these fools.

The Alatreon could feel a deep misery welling up from Loc Lac, the spirit of one of the Lost that he felt above all others: Levin. His bond with the young hunter that he so hated was stronger than any other he had forged, but it was useful at times such as now, when he could so easily send images of what it could see into the mind of the boy, letting him see exactly what it was that he had brought down on this precious city of Loc Lac. Let him suffer! Let him groan! Let him know the punishment that came with going against the Alatreon! The boy could watch every death as the city was turned to ashes!

* * *

A flash of steel caught Ellie's attention just in time as she rounded the corner, giving her only the slightest of warning as the guard swung his sword as her. The huntress yelped in surprise, ducking as the blade slid over her head, nearly hitting her in the head. As the guard teetered, off balance from the swing, she swung the barrel of her bowgun up and fired. The bowgun bucked as it fired, shooting a Tranq round at the man and striking him in the chest. The guard grunted in pain at the blow, then coughed as the gas from the shot wafted up into his face, shaking and blinking his eyes as he tried to stay awake, but Ellie remedied that quickly by striking the man in the face with the butt of her bowgun.

A couple groans of pain behind her signaled that Kerry and Harker had managed to take care of the guards that had attacked them as well. Harker was gasping for breath, still not very efficient and taking out opponents with his long sword, but he was managing well enough by creating gashes and slices in the men's legs to incapacitate them when the situation required it. Kerry wasn't faring much better; her strength and skill with her bowgun made knocking out or wounding the guards far easier for her than for the other two, but that left her with the need to be the one that took care of most of those that came to stop the three hunters.

All of them were getting tired, and far quicker than they wanted to. They'd run across at least two dozen guards already, and there seemed to be no end to them. The tight quarters and maze-like pathways made traveling through the Gullet a challenge, and battling with anything other than close-range weapons like sword and shields, as the guards themselves carried around, proved to be more difficult than anything else.

"Damn it!" Ellie cursed. "How many guards are there here? I thought this place was supposed to be a secret! How are they supposed to keep a place like this secret if they have so many guards wandering around like this?"

"Coin proves to be a simple motivator," Harker replied sourly. "If Miss Felicia was correct about this place, then those that control the Gullet certainly have plenty of zenni to pass around, to keep those under their employ silent. Besides, if this place is as well-kept a secret as she let on, few would know who or what to ask if they wished to learn its inner workings."

"It won't matter how many guards there are down here if we can't find Levin's cell," Kerry said, catching her breath. "The way Felicia described this place, I didn't think there'd be more than ten or fifteen labs down here. But there must be dozens, maybe hundreds!"

Ellie nodded, looking around painfully. From inside the cells nearby, she could hear the desperate pleas for freedom from the captives inside. Each and every one of them sounded pained and tormented from what they'd gone through, and at first Ellie had been immediately urged to free all of them. But she'd been stopped by Kerry and Harker, both of whom reminded her what Felicia had said about those that were experimented on in the Gullet: murderers, thieves and rapists, she'd said, the worst of their kind, the ones that nobody would miss. Was it really wise to release them? Though Ellie was certain that nobody deserved the treatment that these men and women were receiving, things could turn sour if the prisoners they released were anything other than grateful to them for their help.

The hunters felt a painful guilt forcing themselves to ignore the pleading captives. But they hoped that, should they manage to survive their eventual encounter with the Alatreon, they would be able to reveal the existence of the Gullet to the public. Though they couldn't afford to free everyone here right now, they hoped that the Guild and the Council would be willing to make the decisions about what to do with the people here instead.

They'd also managed to run across several of the scientists and researchers there. Most bolted at the first sign of the hunters, calling on guards to aid them in their escape, so the hunters weren't able to catch many. There weren't that many that they could find, but they'd questioned those that they could get hold of. Unfortunately, it seemed that those that they did manage to catch were very tight-lipped, and no small amount of coercion could persuade them to help them find Levin's cell. Harker proved to be frighteningly useful, however, when he pulled one of the researchers aside, whispering something into the man's ear. Ellie wasn't sure what the long sword user had said to the man, and honestly she really didn't want to, because the next moment the man began begging for mercy and pleading with the hunter, swearing that he didn't have any clue which room Levin was in, and claiming that he had to be in another wing. Harker wasn't pleased with the words, and quickly knocked the man out with Tranq bombs.

The Gullet was a greater maze than Ellie had ever suspected as they continued to search for Levin. Each time they found another researcher to question, they were told that they were once again in the wrong wing. But they'd kept going deeper and deeper… how much further would they have to go? They would run out of scientists before long at this rate. Harker had questioned almost a dozen of them by now.

"What do you keep saying to them anyway?" Ellie asked worriedly, as the latest of the researchers lay unconscious on the floor.

"I'm merely showing them that they're not the only ones that can think up uncomfortable experiments to perform on people."

"Where are you… getting the ideas of what to say to them?" Kerry asked fearfully, looking at her beloved with a frightened look.

"Oh, nothing I haven't accidentally done to myself during my own experiments," Harker replied reassuringly. "Many of my injuries are from my own work, not just unfortunate encounters with monsters, and they certainly make for potent threats. It's far easier to threaten someone when you've had personal experience with pain you're describing. I'm just like them, to be honest: curious, dedicated, and passionate about seeking answers to their questions. However, unlike them, I would never conduct an experiment on an unwilling participant that I would not do to myself."

"That's good to hear," Kerry sighed. "I think…"

"Don't worry, my dear Lady Kerrigan," Harker said with a grin. "I never actually threatened some of them with anything. I just picked a few random laboratory utensils and said that I'd use them on the fools. I never specifically said what I'd do; they filled in the gaps themselves with things I could never think of. One thing about researchers with as few scruples as these is that they'll be able to create more diabolical punishments for themselves than an inquisitor ever could."

Ellie shook her head. The things that Harker thought up… she had to admit, she and Kerry would be lost without the man's aid, and the long sword user certainly had pulled their butts out of the fire on numerous occasions before, but… The madman still baffled her sometimes. He was a good friend, but still, Ellie couldn't imagine what Kerry saw in the man. Well, to each their own, she supposed, but-

**There you are, human. **Ellie froze where she stood in horror as a deep pressure settled in on her mind. A low chuckling rumbled through her skull; the Alatreon! Kerry and Harker stopped, looking back at her in confusion. Couldn't they hear the voice? Was it talking to just her? Ellie tried to speak, telling them what was happening, but the elder dragon continued, cutting her off. **It would seem that your mate requires a greater reminder of the folly in defying my will. And with the bond he shares with you, this pathetic human concept of 'love', you will serve as the perfect example to be made. **

Ellie shivered fearfully at the words, and the creature laughed at her terror. By now Kerry and Harker seemed to have realized what was going on, and rushed over to help her, but it was too late, Ellie knew. She could already feel the elder dragon focusing in on her, ready to come for her. **Prepare yourself, huntress. You will suffer for the crimes of your mate, and your pain will be-**

Ellie screamed in shock as a fierce, primal howl of fury abruptly ripped through the Alatreon's bond, seething rage and hatred blaring into Ellie's skull. Kerry and Harker both reeled as well, clutching their heads in pain from the force of the scream. Ellie fell to the floor, groaning as the furious feeling swept over her. But something about the howl was different. Something about it was strange. The Alatreon's very words had been cut off, but at the same time, hadn't it been the Alatreon's bond that the feeling had come through? Ellie was almost certain of it. But then what had happened?

**Alatreon! Bastard dragon! How dare you! **

"…Levin?"

* * *

"Pin him down, and bind him well. We can't have him moving around too much, especially during such an integral part of the research."

Levin struggled painfully as the guards pushed him low to the floor. He gasped painfully as they did so, the men not being gentle with him as they bound new chains to his arms, new ones designed to keep his lying on the floor, rather than the first ones that had attached him to the wall and at least given him enough mobility to get him to his feet. But now it seemed as though the experiments had taken a more sour turn then they had before; Farren had ordered him restrained, almost incapable of movement.

Levin was not in much condition to fight back against the guards' efforts however. He had not slept much at all the last day, save for when he'd briefly passed out, and had spent the rest of the time struggling to break his bonds or shouting at the guards to release him, or at least pleading for someone to try and warn the city about the impending Alatreon attack. The strain and desperation he'd been suffering had left him drained and weakened, in no condition to fight back against the guards' efforts to chain him down even further than he was. It had only gotten worse when the Alatreon had arrived. Levin had begged and pleaded for someone to do… something, anything to stop the elder dragon, but nothing was done. It was only made worse by the images the Alatreon insisted on pressing into his skull, of the destruction and death it was inflicting on the city, and the useless attempts by local hunters to fight back against the creature. It mocked him constantly, flaunting the brutal deaths of so many in Levin's mind, knowing that the hunter could do nothing to stop it or resist the images that the elder dragon was showing him.

He'd been shouting, begging, and pleading with anyone that could hear to do something to help, for hours and hours. But none of the people in the Gullet would listen to him, and by the looks in their eyes, he knew that they thought him to be mad. It had no doubt happened before here in the Gullet, one of the prisoners going mad from the pressure.

And perhaps they were right. Perhaps Levin was going mad. He'd heard that other voice speaking to him earlier after all. He could feel his mental condition straining as well, the familiar feeling of madness settling in… this whole situation, with the Alatreon and the Gullet and the Dark Metal… He was losing control of himself, he knew it! He could feel the anger and vicious hatred taking over his mind again. With every moment he spent in the Gullet, he felt his thoughts grow more and more diluted and hazy. The more the guards cursed him and struck him, the more he wanted nothing more than to rip their damn throats out and beat them to death! He had to hold himself together! But he also had to try and get the guards to release him, to do… something.

"Please… You have to stop! The Alatreon-"

"Oh, just shut up, boy!" one of guards snapped, placing a booted foot on Levin face and painfully pushing his face down into the stone floor. "You've been going on and on about that elder dragon for hours! If the creature really was here, someone would have told us already!"

"Would they?" Farren asked coldly, and the guard looked at the researcher in surprise. "You have much more faith in our employers than I do, it seems. Were the Alatreon to truly attack the city, I have little doubt that any up on the surface would quickly forget about those in the Gullet to save their own hides. Or have you done something to earn such compassion from our benefactors?"

The guards frowned in concern and Farren nodded. "I thought as much. However, whether or not the Alatreon is here, whether or not the city above us is being destroyed or not, we will continue as if it were not, until we receive word telling us otherwise. That is our work. Now…" The researcher pointed at the man's boot. "Remove your foot from my test subject immediately, or you may find yourself in bonds like his soon enough."

The guard leapt back fearfully, looking at the other guard for help, but the man averted his eyes, wanting nothing to do with getting on Farren's bad side. But the researcher quickly forgot about both of them, returning his gaze to his work. As he did, the final binds were locked into place, and Levin found himself pinned to the floor. Iron shackles were wrapped about his arms, legs, and waist, restraining him face-down towards the ground. As he struggled, he found that the chains kept him from so much as getting to his knees, and he couldn't lift his head and chest much higher than a couple feet from the stone floor. The guards seemed amused by his attempts to pull himself free, but even Levin knew it was futile by now. He was just too tired and bruised to fight, even if they removed all the shackles but one.

"I apologize for the unaccommodating position you're now in, Levin," Farren told the hunter sadly. "But it would seem we're finally reaching a point in my research that I'd only imagined reaching with my… previous subjects. None of my former subjects managed to make it to this point, though I don't know if it's because you are maybe stronger than them, or if perhaps my estimates are correct and the Dark Metal has some unexplained affinity for you.

"But… the time for cautious research is over. Perhaps this… Alatreon business is making me jumpy, but I feel I cannot hold back in my work any longer. There is simply too much to learn about the Dark Metal, and I must uncover all that I can quickly. As such, we are moving towards a more risky, but hopefully more informative, type of testing that will reveal far more to me than all my previous experiments."

Levin growled viciously as the researcher knelt down next to next to him, and Farren flinched, pausing where he was, looking down at Levin with a worried expression on his face. Levin glared at the man, baring his teeth viciously at the man as pleasing images of biting the man's throat out danced in his head. The hunter gasped, realizing what he was doing, and forced himself to calm down. The madness inside of it was welling up… he couldn't let it take control of him. The vehemence within him didn't fade, but Levin managed to at least push it out of sight. His glare remained where it was though.

"What… are you going to do to me?"

Farren narrowed his eyes as he studied Levin, but eventually shook his head. "We both know by now that the Dark Metal has some sort of affinity with you, Levin. However… it has come to my attention that, while it has been a slow process, the ore seems to be acclimating itself to you. I'm sure that you have not noticed due to your role in this experiment, but the Dark Metal has, in fact, been adapting itself to you. Its effects on your body have reduced drastically."

"I haven't felt any difference…" Levin muttered.

"Perhaps not, but as I said, you see the results of the tests from a different perspective. This change in the Dark Metal's attributes is what has brought about this particular alteration in procedure. From here on, I plan on studying the extended effects of long-term contact with the ore."

"What do you-"

The researcher got quickly to his feet, striding over to the iron crate holding the Dark Metal. He quickly put the thick gloves on his hands before reaching into the crate and pulling out the complete chunk of Dark Metal and carrying it over to Levin. He stood next to the hunter for a moment, looking down at his exposed back. "Brace yourself Levin. This will not feel comfortable."

"Wait!"

But the researcher did nothing to heed his words, and lowered the chunk of ore onto Levin's back. As the lump of Dark Metal pressed against Levin's flesh, the hunter howled in pain, the jagged edges and thorny blades of the ore digging into his spine. While the Dark Metal had indeed been hurting less and less when the researcher had forced Levin to touch it, the pain was still blinding, and always felt as though his very flesh was freezing at the contact. The hunter writhed in pain, groaning miserably as the Metal dug into him. Farren watched impassively, with a calculating look in his eyes as he watched the barbs clutch Levin's skin.

"It seems my notations were correct," he murmured thoughtfully. "The Metal truly is adapting to you, bit by bit. The simulation of frostbite is not spreading as quickly or as far as before… it is at least half as effective as before. But why, and how? What is making it less dangerous for you? Is it because you are one of the Lost? Is it due to some other discrepancies in your genealogy? What makes the ore adapt itself to you? Can it be done with others?"

The researcher muttered countless questions to himself as he scribbled down notes into his logs, as Levin writhed in pain on the floor, moaning miserably as the thorns dug into his flesh. Even as the man muttered, watching him observantly as the Dark Metal tormented him, the Alatreon continued to mock Levin, sending him visions of what it was doing up on the surface in Loc Lac, tearing apart buildings and slaying any and all that tried to oppose its rampage through the city. Levin tried to open his mouth to speak, to beg or plead, but the pain was too intense, and his weariness was too much.

Levin didn't know how much time passed with the Dark Metal on his back, but eventually he realized that Farren was leaving the room, allowing Levin to remain on the floor with the ore piercing his body. "Don't let him struggle too much," he told the guards. "I don't want him to shake the Metal free. And come get me if he starts to look bad. This is a study on the extended effects of the ore, and I don't want him dying on me, understand?"

The guards grunted in reply, and Farren nodded, giving one last worried look at Levin before leaving the room and closing the door behind him. The guards grumbled to themselves, clearly contemplating letting Levin die if things turned sour, apparently not caring if the mad hunter died after all of the yelling he'd done about the Alatreon.

Once again, the hunter lost track of time. The pain of the Dark Metal biting into his body, and all of its terrible side effects, consumed Levin's thoughts, sending him spiraling into misery as he lay on the floor in pain. The only thing that otherwise could get his attention now was the terrible images that the Alatreon continued to force into his mind. Even with the pain in Levin's body, he still found himself sobbing as he suffered, watching all the terrible things that the Alatreon was doing to Loc Lac, while he lay there uselessly. He barely even reacted when he felt the pressure of the Alatreon's mind push into his.

**You have yet to break, boy. **Levin shivered as the Alatreon spoke directly to him. He tried to lash out at the creature, but with the Dark Metal biting into him, he just couldn't bring himself to shout out, and even if he tried, he knew the guards would quiet him one way or another. **Perhaps I have not been stern enough with you. Perhaps your discipline must be more… personal. Perhaps I must kill your mate, this… Ellie, before you truly see the folly of your ways. Yes, that will be enough, certainly.**

"No… no!" Levin cried. Desperation brought him up to his knees, the cold biting edges of the iron shackles biting into his flesh. The guards barked angrily at him, ordering him to settle down. But Levin didn't even hear them, rage and anguish seeping through him. "You leave her alone! Damn you, dragon! Damn it, no!"

He could feel the dragon's amusement at his pain and fear. He could fear the creature reveling in it as it sought out Ellie's location, intent on keeping good to its promise. Levin screamed in horror! He couldn't let this happen! He had to do something, anything to keep the creature away from Ellie! His bonds were too strong to break with his strength though… he had to get the creature's attention somehow… Dammit! Damn the dragon! Damn it to hell! He'd kill the beast! He'd slaughter it in the most brutal ways for all that it had done, for all that it had promised to do! He had to stop it!

_The bond goes both ways._

The words lingered in Levin's mind, hovering on the edge of his consciousness. Levin could feel the Alatreon reaching out, connecting its mind with Ellie's, threatening her. It was telling her it would make her suffer! No! Levin wouldn't allow that! He would tear the creature apart before that happened!

The guards on each side of him leapt back in shock as Levin let loose a guttural howl of anger, screaming curses and vehement hatred towards the Alatreon. The iron chains refused to budge, and his body remained latched to the floor, but his mind lashed out through the bond, grasping at the Alatreon's own, screaming vengeful hatred into the beast's skull. The elder dragon reeled in shock at the sudden rush of anger, and Levin could feel it immediately forget about Ellie, but the hunter didn't care. He continued to lash out at the beast, his anger at the creature finally spilling over. He screamed vehemently at the monster, both with his voice and with his mind.

"**Alatreon! Bastard dragon! How dare you! How dare you do all this!"**

* * *

The Alatreon laughed as it rained a wave of lightning down on another feeble collection of hunters that ran about, calling out challenges to him and swearing to defeat him. It was almost boring, how they all were saying the exact same things, over and over again. But there was some amusement in the work, of wiping out each and every one of the hunters that came for him. Most of the time, the Alatreon ignored them, only sparing enough time to send a blast of energy down at them, but occasionally, if the hunters looked strong enough, it would fly down and play with them for a while until he got bored with them. And each time he would send the images off to Levin.

The foolish hunter had been silent for a while now. From what the Alatreon could tell, some experiment was being conducted on him down below, some terrible torment. The Alatreon hoped that the humans wouldn't kill the boy too quickly… The Alatreon might actually have to step in if the boy got too close to death; he wouldn't allow the human to die before the entirety of Loc Lac had been annihilated. But he would savor the boy's suffering for a while longer.

In fact, where was the human's mate? The Alatreon had nearly forgotten about her existence. If it were to make the boy suffer, she would need to die. Human sentimentality was such a weakness. The elder dragon reached out to Levin through the bond once more, tapping into the boy's mind.

**You have yet to break, boy. Perhaps I have not been stern enough with you. Perhaps your discipline must be more… personal. Perhaps I must kill your mate, this… Ellie before you truly see the folly of your ways. Yes, that will be enough, certainly. **The Alatreon reached out through the bond, seeking out the mind of the huntress. She was also underground, oddly enough, but that would not stop the Alatreon. **There you are, human. It would seem that your mate requires a greater reminder of the folly in defying my will. And with the bond he shares with you, this pathetic human concept of 'love', you will serve as the perfect example to be made. **The elder dragon laughed at the fear he felt welling up from her. **Prepare yourself, huntress. You will suffer for the crimes of your mate, and your pain will be-**

Levin's mind abruptly erupted to life, and the Alatreon could feel the immense anger and hatred that was boiling in the human's mind. At last, he was finally pulling a pleasing reaction from the fool boy! But the human's rage continued to grow, and the Alatreon howled in surprise and horror as Levin's mind pressed against its own. What was happening? The Alatreon tried to cut off the bond, to cancel its connection with the human, but Levin lashed out, clinging even tighter and strengthening the connection between the two. The Alatreon reeled as the boy's voice erupted in a deafening cacophony in the elder dragon's skull.

**Bastard dragon! How dare you! How dare you do all this! You coward! You weak, pathetic creature! You call yourself powerful, but all you can do is attack the helpless! Stupid, childish monster!**

The Alatreon growled angrily. Foolish human! How dare it speak to him like this through the bond it had created! The elder dragon prepared to lash out again at the boy through the bond, but before it could, an image flashed into its mind, and the Alatreon howled in horror! It was burning! The Alatreon was burning! And the boy, that pathetic boy was standing over it, slashing its small weapon at it as cutting away it body slice by slice! No, this couldn't be happening! The Alatreon was invincible! It couldn't be overwhelmed by a measly human!

The Alatreon abruptly seized up, and then the image was gone. The elder dragon found itself on the roof of one of the city's buildings, having crashed into the structure. What had just happened? The image, what he'd just seen, the boy had been fighting it, hadn't he? No… no wait! It was an illusion! Like the ones that the Alatreon itself had sent to the boy through his dreams! But that was impossible! The human shouldn't be able to do that! The bond was the Alatreon's! It belonged to the elder dragon, not the human! Humans weren't capable of such things… were they?

**I will tear you to pieces!** The boy's voice howled in his mind.** I will burn you, reduce you to cinders, and bury you so that nobody will ever remember you!**

**Impossible! You are only human! Humans are nothing but weak little creatures to be used for my amusement! **The Alatreon roared angrily, but the boy's bond pushed even harder into it, and began branching, splitting apart. What was the human doing? The dragon couldn't believe it! Levin, this pathetic human, was breaking through his bond! This weak little creature was actually pushing through the connection that the Alatreon had formed with the rest of the Lost in the city, and was projecting its thoughts to the other Lost through the elder dragon's own bond! It wasn't possible! This was the Alatreon's power, not the human's!

**Humans are not weak! We are not your playthings! We will kill you! We will erase you from the world! No matter what it takes! **Again an image flashed into his mind, this time being carried to every Lost in the city. It was a product of the boy's imagination and desire, forced into the skull of the elder dragon. It was a creation of success and victory, an image of the city celebrating the death of the Alatreon, the elder dragon's destroyed, mangled body being carried through the city. The Alatreon's wings were shredded and torn, its shining, bladed scales shattered, and its mighty horns broken. The Alatreon shrieked in fury, unleashing a screaming roar that shattered nearby windows and shaking the stones in the streets, forcing the image out of its mind. What was this? Such things were impossible! The Alatreon couldn't lose! It couldn't die! Such a thing… the Alatreon couldn't imagine such a thing, and yet this little human was forcing the images into the elder dragon's mind!

**No! Weak, pathetic humans! You could never defeat me! I am impregnable! I am unstoppable!**

**You are mortal! Just like everything else! **Another image flashed, of the Alatreon dying. No! It couldn't die! It was impossible! And yet the image seemed so clear, so vivid, of the elder dragon shrieking in pain as blood poured from countless wounds. Again the Alatreon forced the image from its mind, but another came just as quickly, another gruesome death. It took all of the Alatreon's mental force to push the images from its mind and keep them out, but still they kept coming, and even when the illusions were deflected from the Alatreon's mind, they continued on to the Lost, who absorbed them readily. The elder dragon screeched in fury, trying to wrench control of the bond away from Levin, but as it touched the minds of the Lost, it reeled in horror at what was happening.

From the minds of the Lost, all throughout the city, their emotions began to shift as the words of Levin swept through them. Fear began to shift to anger, misery began to shift to hate, hopelessness began to shift to determination, and the desire to flee began to shift to a desire for revenge. The boy's emotions ripped apart the fearfulness that the Alatreon had pressed into them when it had locked them away in the blue crystals. Damn the Alatreon! How dare it do all this to them! First their old world, now Loc Lac! Enough was enough! They were tired of cowering, of fleeing the monsters that infested this world! They were tired of the elder dragon, and its desire to ruin their lives! They would fight, damn the consequences!

**No! No! I am superior! I am your end! I am death and destruction! You will all wither and die before me! **But the calls fell on deaf ears, and those that listened were only further incited by the words. Every Lost in the city that was able began to call out for the creature's death, damned be the consequences of their actions! The elder dragon could feel them swarming, writhing through the city, seeking weapons and armor and anything they could use to fight the creature. Even as the rest of the city, those locals that had feared the Alatreon for centuries, cowered, still they came, ready to fight!

Damn the humans! Damn these Lost! Levin's voice pounded into his skull, cursing him and raging at him, driving the dragon down and pressing him low, nearly forcing the Alatreon down to the ground from the pressure of its intensity. He had to destroy the boy's anger! He had to overwhelm these humans with despair!

He would destroy the boy's people! He would destroy the Lost, every last one! And he would start with the entirety of the south side of the city, where all his people had dwelled! Twisting in the air, the Alatreon swept towards the Lost District, intent on burning every building and shack to the ground. He would start with those buildings that stretched up the sides of the Loc Lac walls; already he could see the Lost swarming across the small structures like insects. He would burn them all!

* * *

"Fire!"

The sound of the human's shout caught the attention of the Alatreon, just in time for it to turn and receive the full force of dozens of bowgun rounds. The creature cried out in surprise, howling in fury as the rounds smashed into it.

Tenebris frowned in disappointment. Over half of the shots had missed, despite the Lost having such a large target. Many of the rounds had even bounced off the elder dragon's thick scales as well, but there were just as many that seemed to be affecting the creature's hide: the dragon element from the Dragon Shot arcing along the Alatreon's scales. Her own shots had managed to connect, even with the creature moving so quickly, but were they working? Did the dragon element have the same effect on elder dragons as it did against the Silver Rathalos she'd fought at the Meridian Tower? She couldn't be sure… but she had to keep trying!

"Again!" she shouted up the Hive, "Fire!"

It was a spectacular sight, she had to admit: Over fifty Lost, carrying various types of bowguns, fired in unison from the walkways and paths of the Hive and across the rooftops in front of them. Their target was massive, one of the biggest they could possibly hope for, and it was holding still as it howled in fury at them. This time there weren't nearly as many missed shots, and at least three dozen of the dragon rounds smashed into the Alatreon's body, erupting in dark energy and darting across the beast's scales.

"Is it working?" Nox asked next to her, clutching the railing tightly. "I can't see any difference…"

"Neither can I…" Tenebris admitted.

**Foolish Lost! **The Alatreon's voice blared in her mind, making her wince in pain. It was so loud! Pa**thetic, weak creatures! Your weapons are nothing to me! They cannot harm me, and I will-**

**Shut up you disgusting creature! **Tenebris rubbed her ears again. Was that Levin's voice? The Lost had been saying that they'd been hearing someone else's voice in their heads earlier, encouraging them, but Levin? Why was it his voice? **We will break you, no matter what it takes! You are not invincible! You are not immortal! You will suffer for everything you've done!**

The Alatreon twisted in the air, shaking its head and flailing wildly, as though trying to push down the furious words that Levin was throwing at it. Tenebris tried to ignore both of the voices as best she could. She had other work to do! "Munitions!" she screamed up to the Lost. "Heavy arsenal! Now! Fire at will!"

The Lost needed no further motivation, and some had even readied themselves before Tenebris' call. In a rapid succession of loud shots, heavy rounds began to soar through the air at the Alatreon. The first few missed, with the Alatreon flailing in the air like it was, but soon several of the heavy rounds began to connect. There was a deathly silence as the lot of them waited breathless for the rounds to detonate, and then with a symphony of explosions, the heavy munitions began to detonate. One after another the rounds went off, from Crag rounds to Cluster, all of the bowguns had been given whatever heavy ammunition they could equip, and all of them were firing. The Alatreon shrieked in shock as the blasts threw off its flying, and the creature began to fall, explosive rounds still going off until the moment it hit the stone ground, cracking the street as it landed.

A cheer went up among the Lost, and even Tenebris shouted excitedly as the elder dragon fell. But a moment later, an ear-splitting roar shook the city, and the Alatreon leapt back into the sky, taking to the air as though nothing had happened to it at all!

"Damnit!" Tenebris cursed. "We're doing nothing to it!"

"Shoot again!" Noxramus encouraged. "With this many people we have to be doing _something _to it!"

"Fine! Again!" Another wave of bowgun shots fired from the Hive and the rooftops, though this time the Alatreon was ready and was easily able to dodge most of the shots. Several of the attacks managed to connect though, but unlike before the Alatreon didn't even flinch as the shots detonated across its body. The elder dragon howled in irritation, and several blasts of lightning and ice smashed down onto the nearby rooftops, killing numerous Lost and sending the rest of them scattering, running for the stairwells and ladders to get themselves away from the creature as it howled at them.

"Distract it!" Tenebris cried, pulling up her bowgun and firing. Her round hit the creature in the wings, and with a blast of flame the shot went off and the elder dragon bucked in the air for a moment, thrown off slightly, but otherwise appearing unharmed. But its attention did turn onto her, as well as the rest of the Lost that were on the walkways of the Hive.

The Lost in the Hive began to panic as the Alatreon tore through the skies towards them, sprinting as quickly as they could across the bridges and ladders that carried them down to the earth. The elder dragon swept up high, and with a long blast of flame, sent a wave of destruction along the upper tiers of the Hive. Entire houses erupted into flame as the searing cascade of fire rolled over them, and far above, Tenebris could hear the groaning and snapping of the platforms and ropes above them, and the hunters and the Lost moved all the faster as the walkways below them began to shiver and shake, the supports above them giving out and only the timber pillars keeping them up. They were incited to even greater speeds as the Alatreon swept around again, sending even more fire across the houses and chasing the escaping Lost with flames as the blaze spread. Huts began to break loose, dropping from above and falling past them like burning comets before crashing into the ground and buildings below them.

The bowgunners were still a good three levels from the ground when the Hive began to teeter and tilt, the countless ropes strapping the structures to the walls of Loc Lac all having snapped or burned away. The upper houses, those that had not burnt away or already fallen, toppled over in a giant mass, smashing over onto the structures below. Many roofs caught fire from the blaze of the Hive huts, though more were only spared thanks to them being made of sandstone. But many of the Lost that were not already on the ground began jumping, willing to risk the last few dozen feet in hopes of avoiding the fires from above.

"Damn!" Tenebris cursed as she finally reached the ground, one of the last to do so. Both she and Nox were covered in soot and coughing from the smoke. Many of the Lost were bolting away, as the flames finally began to consume the last parts of the Hive. She looked up into the sky as the Alatreon soared overhead, lances of lightning snapping down around them, uprooting the cobble streets and sending shrapnel flying around them. "Are we even doing anything to it?"

"I don't know. It just doesn't seem like… There!" Nox cried, pointing below the Alatreon, in the dragon's wake as the creature flew through the sky. Tenebris' eyes widened and laughed in joy. Below the creature was a shimmering cloud of black dust, the remains of the creature's scales and plates that had been destroyed, falling to the ground and shattering on the ground below. "It worked! The dragon element really weakened it!"

Apparently the words were heard by several of the other Lost around them, because calls went out, and the bowgunners around them began pointing upwards, cheering at the falling scales that fell from the creature's body.

"It's not much though," Tenebris said worriedly. "We can't have opened up enough gaps to do much real damage."

"It's more than we've ever had before!" Nox replied. "Even if there's only a few gaps in the armor, that's something we can work with!"

The sound of bowgun fire echoed through the Lost district around them, and the sound of the Alatreon's roars of fury rattled the windows around them. Despite the Alatreon's power, and despite everything that the elder dragon had done to the city, to the Hive, and to everything around them, the Lost were still riled up and screaming for blood. Any Lost that had access to a bowgun was firing whatever rounds they could find up at the elder dragon as it sailed above them. Blasts of fire and lightning, water and dragon shots smashed against the Alatreon's body, and the creature howled in frustration at them.

**Why do you fight? Why do you delay the inevitable? Pathetic, weak humans! Can you not see that your attempts are useless? Can you not understand the futility of your efforts? You will die! You will all suffer for this indignation against me!**

But the Lost refused to listen or care about the elder dragon's words, continuing to fire up at the Alatreon as the creature returned their attacks with elemental attacks of its own. But for every Lost that the beast managed to kill, another two would appear to keep firing up at it, and the creature seemed to grow increasingly furious with each shot. Tenebris and Nox continued to follow the creature as it flew over the South District, trying to kill all the Lost that it could, but meeting far more resistance than it had ever imagined it would. Eventually, the creature roared in irritation, sweeping to the ground and landing with a crash on one of the main streets leading through the South District.

"Why is it landing?" Nox asked as he and Tenebris dashed through an alleyway, chasing the beast.

"People can't shoot it as easily when it's on the ground," the huntress explained as she ran. "If the Lost are going to keep attacking like they are, they'll have to funnel through alleys like this one to get to it. We need to do something or else the Alatreon will just-"

As she and Nox came around the corner onto the main street, the huntress gasped as she found the Alatreon glaring straight at them. The elder dragon howled angrily, and dark energy began to swirl around the creature, and it lunged for them, the dragon energy swelling around it.

"Move!" Nox cried, shoving Tenebris to the side. The huntress shouted as the short sword user planted himself at the edge of the Alatreon's path, raising his shield just in time to avoid being run down by the elder dragon. The monster's powerful foreleg smashed into the man as it charged past, easily sending him sliding back, and sending a jolt of dragon element through Nox's armor. But before the Alatreon completely passed him, Nox slashed out at the monster's rear leg. Had he tried to do so just ten minutes earlier, the blade would have bounced off of the monster's thick scales, but this time the blade managed to catch one of the newly opened gaps in the Alatreon's plating, and the edge bit into the creature's skin, pulling a thin trail of blood from the wound.

Though the cut was shallow, and the wound superficial, the blade had another boon: the Baggi bile that lined the blade. While the venom was certainly not enough to put the creature to sleep, the bile did have the slightest effect, making the Alatreon's leg, untouched by anything but its own blood for millennia, twitch slightly. It wasn't much, but in the middle of its furious charge, it was just enough, and the creature's leg slipped out from underneath it. With a howl of shock, the Alatreon tumbled to the ground onto its side and writhed on the stone, trying to push itself back to its feet.

At that moment, dozens of Lost began to pour out of the nearby alleys, and at the sight of the fallen monster, a cheer rose up, and many of them immediately began to fire on the downed monster. The Alatreon screeched in fury at them, cursing terrible threats directly into their minds as they shot at it. But there were a good ten seconds of resounding gunfire along the street as the Alatreon struggled back to its feet, the flashing lights of elemental rounds and explosions of incendiaries erupting around the creature.

**Get away from me! Damn you all! I will kill you! I will make you suffer for this embarrassment! **

But even under the assault, as the creature got to its feet once more, there was no sign of pain or injury in the creature's eyes. There were almost no injuries on the creature's body. Even with numerous gaps blasted in the Alatreon's scales, even with the relentless assault it had received from the Lost, there were barely any wounds on the elder dragon's flesh. And there was no hesitation as the Alatreon counterattacked, howling in fury and calling down a massive cascade of lightning down around it. Numerous Lost were caught in the assault, incinerated by the torrent of electricity. The Lost began to scramble away fearfully as fire and ice followed behind the thunder, the Alatreon blasting out at everything that it could spot.

As the Lost scattered, the Alatreon leapt back into the air, pushing itself skyward once more, soaring over the city. But even with the damage it had done, the Lost continued to chase it, firing at it when they could. The Alatreon's curses filtered through their minds, but the words didn't matter to the Lost as they followed the creature, doing their best to try and take the beast down.

As the Alatreon flew away, the mob of Lost hot on its tail, Nox was still wincing in pain as the dragon element danced across his armor, and Tenebris helped him to his feet. The man smirked with a touch of pain. "Looks like we've got it on the run now, huh?"

"I wouldn't go that far," Tenebris replied with a smile, "but we're certainly doing something to it."

Nox nodded, looking down at the stone street. Small blotches of dark blood were scattered about the street, small proofs that they'd managed to wound the creature, though it hadn't seemed to slow the beast down at all. "Let's get after it then. Something is better than the centuries of nothing people have done against it so far. It's not dead yet."

"We'll need to remedy that then," Tenebris replied, and the two hurried off to chase the elder dragon.

* * *

In the Southwest District, Loc Lac seemed like a ghost town. Just a couple weeks ago, before all of the dissention and troubles in Loc Lac had started up, the district had been perhaps the rowdiest, most popular of the districts dedicated to hunters' living quarters. The streets were filled with inns and bars, Guild booths and gathering points. It was an easy place for hunters to gather, when they weren't off buying goods, shopping for weapons or hiring smiths, or heading off to the hunt itself. It was the district where you found the most famous of hunters, those that had earned untold renown and popularity amongst the city and even other hunters. There were even some fine, upscale housing for those hunters with the highest regard, those that had managed to attain a hunter rank of sixty or higher, a rarity even in a hunting city like Loc Lac.

But today the district seemed dead. The streets were empty, the windows were shut, the doors were locked, and the area seemed a ghost town. It hadn't been like this all day; just a few hours ago, there had been people in the streets, worriedly discussing whether or not to get involved in the Lost riots. Most of the Lost in the angry mob had avoided the Southwest District. The Lost didn't have many issues with transients like hunters; most of their anger had been directed at the shopkeepers that chased them off or the nobles and merchant lords that had opposed them. Hunters, however, usually had little against the Lost, and the Lost had little against them.

There were those that had powerful feelings about the Lost, one way or another, and many hunters had left the district in order to help or defy the Lost during their riots. But all that changed when the Alatreon appeared. The elder dragon was the biggest rift that had been created between the Lost and the city hunters, and the source of dissention between those that had risen to defend or attack the Lost. The hunters in the city were some of the most superstitious in the country, and now the invincible creature that had filled the stories of their youths was rampaging through the city they'd lived in for years!

So they'd hidden. A creature as infamous as the Alatreon… what could they possibly do against such a monster? They'd heard countless tales of hunters doomed to die thanks to their belief that they could slay the Alatreon in battle. Numerous tales of the greatest hunters that the country had ever known ended in tragedy when the hunter thought themselves great enough to hunt and kill the elder dragon. What hope did they have? The creature had felled hunters that were unmatched in skill, and even the older hunters, those that had garnered hunter ranks heads and tails above the others, knew that they didn't stand a chance against the Alatreon. They'd seen the creature's initial assault; even cannon rounds didn't harm the creature. What hope did their pathetic weapons have against the beast?

In a small inn, famous for housing some of the highest-ranked hunters alive at the moments, those whose feats of strength and skill were renowned by the entire country, there hid a collection of nearly fifty hunters, sitting around in the darkness of the room, watching the boarded up windows and wincing every time the Alatreon's voice, mocking and angry, pounded into their skulls. The inn was one of the better places to hide, one of the city's older structures, made of thick stone that had stood up to a great beating over the years. It had managed to survive a few fire blasts and lightning strikes from the Alatreon, and those inside hoped that the elder dragon would ignore it long enough to forget about it, and they would survive.

Many of those that were lower ranked inside were shivering in fear, and though the greater hunters were putting on a sterner face, they weren't doing much better. Things had taken a strange turn recently. From the words the Alatreon was forcing into their minds, the Lost were… agitating the creature even further. The hunters couldn't guess what they were doing to the elder dragon, but it was making the creature… frantic, or something like it.

Shouting outside caught the attention of the hunters in the room. Another pair of Lost ran by, both of them carrying bowguns with them and hauling ammo satchels along with them. One was having trouble with theirs, it being a heavy bowgun made of Agnaktor materials, and neither of them were armored. The hunters grimaced at the sight, looking at each other nervously. The Lost had been acting up like that a lot recently.

"What do those fool Lost think they can hope to accomplish, going against the Alatreon like that?" one of the hunters asked. "They'll just get themselves killed. Don't they know that the Alatreon can't be slain?"

"A fool's battle for a fool's hope," an older hunter replied. "They think they've got some blind chance of fighting back. Centuries… millennia that creature's been alive, tormenting humanity, and they think they'll be able to defeat it with stolen weapons and no armor. They're better off hiding, waiting for the creature to pass us by. Loc Lac is the biggest city in the country. The creature can't possibly find us all."

"Can't we do something?" one of the younger hunters asked worriedly, and another hunter shook his head.

"There have been better hunters than us that have gone up against the beast and never returned to tell the tale. Legends from our country and others, hunters of greater magnitude than all of us here combined, have went out with the intention of taking the elder dragon down, and you know what they got? The same thing that fool Lost hunter did: they pissed the damn thing off and got a bunch of innocent folk killed when the creature retaliated. Now look where fighting it's gotten us. The beast itself is here trying to destroy Loc Lac! No, we're better off waiting for its rage to pass. Let those idiotic Lost run to their deaths if they're so enthusiastic about doing the impossible…"

"You're nothing more than a miserable collection of weak cowards!"

The hunters all turned at the words, surprised to hear someone in the room speak so harshly. A hunter none of them recalled being there before stood behind the bar, scowling at the hunters in the room, specifically the older hunters. He was carrying a long sword slung across his back, and carried his helmet under an arm, revealing an expression of intense disgust under blonde hair. He was wearing an old, worn set of Rathalos armor as well, an obvious hand-me-down or heirloom based on its older design.

"Where the hell did you come from?" one of the hunters asked.

"Through the back, where else?" the hunter replied sarcastically. "I came this way from the South District, hoping to find some hunters that might be willing to help in the battle against the Alatreon, and aid in chasing it off or killing the creature. But obviously I came to the wrong side of town! And here I thought Loc Lac hunters were supposed to be bold and courageous!"

"Aw, shut up lad," one of the older hunters snapped. "It's easy for you younger hunters to say that we should just go out and fight, that we're being cowardly by hoping to wait the Alatreon out. But have you ever gone toe-to-toe with an elder dragon before? Have you ever even seen one before today? It's one thing to hear about elder dragons, about how they have power rivaling that of natural disasters, but let me tell you, it's something else entirely to see or experience it for yourself. Why do you think they call the creature a demon? It can't be killed. Better than you have tried."

"And what about the Lost?" the Rathalos hunter asked icily. "You called them foolish, but they're the ones out there that are trying to keep the city from being destroyed. This is Loc Lac! City of hunters! But the hunters are hiding in holes while the Lost, the people berated as being 'weaker' than the locals, are out there trying to chase it off! Even if it is an elder dragon, and even if it is the Alatreon itself, you're shivering here in fear when your city is in danger!

"Last time I was here, all I heard in places like this was bluster and pride, hunters and huntresses alike swearing that they could take on any challenge! Ha! You call yourselves hunters; now there's a laugh! You don't deserve that title, not a one of you! Do you think this is a game? Some amusing pastime to take up your time, where you go around gathering materials for pretty little armors and pretty little weapons just for the sake of showing off? Do you think when the going gets tough, you can just turn tail and run, come back another day with better weapons and armor, and leave the mess for someone else to clean up? Your job is to protect civilians, the people of this country, even if it means throwing yourself into an impossible task against an unstoppable beast! That's the true work of the hunter, and you're dragging that noble calling through the mud!"

"There's a difference between showing courage and being suicidal," another hunter grumbled. "Maybe you can fight against a powerful creature when it comes, and maybe you can win, but there are times when you have to try to survive. Fortresses… castles… entire cities have been abandoned when an elder dragon came calling and laid claim to the land and buildings around it. Loc Lac is no different, no matter how great and renowned a city it may be. You may be talking a lot of pretty words, trying to shame us into action, boy, but there's a point where you have to accept a loss and hope that you can just survive the day."

The hunter looked around the room. Many of the others that sat in the shadows seemed to feel the same way as those that had spoken out against his words. There were others, however, mostly the young and optimistic, that hung their heads in shame at what had been said. But none of them stood, and none of them spoke up to defend the hunter's words or try to convince the others either. They simply sat there in silence, as the dull sound of bowgun fire and the Alatreon's roars came in through the front windows. The hunter glowered around the room, and sighed in frustration.

"Very well," he growled. "Cower if you want. I don't care. Cringe here in the dark while the Lost, the people that the city abandoned, fights against the creature that wants to destroy the country's greatest hunting city. If we fail, and the Alatreon wipes out the city, there's nothing you can do about that, is there? Nobody could blame you, right? But if the creature falls, if somehow the elder dragon is slain, what will that say about you? Untrained civilians went out to defend Loc Lac against the deadliest monster ever, while the so-called 'brave' hunters of the city cowered in the dark. Oh, they'll be telling stories of this day for centuries, but what the stories will say of the Loc Lac hunters will be… well, they won't perceive them as noble or courageous, I'll tell you that much. I'm sure the words used to describe you will be far less flattering."

With that Richard pushed out of the front door of the inn, stepping out into the sunlight and donning his helmet. A dark shadow passed over him, and he winced, looking up as the Alatreon soared over him. The creature's curses and threats filled his head as bowguns fired at it from various streets and alleys around the city. He could hear the frustration in the monster's tone as it sent elemental strikes down onto the city, an emotion Richard imagined no one had guessed the creature could feel.

A blast of flame erupted across the creature's back, a detonation from an incendiary round, and the elder dragon howled in frustration as it returned fire back at where the shot had come from, flinging an ice lance in that direction. There was a rumbling as the massive frozen spear struck a building in the distance, and the Alatreon swept away as more rounds sailed through the air after it. Richard blinked in surprise as a light clinging and clattering sound sounded on the street in front of him. Looking down, he realized that there were small black shards scattered around the stone street. Taking off one of his gauntlets and reaching down, the hunter picked up one of them, and the sharp edge bit into his skin slightly. It was glittering black, definitely not metal, and had a very biological feel to it.

Were these the Alatreon's scales? Richard had been told that the elder dragon's scales were impermeable… were the Lost really managing to damage the Alatreon to this extent? In that case, he'd have to do what he could do help, especially now that the monster was vulnerable. All he had on him was his long sword though, but the creature had to land sooner or later, didn't it? He'd just have to try to be there when it did. He'd head towards the Loc Lac square; there was more than enough room there for a land battle, though he wasn't sure how he'd manage to get the dragon to land.

Behind him, he heard the door to the inn open behind him. Richard spared a glance back to the doorway, and a young hunter wearing Ludroth armor and carrying a tattered bone great sword across his back walked out. He was clearly nervous, looking around, and jumped a bit as a pillar of flame shot into the air a district or two away. He looked very much like he wanted nothing more than to dive back into the relative safety of the inn and remain there, but seemed to force himself to remain before the somewhat surprised Richard. He only hesitated for another moment before walking in that direction, following the sound of the explosions.

A few others followed behind the boy a few moments later, looking just as hesitant as the first one. They were better equipped than the boy had been though, bearing armors and weapons from far more challenging monsters. The trickle was slow, more and more of the hunters emerging from their hiding places, but like a snowball rolling down a slope, it was gaining momentum.

Richard smiled, turning and heading back towards the Loc Lac tower, sliding his gauntlet back on and slipping the scale fragment into his pocket. He could hear a few more doors opening and the armored footsteps of booted feet growing in number behind him. He hadn't done much; a few dozen hunters weren't much compared to how many of them lived in Loc Lac. But a few was more than had been willing to fight a couple minutes ago, and that was something. Against the Alatreon, even that much was sure to help, if only a little bit. Hopefully, the numbers of hunters emerging from their homes would incite more to join in. There were no promises, but there was a chance.

The long sword user continued on his way, spirits rising, heading for the Loc Lac Tower. If the city was lucky, and the people within it were willing to fight, they might actually be able to do something about the elder dragon after all.

* * *

The Alatreon screeched angrily as another few rounds of Crag and Cluster shots smashed against its wings and detonated, throwing off its flight path for the thousandth time since its arrival in Loc Lac. The shots didn't hurt of course; nothing could damage the Alatreon, especially things that the humans created to throw at it. But the constant detonations were making it a challenge to stay aloft. But the Alatreon couldn't just land either, because there seemed to be countless irritating hunters swarming around on the ground all of a sudden.

Damn Levin! Damn the hunter! It was his fault that all this had happened, the Alatreon knew it! How had that damnable human managed to overwhelm the bond that the Alatreon had with him? How had the human managed to use the same bond to connect with all of the Lost in the city and incite them into fighting against the Alatreon? How! The city was supposed to be cowering in fear! There were only supposed to be a scarce few hunters bold enough to fight it in open battle, enough for the Alatreon to amuse itself with as it tore the city apart! But now it was as though the entire city was trying to kill it! Where was the fear and horror? This was not how the Alatreon was supposed to be treated! The creature's rage was building more and more the longer this futile fight of the humans carried on.

Again one of the images that Levin was forcing into the Alatreon's mind appeared in the creature's skull, this time of the elder dragon being surrounded by bombs as it lay on the ground, and then the explosives detonating, ripping the Alatreon to pieces. The Alatreon screamed in frustration and dipped in the air again as it was forced to focus its attention on pushing the illusion out of its own head. It got low enough in the air that it drifted close to the earth, nearly setting down on the ground. Damn Levin! Damn him!

Immediately a group of hunters and numerous Lost seemed to appear out of nowhere, sliding out of the alleys and side streets and charging the creature as it hovered. Bowgun rounds were fired up at its torso and wings and head as the melee fighters took swings at the elder dragon's tail and legs. The Alatreon howled in fury at them, swiping its jagged tail at the hunters close to it, the wicked scales and spines ripping through their armors and tearing them apart. But as it turned its attention to the bowgunners around it, one of the shots managed to catch the elder dragon in the face. The elder dragon howled in fury as a series of explosions erupted around its skull. Even though its scales were impermeable, the force of the blasts still knocked the elder dragon's head about, and the Alatreon nearly dropped to the earth.

It could hear the humans cheering; they thought they were doing well. They actually thought that they were fighting back! How dare they! This was not want the Alatreon wanted! This was all Levin's fault! Damn him! Damn him!

Something inside the Alatreon snapped apart within it, and with a screeching roar, the elder dragon unleashed a massive cascade of lightning around it, spreading it around and sending it blasting through the numerous bowgunners that surrounded it. Buildings were torn apart, and countless hunters and Lost were hit with the full force of the assault.

**Argh! Enough! Enough of all of this! Damn you humans! Damn you Levin! Damn you all! No more! No more! No more forgiveness! No more taunting! No more promises or oaths! I've had enough of you Levin, and all you've done! You will die! You will die by my hand!**

The Alatreon swept through the air, flying low over the rooftops of the buildings, ignoring the wild shots that struck against its body, clanging off of its scales and plates. It ignored the shouts of anger and the calls for battle around it. Its rage had overwhelmed it, and now it only had eyes for one person in the city and one person only: Levin. And the foolish, interfering human was buried beneath the city itself! But there were ways down; the dragon would tear through the earth itself if that's what it took to kill the boy!

The Alatreon sung low through the air, straight towards the center of the city. It touched down at the tip of the Tower square, where several hunters were waiting for it. Several charged the elder dragon with their blades or fired upon the creature with bowguns, but the Alatreon tore straight through them, dashing across the cobble streets, picking up speed as it ran. Dark black and red energy began to spiral around the creature as it summoned the dragon element from deep within itself, and it sprinted even faster towards the twisted construction that rose up in the center of the city, the Loc Lac Tower. The material was hard, harder than nearly any other in existence, the hardened remains of another elder dragon long since dead. But Alatreon was stronger, stronger by far!

The elder dragon smashed into the Loc Lac Tower, it's thick, powerful horns piercing through the thick bone of the tall structure. The enormous tusk groaned, and then splintered as a massive, wrenching crack exploded around the circumference of the Tower. The Alatreon howled, twisting its head and tugging on the massive tusk, causing the crack to grow wider and longer, twisting about the Tower further and further, shards of the massive bone splintering off and falling to the ground, showering those hunters bold or foolish enough to try and approach the creature as it strained more and more. Then with an earth-shaking crack, the Alatreon ripped itself free of the Tower.

There was a moment, impossibly brief, of dead silence through the city of Loc Lac, only covered by the subtle sound of flames licking up from burning buildings. Then there was a dreadful groan, deeper and more fearful than any monster's roar, and just and horrible, as the Tower began to tilt. It was slow at first, and those nearby were uncertain whether what they were seeing was real or not. Then there was another crack that echoed across the entire city, and the base of the Tower erupted, massive chunks of the thick tusk flying outwards from where the Alatreon had struck it, and the structure swung loose. It was slow at the start, as the tip of the Tower began to drop, tilting towards the earth, but it began to pick up speed, falling further and further, faster and faster. Every eye that could see the structure watched as the Loc Lac Tower, the symbol of the city and everything within it, toppled to the earth.

With a resounding crash that shook the foundations of every building in the city, the Tower struck the earth, right on the line between the North and Northeast Districts. A plume of smoke and ash and flame shot into the sky as the wide tusk crushed houses and stone beneath its bulk. Bricks and mortar flew, and the shockwave of the impact uprooted even those houses nearby that were not directly under the impact zone. The sound of rubble falling and buildings collapsing filled the city for several minutes, before silence once again filled the city.

But the Alatreon had no care for silence, or the damage it had done or the lives that had been lost by the falling of the Tower. Its attention was solely focused on Levin, and digging his way down to where the hunter was hiding from him. With a roar of fury, the Alatreon smashed its talons against the base of the remains of the Loc Lac Tower, tearing through the ancient tusk and ripping through stone and dirt. It pulled apart the ground in a frenzy, desperate to get through the earth. Damn Levin! Damn him! Let him hide in the ruinous corpse on an ancient dragon, the Alatreon would not be dissuaded by something as simple as that! It would dig through the earth if that's what it took!

The Alatreon paused as a bowgun shot ricocheted off of its thick scales, turning to look as numerous hunters appeared in the Loc Lac square. There were many, of all shapes and sizes, and wielding different weapons. Few were Lost, most were locals, and all of them seemed ready to kill the Alatreon. The first to come were a long sword user and a sword and shield user, with a bowgunner huntress close behind. The elder dragon hissed irritably. It had no time to waste on these pathetic humans! It needed to kill Levin! Let the hunters come at it! The Alatreon would slay any that tried to slow it down!

* * *

**Author's Note: Please Review! I plan on breaking down the rest of the story into smaller chapters from here on in. With all the excitement coming in the next chapters, I feel it's better that way.**

**I managed to snag up a downloadable copy of MH3U for my 3DS when it went on sale recently. It's nice to be able to play solo without the need to be in front of the TV. It always feels as though I should be online when I'm using the WiiU version of the game. I'm still having trouble getting used to the controls, and having such a small controller. I'm thinking of getting a Circle Pad Pro for the sake of better camera control, since the camera is so much better on the WiiU… anyone have any thoughts on this?**

**So there are times when I enjoy simple things while I'm writing this story. One such thing is a livestream channel I've started watching where it's just Shiba Inu puppies with a camera on them as they play at a dog shelter or something. I'm serious, I'll have that on my screen for hours just watching puppies play with each other. It's very therapeutic, especially if you like dogs. **

**Reading: **_**King of the Murgos**_** by David Eddings, **_**Onepunch-Man**_** by One, **_**UQ Holder!**_** By Akamatsu Ken  
Playing: Chrono Trigger DS, MH3U  
Listening: Iron & Wine, Modest Mouse, Groove Armada, Destroyer, Battles, The Promise Ring, The Academy Is…, Mumford and Sons, The Mighty Mighty BossTones  
Watching: Howl's Moving Castle (damn I love this movie, I've been watching it a lot recently)**


	46. Counterattack

Counterattack

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. Most of the characters in this story are mine. Many belong to others as mentioned in previous chapters._

_Edited by: Hoenn Master96_

"Shut the hell up, you damn hunter!"

Levin groaned in pain as one of the guard's boots struck him in the side. Immediately the hunter lashed out at the man, trying to grab hold of his foot. The man pulled back quickly however, managing to keep out of range of Levin's grip. Levin pulled desperately against his chains, trying desperately to reach the man. Blood dripped from his wrists, his skin having torn and cut from him pulling on the iron shackles that bit into him deeply. The Dark Metal still remained on his back, digging into him as well. The pain was horrible, and Levin could feel his skin blackening from the effects of the ore, but his fury at the Alatreon and everything around him was consuming him.

"Release me! Now! I'll kill the creature! I'll make it suffer! You will all suffer for doing this to me! I'll find the elder dragon! I'll make it live in agony before it dies!" Levin winced as one of the guards struck him across the face.

"He's gone and lost it completely," the guard muttered sourly, pulling his hand back before Levin could sink his teeth into the man's flesh. Levin growled viciously at the man as he stepped back, shaking his head. "Think we should go get Farren?"

"Forget it," the other guard grumbled. "We're not the researchers' lap dogs. They hire us to keep the 'test subjects' from escaping and that's it. Besides, it's not like he's dying. Farren said to get him when it looked like he was about to kick the bucket. He may be mad as a bag of cats, but crazy ain't dead. When he stops biting, then we think about getting Farren."

Levin hissed viciously and the guards turned to bark at him again. But Levin wasn't thinking about them anymore. The Alatreon's attention had suddenly turned directly onto him, and Levin could feel the creature's seething fury boring into him. The Alatreon was no longer focused on the city, but on the hunter himself. Levin laughed, a twisted sound; let the elder dragon come for him! He'd tear it limb from limb and make it beg for death. He would make it feel every single one of the heinous deaths that he had conjured up and forced into the Alatreon's skull!

Suddenly, the walls around them shook. A deep rumbling rolled through the Gullet, and the floor below the three men shivered. It was light, but the tables and bottles and containers around them shook, rattling where they sat. A thin layer of dust fell down the walls, and the door groaned in strain as it shifted in its frame. The rumbling continued for several seconds, before dying down again to silence. Cries of shock and horror could be heard coming from the other cells. The two guards stared around them in fear and confusion.

"What the hell was that?" one muttered fearfully.

"Just… just an experiment gone sour, I'm sure," the other replied, though he didn't sound so sure. Levin growled angrily where he lay on the floor, and both of the men looked down at him in concern. Levin could see their worried faces, and he knew they were now questioning if, perhaps, there really was something behind what Levin had been telling them about the Alatreon.

"Ah, here you are. I was hoping it wouldn't take too long to find you. I'm afraid I'll have to ask you boys to stop with all that roughhousing."

Levin looked up in surprise. He hadn't even heard the door open! And that voice… he was sure it was the voice he'd heard in his head, the one that wasn't the Alatreon! But he was even more surprised at the man in front of him. The man that stood just inside the cell door was unlike any he'd ever seen before. He was a broad man, and heavyset, but Levin could tell that his appearance belied a lot of strength. He could best be described as scruffy, or rugged, with tanned, leathery skin and calloused hands, a close-cut beard covered his chin, under a head with short-cropped dirty blonde hair that was at well into greying over. His face was just as worn as the rest of him, and he had a crooked nose under calm blue eyes. His clothing was the strangest part of him, with worn tan leather clothing that hung loosely about the man's body, though a necklace of uncut blue and purple gemstones hung loosely around his neck, and a set of bangles with the same gems were latched around his wrists.

"I'd forgotten how deep this place was," he said casually, smiling at Levin and the two guards that flanked him. "A bit of a maze if you don't know your way around, isn't it? And that rumbling… I suppose things are getting pretty sour topside, aren't they?"

"Who are you?" one of the guards snapped, pulling out his blade and approaching the man threateningly. "This place is a restricted-"

The guard's words were cut short as the strange man's hand swung out, smashing the flat of his palm against the guard's helmet. The blow was enough to dent the thick iron plating and send the man off of his feet, smashing into the nearby table with all the experimentation equipment across it. The man didn't get back up, and the mysterious man frowned and sighed.

"I hope I didn't kill him. I don't care for killing when it's not necessary." Then the man turned to the second guard, whose jaw had dropped in shock. "As for you… well, I'd let you go, but we can't have you raising a ruckus, can we?"

"Bastard!" the man growled, pulling out his sword. The strange man waited expectantly as the man charged him, but as the blade was swung, the man casually caught the man's arm, and with a swift motion, brought his other hand down onto the man's helmet in a swift chopping motion. There was a slight ringing as the blow struck, and the guard wobbled for a moment before dropping to the floor unconscious.

"Much cleaner that time," the man noted. "I don't envy the headache he'll have upon awakening, but he'll live."

Then the man's eyes turned back to Levin. Levin's vision was swimming, and he glared viciously at the man, growling under his breath and tugging at the chains that bound him. The man frowned in concern. "Goodness, what have they done to you, boy?" Then he caught sight of the black ore that hung strapped to Levin's back and his eyes widened in recognition. "Sweet mercy! That's… what was it called, Dark Metal. No wonder you look like you do. Hold still boy, and I'll-"

"Get away!" Levin snapped as the man approached. He couldn't trust him! He couldn't trust anyone here! He'd tear out the man's throat if he got close! "Get away! Don't touch me or I'll kill you! I'll kill all of you! I'll tear you-"

The man's arm reached forward quickly, grabbing Levin by the head and pushing his face down into the stone. The hunter cursed and hissed viciously, but the man ignored him for the most part. "Just calm down, boy, and I'll see what I can do. It doesn't look as though the Metal is burning your body, at least not as badly as it normally would. That's… well, I don't know if that's encouraging or not, but let's get that off of you for now."

Levin writhed around on the floor, trying to free himself from the man's grip. But the man was just too strong! For the life of him, he couldn't even force the man's grip to loosen! He shouted and cursed, trying to fight against this man, but just couldn't. The man murmured to himself, tugging a little bit at the Dark Metal that pierced Levin's skin.

"Well, I can't see any other way to do this, boy," the man eventually sighed, a sour note in his voice. "Brace yourself, Levin. This will hurt."

Levin paused his struggling for a moment. What did he mean by-?

Levin suddenly screamed as blinding, horrible pain suddenly ripped through him as the man grasped hold of the Dark Metal and pulled it free of Levin's body. Flesh ripped as the thorns of the ore were yanked out of where they had dug into Levin, and the hunter could feel the Metal trying to cling tighter as each consecutive edge was removed. It seemed like an eternity as each of the Dark Metal's sharp spines pulled loose, each a piercing wound that Levin felt through his whole body, but finally the last thorn was pulled free and Levin dropped to the ground, sobbing and gasping for air. He felt as though his very spine had been ripped out, and he could feel trails of blood sliding down his body from the numerous wounds, pooling under him.

There was a loud clanging sound as the man holding him tossed the Dark Metal chunk across the room, landing it in the corner. Levin could just see the ore in the edge of his vision. It was writhing about, he was sure of it, subtle and small motions, but it seemed desperate to return to Levin. Levin wanted to run away from the Metal, but his strength was gone…

The pressure on his head vanished as the mysterious man released him, getting to his feet. Levin growled viciously, trying to lash out against him, but the pain in his body held him back. He could hear the man grumbling to himself as he walked around the room, the sounds of bottles clinking and things being shifted about, and then his footsteps approached Levin again. Levin gasped in pain as the man wrapped an arm under him, his body screaming out in agony as his wounds were agitated. But the man ignored his groans and sobs, sitting him upright and holding him still. Levin realized that the man had a large bottle in his hands, the red potion that Farren had gotten from foreign lands.

"Drink this," the man told him, popping the cork and pressing it to Levin's lips. "All of it, now. It may taste vile, but the people that made it knew what they were doing when they brewed it."

Levin nearly choked as the cold, bitter fluid slid down his throat, but he couldn't fight back or resist the man in any way, even if he wanted to. He wanted to grab the bottle and smash it against the man's head, then slit his throat! He didn't trust this man, but he knew the potion was supposed to make him feel better. He managed to get halfway through the bottle before some caught in his throat and he fell into a coughing fit, gasping for air. As he reached up to wipe his mouth, Levin realized that some of his strength had returned. The man nodded in satisfaction, and held out the rest of the bottle to Levin.

"Drink the rest on your own, Levin," he said sternly. Levin wanted to argue, but still felt too tired to do that much, so he hesitantly took the bottle. "Good lad. I'll see what I can do about these chains on you."

Levin could still feel the madness seeping through him. Every fiber of his being was screaming out at him to kill this man, to take the chains around his body and wrap them around the man's throat, strangling him! But as the potion seeped through his body, healing him, the pain began to dwindle away little by little, as did the seeping madness that filled him. Anger and hate still urged him to do… something, but he just didn't know what. This man was saving him. Levin didn't know the man's reasons for doing so, and certainly didn't trust him, but he'd freed Levin from the Dark Metal, and that was something.

"Your hands…" Levin muttered. The man looked down at his right hand, where the skin had gone ugly black and purpled, and the veins and arteries were standing out clearly. It was as though his limb had been frozen or burned. The man shook his head, returning his attention to the locks on the cuffs about Levin's arms.

"I've had worse…" the man told him. "Dark Metal's a nasty thing, no matter who you are or how strong you think you are. But don't you worry about me, boy. You've got enough on your plate without thinking too hard about me. Now drink! No more words until you've downed the rest of that."

Levin nodded weakly, drinking the rest of the potion quietly. He could feel himself improving with each drop that slid down his throat, and even the wounds on his back felt as though they were instantly closing up, as if by magic. And the madness… was the potion actually reducing the madness that surged in his mind? How did it do that? Was that the only reason that he hadn't gone insane in this place already, thanks to the potion experiments that Farren had been conducting?

A minute or so later, as the last couple drops left the bottle, the locks on Levin's chains snapped open, and the man smiled to himself proudly. "And they said lock picking was a useless skill for me to have. Shows what they know! Now, those wounds of yours won't stay closed forever, Levin. You'll need to get them looked at when you've got the time, but for now, you should really get yourself to the surface. I'm sure they've got your armor and weapon around here somewhere, and you'll need it to get past the guards, and for what's waiting for you on the surface. You might want to check the closets and storerooms in the area, though…" The man tilted his head a little, looking towards the door. "I imagine you'll have some help coming soon enough. But for now, just keep heading upwards. You'll get out eventually. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to be leaving. I'll leave the rest to you."

"Wait!" Levin groaned, trying to push himself to his feet. The man paused just outside the door of the cell. "Why are you doing this? Who are you?"

The man smirked. "I'm just someone who's taking a gamble on you. I'd like to see what you can accomplish. You've proven to be quite the useful tool so far, let's see if you can finish the job. As for the details… well, those can wait for another day, assuming you manage to make it through all this in one piece… or at least alive. Farewell for now, and good luck."

"Wait!" Levin called as the man vanished around the corner. The hunter stumbled to the door, unfamiliar with his legs after so long, and looked outside, but the man was gone, vanished into thin air. How had the man disappeared? Levin hadn't heard the man run or anything, and none of the other doors were open, so he couldn't have hidden in one of those…

Levin shook his head. That didn't matter right now. Whoever that man had been, and whatever his reasons for freeing Levin, they could wait. Levin wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth, not at a time like this. He needed to find his armor and switch axe; the strange man had said they'd be nearby, hadn't he? But how had he known about… no, Levin couldn't think about that. Save it for later.

Before running off though, he had a thought. Though he didn't want to even think about the cell he'd been kept and tormented in for so long, he strode back into the room for a moment, just long enough to grab the other bottle of foreign potion that Farren had left on the table. There were a few other potions about, some of Farren's experimental ones, that looked as though they might be worth taking as well, but Levin decided against it; no matter how trustworthy they looked, Levin knew that they could have terrible side effects.

The hunter also spared one last look at the Dark Metal in the corner. The ore was glittering and twisting about on the floor where it had fallen, and it had a desperate feel to how it was moving. Levin had to shake his head. He always described the ore as though it was alive, but the Dark Metal, while you could certainly tell it was moving, if only slightly, if you watched it closely, did not really appear as though it was living. But Levin knew that there was… something to the ore. He just knew it. Even now, the Dark Metal seemed to realize to Levin that the hunter was leaving and was frantic to get back to the hunter. But as intent as the ore was to latch itself back onto Levin, the hunter was just as intent at getting away from the Dark Metal. Levin turned away, ignoring the light sound of clicking behind him as he turned and hurried through the door.

Levin wasn't sure how to get out, but the strange man from earlier had said to just go up, so did he need to just take the stairs whenever he saw some? For all the maze-like qualities that this place had, it seemed a simple way to get out, or maybe Levin was just in the right spot for that to work. Either way he hoped that he found his armor and weapon soon. Even with all the experience he had fighting against humans, he didn't want to have to go up against any guards without some sort of protection. There was a large wooden door up ahead though, different from the cell doors. Perhaps that was the storeroom that he'd been told about.

It was slow going getting over to it though. Farren's foreign potion that the mysterious man had given him certainly helped dull the pain from the wounds Levin had received, and had nearly gotten rid of the effects of the Dark Metal's side effects on his back, but no mere potion, no matter now powerful its effects, could rid someone of the pain that Levin had been forced to undergo during the last… he didn't even know how long. His body had undergone tremendous stress and torment since he'd been brought here, and he hadn't even been able to stand up for a majority of that time. It was painful to even hold himself upright at the moment, and he limped along the hall with one hand on the wall to keep him steady. He couldn't even guess how he was supposed to get up all those stairs… Hopefully the stamina boost that the red potion was supposed to offer would do more than it had and kick in soon. It would only get worse if Levin had to climb all those steps in full armor…

"Did something happen? I've almost got everything I need, so unless Lev… the test subject is in dire condition, I'll return momentarily."

Levin froze as he pushed open the door. The storeroom was compact and cluttered, with shelving rising up all sides, filled to the brim with countless things, many of them more frightening than anything that Farren had ever kept in his room. The researcher himself was standing near the far wall, picking over a few boxes in the back containing more of the ingredients that he'd been using to make the potions, as well as a few other goods. He turned towards the door, a sour expression on his face.

"Well, is something wrong, or do I need to-" the man froze, realizing that it was not one of the guards that stood at the door, but Levin instead. The two stared at each other for a few moments in silence.

All the rage and madness that Levin had thought had dissipated when he'd drunk that red potion seemed to reappear in a flash, bursting out in a feral, furious scream. All the frustration and pain at everything he'd suffered because of the man seemed to explode back into stark reality in his mind and without thinking, Levin lunged at the man, intent on returning the pain that he'd received.

The next few moments were a bit of a blur for him. Farren was not a hunter, nor very strong in the first place, but he still struggled to resist as Levin lunged at him. There was a short struggle, and the researcher was easily overpowered and thrown to the floor. The next thing Levin knew, he was on top of the man, striking him in the face and jaw. The researcher cried out as Levin assaulted him, trying to defend himself, but even in the state he was in, Levin realized that Farren wasn't trying very hard to keep Levin from attacking him.

Out of the corner of his eye, Levin caught sight of his armor, lying on one of the lowest shelves nearby. On impulse, the hunter reached out, grabbing hold of his hunter's knife that lay next to it and ripping it out of the sheath. With a scream of anger, he swung the blade around, sending the blade sinking into the man's shoulder. Farren sobbed in pain as the blade ripped through his flesh, then released a spray of blood when Levin pulled the knife free. He reached a hand up to clutch the wound, but the next second, Levin pulled the knife up again and brought it down towards the man's throat.

It just barely missed, Levin's madness and fury throwing off his aim. But the edge of the blade still cut flesh, slicing through the edge of Farren's neck, and the tip of the blade clanged wildly on the stone floor, slipping away from the researcher's throat. Levin twisted the blade back around though, pressing the edge of the knife up against the man's throat even further, cutting deeper into his flesh.

"I'll kill you!" Levin roared into the researcher's face. "I'll make you suffer for what you did to me!" Levin bared his teeth viciously. He could hear the sounds of harried footsteps coming down the hall. The guards were coming, but it was too late! He'd have the researcher dead before they could save him! He grinned as he pressed the blade further against the man's throat…

"Levin!"

Levin paused as the edge of the blade dug into the researcher's throat. That voice… he looked up at the door to the room. There was a huntress there in the doorway, wearing a full suit of… was that Silver Rathalos armor? He'd never seen someone in that kind of armor before… But she pulled off her helmet, revealing her face.

"…Ellie?" Levin realized that Harker and Kerry were behind her as well, and they were staring at him in shock. He looked down, remembering what he had been doing, and the madness and anger inside of him welled up again, and his grip tightened on the blade.

"Do what you will, Levin," Farren said quietly. Blood trickled down the researcher's throat and shoulder, pooling in a small puddle under his head. He had a look of tired acceptance on his face. He was prepared to die by Levin's hand. "You have every right to this after all I've done. I do not blame you, and I will not try and stop you. Do what you must. I deserve nothing less."

Levin growled at the man. He didn't need Farren's permission for that! How dare he act like this after everything he'd done! How dare he feel… guilt. The room shivered a bit, dust falling from the shelves as another rumble echoed through the Gullet. Levin wanted to kill the man. He wanted revenge for everything he'd been subjected to since he'd been brought here! He didn't care whether or not Farren felt guilty over what he'd done! He didn't care whether or not the man felt as though he'd been doing the right thing or not! He didn't care about the man's personal reasons…

Levin felt himself deflate a little, and the madness in his head began to fade again. Though he hated to admit it, Farren was a lot like him. The man had suffered the loss of a family member, though in a different way than Levin had, and had reacted to it in the only way he thought he could. Had Levin been a scientist instead of becoming a hunter like he had, what sort of things would he have done to deal with the pain? Would he have been willing to make the sacrifices that Farren had in order to take down the Alatreon?

"Your sister…" Levin muttered, and Farren looked up at him with a baffled expression. "Is your sister still alive?"

Farren's jaw worked for a moment, as though he was trying to speak but couldn't find the words. "I… I don't know. I haven't spoken to her in almost twenty years. After everything she's gone through, and everything she suffered… I can't imagine she's still alive after all of it."

Levin was silent for a moment, and his eyes rested on the blood dripping from the man's throat. "But… you don't know for sure?"

"No… all ties I had before coming to Loc Lac have been cut off. I have seen or heard nothing of those I knew then. If she lives… then she has lived unaware of my whereabouts for all this time."

Levin was quiet for a moment longer. Farren winced as the hunter tightened his blade, pressing the blade closer to the man's throat as the memories of the time he'd spent as the man's lab rat, tormented under the touch of the Dark Metal. He seethed at the callous way the man had done it as well, writing off Levin's suffering as a result of 'necessity', with only the slightest hint of regret. He deserved this! He had earned the right to make Farren suffer for everything that had been done to him!

But… Levin's grip on the knife loosened slightly. "Promise me…"

Farren frowned in confusion. "What?"

"If I let you go," Levin said quietly, "promise me you'll go see your sister again. Tell her everything you've done, and everyone you've hurt over the years. Tell her… why you did what you did what you did. Confess your crimes to her. If you can promise me that you'll do that, I'll let you live."

The researcher was quiet. "That is to be my punishment? This is how I'm supposed to pay for what I've done to you?"

"Is it not enough to have to tell Jezebel everything you've done?" Levin asked, and Farren's face grew tormented at the words. "I thought as much… I know how much you looked up to her. Let your sister decide on your punishment. If she is the type of person you described her as… well, that will be enough, I'm sure."

"And if… and if she is no longer among the living?"

"Then find her grave… and tell her anyway," Levin said. "Then think of your own punishment. You of all people know what crimes you've committed, and though you don't act it, I know you hate yourself for what you do. There is nobody in the world who knows what your punishment should be better than you. Now promise me. Promise me you'll do this and I'll let you live."

Levin looked up at Levin desperately. "How do you know I'll keep my promise?" he asked. "What makes you think I won't just run when I get the chance?"

"You've never lied to me yet, Farren. Maybe I'm just being a fool, but… you seem a lot like me, Farren. I'm sure… that if you make this promise, you'll keep it."

Farren seemed torn. Levin knew that there was a lot he didn't know or understand about the man, but if there was one thing he was able to glean from the researcher, it was of how high in regard he kept his sister Jezebel. Even with everything he'd gone through, Levin knew that admitting his crimes to someone he loved so much would be far worse than anything Levin could do to him. And if she was dead after all… well, Levin knew how much having her crippled had ruined him; he could imagine what finding out that she was dead would do to him. Levin's ultimatum to the man wasn't an easy one; even now, the man might decide that death was the preferable choice between the two.

"Fine… I… I promise. I will do what you say. Just let me live." Farren's face was defeated and shattered. Levin knew that the man would keep his word for sure. The decision had destroyed him: fear for his life, or fear for his reputation with the people he loved. Mix that with the fear that those he cared for could be deceased, and he had never known, and Levin had forced the man into destruction, one way or another.

Levin nodded, pulling the knife away from the man's throat and letting it clatter to the floor. He pushed himself to his feet, but his legs nearly gave out from underneath him. Before he could fall however, he felt hands grasp hold of him, keeping him upright. Both Ellie and Harker had caught him, one at each arm, keeping him steady. The pair quickly pulled him away from the researcher as he lay there, and both clearly looked as though they wanted to know why the man was here and what he had been doing. But neither of them spoke up. Whatever the man had done, and whatever his affiliations with the Gullet were, their primary goal at the moment was to get Levin out.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Ellie asked worriedly. Levin looked back at Farren. The man had yet to move from where Levin had threatened him, and was staring blankly at the ceiling, his face pale and sunken, and his shoulder and neck still bleeding.

"No… I really don't trust him, but I think he'll keep his word. And if he doesn't, it's not like there's much he can do with himself now anyway." Levin shook his head. "Forget about him. Let's just… please just get me out of this place." The huntress nodded, and with Harker's help she carried Levin out of the room. Kerry hung behind only long enough to run into the room and collect Levin's armor and weapons before running behind them.

They hurried to get away from the level they were on before more guards could show up. The sounds of the other captives could be heard through the cell doors as they passed, but the group of four pressed on, ignoring the sounds coming from within with pained expressions. Levin was surprised by unconscious or wounded guards they passed as they continued on upward through the halls and stairs. Had his friends really done all this for his sake? They'd really done so much, despite the Alatreon and everything that was happening topside just to save him?

"Thank you…" he muttered softly, though he didn't know whether any of them heard him say it. Ellie's grip on them tightened a bit though, as they pressed further and further upwards.

Eventually they came to a stop at an intersecting group of stairwells. They'd had the misfortune of running afoul with a few groups of guards as they escaped, but the others seemed to have gained a fair bit of experience in dispatching them, and they'd managed to get past without slowing down too much. The path they'd come up led up from the deeper parts of the Gullet, but the three other paths they could take all led upwards. Harker looked around uncertainly, clearly trying to decide which way they needed to go in order to find the surface again. The man muttered to himself as he glanced around, trying to remember the path they were supposed to take, but Ellie stopped the madman before he could decide.

"Can we find a place to rest?" the huntress asked. "A side room or storage closet or something?"

"I hardly think we have time for a break…" Harker muttered. But then he looked back at Ellie and got a good look at Levin. The switch axe user had to admit, he didn't feel very well, but obviously he looked worse than he felt. The red potion was making him feel better, sure, but all the stress from his scuffle with Farren, followed by running and trying to escape, wasn't giving the concoction much time to take full effect. His wounds were sealing up slowly, he could tell, but he just didn't have the time to really recover his stamina. "Perhaps it would indeed be better to take a moment to collect ourselves," Harker said quickly. "If we are to meet the Alatreon on the surface, we'd best be prepared for whatever it has awaiting us."

Harker quickly made a decision, leading the group of them to the left and up the stairs to another long hallway. It wasn't long after that when they managed to find a small room to one side, filled with various supplies and increments of unknown use. Some of them looked very unpleasant, though… The four hunters ignored them however, and Ellie carefully set Levin down in a corner, taking off her helmet and pulling out the bandages she had in her hunting pouch to carefully looking Levin over. Harker, more experienced in medicine, gave Levin a thorough examination as well, though Levin knew it couldn't be good when the man winced at the sight of him.

"Sweet mercy…" Ellie breathed, tracing a finger down Levin's back. Levin didn't know how bad his back had to look after spending so long in contact with the Dark Metal, but he knew it couldn't be good. "What did they do to you, Levin?"

"I'd rather not remember…" Levin replied. "It wasn't pleasant, that's for certain."

"I must admit, my friend," Harker muttered thoughtfully, "the injuries look very similar to those that you received in the Tundra when you were pierced with those Dark Metal shards, but frighteningly worse. But then, it was Farren that we were collecting those for, and if he was working here, then-"

Both Harker and Ellie froze in realization at the words, and Kerry gasped where she stood near the door. Levin's eyes drooped miserably at the words, but he shook his head. "Like I said, just forget about it. I don't want to think about it, and I don't want to remember it. I just want to leave this place."

"Perhaps you should have killed him after all…" Ellie replied with unusual sourness, and Levin winced at the words.

"I don't want him dead… not even after all of this. If we somehow manage to do something about the Alatreon, we'll tell the Guild what he's done, and they can deal with him."

The other hunters in the room seemed surprised at the words, and it was clear from Ellie's expression that she disagreed, but none of them pressed it any further, and none of them asked any more about what Levin had gone through in the Gullet, nor what he had done to escape his cell. In the meantime, Harker and Ellie did their best to tend to Levin's wounds as they rested. It gave Levin a moment's respite from everything he'd gone through, as well as giving the foreign potion time to take full effect. He had to admit, the longer he sat there, the better he felt. The potion was nice, but it didn't seem to work too well against long-term injuries. Or maybe it was just an effect of the Dark Metal… Harker seemed to be speculating such once Levin told him about the foreign potions, though the long sword user seemed far more interested in the potions than the Dark Metal.

In the meantime, while they treated and wrapped Levin's injuries, they recounted what had happened up on the surface while Levin had been down in the Gullet. Levin's hopes for a decent outcome to the situation sunk even further as they went on. It seemed that everything had really gone to hell while he had been down here: Riots and mobs, the Alatreon attacking the city (though he'd known about that one), and even a reappearance by Pugnax? He'd thought the man was dead after their last meeting in Malefica… he hoped he didn't run into the man before the Alatreon was dealt with; he didn't think he could hope to beat him in the state he was in.

It took some time, but eventually all of Levin's wounds were covered by gauze and bandages. They'd been forced to use all of what they'd brought, but they'd managed to get lucky by finding extra medical supplies on one of the shelves. Levin felt like a mummy as he was, with so many bindings wrapping around his chest to cover the injuries on his back. But he was feeling a lot better now. The break had offered the time and rest needed for the red potion to take full effect; Levin still didn't feel top-notch, but he felt far better than he had in the whole time he'd been in the Gullet. Maybe there was something to these potions of Farren's after all…

Now he was getting help putting on his Rathian armor. It would be a straight shot to the surface and the Alatreon now, and they all needed to be ready. He wished he had better armor for this, but he supposed there was no helping it now. Levin winced as Ellie helped him cinch the bindings his armor together. "How… how did you find me anyway?" he asked. "Farren said… he told me nobody knew about this place. And the Gullet is a maze. How did you know which cell I was in?"

"We had some help finding it," Ellie told him. "There's a huntress we met that has… a past with people here, and she told us how to get in. As for which cell you were in… the Alatreon told us." Levin jolted, turning to Ellie in shock, and she held up a hand. "Before you ask, I'm sure you can tell that it wasn't an act of kindness on the elder dragon's part. If you didn't know already, the Alatreon wants you dead, Levin, and it wants it bad. After you… ranted at it, you really got it riled up. It beaded in on you, and I don't think it realizes it, but it's been projecting your exact location to us for a half hour now. It's likely been doing the same for a lot of other people too. It's how we knew exactly where you were; it showed us every nook and path in the Gullet, and we were able to use that to get to you. I don't know how it knows the details of the Gullet but… it doesn't really matter."

Levin nodded, but he really didn't understand what was going on. Had he really done all that when he'd lashed out at the Alatreon not long ago? Everything that had happened to him after Farren had attached the Dark Metal to his back seemed like a blur to him, up until the arrival of the strange man in the old leather clothes… Levin still hadn't mentioned him to the others, but that could wait until later he supposed. But if he could really connect his mind with the Alatreon…

It was strange to try, but he tried to reach his mind out towards the Alatreon's. It was a strange feeling to do so, but his thoughts immediately seemed drawn to the elder dragon's own. Immediately he reeled back in fright, severing the connection instantly. The others in the room looked at him worriedly as he shook his head, trying to rid himself of the images that had flashed through his mind. The Alatreon was… bordering madness, as far as Levin could tell. Anger, rage, blind aggression; its loss of control of everything that was happening in Loc Lac had pushed it into a fury, and now all that seemed to be going through its head was finding and slaughtering Levin, and it was tearing at the earth to do so. The only thing stopping it was a collection of hunters that were doing their best to stop the beast. They weren't doing that well, but they were managing to survive thanks to the creature's madness; it's blind rage was keeping it from fighting as effectively as Levin knew it could. Levin didn't know how he'd managed to create a connection with the Alatreon in the first place, though being half-mad himself probably had helped.

"We need to go," he told the others curtly. Harker and Kerry nodded, and Ellie grunted as she tightened the last latch connecting Levin's armor shut. Levin groaned as he got to his feet. His body still ached from everything he'd gone through, but now he felt as though he was actually battle-ready. Well, as battle ready as he could be, at least. "People are losing their lives trying to stop the Alatreon, and it's just focused on me… We need to do something to get it away from the city."

"That's the plan," Kerry replied, and Levin looked at her questioningly. The huntress rubbed her hands together nervously. "We… please don't take this personally, but even though we wanted to save you from the Gullet, the primary reason we did so as quickly as we did was to have you be a distraction so we could drive away the elder dragon from the city."

Levin gaped in shock at the huntress, and looked at Ellie and Harker. The two looked away shamefully. Ellie was the first to return his look. "Levin… I'm sorry, but as much as we wanted to free you before, we couldn't. You'd… we'd broken the law, and there was nothing we could do in the situation we were in. And when the Alatreon said it was going to attack the city… you were the only person we could think of that would be able to garner enough attention from the dragon to possibly keep it from destroying the city. Please, Levin, we wanted to help you before, but we just… couldn't."

Levin was quiet for a moment. "I understand." Ellie looked at him miserably, but he smiled comfortingly. "No, really I do." And he did, oddly enough. He'd known when he was arrested that he had broken the law, and there was nothing he could do about it. He'd accepted that, and he hadn't expected anyone to come for him to save him. Admittedly, it hurt a little at first when they'd said it, but he understood. He would never have asked them to break him out of this place under other circumstances, not if it meant incriminating themselves. And in the end, he really did know that the Alatreon would come for him eventually, so even if his friends hadn't suggested this move, Levin would've. The others didn't look like they believed him though. Levin shook his head.

"We would not have let you go alone," Harker said urgently, his expression miserable. "Though it may sound snide and ruthless of us, we intended, and still intend to be with you every step of the way, no matter how sour a fate such action may lead to."

"Please Levin, you're our friend," Kerry added sadly. "We wouldn't want to-"

"Just forget about it," Levin told them, raising his hands. "Water under the bridge okay? Please guys, trust me when I say that I really do understand. Let's just get out of here, please? If you really feel bad about all this, you can make it up to me after… after we've dealt with everything else going on."

The other three hunters nodded somberly, clearly still unhappy with the way things were. But Levin had forgiven them already, despite their fears. He'd convince them of it later; right now they had other things that they needed to do. They began to leave the room, ready to press on up towards the surface and to the fight that awaited them. However, Levin thought of one thing he needed to do before they continued on their path.

"Ellie…" Levin said quietly. The huntress turned curiously before she got to the door.

"Levin? What's-"

Before the huntress could say another word, Levin quickly embraced her, pulling her close to him and hugging her fiercely. It was slightly awkward with both of them in full armor, but it didn't matter to Levin. And it didn't seem to matter to Ellie either, as the huntress wrapped her own arms around him, returning the embrace. He savored the feeling, wishing that it could've happened at a time when they didn't need to be in full armor.

"Thank you," he said, clinging to her tightly, desperately. "Thank you for coming and saving me. I don't care what your reasons were or what you need me for, I'm glad you came for me. I'm so happy to see you… I never thought I would get a chance to again. I just… with everything that's happening, I'm afraid we might not get another chance to-"

"Don't talk like that," Ellie said quickly, cutting him off. "We're going to make it through this, got it? And we're going to do it together. We're both going to survive all this. We're going to… we're going to have a life without all this danger and fear, alright?"

Levin grinned. "Whatever you say, Miss Ellie. Whatever you say." He didn't imagine things would turn out nearly as well as they hoped, but he supposed there was always room to hope so.

The pair stood like that for a few moments more, savoring their time with each other. He kissed her softly, knowing that it may be the last time he'd get the chance. She was still so soft, despite all they'd been through, and even now he still felt that same comfort in being near her that he had when he'd first fallen in love. The pair lingered like that for as long as they could afford, before reluctantly pulling apart from one another. Neither of them said anything as they made their way out of the room, where Harker and Kerry were waiting for them patiently. Nothing else needed to be said right now. It could wait until later. For now though, there was still much to do.

* * *

The sunlight burned Levin's eyes as he stepped out of the stairwell leading out of the Gullet, so much so that he winced, stepping back in pain and covering his eyes as the light blinded him. How long had Ellie said he'd been in the Gullet? A couple of weeks? It felt like so long… and all that time without the sun. He could barely stand to be out in the glaring light of the setting sun. The others paused patiently and worriedly, but Levin pushed himself forward; he couldn't stand to stay in the Gullet any longer. Besides, he could already hear the Alatreon, and it was fighting some unlucky hunters by the sound of it. He had to try and get its attention, and hopefully find a way to repel it, though how he would do that was beyond him.

"I think a few new holes have been added to this warehouse," Harker noted. "It wasn't nearly this bright when we came in."

"Yeah…" Ellie muttered worriedly, looking around. Levin wondered what the warehouse had been like before they'd entered, because it was a wreck now. A better portion of one of the walls was destroyed, the bricks littering the floor covered in black burn marks and soot. A massive hole in the roof had been blown out, and most of the shelving under it were toppled or splintered from whatever had come through the roof.

"Oh!" Kerry gasped, pointing towards a cluster of ruined shelving in the corner. "Oh dear…"

The other three hunters followed her gaze, and Levin winced at the sight. The charred remains of a hunter lay smashed and broken amidst the ruins of the wall and materials that littered the floor. Levin looked up; had the hunter come down through the ceiling? Perhaps the Alatreon had dropped the hunter from above after carrying through the air or something like that… But as Levin approached the blackened corpse, he realized he recognized the remains, if only slightly. The Agnaktor armor and the ruined Gigginox lance, and the body shape… the face was charred beyond recognition, and the rest of him wasn't much better, but still Levin seemed to know that it was him. There were a fair number of hunters in the city with Angaktor armor, but with that lance, Levin knew that this was Pugnax, or at least what was left of him.

"It would appear that our… wayward antagonist did not have nearly as much luck against the Alatreon as he imagined he would," Harker noted.

"Serves him right," Kerry noted sourly, with unusual distaste in her voice.

"Should we… do something about him?" Ellie asked. Levin glared down at the man. If there was a living creature in existence that Levin dislikes as much as he did the Alatreon, it was Pugnax. He could feel his anger welling up again inside of him. Pugnax should have suffered for everything he'd done! He should have faced proper justice, not get away from it by-

"You know what? Just forget about him. Leave him here. Someone else will clean him up."

Levin turned in shock, looking at Ellie in surprise. After everything that Pugnax had done to them, she just wanted to ignore this? Why? But even now, the huntress was looking up at him intently. "That's the best thing we can do to get back at him for everything he's done, isn't it?" Ellie asked, looking at Levin. "He always wanted to be the center of attention, to be respected and lauded for his skill as a hunter. If that's what he really wanted, then wouldn't the best revenge be to let him fade into obscurity? Just forget about him, Levin. Don't think about him anymore and you've done worse to him than anything else we could've done if he was still alive."

Levin stared at Ellie for a long moment. He realized she was right. Pugnax had done enough to him; now he was dead, and could Levin really ask for more? Pugnax had been a man who had demanded attention, and craved the spotlight. If Levin made a big deal out of Pugnax, he'd just be giving the man power, even after his death. "You're right. There are other things to worry about now than him."

"Then let's hurry up and find the Alatreon," Kerry said. "Though… I have to admit, it might be hard to catch. Loc Lac is big, and if the creature's too far…"

"It's at the Loc Lac Tower square," Levin told them quickly. The other hunters gave him questioning looks, but Levin shook his head. He'd seen that much when he'd dared to look into the Alatreon's mind; the creature was fighting hunters in the Tower square, trying to beat them away long enough to find Levin. The switch axe user didn't feel like telling the others about the full extents of the bond quite yet… "We should get there quickly. The quicker the Alatreon knows I'm here, the fewer people that will die."

The hunters nodded, and began to work their way out of the ruined warehouse, over the rubble and collapsed shelving. Before walking out of sight, Levin spared one last look at the remains of Pugnax, and for a moment he seethed, wishing the man could have received a more… fitting punishment. But the feeling only lasted for a fleeting moment, and then Levin pushed the thoughts out of his head, and gave the lancer no more thought.

Levin gaped in shock as he left the warehouse. He'd expected destruction upon leaving the Gullet, with the Alatreon intent on bringing the city to ruin, but seeing it in person was a very different feeling than what he had ever imagined. Collapsed or burning buildings lined the streets, and the roads themselves were ripped and filled with craters from the Alatreon's attacks. In the shadows of the alleys and side streets, Levin could make out the torn, broken, and burned bodies of the dead. Levin would have thought nothing could appear worse than what he'd seen in Malefica, but all this mindless destruction around him…

"The Tower… the Tower!" Kerry gasped. "Where… the Tower's gone!"

Levin didn't realize what the huntress meant at first, looking up into the sky. He didn't see anything wrong… but then he realized that's what the bowgunner meant: there was nothing in the sky above them! The Loc Lac Tower was gone! It was visible from almost every corner of the city, and yet… it just wasn't there!

Kerry was horrified. "It can't be! What's happened to it? It can't just be gone!"

"Your fire-breathing friend over there knocked it over," a strained voice said, sounding amused. Levin turned and spotted two familiar faces, Noxramus and Tenebris, tucked under the crooked awnings of a nearby building. The huntress was getting her arm wrapped in bandages by the hunter, where a nasty-looking burn wound was clear on the appendage. But the bowgunner still grinned at them. "It was rather impressive, to be honest, watching it fall. Would've been more so if the whole thing wasn't so terrible."

"Would you quit talking already?" Nox asked irritably. "The potions are making you delirious…"

"What happened?" Ellie asked worriedly, rushing over to the pair with the other three hunters behind her.

"We both got caught up by one of the Alatreon's exploding fireballs," Nox answered. "I had my shield on me to take the brunt of the damage, but Tenebris here wasn't quite so lucky… neither of our armors are much suited for resisting fire damage after all. I thought the beast was going to finish us off, but another couple hunters showed up and started hassling it, giving me time to drag Tenebris away from the Tower square."

"What the hell were you doing trying to distract it?" Levin gasped. "It's suicidal to try to-"

"Not anymore it's not!" Tenebris laughed. "We blasted it! Just like back in Nastre against the 'Los! Us and a few dozen Lost pelted it with as many Dragon shots as we could get our hands on, then blew it all to hell with Crag and Cluster rounds! Don't know how much we hurt it… but we had to have blown off half of those scales that cover it. We can hurt it, even if it's just a little bit!"

"We were trying to distract it," Nox told them. "It was going to try and dig its way down to you in that cell of yours, and we know that you were supposed to act as a distraction to get it away from Loc Lac…"

"Wait, how'd _you _know where I was?" Levin asked. "I thought the Gullet was supposed to be a secret."

Tenebris laughed, but winced again as Nox tightened the bandages. The short sword user was the one to reply, though. "The Alatreon really has it in for you, Levin. I don't think it's realized it, but it's been sending your location to every Lost in the city right now, if not the rest of the locals too. If the city really didn't know about this 'Gullet' before, it certainly does now."

"It's probably for the best," Harker replied. "A place like that needed to be uncovered sooner or later…"

A blast of flame erupted a few buildings down, blowing apart a shop and sending parts and materials flying everywhere. The hunters winced as the structure collapsed under its own weight from the damage. A moment later there was a lance of lightning that ripped the roof off another building nearby. A powerful screech of fury rattled the windows and foundations of the buildings along the street from a few streets over.

**Levin! **The Alatreon's voice erupted in the hunter's mind. **Levin! Human! Filthy creature! I know you're here! I know you're above ground! Show yourself! I will kill you! I will rend you in two and devour you whole! Show yourself and die!**

The sound of bowgun fire blasted through the alleyways from the direction of the Tower square, and the howls of the Alatreon's anger turned away for a moment, and the flash of lightning could be seen dropping from the sky over in the square. Battle cries from hunters sounded through the streets, as did the sounds of their weapons striking out at the beast; it was though a war was being fought near where the Loc Lac Tower had once stood.

"We can't waste any more time," Kerry said worriedly. "If we're going to try and get the Alatreon out of the city, we need to do it now. Too many people have died already… we can't have afford to lose more." Levin nodded. They had to pull the Alatreon's attention away from the other people in the city, both hunter and civilian alike. Nodding to each other, the four hunters took off towards the Tower square, with Tenebris and Nox wishing them luck as they ran off.

As the hunters entered the Tower square however, a scene of devastation surrounded them. Earth and stone had been ripped loose from the street of the square, and massive craters had been blasted here and there in every direction. Nearly all the buildings lining the edges of the square had been either leveled or burned, with others showing clear marks of lightning strikes or being impaled with numerous ice spikes piercing the walls. The remains of the Loc Lac Tower remained poking up in the center of the square, a low, broken base with the bottom half of the entry arch being the largest remaining piece of architecture remaining. The rest was snapped and shattered, looking not unlike any other broken bone that Levin had seen during his time as a hunter; it seemed that the rumors had been right in assuming that the Tower had indeed been the long-buried tusk of some ancient, colossal elder dragon. Wide tears and gouges lined the base of the tower as well, the signs of the Alatreon's attempts to dig its way through the thick stone and dirt down into the Gullet where Levin had been before.

The bodies of the dead also were scattered about, those unskilled or unfortunate enough to have not managed to dodge all of the Alatreon's attacks. They were everywhere, dozens of them, lying motionless and cold in the shadows of nearby alleys, or wedged up against the remains of the annihilated buildings. And so many of them were without armor, over half of them being the angry, vengeful Lost that had rallied at Levin's call to fight against the elder dragon despite their inexperience and ill-preparedness. An immense feeling of guilt washed over Levin at the sight of them all. He didn't really remember what he'd done when the Dark Metal had been attached, but his friends had told him that he'd somehow incited the Lost against the elder dragon himself. All the bodies nearly overwhelmed Levin with guilt; it was because of him that they were all here, that they had all come to fight against the Alatreon, that they had died fighting a monster they hadn't a glimmer of a chance of beating with their skill and power. But still they had come, despite the dangers, because of Levin. And Levin couldn't forgive himself for it.

But now wasn't the time to think about that. He'd seek forgiveness for what he'd done some other day. For now they needed to deal with the Alatreon. A pair of hunters were duking it out with the beast at the moment on the far side of the Tower square. The creature was… wounded, to say the least, so much so that Levin was nearly frozen where he stood in shock. He remembered the Alatreon from its attack on Hearth, when its scales had been numerous and sharp, perfectly covering nearly every inch of the beast's body. Now it was battle-damaged all over. Countless scales and plates had been shattered or knocked off, revealing thick leathery hide beneath that had suffered unbelievable wounds from the attacks it had received from Lost and hunter alike. Levin almost couldn't believe it himself, despite his promises to kill the beast; he'd almost believed the Alatreon invincible himself, and now it was showing that it could be injured! But even with all the damage it had taken, it didn't seem to be limping or suffering or even tiring out!

As for the hunters fighting the beast at the moment, Levin didn't recognize one of them, some older man with a hammer, wearing green and red armor and black leather, and carrying a massive hammer that looked like the chamber of a massive revolver. But the other, while Levin couldn't see his face, was wearing a foreign armor and using a great sword that was just too unique in this country to forget: it had to be Miller. They were fighting well from what Levin could tell… but the Alatreon didn't seem any weaker, despite the damage it had taken, and every blow that the hunters dared to try and hit the elder dragon with was met with furious backlash that could have killed them, were it not for their skill and not a small amount of luck.

Levin reached for the hilt of his switch axe instinctively, ready to attack the Alatreon immediately, but he paused as a groan of pain caught his attention. He turned, catching sight of an overturned shop wagon wedged into the thin gap between a pair of half-destroyed buildings. Levin could just see a trio of Lost there, each of them badly wounded from the fight, either from one of the Alatreon's elemental attacks, or having suffered a blow from one of the elder dragon's remaining razor sharp scales; even in the state the beast was in, getting cut by one of those scales could result in a terrible gash through your flesh. There was a group of hunters there next to the Lost, doing their best to treat the poor people's wounds while the sound of battle raged in the background. The hunters were familiar though. Kai and Kei, the hunting twins, were there, and so was Richard, looking with concern and slight frustration around the corner of the wagon at the ensuing battle.

"Hey, there they are!" Kei shouted, smacking her brother in the shoulder. "We were wondering if you'd get out in time. We're running out of people willing to fight the creature."

The hunters hurried over to the wagon, looking down in worry at the wounded Lost. Richard looked up at them and grinned. The hunter had a large burn mark on the side of his chest piece, and seemed to be holding himself gingerly. "It's good to see you all. I don't know what that underground complex you were in is all about, but we need all the help we can get against this beast. I don't know how much we can do even with you here though… even with everything we've thrown at the Alatreon, it's not even slowing down."

Kai shook his head in dismay. "My sister and I have been dragging as many as the injured as we're able to out of the battle zone, but we can only do so much. Not many Lost survive direct battle with the elder dragon, but we've managed to recover a couple dozen before the dragon could finish them off, or when the beast was distracted by another hunter. We tried fighting earlier, but neither of us are equipped for something like this…"

"They saved my life, though," Richard told the hunting horn user with a thankful smile. "The Alatreon's quicker than I imagined it would be; one of its lesser lightning strikes winged me a little while ago, and the creature nearly cut me in half before I could recover. This armor's never been great against the lightning element… These two managed to get me out of there when some of the Lost fired on it though, distracting it long enough for them to drag me here. As for the Lost… I wish I knew what happened to them."

"What about the rest of the hunters in the city?" Kerry asked. "The Alatreon can't have killed every hunter in the city already, could it? We've only been underground for an hour or so!"

"I tried to recruit help earlier," Richard sighed, shaking his head. He looked further down the alley, where a pair of hunters, a couple rookies even younger than Levin, lay motionless on the ground. One had a hole punctured straight through his armor, a melting ice lance piercing his chest just over his heart. The other's body was badly singed, and dark dragon energy still danced mockingly across his chest plate, despite his life having clearly long since left him. Richard sighed miserably at the sight. "Rookies and hopefuls. That was all I got: People that were too inexperienced or too optimistic to understand the real danger of the Alatreon. There were a few veterans, some that stood a better chance, but very few. Only about… seventy-five, maybe a hundred hunters from the entire Southeast District, and now almost all of them are dead. The only ones that are still alive are either the very lucky, or ran when they realized they wouldn't be able to do anything. I don't blame them for trying; at least they made an effort to fight in the first place…"

Once again the man looked down at the trio of wounded Lost below him, and he growled angrily. "Damn it all, the Lost that came to fight outnumbered the hunters five to one! What's the point of having a city dedicated to hunting if the hunters cower in their bunkers and hovels the second a real threat shows up?"

"How many are still fighting?" Levin asked, looking back at the Alatreon. The elder dragon was still duking it out with the two hunters out in the square, but the hunters were looking the worse for wear.

"There are only a few real hunters left," Kei replied. "Those two out there have been going at it a while now; I think they realized that they have to fight defensively if we want to kill the beast. There was that huntress earlier that kept knocking off more of the dragon's scales with her dragon shots, but I haven't seen her in a while…"

"She's safe," Ellie replied. "We found her a couple streets over, recovering."

"That's good to hear… Anyway, besides them, the rest of the hunters have either died or run away. There may be some more Lost somewhere in the area, but I think those that haven't been killed are either hiding or out of ammunition, because nobody's taken a shot at the Alatreon for a little while now."

"We need to get the Alatreon out of the city," Levin said, looking down at the wounded Lost. "It's causing too much damage. Can we lead it over to the docks and try to lead it away from the city with one of the sandships?"

"I think we've passed that point," Kei cut in. "Me and Kai saw the docks on the way here; they're a wreck! The Alatreon did a good job blasting apart most of the sandships in the East District, and I doubt it's been any gentler at the other gates."

Kai nodded in agreement with his sister. "If there's a ship that's able to leave the city, you'll be hard pressed to find it, and even if you could, with the Alatreon as angry as it is, you'd just be target practice out there in the desert! Airships are even slower, so that's out too. Unless you can keep it from flying, you're out of luck there."

"Then what do we do?" Kerry asked hopelessly. "Is our only option remaining to fight it? Even if it is injured, it's hardly slowing down at all! If the Alatreon's managed to kill or scare off all of the hunters that have come after it, what hope do we have to be the ones that finish it off, even if it is vulnerable?"

A cry of pain pulled their attention back to the square. The hunters turned in time to see the Alatreon send the older hammer user flying across the stone street with a blast of fire. The hunter's armor held though, sparing him a fatal blow, but the man clattered across the stone, sliding to a stop under the overhang of a small item shop, smashing through one of the thin poles holding the overhand up and collapsing it. Miller didn't fare much better after that, earning the Alatreon's full attention, and the great sword user was forced to retreat as the elder dragon lashed out at him with cracking blasts of dragon element bolts, sending him running into an alley to avoid them.

**Levin! **The Alatreon's voice blared into the switch axe user's mind, as well as those of the other hunters about him. All of them winced in pain at the powerful pressure of the creature's mind. **Coward! Weakling! Show yourself! I have slain hundreds of your species, and I will continue to do so until you show yourself! Reveal yourself! Fight me and die!**

"Looks like we're out of options," Levin said sourly. "I'd like to think there's another way to stop all this, but it doesn't look like we're going to get it. We have to fight."

"Looks that way," Ellie agreed worriedly, and Harker and Kerry nodded as well. "It's damaged, and its scales are gone. We have to be able to do something to it, especially now."

"We can't afford to run or hide," Kerry said quietly. "Even thinking of battling the Alatreon is dangerous… but I guess it's a risk we have to take, even with the threat of dying."

"The beast must have a weakness of some kind," Harker noted. "Dragon element is one thing, but no beast can last forever, not even elder dragons. I'll do what I can to try and find something."

**Levin! Fight me!**

A massive ice spear shot from the elder dragon's maw, spiraling through the air and smashing through the roof of the building next to them. Rubble began to drop down into the alley, and Richard, Kai, and Kei immediately grabbed the wounded Lost on the ground, picking them up and bolting away from the falling rubble.

"I'll be back to help once I've gotten these Lost to a safe place!" Richard called through the sound of the sandstone smashing into the street. "Try and stay alive and keep moving above all else!" As the building began to fall in on itself, Levin and his friends hurried out of the alley into the square, dodging falling stone and rubble.

As the dust from the building began to settle, Levin looked towards the center of the square, and found the Alatreon's gaze upon him, and only him. Fury blazed in the creature's red and yellow eyes as it glared down on him, and Levin could see seething madness seeping through the beast. The elder dragon's claws tore the ground as it prepared itself for battle, and already Levin could see bright red flames licking the Alatreon's teeth as fire swelled in its gullet. Despite the damage that the elder dragon had taken fighting the countless hunters that had thrown themselves at the beast, the creature still seemed to swell with power,

**Finally! Levin! Hunter! Filthy human! I will make you suffer for the embarrassment that I have undergone in this city! You will writhe in pain for every soul that you incited into battle against my power! There will be nothing remaining of you when at last I allow-**

The thumping of two bowguns firing pulled Levin's attention away from the creature's monologue, and the Alatreon screeched in anger as two heavy rounds smashed against its face and neck, erupting in a blast of flame and interrupting it. Levin looked in surprise at Ellie and Kerry as they fired again, and Ellie frowned in irritation. "This thing really likes to hear itself talk, doesn't it? Come on now, Levin!"

Levin nodded with a smirk, and then leapt forward to attack the elder dragon. The Alatreon shook it's head, chasing away the smoke and ash from the explosives before glaring down at the huntresses that had fired on it, before releasing a massive fireball towards them in retaliation. The two huntresses dived out of way of the blast, but the fireball struck the stone street directly between them, detonating in a fiery blast that blazed into the sky. Kerry was sent skidding across the sandstone walkways, but Ellie was closer to the center of the detonation, and got caught up in the inferno. Levin shouted in horror, but a moment later the huntress stumbled out of the fire awkwardly, raising her arms to protect her exposed face from the flames. Her armor, shining silver, had protected her far better against the blaze than Levin could have imagined it capable of doing.

Levin closed the distance and the Alatreon's attention turned back to him. Lines of electric energy began to crackle over the creature's body, and a bolt of energy snapped out at him. Levin slid to the side, just barely getting out of the way before the lightning blasted apart the stone street where he'd stood only moments before. But Levin was forced to keep moving as more lightning bolts snapped down through the air at him, one after the other, each just barely missing and making his hair stand on end.

The sound of steel clashing caught both Levin and the Alatreon's attention. Harker had managed to close the gap between himself and the elder dragon, and was currently slicing away at the beast's legs. However, the Alatreon didn't even seem to react at all to the long sword user's attacks, save for a growl of anger and irritation. The creature lashed out, its claw blazing with dark dragon energy, and Harker leapt away, barely avoiding the elder dragon's sharp talons. However, the dragon element energy leapt from the Alatreon's claws, catching Harker in the back as he dodged, sending him flying back through the air and skidding across the street. Black voltage jumped across the long sword user's armor as the man pushed himself painfully back to his feet.

With the monster's attention away from him, Levin charged the beast, snapping his weapon to its sword mode. Black dragon element of his own surged through the crystalline structure of the weapon as he sent the blade crashing into the elder dragon's legs. The monster's scales rang and the weapon bounced back from the impact, but the dragon element leapt excitedly into the elder dragon's body, and Levin could see the energy digging into the beast's scales, softening and parting them just a little bit. The Alatreon snapped around in irritation, raising a claw to slash at Levin, but before it could, the creature's face was peppered with Pellet shot as Kerry approached from the side, firing her massive bowgun at the elder dragon's neck and head. The rounds ricocheted off almost completely harmlessly, but the Alatreon flinched away as the shots rattled close to its eyes.

Voltage swelled across the monster's body as the Alatreon charged itself with lightning, the tips of its thick horns glowing as the energy surged through it. With a screech, the Alatreon swung its head, and lightning bolts leapt from its horns, searing through the air towards the huntresses. Both of the bowgunners leapt away as a cascade of bolts fell down upon them, crashing into the cobblestone street. Dirt and stone were ripped from the ground, sent flying into the air as the voltage blasted down around them. Both were sent tumbling by the force of the strikes, the lightning going wide and spreading over a massive area.

Levin leapt forward again, swinging his sword about and sending it crashing into the Alatreon's scales once more, aiming for the creature's hind legs this time. The elder dragon hissed viciously as the dragon element weapon cracked loudly against its scales, cutting shallowly into the beast's flesh through the gaps in the monster's armor. The Alatreon snapped about, its claw glowing black with dragon energy of its own. Levin tried to dodge away from the attack, but he just couldn't move quickly enough, and the Alatreon's sharp talons slashed along the side of his armor. The blow didn't pierce Levin's armor, but the strike was powerful enough to throw Levin back with a cry of pain, and the dragon element energy swelled through him painfully, tightening and locking the joints in his armor together. Levin groaned in pain as he tried to push himself to his feet,

Harker appeared from the side, approaching the Alatreon from where Levin had attacked before, and lashed out at the beast with his long sword. The long blade clashed against the Alatreon's scales, bouncing off harmlessly with every other blow, but Levin realized that the ground was twinkling below the long sword user with each swing of the blade. Harker was actually aiming for the places where Levin had managed to hit the Alatreon with his dragon element weapon, where the scales were weakest, and shards of the broken remains were falling from the elder dragon's body in clusters with each swing. But the Alatreon's tail snapped around quickly, cracking at the long sword user. Harker was just barely able to dodge the strike, sliding out of the way, and the spikes along the Alatreon's tail tore through the earth under him as they smashed into the earth. But the tail swept out again, catching Harker in the legs and tossing him away as the sharp scales scratched across his armor.

Again bowgun fire echoed across the square again as Ellie and Kerry began firing on the monster yet again, this time both of them with heavier rounds. Explosives erupted across the elder dragon's body and face, but the beast hardly seemed to care, and several ice lances shot toward the huntresses through the smoke and ash of the explosions. The huntresses moved away, but the ice was followed immediately by another wave of lightning, dancing across the square. Ellie was able to get away from the bolts that crashed down from above, but this time Kerry wasn't quite fast enough, and found herself engulfed as one of the bolts smashed into the earth only a couple feet from her. The lightning leapt up from the impact zone, and the huntress was thrown back as thousands of volts surged through her. The bowgunner was tossed into the stone pillar of one of the nearby buildings, and dropped to the street, clutching her chest and side in agony.

Harker cried out in fear and worry, and Levin could feel a wave of mirth come through the bond with the Alatreon. Fire welled up in the elder dragon's maw as it prepared to launch a fireball in the huntress' direction, and Ellie rushed towards the woman to help her. But before the fireball could leave the monster's mouth, both Levin and Harker rushed in front of the monster, attacking the elder dragon's forelegs. The Alatreon reared back in surprise and anger, the flames dying out for a moment in the monster's mouth. But they blazed back to life a moment later, and with a beat of the creature's wings, the Alatreon flew back from the two hunters and launched the fireball at their feet. Neither of the hunters had time to get out of the way as the fireball erupted.

Even with his armor's fire resistance, Levin howled in pain as the fireball erupted, enveloping him in flame and flinging him across the stone square, smashing into the earth. He could feel his singed armor smoking, and tried to pushing himself back to his feet. He struggled to get further than his knees though, gasping for air from the heat and the concussive force of the blast. His body was deteriorating again, he could feel it; he just hadn't had enough time after his time in the Gullet to recover. He couldn't imagine how bad Harker must feel at the moment; Levin wasn't sure how well the long sword user's armor repelled fire.

The Alatreon's laughter rippled through Levin's mind, and the switch axe user watch in fear as the Alatreon's dark shape strode through the flames that still blazed from where its fireball had struck. Its horns were conducting spikes of voltage between them as it made its way over to him. Levin forced himself to his feet, needing to use his switch axe as a crutch to keep himself upright.

**Look at you! Is this the best you can do? You cannot harm me in the slightest, human! What did you hope to accomplish, riling the rest of the Lost? You can do nothing to me!**

"What? But we-"

**But nothing! I've had enough of you, Levin! **The Alatreon's fangs glistened as the creature opened its maw, another fireball swelling up in its gullet. **Now die! Burn to ash!**

"Hold it!" The Alatreon's head snapped about it surprise, and found itself looking down at Kerry. Levin was just as shocked; the huntress had actually dashed through the flames from the explosion to catch the Alatreon by surprise! Kerry looked worse for the wear from the hit she'd taken earlier, but her hand clung tightly to the weapon she carried in her hands. The bowgunner had her weapon cocked and armed, pointing directly at the Alatreon's hind leg from point-blank range, and the barrel was glowing with a fiery blue and white heat.

With a rocketing explosion, the tip of the bowgun erupted in a powerful burst of fiery destruction, enough to send Kerry skidding backwards across the square. The blast was incredibly short range, but Kerry had been standing nearly on top of the Alatreon, and the force was enough to blast the elder dragon's leg right out from underneath it, coating it with incinerating fire. The monster howled in shock as it began to topple over, but before it could fully tilt over, its wings spread wide, and with a quick beat of the monstrous appendages, the Alatreon began to push itself up off the ground. Its balance was off kilter though, so it began to wobble in the air a bit.

Then the sound of another bowgun firing echoed across the square, and Ellie appeared through the haze and smoke as well, firing upon the Alatreon as well. Her own rounds were far smaller caliber, and were bright yellow in their coating, a sure sign of Para rounds.

The inky yellow goop splattered against the Alatreon's wings as the creature swept over them, trying to gain its balance in the air. Without the scales that once covered the elder dragon's body, the paralyzing venom was able to seep into the Alatreon's leathery hide. The creature shrieked in shock as its wings spasmed abruptly, and before the monster could get itself off the ground, it stumbled and crashed into the street. It reared up howling in anger, dragon energy dancing across it as it turned in fury towards Ellie, but before it could attack again, another couple Para rounds splattered into the Alatreon's long neck, seeping in again into the beast's blood. Ellie reloaded again as the dragon energy swelled on the Alatreon's body, and she fired two final rounds as the elder dragon began to charge her. The rounds smacked into the creature's chest and foreleg, sliding through the spiraling dragon energy that swelled around it.

It was just enough. Before the Alatreon could bear down on her, the paralysis venom seeped into the creature's blood, finally overwhelming its resistance. The elder dragon's leg bucked wildly, dropping out from underneath it and sending the beast crashing to the ground yet again. This time however, the creature was unable to push itself back to its feet, and its body began to twitch and spasm as it lay on the ground, and its eyes widened in horror at the realization that its body was no longer obeying its commands. Loud, wordless howling echoed through the hunters' minds as the Alatreon struggled, trying to move but being completely unable to.

Levin choked out a strangled laugh; finally, a chance to strike back! Despite his wounds the switch axe user pressed forward, intent on doing what damage he could while the Alatreon was vulnerable. Both Ellie and Kerry were approaching as well, Ellie sliding more Pierce rounds into her bowgun, and Kerry loading in another of those massive rounds that she had fired earlier.

The Alatreon's tail was the closest part of the elder dragon that Levin could reach, so the hunter began to hack at it while the sounds of bowguns firing came from the other side of the elder dragon. The tail still had dozens of thick spines and hard scales attached to it, however, and it seemed that every strike, even with the added effect of the dragon element, made Levin's switch axe glance off the Alatreon's body harmlessly. But he was making headway, and some of the scales and spines were falling from the elder dragon's tail slowly but surely, one after the next. Levin would take the Alatreon's tail, and let the beast try to tell him that he wasn't hurting it then!

"Get back! Now!" Levin jumped at the sound of Harker's voice piercing clean through the noise of bowgun fire, but did as he was told, turning and dashing away from the Alatreon. He spared a look back, and sure enough, the elder dragon twitching and spasms were slowing down, and the monster's wings and tail were beginning to move under their own control again. Levin could see Ellie running away from the elder dragon as well, but to his dismay he realized that Kerry hadn't moved from her spot. She had a fearful look on her face, and Levin saw that her bowgun was charging up again to use the short range blast shot again, this time aimed directly at the Alatreon's large, jagged horns. And she was stuck that way, unable to move for fear of her weapon backfiring now that the shot had been activated.

The Alatreon growled viciously, turning its head towards the huntress as it began to push itself back to its feet. Its eyes glowed with volatile fury, and lightning surged up the thick black horns of the beast as it prepared to lash out with its electricity before the huntress could manage to escape.

But before the lightning could strike out at Kerry, Harker sprinted in from the side, catching hold of the huntress' shoulders and pulling her away from in front of the elder dragon. The long sword user was badly singed from the fireball he'd suffered earlier, and he seemed to have a limp in one leg, but there was still desperation in his speed as he hurried to get Kerry away from the elder dragon. The lightning shot from the Alatreon's horns a moment later, and a massive, earth-rending bolt of electricity crashed down onto the stone square, uprooting dirt and cobble alike and sending a pillar of dust into the sky. The monster screamed in fury, its eyes darting around to follow the pair of hunters as they moved out of the way. However, Kerry's bowgun was still charging, despite her attempts to call Harker's attention to it. The barrel of the gun was waving about wildly, even as the bright blue and white light continued to grow more intense.

With another fiery detonation, the Wyvernfire shell went off, sending a massive blast down into the cobble street. Both hunters were knocked completely off their feet at the backlash of the round going off, as the explosion whipped back at them from where it had struck the earth. Kerry and Harker crashed into the stone street, clutching each other tightly so as not to lose each other, but Kerry's bowgun snapped free of its sling, skittering across the Tower square before clattering to a halt just a few feet short of the Loc Lac Tower's remains. Kerry gasped in terror, leaping to her feet and dashing across the square, chasing after her bowgun.

The Alatreon's eyes followed the huntress, and a deep growling emanated across the Tower square, and once again lightning began to dance between the creature's thick horns. With a screech, a bolt of electricity ripped from the creature's horns. The bolt missed, striking the ground several feet in front of the huntress, but the bolt shocked Kerry, and the bowgunner stumbled. She nearly caught herself, but her foot slipped and she ended up stepping into the small crater that the Alatreon had blasted into the square with its lightning bolt. She cried out in pain as she fell, crashing to the earth, and spun about, desperately pulling on her foot. But the armored boot was stuck tight, wedged into the thin crevice in the earth.

The elder dragon growled viciously, and dark dragon energy began to swell around its body. With a screech, the Alatreon pushed off, sprinting across the Tower square towards where the huntress stood struggling. The Alatreon's horns lowered as it charged, the two thick horns gleaming in the sunlight, undamaged despite the battles that it had fought in Loc Lac. Kerry was frozen in horror as the beast came for her, unable to move out of the way of the oncoming creature. The elder dragon was bearing down on her, and there was nothing she could do to get out of the way.

"Kerry! Here!"

The huntress turned in surprise as Noxramus appeared from one of the side streets. Tenebris was close behind, though the huntress still looked worse for the wear from her previous injuries. But Nox was charging towards Kerry across the square, rushing to her aid. Levin knew already though that the man would never make it to her in time, no matter what he was hoping to accomplish. But as the Alatreon bore down on Kerry, Levin saw that Nox was unlatching the bindings of his shield from his arm. With a powerful throw, the hunter flung his shield through the air towards where Kerry was stuck. The shield didn't quite make it to the huntress, but skittered across the stone street far enough to get within reach of her.

Kerry snapped up the blue and black shield awkwardly, unfamiliar with using holding such a thing, but was able to swing it up in time. A terrible, painful screeching ripped across the Tower square as the Alatreon's horns tore across the flat of the shield, ripping into the solid metal and Baggi materials, tearing a pair of thick gashes across the shield as the jagged horns cut into it. Black energy surged across the metal plate, passing through the material and into the bowgunner's bracers. But Kerry grunted in effort and shoved against the creature's face as it passed over her, her exceptional strength pushing back against the elder dragon's skull and deflecting the Alatreon's horns away from her. The elder dragon kept the momentum from its charge though, and Kerry ducked as the monster's charge carried it over her.

A loud cracking, smashing sound echoed through the city as the Alatreon crashed into the remaining base of the Loc Lac Tower. Its thick, pointed horns pierced straight into the thick elder dragon horn, embedding deep within the sturdy structure. The Alatreon howled in surprise, tugging back from the Tower's remains, but was horrified to find that it had wedged itself in and was unable to pull itself free of the old tusk.

In a flash, Harker was at Kerry's side, helping to pull the huntress free of the hole in the ground. Noxramus appeared there as well, recovering his torn and jagged shield from the huntress as Harker finally managed to pull the bowgunner free from the pothole. Dragon element still sparked along the Baggi-material shield, and Levin wasn't sure how well it would work from here on with the two long tears cutting through it.

"Now's our chance!" a deep voice boomed over the din. Levin recognized Richard's voice as the long sword user appeared from out of one of the nearby alleys. Kai and Kei were with him, their weapons in tow alongside them and charging the Alatreon. Richard motioned to the elder dragon enthusiastically. "It's stuck! We need to hit it now that it's open for attack!"

Levin looked back at the Alatreon, and sure enough the creature was still stuck in the wall. He would have thought the beast would have pulled itself free by now, considering that it had managed to break the entire Tower in two not long ago, but somehow its thick horns were still wedged into the base of the Tower as the beast struggled to free itself. Bowguns were already firing on the elder dragon from all angles now; Ellie was coming from the center of the square, firing Pierce rounds at the beast, and Tenebris was braving her injuries to shoot at the elder dragon as well. Even Kerry, despite her close call, had recovered her bowgun and was reloading it with new rounds to fire. More hunters were appearing from side streets as well now; Miller had reappeared now, as well as that hammer user Levin had seen earlier. Both were a fair distance away, but closing fast on the elder dragon.

Neither Levin nor Harker wasted any more time readying their own weapons to attack as well. Levin could feel the strain in his body from the attacks he had suffered, but he still pressed on towards the elder dragon, desperate to try and finish the beast off.

Harker and Richard were the first to reach the Alatreon as it tugged against the elder dragon bone that held it, and Levin and Noxramus were close behind. Bowgun fire, once pelting the Alatreon's body, began to rise up a little as the melee warriors approached the elder dragon's legs and lower body. It was a struggle for any of them to land a hit on the creature, even with the monster pinned to the remains of the Tower, the elder dragon's flailing and writhing made the creature a challenge to strike anywhere on the beast's body before it moved somewhere else, and the Alatreon's tail was whipping about like a lash, threatening to strike them if they dared get too close.

A short minute passed, but to Levin it felt like an hour of wasted time. None of the blade swingers were able to press the attack with the Alatreon flailing about, even with the bowgunners firing on it. Irritation and desperation finally got the best of him, and the switch axe user leapt forward, diving under the elder dragons torso and between its stamping and stomping legs. He heard the others cry out in worry, but forced himself to ignore the danger of the situation, switching his weapon over to its sword form. With a quick thrust, he brought the weapon's blade straight up, piercing into the thick cluster of scales and plates that coated the Alatreon's breast before activating the release on his dragon phial's output.

Dark dragon energy blazed through the blades, surging out of the weapon's tip and punching into the Alatreon's chest. But still the elder dragon continued to struggle, trying to free itself from the Tower base, seemingly ignoring Levin, even as the power of the dragon phial swelled and poured into the creature's breast, reaching its blasting point. Finally, the phial, skirting the limits of the safeties binding its output, pushed out the remainder of the energy that the weapon would allow, sending a swelling charge into the Alatreon's chest that detonated with tremendous force, powerful enough to knock Levin backwards, sliding out from under the dragon with black energy dancing across his armor.

This time the Alatreon felt the force of the blast. The dragon energy detonation was enough to make the elder dragon shiver from the force, and the shock of the energy nearly knocked to the beast to its knees. The Alatreon somehow managed to keep its feet under it, but the hesitation of balancing itself was plenty enough for the other hunters about it to charge in, their own weapons at the ready, to begin assaulting the beast as they had longed to do.

The Alatreon screeched angrily, lightning jumping across its body as the hunters leapt around it. With every blow that the melee fighters managed to land on the creature, another few scales on the elder dragon's body were loosened. All the while, the bowgunners were firing their bowguns at the creature, hitting the elder dragon hard with pierce rounds and incendiary blasts. Others were firing dragon element rounds, weakening the creature's scales even further

Agitation finally overwhelmed the elder dragon, and the Alatreon unleashed a powerful, screeching roar, deafening the hunters and making them wince in pain. As the throbbing in their heads began to die away, Levin and Harker tried to begin attacking again, but before they could, the Alatreon tugged against the Tower remains with one last, powerful pull, and the old bone finally gave way, shattering and letting the creature's horns break free. The melee fighters yelped in pain and surprise as a cascade of broken elder dragon bone shards rained down upon them, as well as massive chunks crashing into the square about them. The Alatreon screeched in fury once more, and swept about in a quick circle. Both Levin and Harker cried out in pain as the creature's sharp tail smashed into them, knocking them back and pulling terrible piercing screeches from their armors as the Alatreon's scales slashed across their armor, and the other melee fighters suffered similar injuries at the elder dragon's abrupt assault. Levin pushed himself back to his feet, but nearly fell to the ground again in pain, clutching his chest; the blow from the Alatreon's tail felt as though it had broken a couple ribs, leaving it a challenge for the switch axe user to breathe. The elder dragon beat its wings, pushing itself skyward, lifting into the air over the square.

"Damn it! It's just too strong!" Levin cursed. "After everything we've done to it, it's not even slowing down at all! Even with all the damage it's taken it's still taking us apart! I've even used my switch axe's energy blast, and it didn't even blink!"

"Something is wrong," Harker muttered, catching his breath. "I've read up on elder dragons before, but this Alatreon… It's not flinching, not faltering, and the only time we've managed to make it fall over is when we knock it out of the sky or paralyze its legs. It only winced when its eyes are threatened. Even the most dangerous of monsters flinch when they're struck, but this creature isn't at all! You and I have dealt blows to the beast that would topple it, and yet it only becomes surprised or angry, not injured! I don't understand this… It's not ascribing to how monsters should act, even if it is an elder dragon! It's like it doesn't even feel pain!"

Ellie and Kerry fired at the beast, but the Alatreon swept out of the way nimbly, dodging their fire with ease. Its attention turned on them, and pale haze swelled up from its maw, and with a hissing blast the elder dragon flew towards them with a stream of frigid air beaming from its mouth. The huntresses yelped in dismay as the wave of frigid air swept across the square. Both dove to the side, trying to escape the deadly freezing, but Ellie wasn't fast enough as the Alatreon's gaze followed her, sweeping along behind her and coating the stone street behind her in stark white ice. The huntress cried out in agony when the ice blast managed to catch up to her, and the frozen beam washed over Ellie's feet and legs, pinning her to the ground with jagged white spikes while rising up chains of ice around her ankles.

Levin could feel a feeling of glee rising up in the Alatreon's mind as it pressed its attack on the huntress. The spray of frigid air slackened slightly, and the white mist in the back of the elder dragon's mouth grew increasingly intense as the elder dragon prepared to fire a slew of ice lances at the huntress. Levin howled in horror, pushing off and sprinting as quickly as he could over towards the huntress, trying to save her, but he knew already that he was too far away from Ellie to get there in time. A half dozen ice lanced flew from the Alatreon's mouth, flying towards Ellie.

There was a loud clanging sound across the square, and a grunt of effort, and the ice spears splintered and broke, spinning wildly away and clattering across the stone street. A blue-armored figure stood adamant in front of the huntress, a massive great sword planted firmly between the the cracks of the stone square. The iron and scale blade was still ringing as the last of the ice spears ricocheted off the broad blade. The Alatreon growled in frustration as Miller pulled the tip of the blade from the earth, swinging it around to point it in the Alatreon's direction. White haze began to swell in the monster's maw once more as it prepared its ice beam again, ready to blast both hunters with the freezing ray.

Small blasts of flame suddenly burst across the elder dragon's face, making the Alatreon reel a bit in shock. Plumes of fire sprouted across the beast's face, accompanying the repeating sound of bowgun fire from one of the nearby alleyways. As the Alatreon reared back, the ice blast ripped from the creature's mouth, spraying across the Tower square and leaving a wide streak of jagged white ice spikes jutting up from the street. As Levin finally made it to Ellie, he quickly glanced over to the source of the gunfire, spotting Tenebris firing from just inside of one of the alleys, continuing to pepper the Alatreon with Flame shots in its face and neck. The Alatreon pulled away angrily, the rounds making it flinch away with every burst of fire that blotted out its vision and nearly singed its eyes.

Ellie was grimacing painfully from the ice, as Levin looked down at the frozen spines that bound her feet. The ice was thick, and was so cold that a hissing mist was sliding off the sides of it. The edges were jagged and harsh, and Levin feared that the spines on the ice might have pierced Ellie's armor.

"I'm fine!" the huntress groaned. "I'm fine… this armor's pretty good. But get this off of me! The cold… it's seeping into my skin!"

Levin nodded, pulling out his hunter's knife and jabbing it against the pale ice. The hunter cursed; the ice was hard as a rock! Every time he tried to even chip off a little bit of the cold substance, it didn't seem to do anything at all! Levin looked over nervously to the center of the square, where the Alatreon was launching more of the ice spears over to the alley where Tenebris was still firing on the beast. The flames that were bursting in the creature's eyes were throwing off the Alatreon's aim, so none of the spears were getting close to the huntress, but they were striking the buildings on each side of the alley, and the bowgunner was being forced further and further back into the alley to avoid the falling rubble around her.

"Can you get her out?" Miller asked worriedly, keeping himself between Ellie and the Alatreon, weapon at the ready in case the elder dragon turned on them again.

"I don't… the knife's not working. Give me a second." Levin sheathed his hunter's knife, and grabbed for the hilt of his switch axe, slipping the weapon into axe mode. Ellie looked at the weapon nervously, but didn't tell Levin to stop as he pulled the weapon back and swung it down, smashing it into the frozen restraints. He didn't want to hit too hard, for fear of injuring Ellie, but with each progressive blow he was forced to swing with more force than before; even with his switch axe, he barely seemed to be doing anything! Ellie began to whimper in pain, not from Levin's strikes at the ice binding her, but rather from the freezing cold of the ice itself. And all the while, Levin continued to grow more worried and desperate, fearful that the continuing battle with the Alatreon would find its way over to them before he managed to free Ellie from her bonds.

But over the sounds of battle, a loud, boisterous tumult echoed across the square. With his next swing, Levin was caught off guard when his blow managed to smash apart a far greater chunk of the ice than he'd managed to before, completely freeing Ellie's left leg. He felt as though his very strength was growing with every note of the song, and with another two swings, he managed to break apart the last pieces of ice restraining Ellie. The huntress nearly collapsed when she got free of the ice, but managed to keep upright with Levin's help as he pulled her away from the ice. Ellie was wincing with each step though, but a moment later, the tune from the music changed, and with a look of surprise, Ellie began to move on her own again, seemingly unbothered by the lingering chill from the ice.

"Hey! You guys okay?" Levin looked up as Kai and Kei came rushing up to them. Kai had his hunting horn slung over his shoulder, at the ready. The hunter noticed the look and motioned to the weapon with a grin. "Strength boost and cold resistance; not bad for a bit of fancy finger work and a bit of music, right?"

"Yeah, thanks," Ellie replied, tapping her foot against the ground. "I could barely feel my legs before…"

"You should be fine as long as you don't let the Alatreon get you with that ice beam again. It's just a temporary effect though, so be careful."

"I don't think we exactly have time for 'careful' at the moment," Miller replied sourly. Levin followed his gaze, and saw that the old hammer user and Richard were doing their level best to try and fight the Alatreon as it hovered over them, but though the creature's hind legs and tail were within striking distance, neither of them were able to land any solid strikes on the elder dragon save for the occasional nick and scratch. Lightning cascaded down from the sky around the two hunters, and both of them were knocked back painfully from the backlash as the wave of electricity swept about the creature.

Once he was sure that Ellie was fine again, and the huntress had reloaded her weapon once more, Levin pushed on towards the Alatreon again. The hunters couldn't afford to slacken their attack on the creature, not at this point. Any chance the Alatreon had to recover its wits or to plan out its next move could lead to disaster; they had to keep it on edge. But even as he, Miller and Kai attacked again, swinging their weapons at the beast while the bowgunners around the square fired on the elder dragon, they still couldn't find any leverage against the creature while it was in the air. Every time they tried to hit the monster with their weapons, it was either too high to hit or moved nimbly out of the way of their strikes. Even the bowguns didn't seem to be doing anything at all; they had been effective when dozens of Lost had been firing on the creature all at once, but with the Alatreon enraged as it was, and with only three bowgunners around, there just wasn't enough firepower to bring the elder dragon down.

The Alatreon's tail lashed out at Richard and the hammer user, and both were struck by the elder dragon's appendage. The remaining jagged scales on the creature's body screeched as they scratched against the two hunters' armors, gouging deep furrows into their armors and knocking them away several yards. Lightning began to charge up along the elder dragon's horns as the men struggled back to their feet, but they weren't getting up quickly enough to be able to dodge the attack in the end. Levin rushed forward fearfully.

"Hey! Hey dragon! I thought you wanted me! Are you afraid of me or something?"

Immediately the Alatreon's attention snapped over to him, fury blazing in the creature's eyes. But the power of the lightning didn't dwindle or fade, but rather, changed its target. Levin yelped in fright as he slid to a halt, and a wide, earth-splitting bolt of lightning crashed down into the cobblestone street, ripping up stone and dirt and tossing it into the air. Levin leapt back as yet another bolt crashed down again, this time closer than the first. He could feel the air around him prickling from the charge, and his armor jittered from the static. His armor wasn't much better than Richard's was against electricity; if the Alatreon managed to strike him with one of those bolts, he wouldn't last very long.

Bolt after bolt of lightning fell from the sky after him, and Levin was forced to run as the Alatreon swept through the air after him. He could hear the bowgunners around the square firing on the creature, trying to distract it from its goal of incinerating Levin, but the elder dragon had beaded in on him now, and it seemed that nothing would stop the beast from chasing down Levin. The other melee fighters tried to cut off the Alatreon as well, but none of them could keep up with the creature, and when they managed to cross the elder dragon's path, the Alatreon simply hovered slightly higher into the air, out of their reach, before sending a wave of fire or a lance of ice in their direction to chase them off, before continuing its hunt of Levin.

And the switch axe user was wearing out fast. The Alatreon was fast in the air, and Levin could only run so far in full armor before he began to tire out, and the holes that the Alatreon was blasting into the square was making it increasingly challenging to move around without having to dodge around potholes and craters that had been created during the battle.

A screech of irritation ripped across the Tower square, and Levin heard a rushing of wind behind him. Instinct was the only thing that guided him, and he leapt to the side, at an angle to where he had been running. It was a good thing too, as the Alatreon sped through the air past him, ripping by at a speed that Levin hadn't seen a monster accomplish since he'd fought the Barioth near Hearth. The elder dragon blazed past him, hovering just a scarce few feet above the ground as electrical tendrils spiraled around it, lashing out at him. The creature was moving so fast, that Levin was swept backwards, thrown onto his back as the gust lifted him off of his feet and threw him to the ground. He struggled upright as the sound of the elder dragon beating its wings to stop caught his ears.

But upon turning around, he found that the Alatreon was already on top of him, its speed in the air allowing it to recover far faster than Levin had, and now the elder dragon was already hovering over the hunter. Lightning jumped between the creature's horns, but rather than calling down lightning as it had before, the Alatreon instead sent the deadly charge to its claws. The talons glowed white with the power as voltage surged through it. The Alatreon beat its wings harder, pulling itself higher into the air, before sweeping down with its claws bearing down on him.

Levin was abruptly yanked back, gasping as his armor tugged against his neck. But the Alatreon's strike missed him, and Levin could feel his hair standing on end as the beast's powerful claws shattered the stone street under it, and the lightning in the elder dragon's claws send a blast of voltage into the air from the impact zone.

"Get away!" Levin's savior shouted; it was the older hunter with the hammer, pulling Levin away from the elder dragon. The Alatreon howled in fury at the loss of its prey, and once again lightning welled up in its claws and it lunged, smashing another hole into the cobblestone, sending arcs of lightning into the air again. It was closer this time, even with the older hunter dragging Levin away from the impact zone. Twice more the Alatreon pulled away, charging its talons with voltage before diving down and shattering the earth beneath it. The second time, Levin could see that the strike was going to hit him, despite the older hunter's aid, but before the blow could be struck, the hunter spun about, hurling him away from the elder dragon just before the creature's talons smashed into the earth.

With the same motion the hammer user grasped the hilt of his weapon, and as the elder dragon's head dipped down during the strike, he swung the hammer at the creature's head. For a scant moment, the Alatreon actually looked shocked, but before the heavy iron weapon could impact on the monster's skull, the Alatreon opened its maw wide and swung forward, clamping its massive fangs down onto the heavy weapon. The old hunter gasped as the Alatreon tugged him back as it pulled itself into the air, intent on taking the hunter's weapon or carrying the hammer user into the sky with him.

But before the Alatreon could do either to the hunter, the old man reached up, activating a trigger on his weapon, and the revolver-shaped hammer erupted in flame as the uppermost chamber fired off a massive blast, right into the Alatreon's mouth. The elder dragon screeched in surprise as the flames blazed over its face, and the weapon, as well as the hunter, were launched back from the blast, sliding to a halt several yards away. The monster howled angrily, and the beast retaliated immediately as blazing fire of its own surged from its gullet and blasted towards the hunter in a wide fireball. The hunter dodged away, but was still caught up in the explosion that erupted from the blast zone, and was sent skidding across the Tower square from the blast.

"Damn it, we need to get it out of the air!" Levin muttered sourly. Harker appeared at his side, looking at him worriedly, but Levin waved him away; his friend looked worse enough for the wear that he didn't need to be worrying about Levin. "It's been tearing us apart even worse than before since it started flying!"

The long sword user cocked his head thoughtfully. "How likely is it that the Alatreon hasn't learned from its mistakes?" Harker asked. Levin frowned in confusion, but his eyes widened in shock as the long sword user pulled a flash bomb from his satchel; not just any flash bomb, but one of his custom-made ones!

"When did you-"

"Later!" Harker snapped. "Do you think it will work?"

Levin shook his head. "I don't know… but do we have any better choices?"

"I can't think of any, my friend."

"Then let's try it. I'll get its attention. Be ready!"

"Of course!" Harker shouted, as Levin began to sprint towards the center of the square. "Just remember to close your eyes!"

Levin dashed forward, keeping an eye in the sky as the Alatreon circled the Tower square. The monster's yellow and red eyes glared down at him, and several ice lances leapt from the beast's maw, raining down onto Levin from above and crashing into the stone street around him. Several times the frozen spears just barely missed him, splintering the earth only a step or two away from him. Levin didn't know how he managed to get to the center of the square, but somehow he made it, drawing his switch axe and pointing it into the air towards the Alatreon as it sailed through the air.

"You want me, dragon? Come get me! Or are you going to run away and just fly up there?"

The Alatreon howled in fury, seething at the words before dipping in the air and swooping lower to the ground. But the creature continued to fly, shooting down towards Levin at faster and faster speeds. Its wings tightened and Levin could see dragon energy beginning to swirl around the creature again. The Alatreon's maw open, and Levin realized that the elder dragon intended to devour Levin.

**Fool hunter! Fool human! I will consume you whole! I will crush you within my fangs!**

But there were quick footsteps behind him and a grunt of effort. Levin threw himself to the ground.

**What are you- No!**

The flash bomb popped when it ignited, and for the second time that day the city was covered in blinding light, and the Alatreon's screech of anger and terror filled the minds of everyone in the square. Several of the injured hunters around the square cried out in surprise and pain as they watched, unprepared for what Harker had thrown into the air. Levin was forced to blink back spots in his eyes as he opened them up again, trying to see whether or not their plan had worked.

He opened them just in time as he realized that the Alatreon was still barreling through the air towards him, though now it was blinded and unable to see where it was going as it twisted its head around, trying to see through blinded eyes. The switch axe user dove to the side as the elder dragon smashed into the earth behind him. The creature's wings clipped him as he dodged, however, and the sharp, jagged scales that remained screeched as they scraped against his plate armor, dragging Levin to the ground and sending him tumbling across the stone street.

The Alatreon's crash uprooted stone and earth as its momentum carried it for a good fifty yards across the square, until it finally came to a halt near the western edge of the square, smashing into the side of two tall Guild buildings. The structures groaned, tilting precariously as the Alatreon thrashed on the ground, trying to push itself to its feet. The elder dragon pulled away just as the buildings collapsed stone and mortar falling around it and kicking up a wave of dust as it swung its claws and tail about wildly, shaking its head in frustration.

**Damn you! Damn it all! Not again! Not this blindness again! Where are you?! I will tear you to shreds for this! Show yourself, Levin! I will burn you! I will blaze you to ashes!**

Levin pushed himself painfully to his feet and looked around. Most of the other hunters had been blinded just as badly by Harker's flash bomb as the Alatreon had. The only ones that seemed to be recovering well from the blast were Ellie, Harker, Kerry, and Miller. Levin had nearly forgotten that the great sword user had been there with them when the Alatreon had attacked Hearth up in the Tundra. Ellie and Kerry were reloading their bowguns, preparing to fire on the incapacitated creature, while Harker and Miller were approaching the beast with their weapons drawn, hoping to get some attacks in as well with the opportunity they had. Levin hurried to meet up with them and help; his dragon phials might be able to break off a few more of the elder dragon's scales…

But as the hunters prepared to attack, the Alatreon's mind, in a moment of clarity, suddenly lashed out, digging into their minds. Its vision was gone for the moment, but the bond it had with Levin and the rest of the Lost remained, and it dug into them. Levin could feel the creature probing out at him, learning his location. Levin was almost to the elder dragon's legs as the beast's claws leapt out at him, smashing into his chest plate and sending him flying back. The hunter gasped in pain as he struck the earth, the blow nearly having broken his ribs again. Harker managed to strike out at one of the elder dragon's legs before the monster managed to retaliate, cutting into the Alatreon's ankles and pulling a stream of blood from the creature's body before the Alatreon's tail snapped around, smacking into the long sword user and sending the man flying as it had with Levin.

Miller, however, not being one of the Lost, went unnoticed for a short moment by the Alatreon, giving the man time to swing his massive weapon around, sending it smashing into the Alatreon's foreleg. The creature howled in shock at the surprise attack, and it dropped to one leg as the blow of the great sword knocked the struck appendage out from under it. Miller rushed to the creature's side, intent on striking another debilitating blow on the elder dragon's head, but the Alatreon retaliated immediately, spinning about and sending a jet of flame at the hunter. The monster's blindness was still in effect, so Miller was able to duck out of the way to avoid the blaze, but the motion dropped his weapon to the ground, cracking the stone slab below him. The sound caught the Alatreon's ears, and the monster swung its neck about, smashing its horns into the hunter's chest and flinging him away from itself.

The next moment, a pair of bowgun rounds glanced off the Alatreon's scales from the other side of the square, where Ellie and Kerry were firing on the elder dragon from afar. The elder dragon winced twice as the huntresses continued to fire on it, but then the Alatreon seemed to realize what direction the pair were standing it, and with a swing of its head, the creature launched several ice lances in the huntresses direction. Levin could hear Ellie and Kerry both yelp as the ice shot past them, nearly striking them and forcing them to dodge away. Again and again the Alatreon sent ice towards them when they tried to fire upon it again, and the huntresses were forced to leap away, keeping on the defensive.

By now some of the other hunters had managed to recover from the flash bomb. Kai and Kei were approaching the elder dragon from the side; Kai was playing some song on his hunting horn, and Levin felt as though he was growing stronger with every note. He'd almost forgotten what hearing a hunting horn felt like. Kei slid in at an angle as the Alatreon's attention turned towards the sound of the horn, flames licking up its throat. The huntress slashed out at the creature's rear legs, and the Alatreon's head snapped around at the impact, the blazing flames arcing towards her instead. She dove out of the way quickly, but the blast from the fireballs connection with the earth caught her up in its explosion, sending the long sword user flying through the window of a nearby window. Kai yelped in horror, chasing after his twin as the Alatreon began storing up another fireball in its Gullet, trying to follow the sounds.

But a heavy bowgun round suddenly smashed into the creature's head, and the explosion knocked off the aim of the monster's blast. The fireball burst from the Alatreon's maw, sailing over the building Kei had been sent into and into a taller one behind it, enveloping it in an eruption of fire that consumed the structure. The elder dragon howled in fury as more rounds smashed into it, erupting with the same force. Tenebris and Nox had appeared from where the huntress had been recovering from her wounds, and the hunter was helping her keep steady against her bowgun's recoil with each explosive round that she fired. The Alatreon howled in fury as the Cluster bombs detonated around it, and sent another pair of ice lanced towards the sound of her bowgun. The ice pierced through the building behind the pair, but the wall collapsed close to them, forcing the pair to make a break for it as brick and mortar rained down around them.

Levin struggled to his feet as the elder dragon flailed about. The hunter could feel the Alatreon growing more and more panicked, unable to see its attackers and only able to lash out blindly in hopes of striking those that came for it. More hunters were rising now, hoping for the chance at damaging the creature while it was blinded; Harker, Richard, and Miller were coming close to the elder dragon, ready to attack with their own weapons. Kai had pulled Kei from the rubble of the storefront, and the huntress seemed okay, and was raring to continue the fight. Ellie and Kerry had rejoined Tenebris in firing upon the Alatreon, as Nox moved to join the rest of the melee fighters in hacking at the elder dragon with his short sword. The older hammer user that Levin had seen with Miller had appeared again, and was charging the Alatreon head on, clearly intent on using his weapon on the elder dragon's skull. The sound of metal and boots, as well as the clacking of bowgun chambers loading surrounded the Alatreon, and the black beast's head darted about, trying desperately to figure out where to attack.

**No… no! Enough! Stay away from me! Stay away!**

The Alatreon screeched in rage, sending deafening noise through the Tower square. Nearly all the hunters winced in pain at the horrible noise, pausing where they stood to clutch their heads in pain. Even the sound dampening effects of Levin's helmet couldn't block out the racket. The break was enough for the Alatreon to gather itself, and with another screech, black dragon energy began to swell around the creature's body. The melee hunters immediately backed away as terrible bolts of dark black and red lightning lanced out from the creature's body, tearing through the stone street below them and forcing them all away. The sounds of bowguns firing could be heard from behind, but every shot seemed to be blasted out the sky by one of the elder dragon's dragon bolts, and then immediately counterattacked with a lance of dark voltage sent in their direction.

Levin cursed as he just barely got out of the way of a surge of dragon element. Damn it, since when could the Alatreon do this? None of them could even get close to the creature now! Any blade master that tried to approach would only get caught up in the red and black energy, and all their bowgun shots were being knocked away by the same power! The Alatreon wasn't moving from where it stood, sure, but the dragon energy was beginning to spread out. If they didn't do something quickly, the Alatreon would get its vision back, and then they'd lose their best chance at killing it! They just weren't able to damage it enough otherwise. The other hunters in the square shared the same frustrated expression; there had to be something they could do, but none of them could think of what, not with the elder dragon like this…

A powerful rumbling sound suddenly filled the hunters' ears, and Levin looked around in shock. Where the hell was that sound coming from and what was making it? It couldn't be another monster, could it? Though it certainly sounded familiar, very mechanical.

"There!" Kerry cried out, pointing skyward. Levin looked up and gaped in shock. Above them, a massive airship was absolutely tearing through the sky, flying straight towards the Alatreon as it thrashed about on the ground. It was such a bulky thing, and terribly damaged and worn, and Levin saw that the ship even had a large dragonator attached to the hull, pointing straight out of the front of the ship. Levin realized that the noise he'd heard was coming from two large machines that were strapped to the airship's sides. Engines? Since when had there been engines on the airships?

**That sound… that sound! What is that sound? What are you humans doing? Stay away! Stay away from me you pathetic creatures! I'll burn you! I'll incinerate you all!**

Shocked, Levin realized that the airship wasn't slowing down at all, and was actually adjusting its course so that it was aiming directly towards the elder dragon. The roaring of the engines grew more and more intense as the ship closed in, and the confused shouting of the Alatreon grew more panicked. As the ship closed in, the dragonator, the massive steel lance that protruded from the helm of the ship, began to spin in its barrel, picking up speed as it covered the last hundred feet between itself and the Alatreon, sending a wave of noise through the city like the terrible rattling of a thousand chains. Levin finally realized what was going on, and feared that they were getting too close to the creature as black lightning continued to lash out from the Alatreon's body, but when the hull of the ship was only twenty feet away from the monster, the great spear shot forward.

The Alatreon shrieked, both physically and mentally as the dragonator tore into it. Dark dragon energy tore across the ship's hull, but the force and speed of the airship was too great for even that to slow it down. It was not a clean hit, but the anti-dragon weapon struck the Alatreon with a brutal strike. The spinning spear tore into the elder dragon's back at an angle, shredding a massive gash into the creature's body and slashing on through, ripping apart massive tears in the Alatreon's black leathery wings. A spray of dark red blood cascaded to the ground, splashing across the stone street.

The airship kept going though, even as the dragonator twisted and tore and the creature's flesh. The hull smashed into the Alatreon's side, the massive engines lifting the elder dragon off of its feet and carrying it through the air. The Alatreon howled in horror, its claws and wings swinging and smashing into the hull of the ship, ripping timber and iron from the bow. Black lightning flew across the creature's body, ripping into the ship and the elder dragon writhed about trying to free itself from the long spear that jutted from the front of the ship. A cheer went up from the hunters around the Loc Lac square. They'd done it! They'd finally dealt a heavy blow to the Alatreon!

But a furious roar erupted from the Alatreon's maw as the airship tried to right itself. The elder dragon beat its powerful wings, wrenching itself free of the dragonator's grip on it, before swinging its talons around and smashing them into the hull of the ship. The blow threw the airship off course, and the massive ship began to spin about wildly in the air as the Alatreon pushed itself away from it. The engines on the ship screamed as they tried to compensate for the Alatreon's attack, but the ship was unable to right itself, and continued to veer out of control through the air. It only managed to remain airborne for a couple hundreds of feet, before the hull of the ship crashed loudly into the remains of the Loc Lac Tower's base, and the engines went dead. The blimp over the ship swayed limply in the air over the silent ship. Not a single crew member could be seen on deck.

**Enough! **The Alatreon's voice howled wildly in their skulls. It's head snapped about and the creature glared directly at him. Levin shivered in fear; the elder dragon could see again! **I am immortal! Your technology and weapons and airships can do nothing to me! Look upon me! I cannot be harmed! I feel no pain! I am impervious to everything that you can throw at me!**

Levin was stunned. What was the dragon going on about? It looked like hell! Countless scales and plates had fallen from the creature's body, revealing the dark leathery hide beneath, its body was burnt and blasted from countless attacks, and its back and wings had been shredded apart by the airship's dragonator. How could the creature still act so confidently? How could it think that it was still undamaged by so many attacks?

"You're not unharmed! Look around you! We have ripped the scales from your body! We have blackened your skin and covered the ground with your blood!"

**Lies! I am invincible, human! Do I really look as though- **The words in Levin's mind were abruptly cut off as the Alatreon looked down, it's eyed landing on the blackish-red blood that pooled on the ground below it. The elder dragon seemed… confused at what it saw, as its talons clicked along the stone street, sliding through the blood on the ground. **What… what is this? What is this blood? This is not human blood. Whose is this? It is not mine… it cannot be mine! What is this! What have you done?!**

The Alatreon's head swung about, and it began to look itself over. The hunters in the square stared in shock. The Alatreon seemed horrified by the damage it had taken. How could it not have known that it was wounded? After everything they had done to the creature, how did it still believe itself invincible? A terrified, wordless scream rose up in their minds as the creature reeled in horror.

**What have you done to me? What have you done! My beautiful scales… my beautiful wings… no. No! This isn't supposed to happen! My body is impregnable! You humans are weak! You cannot do this to me! It is impossible!**

"You're not invincible, dragon," Levin shouted at the creature. "You never were! You may be powerful, but you can die, just like every other monster in the world! And you will do so now! You've lived long enough, Alatreon!"

**No! No no no! I cannot die! It's impossible! No!**

As the Alatreon ranted, Levin rushed towards the creature, his hand ready to activate the dragon phial to strike out at the elder dragon. But before he could even get to the creature, the Alatreon leapt into the air, pushing itself skyward, sailing straight into the air and into the sky. Levin cursed; he had thought the beast couldn't fly anymore!

"It's running!" he heard Kei shout from the other side of the square. "Someone shoot it down!"

Immediately the hunters with bowguns aimed up, firing whatever shots they had in their chambers, but none of the rounds even got close to the creature as it climbed. Then it shifted, turning itself east and soaring away, moving at a terrible speed until it shot right over the walls of Loc Lac.

**I will not accept this! **The creature voice drilled into Levin's skull. **I will not accept this at all! I am invincible! I cannot be killed by a human! And I refuse to allow you to do this to me! I refuse to let you kill me!**

**You will suffer for this, human! Levin! You will suffer greatly for all that you've done! I will burn the heart out of you! You will know pain like none have ever felt! I will crush all you've ever cared for and reduce them to ashes! I promised you, human… I promised you long ago that I would burn that little village you loved to the ground. I intend to see that promise through! If a Lagiacrus wasn't enough to do it, then I'll do it myself! Despair, Levin! I will destroy this Boma Village of yours, and all in it!**

"No… No! Damnit!"

The Alatreon's haggard laughter filled his mind as the Alatreon soared away from the city. Levin could practically feel the strain in the creature's voice, but what did it matter? Even if the Alatreon was injured, even with everything he and everyone else had done to damage the beast, how was he supposed to stop the Alatreon from destroying Boma? There was no way for him to catch up with the creature in the air…

"We can't give up." Levin turned, finding Ellie standing behind him. She was trying to look encouraging, but he could tell that she was just as worried and fearful about Boma as he was. "We… we can't. There has to be something we can do."

"But what?" Levin asked hopelessly. "It took almost the entire city to fight back against the Alatreon here in Loc Lac! What hope does Boma have? Even if Marshall is there, he can't possibly be enough to slay the creature…"

He looked around desperately, hoping for some sign of hope. There were so few of them alive in the destroyed square, all of them hunters, bug not a single one of them, no matter how experienced or skilled in battle they were, not a one could think of a way to follow the Alatreon. Even in the state it was, it was surely impossible to catch the dragon in the air. The only way to follow was via sandship or airship, and sandships were quick in the sand but would force them to walk across the mountains between the desert and Boma, and airships were far too slow to keep up with any flying monster…

"What do we do? What is there that can possibly outrun an elder dragon?"

Silence filled the square as the hunters stood around, trying to think of something, anything they could do. The only sounds that chased away the silence were the burning and groaning of the damaged buildings around the square as they settled. But a few moments later, a low rumbling, blazing sound caught the ears of the hunters, followed by the clanking and rumbling of something mechanical. Levin turned, following the sound, and realized that the airship that had crashed into the base of the Loc Lac Tower's remains was alive with life once more. Several crewmen had appeared on deck again, and were slowly refilling the blimp above with heat from powerful oil lanterns that fired gusts of flame up into the balloon. Others were hanging over the edge now, doing their best to try and repair the metal engines and get them running again, or to patch the holes where the Alatreon's attacks had broken through the hull. Others were shouting excitedly, clearly believing they'd done irreparable damage to the Alatreon.

"That thing was pretty fast, wasn't it?" Kei asked curiously. Levin nodded; the airship had been moving faster than any other flying ship he'd seen in this world since he'd arrived. Though that wasn't saying much by itself, maybe the ship was fast enough for what they needed… He decided quickly, glancing over at Ellie. The huntress nodded at him in unspoken agreement, and the two of them began to run towards the flying dragonship.

Several of those aboard the ship waved at them excitedly as they approached, thinking that the hunters were there to congratulate them or something similar, and a small ladder was booted over the edge to allow the hunters to climb. Ellie reached the ladder first and practically flew up the ropes and wood to reach the deck, and Levin was close behind. He realized that Harker and Kerry were with them as well, and the others that were still able to fight were right there behind him. Levin climbed quickly, hopping onto the deck of the ship, nearly losing his footing as the bow wobbled on the ground below them as the blimp shivered a little, nearly filled enough to pull the ship into the sky again.

Levin realized that the crew seemed to be made of Lost for the most part, which stunned him so much that he almost forgot his purpose for coming to the ship in the first place. How had a group of Lost managed to gather the funds and resources to get control of and build an airship like this? The Lost on the ship seemed to think that the hunters were here to congratulate them for what they'd done, and all seemed to be doing their best to show off the ship, despite the damaged and worn condition it was in.

"Who's flying this ship?" Ellie asked quickly. Some of the Lost seemed flustered at the abrupt inquiry, but pointed immediately to the helm of the ship. A pair of the Lost were standing over another member of the crew, looking down at them worriedly as they treated the man's injuries.

But as Levin and Ellie approached, the man waved off the men worrying over him, pushing himself to his feet, though he clutched an arm painfully, not bothering to hide the numerous bandages that had been wrapped around his body. Both of his arms, as well as his neck and face, had bandages wrapping around them, and the ones on his arms didn't even cover the full extent of his wounds. From what Levin could see, the man's flesh was covered with countless small cuts that lined shallow slices into his body. What had the man gone through to suffer such punishment? Levin realized that many of the other Lost were wearing bandages as well, covering up similar wounds, and that even their clothing and coats were slashed and torn. What had the crew of this ship gone through?

"Ah, if it ain't the lad an' lass from way back, aye? Should'a known ya two'd be raisin' this ruckus, what with ya' mess sinkin' my bonny ship the last time." Both Levin and Ellie stared in surprise at the man that stood at the helm. It was Captain Marcus, the man that had sailed the ship that had carried them from Echo Village back to Boma Village, at least, before the ship had been sunk by a Lagiacrus. The man was very much the same, though he seemed more worn and his exposed flesh was covered in bandages. He growled in frustration as the pair of Lost from before tried to tend to him, waving them away in irritation. "Ah told ya, ain't no need for that doctorin'! Ya see to the others 'fore ya get to me, aye? I've survived worser things, ain't nothin' a touch o' bad weather'll do ta me that's worse than Lagis and Gobuls and such."

The Lost seemed disappointed, clearly holding the man in high esteem and worry, though they obeyed the man's orders, turning to walk down the steps into the dark area below deck, where Levin assumed other wounded were. Marcus grinned at them. "Well, ya two've been raising a fuss looks like. Wreckin' cities and fightin' elder dragon… steppin' up from Lagis an Rathians ain'tcha?"

"What happened to you?" Levin asked, before looking around at the rest of the injured crew. "What happened to all of you?"

Marcus scoffed, but winced a bit in pain, touching the bandages on his face gingerly. "Bad weather, for the wounds, but the source be the dragon itself, aye? Tha' beast, the Alatreon itself, seen fit ta knock my ship fallin' into a blood storm, it did. Held tight an' pulled through by the skin o' our teeth, we did though! That beastie saw fit ta send us fallin' down ta die, but it did no try hard enough, aye!"

Several of the crewmen paused long enough in their work to cheer at the words, and Marcus laughed victoriously. But as the cheering died away, he turned back to Levin and Ellie with a more serious expression on his face. "Pretty thinkin', that we know we hurt tha' beastie, aye? But it no be dead, an' bloody wounds can scar an' heal. Is no enough, an' ya two be thinkin' it, is clear. Ya want a merry chase, go off and hunt the beastie as it limps? Were I be able, this ship would fly 'gain in search o' the beast, give it 'nother taste o' its power, aye? A monster go an' broke my ship 'gain, this time I break it back!"

"You… you're the one in charge of this ship?" Ellie asked in shock, and the man winced a little. "Then please, you have to let us use this ship! We need to chase the Alatreon down!"

But Calvert shook his head. "Nah, I be the captain, an' only that, aye? My work be flyin' and the owner be 'nother fella, what goes by-"

"Silas." Levin and Ellie turned again, once again shocked by a familiar face, but the Lost from Nastre smirked at their expression. "Though I suppose we've met before, you two and I. This is my ship, bought and owned, and though Marcus may be the captain, I am the true master of this ship."

"What the hell!" The man turned quickly at the snapping voice. Levin realized that many of the other hunters that had been fighting the Alatreon were working their way up onto the deck of the ship, and Tenebris had just hopped over the edge. She still had a limp, but strode over to where Silas was without pause. "Why are you here, Silas? You… what have you done with all this?"

"Exactly what I promised I would!" Silas grinned victoriously. "I… no, the _Lost_, have created a machine worthy of taking control of the sky back from the foul monsters that lay claim to it now! You looked down upon my ambitions before, Tenebris, but now see what I have accomplished! Look upon the ship before you huntress, and know that it was this that dealt an incalculable blow against the Alatreon itself! Did you see? Did you witness the power of this ship, the speed it was capable of? The Lost will rule the skies once more with this technology, and after that, the people of this country will see that we are indeed the rightful heirs to the reigns of the world!"

"Oh please," another voice said sourly. From below deck, Calvert appeared, yet another familiar face from the Lagiacrus attack. "You were against us attacking the Alatreon in the first place, remember? You said we should turn about and land outside the walls! The only reason we managed to attack the elder dragon in the first place was because Captain Marcus was in control of the ship and the rest of the crew agreed to activate the Dragonator on his command!"

Silas scowled at the man, but nodded reluctantly. "A lack of faith on my part, I'll admit. Do you blame me? The ship is but a prototype, and worn and ragged from our treacherous journey across the desert! Even I never imagined using a test vehicle against an elder dragon. But can you deny what the ship is capable of now? Had our aim been more accurate, we may have saved you hunters the trouble and finished the beast in one blow! Just imagine what the creations of the Lost will be able to accomplish once we've garnered the materials and influence that we so rightfully deserve! The damage we've taken is unsettling of course, so the defenses of the ship will require improving, but-"

"Oh. Hi, Levin; hi, Ellie."

Levin turned at the voice, as Silas continued speaking to himself and those that would listen. It was ragged, but seemed vaguely familiar, though Levin couldn't guess at why. The person that had spoken was standing nearby, one of the crew that was aboard Silas' ship, coming up from below deck after Calvert. Levin withheld a wince at the sight of the man. He seemed… familiar somehow, but Levin couldn't place it, especially considering the fact that, whoever it was, they were covered in so many more bandages than any of the other crewmembers. Only the man's mouth and one eye were visible from all the coverings, but the rest of his skin was covered in gauze and bandages, and parts of it had patchy red blotches poking through. The one eye Levin could see seemed strained, and he was unsteady on his feet, but he smiled weakly at Levin's expression.

"Don't recognize me, huh? That's not surprising. I really guess I look like hell right now…"

"Damn it all, Joshua!" Calvert snapped worriedly, hurrying over to the young man. Levin gasped in shock. The young sailor had suffered far more than the other crewmen. Marcus had mentioned a blood storm earlier… but had they really flown through one? Levin had heard those storms were certain death. "I told you to stay below deck, boy! You're far too injured to even think of moving around yet! You get back down to the cabins until we get a doctor to come look at you, and I don't want to see you above deck until then."

"Joshua! Sweet mercy, what's happened to you?" Levin leapt in surprise as another hunter, the tall hammer user he'd seen fighting earlier, leapt onto the deck of the ship, hurrying over to the crewman and looking worriedly at the young man. Joshua grinned sheepishly.

"Oh, you're here too? I suppose this job wasn't as good a choice as I thought it would be, huh Jino?"

"Mercy boy, I wish I'd never helped you get this job," the old hunter replied miserably. "If I'd known you'd find yourself in this sort of state…"

"Don't worry too much there, Jino," Calvert told the old hunter with a proud grin. "The wounds are deep, and the poor lad will bear the scars for the rest of his life, there is no doubt. But they'll be scars of honor, I promise you that! Joshua there is the sole reason that any man aboard this ship is alive right now. When our ship dropped into the blood storm, the boy refused to hide below deck like so many others, and stayed attached to the balloon, despite the cutting sand, to patch the hole that the Alatreon had cut in our blimp. Only the captain was bold enough to stay up top with him and keep the fires burning, but he was protected by the hull of the ship. No, it was Joshua here that kept us all alive, patching the blimp to get us out of the blood storm. If he hadn't done what he did, we'd likely have crashed, if the sand and wind hadn't eaten our ship before we hit the ground."

"You survived a blood storm?" Jino gasped. "Mercy, boy… you've suffered a worse fate then many hunters can claim to have gone through, and you still live. Damn it all, I wish I'd never encouraged you to work for that Silas fellow."

Joshua grinned weakly though. "Ah, but then we wouldn't have managed to attack the Alatreon like we did. I mean, we did hit the Alatreon didn't we? I heard everyone running about on deck preparing to charge, and they were all preparing the dragonator to fire, but did we manage to get it didn't we? I saw the dragon's claws come through the hull after we rammed it, but I don't know whether the dragonator hit or not. Silas says we did, but…"

Jino smiled encouragingly. "Don't you worry about that, lad. You hit the Alatreon, sure enough. I saw it myself. The beast will think twice before trying to attack Loc Lac again." Joshua grinned in relief at the words, before allowing himself to be led down into the cabins below deck, to await more complete medical help.

"A brave boy," Silas said, approaching them. "Foolish, daring to stay above deck while we were in one of those nasty blood storms… but I suppose something like that was necessary for our circumstances at the time. I certainly hope he recovers fully. Though he's not a Lost, his skill and dedication will certainly make him a useful pilot in the future, once more airships have been developed for use. Our prototype will need repairs first of course. The beating it has taken is dangerous."

Levin looked at the man intently. "This ship… can it fly fast?" he asked Silas, looking around the former dragonship as the crewmen kicked one of the engines back to life, coating the deck in a low roaring.

"Faster than any other in existence," Silas replied with a smirk, clearly eager to brag. "There are none others with the speed that this ship can manage. A true marvel of Lost ingenuity!"

"Can it go faster than a flying elder dragon?"

Silas paused at the words, looking up into the sky to the east where the Alatreon had flown off. Then he paled and glared at Levin. "No… no! I can see what you want! You must be mad if you think I'm going to let you take my ship and charge off chasing the Alatreon, boy! My ship can damage the elder dragon, certainly, but the beast was blinded and wounded already, and should we go after it, the Alatreon will certainly not be taken by surprise again! The creature nearly wrecked my ship already once! I'm not risking it again, even if it is but a prototype! The ship can't take much more of the abuse it's been receiving. Marcus there might think it a fancy idea to go dragon hunting, but this is my ship, not his! Besides, since you asked: no, it can't fly faster than an elder dragon! Perhaps a future design will manage that, but this ship was easily outrun by the creature!"

"What about an injured elder dragon?" Miller asked. Silas turned to face the man, and the foreign hunter shrugged. "The Alatreon is badly injured. Any hunter can see that. It's bruised and bloody, so it will not make as good of time as it would otherwise, certainly. It would need to rest as well. If this Boma Village is on the coast, it would surely take at least a day or two to cover such a distance. Could this airship keep up with it under those circumstances?"

Silas frowned in thought, calculating. Then he shook his head. "No. No! It doesn't matter whether or not my ship is capable of it or not, we are not chasing after an elder dragon! The creature is routed! It's left the city! Let it be on its way, we've done enough for now! You want to go on a merry chase, find another way to do it! For now, this ship has done enough against the creature."

"It's going to destroy a village!" Kei cried out.

"And my heart goes out to the deceased," Silas snapped. Many of the hunters glared at him, and some made obviously threatening gestures, but Silas scoffed. "Oh, yes, the hunters show courage at the idea of fighting the Alatreon, now that it's on the run! Where was this courage when the Alatreon was going about the western forests wiping out other villages? You think I didn't hear the stories of villages wiped out a few months ago when the beast was on a rampage? Where was the bravery of hunters then? Where was the call for an army of you to go off and save the day then? Why is this one so important?"

Several of the hunters on the deck grew guilty expressions at the words. The man was right, despite his callous nature; most people had simply accepted the destruction caused by the Alatreon in the past. "But we've injured it!" Tenebris called out. "We've finally figured out how to break through its defenses! We have a chance at killing it now!"

"You've wounded the beast; so what? Don't you know there's nothing more dangerous than a cornered animal? Even I know that, and I'm not even a hunter. You want to throw your lives away? Fine, but keep me and my crew out of it!" Silas glared at the hunters, unbudging. Some of his crewmembers seemed uncertain about what he'd said, but most seemed to be on his side. They had not signed on to fight against elder dragons. If Silas left, or was forced off the ship, there was a good chance the rest of the crew would go as well, and Levin wasn't sure if any of the hunters knew how to fly the ship…

A low rumbling came from behind Silas, the sound of someone clearing their throat. The man turned with a glower to look as Calvert approached him. "Sir, if I may… perhaps it would be best for us to do as they ask. For your own sake."

"What are you talking about?" Silas snapped, turning on the man. His eyes narrowed on the first mate. "Are you threatening me, Calvert? You wouldn't dare to-"

"Please, Silas, I'm telling you this for your own good," Calvert said quickly, and Silas gave the man a questioning look. "You've been in our world for a while now, haven't you? And those folks that live in Nastre seem like a particularly superstitious bunch."

Silas scoffed. "Yes, jumping at ghosts and fears of spirits and demons. Little help all that nonsense with the blue lights in that northern tower was. What's your point?"

"Then surely you've heard what… many of this country's citizens think of the Alatreon and what it can do."

"Yes, of course," Silas replied. "Immortal, invincible, completely ruthless and merciless and vengeful in its ways: Get any of the locals on the subject and they never shut up. But we've seen personally how painfully wrong those stupid legends are, haven't we? The Alatreon is wounded because of this ship! But once again, why are you bringing this up? Why would this make any difference to me? If you're trying to get me to change my mind on chasing the Alatreon, you're doing a poor job of it."

"But sir," Calvert said, a worried tone in his voice, "perhaps the legends of the Alatreon's alleged invincibility are exaggerated, as we've seen, but what of the elder dragon's vengeful nature? That is almost proven fact! You mentioned yourself that the creature wiped out numerous villages in the west because of its wrathful anger. Because of a single hunter, it caused all sorts of devastation. It doesn't forgive, and it doesn't hold back when it gets angry."

Silas gave a poignant glance at Levin, and the switch axe user felt himself wither a little, the guilt of what he'd cause washing over him again. But once again, Silas turned to look at Calvert expectantly, and the first mate continued. "Sir, the creature does not let attacks on it slide. Very few can say they've fought the beast and lived, because the elder dragon always kills those that attack it, no matter what. And Silas, as you said, it was _your_ ship that dealt such a terrible blow to the creature."

Silas paled at the words. "What? I don't… why would the dragon come for me? I'm not a hunter! It assaulted us first, out in the desert! Besides, it was your decision to assault the Alatreon in the first place!"

"I don't think that matters much to the dragon," Calvert replied. "It's your ship, and you're one of the Lost, so it will come for you, and it will be able to track you down. It destroys entire villages when a hunter even tries to hurt it, whether or not they're able to harm it at all! And as far as people know, people have never been able to hurt it for as long as history remembers. And now the beast has suffered a wound that would have been fatal with better aim. I don't think it will take this lightly at all. I don't think matters like who's captain and who made the decision. It's your ship, and in the condition it's in right now, I'm sure that'll be the only thing that matters to the beast."

To Silas' credit, the man didn't wilt or cower like Levin hadn't expected him to. He certainly looked fearful, that was for sure, but Levin was sure that even the most skillful hunter in the world would look the same if they were told that an elder dragon would be coming for them in particular. However, Silas seemed to take on an expression of intense, desperate thought. Levin could practically see the cogs turning in the man's head, trying to figure out a way to save himself, as well as finding some way to turn this mess around to his advantage. He seemed more angry at the way things had turned against him, rather than terrified of the implications. It was honestly rather impressive; Levin certainly hadn't reacted that well when he'd received his own threats from the elder dragon.

"Besides, sir," Calvert continued, regaining Silas' attention, "you were below deck when we struck the Alatreon with the dragonator earlier. You said it yourself, our aim was poor; but still we dealt massive damage to the beast. I wish you could have seen it from the deck of the ship! I may not be a hunter, but I'm sure that if we had managed to hit the beast with a clean strike, the beast would have died right then and there." Silas was quiet, listening intently. "Just think, Silas: This ship holds one of the few weapons in the world specifically designed to take down elder dragons. You're right, Silas: this ship, this creation of the Lost may be the very thing that manages to take down the Alatreon. If you were to allow these hunters to follow the Alatreon, we may be able to strike the Alatreon properly this time, accurately enough to kill the beast."

"Ain't nothin' so glorious a pride as that, aye?" Captain Marcus laughed from the side. "No doubt the folk o' Loc Lac be pleased an' impressed with this ship knickin' a hit on the Alatreon, but if it killed the beastie? Aye, that'd be a tale worth tellin' and a glory unknown by any other. There be hundreds o' hunters in the past what threw their fates in at the chance o' killin' the beast for that fabled title. A man could be remembered for eternity with such a feat! An' in your case… s'pose it don't hurt ta finish the beast 'fore it do turn its sights on ya, aye?"

Silas turned to glare at Marcus, but Levin caught the look in his eyes: the man was alight with excitement at the thought, despite his expression. He was still calculating, trying to determine the odds and risks he was taking. Would he risk his life and that of his crew against the most dangerous monster in the country? Surely he couldn't leave the ship and let Marcus take care of everything; he wouldn't receive as much fame and glory if he stayed behind. And if the Alatreon really was gunning for him, could he afford to hide here in Loc Lac? Levin could see the questions flitting through the man's mind in a flash, desperately trying to find the best solution, the one with the greatest payout to the risk demanded.

Silas turned to Levin for a moment, scowling at the hunter for a moment. Levin did his best to keep a straight face. He had to look determined for the man, not as desperate as he really felt. Then the man scoffed, and Levin growled at him, but Silas turned back to Captain Marcus. "Get the injured off the ship. Joshua and any others badly injured, those that are too hurt or not too important to the ship's maintenance and upkeep, see them off and get them cared for. Not you though. You're the only one capable enough… and crazy enough to fly this ship.

"As for the rest of you!" Silas shouted, turning to the rest of the crew. "Patch my ship! Quickly and efficiently! If it's not a vital fix, ignore it. Cover up any holes that will hinder our aerodynamics; I want this ship able to move as fast as it feasibly can without breaking apart in the air. I want the engines working as quickly as possible, and I want that dragonator wound and readied!" The man turned and scowled at Marcus again. "It seems like we have no choice but to go elder dragon hunting."

There was an air of nervousness and worry about the crew for a moment. Then an excited laugh rippled through the Lost, and several shouted excitedly, getting to work. Several tied themselves to the bannisters, leaping over the sides to get to work patching the holes that the Alatreon had smashed into their hull, while several more got to work on repairing the engines and blimp above them, patching the thin tears that the blood storm had cut into the balloon and cleaning the sand from the turbines of the engine. Down below the deck, Levin could hear clanging and shouting from where he was certain that the dragonator was being prepared to fire again. Silas watched them work for a moment, before turning a sour expression to the hunters.

"Well it seems you'll get what you want, hunters," the man told them. "I hope you're prepared for what you've dragged myself and the crew of this ship into, because if you're not, it's not just your own lives you're putting on the line." With that the man turned, striding towards the stairs and heading below deck.

"I hate that man," Tenebris muttered sourly.

"He does seem rather ready to push the blame on other people if things go wrong," Jino replied. "But I suppose that's the price we'll have to pay in order to ride on this ship of his."

"At least we have a method of travel with which to follow the elder dragon," Harker said, looking at Kerry. "We must take what methods we have at our disposal, no matter the cost or who we must rely on. After all, there is a village in danger, and we cannot let our friends down, especially not at a time like this."

"I'm not sure if my brother and I are exactly armed well enough for this sort of fight…" Kei told the others apologetically. "But we'll do what we can. I'm pretty good with a longsword, and Kai can be pretty useful with his hunting horn. The more hunters there are, the better, actually, and with so many of us, I'm sure at least he'll prove his worth."

"Thank you for convincing him," Ellie said to Calvert and Marcus gratefully as the man returned to the helm. "If you hadn't, Boma…"

"Ain't nothing," Marcus said with a shrug. "Men like that be easy 'nuff ta work with if ya know the ins and outs o' their thinking, aye? Silas wants glory for himself, all poncy and famous, an' the Lost a touch less. Threats don't work none on him; just make him withdraw in and turtle himself up, gets all stubborn-like. Doing the right thing ain't little better, ya know. Ya gotta wiggle the rewards about like fish bait under his nose to get him jumpin'. Anything what makes the man think ta be famous and powerful, them's the juicy things to tell him, ya get? Dyin' don't please him, aye, but if the reward be great enough to warrant the risk…"

"Besides," Calvert added, "it's not as though you'd have an easier time convincing another airship owner to lend you their ship. A lot of them are crazy; you'd have to be to do the hunter drops in some of the nastier areas of the world. But not many are crazy enough to try and chase after an elder dragon with the intent of hunting it down. Silas isn't a generous or kind man, but at least he's willing to use the materials he has available to fight the Alatreon with, even if it does take a bit of… motivation to get him to do so."

"Hopefully it won't go to his head," Jino replied, grimacing a bit. "Assuming we manage to defeat the dragon that is… He's a sour enough man as it is. He doesn't need the fame of taking down the Alatreon to add to all of that."

"I don't care either way," Levin muttered, watching quietly as the crew worked on the engines. "Silas can do what he wants with his fame if we win. All I care about is Boma, and killing the Alatreon once and for all. I'd make a deal with worse people than him to accomplish that… Everything else can take a back seat until then." The hunters around him nodded in solemn agreement; there were other things to concern themselves with then Silas and his pride.

It was still another half an hour before the ship was ready to set sail, however. Each moment seemed to creep by to Levin, and the switch axe user knew that Ellie shared the same worry and antsy feeling, knowing that each wasted moment was the further the Alatreon got away from them, and the closer the elder dragon got to Boma Village. But the ship really needed the time. The hole in the hull of the ship needed patching for the ship to keep a quick speed once they were airborne, and the engines both seemed to need work from the crash landing. And there really were several crew members that needed to be taken off the ship because of their injuries; Joshua may have suffered the worst of them, but he certainly hadn't been the only one that needed to be taken care of. Thankfully, a collection of Lost, including several doctors that had ventured out from the hospitals after the Alatreon had disappeared, appeared in the square and agreed to take the injured somewhere where they could be looked after. People were slowly beginning to reappear from the buildings around the city, disbelieving that the Alatreon wasn't attacking anymore.

But eventually the ship was ready, or at least ready enough to take off and go. With a shout from Captain Marcus, the Lost on either side of the ship kicked the engines into gear.

Both engines roared to full power on each side of the ship, and Levin winced. Even with his armor giving him a noise-muffling effect, the sound still resounded through his helmet as the machines kicked into gear. The other hunters clutched their ears in irritation, groaning in pain from the sound. A moment later the noise died down a bit as the engines balanced out a little, reducing to a deep hum, and the airship began to lift into the sky. Higher and higher they rose, rising further into the air as the crew burned coal, sending a stream of heat into the balloon above them. Levin watched as the walls of the city dipped below them, until finally the hunter could see the desert beyond.

Then the engines roared to life once more, but before Levin could grumble about the noise, the airship leapt forward, blasting through the air at speed Levin hadn't imagined it capable of, even with all the talk Silas and the others had been giving it. Most of the hunters, caught unawares, were knocked off their feet, and the few that were close to the side clutched desperately at the railings to keep from flying over the side. They found their balance quickly enough, but many were stunned to find the city passing underneath them at a shocking speed. In less than a minute, the ship had sailed over the walls of the city and was blazing through the air over the sifting sandsea. Levin dared a look over the bannisters to the side, and watched in awe as the dunes swept past under them.

The rest of the hunters on the ship seemed just as impressed as Levin felt, looking over the edge of the ship as they soared through the air. Silas had a rather smug look on his face as the hunters spoke to each other in amazed tones. Several looked at the ship about them, and even at Silas himself with a new respect for having created such a machine as this. Marcus certainly had not been jesting about the speed that this ship was capable of: the collection of hunters would reach Boma village in a short day or two at this pace. All they needed now was to hope that the Alatreon was not much faster than they were in its condition.

Levin looked around the deck of the ship. He realized how few of them there actually were, going off on this wild chase, hunting down the Alatreon: Him and Ellie, Harker and Kerry… there was Richard, Noxramus, Tenebris, Kai and Kei, Miller, and Joshua's acquaintance, Jino. Only eleven of them in total, hunting down the greatest threat that the country's Guild had ever known, with only this flying dragonship and its crew to aid them. Was it enough? Were _they _enough? Would they have the power to take down the elder dragon that had terrorized the country for centuries, and killed countless great hunters before them? Even if the Alatreon was weakened and vulnerable, the creature was still had the strength to wipe them all out if they weren't careful.

Levin shook his head, looking back out across the desert as it passed by below him. Whether or not they were capable of defeating the Alatreon, it looked as though they were chasing after it anyway, come what may. They'd just have to do the best they could, and hope for the best.

The final battle was coming, and they were charging off to meet it.

* * *

**Author's Note: Please Review! I wonder how many of you thought that this chapter would be the final battle? Well, you're going to have to wait. Though, at this point in the story, I think it's finally safe to tell you all that there are indeed less than ten chapters in the story remaining, including the epilogue. We're finally reaching the climax, so hopefully you'll stick with me just a little longer! I've been anticipating the final battle in this story for a long while now, but even so, I'm still rolling how the battle will unfold over in my head. What I need more than anything else is inspiration right now, so I've been going back and watching/reading a lot of the final fights from several of my favorite shows and mangas, like Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer, Fullmetal Alchemist, Pacific Rim, FLCL, and possibly Gurren Lagann. And of course, the MH manga. But I need more where the final boss is a giant monster of some kind, and not a person… Anyone got any suggestions? I need to get hyped.**

**And holy crap, I think I just broke one million words. That's… a lot. Way more than I ever imagined writing in this story, that's for sure. Looking back, I think the story would be quite a bit shorter if I'd written it better; some of the middle chapters are a little unnecessarily wordy… but whatever. One million words, hot dog!**

**Woo, got me a circle pad pro. I know some of you said it's unnecessary, but I'll tell you, after years of playing on console and hundreds of hours on the WiiU, it's definitely far easier for me with a right thumb-stick. And it didn't really cost as much as I thought it might, even with the shipping and handling. **

**Finally… POKEMON. Yes, indeed, for the first time since Silver, I'm actually playing a Pokemon game. The series has really changed a lot since then, definitely more about raising and caring for the Pokemon rather than just battling them. It's an odd duality, switching between MH3U and Pokemon X; in one you're raising and training monsters, and in the other you're killing them and skinning them for materials. It's certainly made an efficient distraction from my writing since I bought it, that's for sure. Anyway, if anyone wants to friend me, let me know… I'm not sure how to go about friending people in this game, but I'll certainly try.**

**Reading: **_**King of the Murgos**_** by David Eddings  
Playing: MH3U, Pokemon X  
Listening: Caribou, Smooth McGroove, Joshua Radin, Marie Digby, Bayside, The Ataris, The Academy Is…, Clue to Kalo, New Found Glory, Eiffel 65, Loudon Wainwright III, Gabrielle Cilmi  
Watching: **_**Kyoukai no Kanata**_**, **_**Yozakura Quartet: Hana no Uta**_**, **_**Kill la Kill**_** (I'd forgotten how much I loved the work of Trigger Studio), **_**Servant x Service**_


	47. World Eater

World Eater

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. Most of the characters in this story are mine. Many characters belong to others, as stated in previous chapters._

_ Edited by: Hoenn Master96 _

"Congenital analgesia."

Ellie looked up in surprise at the unfamiliar words that had slipped from Harker's mouth, frowning in confusion for a moment before shaking her head and returning her attention to Levin wounds. She'd gotten incredibly proficient at changing the bandages in the last couple days, considering how often her significant other needed them changed. All of the hunters that had gone up against the elder dragon had suffered injuries during the battle, and though Levin certainly hadn't taken the most damage (that honor had gone to Tenebris, who still had a limp in one leg, though it was lessening with each passing hour), the wounds he'd received from the Dark Metal were still festering. The skin on his back was recovering slower than the rest of his wounds, and was still darkened from the effects of the twisted ore.

Thankfully, Harker's medical knowledge from his own studies, as well as the battlefield doctoring he'd done to himself, had made the hunter surprisingly proficient in treating wounds. Few of the hunters and sailors aboard the ship had felt comfortable letting the madman treat them, but he'd since proven that he knew what he was doing, though Kerry had to keep him on a tight leash to make sure that he didn't try something unnecessary out of curiosity. Somehow or another, Richard seemed to know some remedies made to heal the Dark Metal's effects on Levin fairly well, though it was obvious that he wasn't used to seeing such extensive damage to someone; at least, not on someone that was still alive. He kept questioning Ellie and the others about who had given Levin such injuries, and why, but Levin seemed intent on keeping quiet about Farren's work, so Ellie, Kerry, and Harker kept quiet as well. Ellie still didn't understand why Levin chose to keep quiet about the researcher, but she'd keep his secrets for him, for now at least. If… no, _when_ the Alatreon died, then she'd reconsider her willingness to hide what Farren had done.

"What's that mean?" Levin asked the long sword user, wincing as Ellie tightened the gauze. She preferred to keep the bindings tight; the sight of the blackened skin coating Levin's back sickened her. Every time she saw it, her desire to tell Richard about Farren grew… but she was still holding back for now.

"Hm? Oh, congenital analgesia?" Harker replied. "I just remembered the term from back in our world. I've been trying to understand the Alatreon's actions since we left Loc Lac. The battle, its actions, its shock at the injuries it suffered… all of that has been bothering me since we left the city. The creature… it does not act like a wounded being should. And now I think I've found the answer why. Congenital analgesia."

Levin sighed and shook his head. "And what exactly does it mean, Harker?"

"It's a… neurological condition, I believe; perhaps an issue with the nervous system. I'm not entirely sure. What it does is make those living creatures that suffer from it completely lose their sensitivity to feelings of pain or injury. The more I think about it, the more I feel that the elder dragon we hunt does, in fact, suffer from this malady. Or rather, it would be safer to say that the beast revels in it. In short: the Alatreon feels no pain."

Both the hunters' heads snapped up in shock. "It can't… it doesn't feel pain?" Ellie asked, stunned. "But how… how are we supposed to beat it if we can't hurt it? I mean, we did all that damage to it back in Loc Lac, but-"

Harker shook his head. "That's not it, Miss Eleanor. It can't feel pain, but that certainly doesn't mean it can't be hurt. It would be the same as if you doped yourself on potion numbing effects, and then someone broke your arm. You wouldn't feel it, but you would still be injured. And even if you'd be more capable of taking action with that appendage than someone who could feel pain, you would still be hindered more so than usual. And if someone stabbed you through the heart… potions or no, numbness or no, you would still die. You simply… wouldn't feel it."

Levin frowned at the words, grimacing at the thought. "So… the reason that the Alatreon thought it was invincible all these centuries was because, even if the hunters really were damaging it, was because it couldn't feel the injuries they were inflicting on it?"

"That's what I believe. I could be horribly wrong, however. This is all merely conjecture."

"It makes sense though," Kerry said. The huntress had been helping Harker see to the medical needs of the hunters on board the airship, and though Harker was by far more experienced, most preferred Kerry's care over Harker's unique bedside manner. "The Alatreon has always been thought of as immortal creature, and it was so much trouble to fight in Loc Lac. It would explain the creature's actions if it really couldn't feel pain. That's why it would never seem to slow down or grow weary: it wouldn't be able to feel the strain its body would otherwise give it to let it know that it needs to rest or escape. It would simply be… relentless."

Ellie frowned at the words as she cinched the last of Levin's bandage replacements. As she reached for his armor to help him latch it up, she looked up at Harker. "But now that the Alatreon knows that it's not invincible, and knows that it can, and has been injured… what now?"

The long sword user shrugged. "I cannot properly guess what this will change about our battle against the elder dragon. Perhaps it will be more cautious? Or perhaps it will panic and grow more desperate, and become even more aggressive? It's a mystery, I'm afraid. To try and judge the choices and thoughts of the Alatreon is impossible. Do you treat it as a monster? The beast seems to have intelligence and reasoning skills rivaling a human being, if not surpassing them, but it is a creature that has lived as a solitary existence for millennia, so trying to compare it to a human would also be a fallacy… It's simply too much to figure out with what little knowledge I have available. I can only make assumptions."

"Make a guess then," Levin encouraged. "You're about as good of a chance of being right than anyone else."

"I wouldn't say that," Harker replied sheepishly. "There are a few hunters about this ship that have actually managed to fight elder dragons themselves, and at least survived the battle to tell about it. Aside from the Alatreon, I'm afraid I cannot claim such a feat myself. Besides, my friend, you're the one that has this… connection with the creature. If anyone can guess at what to expect from the beast once we meet it again, it would be you, not me."

Levin sighed at the words, wincing a little as Ellie latched his armor fully into place. "I guess… I'd wager it's on the defensive right now. I mean, the second that it realized we were actually hurting it, it took off running. It's faced with an unfamiliar situation, and it doesn't know how to deal with it. It's realized that it's not as immortal as it thought it was, and it doesn't know how to deal with that, but the thought of dying doesn't sit well with it, so it's running. But that's for right now. If we manage to corner it, it could be a whole different story, if it really is a monster at heart." The hunter shook his head as he got to his feet. "But like you said, this is all circumspection. I can only guess."

Harker sighed, but gave Levin a grin. "It's not much, but I suppose it's more than we had during our battle with the creature in Loc Lac. At least your wounds are healing up, my friend. I'll be honest, for all the damage the terrible ore did to your flesh, it was not nearly so bad as I feared it would be. Make no mistake, under other circumstances, I'd demand you report to the nearest hospital for treatment, but… well, considering our circumstances, there are other things that must be seen to first, as loathe as I am to admit it."

"You're hardly one to talk about following doctor's orders, dear," Kerry told the long sword user poignantly, and Harker chuckled.

"I suppose you're correct, my dear Lady Kerrigan. But then, there are wounds… and then there are those injuries that the Dark Metal has inflicted upon our dear friend. Would that I had the chance to lay my hands upon Farren… I try not to be a vengeful person, but I must admit that my temper has been growing increasingly intense with each treatment we give Levin."

"Remember, Harker, we promised…"

"Yes, yes, I know, my love," Harker sighed, pushing himself to his feet. "That doesn't mean I have to like it." Levin lowered his eyes to the floor, and Harker grinned encouragingly at his friend. "Oh, don't worry Levin. While I don't entirely agree with your reasoning, I do trust your judgment. You may have… biased decision-making ability when it comes to certain elder dragons, but you're usually rather exceptional at making personality assessments of people. Well, most of the time at least. I just wish your ability to pass down fair punishments were as consistent."

"Let's just worry about Farren later," Ellie said, stretching a little bit. "I'm getting cabin fever in here. Let's go out and see if anyone has come up with a new idea on how we can fight the Alatreon."

The others nodded, glad to be moving around as well, though here on the airship, there really were very few places they could go. And with the anticipation and fear of the impending battle ahead of them, everyone on board the airship was getting a bit twitchy, both hunter and crewman alike. On the one hand, Ellie wished they could just confront the Alatreon and get it over with; on the other, she feared the battle and the consequences of the fight.

Ellie blinked painfully as she followed Levin out onto the deck of the ship. The setting sun was shining directly into her eyes as the ship continued to follow its path west towards the ocean. They'd been flying in a straight line for almost the entire trip, only altering course to make adjustments to their path so they'd reach the ocean as close to where Boma lay as possible. All of the hunters and most of the crew were on deck at the moment, though that had really become the standard since they'd left Loc Lac. Only those that were working or sleeping below deck were away, kept busy by the ships upkeep or forced to get some rest by Captain Marcus. Everyone aboard knew what awaited them at the end of this flight, and they were all nervously waiting for them to either catch up with the Alatreon or to reach the ocean or Boma Village to find… whatever awaited them there.

It had been a painful, stressful time, since they'd all boarded the ship and left Loc Lac. Two full days had passed since they'd left the city in the desert, and each moment was filled with tension and fearful anticipation as the airship. The desert seemed to pass under them in a flash, and the mountains beyond them had been progressing under them by the morning after they'd left the city. The mountain ranges had taken far longer to traverse than they'd thought, with rouge winds forcing the crew to maintain diligence to keep the ship from crashing into any of the passing mountain peaks. Things evened out significantly after they'd passed through the mountains later that day, but it was still a long way to the ocean, with all the thick forests of the west passing by below them.

Every eye was on the horizon, even among those that were talking amongst themselves quietly, trying to ease the tension they all felt with awkward, casual banter. There had been no sign of the Alatreon at all during their journey; not a trace. Were they not going fast enough? Had the elder dragon taken a different path than they thought it would? What would they catch sight of first? The elder dragon? The ocean? A village in ruins? According to Calvert's calculations, the ocean couldn't be too much further; they'd been passing over the thick forests for a whole day now, and the trees were growing thicker and thicker the closer they got to the sea.

"How are your wounds?" Kai asked, approaching with his sister close by. Richard was with them as well, giving Levin a sour look. Ellie figured he was still disappointed that none of them had given more information on where Levin had received the Dark Metal injuries, but he didn't say anything about it. By now the rest of the people on the ship, both hunter and crewman alike, knew about the wounds on Levin's back, and though many were wary about the whole thing since the ore was believed to be a cursed material, most ignored it, considering there were other things to worry about at the moment.

Levin shrugged, rubbing his shoulder. "I'm fine for now. What about you guys? You both got hit pretty hard during the battle yourselves."

"Oh we're fine too, for the most part," Kei replied with a grin. "That window wasn't as solid as it looked, and there wasn't much to crash into on the other side. And my brother here didn't take many hits on his own anyway; hunting horn users aren't really supposed to stay too close to monsters in the first place."

"You helped save the lives of the injured," Richard noted from behind them. "Even if you didn't face the Alatreon in pitched battle as much as other hunters did, you both did plenty to help."

Kai sighed irritably. "Nonetheless, hopefully we'll both be more help next time in the battle. Acting in a support role is something I'm fine with, but I'd like to say I did more than play a few tunes when we return to Loc Lac after finishing the beast off."

"Well at least you're not lacking in confidence," Harker noted with a grin.

"I just wish we'd catch up with it faster," Kei replied, crossing her arms and looking over the edge of the ship. "All this time we've been chasing it… as fast as we've been going, all this time just sitting around waiting for something to happen is making me really fidgety."

"We're all feeling the same way," Kerry told the huntress. "But what else can we do?"

"There must be something we can do to prepare for the fight," Ellie said, looking around at the other hunters on the deck. "Surely someone has a good idea with how to deal with the elder dragon."

"The machinery for the Dragonator has been prepared to fire once more and all our wounds have been seen to," Richard replied. "We've spent the last few days trying to come up with a feasible plan to use against the elder dragon, but… well, with a beast as versatile and dangerous as the Alatreon, it's a challenge to create a working scheme that would be effective. If the Alatreon had control over only one or two elemental attributes, we might be able to create a plan for it, but four? If we try and predict its actions, it could very easily turn around and do something completely different than what we think it will."

"I guess we really can't do much other than hope that we can hit the thing with another Dragonator charge again," Ellie muttered sourly. "And if that doesn't work… all we can do is fight it and hope for the best."

"Do you really think the Dragonator will work a second time?" The hunters turned as Miller approached them from where he'd been standing. "The beast seems more intelligent than others, even compared to elder dragons. The only reason it was struck the last time was because it was blinded. Would it really allow itself to be hit by the Dragonator when it could see?"

"Could we blind it again?" Kerry suggested. "I know Harker still has at least one of those custom flash bombs of his with him, so maybe…"

"It would make a fine distraction, my dear Lady Kerrigan," Harker said, interrupting the bowgunner. "But I fear that the elder dragon would not fall for that a third time. It may have worked effectively on the creature in Hearth and in Loc Lac, but if the beast is acting defensively now as we fear, then it will be watching out for that, and will have prepared for, or at least thought about, how to deal with it if we tried such a tactic once more."

"We could use the distraction, no matter how small," Richard noted. "It would make an excellent opportunity against a creature like this one, but for what? It would only work once…"

Ellie shook her head as the hunters continued to talk with each other. Every word that passed between the others were ones she'd heard before, and they all knew it. Aside from recovering from their wounds and getting to know the other hunters that they weren't too familiar with, all they'd really spoke about were tactics and plans for how to deal with the Alatreon if or when they managed to catch up with the beast. Trying to figure out the creature's movements and tactics, what the extents of the Alatreon's powers were, and other such things. Though she knew the conversation was important, she was getting sick of all the circular conversations. Sharing a quick look with Levin, she wandered away, off to find something else to occupy her attention as they waited to reach the ocean.

The other hunters were scattered about the deck of the ship, off in their own conversations about what they expected to happen, what they'd do when it did, and what they'd attempt if everything went wrong. Tenebris and Noxramus were off to the side, chatting to each other quietly. The pair had apparently gotten fairly close to each other during their time traveling together, and the two tended to stick together for the most part; Noxramus seemed to have taken it upon himself to help the huntress out while her leg recovered.

Jino, the older hunter that had been Joshua's friend, spent most of his time with Marcus and Calvert, concocting their own ideas on how to fight the Alatreon once they met the beast. Ellie figured that they were probably doing the best work to prepare, considering they'd likely meet the beast in the sky, and it would be the crew of the ship that really did the work fighting the Alatreon. Only the bowgunners would be able to offer any aid in fighting the elder dragon in the sky… unless the beast was brash enough to try and land on the deck of the ship itself, but Ellie imagined that wouldn't happen. The Alatreon didn't have a death wish, after all. What kind of monster tried to do that anyway?

Ellie decided to travel over towards the bow of the ship, where the hull climbed up as it did for most dragonships, providing a platform to place the Dragonator activation trigger, as well as making a small closet below for ballista ammunition and a hatch down to the Dragonator machinery and equipment. Unfortunately, the cannons and ballistae had been removed from the deck of the ship during the ship's renovation into an airship, so the storeroom was mostly being used to store the fuel that kept the Lost engines running. Ellie hoped they still had enough to keep flying as long as they needed to; the engines needed refilled every ten hours or so, and Ellie had never looked inside the closet to see exactly how much fuel they really had, but Marcus had assured them that they'd be able to keep their pace for a while yet. Ellie just hoped the man was right…

Silas himself stood near the head of the ship, just under the Dragonator trigger. The owner of the airship could always be found on deck these days, when he wasn't sleeping, and even then he slept sparsely. It was an act of leadership that kept him at the head of the ship, Ellie knew, though she was surprised to discover that the man had it in him to act the part. Though the Lost that made up the crew of the ship had been excited to chase down the Alatreon at the start, as the days had gone by, their initial enthusiasm had dwindled, and now the fear behind what they were doing was finally beginning to set in. Ellie didn't need to be very perceptive to hear the fearful whispers and talk of mutiny that had come over the crew, thinking that the hunters, as well as Captain Marcus and Calvert, were leading them to their certain doom.

But Silas had stepped in before anything foul could happen. He hadn't spoken a word at all to any of the crew, and had simply taken root at the head of the ship, watching the horizon intently, and simply waiting. Of course he replied when the crewmen talked to him, and passed out orders and directions on a regular basis, those that Captain Marcus wasn't giving, but other than that he was keeping a constant watch on what lay before them, as though he expected them to come across the elder dragon at any moment. And the effect it had on the crew, though he had never explained why he was doing what he was doing, was enough to bring relief to the hunters on the ship. The Lost crew seemed to be encouraged by the action, and though their excitement at the chasing of the Alatreon had diminished, it had been replaced by a cold determination, like that which they believed Silas was emitting. It was actually rather impressive.

Tenebris still seemed soured by the man though, but Ellie supposed that was to be expected. The pair had been butting heads with each other longer that Ellie had known either of them.

Somehow or another, Ellie found herself standing near Silas as she looked down at the forests below. There was a river twisting through the hills and valleys below, and Ellie thought it might be somewhat familiar. Had she fought a Royal Ludroth there during her early months as an official Guild hunter? Had she chased Qurupecos through these trees? She couldn't tell.

"Are you prepared?" Ellie looked up at the words and found Silas staring at her intently. "All you hunters have been doing is standing around looking worried these last couple days. It is making my crew nervous, and I'm sure the last thing you hunters want is for my crew to decide that it's not worth the risk of chasing down the Alatreon, no matter what I want them to do. You think it's easy keeping them confident and eager by myself? Where is the pride and bluster that you hunters always seem to strut around with? I would have thought you'd all be striding about my ship, boasting with unfounded confidence."

Ellie frowned at the words. Was that really how hunters were viewed by outsiders; egotistical, overconfident, and overeager? "We're hunting an elder dragon," she explained. "It's… a different sort of creature than anything else that hunters fight. An elder dragon is classified as a beast that does such catastrophic damage that it could be considered a natural disaster in its own right. It's in a different sort of class than… than Jaggis and Barroths and even Raths. If there's a hunter that's eager and ready to fight an elder dragon, and is certain they'll win… I don't think I'd want to hunt with them, because they're either too egotistical or too stupid to actually be able to help."

"How… pragmatic," the man replied, returning his attention to the horizon. "Perhaps you hunters aren't all the blustering fools you make yourselves out to be."

"Gee thanks," Ellie grumbled. "And I suppose that when the going gets tough, people should call up on people like you? You think your airship is enough to deal with everything?"

"Of course not," Silas replied. "I am not one to say that hunters are… unnecessary. This ship on its own would not have been enough to slay the Alatreon. The incident over the blood storm proved that well enough. What I dislike is how much the people of this world rely entirely on the hunters, rather than using their own intelligence and ingenuity to think of alternate methods of fighting these monsters that roam the world. You've seen it yourself! The Guild is practically the law in some towns, and it holds such sway over this country that it's a shock that they haven't simply taken control of the nation already! I suppose they've been lucky, having been spared Guild Masters whose reach matched their grasp. But how long will it be before someone appears who desires the power that the Guild's influence can offer? How long will it be before hunters realize that there is much more that they could ask for from civilians in exchange for their services, considering they are the only things standing between villages and certain destruction?

"I'm not saying that hunters aren't necessary, Eleanor. I'm saying that they are relied upon too heavily! Human ingenuity seems to have vanished completely! Cannons, ballistae, the Dragonator? Are these really the only anti-monster weaponry that humans have developed to counter the beasts that threaten them? Are we really reducing ourselves to trying to use the power of the monsters against them as our primary solution, building weapons and armor from the slain beasts to combat them? Bowguns are certainly an efficient method of fighting back against the beasts that plague the world, usable by the common man as was seen in Loc Lac, but there should be more! Humanity has gotten lax, sitting back and letting their problems be solved through brute force, rather than trying to find a better solution! You wonder why I say the Lost deserve the right to regain their dominance over the world? It's because we seem to be the only ones capable of using human ingenuity anymore! It was the Lost that were willing to challenge a creature that brute force couldn't conquer, and their efforts came out on top! And it will be the Lost that brings humanity back to its intended control over the world as it should be, where it is not strength, but intelligence and ingenuity that pushes us onwards past these trials we face!"

The man's eyes were alight with the zeal which he felt for the words he spoke, and several of the crewmen had been nodding fervently along with him. But a few moments later, the man seemed to come down from the high he had been experiencing during his speech, and his expression once more returned to one of collected anticipation as he gazed out towards the horizon. His voice grew low, unable to be heard by the crewmen around him. "However… those as things that must wait for the future. For now, it seems that we must rely on the strength of hunters to get us through all of this alive. I'm not so optimistic as to be certain that the Dragonator will work as we want, so I hope you hunters are up to par to deal with this mess."

Ellie stood quietly for a moment, pondering the man's words. "I suppose… I should thank you. No matter how you were made to give us a ride on your ship, you still did so. That's something worth noting, I suppose."

"Don't get me wrong," Silas growled quietly. "I don't like this at all. Were the situation any different, you can be sure that I would have left you hunters to your own devices back in Loc Lac. But it seems fate would conspire against me, having the Alatreon seeking me and my ship for vengeance. So here I am, trapped aboard my own vessel, off to throw myself against the deadliest beast in the country."

"Then how come you're doing… this?" Ellie asked, motioning to him. "If you wanted out of all this, couldn't you just let your crew mutiny? All the hunters know they've been talking about it. You're the only one that's keeping them from turning on us and trying to throw us over the side."

Silas turned on her and scowled fiercely, looking offended in the worst way, and Ellie blinked in surprise. "Don't belittle me, huntress. I've offered you my assistance in this foolishness, and I'm not the type of man who goes back on his word. I'll see this idiocy through to the end, no matter the consequences. But make no mistake; I expect my due rewards for this nonsense, assuming the Alatreon is slain in the end."

Ellie stared at the man for a long moment, before shaking her head in dismay. "I don't know what to make of you, Silas. Sometimes you seem like you might actually be a decent, honorable man, but then you go and act like a stubborn, self-serving jackass. What exactly are you hoping to get out of all of this as a 'reward'?"

The man smirked at the words. "I act how I need to act in order to see my goals to fruition, huntress. As for my reward? It's the same as it has always been: the recognition of the Lost's superiority to the locals of this country, and in due time, their rightful return to the power they once held. Until our people achieve the level of control that we once held, I will be the 'self-serving jackass' that I have to be, if that's what it takes. Hate me if you want huntress, but I've created something that has dealt a decisive blow against the country's most feared beast thanks to my actions and choices, without raising a hunters' weapon against the creature. Can you say the same? Can any of you hunters say the same?"

"We did plenty of damage before you showed up," Ellie retorted defensively, but Silas' grin didn't fade at the words. "I doubt you would have been able to pierce the Alatreon's scales if we hadn't weakened it with dragon element shots beforehand."

"So you say," Silas replied. "While it seems that the people of this country will need to rely on you for the remainder of this hunt, should my Dragonator fail to find its mark, perhaps you'll find that the need for hunters will begin to dwindle as time passes, and the Lost begin to unravel the full potential of their knowledge. Do you consider yourself a valuable enough hunter to remain in the occupation, once the need for the work has faded?"

"I think you're looking a little too far ahead of what we can expect to happen anytime soon," the huntress replied sourly. Ellie looked over the side of the ship, down onto the thick forest below. She still didn't recognize any of this, even though it was supposed to be the area that she had spent months hunting monsters in. She supposed that everything looked vastly different from the air… maybe she could spot a familiar valley or rock outcropping somewhere. The huntress turned back to Silas. "But you haven't really answered me: what's in all this for you? You can pretty it up, saying you're doing this for the Lost, but we both know that's not the full story. You save your own life if the Alatreon dies, Silas, but that can't be the only reason you're doing this. What profit do you see in all this for yourself?"

The man smirked. "Aren't we shrewd? You may have a head for business, huntress, if you ever try to reach for greater ambition than killing mindless beasts. You really want to know what I desire? You're going to have to-"

"There!" A call came up from the head of the ship, beyond the Dragonator trigger. A crewman with a long spyglass was pointing towards the horizon fervently. "I can see it! The ocean's in sight!"

The hunters aboard the deck rushed forward, and Ellie found herself being gently jostled out of the way as those around her strained to see the approaching ocean. She found herself standing next to Levin once more, and her beloved gave her a shared look of worried anticipation, fearful of what they might find soon enough.

On the horizon, the glow of the setting sun seemed to widen, spreading across the trees and forests. Ellie realized that it was the sight of the setting sun reflected off of the ocean, and as the airship pressed further west, the sight of the ocean began to grow clearer, and the wide, expansive sea began to envelop what lay ahead of them. The airship slowly began to turn portside as Marcus spun the wheel, aiming the bow of the ship southwards as the airship sailed out over the ocean, flying over the rolling waves and churning water below.

"We should be just to the north of your village!" Calvert shouted from the helm. "Our skill in flight navigation is not… the best, but hopefully it's not too much different than sea navigation. If our calculations aren't too far off, we should only be a dozen miles or so away from where the village is, if it's where you said it should be on the map."

"I recognize it now!" Ellie gasped, looking around. It was all so unfamiliar to her, seeing the Boma area from above, but she could recognize some things in the distance. There was the river that flowed a few miles north of the village, and the large canyon where she'd fought her first Great Jaggi… and way off to the northeast was a wide valley that dipped into the earth, a large bowl where she knew that the Rath mating dance took place. All of those memories from when she was an apprentice seemed like so long ago…

Time seemed to crawl by even slower than it had been before, now that they were so very close. Everyone on deck had their eyes peeled to the south, desperate for some sign whether or not Boma was still safe. "Can you see the village?" she asked the crewman urgently several minutes later, eying the man's spyglass greedily, wishing she could use it herself.

"Wait, hold on, let me look!" the crewman snapped, leaning forward intently as though the spare foot or two would help him see better. "I can see… a village dock. There doesn't seem to be any smoke or signs of battle. I think… I think that there are fishermen out on the docks. The village is safe! The Alatreon hasn't arrived yet!"

Confusion and shock slid through those on deck and the hunters looked at each other uncertainly. Ellie could hardly believe it; they'd beaten the Alatreon here? But how? Even if the creature was injured, had they really managed to travel faster than it? Had it changed its mind, and run off in a different direction?

"Maybe it wants to recover from its wounds before it tries to attack the village," Jino noted thoughtfully. "A lot of elder dragons will run off and reappear once it's licked its wounds a little bit before it risks going up against hunters again. Maybe it's just resting, waiting until its wounds have scarred over before it comes down on the village. Aren't there hunters in Boma?"

"There's just Marshall," Levin replied. "He's a retired hunter that keeps the village safe… But he's really powerful, or at least I always thought he was, but I don't know how well he'd do against the Alatreon. Probably a better job than I would, honestly…"

"Marshall?" Richard asked curiously. "That's… a familiar name. My father used to talk about him when I was younger. He was apparently rather well-known in Loc Lac many years ago, and was supposed to be quite respected as a hunter. At the very least he had quite the famous reputation in Orage Dell."

"Does the Alatreon…" Jino seemed to struggle to find the right words. "Does the beast… know about him? I remember hearing Marshall's name a few decades ago when I was younger. He was supposed to be one of the hunters that managed to chase off a Jhen Mohran that got frighteningly close to breaking through the gates of Loc Lac, but he really faded out of the spotlight rather quickly some time later. I've never met him myself, but any hunter that has managed to deal with an elder dragon has to have some measure of skill with him. If the Alatreon is intelligent enough to realize its own mortality now, it's certain to be cautious against an experienced hunter, especially in the condition it's in right now."

Ellie and Levin looked at each other, contemplating. "I think… I'm pretty sure that the Alatreon is aware of him," Ellie replied. "It certainly sent a lot of other monsters after him after our ship was sunk by a Lagiacrus once. He had to take down a Rathian and Rathalos that were after him all by himself, and that can't be an easy task…"

"Wait… hold on a second!" Noxramus cut in from behind them. "Okay… I've been around you guys long enough to know that there's a lot of weird stuff that goes down around you when the Alatreon is involved, but what do you mean by 'it sent a lot of monsters after him'? I haven't heard about this before."

The two Lost looked at each other nervously. "Whoops," Levin muttered quietly.

"What do you mean, 'whoops'?" Kai asked. "That is not a nice word to hear, not at a time like this!"

"I'd really like to hear an explanation as well," Miller told them. "We're trying to hunt down the deadliest creature in this country. If it has an ability that we aren't aware of, it could prove to be a threat to us when we finally meet it in battle."

"It's not like we were hiding it or anything," Ellie said quickly. "It's just… it's been so long since the Alatreon's used the ability against us, that we haven't needed to consider it in a while."

"It's an ability it used against us when we were still living in Boma," Levin explained. "I don't… know how exactly it does it, but somehow the Alatreon is able to force other monsters into attacking. It's some sort of… it's like how it can project its voice into our minds, but instead it's like some high-pitched sound that drills directly into their minds and compels them to obey its orders. And its orders usually involve attacking whoever it wants them to. As far as I know, it works against any monster that the creature uses the compulsion on. It's worked on Great Jaggis, and Royal Ludroth, and I guess Rathians and Rathalos… and Lagiacrus." The other hunters began to look at each other worriedly at the words. There was a bit of disbelief in some of their faces, but considering all that they'd seen since the Alatreon attacked Loc Lac, it was hard for them to be skeptical. "It's even sent Kelbis and Aptonoth after us. It's not exactly threatening having a herd of herbivores trying to kill you, but there's just something… horrifyingly unsettling about the whole thing."

"You could have brought this up earlier," Miller chided. "If this power works against creatures as powerful as even the Lagiacrus, there could be more that we have to deal with than the Alatreon when the time for battle comes."

"Don't give them too much grief for it," Tenebris told the great sword user defensively. "We've all had a trying time these last few days, Levin and Ellie not the least of all. Besides, for all we know the Alatreon has countless other abilities at its disposal besides this… compulsion, or whatever it's called."

"It was responsible for us Lost being crystallized, too," Noxramus spoke up. "What's to stop it from trying to just trap us inside some of those blue crystals for a few months while it recovers and wreaks havoc on the world? It would just need to come back for us when the crystals are about to melt, and it can just kill us all at its leisure."

The hunters looked at each other nervously, before Richard sighed and crossed his arms in frustration. "There's no sense in worrying about what the Alatreon may or may not be able to do. We know some of what it's capable of; let's work around that to the best of our abilities. That's all we really can do, and if the beast shows some other ability that becomes an issue… we'll just have to go across that bridge when we come to it. With luck, we'll be able to keep the elder dragon on its toes well enough that it doesn't have the time to consider using any other abilities than those it's used on us already."

"Maybe we'll get lucky and the Dragonator will kill it before we have to fight it," Kai said with a hopeful grin.

"Do you really think our fortune's that good?" his sister asked skeptically, and Kai shook his head.

"Not really…"

"North!" a horrified cry came from the rear of the ship. "It's there! The Alatreon is behind us!"

Immediately the hunters turned to scramble to the opposite end of the ship, but the booming voice of Captain Marcus thundered out from the helm. "Hang on!" the man roared, and those on deck nearly lost their footings as the man spun the wheel quickly to the left, twisting the entire ship into an about-face towards the oncoming threat. The airship groaned as the ropes and cords strained against the hull, pulling against their bindings as the ship swung about. Ellie grunted in pain as she was thrown against the banister, nearly getting knocked off the ship as Levin rammed into the railing next to her.

But the pain didn't matter to her at the moment, and her eyes darted to the north, searching frantically for the shape she feared to see. It didn't take her long at all either, for the beast was a clear sight, even in the evening sun and darkening sky. The creature's massive black shape was tearing through the sky behind them, the beast's wide black wings beating powerfully as it soared through the air just past the beachhead and heading straight south. The elder dragon was sweeping low to the water, and a spray of misty waves were being kicked up in its wake as it tore through the air.

But… despite its speed, and despite how confidently it moved through the air, Ellie could see that the creature was suffering from its wounds. She'd seen the beast fly before, both in Hearth and in Loc Lac, and though she could tell that the elder dragon was trying to go as fast as it could manage, there was a… hesitation to its movements, a slight awkwardness in each beat of its wings. There should have been a constant rhythm to the Alatreon's movements, but there were bumps and jumps in the beast's flight, and it was clear that the elder dragon's body simply wasn't moving in the ways that it wanted it to. And it was clear in the way that the Alatreon was baring its fangs that the beast was not pleased with what had been done to it.

"All hands that no be necessary, below deck! All else: to your posts!" Marcus bellowed to the crew. He didn't need to say it twice, as a good number of the crew scurried below deck while the rest rushed to their posts to prepare for the worst. Silas seemed hesitant to leave, but in the end even he made his way below deck to weather out the impending fight. The hunters, all of them, stayed on deck, preparing themselves as the Alatreon approached.

"It must not have gone in a straight line," Kerry speculated thoughtfully. "Maybe it doesn't know directions as well as we thought it would."

"Then how did it get here if it didn't know where it was going?" Kai asked.

"If it knew that Boma was on the western coast, then all it would have to do is fly east until it reached the ocean, then head south until it found what it was looking for! That must be how we managed to beat it here: we went straight from Loc Lac to here, but the Alatreon had to take the long way!"

"I think we have other things to worry about than how we managed to beat the thing here right now!" Jino shouted.

Sure enough, the Alatreon's gleaming red eyes had strayed from the coastline, and now the elder dragon had caught sight of them. Its eyes opened in disbelieving horror and shock, and the creature began to droop in the air, so stunned at their appearance ahead of it that it completely forgot to keep beating its wings. **No! No, this cannot be possible! You cannot be here! You cannot have managed to fly faster than me!**

But the gleaming of the setting sun shone off the bright steel of the Dragonator jutting from the hull of the ship, and the Alatreon's eyes narrowed on the airship and all those still on deck. **Fools! Pathetic humans! You mean to challenge me with that weapon again? Pathetic, egotistical creature! Do you really think that you will be able to challenge me in the sky? Even in the condition I'm in, I will reduce you all to dust! Try all you wish to strike me down with your 'Dragonator'! You will not find me such an easy target as you did in your precious Loc Lac!**

The Alatreon's head reared, back, and bright flames blazed from its maw as it launched a massive fireball towards them. Ellie gaped in horrified realization: the creature was right, they were sitting ducks at the moment! Back in Loc Lac, the hunters could have dodged the fireball by running or dodging out of the way, but here on the airship, all the beast needed to do is hit the airship, and they'd all suffer from it!

But once again, the airship veered wildly in the air as Captain Marcus spun the wheel, and the ship spiraled sideways, turning the side of the ship to face the elder dragon. What was the captain trying to do? They were just giving the elder dragon a bigger target! But the blimp hissed as some of the heat within was released, and the airship dipped in the air. As the fireball closed in on the ship, Ellie and the others aboard the deck ducked fearfully as the fireball seared towards them, before the blazing orb sailed right over them, right between the balloon of and the ship itself and flying off into the distance before crashing into the sea, blasting a pillar of steam into the sky.

"Ha!" Marcus bellowed a laugh from the helm of the ship. "Ya no be gettin' the better o' me this time, ya scaly demon! Ya done me in twice, near killin' me both times and ruinin' one o' my ships, but I no be lettin' ya do it again! This time, I be the one that be knockin' _you_ out o' the air, aye?"

Ellie could hear the Alatreon growling furiously at the words, and this time the pale glow of frigid air began to well up in the beast's maw, and with a sling of its head, the elder dragon launched a slew of white javelins through the air towards them. But once more the captain spun the wheel, and the ship swung about to face the Alatreon again. The spray of ice had been intent on striking the bow of the ship when the helm had been showing the beast its broadside, but as the ship aimed to face the beast, it once again made itself a smaller target. A couple of the ice spears did strike the hull, but Marcus had moved the ship into such a position that the sharp lances hit the ship at an angle, and the ice deflected off the side of the airship almost harmlessly. The Alatreon roared angrily, and voltage began to dance along the creature's horns.

"Brace yerselves!" Marcus roared. "This will no be so easy to dodge, I fear!" The hunters didn't need to be told twice, and all of them grabbed hold to the banisters or riggings or anything they could get hold of as the power of the lightning grew in the Alatreon's horn. The elder dragon screeched viciously as it prepared to send the deadly electricity towards them.

But the lightning never came. As the voltage in the creature's horns seemed to reach their greatest intensity, the energy coursing through the tall spines simply… fizzled out. There was silence aboard the ship for a moment, and even the Alatreon seemed stunned by what had happened. Then the blazing force of the lightning erupted back into existence and an unfathomable cascade of energy fired into the sky from the Alatreon's horns. The elder dragon reeled back from the sheer intensity of the power as the blaze swelled and collected in the sky above them. Horrified calls from the sailors perched on the edges of the ship began shouting desperately towards Marcus, and once again the ship was sent spiraling to the side. The sky above the ship seemed to grow brighter, and Ellie was terrified to know what sort of energy the Alatreon had called down on them.

But the engines of the ship strained mercilessly to pull the ship out of whatever power had been sent after them, and the airship ran for the shoreline. A scant few moments later, there was a thunderous crash and a blinding light behind the ship as the energy was released. Ellie and several other hunters dared a look over the edge behind them, and cringed at the sight. An enormous cascade of lightning bolt were crashing down into the ocean, boiling the water and sending geysers of steam blasting skyward with each consecutive strike.

However, it was the Alatreon that once again pulled their attention away from the onslaught of lightning behind them. The elder dragon seemed to be having trouble stopping the flow of voltage that was searing out of its horns, and was writhing wildly in the air, trying to cut off the flow of energy. Each swing of its head sent lightning bolts in every direction, and soon it seemed that no matter where the hunters looked, bolts of electricity were dropping out of the sky around them. Every hand aboard the ship was looking around in horror, and even Captain Marcus looked uncertain. The ship was completely surrounded, and any direction they tried to go could just as likely throw them into the way of one of the bolts as any other!

With a screech of frustration, however, the Alatreon managed to stop to continuous rush of energy. For a few moments more, the sky was filled with lightning, but soon the energy dissipated, and once more the air was silent, save for the roar of the airship's engines and the beating of the Alatreon's wings.

Then the Alatreon's eyes flew back towards the airship, fury gleaming in the red orbs. It seemed enraged but confused at… whatever had just happened to it, but not long after, steaming pale mist began to swell in the creature's mouth as it prepared another volley of ice lances. Marcus began to bark orders to the crew, telling them to prepare once more to avoid the beast's assault.

But before the ice lances could be launched towards them, the Alatreon's power once more failed it, and the hissing white mist cut off coming from the elder dragon's maw. The Alatreon howled in disbelief and frustration, but a moment later a swell of dark dragon element energy swept over the creature's body, and a jet of flame blaze from the elder dragon's mouth, flaring into the air in a swooped swath of fire.

The Alatreon's mental presence suddenly slammed into Ellie's skull, and she could hear the other Lost aboard the ship crying out in pain. A wave of the elder dragon's emotions blasted through her skull as the Alatreon writhed about, trying to gain control of itself in the air. Fear, horror, desperation, and most predominantly: confusion. The Alatreon was stunned and completely baffled as to what was happening to it! Its powers weren't obeying what it wanted them to do! The lightning was not supposed to be nearly that potent! What was going on? Why was this happening?

Then a feeling of dawning realization swept through the elder dragon's mind, and the creature seemed to shiver in worry and fear. Desperation washed through the bond as the Alatreon struggled to regain control of its elements, long moments of struggle that were felt by all those that could feel the beast's presence.

Then the hold of the Alatreon's bond snapped away, and Ellie was lurched back to reality. She found herself being clutched tightly by Kai as the hunting horn user struggled to hold onto her. She realized that the Alatreon's bond had forced itself into her mind so tightly that she had nearly fallen off the ship! The other Lost were hardly better condition, and all had needed to be saved by others on board. Noxramus had nearly fallen off the edge of the ship, and seemed to have been just barely saved by Tenebris.

Captain Marcus was trying to steer the ship closer towards the Alatreon in preparation of striking the beast with the Dragonator, but the elder dragon was still writhing wildly in the air, shooting flames while dragon element spiraled around its body. But it slowly seemed to be regaining control of its power, and both the flames and dark lightning were slowly fading away.

"What happened?" Jino shouted worriedly, helping Richard back to his feet as the long sword user shook his head painfully.

"Something's… wrong with the Alatreon," Levin answered, clutching his own head. "It's having trouble controlling the power within it. I don't know why…"

A furious howl ripped out from the Alatreon, and the elder dragon's head snapped back to face the airship once more, baring its fangs viciously. It seemed hesitant to attack them at first, but then its wings swept open as the Alatreon swept forward through the air, launching itself at the airship. Marcus cursed, spinning the wheel to try and point the Dragonator towards the approaching dragon, but despite the creature's injuries, it was easy for the Alatreon to sweep to the side, dodging away from the large metal lance and rushing the ship from the side.

The elder dragon smashed into the hull of the ship, its gleaming talons tearing through the steel-lined hull. The airship reeled wildly in the air as the weight of the creature spun the ship off balance, and the beating of the elder dragon's wings pulled the ship off course. **You wish to challenge me in the air? **The beast's mind roared into their minds.** I do not need my powers over the elements to destroy you! I will smash you to pieces and drown you in the sea!**

Nearly all of those on deck lost their footings as the airship veered out of control. Richard and Kei were the closest to where the elder dragon had crashed into the side of the ship, and both tried to slash over the side of the ship with their weapons at the beast, but the Alatreon was simply too far out of their reach. The beast continued to tear into the side of the ship, ripping through the metal plating and the wooden hull, the sound of its laughter tearing through the heads of all aboard. Screams of fright could be heard from those below deck as the talons shredded through the bulkhead. The ship began to groan and sway, and the bow began to dip downward as the weight of the elder dragon began to pull them down towards the ocean.

"Get it off!" Calvert roared from the helm. "It'll sink us at this rate!"

"We can't reach it!" Kei shouted from the bow of the ship. Both she and Richard were forced to sheathe their weapons as the deck tilted even further, making it a challenge to remain standing without sliding along the deck of the ship.

"Nox!" Tenebris called from the rear of the ship. "Hold onto the back of my armor!"

"What are you - hey!" The short sword wielder lurched towards the huntress, grabbing hold of Tenebris' faulds as the huntress let go of her hold on the railing of the ship. He clung desperately to the banister of the ship to keep the bowgunner from sliding down the listing deck, while Tenebris pulled out her weapon, unfolding it and aiming down the sights as the Alatreon continued to smash its talons into the airship's hull.

The huntress fired several rounds down at the elder dragon as it clung to the hull of the ship, trying to blast the creature's face with numerous Dragon Shots, and dark energy danced over the creature's scales and body. Several of the rounds tore into the elder dragon's flesh around its head and long neck, and the Alatreon growled in irritation at the wounds. Its head snapped about, it's blazing red eyes glaring fiercely at the huntress. Fire began to lick the creature's maw as the beast prepared to launch another fireball at the bowgunner, but the elder dragon suddenly snapped in realization, clamping its jaw shut. It howled in frustration as the huntress continued to pelt its face with rounds, all while jets of fire eked out between the creature's fangs as the Alatreon tried to reign in the power of its elements. It wasn't long before it had taken enough punishment and pushed itself away from the hull of the airship, beating its wings to begin flying once more. Everything rocked wildly for several moments as the weight of the Alatreon left the hull, but Marcus was able to level the airship out quickly enough.

"What were you thinking?!" Noxramus snapped at Tenebris once both had regained their footing. "If I hadn't caught you, you would have fallen off the ship into the ocean!"

"We needed to get the thing off the ship!" the bowgunner snapped back. "If I hadn't, the Alatreon might have dragged us into the sea!"

"Well keep it up, then!" Calvert shouted as the ship swung back to face the Alatreon again. "If the Alatreon does that again, it could sink us for good! This ship is made for the sand, not the water; even if the landing doesn't kill us, the ship won't stay afloat. Then we'll really be sitting ducks!"

The hunters didn't need any further motivation. There were only three bowgunners aboard the airship, Ellie, Kerry, and Tenebris, but each took their place on the airship, Kerry at the bow and Ellie and Tenebris on the port and starboard sides, trying their best to keep the Alatreon from damaging the ship any further. Already the creature had managed to tear several holes into the hull, and they couldn't risk the loss of any more structural integrity. But though there were only three of them, the huntresses were not entirely outmatched; whatever it was that was that was hindering the Alatreon, it was keeping the beast from using its elemental strikes, and without those, the elder dragon was forced to only use direct attacks in order to damage the ship.

What followed was a repetitive game of aerial back and forth between the bowgunners and the elder dragon. The beast would circle the ship, searching for an opportunity to strike, while the bowgunners waited for the creature to get within range of their weapons. Numerous times the Alatreon tried to come in from behind them to assault the rear of the ship, but Marcus was just barely able to keep the ship turning to keep up with the elder dragon in the air. With the power of the Lost engines and the Alatreon being in the poor state that it was, the airship was just barely faster than the elder dragon, though the black beast was easily far more maneuverable than them. Every time the beast swept in close, intent on taking the ship down, Marcus was able to swing the ship around enough for at least one of the bowgunners to take shots at the beast, dissuading it from trying to damage the ship.

But while the bowgunners were doing well in keeping the Alatreon from destroying the airship, the elder dragon kept getting closer and closer. The beast kept nudging, pressing further and further, searching for gaps in their defenses. When the elder dragon got close enough, the bowgunners would lash out at the beast with any rounds they had available, but still the beast was getting closer. The monster was still acting defensively thanks to its recent realization of its own mortality, but now it was growing bolder, certain that it could take down the airship sooner or later.

"We need to do something!" Levin shouted. "It's getting too close!"

"What else can we do?" Kei asked. "It's too nimble in the air to just shoot out of the sky, and there's no way it will hold still long enough for us to hit it with the Dragonator!"

"It's the only thing we've got with the power needed to bring the creature down!" Tenebris argued. "Our bowguns have some kick to them, but the creature's moving too quickly to get more than a few shots off on it. All we can do is defend ourselves like this!"

"But the Dragonator is short range!" Kai replied. "The creature would have to be right on top of us to get hit by it! We might be able to do something if the Dragonator could hit a monster from more than a dozen yards, but like we are now-"

"Wait!" Harker shouted. "I think I may have a plan."

Ellie's stomach churned as the airship dipped in the air, spiraling through the air to keep the Alatreon from getting into the blind spot behind them. As the airship spun, she could hear Kerry firing rounds at the beast, trying to ward it off from them, and a howl of irritation told Ellie that Kerry had at least managed to find her mark. Ellie's head snapped over to the long sword user. "What sort of plan?"

"I've been looking at the Dragonator's machinery," Harker explained quickly. "There are lots of safety mechanisms and locking systems that keep the Dragonator from breaking apart or flying loose when it is activated. But… what if we got rid of the safeties?"

"What would that possibly accomplish?" Miller asked quickly, nearly losing his footing as the Alatreon clipped the side of the ship once more, shaking the deck underneath him. "I've seen the Dragonator used before. The safeties keep the lance in place! If we removed them, as soon as the weapon was activated, the spear would simply-" The man's words cut off in his throat, and his eyes widened in dawning realization. "I see… yes, that might work, assuming we could aim the weapon properly."

"What are you two talking about?" Kai shouted, clinging to the railing, but Harker ignored him for the moment, keeping his attention on Miller.

"Can you help me rig it up properly?" he asked, but the great sword user shook his head.

"I know how the machine works, but I know nothing of mechanics and engineering. I would be just as likely to hinder you then help."

"Let me help!" Noxramus volunteered. "I tinker a bit with smaller machines, but I should be able to help a little down there… with whatever it is you're trying to do."

"I'll come as well," Calvert told the long sword user. "I've worked with that machine since we started flying this ship. If anyone knows how to rig up this plan of yours properly, it'll be me."

"Then we must be quick!" Harker snapped, hurrying over to the hatch leading down to the Dragonator machinery below. "Captain Marcus! As soon as we're ready, we'll need you to try and line up the ship so-"

"Don' ya worry, lad!" Marcus called from the helm. "I see where yer gettin'! Be quick, boy! I do no know how long I can keep doggin' the beastie, aye?"

The next several minutes went by painfully slow, as those still aboard the deck waited impatiently for Harker to rig up whatever plan he'd concocted for the Dragonator. But each passing second seemed to be an eternity as the elder dragon circled them, searching for an opportunity to attack them.

"Can't we do something?" Kai called irritably, as the Alatreon swept in closer than it had before. Ellie fired several pierce rounds at the beast, warding it off as the shots clanged harmlessly off its remaining scales and plates.

"Not yet, not yet…" Marcus called.

"We're running out of time!" Tenebris snapped from her side of the ship, glaring back at Marcus. "Any longer and the creature will-"

"Tenebris! Behind you!" Kerry screamed desperately.

The bowgunner spun about, bringing her bowgun up to fire, but she was too late. The Alatreon had seen an opening and taken it, and by the time the huntress had returned her attention to the Alatreon, the elder dragon was already on top of the ship. The black beast slammed into the side of the airship, tearing through timber and steel as its claws smashed through the hull. Tenebris screamed as she was sent flying backwards, and Ellie dove for the huntress, catching her before she could be thrown off the other side of the airship.

The Alatreon howled victoriously, its talons tearing through the deck as the beast pulled itself onto the side platform where the cannons and ballistae had once sat. Levin and the other melee fighters tried to rush the beast to push it off of the ship, but with the beast's weight on the ship once more, the airship tilted wildly to the starboard side, and those aboard had to cling on tightly to avoid being thrown off the ship. The Alatreon's cruel laughter rippled through their minds as the elder dragon thrashed and writhed about on the deck, smashing the timber with its talons as its horns tore into the balloon above it.

Bowgun fire sounded from the bow of the ship, heavy rounds from what Ellie figured, as Kerry fired upon the Alatreon. But she didn't directly attack the elder dragon, but rather fired at the creature's claws and talons. Two heavy Crag rounds impacted the creature's claws, and the Alatreon looked down in surprise at the two shots as their fuses ran down. Then the rounds detonated, and the elder dragon howled in surprise as the explosions ripped apart the deck of the ship, blasting two holes into the side of the hull, and the creature's grip was torn free. The Alatreon screeched as it tumbled from the side of the ship, writhing about in the air for a few seconds before it managed to get its wings open and flying again. The airship took some more time to regain control, with the weight of the Alatreon gone and the new tears that had been ripped through the blimp above them.

"Damn it all! All hands, get tha' tear in the balloon patched!" Marcus roared as the engined strained to keep them all aloft. "Blast it girlie, tha' no be helpin' us if you be blowin' holes in my ship, aye?"

"Do you want holes in your ship or an elder dragon riding along as a stowaway?" Kerry snapped in reply.

"Ya be doin' more damage to us then the blasted dragon be doin' lass! Holes like tha' make us slow! Just keep the blasted thing back, or those holes ya be makin' will just make it easier fer the beastie to pick us apart!"

"What do you think I'm trying to do!" Kerry snapped irritably. "Harker! Are you about done down there? We're running out of time!"

"One moment longer!" the long sword user called from below deck. "This weapon is surprisingly well-designed! These safeties are proving to be more challenging to unravel than I thought they would!"

Now the Alatreon seemed to become even more aggressive than it had before, with the starboard side of the ship battered and blown apart. The crew of the ship had done their best to scurry up the blimp and patch the tears that the elder dragon had torn in the cloth, but none seemed brave enough to risk the howling winds for long, especially with the Alatreon sweeping around the ship looking for a chance to attack; but the hole was patched well enough to see this battle to the end, no matter which side won. Tenebris was forced to stay closer to the center of the ship, and the elder dragon was able to press its advantage on the weakened side of the ship. Now it was pushing its advantage even faster than it had before, and Ellie knew that the creature would be upon them again if Harker didn't finish whatever it was he was doing below deck. And she also knew that the elder dragon would not let them stay aloft a third time.

Calvert suddenly leapt up through the hatch leading down into the Dragonator machine room. "We're done!" he called to the others as he rushed back up towards the helm. "We've rigged it up! Now all we need to do it get the Alatreon in position! If we can get it to hold still for just a couple of seconds…"

"How are we supposed to pull that off though?" Levin called, and the first mate pulled an item out of his pocket, tossing it to the switch axe user. Ellie realized it was Harker's last mega flash bomb.

"Use this. Harker gave it to me. Whatever it is, he said it would work." Then the man turned back to Captain Marcus. "We need the Alatreon in front of us. It doesn't need to be right on top of us, but…"

"Don' worry, lad. I do be thinkin' I see what your plan be. I'll see what I can do, though tha' beastie no be one ta do quite what ya wish it to, aye?" Then the Captain turned towards the hunters on deck. "All right, all o' ye! This be our last bit o' foolishness! We do be hittin' the beastie with the Dragonator, or die tryin'! Prepare yerselves! This will no be a clean ride, aye?" The hunters nodded in response, tensing as the Captain turned the wheel, aiming the front of the ship to face the Alatreon. The creature eyed them warily, but seemed unconcerned with their actions, certain in its aerial superiority.

"You there, huntress!" Calvert called to Kerry. "Get down from there for now! We're taking a big gamble here, and were going to need the Alatreon to come at us from the front! Levin, get up there in her place; see if you can't agitate it into coming for us! Ellie, you get up there too; we'll need you to activate the Dragonator at the right time!"

The two hunters made their way to the front of the ship, standing at the bow as Kerry leapt off her post. The rest of the hunters and crew braced themselves for the worst, not sure what to expect the Dragonator to do now that Harker had tweaked it, or even if their plan would work. Ellie planted herself close to the Dragonator trigger, a massive steel firing hammer that was primed and ready to shoot. Levin stood next to her, glaring at the elder dragon as the creature swept around them, though it was clear on his face that he was just as worried about this idea as the rest of them were.

For a long time, the switch axe user didn't say anything, simply staring at the Alatreon as it darted through the air. The elder dragon seemed cautious, uncertain at why Kerry had retreated from the bow of the ship, but was sweeping in closer to strike. With the howling winds too loud for Levin's voice to carry, Ellie figured that the hunter was… speaking to the beast through that bond that he had with the creature. Whatever he was telling the Alatreon seemed to be working though, because the elder dragon's motions began growing more aggressive, and it let out a powerful screech of fury that shook the boards of the deck.

Shakily, uncertainly, Levin began to push closer to the front of the ship, where a small gap opened out in front of the ship, dropping off into nothing but sky. The Alatreon swept through the air, darting ahead of the airship and swinging around to face the head of the ship. Then it rushed forward, tearing through the air in a charge at the front of the ship, lowering its head and presenting its horns. But it was too high! There was no way that the Dragonator would hit the elder dragon like this! The beast would just fly over it, and tear through the blimp!

"Do it!" Marcus roared. "Now!"

Levin rushed forward towards the front of the ship and heaved the flash bomb out in front of them, and every hunter on deck dropped to the deck, covering their eyes. Even from the distance they were at the Alatreon's eyes widened in horror at the recognition of what was flying towards it. **No! Not again! **The beast howled in fear at the sight of the incoming flash bomb. It swept its wings forward and tucked its head back fearfully, covering them with its wide leathery wings.

White light blasted across the sky, creating a second sun in the air right between the airship and the elder dragon. Ellie winced in pain as the light bit into her eyes. Even as the light of the bomb began to fade, her vision was hazy and unclear, and she couldn't see much of anything past the deck of the ship itself. Was the Alatreon still there in front of them? Would they actually hit it when they fired off the Dragonator?

"Now! Fire!" Marcus roared.

Too late to worry about that now! Ellie could only hope that whatever Harker had done down below deck was enough to do what they wanted it to, and smashed her fist into the large Dragonator trigger. The rumble of machinery kicked into gear, shaking the entire ship from the force of it, and the massive metal spear jutting from the front of the airship began to spin, increasing in speed with every passing moment. The entire ship shook from the vibrations as the massive weapon spiraled about, and Ellie had trouble standing upright as the wooden plants rattled below her.

**Fools! Stupid humans!** The Alatreon's voice boomed into the hunters' heads once more. Finally the black shape of the beast began to come into shape again as Ellie's vision cleared. The elder dragon was about where it had been before the flash bomb had gone off, though it had dropped in the air a bit. But its wide wings burst open once more, exploding wide in the air, uncovering the creature's eyes, which beaded in angrily on the hunters aboard the ship. It had been completely unaffected by Harker's flash bomb. **Did you think I would fall for the same trick a third time? I will not be caught unawares again by your deceits again, humans! Prepare yourselves for death! I will blast you out of the sky and make you all-**

The airship suddenly lurched backwards. Ellie yelped in fright as the Dragonator shot forward, launching out of its barrel like a cannonball, searing through the air towards the Alatreon. The weapon fired with enough force that the entire airship bucked wildly from the momentum of the massive spear jettisoning out of its firing chamber. The heavy metal lance spiraled through the air like a bullet, drilling towards the elder dragon at such an incredible speed that the beast barely had enough time for its eyes to widen in horror and shock before the great weapon struck it.

A horrified screech of terror seared through the minds of those aboard the airship as the tip of the Dragonator spear pierced headlong into the frill of scales and plates that coated the Alatreon's breast. Dozens of the scales shattered instantly from the blow, and dozens more fell free, ripped from the creature's hide by the spiraling force of the anti-dragon weapon. The frill was practically shredded from the elder dragon's body piece by piece by the Dragonator as the long metal lance drilled into the beast. But the Alatreon's scales and plates there were still thick and powerful, having had enough time to solidify once more from the effects of the dragon element that it had suffered in Loc Lac. Though the Dragonator tore scales and plates free from the elder dragon's body, there were enough of them for the anti-dragon weapon to be slightly deflected from piercing straight on through the creature's chest and through the beast's body completely.

The Dragonator was sent spiraling upwards and to the side along the elder dragon's body. The spinning drill ripped through scale and hide as it tore its way upwards and along the Alatreon's shoulder and back. Deep red blood sprayed from the wide gash that was torn across the elder dragon's body as the Dragonator lance continued to tear through the Alatreon's body, continuing up the beast's back. Finally, the spinning spear began to lose its momentum and slow its spin, but not before the heavy weapon tore into the leathery hide of the Alatreon's wing, shredding a massive hole through it. Then the spinning of the Dragonator stopped, with the long metal lance wedged firmly into what was left of the Alatreon's wing.

A terrible, wordless scream ripped through the skulls of the humans aboard the airship as the Alatreon flailed about in horror, writhing about desperately as it tried to get the large iron spear free of its wings as deep red blood sprayed out from the massive gash that had been torn across the monster's body. But the Dragonator lance was wedged into the leather of the beast's wings tightly, and was wildly throwing off the elder dragon's ability to fly. The black beast bucked in the air for a moment, before its balance was thrown off completely, and the Alatreon found itself twisting to the side as the heavy steel rod weighed it down. The elder dragon roared in horror as the heavy lance wrenched into its flesh, and a moment later the Alatreon was plummeting down, spiraling towards the ocean below.

With a thunderous crash, the Alatreon slammed into the water, kicking up a massive pillar of seawater that erupted into the air, and a large wave of water that was sent crashing into the shoreline.

For a moment, silence filled the air, save for the rumbling of the engines. Then a cheer rose up among the crew and hunters. Joyous laughing and mirth filled the ship. It had worked! They'd managed to strike down the Alatreon with the Dragonator, despite everything! For a moment, Ellie sighed, allowing herself to feel relief for the first time in what seemed like such a long time…

But the joy wasn't to last. It wasn't even a minute later when Noxramus suddenly shouted in fright, "The Alatreon! It's still alive!" There was a horrified gasp through those aboard, followed by a panicked rush to the side of the ship, looking down at the ocean below. It took a moment to see, but soon what Noxramus had called out about became apparent: from the depths of the sea, a large, skulking black shape dragged itself onto the beachhead.

The Alatreon looked like death itself. Blood poured from its numerous wounds, sloshing down onto the wet sand as it made its way back onto land. Its chest was heaving, gasping for air as it struggled to press itself forward, and its wide wings drooped achingly, low to the ground. The Dragonator remained wedged into the elder dragon's wings, but the leathery hide had torn and ripped even further than it had been, and as the creature fully came ashore, the heavy metal lance finally pulled free of the hole it had shredded into the beast's wing, dropping to the earth with an audible 'thud' and kicking up a splash of white sand which arched up against the Alatreon's side. The elder dragon didn't even seem to care, and seemed to be struggling to just stay standing.

"We need to finish it off." Ellie turned at Levin's voice, hoarsely whispered. There was desperation, a dire need in his eyes as he gazed down at the wounded creature. His knuckles were white as he clutched the banister tightly. He turned, shouting up to Captain Marcus. "Fly down there! We need to kill it! Once and for all!"

There was but a moment's hesitation in the Captain's eyes as he looked down at the wounded beast, realizing that there was nothing left in his ship that could harm the Alatreon. But a quick look about the deck made up his mind: there were eleven hunters aboard his ship, and all of them to the last were ready to meet the Alatreon in battle to finish the beast off! With a nod, he spun the wheel, and the ship turned, spiraling down through the air towards the elder dragon. "Right then! Off with all o' ya! Prepare yourselves, lads and lasses! It be time for you ta see this finished!"

The hunters braced themselves as the ship dove down towards the earth, sweeping low in preparation to let the hunters leap off and charge the beast. The Alatreon's head cocked slightly at the sound of the approaching engines, however, and its head turned. It looked up at the approaching airship wearily, only half-recognizing it for what it was. Then its eyes snapped open in realization, and it stumbled back in fear at the sight of the hunters aboard the deck. Its feet nearly gave out under it, and an impending sense of dread upon realizing its chances came over it. Ellie could feel excitement swelling in those around her; finally, they had it cornered for good!

Ellie reeled as the Alatreon suddenly screeched in horror and fear, and terrible visions exploded to life in her head. The Alatreon's mental bond was lashing out in horror, flying away in search of something. It was like back in Loc Lac, when she'd seen into where Levin was being kept in the Gullet through the Alatreon's mental connection with him. This time however, the elder dragon wasn't reaching out to Levin, but rather to someone… no, _something _else.

Ellie's heart seized up in her chest as her mind was forced into what she soon realized was a monster. Instantly she could tell that it was something huge and very, very powerful. Even just glazing over the feeling of whatever creature that the Alatreon was connecting with, Ellie could feel the immense strength of whatever it was she was seeing. Images began to bloom in her mind, visions of what the creature could see through its own eyes. It was striding quickly through the thick woods, in large, lumbering steps, moving at a speed Ellie didn't think monsters were capable of going through those forests. Then she realized how big the creature really was; it was positively towering over the tops of the trees around it! It wasn't striding through the woods, it was plowing through them, smashing and unearthing anything that got in its way!

The Alatreon's cry seemed to press into the creature's mind, speaking to the beast in some unknown, intelligible language that Ellie couldn't even guess at. Whatever the creature was, and whatever the Alatreon had said to it, the massive beast pressed onwards with increased vigor, plowing through the trees and foliage with even greater speed than it had been before. In the distance, the beast could see thin trails of smoke twirling into the sky, a sure sign of human life, probably a village or something similar. Ellie could feel the creature's excitement and anticipation rising from within its breast, accompanied by another feeling, one even more demanding and consuming than any other within the beast… an immense, insatiable _hunger_. The beast lumbered on, crossing the distance in scant seconds, and was soon on top of the source of the smoke.

It was Boma Village. Even from above, Ellie could recognize the design and layout of the small village, from the farming hill to the circular streets, as well as the little bay where she and Levin's houses still stood. And now she really could see how big the creature, whatever it could be, really was. It positively towered over the small village, and even the farming hill seemed dwarfed by its size. As it approached the village, Ellie could see countless villagers, miniscule in size like bugs crawling about, beginning to scurry about in a panic at the sight of the approaching creature.

The deep, insatiable hunger crept through the bond as the beast that the Alatreon had summoned looked down at the village and the humans within it. Excitement and greed seeped through it, and it reared back, gathering up its breath to bellow its challenge and intent to the panicking humans beneath it. The vision abruptly snapped away, and Ellie found herself again on the deck of the airship. All of the Lost hunters were shaking their heads in pain and confusion at the sight they'd just witnessed forced into their skulls. Only Levin seemed unsurprised by what he seen, though he was indeed very worried by the implications. The others were looking on worriedly, wondering why a fair number of their party had suddenly reeled in pain.

But the answer came a moment later from the south, as a deep, rumbling roar rolled over the trees of the forest and the waves of the sea. The only reason Ellie knew that it was a roar in the first place was due to the vision; she would have thought the noise was some sort of natural disaster of some kind otherwise. It was deep and terrible, a guttural, rasping sound, like the earth itself was ripping apart. It was a horrifying antithesis to the Alatreon's own high-pitched screech, but seemed just as terrible in Ellie's eyes, even compared to the elder dragon. The hunters aboard the ship stood frozen in horror at the sound.

Jino was the first to react to the horrible cacophony, clutching the hilt of his hammer instinctively, and laying a hand on the black leather belt that encircled his waist. "Deviljho," he hissed fearfully.

"The great devourer?" Kai gasped, visibly paling at the words. Ellie had to admit, she'd shivered at the words as well; the Deviljho was a creature of near legend for its strength and its appetite. She'd only met a scant few hunters that had fought the beast and lived, and even those were hesitant to relive the battle they'd had with the creature. Ellie heard Tenebris curse under her breath next to her, and she turned to find the other bowgunner scowling at the sound, a sour expression on her face.

"Yes…" Jino muttered. "I've fought a couple before, but… If we're so far away from it, and the creature's roar is so strong… I cannot imagine the power and size of the one that made such a terrible sound." A fearful look crossed the hammer user's face. "The village! It… it can't be that the Deviljho is-"

**Yes. **The voice of the Alatreon crept through their minds. There was a tone of desperation in the creature's voice, but the elder dragon seemed triumphant in its tone. **I am solitary in my power, unmatched it strength. I have no desire for followers or allies, and would repulse those that seek such honor. But that is not to say that there are not those creatures whose existence I find… convenient. Such is the being whose voice you heard. She is a beast of great power that goes where I command and caters to my desires. Such is the 'monster' which lays waste to your precious Boma Village and devours all within! Such is the beast that would eat the whole world!**

The Alatreon howled to the sky, and with a beat of its powerful wings the creature swept up into the sky. The beast seemed to struggle painfully from the effort, and it took several flaps to get itself up above the treetops. But with another powerful thump of its wings, the elder dragon sailed away from them, tearing across the treetops and soaring southwest. Its speed was even slower than before, but it didn't seem too concerned with its pace. Twisted, cruel laughter curled through the hunters' skulls as the Alatreon sailed away, mocking them.

**Make your decision, hunters! What is more valuable to you? Will you continue to chase me, the bane of humanity, or will you run off in vain to slay she whom I have sent to lay ruin to that village? Choose wisely hunters, and know this: I may be injured, but the creature I have sent to the village is not. And make no mistake: she is no frail beast, and she will not go quietly. You may find that your efforts to slay her shall end in just as much ruin to the village as if you had simply ignored her! Now choose, hunters!**

Ellie heard Levin curse viciously next to her as the Alatreon's laughter continued to linger in their minds. She could see his anger and frustration, and the desperate need to kill the elder dragon. But at the same time, his gaze turned fearfully southwards, where the black trails of smoke were already beginning to rise up from where Boma Village lay. Some of the other hunters seemed uncertain as well; would it be better to save Boma, or finish off the most dangerous creature in the country? Levin hesitated only a moment longer, before grimacing in defeat and turning to shout up to Marcus.

But the airship captain had already made the decision for them, and the airship shuddered as the rudder spun them to the south. The engines roared as they were kicked into high gear, and the airship leapt forward, blazing over the shoreline as the ship flew towards Boma and the creature that was invading it.

"We have to save Boma," Ellie said sternly, and Levin nodded in reply.

"You're right," he replied. "If Boma is destroyed, then what was the point of rushing out here? All our friends there… we have to save them!"

"Best brace yourselves then, you two," Tenebris told them as the bowgunner strode to the side of the ship. The woman bore a fierce, but worried expression as the ship swept closer to the village. "Deviljho are powerful, horrible monsters, not to be taken lightly, and they will not hesitate to destroy everything in their way. And by the sound of this one, it will take no small amount of luck for all of us to come out of this alive…"

"We've got to do what we can though," Kei said. "We can't just leave the villagers to die!" The other hunters aboard nodded in agreement, and turned to face the south, bracing themselves for what they were heading into.

Ellie could only gape in horror as the beast came into view. She'd known that the creature must have been enormous, judging from the images she'd seen through the Alatreon's bond with the beast, but to look upon the Deviljho now… the greenish-black and red monster absolutely towered over Boma, rivaling even the farming hill in size. The beast had to stand over fifteen yards tall, and a massive forty yards long at least, over four times the size of the largest hut in the village. Even the Alatreon seemed to pale in size compared to the mountainous brute. Every single fiber of its being seemed to emanate with the power that it held inside of it; the creature was a mass of pure muscle and destruction, from the jagged spines that lined its jaw to the tip of its thick, heavy tail. The flesh on the Deviljho's back and shoulders were swollen and enlarged, practically glowing a bright, sinister red. The massive monster was positively coated in wounds and signs of battle, covering nearly every inch of it with scars and markings. The beast was striding through the bay on the north side of the village, pushing through the water as though it was nothing, and steam was rising from the surface of the bay from the immense heat that the brute was letting off.

This was it, the terrible beast that the Alatreon had summoned to distract them, a Deviljho unrivaled in power, the one that would eat the world… "The World Eater…" Ellie muttered, horrified.

"Damn!" Jino cursed. "It's already enraged! But how? It's only just reached the village! If we don't get its attention quickly, the beast could level the entire city in a single go!"

"Fly the ship towards the Deviljho!" Kerry called up to Captain Marcus and Calvert. "We need to get the creature's attention away from the village!"

"Blast it, lass, tha' do be easier said than done!" the captain growled, but the man still sent the airship swooping lower, its path carrying it in the direction of the Deviljho. "O' course we no be havin' the Dragonator anymore! The one munitions what would be a right help, an' we fired it at the only other beast what needed killin' more! Damn our lucks, and damn these black beasts!"

Ellie, Kerry, and Tenebris leapt to the side of the ship as Marcus flew them close to the Deviljho, preparing to fire on the monster once they'd gotten close enough. The terrible black and green monster had already crossed the bay between the forest and the village, despite its width, and was almost on top of the northern huts. Ellie looked down worriedly, fearing for the lives of the villagers, but most of the northern roads seemed emptied out by now, those dwelling there having fled when the monster first appeared.

As the airship pulled in close to the massive creature, the Deviljho had just reached the shoreline, and without a moment's hesitation, the black beast smashed its foot down through the roof of the first hut it came across, obliterating it in a single motion and sending shrapnel and torn lumber skittering across the streets and out into the bay. Ellie watched in horror as the beast's snout dipped down, smashing through the remains, and the spiny jaw of the creature digging around in search of something or someone that it could devour. For a moment, Ellie felt her heart drop, fearful that the creature had brutally killed someone that she had known, but a moment later the Deviljho's head pulled back up, and the salted remains of cooked Aptonoth hung limply from the beast's fangs for a moment before the World Eater snapped the food into its gullet, swallowing it down instantly without another thought.

But then the beast's eyes darted to a street, where a mother and their children leapt from their huts and tried to run while the Deviljho's attention was on the meal it had just stolen from the ruined hut. A deep rumbling came from the beast's belly however, and the black creature growled excitedly as it lowered its head close to the ground and tensed, ready to lunge at its helpless prey.

"Faster!" Kerry howled desperately. "Shoot it! Shoot it now!" Ellie and Tenebris didn't need told twice, and immediately fired, their weapons bucking wildly as the rounds they loaded roared from the barrels.

Eruptions rippled across the World Eater's body as the heavy rounds smashed against the thick flesh and detonated, creating blooms of flame that blossomed around the monster's neck and back. But the Deviljho hardly seemed bothered by the explosions as all. Rather, the black beast simply grimaced in slight irritation at the attack, its eyes darting around in search of whatever was pestering it. But a moment later it shook its head and returned its attention to the escaping family, and took a few steps towards them, its long strides smashing through another couple huts without even slowing the beast down. The hunters aboard the ship began to panic, shouting at the beast, trying to pull its attention away from its prey, and the bowgunners fired again, this time striking the beast closer to its head. The monster grumbled in irritation, and scoured the earth around it for several moments, before it cocked its head to the sound of the airship's engines, and its gaze went skyward, looking with surprise up at the airship as the bowgunner fired a second volley, making another collection of explosions blast across the Deviljho's hide.

The black beast growled irritably, turning to face the ship as it circled the creature. With a couple quick strides, the Deviljho closed the gap between itself and the airship in an instant, before pushing itself up and leaping at the airship. Marcus cursed fearfully, spinning the wheel and pulling the airship out of the way. The engines and burners roared and groaned as the Captain tried to pull the ship out of the Deviljho's reach. And they just barely made it; the creature's size, as well as the height of its jump, managed to get the monstrous creature almost up to the ship. The World Eater's dire maw snapped viciously at them only a scant few feet away from the hull of the ship, so close that the hunters could smell the Deviljho's foul breath, and the spines along the beast's jaw even scraped against the wood and steel bracings on the bow of the airship.

The beast fell back to earth though, crashing down with such force that the impacts sounded akin to a meteor striking the ground. The stone and mortar of the village streets were blasted to rubble by the sheer weight of the World Eater coming crashing down, and even more of the village huts were reduced to splinters. The bowgunners, upon regaining their footings aboard the deck of the airship, aimed their weapons down at the beast once more, and the Deviljho groaned in frustration as even more incendiaries erupted across the black beast's body. The beast howled angrily up at the airship as it spiraled around it, the bowgunners firing down at the beast far out of reach.

However, as the airship swept low over the northern bay, trying to pull the Deviljho back away from the village, the creature paused in its chase. A deep, horrible gurgling sound emanated from the World Eater's maw, and a deep black mist began to lick the edges of the its jaw. Ellie shivered from some innate fear; she recognized that sound, but from where? The creature took a couple steps closer to the airship, before rearing its head back, and taking in a deep breath.

"Pull away!" Jino bellowed. "Get the ship away from it!"

Marcus didn't ask why the man was shouting, but spun the ship away from the creature. The gas burners roared, and the ship's bow snapped upwards as the airship leapt higher into the air. More of the dark haze began to hiss from the edges of the World Eater's maw as the beast's lungs filled to the brim, and tendrils of red and black lightning began to snap out across the massive monster's flesh through the gaps in its teeth. In the last moment, Ellie realized what the Deviljho was going to do, right before the monster's head snapped down and its attack was unleashed.

The World Eater snapped its head to its right, and then opened its maw, unleashing a wave of dark black flames that ripped through the air, completely obliterating numerous huts that it crashed through. Dark red bolts of lightning charged through the flames as well, lancing out from the jet of dragon flames and smashing through walls and windows as the energy roared through the village. Then the Deviljho twisted its head to the side, and the dark flames became an enormous wave of destruction that rolled through the north side of the village, blazing through the wooden huts and reducing everything in its path to cinders. As the dragon breath washed over the northern bay, the heat and intensity of the element made the water erupt into a massive pillar of steam that fired into the sky.

The airship shook and rumbled as the wave of dragon fire roared through the air under them, missing the flying machine by only a few yards. Red and black bolts of energy leapt up from the dragon energy, however, tearing across the hull of the ship and ripping large gashes through the wood and metal plating. The airship groaned as tendrils of dark energy cracked across the bow of the ship, but the Lost engines continued to push them higher, out of the reach of the dragon flames. But then the blast of steam from the boiling bay below them smashed into the hull, sending a wave of blisteringly hot haze across the deck of the ship. Many of the hunters and crew gasped and screamed in pain, covering their faces as the hot steam blasted across them. Only those few with fire and heat resistant armor were able to brave the intense temperature.

The airship veered wildly as Marcus cursed, trying to fly the ship out of the cloud of boiling-hot steam and back into cooler air. It was only a few moments, but it felt like so much longer than that before the airship burst out back into clear sky, trailing streamers of steam behind them as the remnants billowed out behind them. Ellie and the others gasped desperately for air, their skin red and irritated from the heat of the steam. But as they recovered, the pain from the heat wearing away, they were greeted by a devastating sight.

A large chunk of the village had been nearly completely leveled by the force of the World Eater's dragon breath. Several huts and homes had been blown away or incinerated by the blast that the Deviljho had unleashed on Boma Village. Many of the wooden ruins had been set ablaze, and fires were spreading through the rubble, and there were even some places were dark dragon flames were licking up from the remains of a hut, or red and black lighting jumping between pieces of shrapnel that littered the earth. The northern bay was practically boiling, as steam continued to hiss up from the surface of the water.

"We can't take any more of this!" Calvert called from the helm. The man had a desperate, worried look on his face as his eyes scoured the damaged, broken remains of the flying machine. "This airship wasn't made for this kind of punishment! Without the Dragonator, we can't do anything else to help! We need to pull out and repair, or this ship will tear itself apart at the seams!"

"You've done more than enough," Richard said calmly. "We'll need this ship in good condition if we're going to chase after the Alatreon again after this. Drop us off somewhere, and we'll fight the creature on the ground!"

Calvert and Captain Marcus both nodded, slightly guilty expressions on their faces, but soon the airship was turning back towards the village, giving the World Eater a very wide berth and sweeping wide over the ocean. The black beast was still beading in on them, and lumbered across the village after them, smashing through numerous huts as its jaws snapped hungrily at them. The creature reached the docks in a few quick steps, before launching itself through the air at them in another giant leap that nearly allowed its massive maw to clamp down onto the hull of the ship once more. But it missed again, not being able to jump far enough, and the Deviljho fell, crashing into the ocean below and sending a wave of water smashing into the shoreline and docks. The massive creature wailed in surprise, finding itself far deeper into the water than it had been crossing the bay, but still the water only came up to the creature's jaw as it held its head above water. The World Eater grumbled in frustration, and tried to turn around to return to shore, but its size and the depth of the water made it slow going for the beast.

The engines of the airship roared, however, as Captain Marcus flew the ship towards the village square, the only place in Boma where there would be enough room for the ship to sweep low enough to let the hunters off. Behind them, the World Eater bellowed in frustration as the flying machine gained distance away from it.

"We'll drop ye lot in the square, aye?" Marcus called over the sound of the Deviljho's howling. "We can no fight the beastie, no with the Dragonator lost! Do what ye must ta fight the creature, this ship an' its crew can do no more ta help ya!"

"That'll be enough!" Noxramus called out. "We can take it from here!"

"Aye, that's good… prepare, ya lot!" Marcus shouted, spinning the wheel, and the airship began to swoop down towards the ground. "We no be able ta slow down too much, so the lot o' ya gonna have jump off when we go low. Tuck an' roll, aye?"

"Wait, what?!" the Baggi-armored hunter gasped with a jolt. "You want us to just jump off?!"

"Ain't no time fer sittin' about, lad! We be too big a target for the beastie! We stay for more than a few seconds an' the creature will fry us up with that dragon breath o' hers! So brace yourselves an' prepare for jumping, aye? I'll come back for ya once the Deviljho be dead! Now go! Off with ye!"

A rush of dust and sand kicked up from the streets below them as the airship swung low over the rooftops, dipping down towards the ground as the machine lowered itself down towards the village square. Several villagers could be seen over the sides, covering their faces and pointing up at the airship, relief in their expressions.

Marcus hadn't been kidding when he'd said that they were going to be jumping off upon reaching the village square. The man was still clipping a healthy speed as the airship dipped over the last of the shops on the edge of the open area, dropping the airship just low enough so that the bow of the ship would not smash into the ground. The hunters began to leap off the sides of the ship, tumbling as the struck the earth a few yards below them, and Tenebris grunted in pain from her still-healing leg. A bellow of fury could be heard from the west as the Deviljho made land, and Ellie could see the massive beast towering over the huts near the shoreline as it started to climb back onto the docks, glaring furiously at the airship. But Captain Marcus wasted no time, and the engines on the ship roared as the aircraft leapt back up into the sky, climbing quickly into the air to get out of the Deviljho's reach. The World Eater trailed after it, lurching back towards the northern bay in chase.

"Ellie! Levin! Is that really you? I can't believe it! Oh, mercy, thank goodness you're here!"

Ellie perked up at the sound of a familiar voice, and spotted Mel running across the square towards them. The Guild representative looked frayed and harried, but seemed more than relieved to see them. She seemed to look upon the collection of hunters that had dropped into the village as though they'd been a miracle. As Ellie and Levin hurried over to meet her, several of the other hunters began to hurry towards the north side of the village, intent on intercepting the World Eater before too much more damage could be done.

"We'll go on ahead and get the creature's attention!" Kei shouted back at them as the other hunters readied themselves for combat. "You guys make sure the villagers are fine, and we'll do our best to make sure the beast keeps its attention on us instead of the village!"

Ellie and Levin nodded at the words, and quickly approached the Guild rep. Grateful tears were in the woman's eyes as she looked them over. "Thank goodness, thank goodness… I thought we'd all be doomed! We've only got the town guard to protect us right now, and they're not up to the task of-"

"Wait, what?! Mel, where's Marshall?" Ellie asked quickly. "I thought he would've been here to protect the village!"

"He's gone right now!" Mel replied miserably. "He left yesterday to deal with a Gobul problem to the south and hasn't returned yet! When we saw that… _thing _appear over the walls of the village, we thought for sure that we were all going to die! I don't care where you all came from or why, but please, you have to help us!"

"Don't worry," Ellie replied encouragingly. "We'll do our best to get rid of this thing." Mel grinned in relief, though Ellie had to admit, she did not feel as confident in this as she let on. But before she could doubt herself and the others further, she felt a firm hand grasp her shoulder.

"Don't worry, little miss," Jino said enthusiastically. "The Deviljho may be large, but it's just another monster, no matter how terrible it may seem. I've fought my fair share of these beasts, though they weren't quite so large. It'll be tough, and I'm sure the damage will be great… but we'll get it in the end. After all, we have fought worse than this, haven't we?"

Ellie paused, then nodded gratefully. "Yeah, I guess you're right." Jino nodded encouragingly before hurrying off to the north to help in the battle as well.

"Mel? Mel!" again Ellie's attention turned as another familiar voice could be heard over the roaring of the Deviljho. Doctor Orson appeared through one of the side streets, leading a small collection of villagers from the western side of the village. "What the hell was that airship all about? Did it land? What were they-" Then the man's eyes caught sight of Ellie and Levin, and for a moment the doctor seemed too stunned for words, not having expected to see the pair, as well as the other hunters there. Orson stared at the hunters in surprise. "How did you all… no, never mind, it doesn't matter. You've got to do something about that Deviljho!"

"Don't worry about that, what about the villagers?" Ellie asked. "Some of our friends are off distracting the monster now, but if it catches sight of a villager… You've got to get the villagers out of Boma! If we don't manage to kill the Deviljho-"

"No, we've made a bunker… We mined out a cave," Orson explained quickly. "After the Lagiacrus attack last year, we realized that if Marshall wasn't here, and you two were off in Loc Lac, the village would be essentially defenseless if another monster of equal strength to a Lagiacrus attacked us. Our town guard is exceptional, but they can't fight back a truly dangerous monster. So we dug out a large mineshaft in the hill underneath the farm, enough to hold everyone in Boma. By now a majority of the villagers should have reached it, though we're still trying to pick up the stragglers."

"Good! Keep them there!" Levin told the doctor. "We'll try and do what we can to stop the Deviljho, just get everyone that you can to a safe place! How much of the village is there now?"

Orson shook his head. "I'm not sure. Most of the villagers from the north side of Boma should be there by now, thanks to your ship distracting the Deviljho, but the south side of the village is much further away…"

A howl of anger came from the World Eater, and Ellie's gaze darted to the north. Several blasts of fire and other bowgun rounds were peppering the creature's hide, but they seemed to be doing nothing at all to the massive creature's body. Meanwhile, the Deviljho's attention was darting back and forth underneath its feet and torso, trying to keep track of the hunters below it. It seemed to be growing increasingly agitated at not being able to catch the humans that were bothering it.

A town guard came running up behind them, and gave a message to Orson between gasps for air. The man gave the same thankful look at Ellie and Levin, and like so many others, seemed to have a moment of dumbfounded recognition when he realized who exactly he was looking at.

"Most of the villagers have made it to the bunker," Orson told the two hunters. "Or at least, a good number of them are there and accounted for. There are still a couple dozen missing, but…" The doctor shot a miserable look towards the bay. "We may just need to take what we can get and hope for the best. Get out there and get rid of that thing! Please! We can take care of ourselves for now, but you have to take care of that monster!"

Now that they certain that most of the villagers had made it safely to the mining tunnel that had been dug out, Ellie and Levin hurried to the northern side of the city to help their friends battle the World Eater, but the battle they found themselves fighting was unlike any other they'd ever had before. The Deviljho was easy to track, thanks to its size, but the beast's long, loping strides kept carrying it away from them as they darted through the rubble, trying to catch up.

"Get out of the way!" Both Ellie and Levin were caught off guard by the sudden shout, and both were suddenly tackled, dragged back and thrown to the ground in a nearby alleyway. Ellie realized it was Kei, and tried to get back up, but was promptly shoved to the ground a second time by the other huntress.

Levin cursed in frustration, but before Ellie could protest herself, the hut next to her suddenly blasted apart. One of the Deviljho's enormous legs ripped through the wood and timber as though it was nothing at all, and the massive talon-clad foot of the creature swept over them, dragging along rubble before smashing into the wall on the other side of the alley and pressing on. Ellie covered her face fearfully as shrapnel rained down upon her, Levin, and Kei, and the Deviljho's roars could be heard as the creature chased after whatever hunter it had pegged as its prey now.

"Damn it, it's too big!" Kei growled as she pushed herself back to her feet. "All we can do is hack at its ankles if we get the chance, but by the time we can catch up to try and attack it, it's already started moving somewhere else!"

"Can we knock it over or trip it or something?" Levin asked.

"We can try," the huntress replied, "but attacking this thing is like trying to cut into a tree or something. Our attacks barely seem to break the skin at all, much less do something that actually does decent damage. I mean, my weapon's not exactly up to par with some of the others', I'll admit it, but Miller and Nox and Richard… none of their weapons seem to be doing much better! We've cut off some scales, drew a little bit of blood… but the thing barely seems to notice! Not even bowgun fire seems to work, and Kerry and Tenebris have been firing every type of round they have at the thing!"

"There's got to be some way to hurt it!" Levin growled. "I mean, even the Alatreon has a weakness, this thing can't be stronger than the elder dragon, can it?"

"I don't know… but I can see why the Alatreon keeps this thing around, if what it said was true-"

There was a deep bellow, and Ellie looked up, realizing that the Deviljho was gazing in their direction. The three hunters were right in the World Eater's line of sight, and the creature's red eyes were glowing excitedly, even from so far away. With a growl of intent, the black beast lurched towards them, crashing through whatever got in its way as it charged them.

Ellie, Levin, and Kei all darted away as the Deviljho's jagged jaw smashed through the huts next to them, its mouth snapping loudly as it lunged after them, trying to clamp down on them. The beast was surprisingly fast for its size, and even when Ellie and Levin found themselves underneath the bulk of the beast, the Deviljho was easily able to twist its body about and snap at the two hunters underneath it. Each movement the beast made only destroyed more of the village around it, and soon the air was coated in smoke and dust from the ruined huts, and the hunters found themselves having trouble seeing where they were going. Ellie fired shots up at the creature's face and neck, hoping to dissuade it from attacking them, but the World Eater hardly seemed to care about the rounds peppering its face.

The Deviljho lunged again, its teeth snapping at them viciously, and slimy green drool sprayed against the rubble nearby. The goopy substance hissed violently against the wood, and Ellie could practically see the timber beams dissolving from the saliva's acidic effects. But this time the creature's momentum carried it past the two hunters, and the Deviljho stumbled forward a couple steps. There was a loud crash as the World Eater's foot plowed through the remains of a small house, before the appendage slammed into the earth next to them, making the earth beneath the three shiver from the sheer weight of the beast's steps.

But without hesitation, both Levin and Kai lunged at the World Eater's foot, bringing their weapons to bear and slashing out at the beast's ankle. Levin's switch axe flickered with dragon energy of its own as the phial unleashed its energy into the Deviljho's scales, and Kei's red and silver blade cut into the creature's thick hide. Ellie turned and fired her own Pierce rounds into the creature's body as well. But Kei had been right: the attacks didn't seem to do anything at all to the monster. The Deviljho's thick hide resisted the cuts and slices that the melee attackers hit the creature with, and even the powerful dragon element that Levin's weapon struck the Deviljho with seemed mostly ineffective against the beast. Scales became brittle and weak from the effects of the element, but that hardly seemed to matter with the creature's size and apparent endurance. Even Ellie's special bowgun, firing powerful Pierce rounds, barely punctured the beast's flesh.

The World Eater growled in irritation at the three hunters, trying to look under itself down at them, but had trouble catching sight of them. With a howl of frustration, the Deviljho suddenly pulled its foot into the air, out of the hunter's reach, carrying it forward a few yards, before slamming it into the ground again. Both Levin and Kei, too close to the point of impact, were thrown backwards by the small shockwave that the stomp created, and were thrown against the rubble behind them, crashing through ruined walls and huts. A rolling sound rolled from the Deviljho's gullet, perhaps the creature's laughter as the beast swung about and lumbered towards the hunters as they struggled to their feet. Ellie fired at the beast, desperately trying to slow it down, pummeling the Deviljho's face with Pierce rounds, but to no avail. But one of the shots managed to strike the creature's face just a couple inches below the World Eater's eye and the beast flinched. It force the creature to pause for just a moment, and the Deviljho's head dipped slightly is it shook its head in irritation.

As the massive beast recovered, and turned to continue its charge towards Levin and Kei, there was a cry of fury from the creature's side. There was a flash of motion as Kai charged the Deviljho, leaping from the remains of one of the huts and brought the side of his hunting horn smashing into the World Eater's jaw. The creature's head bucked from the impact, and the Deviljho stumbled back in surprise from the blow. But the beast retaliated immediately, snapping its head back towards the hunter and clipping the man with its jaw, sending Kai and his weapon skidding across the earth from the blow before the hunting horn user smacked into a tilted timber beam that jutted up from the dirt. Bright red blood dripped from the hunter's body thanks to the jagged spines that lined its jaw. The creature lurched towards the downed hunter, but was once again met with resistance as the sound of bowgun fire roared across the village. A series of small blooms of flame burst to life around the creature's eyes, and again the Deviljho flinched, caring nothing for what little pain it felt but fearing for the safety of its eyes.

Tenebris came charging through the rubble, flanked by both Richard and Jino. Ellie could practically feel the huntress' cold glare boring into the creature, even through the thick bone helm she wore. The huntress stopped before reaching the World Eater though, and continued to fire furiously at the creature's face and neck. Her aim was on the ball, and each shot burst close to the beast's eyes, forcing the Deviljho to reel, shaking its head and keeping its eyes closed. It allowed for plenty of time for both Richard and Jino to rush the beast, swinging both of their weapons at the monster's exposed and vulnerable face. There was a crash and a crunch as both Jino's wide gun-hammer smashed into the creature's jaw, and Richard's wide black and glowing-blue long sword cut into the black beast's thick hide with greater ease than Levin or Kei's had, though not much deeper.

The beast grimaced in frustration, and stepped away from the hunters irritably, shaking its head. Ellie heard Jino curse in frustration, and most of the other hunters around shared the same feeling. Even with the two heavy blows impacting on the creature's skull, the damage had been minimal; only a couple of the white spines had been broken off, hardly anything compared to the dozens that coated its jaw and lower neck. Tenebris chased the creature tenaciously with bowgun fire, but the World Eater pulled itself upright, pulling its head away from the shots and out of easy firing range, before glowering at the hunters and howling viciously at them. Dark black and red flames licked at the beast's maw for a few moments, and the hunters braced themselves fearfully for another wave of the terrible dragon breath, but the assault never came, and the dark fire flickered away a few moments later.

But the Deviljho dipped its body lower to the ground, and the thick muscles in its legs began to bulge.

"Scatter!" Tenebris shouted, and though she received a few confused looks, the hunters nearby bolted in different directions. Just in time too; not a moment after the huntress had shouted at them, the Deviljho launched itself forward, leaping through the air in their direction. The creature crashed into the earth close to where the hunters had been standing just a second ago, colliding with the earth with such force that the ground below them shook violently. Ellie panicked, clutching a shattered pillar to keep from falling to the ground as the earth heaved below her.

As the World Eater straightened up, it immediately turned, lunging towards the closest hunter, Richard, who was pushing himself out from under a pile of old wooden planks that had collapsed on top of him. The long sword user cried out in surprise as the beast's maw snapped down at him, ducking out of the way as the Deviljho's sharp fangs crunched down on the remains of the hut, shearing through the wood and timber as though it was nothing. Richard unsheathed his blade, slashing out at the World Eater's face once more, but the beast pulled its head back into the air and out of reach before the blow could be struck. The Deviljho shook its head in disdain, spitting out the planks and hut remains that were in its mouth, sending the shrapnel and remains falling down onto the long sword user and forcing the man to jump away to avoid having debris crashing down onto him.

Two heavy rounds smashed into the Deviljho's neck from the side, detonating into blooms of fire as Cluster rounds blasted to life on the beast's hide. The creature's attention turned towards the source, finding Kerry and Harker, as well as Miller and Noxramus, approaching them from the west. The Deviljho grumbled in irritation as a couple more rounds erupted across its back, before lurching towards the four hunters, intent on running them down.

"Get after it!" Jino shouted to the other hunters as those around him recovered from the beast's earth-shaking leap. "We can't allow the beast a moment's respite!"

"And don't stay too close to each other!" Tenebris barked as well. "It's too big to stick together! Another stomp like that, and you're too close to someone else…" The other hunters nodded in agreement, and the collection of them began to branch out through the shrapnel and rubble, trying to keep a safe distance from each other as they pressed towards the Deviljho.

The fighting was desperate and hectic as the battle with the Deviljho dragged on. Kei had been right in what she'd told Ellie about the World Eater: the beast was enormous, and every step it took either carried it away from those that were chasing it, or launched it towards whatever poor hunter it was targeting with incredible speed. Its bulk and its thick hide were unmatched as well, and every shot the huntress fired on the beast didn't even hurt it, and the beast would only shiver a little, as though it had been bitten by an irritating gnat, not even worthy of being considered a bee or wasp sting. The melee fighters were doing little better. Eight hunters, each with a bladed or blunt weapon, were attacking the beast's legs whenever the opportunity arose, but they hardly seemed to be breaking the flesh at all.

And all the while, the battle raged on, the World Eater continuing to smash through huts and houses as if they were nothing, while it dogged after the hunters, trying its best to catch and devour them all. All the hunters could do was keep to the north side of the village, and hope the Deviljho didn't carry on past that point and destroy too much of the village, or worse, catch sight of a villager that looked like it would be easier prey.

It took every bit of skill and cunning for the hunters to keep from being killed by the Deviljho as well. The beast seemed fully intent on devouring each and every one of them, were it given the opportunity. After such a short time battling the creature, Ellie had little doubt that it was actually holding back from using its full strength. It had refrained from using that devastating dragon flame attack that it had fired at the airship, in it would be simple for the black and red beast to crush them with its bulk by stepping on them or simply rushing them. But the World Eater seemed intent on simply eating them, and all eleven of them spent the battle on their toes, doing their best to avoid the snapping fangs of the Deviljho as the beast as it lurched after them, trying its best to envelop them in its gaping maw. And the creature's mouth was truly massive; one bite would be all it took for the World Eater to consume them whole.

They all had their fair share of close calls, just trying to stay out of the Deviljho's fangs. Ellie knew that the other hunters had to be having their fair share of close run-ins with the creature, because every time she saw one of the others through the rubble and alleys, they had new and unique damage on their armors, were drinking down a potion or chewing on some medical herbs, or were fighting off a limp of some kind.

But Ellie had a hard time sparing spare thoughts for the other hunters that were battling. She hoped they were well, and wished them luck, but her bright silver Rathalos armor was proving to be more of a hindrance than anything else right now. The glittering scales of the armor made her easy to spot among the dull wood of the houses, and she felt as though the World Eater were always on her tail, smashing through houses nearby or dipping its head over the rooftops to try and snap her up in its jaws.

Ellie found herself shooting randomly, at moments when she could spare the time to fire. At least the Deviljho was a big target, but it was just too easy for the creature to keep up with her with only a few short strides. She'd been firing at the beast with some of the paralysis rounds that she had, hoping that the shots would have some sort of effect on the creature, but the World Eater was so massive, that it felt as though it would take hundreds of the rounds to make even the slightest effect on the beast. It was simply too large for such small doses of the paralysis venom to seep into its blood.

Some of the other hunters tried to intercept the beast, hoping to keep the Deviljho from dogging her like it was, but her silver armor kept calling attention to her and the World Eater kept after her. Ellie could feel her stamina wearing thin though; the beast just wasn't giving her time to rest!

A symphony of explosions lit up across the creature's neck, and for a moment the beast paused. From the corner of her eyes, she saw Kerry and Tenebris approaching from the side, firing at the creature, but the Deviljho turned its attention back to Ellie quickly and lunged again. Ellie slid to the side, and she felt the jagged edge scrape against her shoulder plates. The creature's head continued beyond the huntress, before smashing into the side of the hut next to her. Ellie yelped and skidded to a halt as the structure collapsed from the blow, and the side of the house crumbled. Timber and mortar tilted over, crashing to the ground and cutting off the path Ellie had been taking with a pile of broken debris. The Deviljho pulled back from the hut it had broken through, dragging along broken planks and ropes along with it, shaking off those things that had been caught on its head. Then its eyes turned to Ellie, and the beast growled hungrily as its maw opened and the rows of fangs glowed brightly in the fire light.

"Ellie!" she heard Kerry cry out, followed by the thunder of her friend's bowgun firing as the Deviljho's fangs dropped towards her.

The explosive rounds erupted across the Deviljho's face and the beast toppled back as the flames blazed across her eyes. Smoke and ash coated the beast's face, blinding it for a scant few moments as the creature shook its head in irritation. But its steps sent it backwards far enough, that one of its feet landed on the remains of one of the huts that had not been completely destroyed. But its footfall caught it by surprise, and some of the timber beams of the building rolled around beneath its weight. The World Eater squealed in shock as its leg gave out beneath it, and the massive black creature nearly fell over before catching itself awkwardly.

But for the first time, its weight and size got the better of it. With every step the beast took, the more timber beams it stepped on, and the more off balance the creature became. But before the Deviljho could fully topple, the beast howled in irritation, and slammed its taloned foot down onto the earth. Shards of wood were thrown everywhere as the impact smashed apart the rolling beams that were disorienting it, and finally the Deviljho was able to stand tall again.

However, the short time it had taken for the Deviljho to recover its standing was enough for the hunters to charge forward at the beast, and at the same time, all eight melee attackers managed to reach the World Eater's legs at the same time. Four hunters on each leg began hacking into the Deviljho's feet and ankles, tearing into the creature's flesh with as much enthusiasm as they could muster. The World Eater winced slightly in pain as the weapons tore into the beast's flesh, and the creature's head dipped as it lowered its jaw to snap down at the hunters. But before it could move or attack the melee fighters, another barrage of bowgun fire crashed against the Deviljho's skull. Pierce rounds and elemental shots punctured the World Eater's flesh, making the beast grimace as lightning and fire blazed across its snout. The great monster continued to wince and flinch as elemental round continued to pepper its face, getting closer to its eyes and forcing it to continue to reel.

There were two powerful bellows from under the Deviljho. Both Miller and Jino, both of them standing near separate legs, hefted their weapons at the same time. With two powerful blows, Miller's great sword and Jino's hammer smashed into the tendons of the World Eater's legs. The massive creature howled, for what felt like the first time feeling pain from the hunter's attacks, and the powerful hits smashing against its tendons made the Deviljho's legs buckle. With a squeal of shock, the World Eater toppled, its massive body came crashing down, shaking the earth as it impacted.

"Get it!" Ellie didn't know who had shouted, but she didn't need to know. She quickly reloaded her bowgun, and began firing on the Deviljho's head and jaw with her heaviest rounds. Both Kerry and Tenebris were firing as well, unloading everything they could manage on the beast's skull. The World Eater writhed about on the ground, struggling to push itself to its feet, but by now, the melee fighters had managed to charge the beast's heavy gut and tail. There was a sound of music in the air, the cacophonous sound of Kai's hunting horn, and Ellie felt as though she was temporarily stronger; no doubt all the melee fighters were feeling the rush even more than she was. All of them began hacking furiously away at the Deviljho's belly, and it seemed they'd finally found a weak spot on the creature's body; their weapons were able to slice through the massive black beast's flesh far easier than it had been able to anywhere else on the body. The World Eater's legs and small arms flailed wildly, trying to get some leverage, but the beast just couldn't get a grip on the earth below it; its feet kept clipping the sides of houses and huts, which splintered apart the moment the beast touched them thanks to the damage it had already down to the surrounding area.

Then the Deviljho's legs swung upwards, and the creature half-rolled onto its back. One of the melee fighters, shouted a warning, and those that were close began to dart away from the beast. Just in time, too; as the hunters hurried away, the World Eater rolled over, flipping itself back onto its feet. Ellie heard a cry of pain, and she felt a twinge of fear at the sound; had one of her friends been hurt? They were all so far away, and the Deviljho was positively massive. Even the act of the beast rolling back onto its feet could be enough to crush a human, even if they were a hunter. The Deviljho hissed viciously as it straightened itself up again, glowering furiously at the hunters that scurried around its feet.

"Damn it, did we even hurt it at all?" Ellie heard Tenebris mutter sourly. Even with all the attacking the hunters had done, they hardly seemed like scratches on the World Eater's body. Thin trickles of blood dribbled down the beast's gut and face, but they seemed little more than minute cuts on the monster's thick hide, compared to the rest of the massive creature, and the World Eater hardly seemed to care about the injuries it had suffered.

However, despite the minimal damage they had dealt to the creature, they had certainly angered the beast. Slimy green drool poured through the colossus' fangs and the beast's gut rumbled hungrily. The Deviljho's red eyes seemed to blaze with fury at the very idea that these hunters had eluded it and managed to harm it, and most importantly, had kept the creature from eating anyone within the city! The engorged red muscles along the creature's back and neck began to steam and glow even more intensely. The World Eater howled furiously at the hunters, and rearing its head back, the Deviljho unleashed another of its powerful roars that felt as though the very earth below them was breaking apart.

But as the creature bellowed in fury, the dark flames that licked at the Deviljho's maw suddenly blazed to even greater intensity. Ellie realized that the flames weren't even coming from just the monster's mouth anymore, but the black fire began to blaze forth from the beast's very skull. Along the World Eater's skull and neck, the reddened flesh grew even brighter than it had been, before the hide of the beast suddenly was stained black as the pores on its flesh opened, and dragon element fire burst to life across the Deviljho's body. The monstrous creature didn't even care as its head and neck grew alight with dragon flames that raged with searing intensity, and its eyes glowed with red-hot rage from the power of the element. In just a few moments, the Deviljho's skull had been lit aflame with a glowing, burning mane of pure dragon element energy.

The towering monster returned its gaze to them while their ears were still ringing, and now, to Ellie, the creature truly looked like a devil in which it had received its namesake. Thick black and red muscles coated the beast, to be topped by a blazing black mane of pure energy covering bright, glowing red eyes. More of the deadly dragon element curled from the massive beast's maw as the creature growled a low, thunderous noise from its gullet. The World Eater gazed at them, no longer from simply hunger, but now from seething, unquenchable hatred. There was silence through the village, even from the hunters around Boma; none of them had been expecting this terrible abomination that confronted them now.

The beast surprised them, however, when, instead of lunging for them immediately, the World Eater actually took a couple steps back away from them. But the reason became clear a moment later, when the monstrous beast began to inhale, and plumes of dark fire began to pool from the sides of the creature's maw as the Deviljho reared its head back.

"Get down!" Tenebris shouted desperately. Ellie dove against the ruined wall of a hut and braced herself against a splintered timber beam that jutted up from the ground. She wished she knew whether the others were safe, but…

The world seemed to be enveloped in darkness around her as the World Eater unleashed the full force of its dragon breath. Ellie gasped in shock and pain as the dark flames blasted through the village around her, slamming into and obliterating nearly everything that it touched in a torrent of devastation. Ellie could feel the wooden pillar behind her burning away in a blaze, and searing black flames licked her armor, making terrible red and black lightning jump across her armor and shock her. Pain tore into her as the devastating element grasped hold of her, and she felt her consciousness blacken, and for a moment the world around her vanished, and her consciousness faded…

* * *

**Author's Note: Please Review! Yet another chapter that grew too long and had to be cut in half… well, that just means that the one after this one will be out far faster than this one took to release! I had a bad case of writer's block when I was making this chapter, so it ended up taking way longer than it should have…**

**I've changed story summary! Anyone got any feedback on it? **

**Okay, I'll be straight up honest: trying to keep track of eleven different characters at once in a single battle scene is a monstrous pain in the backside. And while my readers may enjoy it, if I ever get around to writing a sequel to this story, I'm not going to be having more than maybe five hunters fighting at a single time again, or at least I'll need to find a different way to write it… **

**Yeah, I'm genuinely very irritated that Capcom didn't bring back the World Eater quest to 3U. Admittedly, the World Eater Jho was a pain in the butt to fight, but it was certainly very interesting. My own personal battle with it had me spawning in the same area as the creature, and my conversation with my friend went something like: "Well, it's not here. I don't see it, so… hold on, there's a weird tree in the middle of… oh crap. Is that its leg? We're boned." **

**Sweet mercy, I wish I'd been able Roosterteeth's RWBY series before writing the Malefica arc of this story! There are times when the story, writing, and animation of that series are kind of… derpy, but when it comes to fight scenes, RWBY really shines!**

**Reading: **_**Eragon**_** by Christopher Paolini, **_**The Lucifer and Biscuit Hammer**_** by Mizukami Satoshi  
Playing: Pokemon X, MH3U  
Listening: Mumford & Sons, Barenaked Ladies, Beirut, Crit Juice  
Watching: Princess Mononoke, Kyoukai no Kanata, Outlaw Star, RWBY**


	48. Savage

Savage

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. Most of the characters in this story are mine. Many characters belong to others, as stated in previous chapters._

_ Edited by: Hoenn Master96 _

But just as soon as the heavy flames had come down on her, they were gone, and Ellie could hear the roaring of the dark fire as the dragon breath continued to blaze across the village. She blinked painfully, trying to push away the weariness and fog that lingered over her mind. She struggled to drink a potion, and the bitter fluid numbed the pain, just enough for her to force herself back awake. She had to keep moving… she could afford to sit still, not now!

The sound of the dragon breath began to settle, and the dark flames around her began to die away. Ellie dared to try and get back to her feet. It hurt to even make the attempt, and Ellie dropped to her knees, grimacing in pain; the dragon energy still coursed through her armor, despite so much of it having missed her entirely, but still she raised her head to search for sign of her friends and allies.

An entire swath of the village had been almost completely annihilated.

The dragon flames that the Deviljho had unleashed earlier in its attempt at destroying the airship had leveled about a dozen huts, but this one… This blast of dragon element had devastated almost thirty! Flames crackled and danced along the ruins, both regular fire and the deadly black dragon flames, eating away at that which had yet to be destroyed by the World Eater's power. Old knick knacks and belongings that had once been the possessions of the Boma villagers lay scattered about between the alleys, either destroyed or burning away in the fires.

A pained, struggling coughing could be heard from across the destruction. Some of the remains of one of the huts nearby began to shift, and Ellie saw a fallen wooden wall lurch upwards. Ellie gasped, realizing that Kerry was underneath the wooden beams, struggling to push her way out from under the rubble. Ellie immediately leapt to her feet, and hurried over to her friend, desperate to help. She only hesitated a moment to look around fervently in search of the World Eater, but the smoke and ash that was billowing into the sky was so thick that Ellie could barely make out anything beyond a dozen yards or so. She could still hear the deep rumbling of the Deviljho's growling… but she would have to risk it anyway.

As Ellie slid to a halt next to where Kerry was, her friend looked up at her pleadingly for aid. It was shocking how much her fellow bowgunner was able to lift all on her own: it would likely take Ellie, Levin and Harker all working together to lift the timber wall like Kerry was at the moment. But then Ellie realized that Kerry wasn't the only one underneath the broken wall; Kai was underneath the rubble as well. The hunting horn user was bruised and bloodied, and was clutching his side painfully, where a stream of bright red blood was dripping to the ground from a wound. He was chewing on an herb, but it was clear that the medicinal plant wasn't enough.

Ellie grabbed the edge of the wall quickly, pulling desperately against the weight of the wall. Thankfully, her and Kerry's strength seemed to be making some leverage against the heavy timber, but it was slow going. And Kerry seemed to be growing tired, and who knows what she'd done to keep the wall from falling on Kai like it had? They had to be quick too; who knew how long it would be before the World Eater found them in this situation? Ellie was the only one able to fight back at the moment, but she couldn't just leave with Kerry and Kai in the situation they were in now.

"Kai? Kai!" There was a rush of motion to the side, and Ellie saw Kei dash through the smoke and haze, leaping over the rubble around her as she dashed towards them. The huntress looked just as worse for the wear as the rest of them, her Jaggi armor tattered and torn in several places and coated in ash and burn marks. Ellie winced at the sound of the Deviljho grunting, and she could see the dragon flames though the smoke shifting as the beast looked around in search of the sound, but a few moments later the beast lumbered off in the other direction, in search of some other noise it had heard.

"Kai! Kai, are you alright?" the huntress gasped desperately, dropping to the ground and looking through the gap at her brother. The hunting horn user grinned encouragingly at his sister, despite his obvious painful grimace.

"I'm fine… mostly," the man replied. "But… you might do me a favor and help these two get all of this stuff off me."

"Right, right," the huntress replied quickly, leaping to her feet once more and grasping the edge of the wall next to Ellie. All three huntresses strained, pulling on the falling wall slowly but surely, until Kai was able to start to pull himself out from underneath it all. Time seemed to drag on as the hunting horn user dragged himself out of the rubble, and Ellie felt as though her arms were going to fall off at a moment's notice.

But finally, the hunter got free from the fallen wall, and Kei gasped, diving for her brother and dragging him away from the rubble and over to a nearby collapsed hut, where she propped him up against a low-standing wall. Both Ellie and Kerry groaned painfully from the exertion, trying to keep the wall up a little longer as Kerry had to wheedle herself out from under the wall as well, before getting out from under it and flopping to the ground, gasping for air. Ellie helped her out of the open and over to where she could rest a little.

Thankfully, Kai didn't seem to be in nearly as bad of condition as Ellie had first thought he was. He was bloodied and wounded, but the injuries seemed shallower than they let on. The two hunters were relying on the healing powers of medical herbs, however, rather than potions or anything of the like. Ellie offered them a couple of the potions she had of her own, and though the pair hesitated for a moment, Kei accepted the small bottles gratefully, giving them to her brother.

Kerry was in better condition than Kai was, but was terribly worn out from the effort of keeping the wall from falling both on her as well as the hunting horn wielder. Her armor was just as infested with the dragon element sparks that the rest of them were suffering from. Ellie couldn't think of anything she could do to help her friend besides offering her some of the rations she'd had stored away in her pouch. Kerry accepted them gratefully though, chewing quietly on the small stick of food quietly, trying to gather her strength and stamina.

There was a howl of frustration from the Deviljho, and Ellie looked over towards where the great beast's thundering footsteps were sounding as the beast lumbered around in search of someone to prey on. The creature had yet to find a meal, as far as they could tell, but the creature's towering shape wafted in and out of sight through the smoke and fire, and the dark flames that blazed from its skull and neck burned brightly, even through the ashes.

"Under any other circumstances, I'd say we should run," Kei said quietly to her brother, bristling as the Deviljho howled in frustration. But Kai shook his head.

"Any other monster and I'd agree with you. We're not the type to stick around if things start looking nasty when we're hunting something… but this isn't a regular hunt, Kei. There's too much at stake right now to book it out of here. Not this time."

There was another howl from the World Eater, but this time it seemed to be one of excitement. There were several loud smashing sounds, and all of the hunters could tell that the Deviljho had found some unfortunate soul to assault again. Ellie got to her feet, and Kerry struggled back upright as well, though she still seemed to be weary. That didn't stop her from pulling out her bowgun and reloading it though, preparing for the impending battle.

"You two should rest for now," Kerry told the siblings. But both of them shook their heads immediately.

"No, we'll keep fighting," Kai replied with a grunt, pushing himself to his feet with a wince of pain. "No sense in sitting around at a time like this, is there? Besides, there should be something that my songs should be able to help with, if only a little bit."

"And if I hit it with my sword enough, I'm sure to poison it… hopefully," Kei added. "That's sure to do… _something _to it."

"It might only make it angrier," Ellie replied sourly.

"We'll have to risk it, I fear," Kerry said quietly. "At this rate, we'll just have to do whatever we can to damage this Deviljho, no matter what it takes."

The hunters nodded to each other nervously. There was a bellow of anger, and a loud, devastating smashing sound, followed by the clattering sound of battle. Shouts from other hunters could be heard from beyond the ash and smoke, and after only another couple moments of hesitation, the four hunters rushed off to continue the battle.

Now that the Deviljho was angry, the fight became even more furious than it had been before. While the creature had seemed slow and lumbering thanks to its size and bulk before, with the ignition of the dark flames that blazed across the beast's head and neck, the World Eater's speed seemed to have doubled thanks to its fury. And with the destruction of the village around them, the creature no longer had any problems seeking out prey, save for when the hunters could hide themselves behind the walls of smoke and ash that rose into the sky. But it was just so simple for the Deviljho to hunt them down. The hunters found themselves heavily at a disadvantage; with the north side of the village devastated, it took a lot of effort for the hunters to leap over the remains of the huts, while the Deviljho simply strode over them.

And for all the brutish tactics that the Deviljho seemed to use, it seemed perfectly ready and willing to attack at the most opportune times. With a creature of such gargantuan size, it would be easy for the beast to wipe out several of them with a single well-timed attack, so the hunters made sure to keep a safe distance from each other when they could. But with all the smoke in the air, the hunters found themselves bumping into each other by accident often enough, and the World Eater always seemed ready to strike at those precise moments. When two or more hunters found themselves within less than a dozen or so feet of each other, the Deviljho almost always lunged for them immediately, either swinging at them with wide, snapping swings of its jaw or simply lurching at them in a massive hipcheck that would have crushed them all several times over if the creature hadn't been so tall that the hunters were able to duck under the attack. And the creature no longer seemed to be able to be knocked over again; though the hunters had been able to attack the creature's legs a few times, it didn't seem like they were making any progress in having the opportunity to knock it down again.

"Damn it! We're not doing anything to it!" Levin cursed viciously. Ellie and he had run into each other behind the burning remains of a burning hut, and the pair was recovering their strength for the moment as the sound of the Deviljho stomping after someone came from behind them. "Even the Alatreon was less of a threat than this thing…"

"There's got to be something we can do to it," Ellie grumbled, wincing as a spark of dragon element jumped across her armor.

There was the sound of pattering feet, and a lithe shape leapt over the pair, before tumbling a bit and crashing to the ground. Whoever it was leapt back to their feet, and Ellie realized it was Harker. Ellie hadn't really caught sight of the long sword user all that much since the Deviljho had used its dragon's breath to decimate the village, and looking at Harker, Ellie could guess why. The mad hunter looked terribly singed and his armor was coated in ash and burn marks. But still Harker grinned vibrantly at the sight of them.

"Ah! My friends! I was worried about you two. Lady Kerrigan claimed you were well when I ran into her a while ago, but with all this fighting… well, it's certainly more encouraging to see the proof for myself." Then the man looked wearily at his long sword, which had grown dinged and worn from the battle. "I hope you two have been faring better than myself against the beast. I fear that my blade will break before I manage to deal any satisfying damage to this devil of a creature."

"None of us are powerful enough," Levin moaned, shaking his head. "The Dragonator might have been able to pierce its hide, but it's just so… big! We need someone more powerful, or someone with a weapon good enough to break its skin!" The switch axe user looked at his own blade; the crystalline structure was worn and dinged. Still in working condition, but the condition was bordering on useless. "This kind of weapon… it's made of ores and crystals. The dragon phials helped a lot against the Alatreon, but this Deviljho isn't bothered by the dragon element as much. This weapon's just not enough to really do enough damage."

"What else do we have?" Ellie asked. "My weapon's an old refurbished one, and the hunter with the best material weapon right now is probably… Tenebris? Her bowgun's made from Rathalos materials I think. Though it could be Miller, whatever his great sword is made from. Kerry's bowgun is Diablos-made though… I mean other than that, there's Baggi, Gobul, Gigginox, and an assortment of metal weapons. We don't really have much else!"

Harker grunted thoughtfully. "Going to battle with a beast such as this one, it would be better if we had a weapon that was on par with such a monstrosity. A weapon of Deviljho make would be best, or perhaps something made from elder dragon materials… But I fear that I am not familiar with anyone that bears such a blade or firearm-"

The trio froze at the sound of the Deviljho's growling sounded, and they realized that the beast was far closer than either of them had suspected it to be. Ellie's eyes darted to the right, and she realized that the beast had been chasing Richard and Noxramus off to the side, but the pair of hunters had split up, and were trying to loop around and flank the beast, forcing the Deviljho's attention to dart back and forth between the two, trying to decide which of the hunters would be easier prey. Then its glowing red eyes landed on Ellie, Levin, and Harker, and it growling deepened hungrily.

"Run!" Levin shouted, and the three hunters leapt to their feet, turning to sprint away. Already, they could hear the sound of the Deviljho's thunderous steps charging towards them across the village. Ellie spared a glance back, and already the beast had crossed an enormous distance in only a few scant strides, before the beast lowered itself, preparing to jump at them. Ellie turned, swiftly diving down a side alley to get away from where the beast would land, but she feared she wouldn't be quick enough.

The Deviljho leapt through the air, the power of its jump easily carrying it over several of the ruined huts before the creature smashed into the earth again. A wide cloud of dust and ash burst into the air when it struck the earth, and there were several cries of shock from around the beast's impact point as hunters were thrown back by the shock wave. Ellie pulled away from the creature, bracing herself for the creature to lunge at her once more. But instead, the Deviljho howled in triumph. Ellie looked up in shock as the black beast twisted around, and quickly smashed its foot down into the earth. There was a cry of pain as the Deviljho's foot struck the ground.

It was Levin's voice! Ellie rushed forward in horror, leaping over the remains of the nearest huts until she was close enough to see. Levin had been knocked over by the impact of the Deviljho's leap, and now the beast had pinned him to the ground under its massive weight. Most of the hunter was free from under the creature, but the beast had planted its talons across Levin's right arm as well as his weapon.

Levin struggled desperately as the Deviljho's massive foot pressed his arm and switch axe deeper into the sand. Ellie could hear the twisting and wrenching of Levin's switch axe groaning from the force pressing down on it. The hunter howled in pain as the creature's weight bore down on him, and the monster's eyes stared down at him hungrily. Thick, hissing saliva dripped down from the creature's mouth as it did so, the acidic substance steaming as it splashed to the ground around the downed hunter. Ellie screamed furiously as she charged, firing on the Deviljho's head, trying to pull the beast's attention away from the hunter below it, but the shots seemed to be completely ineffective, and the Deviljho didn't even notice them, being too hungry to think of anything else. Other hunters, Jino and Kei, had made it through the rubble of the huts and were charging the creature's legs, but they would not reach it in time.

Ellie screamed desperately, firing everything she could at the Deviljho's skull, but she just couldn't stop the beast as its mouth opened wide, and the monster's maw dropped towards Levin, wicked fangs gleaming razor sharp as it went to devour Levin.

"Back, beast!" a furious voice boomed. There was a flash of movement, and in a moment, a wide, powerful shape dashed past Ellie towards the Deviljho, and before the monster's vile fangs could sink into Levin as he lay helplessly below the creature, a broad, heavy object smashed into the side of the beast's skull. The Deviljho screeched in pain, toppling backwards in pain and crashing to the earth with an earth-shaking fall, sending a spray of sand back from where it had landed on the beach. The beast writhed about on the ground, trying to get back to its feet as the dragon energy flames flickered out from along its skull, but its eyes seemed glazed and unfocused, and it seemed to be having trouble concentrating on righting itself.

"Up, Levin, lad! Quick now!" The switch axe user looked up in surprise at the voice, and Ellie gasped in relief at the man that stood over him.

"Marshall!" Levin cried as the old hunter helped him back to his feet. The hunter was grasping his arm in pain, and his weapon had been bent in several places. "Mercy, where the hell have you been, old man?"

"I was south of here, dealing with a Gobul problem… but that's not important right now, Levin," Marshall replied, turning to face the massive Deviljho as twisted about, trying to get its feet under it once more. "But that doesn't matter. There was a great flash of light in the sky some time ago, and I came sprinting back when I heard this… monstrosity's roar. What is this abomination, Levin? I have never seen such a massive creature in all my years alive… And for that matter, what are you and Miss Eleanor doing here yourselves? How is it that you and she, as well as all these hunters you've brought with you, are in Boma Village at the same time as such a beast as this? What is going on?"

Levin shook his head. "I… I don't think I have time to fully explain right now. We were trying to hunt down and finish off the Alatreon, but-"

"What?" the old hammer user snapped, turning and looking at Levin in dismay. "Are you mad, Levin? The Guild has made regulations about hunting that elder dragon! What insanity has come over you to try and join a group of hunters going after the beast? I know you have some… history with the creature, but I thought you'd gotten past that! You can't simply decide to-"

"The Alatreon attacked Loc Lac!" Ellie interrupted quickly, pushing herself between Levin and Marshall, and looking down worriedly at Levin's arm. But when she looked back up at her old hunting master, she could see that the hammer user's face had gone deathly pale at the words.

"You… what? That… that can't be. The beast attacked Loc Lac? The hunting city?"

Ellie nodded fervently. "It did. The creature tried to kill everyone in the city, but we managed to chase it off. We managed to hurt it! We made it run away! And now… now we're trying to hunt it down once and for all to finish it off, but…" Ellie stopped as Levin groaned in pain, and she returned her attention back to his wounded arm.

The glove and armor had been bent horribly under the Deviljho's great weight. Somehow or another Levin's arm seemed to be in one piece still, unbroken, though the flesh was badly bruised and cut, but the Rathian scales and webbing that made up his armor was all but destroyed from the force of the weight, and seemed to be squeezing tightly into Levin's arm, making it impossible for the hunter to bend his arm or move it too much. And the pauldrons of the armor had been completely snapped loose, separating the sleeve of the armor from the chest piece completely.

His weapon was in even worse condition, having taken the full force of the impact. The solid metals and ores had held up better than Ellie had thought they would, but several of the sharp spines that provided the blade to the switch axe had been bent or snapped off completely from the weapon. Several still remained, and the switch axe seemed to be able to remain functional as a weapon, but… Levin hissed in pain as a surge of energy swept over the blade, dragon element jumping over the crystalline structure but lashing back into Levin's gauntlets, which still held onto the hilt of the blade. The weapon dropped from the hunter's grip as he clutched his hand in pain, and the switch axe continued to surge with energy, despite Levin not holding onto it. Then the internal mechanisms seemed to kick in, and the switch axe slowly began to morph back into its axe mode, the inner workings of the weapon struggling to do so under the damage it had taken.

Ellie and Levin both stared at the fallen weapon uncertainly. Levin still clutched his hand painfully as lingering dragon element coursed through the Rathian materials. A faint hissing sound came from the switch axe, as a deep black mist wafted upwards from the core of the weapon's machinery. Levin looked nervous as he reached for the blade.

An earth-shaking bellow rocked the village as the Deviljho roared furiously. Once again, horrifying black and red flames leapt to life along the monster's back and skull as its anger overwhelmed it, and dark energy began to lick at the beast's maw. Immediately Marshall pressed himself between the monster and his two former apprentices, raising his hammer in readiness. "Get him away from here for now and see to his injuries, Miss Eleanor," the hammer user said quickly. "I won't say that you should stay out of the fight from here on in… but make sure you are battle-ready before you return." With that the man charged towards the Deviljho as the beast turned its gaze on him, growling viciously. Several other hunters appeared to help, Richard and Miller and Tenebris; Marshall seemed hesitant at the sight of them approaching, but the call of the Deviljho drove him back into attacking the creature.

The thunderous sounds of battle could be heard behind them as Ellie helped Levin back away from the battleground. Ellie led her beloved over towards one of the closest huts that still had a couple standing walls, someplace where they could hide, at least long enough for them to take care of Levin's wounds. There were several clinking sounds behind her, and as Ellie spared a look back, she realized that pieces of the Rathian material armor that Levin was wearing were falling off, bit by bit. The elbow pad and shoulder bracer that had once been attached tightly was now wobbling about on the stone alley behind them. Ellie considered going back for it but… the howling of the Deviljho compelled her to press on, getting Levin out of sight.

Looking on Levin's injuries, Ellie was relieved to find that the man's arm was really not as bad as she feared it would be. The Rathian armor had somehow managed to resist a majority of the damage that the Deviljho would have done, though not all of it. Most of the scales and metal were bent and dented, and she could see Levin wincing painfully as he unlatched the hooks and connectors, freeing his arm from the scale mail. Upon pulling the gauntlets free, Ellie could see why he was in such pain: the entire arm had been terribly bruised from the weight of the Deviljho's foot smashing down onto it, somehow spared from being broken, but badly damaged nonetheless. And some of the dented Rathian material had bitten into the hunter's skin, forcing Levin to endure the pain as Ellie pulled several of the sharp scales free from his arm, letting loose a trail of blood that stained Levin's arm a painful crimson. It took a good three potions for Levin to numb the pain enough to his satisfaction.

But eventually everything was removed, and Levin was left gasping for breath as he carefully wrapped his arm in bandages. "I suppose we should be thankful this armor was made from a particularly powerful Rathian," Ellie remarked apprehensively as Levin tugged the bandages tight around his forearm. "If it had been made of regular Rathian goods…" She couldn't bring herself to finish, but Levin nodded in understanding.

"I suppose if we can't have weapons made of high-quality materials, armor will have to do for now…" Levin replied. He and Ellie tried to put the armor back into place, but both of them quickly discovered that several pieces of the arm guard were beyond repair or adjustment, and could no longer be worn without biting into Levin's flesh again. What once had been a full arm of Rathian scale mail was now a gauntlet and wrist bracer, leaving the rest of Levin's bicep completely exposed. But they'd have to make do with it…

Or at least, Levin could have made do with it, had it not been for the ruined condition of his switch axe. As the switch axe user latched his bracer into place, he winced in pain as a sudden spark of dragon element jolted out from the weapon strapped to his back. In a flash, he pulled the blade free of its sheath and tossed it to the ground next to him. He and Ellie looked at the dented and damaged blade worriedly, and upon closer inspection of the switch axe, Ellie could see Levin's expression sink at the full extent of the damage that the World Eater had done to his weapon. The blades and jagged edges were dented and broken in some places, of course, but the switch axe could still be… usable, possibly, were those the only problems. But what really made Ellie shiver in fear was not the external condition, but that of the internal mechanisms.

The dragon phial was cracked. A couple large, twisted lines crept from top to bottom of the phial, and a thin trail of dangerous black mist was wisping through the tiny gaps, wafting across the switch axe. The mysterious substance within the phial, that material which created the massive amounts of dragon element that the weapon released, seemed even more dangerous than it had before, twisting and churning wildly within the damaged weapon. It was like a chained beast, trying to break out of a damaged cage.

"It wasn't supposed to be able to break…" Levin muttered quietly. "It was supposed to be almost completely unbreakable…"

"You can't use it anymore," Ellie said quietly. Levin looked up at her hopelessly, and shook his head. "Levin, you can't fight with this! You told me yourself how dangerous the phial is if it breaks!"

"No… no, I can't just stand back! I have to… I can still use it in its axe form!" Levin argued. "The axe form doesn't trigger the dragon phial, so I'll still be able to do something to help."

"But the weapon won't unfold without the phial either!" Ellie snapped back. "Levin please, you can't do this! You can't just fight with this weapon if there's a chance that it'll kill you!"

"I can't just sit back like this!" Levin pleaded desperately. "After everything that's happened… I can't just stop now, even with this! There has to… has to be something I can do… I'm a hunter! Something like this isn't supposed to be able to stop me! I can't just let it end like this… There has to be something I can do!"

"Levin…"

The hut next to them suddenly splintered to pieces, and the Deviljho's broad head abruptly tore past them, snapping viciously at Miller, who was being tossed backwards by the power of the World Eater. The great sword user was holding his huge blade in front of him as the jagged spines along the massive beast's jaw pressed into it, squealing as they scratched along the flat of the sword blade. Miller was managing to hold off the creature's snapping fangs, but one of the spines hooked up under the hunter's great sword, and with a twist of the Deviljho's head, Miller was flung backwards, crashing through a half-smashed wall of another nearby hut. The Deviljho howled viciously, its eyes blazing as it prepared to lurch after the great sword user.

Levin acted instinctively, without thinking, and grabbed the hilt of his weapon and swung the blade towards the Deviljho's face. As the weapon's internal mechanisms fired, sliding the blades and spines of the switch axe into battle position, a jolt of dragon element danced along the blade of the weapon, and another jumped back through the hilt, shocking Levin through the gauntlets on the hunter's hands, and making Levin wince painfully. But that was the only rebound of dark energy that the weapon released, and before Levin's blow had struck, the switch axe had shifted into into its base axe form, and the jagged spines cut into the beast's jaw.

The weapon still hardly did any damage to the World Eater, however, as the jagged spines cut into the beast's flesh, slicing a shallow gash into the beast's hide and breaking off a couple of the sharp white spines that coated the monster's jaw. The dragon flames that coated the beast's head blazed furiously as the Deviljho grimaced slightly, and the monster turned its head to glare at Levin before pulling itself back up to full height, its head raising back out of reach.

Two heavy rounds detonated across the Deviljho's neck, blooming in flames and coating the side of the creature's face in fire. More rounds followed a moment later, pierce rounds that bit into the World Eater's flesh along the beast's snout, and the creature howled viciously, making the dragon flames flare brightly along its skull for a moment before lurching off towards the north to hunt down whichever bowgunner had been firing on it.

As the beast lurched away, Levin winced as he slung his weapon back into its place on his back, before giving Ellie a falsely confident grin. "See? I can still fight." Ellie scowled at him, and was tempted to keep trying to get him to stop, but… then again, she remembered that Levin had done something very much the same to her when the Lagiacrus had attacked Boma so long ago… Could she really expect him to stay still at a time like this, when Boma was in danger and the Alatreon was on the run? Even with a weapon that was in poor condition…

"Fine…" she sighed miserably, wishing the circumstances were different. But even if Levin's weapon was bent and broken… they would certainly need every bit of help they could muster, especially against the World Eater. "But please Levin, you have to try and be careful, especially now!"

"Don't worry," Levin replied quietly. "I understand the situation well enough. The last thing I want to do here is die."

There was a groan of pain from nearby and a clatter of wood on stone. From the remains of one of the huts, Miller pushed himself out from the debris where he had been thrown. The man was walking gingerly, and clutching his waist as a line of blood trailed down his blue armor. He dragged his great sword along behind him, and several large scrapes were furrowed into his weapon where the Deviljho's spines had scratched against it. He waved them off though, when they approached to help him, leaning against a pillar and pulling out a potion from his pouch.

"Don't worry about me right now," the great sword user muttered, drinking the potion and grimacing from the bitter taste. "Go help the others out. The Deviljho... now that it's angry, it's tearing us apart! That Marshall fellow is helping hold it back but… I'll be fine. I just… need a moment." Ellie and Levin looked at the great sword user worriedly, but the man waved them on, urging them to return to the battle.

The battle was just as fierce as it had been before they'd left, but as they rejoined the fight, Ellie could tell that the battle was slowly wearing into the World Eater's favor. The beast, now enraged, was assaulting them and attacking them with an overhauled vigor, tearing through the remains of the ruins with a passion. Each snap of its fangs were getting lower and fiercer, tearing into the earth below in and ripping through whatever was unfortunate enough to get in its way.

And while the Deviljho's momentum was only growing, the hunters were starting to wear out. The strain and stress from the last few days, from the battles with the Alatreon in Loc Lac and in the skies over the ocean, was finally catching up with them. Most of the hunters had been fortunate enough to avoid a truly debilitating blow from the massive black beast, but even the slightest clip from the creature would leave dents in the armor and wounds beneath, and shields hardly helped at all, as seen by the force that the Deviljho had thrown Miller through a wall, despite his great sword being used to dampen the blow. The only one there that was in peak condition was Marshall, though the man must have run miles to get himself back to Boma from wherever he'd been.

But for some reason, Marshall didn't seem to be doing as well as Ellie thought her former hunting teacher would against the Deviljho. While he, Jino, and Tenebris were certainly doing far better against the creature than most of the other hunters, Marshall was just not fighting as well as Ellie had thought he would be. She remembered how fierce and powerful her hunting master had been when he had fought off that Rathian that had nearly killed her and Levin, and he had fought who knew how many monsters after they'd been sunk by the Lagiacrus, including a Rathian and Rathalos at the same time. But even now his movements when fighting the World Eater seemed sluggish, and he seemed to hesitate with every action that he made. He had seemed so much greater when Ellie had seen him battle before… had her impressions of him all been exaggerated due to her being a beginner at the time?

But despite the hunters beginning to wear down and the increased fury of the Deviljho, somehow the hunters were managing to avoid taking truly damaging hits from the creature. Ellie could see that, despite the stress of the battle, their understanding of the Deviljho's movements became clearer. Each of the hunters were slowly finding themselves able to dodge away from the monster's swipes and snaps far easier than they had been able to when the battle had begun. Thankfully the creature had refrained from using its massive dragon breath attack a third time…

Their coordination with each other began to improve as the battle continued as well. Slowly but surely, the hunters began to figure out how the others they were battling with moved and acted. It wasn't much, but the bowgunners were learning where and when to fire, distracting the creature and allowing for the melee fighters that had attacked the beast to pull away before the creature could turn and attack them. And those that were assaulting the Deviljho's legs learned when to charge and attack on their own, so as not to interfere with others that were moving in to do damage of their own.

Yet it was still a losing battle. The creature's size and stamina were overwhelming, and every time the hunters managed to wound the creature, even only a little, the dark dragon flames that coated the creature's skull only grew brighter as the beast's rage increased. The beast just moved too quickly, and hit too hard for the hunters to keep up fighting against it. Even when they were only clipped by the creature, the slightest bump from the beast had enough force behind it to nearly break bones. Their armors were getting dented and slashed, and some of them were looking in even worse condition than even Levin's ruined Rathian armor. And their healing medicine was running low, forcing the hunters to scurry away in search of a place to hide to catch their breath and patch their wounds when the World Eater managed to clip them.

"I can't keep this up much longer…" Noxramus groaned painfully. Ellie had ended up hiding behind a broken wall with him and Richard after the Deviljho had nearly managed to smash the lot of them with one of its powerful stomps; thankfully, the motion had kicked up enough dust for the hunters to dart away before the beast could really bear down on them, but the stomp had also kicked up enough shrapnel that they'd been pelted with stones and rocks, several of them hitting pretty hard.

Nox and Richard were definitely looking worse for the wear from the battle. Nox had one of the weakest armor sets out of all the hunters in the group, so his Baggi-hide protection was now slashed and torn in several places, revealing the flesh beneath and the cuts and bruises that the short sword wielder had suffered. Richard's armor was hardly any better, though still solid; it was scratched and dented all over the place. Some of the hinges and connections were showing their age, and certain parts of the armor looked close to breaking into pieces like Levin's had earlier. His left arm's armor was bent in a couple bad places, and his movements using the appendage were slow and jerky.

"None of us can keep going at this rate," Richard groaned frustratedly, rubbing his shoulder painfully. The shoulder pad looked loose, as though it would fall off at a moment's notice. "It's like the beast never slows down! The thing acts as though its flesh is as impermeable as the Alatreon's, but even dragon element doesn't weaken it. There must be something we're missing… even Deviljho shouldn't be this hard to kill!"

"It doesn't help that its skin had gotten harder now that it's angry," Ellie said as she worked to make sure her bowgun was working right. All this firing was making the barrel of the weapon start to glow, and she was worried that the bowgun would start to overheat or wear down if she wasn't careful.

"What do you mean?" Richard asked.

"Well… I don't know about the rest of the creature's body, but if I shoot anything at the Deviljho that isn't a Pierce round or a Crag round, they just deflect right off."

"It's the same for the rest of it as well, except maybe the ankles," Nox sighed. "I got the chance to take a shot at its neck when it dipped low enough for me to take a swing, but it pretty much bounces right off! Barely even nicked it, and all I did was dull my sword. I got a good look at its belly too; all those cuts we put into it are all closed up and stopped."

"What? That… that shouldn't be possible," Richard said, concerned. "Even the Alatreon couldn't just close its own wounds, even behind its sturdy scales. As far as I've heard, no monster in the world can just… close their own wounds. Even hunters I've heard from that have fought Deviljho before have never mentioned an ability like that."

"This isn't exactly a normal Deviljho though."

"No… it's not. But there still has to be some reason that its wounds have sealed up."

"Maybe it's pulling a Gigginox," Noxramus suggested. Richard nodded thoughtfully, grunting as he tried to tighten his shoulder armor.

"A what?" Ellie asked.

"It's something Gigginox do in the Tundra," Nox explained. "Their hides are really soft and rubbery, so it's really easy for them to get sliced to bits by hunters and other monsters. So they do this thing where, when they get angry, their hides darken, but they also get really tight and tough, and are really damn hard to cut through, or at least tougher than before. It makes the fight a whole lot harder, but it can backfire really easily."

"How?"

"If you do manage to cut the Gigginox's hide, and if you wear it out enough so it's not enraged anymore, all those wounds open up, worse than they were before. I mean, it's not really that big of a deal in the Tundra, where blood freezes quickly, whether you're monster or human, so you don't run a risk of really bad cuts or gashes. But if the Gigginox is somewhere warm, or warm for the Tundra, the injuries could very easily lead to the creature bleeding out, and very quickly. So if the Deviljho is doing the same thing-"

"Then if we can make the Deviljho tire out and stop being angry, all the injuries we've inflicted on it will open up like poorly applied stitches," Richard observed.

"Maybe?" Nox shrugged. "I mean, it's something a Gigginox does, and this Deviljho's skin gets hard like them, but… maybe."

"But how do we make it so the Deviljho's not angry anymore?" Ellie asked. "It seems like all it's been doing has been angrier since those flames appeared on its head."

"It has to wear out sooner or later," Richard replied, glancing over the rubble. The Deviljho was chasing after Marshall at the moment; the monster seemed to spend a lot of time tracking the man since the old hammer user had arrived. "You can hear its stomach growling from here. There's nothing a Deviljho isn't known for more than its voracious appetite. If its anger doesn't burn out soon enough, then its hunger will get the better of it instead, and it will grow weary."

"The question is, can we really hold out that long?" Nox asked.

"What other choice do we have? All we can really do is try to make it as tired as we can… while trying to avoid filling its belly ourselves," Richard stated determinedly, latching together the final buckle on his pauldron in hopes that it would stay in place. "It looks like all we can really do is try and deal it a death by a thousand cuts…"

Doing so was easier said than done, however. The beast's energy seemed inexhaustible, despite the deep rumbling that rolled across the village from the Deviljho's growling stomach now and then. The World Eater just didn't seem to slow down at all, no matter what they did, even as the beast dashed back and forth between them, its fangs snapping wildly as it tried to devour them all. And worst of all, the beast was forcing them back, little by little. Though the hunters were trying their best to keep the World Eater from venturing too close to the part of the village that had been spared the beast's wrath, their weariness and the beast's power was pressing down on them, and the monster's immense power was carrying it closer and closer to unspoiled huts. The closest of the standing buildings was a large structure, one of the bigger, sturdier ones in the village, a storehouse for the fish and trade goods that Boma sent out to other nearby villages. The northern side of the building was singed and burned from the Deviljho's dragon breath, but had been spared from suffering a truly damaging strike.

Ellie found herself hiding behind a column of smoke, alongside Jino and Kai, working to reload her bowgun as the two melee fighters drank the last of their potions to numb the pain of their most recent injuries. Ellie was running low on ammunition, and she had little doubt that Kerry and Tenebris were doing little better than she was. She still had a small collection of Pierce rounds, useful in distracting the World Eater if she managed to hit it in the face, but her other shots were essentially gone. She only had a couple Crag shots left and a few Paralysis rounds, but the status shots were useless against such a massive creature.

There was a scream of pain, followed by a string of curses on the other side of the smoke cloud, and the three hunters looked at each other nervously before rushing out from their hiding spot to hurry to the aid of whoever was injured. They caught sight of the beast rushing after a pair of hunters, Tenebris and Miller. Tenebris was limping badly, her formerly wounded leg covered in lines of blood that trailed behind her as Miller helped her hobble away from the oncoming beast. The great sword user was in little better condition, and the plating on one of his arms had been badly punctured and was bleeding just as badly.

Jino and Kai rushed the beast, shouting at the creature and hoping to divert its attention, as Ellie aimed her own weapon up at the beast, firing several Pierce rounds into the beast's massive snout. The Deviljho shivered in irritation, shooting a furious glance in her direction and eyeing the approaching melee fighters. But then there was a loud growling, and the beast's stomach moaned painfully. The World Eater whimpered from the pain of its unfed stomach, and looked at the three hunters hungrily. But then its eyes darted towards the storehouse, right as Tenebris and Miller darted around the side of the building, and the creature let out a low grumble of anticipation. The beast immediately forgot about Ellie, Jino and Kai, and lurched back into the chase of the two wounded hunters.

Ellie shouted at the creature desperately, firing on the massive beast's flank and tail, but the World Eater's attention was locked on the easiest meal. The Deviljho leaned over the structure, a deep growl emanating from within it as it looked down on the pair of hunters beyond it hungrily, thick green saliva dripping from its maw. One of its massive feet lifted up to step on the peak of the roof, and somehow the building managed to keep from splintering under the beast's weight for a moment, though the wooden beams groaned terribly under the strain. The sound of splintering wood could be heard as the frame dipped under the weight of the creature.

"Shoot at its feet!" Jino bellowed as the beast's foot pressed down against the ruined hut. Ellie pulled her bowgun up and fired, bucking back as the heavy round flew from the barrel and connected with the Deviljho's heel. There was a moment as the fuse ran down, then the round detonated, and wood and stone splintered beneath the World Eater's feet.

The beast yelped in surprise as the structure crumbled beneath it without warning, and the creature's body dipped close to the earth as it fell. The Deviljho managed to catch itself, but once again it found itself off balance as thick wooden logs rolled about beneath its weight. The flames that roared along the creature's skull flickered and faded for a moment, the beast's rage subsiding for a short moment as shock and worry for its balance filled its mind instead. The creature's surprise distracted it, allowing Harker some time to help Tenebris up and hurry her away from the crumbling structure.

"Keep going!"

From the back of the creature, Harker, Richard, and Kei charged the Deviljho's rear, and all three hunters slashed out at the beast's ankles with their long swords, making the World Eater squeal a bit from the blows as the logs continued to slide about beneath it, the hunters expertly jumping and weaving around the moving timbers as they continued their assault on the creature. The massive beast tried to pull away from the hunters as their blades sliced into its flesh, though the cuts were shallow, but each step it tried to take only made the beast wobble all that much more as the logs continued to roll about.

Then the logs finally splintered, but the Deviljho was so caught off guard by it that once again its body dipped low to the ground, its chest nearly slamming against the earth beneath it, though its frail little arms actually pressed against the earth to keep itself upright. It tried to push itself up, but the three long sword users continued to cut into the beast's flesh, and the creature's feet nearly gave out from underneath it. A third time it dipped low, trying to step away from the hunters below it.

But this time it movement was predicted. This time the hunters were ready for it. As the Deviljho's head dipped low to the ground the third time, three hunters converged on it. Kai, Jino, and Marshall all charged the creature's head, swinging their heavy weapons down onto the beast's skull. Two hammers and a hunting horn smashed against the World Eater's face and neck, and though Jino and Kai's weapons did not seem to do much, they still rattled the creature's skull as Marshall's heavy Jhen hammer shook the beast's head with every impact. Deadly red and black lightning jumped from the Deviljho's neck and head, cracking against the hunters' armors, but the three kept swinging, managing to devastate the beast's head with their weapons for a couple more seconds before the World Eater snapped its head around, smashing its spiny jaw into the three hunters. Only Marshall managed to bring up his weapon in time to block the strike with his weapon, but the other two were knocked back roughly by the creature, sent crashing across the ground.

The Deviljho wailed from the blows, stumbling back several steps and shaking its head. Its red eyes were hazy and wobbly, and its steps were unsteady on its feet. There was a flicker across the dragon flames that burned across the beast's skull, and for a second the blaze dimmed, and then burned out completely. The beast staggered for a moment, nearly looking as though it would fall, and began gasping for air, its stomach growling loudly as gallons of pale green fluid poured from its mouth.

But another effect came as the beast's rage faded, replaced by weariness and exhaustion. The beast's hide and muscles loosened up as its rage subsided, and the action made all the wounds that the World Eater had received during the battle open. Abruptly, the Deviljho was coated in a shiny glimmer as the countless injuries the hunters had given it began to ooze with dark trails of black blood. A small stream of blood began to pour down to the ground below it as the numerous cuts and slashes that the hunters had inflicted on the beast's belly opened up. A black haze hissed out from the beast's mouth in a mist as lines of blood sprayed out of the creature's maw as it wheezed wearily.

"Attack it! Now!" Richard bellowed from behind them. "This is our chance!"

The Deviljho growled viciously at the hunters dove in, cutting at the beast's tendons in its ankles as the creature snapped down at them. But Ellie and Kerry kept well back, firing on the creature and peppering its face, making it wince and close its eyes to protect itself, allowing the melee fighters time to hack away at the towering beast's hide. They weren't having much more of an effect on the thick skin than they had been when the battle started, but with the World Eater so weary, they were now able to lash out at the creature with countless more cuts and slices than they had been able to before.

The Deviljho howled angrily, shaking its head and stepping away from the barrage of bowgun fire that continued to pelt it. There was a loud splash as the creature's steps carried it all the way over to the northern bay, and one of its massive legs sank into the water, its leg sinking up to its ankles. The hunters charged again, eager to topple the beast again now that it was weakened, but the Deviljho bellowed viciously at them, before promptly spinning its body about. The melee fighters who pushed forward the furthest cried out in pain and shock as the Deviljho's thick tail swept around, swiping close to the ground and tearing across the dirt and stone and sending a spray of rubble and debris flying out from the gash it created. Jino, Harker, and Kei were all smashed back by the beast's heavy tail, sent tumbling across the earth, and both Kerry and Tenebris were caught by the debris that the creature had kicked up as timber beams and stones smashed into them, throwing them to the ground and burying them under rubble and wood. The rest of the hunters were forced to pause, worried about their comrades as the wounded tried to push themselves back to their feet to continue fighting.

In the meantime, the Deviljho stepped even further away from the hunters, another couple steps away, lumbering backwards along the shoreline. Then it paused, a good fifty yards away from the hunters, and just stood there, gasping for breath. There was a deep, rumbling growl as the beast's belly roared hungrily. The beast shook its head, moaning wearily, and a low whimpering could be heard coming from the creature as its hunger began to overwhelm it. Its eyes glared hatefully and hungrily at the hunters, and Ellie could sense the beast's desperation beginning to grow. It wasn't having any luck trying to kill them… maybe they could get it to run away in search of other food. How strong was its loyalty to the Alatreon's orders? Could they simply chase it away?

Ellie pressed forward, closer to the beast, pressing beyond the recovering melee fighters through the cloud of smoke and dust that rose up into the air. Kerry and Tenebris were still recovering from the debris that had been thrown against them; if she could land a few solid shots on the World Eater's face, Ellie might be able to get the creature to run off somewhere else in search of a meal. The creature's eyes narrowed on her as she approached, and the creature howled threateningly, but Ellie ignored the beast's blustering, aiming up and firing her last couple of Crag rounds up at the beast's face. The beast yelped, moving back even further, but was unable to dodge as the two rounds detonated across its snout. It glared at her furiously, and sparks of dark energy began to jump along its head, but the flames didn't burst to life. Ellie followed cautiously, loading in some Pierce rounds. She was so close now, all she had to do was keep a safe distance, and she'd be able to pester the Deviljho until-

The Deviljho's jaw suddenly dipped low to the earth and clamped down on the very earth beneath it. Ellie stared in shock; was the World Eater able and willing to devour the very soil? The beast strained, starting to tear the very stone from the ground beneath it. Timber beams splintered and cracked as the monstrous beast's maw clamped down tightly on the earth and stone its fangs had enveloped, and its reddened muscles grew bright and engorged against the strain as it pushed against the earth with its legs. The earth groaned as the World Eater ripped apart mortar and timber, pulling an enormous chunk of the village beneath it up from the ground. Ellie's eyes widened in horrified realization, and she turned to run out of the way, but it was too late. With a grunt of effort the Deviljho swung its body around, and flung the massive wall of earth and stone towards her.

Ellie was sure that the only reason she survived the attack was due to the solidity of her armor. The explosion of pain that erupted across her left side was blinding, as though she'd been hit by a meteor. Her armor groaned from the stress of the blow, threatening to break under the strain of the impact, but somehow the silver scales held. But Ellie didn't. The next moment, Ellie was flung through the air by the force of the blow, her world spinning about. Pain bit into her again as she felt herself smash through a lumber wall and crash into the broken remains of a destroyed hut. There was an eruption of sound as the slab of earth that the Deviljho had ripped up smashed into the ground behind her, sending a spray of shrapnel and debris chasing her. She tumbled across the ground for several yards, rolling across shrapnel and rubble before skidding to a halt, pushed against a fallen pile of bricks and mortar.

Ellie didn't know how long she lay there, her senses dulled by the pain she felt across her body. Everything hurt. She tried to move, but even the effort of attempting to wiggle her arms was a struggle at the moment. She tasted copper… her own blood.

Slowly, feeling began to return to her as rocks and pebbles from the smashed slab that the Deviljho had thrown clattered against her armor. She didn't know how long it had been. Seconds? Minutes? Hours? She couldn't guess, but sound was starting to filter into her ears again; a deep thumping sound was the only thing she could hear at the moment though, some low rumbling that reverberated through her whole body. She tried to move her body, though it was a struggle to do so. Every muscle on the left side of her body seemed numb from the pain, but soon she found that they could move, somehow or another. They didn't… seem broken, as far as she could tell, but she was just hurting so much that she couldn't tell the difference either way. Her Silver Rathalos mail had somehow kept her and everything inside of her in one piece, though it certainly hadn't reduced the pain. She had just enough strength to push herself onto her back before she had to stop, gasping for breath.

Ellie opened her eyes painfully, looking above her. She could see the churning black smoke that poured out from the fires around the village, so thick and plentiful that she couldn't even see the stars. Then she saw the World Eater's massive skull appear over her as the enormous brute leaned over to her and looked down on her. It seemed surprised to see her alive, but nonplussed. But the expression passed quickly as the beast's expression to one of cruel determination. She could hear Levin shouting fearfully, and the sound of footsteps approaching her. But the World Eater took another step further, bringing itself to stand completely over her, before raising its right foot high, and swinging it up and over Ellie.

"No!" she heard Levin cry in horror, as the Deviljho's foot dropped down towards Ellie. The huntress cringed in horror, raising her arms helplessly over her head, as the shadow of the beast's leg dropped towards her.

But there was a grunt of effort, and a powerful, ear-splitting crack, and the Deviljho howled in pain. The earth shook as the creature's foot smashed into the earth, and Ellie screamed in terror. It took a moment, but the huntress realized that the Deviljho hadn't actually stepped on her; there had been no pain, no crushing of bones or splintering of her weapon. In fact, the sound of the monster's feet sounded as though they were actually stumbling away from her. The terrible creature was actually releasing a pained whining sound. Though hesitant, Ellie moved her arms away from her face and looked up.

"Ha! Look at you, you whimpering slug! I thought you'd be tougher than that, considering your size, but you're no better than the rest of your kin are you? I suppose you'd think yourself grand with this pathetic collection of hunters taking swings at you like they were nothing but rookies!"

Ellie physically cringed at the voice she heard, and her eyes opened in shock and horror. Above her stood a massive beast of a man, wearing dark green and black armor that was coated in spines and fangs; it was Deviljho armor, she realized, recognizing the dark leathery hide and jagged edges that made up the armor. The man was swinging a massive hammer in one hand almost lazily, and Ellie realized that it was made of the same green and black material as the armor had been, a weapon made from Deviljho parts, and just and spiny as the armor was. The massive man turned towards her, and then reached his other hand up to lift his faceplate, revealing a broad, sadistic grin that she'd wished she'd never have to see again.

"Still alive, little girl? You're lucky I got here when I did, or you'd be a bloody red stain in mud, no matter how pretty that armor of yours is; though it doesn't really matter either way to me. You made a fine distraction that I just couldn't pass up."

"Filcher!" a cold, furious voice hissed. In a flash, Marshall was at Ellie's side, lifting her back to her feet. He gave her a quick look, making certain that she was unharmed, before returning an untrusting look back to Filcher. However, Ellie crumpled slightly without Marshall there to support her, and she would have fallen to the ground if Levin hadn't appeared to grab her and support her, and she winced as he grabbed her. Sharp pain bit into her side, and she knew that she must have broken a rib or two. By now though, Marshall's attention had turned to fully glare at Filcher. The former Malefica hunters simply smirked at the sight of him however.

"Surprised to see me, old man?" Filcher growled. "You've gotten weak, Marshall. To think you would waste your time on pathetic hunters like this, in a pathetic village like this!"

Marshall scowled at the man, and his grip tightened on the hilt of his hammer. "Why are you here, Filcher?"

"Sightseeing," Filcher smirked. When Marshall's expression darkened, the Deviljho-armored hunter laughed. "Why I'm here is… no longer any business of yours, Marshall. What I came for is no longer of any consequence. It would seem you have a bit of a monster infestation in your village, old man. Ha! Mercy, the lot of you are pathetic! All the hunters you've gathered up here, and you've barely scratched the beast! I've dealt the greatest blow to the creature and I've only just arrived!"

Ellie looked towards the Deviljho, and was surprised to find that the beast had dragged itself over to the other side of the bay. Even as the beast lumbered out of the water, it's long, thick tail still stretched halfway over the water towards where Boma Village lay. But the creature seemed distracted, twisting its head about in dismay, attempting to look down at her legs. Ellie followed the gaze and was stunned; Filcher had truly managed to strike the beast with a debilitating blow. A massive wound covered a chunk of flesh just over the Deviljho's ankle, where the thick hide was bruising and torn from the hammer strike and the jagged spines that coated the weapon. The leg seemed to be at an awkward angle as well, and Ellie suspected that Filcher's blow might have managed to break one or two bones in the monster's leg. How strong was the man? Eleven hunters had barely been able to do as much damage to the terrible creature that Filcher had done in one strike!

Ellie looked back at the former Malefica hunter, who had a smug expression on his face. His weapon… it was a weapon made of Deviljho materials! Harker had said earlier that a weapon made of Deviljho materials or that of an elder dragon would be the best choice against a creature like the World Eater…

Then Filcher's attention turned back to the Deviljho, and the wide grin on the man's face seemed to grow even wider as he gazed at the massive creature. An eerie, unsettling expression crossed the man's face, and Ellie felt herself shiver at the expression. Levin looked at her worriedly, fearing for her health, but Ellie's attention was on Filcher. The look in the man's eyes… it was hunger, a desperate desire that matched even the Deviljho's gluttonous need. His intent was clear, he wanted nothing more than to fight and slay the World Eater.

"But this… this creature! In all my years… I have yet to see a beast like this! Even among Deviljhos this being is a monstrosity! And those black flames… ha! What fate is this, that I should find myself in the presence of such a creature? Such devastation and power!" He looked excitedly at Marshall and laughed. "Even that idiot Moloch couldn't give me such a battle as this! All the decades I've spent, looking for the ultimate challenge, and finally I've found it, here in this pathetic little village of yours!"

There was a clattering sound of rubble from nearby, and the four hunters turned as Harker and Kerry stumbled over the wreckage of a hut, through a blanket of smoke and into sight. The pair's eyes were immediately toward Ellie, and Kerry rushed over towards her. "Oh, you poor dear! Are you alright… of course you're not. Come on, Levin, we have to get her out of here! We're all regrouping to recover a bit on the other side of the-"

Then the huntress froze, catching sight of Filcher as the poacher smirked wickedly at her. "Well, well. If it isn't the 'cursed woman'. I always wanted to go toe-to-toe with you in the arena, just to see how accurate those rumors about you really are… shame I'm a little busy at the moment to properly play with you."

"What are you doing here, Filcher?" Harker asked warily, planting himself between the hammer wielder and the others and placing a warning hand on the hilt of his long sword. The Deviljho-armored man laughed at the motion.

"Save your breath madboy. If I was here to fight you all, I'd do it fairly. No tricks, no deceit, no foul play. I want a real fight, not some rigged battle set in my favor. You all look like you've been chewed on by a Gobul. No fun in beating up the injured. But keep that fire in you, boy. Maybe once I've laid out this Deviljho for you all, we can see how you match up to me."

There was a ragged ripping sound from across the bay, and the hunters' gaze looked in that direction worriedly. On the far side of the water, the Deviljho was unearthing large trees from the earth, and its powerful jaws were actually shredding the foliage to bits as the creature devoured entire trees; leaves, trunks, roots and all. The creature hardly seemed to hesitate as it consumed one tree after the other, temporarily sating its ravenous hunger on the easiest thing its could sink its teeth into, even if it was only trees.

"Damn!" Marshall cursed under his breath, hoisting his hammer. "The beast is trying to recover its stamina! We have to-"

"Good! Let it!" Filcher laughed. "The battle wouldn't be fun if I only got to fight this beast when it was weak and whimpering. Let the creature eat, so that when it returns I can enjoy the battle with the creature at full strength!"

"This isn't a game Filcher!" Marshall snapped. "People's lives are at stake! The creature has to be killed as quickly as possible before it kills someone!"

"These pathetic hunters?" Filcher scoffed, motioning towards the four hunters behind him. "The rest of those weaklings I saw? They knew the risks of this battle coming into it, I'm sure. If they're not strong enough to handle the power of this Deviljho, that's hardly anything to cry about. That's the risk of being a hunter, Marshall, whether you act noble, or if you act like me. Or do you think that this is a perfect world, where lives are never lost, and nothing is ever gambled or sacrificed?"

"I have worked too hard to keep these hunters alive!" Marshall growled furiously. "This is not a perfect world, Filcher, but I will not just let their lives be thrown away, whether or not they are capable of slaying this creature!"

Filcher glared at Marshall for a moment, but his eyes scoured the Lagiacrus-armored hunter, studying Marshall carefully. A moment later he was smirking with a bemused expression. "I see now… you're playing the noble hero, aren't you, Marshall? That's why you've been holding back." Marshall bristled at the words and glowered at Filcher, but the other man laughed at the expression. "I thought as much! You've acted the part of a white knight your whole life, old man! That's why you can never really play rough with monsters!"

"I will not just allow those around me to die!" Marshall snapped viciously.

"And that's why the creature remains unharmed!" Filcher replied, motioning to the Deviljho. "Look at it! Scratches and cuts, that's all you've done to the creature! The only real damage you've done to the beast is make it hungry! You're too concerned with trying to keep the rest of the rest of these hunters alive to really let loose! If you'd only let loose and let these pitiful hunters fend for themselves, maybe this creature would be sporting more wounds than you've given it. You've always been like that, Marshall: pathetic and sentimental! You have some ideal in your mind that everything can end with no deaths and no sacrifices. But that was never the way the world works!"

Ellie looked nervously between the two older hunters as the pair glowered at each other. She thought back to the battle they'd been fighting; Marshall had not been fighting with the power and skill that Ellie had thought that her former hunting master would be able to offer… but at the same time, the old man had been aggravating the beast nearly the entire time since he'd arrived, and for the most part he had been the primary target of the Deviljho's aggression. And the rest of the hunters had managed to keep from being too badly injured since Marshall's arrival… was Filcher right? Had Marshall been putting more effort into keeping the rest of the hunters alive rather than really focusing on trying to kill the Deviljho? Would the World Eater have been defeated already if he'd gone all out right from the start? But would all of the hunters still be alive if he had?

"There are some prices that I am not willing to pay," Marshall growled, glancing over at the younger hunters. "Besides, you're hardly the one to berate my decisions. I'm sure you care little about the lives of these hunters or the fate of the village."

Filcher laughed at the words. "True enough, Marshall, true enough. However, I simply cannot pass up the opportunity to find the faults in your decisions. Do you really think dawdling like you are is really the best decision? All your hesitation is doing is destroying your village even further, and wearing down the hunters as much as it is the Deviljho. Your compassion is killing you, old man, and everyone else in this village." The Deviljho-armored man turned and strode towards the northern bay, a wild grin on his face. "You and the rest of those hunters will just go and die at the rate you're going, Marshall. Why don't you stand back and leave this to a real hunter that can actually battle a foe such as this? This isn't a place for a hunter that isn't willing to give it his all, even it is to 'protect his allies.'"

"Are you mad?" Marshall asked. "You really think you can take on the beast by yourself? The creature would snap you in half without a second thought!"

"Ha! It can certainly try!" Filcher replied, turning about and grinning excitedly at Marshall. "I think the beast will bite off far more than it can chew if it thinks that it can simply gobble me up! I'm not so easy a snack as the rest of you hunters, even on my own. So keep away, Marshall. A withered up, retired husk of a hunter like yourself will only hold me back."

"No!" Marshall snapped. In a flash, the Lagiacrus-armored hunter caught up with Filcher, grabbing hold of his arm and pushing him aside. Filcher hissed, viciously at Marshall, pulling his Deviljho hammer out and glaring venomously at the older hunter. But Marshall stood his ground, stepping between Filcher and the shoreline. "I will not find myself indebted to a… _creature _like yourself. I will not cower back at a time like this. If this beast falls, my hammer will be there to deal the final blow! I fight for the sake of those I love and wish to protect, and will not trust the fate of my home to some reckless fool that wishes for nothing more than a brawl!"

"This is _my _prey, old man!" Filcher growled. "Mine and mine alone! I've gone too far and done too much to back down from a fight like this at a time like now! Don't get in my way, or you'll suffer the same fate that the beast does!"

"That's my line," Marshall replied harshly, hoisting his Jhen hammer as the Deviljho finished its devouring of the trees and foliage. Across the bay, the beast swallowed the last of the trees it had been eating and returned its attention back towards the village, glaring viciously at Filcher as dragon element sparks began to dance up across its skull as its fury rose. "This is my home, Filcher, and it's my responsibility to keep it safe, no matter the cost. If that cost is a former comrade-turned-outlaw, then so be it. You claimed that I would see that everyone lives, even if it is naught but a foolish dream… well perhaps there are some sacrifices that I _am _willing to make, and you're one of them."

The two men glared at each other through their helms with such vehemence that it was a wonder to Ellie that the Deviljho even wanted to fight them. She wasn't even the source of their anger and Ellie felt like fleeing the village if it meant getting away from the two powerful hunters. But the beast seemed to have recovered from the powerful blow that Filcher had dealt to its leg, and though it was standing on the appendage gingerly, it was still turning its furious gaze on the two old hunters with rage in its eyes. The searing black flames blazed back to life again around its head and neck, and seemed to flare up even more than they had before, and more dragon element fire licked at the edges of the beast's mouth. The World Eater reared back, unleashing its terrible earth-shaking bellow before lunging towards the village. Waves were kicked up as the creature strode into the water, making its way back across the bay.

Filcher turned to look at the beast, and smirked wickedly at the creature. "Hmph. Fine then, old man. You want to fight the beast too? So be it. I suppose it'll be a good handicap for me when you die; I won't be able to see such a thing happen without taking a minute or two to laugh about it, and fighting's not nearly so easy when you're laughing. And it will be a hearty laugh, I promise you that."

Marshall scoffed, shrugging and turning his own attention to the towering monster. "I suppose I'm more sentimental than you are, Filcher. There is some nostalgia to be had in this… I might spare a tear or two for an old comrade that was viciously devoured by a Deviljho, no matter how despicable he's become. Only just those, of course. Any more than that and my vision would become too impaired to slay the beast that bested you."

Filcher chuckled slightly at the words, before turning and grinning excitedly at the Deviljho. "If you want to play the game, don't hold back old man. This is the game that Hawke taught us to play: 'Your target is the monster, and its defeat is most important. Let your partners stand on their own feet, so that you may stand entirely on yours. In true battle, the only weight you carry is your own.'"

"A cruel and outdated ideal… but necessary in the harshest moments," Marshall muttered quietly. Then the Lagiacrus-armored man turned to quickly look intently at Ellie and Levin. "Stand back now, Miss Eleanor, Levin, and make sure none of the others you've brought step in either. This is going to get messy, and I can't let you get in our way."

"What! But you can't fight the World Eater by yourselves!" Ellie gasped, before she clutched her side in pain. Levin pulled her closer worriedly as Marshall looked down caringly on the pair of them.

"Don't underestimate us, Miss Eleanor," the hammer user replied, turning his attention back to the Deviljho. "We may be old, and I may technically be retired, but there's still plenty of energy left inside of me. Besides… there's a certain level of cooperation between us that Master Hawke drilled into us long ago, and having others around that haven't worked with us before is more of a hindrance than anything else."

"What?" Levin gasped. "But… coordinate with him? He's a monster!"

"Yes, he is," Marshall agreed, earning a sour look from Filcher. "And if the fool manages to survive the battle, I will make certain he receives the punishment he so rightly deserves. However… well, you'll just have to watch to see what I mean, Miss Eleanor. Get back now, and tell the others to keep their distance. You all can have your battle with the Alatreon, but this one… this beast is ours. If nothing else, Filcher and I can at least weaken the beast for the rest of you, so take what time we can give you all to recover and gather yourselves. Watch closely Miss Eleanor; though I may no longer be your hunting master, there is still much you can learn. If you truly mean to hunt the Alatreon… you and Levin will need every advantage I can offer."

"What do you-"

The thundering rumbling of the Deviljho's footsteps and the crashing of waves rolled through the village as the Deviljho charged across the bay towards the two hammer users, howling furiously, and Levin scrambled to help Ellie away from the water, grabbing her bowgun from where it lay and running inland. Kerry and Harker were close behind, Harker taking up the rear. As they did so, the four hunters ran Tenebris and Miller as the pair of hunters was making their way towards the water. Kerry grabbed hold of Miller as they passed, however, urging them back where they'd come. "We need to pull back! Marshall and Filcher are… they're doing something, I don't know what, but they want us to stay away!"

"Are they crazy?" Tenebris gasped. "They can't take that thing down on their own! Two hunters can't take on the Deviljho on their own! And who the heck is Filcher?"

"Filcher?" Ellie looked around as Richard's incredulous and on-edge voice came from behind one of the ruined huts. Kai and Kei were with him, and the other hunters could be seen through the rubble on all sides as well, trying to make their way through the ruined huts. But Richard's eyes were looking worriedly towards the bay. "Filcher's here? That psychopath from Malefica? He's still alive?"

"Yes, and he's going to fight the Deviljho!" Levin said quickly. "I know… this sounds strange, but Marshall told us all to get away while they fought, or they would-"

"What are they thinking? Hunter pride only goes so far! I could expect Filcher to think he can take on the beast on his own, but I would have thought Marshall was smart enough to-" A howl of agony cut the long sword user off before he could finish speaking and both hunters turned towards the sound. And both froze where they stood in awestruck disbelief.

To say that the way Marshall and Filcher fought was akin to a work of art would have been an insult to their skill. Each step, each motion, each swing of their hammers or dodge of the Deviljho's attack was one of intent and perfectly calculated. They worked off of each other and around each other, each motion in perfect coordination with the other. When one slid out of the Deviljho's path to dodge the creature's jaw, the other seemed to appear out of nowhere, their weapon striking down upon the World Eater's massive skull. When the beast moved to crush one of them under its bulk, the other would appear to strike a mighty blow into the Deviljho's leg, throwing the beast off balance. The impacts against the creature came, again and again and again and again, without pause or hesitation, not giving the World Eater a single second to pause or gather itself up. Neither of them were struck when the Deviljho managed to try to attack either, and each attempt the beast made to snap them up only ended in the creature receiving yet another debilitating hammer blow to the skull.

Ellie could see why Marshall had insisted that none of the other hunters interfere. This was Marshall's true strength, working in tandem with his former comrade, whom he had hunted with for years together, before their falling out. Despite their years apart, these two knew each other's skill to the point where every one of their actions was a work of perfect cooperation. None of the eleven hunters could hope to match this kind of battle synergy with either of the hammer users. Both just seemed to… _know_; where to dodge, where to strike, when and how and where they needed to be the next moment and the twenty moments after that. It was as though they were psychic; the pair seemed to be swinging their hammers at their intended target before the Deviljho was even there to receive the blow.

"Dear God…" Ellie heard Richard mutter in stunned awe next to her. "I'd always heard that Hawke and his apprentices were unparalleled in skill when it came to wielding a hammer, but this… this is…"

The gathered hunters were shocked to disbelieving silence by the skill of the two hunters as the pair brutally assaulted the Deviljho. But none watching seemed more shocked by the sudden power and force brought upon by the two hammer wielders than the Deviljho itself. Not a minute ago, the creature had been bellowing a mighty call across the village, its stamina renewed as it intended to kill and devour all in its path. But now the creature was squealing in pain and shock with each concussive blow it received to its snout and skull. The Deviljho and Jhen Mohran hammers were doing more than their fair share of work, landing truly powerful blows against the World Eater that the other hunters with their weapons had barely been able to manage during most of the battle.

The creature's surprise was short-lived, however, and soon enough the beast had rekindled its rage and determination, and was fighting against the two hunters with the same ferocity that it had been battling with before. For the first time since the Deviljho had arrived in Boma Village, the fight seemed evenly matched, an uncertain toss-up between hunter and monster, even if there were only two hunters battling the towering creature. Though Marshall and Filcher were proving to be unparalleled in their ability to work together, and were truly landing devastating strikes against the World Eater, it really only seemed a moderate improvement to the situation, with the creature's fury now focused solely on just the two of them rather than nearly a dozen hunters.

Not to mention that the eleven hunters had been able to tire the creature out before the Deviljho had gotten enraged, but now Marshall and Filcher were duking it out with the beast when its stamina was greatly restored, and it was furious right from the get go. The Deviljho's movements were sharp and abrupt, and though the two hammer wielders were avoiding being devoured by the creature, the beast was getting closer all the time. It was getting hard to tell which side would fall first; would the World Eater's powerful jaws sink into the hunters, or would the strength of the older hunters manage to overwhelm the creature?

As the minutes passed, it looked as though the Deviljho was gaining the upper hand. Or at least, Marshall was wearing out quickly. The Lagiacrus-armored hunter, though keeping away from the Deviljho and striking the beast with terrible force, was showing his age and the strain from the battle. The old hammer user had run all the way back to the village upon realizing that Boma was under attack, only to join in the battle against the World Eater and put in a full effort at keeping the rest of the hunters alive. Though her former hunting master was truly able to let loose now that he didn't have to worry about the rest of the hunters, and he was doing an insurmountable job doing so, Ellie could tell that the man was wearing out quickly. Though his movements were quick and accurate and powerful, his attacks were growing increasingly sluggish.

But as opposed to him, even though the Deviljho's attacks were growing faster and more powerful, and the beast pressed the hammer wielders further and further back, Filcher hardly seemed to care at all. The on-looking hunters could hear his laughing from across the battlefield. Every close call he had, and every second that the battle grew more desperate only seemed to incite the man's excitement and strength to even greater heights. The man seemed to thrive under the threat of death, and reveled in the feeling. The fiercer and deadlier the Deviljho seemed to get, Filcher matched its power and intensity with even more furious attacks of his own. When his black hammer struck the World Eater's body, the blows struck with enough force to send reverberating thuds through the devastation around the creature.

Soon enough, the Deviljho's attention was almost entirely on Filcher as the mad hunter continued to laugh with every strike he landed on the creature. The beast seemed disconcerted in actually battling the man, and Ellie didn't blame it; Filcher was positively terrifying the way that he was laughing during the battle, even when the smallest mistake would end with the man being devoured by the beast. But thanks to this, the beast's attention was often away from Marshall, allowing the older hunter to take more shots at the beast than he otherwise would be able to.

The Deviljho yelped in pain as Marshall struck the beast in its ankle, his hammer impacting the beast with enough force that the creature's claws were dragged through the dirt below for several inches. The World Eater snapped around angrily, the dragon element flames flaring brightly. Marshall was already moving away from the creature however, putting distance between himself and the massive beast, and the Deviljho lunged after him. The beast's head dipped low as it lurched towards the man, its fangs snapping greedily. But Marshall dove out of the way at the last moment, and twisted around, bringing his hammer down onto the beast's snout, when at the very same moment, Filcher appeared from the Deviljho's other side, his own spiny hammer swinging up from below, crunching into the World Eater's jaw.

The Deviljho wailed as the two hammers smashed into its skull from both sides, and the creature quickly tumbled backwards, shaking its head painfully. The dark flames that blazed across its skull flickered for a moment, nearly dying away. The beast's eyes were glazed and unfocused; the effects of the multiple strikes of the hammers on the beast's head nearly knocking the Deviljho out. The beast was unsteady on its feet, and another cascade of slimy green drool was starting to drip from the beast's maw as it glared at the two hunters. Neither of the hunters let up however, and both charged the beast, Filcher taking the lead while laughing eagerly.

The Deviljho shook its head though, clearing its vision before howling viciously at the pair. Marshall and Filcher were close to the beast now, but the beast quickly took a few steps away from them, its massive size carrying it several yards into the northern bay. The two hammer users were forced to pause, as the creature was no longer within reach of their weapons without them diving into the water. But more of the dark flames began to gather at the edges of the Deviljho's mouth. The creature arched its back, and its gut began to grow as it inhaled deeply.

"Get down!" Marshall howled, looking back at the rest of the hunters fearfully. Ellie yelped as Levin pulled her back, running back from the shoreline, desperate to get away from the Deviljho before it could unleash its dragon breath again. The other hunters were running as well, trying to find some rubble they could hide behind, but there was so little remaining of the north side of the village for them to find a place in time.

But Filcher, instead of trying to hide, simply charged the beast, bellowing a roar of his own at the beast. As the Deviljho's head dipped down, dark flames surging from its maw, Filcher reached the shoreline and leapt at the creature, throwing himself through the air over the bay, and when the first blast of flame erupted from the World Eater's mouth, the mad hunter swung his hammer around and brought it crashing down onto the Deviljho's snout. The World Eater squealed in pain as the spiny hammer smashed into its skull, the force striking the beast with enough power to dip the Deviljho's head downwards towards the bay, just enough for the beast's jaw to be slammed into the water below.

There was a powerful roar and blast of heat as the fury of the Deviljho's dragon breath was fired directly into the water of the bay. A wall of steam erupted into the night sky as the heat and intensity of the black fire instantly evaporated hundreds of gallons of the seawater, and a wave of hissing mist cascaded down, hitting the shoreline and rushing across the village in a wave of white. Close to the shoreline, Marshall vanished from sight as the steam enveloped him, and the hunters braced themselves as, a few moments later, the hot steam slammed into them as well. The distance had cooled the mist by the time it had reached them, but Ellie still hissed in pain at the near-scalding heat that washed over her.

Somewhere inside of the steam, the howling of the Deviljho could be heard, along with the perpetual roar of the dragon breath as the devastating power continued to surge from the creature's gullet. Though the World Eater couldn't be seen through the haze and mist, sporadic jets of black flames shot out through the steam, rolling across the wreckage of the village or up into the sky. But a majority of the flames had been diverted by Filcher's strike, sending the power of the Deviljho's dragon breath into the bay, rather than devastating Boma a third time.

Eventually the sound of the Deviljho's dragon breath subsided, and all that could be heard through the village was the sound of splashing and the Deviljho's grumbling and groaning. The beast's thunderous footsteps pushed through the water, before the sound of the beast pulling itself out of the water could be heard as the beast's strides once again carried it back across stone and wood. Ellie couldn't see the creature however, thanks to the thick fog; but the mist was clearing quickly enough, and the hunters were starting to be able to make out the World Eater's massive shape lumbering through the mist. The Deviljho was growling angrily as it strode around it search of prey.

"Come back here!" The Deviljho turned in surprise at the sound of Filcher's voice bellowing from the steam and of the bay. From the haze that lingered over the water, the wide, dark shape of the Deviljho-armored hammer wielder strode towards the shoreline, dripping with water. His armor had sparks of dark dragon element jumping across the gaps, but the man didn't seem to care at all, and despite striding out of steaming hot water, didn't seem to be in pain at all. "I'm not done with you yet, beast! This battle is only going to end with your smashed skull slung over my shoulder as a prize!"

The beast howled angrily at the hammer wielder, and once again dark flames began to burn to life in the back of the monster's throat. But before the creature could try and envelop the hunter in its dragon's breath again, the beast squealed in pain as Marshall appeared at the Deviljho's side, smashing his hammer into the beast's ankle. The creature's leg buckled for a moment, and the World Eater howled in horror as it nearly toppled to the ground again, but managed to catch itself. Marshall lunged again, intent on bringing the beast down, but the Deviljho surprised both him and Filcher by turning and intentionally running across the destruction before sweeping about again, staring at the two old hunters from several dozen yards away.

Ellie could barely believe her eyes; the beast was wearing out already! A steady stream of drool was slipping down the creature's jaw, and the beast was gasping for breath. The wounds that Marshall and Filcher had inflicted on it were showing their wear on the beast in heavy bruises and broken flesh. But still it glared viciously at the two hunters, and the flames along its mane burned brightly from the intensity of its anger.

"They're actually winning…" Ellie looked up at the words and found Jino staring across the village towards where the Deviljho stood glaring at the two hunters opposing it. "I can't believe that only two hunters are managing to challenge such a… monstrosity on their own…"

"It's like they're more monster than human," Kei muttered nearby.

The pair of hunters were now striding towards the beast, hoisting their hammers in preparation to attack. Their visors were still down, but Ellie could practically sense Marshall's determined expression and Filcher's twisted smile. As they approached the beast, the Deviljho looked nervous as they got closer to it. It actually took a step back in worry as the pair got closer to it, and hissed angrily at them. But the two hammer users continued to march towards the beast.

The creature's eyes darted back and forth between the pair, uncertain what to do or how to attack the pair. But then the beast's eyes narrowed and the Deviljho's attention abruptly turned away from the two hammer wielders. Its eyes turned towards the south, and bored intensely into the collection of hunters that stood on the sidelines. With a powerful bellow, the Deviljho spun, turning towards them and immediately lunging their direction, growling savagely. Marshall screamed curses at the beast, furiously charging after the World Eater to try and stop it.

"Oh no you don't, you demon!" Richard bellowed, unsheathing his long sword and pressing impetuously towards the beast. "Get the injured back! Anyone that can fight, we have to try and-"

But before the other hunters could move, the Deviljho suddenly skidded to a halt where it stood, before quickly taking several steps back and away from the hunters. Its long strides actually carried it straight over Marshall, who was still chasing after the beast, until the beast was only a short step away from the Lagiacrus-armored hammer wielder. Marshall slid to a halt, and spun about to meet the creature again, but before he could, the Deviljho swept its jaw down at him. Instinctively, Marshall raised his right arm to protect himself, and the World Eater's maw snapped down, enveloping the appendage.

Marshall cried out in pain as the Deviljho's fangs sank into his arm. The man swung his hammer about awkwardly, striking the side of the weapon into the World Eater's jaw. But the massive creature didn't care, lifting its head into the sky and pulling the old hunter upwards, before shaking wildly in an attempt to rip Marshall's arm clean off. The older hunter screamed in agony as he was flung about, dragged and smashed against the earth as the Deviljho tried to snap him up, and his Jhen Mohran hammer flew from his grasp, sailing through the air before smashing into the earth and splintering several wood beams in the process.

"Marshall! No!" Levin roared, and Ellie nearly toppled to the ground as the hunter's grip shifted towards his switch axe, ready to lunge towards the massive monster.

"Release him! NOW!" The furious bellow caught Ellie off guard. From the Deviljho's side, Filcher lunged at the beast, intent on smashing his massive hammer into the creature's ankle. From the other side of the beast, Richard, Jino, and Kei were sweeping around, cautiously approaching the beast to catch it from both sides.

However, the Deviljho caught everyone by surprise when, before Filcher could reach the beast, the World Eater actually complied with Filcher's order. When the Deviljho-armored hammer user got close enough, the Deviljho snapped its head around and opened its mouth, flinging Marshall away across the village. The Lagiacrus-armored hunter smashed into the stone street in front of Richard and Kei, bouncing off the ground and nearly bowling over the huntress before sliding to a halt a yard behind her. The Deviljho swung around immediately, however, and Filcher, stunned by the monster's abrupt choice to not devour Marshall, was caught completely off guard as the World Eater twisted its head to the side, opening its maw wide and enveloping the hunter in its powerful fangs. There was sickening crunch as the Deviljho's fangs snapped shut, smashing down onto Filcher as the beast raised its head back into the air. The creature shook its head viciously, rolling the hunter over in its mouth several times and chomping down on the man.

Richard and Jino turned, looking at each other uncertainly about whether or how to help Filcher, but there was the sound of cursing from nearby, as Marshall tried to struggle back to his feet. His mangled arm was slashed and bloody however, and he could barely move at all. The appendage was twisted and mangled, the armor ripped apart or off completely, and all coated in blood. Ellie moved to help him, but her own injuries, forcing her to keep using Levin as a crutch, held her back. Kei and Richard leapt to the man's aid quickly however, reaching the man in a few moments and lifting him to his feet and dragging him back from the fight as Jino planted himself between them and the Deviljho, in case the beast tried to come after them. The man hissed in agony, clutching his left arm.

"Dammit! Dammit, no! Where the hell is my hammer? I have to… Filcher! Where is Filcher?"

"It's too late," Kei told the man, hurrying the older hunter along. "Filcher… he-"

Above the growling of the Deviljho and the sickening sound of bones splintering, the sound of laughter began to rise over it all. The hunters looked up in horror. Twisted and wild, Filcher actually began to laugh as the enormous monster devoured him.

"Is that all you have?! Is that all you can do?!" the man screeched at the beast. "You'll have to do better than that! You are not enough! I am the greatest hunter in the world, demon! If you think I will die from this, know that you will fall before I do!"

Though most of the man was inside the Deviljho's mouth, his torso, legs, and left arm completely enveloped by the black beast's massive fanged jaw and his exposed body searing as the dark dragon energy burned across his body, his right arm was still free, and still clutched tightly to the hilt of his massive black hammer. Filcher seemed oblivious to the pain as he raised his weapon up, staring the Deviljho directly in the eye as he smashed the weapon down onto the creature's snout. The monster groaned in pain, its head dipping a bit from the force of the blow. But the beast growled furiously, clamping its teeth down even harder on the Deviljho-armored hammer wielder, pulling a cry of agony from Filcher. But the pained scream twisted into another maddened laugh, and the hunter pulled back his hammer once more, bringing it down with even more force onto the Deviljho's skull.

The Deviljho grimaced in pain as the hammer smashed down onto its snout. Again the black beast tightened its grip on the man, desperate to kill him and consume him before Filcher could do more damage to it. But over and over, no matter how much the Deviljho bit down on him, the old hunter continued to smash his weapon down onto the beast's snout. Deep black blood began to pour down the monster's face as the spines and spikes that lined the hammer ripped and tore through the Deviljho's hide.

But eventually one of the blows struck true, and this time the black beast squealed in pain as the spine-covered hammer impacted against its skull; for a short moment, the grip of the beast's jaw on the hunter loosened. It wasn't enough for Filcher to free himself or fall loose from the monster's maw, but the hunter was able to wrench his other arm free of the Deviljho's jaw. The man's arm was bloodied and the armor want bent and cracked. Ellie was fairly certain that the arm had been broken as well, but the mad hunter didn't even seem to care, and seemed to laugh all the more, as though the battle had suddenly swung in his favor, despite his circumstances. Without hesitating, Filcher swung his arm down straight into the dragon element inferno, and plunged his hand directly into the Deviljho's eye.

A deep, thunderous scream of agony ripped across the Village as the Deviljho staggered back. Filcher continued to dig his hand further into the beast's eye socket, even as the black beast opened its gaping maw and tried to spit the hunter out, to get the man away from her and out of its eye. But as the monster struggled to rid itself of the hunter, Filcher swung his hammer over the beast's snout, hooking the spines onto the other side of the Deviljho's upper jaw. The man continued to ignore the Deviljho's howling and the dark flames that seared across his body as he pulled himself out of the monster's mouth, climbing atop the black beast's snout.

Filcher was soaked in blood, though Ellie couldn't tell how much of it was his and how much of it was the Deviljho's. But his armor, despite being made of Deviljho materials itself, was ripped and bent, terrible gashes and holes punctured through the solid material. But Ellie could still hear the man laughing, despite his injuries and despite the dragon flames that continued to blaze against him. Somehow the man didn't seem to care about the pain he was suffering or the injuries he'd received. His form stood silhouetted against the dragon element fire, a massive, unrelenting form, and to Ellie, Filcher seemed like some sort of demon than a mere human. With a particularly loud laugh, Filcher pulled back, ripping out the Deviljho's eye.

Again the terrible scream of the monster bellowed out across the village, shaking the foundations of those huts that were still standing. The Deviljho shook its head wildly, howling in agony, but Filcher stood firm, clinging tightly to the beast's head. Blood gushed from the monster's now-empty eye socket as it writhed about in pain, whining in agony. But it could not shake the hunter loose. Eventually, even through its pain, the Deviljho began to tire out; vile, acidic saliva seemed to pour out of the beast's mouth as it gasped for air, matching the blood that pooled down the monster's skull for volume.

Filcher propped himself up, and managed to stand tall on the Deviljho's snout, and laughed as he held the beast's bright eye high over his head. Despite the damage the man had taken, despite the black dragon flames that continued to blaze around him, making dark energy spike across his across his armor and burn into his leggings, he continued to stand tall. But then he looked down at the beast below him, then tossed the eye over his shoulder uncaringly, letting the orb fall down into the bay below.

He pulled his hammer back from where it hooked into the Deviljho's jaw, swinging it back around into a battle-ready position. The black beast groaned tiredly, and shook its head wearily, trying to knock the hunter off of its skull, but it lacked the energy at the moment to do so. Ellie could see Filcher grin viciously down at the massive beast, before pulling his hammer back. The man's armor grew taught as he gathered up his strength, and then his hammer was raised skyward for a moment, before plummeting back down, crashing like a meteorite into the Deviljho's skull.

An earth-splitting crack echoed through Boma Village as the hammer struck the Deviljho in the forehead, and the massive beast's skull collapsed under the force of the blow. The Deviljho howled in agony, stumbling back as gallons of black blood poured down its face from the wound, cascading down its jaw and chin and pouring into the bay like a waterfall, tainting the water a sickly dark color. The creature screeched and roared in blinding pain, swinging its head about, flailing wildly. This time Filcher, lacking a grip to keep mounted on the creature, was thrown through the air, and the massive hunter came crashing down through the remains of one of the destroyed huts that the Deviljho had crushed. The man didn't get up again.

The Deviljho continued to reel, desperately shaking its head, trying to do something to rid itself of the agony it found itself in, but it was to no avail. The fractures in its skull gushed with blood, pouring free and coating the beast's face in the black fluid. The raging dragon element that swelled about the monster's face like a mane began to sear into the cracks and splinters that had ruptured in the Deviljho's skull, and soon the creature's screams grew even more tortured as its own power began to blaze into its head, burning the massive creature alive from the inside. Jets of dragon element began to sear out of the monster's orifices; its nose and ears and even its now-empty eye socket began to burn with black flames. Black fire licked at the edges of the monster's mouth, though this time it was through no intent of its own, but was killing the beast from the inside.

The creature seemed to writhe and groan under the torment it was suffering for what seemed like an impossible amount of time, screaming in pain, but never dying. Blood continued to pour into the bay by the gallon as the beast thrashed, painting the water black. Wave after wave of the dark water smashed into the shoreline, covering the sand and ruined huts with trails of the black blood that dripped from the shrapnel and ruins like oil, steaming hot and raising a cloud of mist that rolled over the bay.

But after so long, the Deviljho's cries began to die away, and its voice grew weak and miserable. Its remaining eye had been completely burned away by the dragon element, and the rest of its face had been blackened and charred by the intensity of the power. The peak of its head, where the hammer had smashed down, was burnt away, and dark flames boiled the creature's very brain in the skull. But the Deviljho was still standing, somehow, towering over the city. In one last show of strength, the Deviljho reared, trying to bellow out one last roar of dominance and power. But all that it managed to get out was a strangled, guttural whimper.

Then the Deviljho's strength gave out, and the beast toppled, falling down into the water of the bay. It seemed to take an eternity, a beast of that size dropping down to the earth. Even on its way down, the dragon element that had blazed furiously like a mane about its skull fizzled and faded, whisking away like a cloud in the wind. Its thick, gorged muscles steamed as they seemed to deflate, the reddened flesh and hide dissipating away to the regular blackish green skin. The Deviljho's body hit the water with a powerful crack, and an enormous wave of water slammed against the shoreline from the force of its impact, uprooting several wooden pillars and poles and washing away the remains of numerous huts.

But the water began to settle, and silence filled the village. Only the quiet hissing of steam rising off the fallen monster's hot body could be heard, and the lapping of water against the half-submerged corpse of the Deviljho, and the faraway crackling of flames that had been ignited during the battle.

Then laughter could be heard; strained, painful laughter, twisted and warped by agony and madness. "I did it!" Filcher cried, pain filling his voice. "I did it! I killed it, the greatest, most terrible monster to exist! I've slain it!"

The laughter snapped Ellie out of her reverie. She realized that she'd been standing in shocked awe for… she didn't know how long. Since Marshall and Filcher had gone to battle against the Deviljho. How long had that been? A few minutes? It had felt like hours to her. The other hunters around her stood in shocked awe as well, coming out of their own stunned stupors as they looked at the fallen monstrosity in shock, and Ellie didn't blame them. Two hunters, just two, had managed to fight the Deviljho, this… World Eater, by themselves, and had managed to take it down! And Filcher…

The thought of the criminal snapped Ellie back to attention, and she urged Levin to help her over to where the man had fallen. They were not the first ones to arrive; Marshall had gotten there first, carried there by Richard and Kei, and was looking down at his former comrade with a mixed expression. Worry, anger, confusion; a myriad of feelings seemed to be swelling through Ellie's hunting master as the man cradled his shattered arm.

Filcher himself, however… Ellie cringed in horror at the sight of the man. How he had managed to kill the World Eater, and how he still managed to live, Ellie couldn't guess. Though the man's armor had been made from Deviljho materials itself, the fangs of the World Eater had ripped and punctured through the hide and scales as though it was nothing but cotton. Every limb, save for that of his right arm, was twisted and mangled, and coated in blood, both his own and that of the Deviljho's. Most of his armor was blackened and singed from the fury of the dragon element that he had been coated in, and the flesh that had been unfortunately been exposed to the pure energy looked burnt and decayed, as though the flesh had been long since dead and buried, like the slightest pressure would simply make it break apart. So much of the hammer wielder's body was charred and burned from the effects of the dragon fire, and yet somehow the man was still alive…

But Filcher's face, burned by the dragon element from the neck down, coated in dark blood that still poured from the wounds he'd received, was still grinning fiercely, and looking victorious and gloriously pleased with himself, despite his injuries. He was still clutching his black and green hammer in his hands tightly as well, gripping it fervently, desperately, greedily. Marshall looked down at the weapon, a strange look on his face, but shook his head, returning his gaze to his former comrade.

Miller and Tenebris stumbled through the rubble nearby, until they were standing next to her, and the look of revulsion on their faces at Filcher's condition mirrored Ellie's own. Some of the other hunters were working their way over as well, though many of them were making their way over towards the Deviljho, as though they weren't entirely certain that such a terrible creature was truly dead and wanted to make sure of it themselves. Ellie didn't blame them either.

Calls and shouts could be heard coming from the east. Several of the villagers were beginning to emerge into the open once more from the tunnel they'd all hidden in, now that silence covered Boma. The small cavern under the farming hill was slowly emptying out as the villagers were stepping out into the night once more, and calls of hesitant worry and more of thankful joy could be heard coming over the crackling of the flames that continued to burn throughout Boma. Many were coming over to look upon the fallen corpse of the Deviljho, though most were keeping their distance, unwilling to get close to the beast's body until they were absolutely certain that the creature was truly dead. Silas's airship was also coming down out of the clouds above as well, slowly dipping down towards the village square now that the threat of the Deviljho was gone.

"Move! Move out of my way!" a voice called over the voices of the villagers, and several stepped aside as Orson pushed his way through the crowd. The doctor seemed stunned but relieved upon laying eyes upon the hunters, shocked that there were so many of them that were still alive and standing. Upon spotting Marshall and the man's broken arm, he immediately moved to help the retired hunter.

But Marshall shook his head sternly, and motioned towards Filcher where he lay. The doctor apparently hadn't noticed the horribly injured man, because he flinched visibly at the sight of the hammer user, but quickly approached the man to treat him. His face spoke volumes however, and the look of hopelessness was clear on his face. As Orson knelt down next to Filcher though, the wounded hammer wielder chuckled painfully.

"Don't bother," he rasped. "I know when my time has come. I'm not so prideful as to think myself completely immortal."

"Don't speak, hunter," Orson chided. "I've seen Marshall come back from hunts in worse condition than you, and I've brought him back from the brink of death. I don't intend to let you die."

Again Filcher chuckled. "You're a pitiful liar, doctor. I'm as good as dead. Any other hunter would have been killed five times over after what I've gone through… but I'm still here!" The hunter laughed uproariously, raising his hammer into the air over himself and grinning wickedly. "I slew the beast that none other could! I met the most terrible creature in the world in deadly battle, and it was I that came out on top! I have met the challenge that no other hunter has managed!"

Marshall stared down at his former friend piteously as the man continued to chuckle to himself victoriously. But his strength faltered a bit, and his arm grew limp, letting the hammer fall to the earth. His fist still clung tightly to the hilt of the weapon though, refusing to release it. Marshall shook his head miserably.

"Why, Filcher?" The fallen hunter looked up at Marshall curiously. "Why was this… this creature so important to you? Why did you have to fight it so badly? You used to be such a noble man. You used to be so kind and courageous. Why did… why did you do all these things, all these crimes? You've killed men and women, both hunters and civilians alike. You became a poacher. You… you dug up master Hawke's grave and stole his weapon! Why, Filcher? What was it all worth?"

As Marshall asked the questions, Filcher seemed to deflate a little. The man suddenly began to cough painfully, and a splash of crimson blood sprayed from his mouth as he did so. Orson cursed under his breath, and tried to force a potion down the hammer wielder's throat, but Filcher brushed him away. "That's not… why would you care? It's nothing worth thinking of."

"I want to know," Marshall replied simply. "You don't have much time left, Filcher. Is it too much to ask, for you to confide in your former comrade, even here on your deathbed?" Filcher eyes grew pained at the words, and he shook his head.

"It was… it was all I had left," the dying hunter replied hoarsely. "It was the Veggie Elder. He told me… I met him once, in the Volcano hunting grounds. He claimed that I had… a destiny. He told me… he _promised _me that I would find the greatest challenge a hunter has ever faced. He _promised _me that I would fight a battle against a creature more powerful than any other. He never told me… he never told me if I would win or lose. He just told me that I would find it," Filcher's face grew hard. "I had to… I had to find it! I needed to… Hunting was my life! My entire existence! I had to be the best! Better than you! Better than Master Hawke! I wanted it, so badly, to find the fight I was told about!"

"So you turned to crime? Killing other hunters for sport?" Marshall's voice wasn't angry. He just wanted to know.

Filcher shook his head. "I thought… I was certain that the creature I would fight was sure to be the Alatreon. I knew it in my bones. It had to be the black dragon; it was the most feared, terrible beast in the country. So I tried to find some hunters that would join me… to go out and battle the most dangerous elder dragon of them all. But… the Guild found out. They stripped me of my pride, my honor, and even my right to hunt anything more dangerous than a Gobul." The man looked up at Marshall wearily. "Do you know what that's like, Marshall? To have everything that gives your life meaning stripped away?"

Marshall was quiet for a moment, before nodding. "Yes, I do."

"Ah. Yes. I'd forgotten," Filcher sighed, leaning back against the wooden frames he lay on. "It's been so long since then… It's… a bit late, but you have my condolences. When I heard, I… I wanted to come help, but the Guild… they wouldn't let me. I tried to convince them. I begged them to let me help! But… they forced me to stay in Loc Lac, even… even after your wife was killed. I couldn't help you hunt down that Lagiacrus. After that… I couldn't take it anymore. I fled Loc Lac, and the laws of the Guild, and became a fugitive."

Filcher paused for a moment, gasping in pain as Orson tried to staunch the bleeding. Ellie stared in shock down at the man. She'd always assumed that Filcher had always been the callous, sadistic person she'd always seem him as, but this…

She could tell that it was a losing battle, but Orson refused to give up. Marshall waited patiently as Filcher caught his breath, before the former criminal continued. "After that… I just couldn't give up on what the old bastard told me. It was all I had left… the promise that it was my fate to find the ultimate battle. So I wandered, searching relentlessly for a monster more powerful and dangerous than any other. The Alatreon was always on my mind, but… I began to realize that, maybe, it wasn't the Alatreon the old bastard spoke of in the first place. He never specifically named the creature, so perhaps, I thought, maybe it was something different, something even more dangerous. So I started hunting, anything and everything I could. Any monster that was unique or more powerful than usual, I went after. I couldn't keep my old hammer in shape… I needed a better one. I needed the best one! So… I traveled to master Hawke's grave. I took this hammer from his tomb, so that I would be ready when I met my destiny. I don't regret that decision! No matter… no matter how abhorrent it was…

"It wasn't until the Guild sent hunters after me to try and bring me in that I discovered something. I was… out in the wilds, tracking down some Lagiacrus eggs for some damn merchant who said he'd pay well for them. A group of four Guild rangers came down on me, wanting to bring me in." Filcher grinned viciously at the memory. "In all my years fighting wyverns and dragons and other such creatures, never had I fought such a challenging battle as that! That's when something amazing occurred to me. All the monsters that exist in this world are powerful and dangerous, but of all the creatures in the world, the most dangerous are us humans! There are so many hunters out there that have fought wyverns and elder dragons and other such beasts. We are stronger, more intelligent, and better than monsters! When the bounty hunters were defeated, lying bloody and wounded at my feet, that's when it became clear to me: the battle the Veggie Elder spoke of wasn't a monster, but another hunter. I was, once again… absolutely certain that I had found the challenge I sought."

Marshall grimaced painfully at the words. But the wounded hunter's gaze looked over towards the World Eater, and his expression grew pained and haunted, and a horrible look of guilt seemed to wash over him. "I was still so determined, so desperate to meet my destiny. More Guild hunters were sent after me, and I met them gladly, fighting and… killing them, thinking for sure that this time, this time I'd find my fate. But none of them were enough. None. I never felt… complete. I kept hunting, traveling, searching for the strongest, most powerful and skilled hunters, and dueling them to the death. But still I was unsatisfied. I needed more… something greater. I fought every deadly thing that lived and breathed, human and monster alike. I became a hit man for wealthy individuals who had grudges with powerful hunters. I threw myself against impossible odds and still came out victorious. I did everything I could to find the battle the Veggie Elder told me of. It… consumed me."

The man grew quiet again, and he turned to look sorrowfully at Marshall. "I wanted to come again, you know," Filcher said quietly. "When I heard that a Deviljho had attacked the village and killed your son and his wife. But… I couldn't bring myself to face you. I wasn't the same man I was before. I convinced myself that… that just another Deviljho wasn't worth my time, that you could deal with it yourself, if you hadn't gotten frail in your old age. But I couldn't bring myself to see you. I was… twisted, mad with desire, desperate to find my ultimate battle. I needed it. I wasn't complete until I met my destiny.

"It was only a couple years ago, when I feared I would go mad for not being able to find my fight, I met the old man, Moloch. I didn't think much of the Lost at the time, but that man… he saw right through me. He promised me… everything I ever wanted. He told me he could give me all the hunter fights I desired, and swore he could… _breed_ stronger monsters for me to fight, so long as I worked for him. He didn't ask me to do anything I hadn't done before, and his 'Coliseum' was amusing to take part in. I always had to pull my punches when I went out on those 'recruiting' missions, which was such a pain… But I truly did get the chance of fighting some truly challenging battles in that arena. I thought it would be enough. I thought I would find my true battle."

Filcher twisted his head about, looking up at Ellie and making the huntress cringe. His expression was so… miserable. "Then the girl there… she broke me," the old man said miserably. "She told me… she told me that the Veggie Elder could be wrong. She told me that everything I'd been promised, none of it was written in stone. She told me, that after everything I'd done… everything I'd fallen into… It was all… pointless.

"After that..." Filcher gasped. "There wasn't… there was so little left for me. I ran from Malefica. I needed to find the Veggie Elder. I needed to find the truth. But soon I learned that the Coliseum was gone, destroyed by your apprentices. The Guild was coming for me. I had nothing left. Nothing but the need to find my battle, if it was still there for me. In my desperation… I thought that the only possible thing left to me was to battle the only remaining hunter I could think would challenge me. I needed to kill the only man I ever considered my rival. I had to kill _you_, Marshall."

Levin gaped in surprise at the words, but Marshall simply nodded in understanding as Filcher continued. "But… ha. Wouldn't fate be so cruel? In the time it took me to travel from the ruined Coliseum to here, I arrived just in time to find this little village of yours overrun by that… that… what did that little girl call it? The World Eater? Who would've thought that such a terrible beast could exist? Isn't that twisted? If I hadn't done any of those crimes, if I had just stayed as your friend, I would've met that creature nonetheless! All those crimes, those hunters killed, were completely needless! I have done… I have done such terrible things…

"But I found it!" the man suddenly roared, laughing hysterically. "I found my ultimate battle! I found the most deadly beast in existence and slayed it with my own hand! The Veggie Elder was right after all! Victory and glory are mine! All I've done… I did what I had to in order to find my destiny!"

The man continued to laugh for another few moments, before a wave of pain washed over him, sending him into a coughing fit. Orson began cursing, trying to staunch the blood unleashed by the fit, but having trouble. As the coughing subsided, the hammer user's head leaned against the ground, staring up at the clouds of smoke and ash in the sky. But the fires were finally being beaten back and subsiding, thanks to the villagers around them, hurrying to put them out, and the stars were slowly becoming visible again though the smoke and haze. Ellie looked around, and realized that the rest of the hunters were standing about Filcher as well, all of them listening silently to the man's tale.

"I aimed too high… too high and too far, didn't I, Marshall?" Filcher's voice suddenly seemed weak, frail. "When that midget bastard told me I would fight the most glorious battle, facing the greatest challenge a hunter could ask for, I thought… I thought…"

"A lot of us have misinterpreted that old creature's words," Marshall replied somberly. He looked poignantly over at Levin and Ellie, and the pair nodded in agreement. "Perhaps you did go too far, chasing after the Alatreon. I wish you hadn't… but… I wish… I wish so many things had been different, Filcher."

"Was it enough?" Filcher's voice was growing quieter now. The blood below him was pooling together, and the flow was growing thin as he bled out. "Was it glorious, Marshall? Was it not the greatest battle in history? The most terrible beast that nature had to offer? Did I manage to find what I was looking for, a truly challenging fight that none had faced before? Will they speak of me with awe when I am gone?"

Marshall was silent for a long moment before replying. "Yes. Yes, Filcher. They… people will sing songs about this fight for centuries to come. You truly have fought the most challenging battle a hunter has ever faced. You've found what you were looking for. You've… you've faced your destiny and won."

Filcher smiled. His eye was growing dark. "Wonderful. Do you think… do you think Master Hawke would have been proud of me?"

"Without a doubt, my friend. Without a doubt."

"Good. That's… that's good," Filcher sighed. The man stared up at the sky, tired, beaten, but still smiling as the last of the fires were snuffed out, and the stars shone down on the village in their full majesty. Filcher was broken, tattered and worn, but his grip on the old hammer he carried never weakened. "That's good."

Then his one good eye dimmed, and the life and glow in them faded away. The blood from his wounds stopped flowing, and finally his dark eye closed for good. But his grip on the hammer never loosened at all, and his smile, so victorious and pleased with himself, remained on his face, even unto death. Orson continued to kneel over the man for a moment or two more, before finally looking to Marshall and shaking his head, then walking away see to the other injured.

Marshall stared down at his former hunting partner and friend for a long time. Finally, the old hammer user dropped down, seating himself on a ruined wooden plank near the man's body. "Ah, my friend, how do you to it? All these years, all the crimes you've committed, all the lives you've taken, and yet I cannot bring myself to hate you. How do you do it, living such a life, and yet you died looking so satisfied?" The hammer user shook his head, then reached over and plucked an old, ruined blanket from among the rubble, and threw it over Filcher's body. "You did well, defeating that Deviljho, Filcher. No matter what others will say of you, you truly did well. I'm sorry I don't have more time to spare for you right now, my friend, but there is still much for me to do. Goodbye, my friend, and rest well."

* * *

The next few minutes seemed to go by in a blur for Ellie. Orson immediately took hold of Marshall, the old hammer wielder's arm easily the worst injury among the hunters, or at least the worst of those that were still living. The man tried to argue, claiming he needed to see to the condition of Boma, but a sharp look from Orson cut the man's words short, and the old hammer user allowed himself to be led away. The hunters followed close behind, trailing behind as they returned towards the center of the village.

Looking around, though the hunters were surrounded by devastation, Ellie realized that, somehow, she and the others had truly managed to help Boma. Though the Deviljho had wiped out most of the northern side of the village, only about a third of Boma had been decimated by the World Eater's power, despite its size and strength. The town square was mostly in one piece, save for a few burnt walls, and everything south of it was still standing strong, undamaged. And the villagers that were reappearing from the bunker, working around the wreckage… there were so many of them, so much more than Ellie could have hoped to survive the destruction when she'd first laid eyes on the Deviljho upon arriving back in Boma Village.

There wasn't any celebrating the death of the beast, not yet. It was too soon for that. But above all, Ellie could see on the faces of the villagers that were appearing a sense of immense relief and thankfulness at their survival of the attack. Some came over to give the hunters their heartfelt thanks for saving Boma, but it was a subdued and quiet; it was still far too soon to celebrate. Most of the villagers were making their way to the northern side of town, seeking out the remains of their homes, or accompanying their unfortunate friends that had dwellings in that area. Names were called out, people in search of those that were missing or unaccounted for. Others were off to see the fallen Deviljho for themselves, curious about the creature that had destroyed their village, but most were just concerned about their friends and family.

The medical hut had been almost completely leveled during the World Eater's attack, so several of the buildings in the village square had been allocated for the injured, and numerous villagers were digging through the remains of the ruins of the medical hut in search of supplies that could be used for the injured. Orson had come for the hunters eventually, but the group of them had waved him away for the moment, insisting that the wounded villagers that had been discovered so far among the devastation be treated first. Orson had been hesitant, but at the call of one of his assistants, had been forced to return to see to the treatment of a villager that had been caught up in the Deviljho's dragon breath.

It was strange to Ellie, seeing the village like this. Everyone was busy, but it wasn't the cheery going-on like she was used to seeing. She guessed that she had missed this dreary recovery effort after the Lagiacrus' attack, due to being forced into recovery almost immediately. But the hunters seemed to be the odd ones out in this situation, the lot of them being too wounded to help, and besides, the villagers seemed to know exactly what to do and where to go in a situation like this one, and none asked the hunters for any help. Soon enough, the hunters found themselves circled together again, out of the way of the villagers as they for the airship above them to slowly spiral its way back down to the earth. Once more, the topic of their conversation returned to that which had brought them all together in the first place: the Alatreon.

"How do we hunt it now?" Kei asked, frustration clear in her voice. "The Alatreon took off running! The reason we were able to follow it last time was because it told us exactly where it was going! It hasn't told us anything now, so how are we supposed to find it?"

"It flew southeast," Miller supplied, glancing in that direction.

"That doesn't really help us all that much," Tenebris replied with a grimace. "It didn't fly straight to Boma, remember? It went straight west and then turned south once it reached the ocean. If it does something like that if we try to chase it, there's no way we're going to find it."

Ellie sighed, leaning wearily against Levin. She was still in a lot of pain since the battle had ended, though she had drunk her fair share of potions and wrapped her wounds in bandages. She had to do her best to hold on for a little while longer; once they were all aboard the airship and off again, she could get the rest she needed. Levin was in little better condition, she could tell; the switch axe wielder was breathing harshly, and his wounds were all in poor condition. He hadn't had the Dark Metal wounds on his back looked at since before they'd caught up with the Alatreon… she hoped they wouldn't be too bad when they were checked.

"We shouldn't rush into this," Richard stated from where he sat, propped up against the tilted beams of the armor outfitter. The pauldrons of his armor had finally given out, and the long sword user stood staring down at the Rathalos plating in his hands as he spoke. "Speed was a necessity for us when the Alatreon threatened to destroy this village, but now that it's out of our reach - for the moment - we can't just charge off after it. If we do, we could just as easily lose track of it as we would catch it. Besides, in our condition, we'd likely be uselessly throwing our lives away."

"We can't just sit around here, though," Tenebris replied. "Even if we don't know where it's going, if we don't get after it or try and track it, it'll just find a hiding place and heal up its wounds."

"It won't be nearly so nice if we have to fight it in peak condition again," Kai noted sourly.

"The beast is no fool. Its ability to communicate with humans is certainly proof enough of that," Harker added thoughtfully. "Should the beast be given the opportunity to recover from its wounds, there is little doubt that it will have learned from its mistakes. When it returns to enact its revenge for what we've done, the battle will not be as easy as it was before."

"I don't think we can refer to any of what's happened as 'easy', dear," Kerry pointed out. "If anything, trying to slay the Alatreon will go from immensely challenging to nearly impossible…"

"But not utterly impossible," Harker replied with a tired smirk. "A short week ago, most people, civilian and hunter alike, believed that the Alatreon was immortal. We have since proven that to be quite incorrect. The elder dragon can be bested, and now the whole country will know that."

"But that doesn't solve the issue at hand," Nox said. "How are we supposed to chase the Alatreon now?"

"On that matter: should we even chase it?" The collection looked up in surprise at the words. It was Jino that had spoken, and the man shrugged at the shocked looks he was receiving as he scratched his head. "I don't mean that we should give up or let the beast go, no, nothing like that. The Alatreon needs to be killed, no doubt about that, but look at us. We're not exactly in the greatest condition to go hunting an elder dragon, much less the most threatening creature that this country has to offer. We can't keep up this pace. Even in the state the Alatreon is in at the moment, could we really kill it in our condition? There's a lot of risk in such a plan…"

"Do we really have another choice?" Tenebris asked. "We can't simply leave the creature be, not when it's so close to death… Harker's right. The beast will learn from our last fight if we leave it alone. It was toying with us for the most part in Loc Lac, playing around as it destroyed the city, not taking us seriously until the Lost all turned on it at once. What happens when it comes for us, no holds barred and with knowledge that we actually know how to fight it?"

"We can't allow the Alatreon to recover from its wounds, we can all agree on that," Richard said, pushing himself upright. "But that doesn't mean that we'll not be able to get the rest that Jino is recommending. I agree with him on this matter: we're too weak at the moment to deal with the beast as it is. Besides, while the Alatreon is certainly not like other elder dragons, if there's something that I've heard about elder dragons, it's that they're incredibly slow at healing."

"That… that is true," Miller replied thoughtfully. "The elder dragon, Kushala Daora, in my homeland, is known to run when they are weak or tired. If they are hunted down again, even weeks or months after their last encounter, their wounds are still healing. Some say the creatures can take almost a year to recover from a truly terrible fight."

"And it's trying to run from us too," Nox said. "While we can rest and recover on the ship, the Alatreon will be spending the entire time running and wearing itself out even while it flies!"

"I think we're getting a little off topic," Kai interjected. "It doesn't really matter how quickly we chase down the Alatreon if we don't know where it's going! It won't make a difference how soon we should or shouldn't get after it if we don't know where it is or where it plans to go."

"I could track it."

The collection of hunters turned in surprise at the words, but Ellie sighed to herself. She'd figured this was coming, and looked up at Levin. Her significant other had a weary expression, but also appeared determined as well. Most of the hunters were looking at Levin with confused expressions at his words, though some looked less stunned by the words than the others, those that had become familiar enough with the hunter to have a real understanding of Levin's connection with the beast. Kerry and Harker were, of course, were completely unsurprised compared to the rest.

"What do you mean?" Tenebris asked. "It shouldn't be possible to track the Alatreon, especially through the air. I mean, I know you have… issues with the elder dragon, but how does that help us chase it down?"

Levin shook his head and sighed. "There's… more to it than that. I don't… I don't know how, but when I was in Loc Lac, I somehow figured out a way to… to look into the Alatreon's mind. It's like what it's able to do to the Lost… but I can do it back."

"How did you get an ability like that?" Jino asked warily, giving Levin a slightly uncertain look. The switch axe user lowered his eyes, staring at the ground. "Something like that isn't normal… I mean, even in the old stories you hear about all the time about elder dragons, this sort of thing seems ridiculous."

"The bond goes both ways…" Levin muttered quietly. When the hammer user frowned in confusion at the words, the switch axe user shook his head. "I've always had… issues with the Alatreon. It has a sort of… connection with the Lost, I guess, to mock them and locate them, but for some reason it decided to make me a plaything of sorts for its own amusement. It would taunt and haunt me whenever it felt the urge to. But it seems that… when the elder dragon makes a particularly powerful bond with someone, I guess it's just as easy for them to find or talk to the dragon through the bond as it is for the dragon to do so to you. The bond goes both ways."

Jino still seemed skeptical however, though Ellie didn't blame him. Even with everything that had happened to them, it wasn't a very believable thing to hear. Ellie had been with Levin since almost the start of all this trouble with the Alatreon, and even she had a hard time coming to terms with everything the elder dragon had done when it came to Levin.

But the man's expression softened, and Jino nodded. "Well, stranger things have happened, I suppose. I can't think of any myself, of course, but I'm sure they have. And there's no sense in lying about something like this at a time like now either, now is there? Give it your best shot, lad, if you really think that it'll be of some help to us."

Levin smiled slightly at the encouragement. "I hope it's that simple. If the Alatreon catches on to what I'm doing… there'll be some backlash, I have no doubt about that."

"Don't do any more than you have to, my friend," Harker said worriedly. "A direction, a point of reference, that's all we need. Any more than that is unnecessary."

"I'm not really worried about myself all that much," Levin admitted. Ellie scowled at him, and he chuckled sheepishly. "Okay, I am worried about myself, but… if the Alatreon realizes I'm searching for it, it might look into my own mind, and if it does that, it could figure out that the Deviljho is dead…"

"And if that happens, it could send another monster after us," Richard finished the thought. The hunters grimaced collectively, looking around the ruined north side of the village. "In the state we're in… if it manages to find something on par with a Gobul or worse, we'll barely have the energy to stop it."

"Can we afford not to try, though?" Kerry asked.

"No… I suppose we can't," Richard conceded.

"Be careful, Levin," Ellie said quietly.

"Right." Ellie watched nervously as Levin closed his eyes, an expression of concentration on his face. The hunters around him watched, some of them uncertain as to whether this would work or not. Levin seemed just as unsure as to whether or not this idea would work as they did, but he was trying, and that was better than any other ideas that they had. It seemed to take a painfully long time, and the hunters looked between each other worriedly every time Levin grimaced or winced from the strain. But it was over in a couple minutes as Levin opened his eyes again and let out a long sigh, before wincing slightly.

"Okay," Levin gasped, clutching his head in pain. His face had grown pale and gaunt from the effort, and the man seemed close to passing out. "I think… I think I know where it's going. I just got a glimpse, but I know which way it is. Its mind is distorted and frenzied right now, and afraid, but I saw where it was heading. I think it's heading down south towards the southern fortress… or at least the mountains in that area."

"Are you certain?" Miller asked, but Levin shook his head.

"No, not at all," the switch axe user admitted. "Trying to look into the Alatreon's mind right now is like… like trying to sail through a hurricane. It doesn't think the same way we do. It has different motivations and desires, and at the center of it all it's just a monster so it's just wired a different way altogether. But right now it's injured and panicking and trying to run away from us to get somewhere safe, so trying to figure out what it's doing and where it's going is a challenge. Even then, it knows that I can get in contact with it, so trying to reach into its mind is dangerous. When the Alatreon lashes out through the mental connection… it hits hard."

"Well don't overwork yourself, lad," Jino told him gently. "You did well, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. We need you to point us in the right direction to get after the Alatreon. As long as you can give us that, it's enough. You don't need to delve any deeper than that, especially not if the beast strikes back if you try. "

"Right…" Levin nodded. Ellie and the rest of the hunters looked at him worriedly though. The switch axe user's expression was gaunt and weary, and his breaths were long and drawn out.

Ellie looked around the hunters in the small circle. There were eleven of them still… by some strange miracle they'd all managed to survive. But they were all worse for the wear, run ragged by the battles they'd endured in the last couple of days. She wasn't the only one that was having trouble staying on her feet; most of the others were showing the wear of their fighting, with gashes and tears along their armors and their weapons dented and dulled. They all looked battered, but there were some that were worse off than the others. Nox's Baggi armor was badly torn in most places, shredded by the Deviljho's spines and talons, and Kei's Jaggi armor was in little better condition. Kai had managed to avoid getting too wounded, thanks to the time he'd spent playing his hunting horn, but his weapon appeared in dire need of maintenance, thanks to the times he'd struck the Deviljho with it. Tenebris was limping on her wounded leg again, and needed support from Miller, whose armor was badly dented from the hits he'd taken from the creature, not to mention his sword was gouged from every time he'd needed to block one of the beast's attacks. Richard's old armor was falling apart at the joints from the effort that had been exerted on them, and Jino's was little better, though his hammer was dented badly from the strikes he had dealt to the Deviljho. The gun hammer was still glowing a little from the constant attacks the man had dealt out when he was still battling.

Harker and Kerry were badly off as well. The bowgunner's Diablos armor was broken in several places, one of the two horns that wrapped over her shoulder having been shattered during the fight and fallen completely off, and her bowgun was in dire need of maintenance. Her ammunition pouch looked decidedly empty as well, and Ellie had little doubt that both she and Tenebris were in the same boat at the moment. Ellie only had about a dozen various rounds left, hardly enough to deal with the Alatreon. Not to mention Kerry looked incredibly worn out due to her efforts; the exertion she'd undergone to keep Kai alive was no small thing. Harker was surprisingly unharmed, but the man looked positively haggard, and his long sword bore countless notches and dings in it, showing how ineffectual it had been in cutting through the Deviljho's flesh.

"Ho, there, down below!" The hunters looked up as Silas' airship dipped lower towards the ground. The crew aboard were darting about, releasing air from the blimp slowly but surely as Marcus aimed the helm towards the village square. "Out o' the way now! This ship no be so easy to land, aye?"

The ship was silent, Ellie realized, save for the creaks and groans of the strain on the ship's structure. The engines were quiet, dead weight on the sides of the wooden hull. Several Lost were slung over the sides of the ship, working on the two mechanical creations, but judging from the tendrils of black smoke that trailed out from them… their condition didn't look good. The airship slowly floated to the earth, dipping low as it finally dropped close enough to the earth for several crewmen to leap out, carrying ropes with which to tie down the ship.

"What's going on?" Harker asked worriedly, approaching the ship ahead of the others. "Has something happened to the engines?"

"That creature's dragon element killed them," Calvert told him, stepping into view on the deck of the ship. "It was too much for the engines to take. We just barely managed to get up into the clouds before they died on us up there. I won't pretend to know what kind of power that dragon element is, but it cooked the internal bits and bobs inside those Lost machines. The crew is working on getting them working again, but…"

"What? No!" Levin gasped, stepping forward towards the ship. "We have to chase the Alatreon!"

"Is no good, lad," Captain Marcus replied, climbing down the ladders and looking at the switch axe user sadly. "Both o' the engines be cooked well an' good. Tha' beastie's power do no be nothing do scoff at, an' there be no escapin' the consequences of the damage, aye?"

"No! No, we need to get after it!" Levin shouted desperately. But Marcus shook his head despairingly.

"It can no be, boy. The ship, she be in no condition to fly now. An' those engines the Lost be stringin' up on the side be dead. We can no fly, lad, no like this. Battered as the Alatreon be, the ship be even slower in this state. She be runnin' hard these last few days, and the engines were cookin' hot close to burstin', black lightnin' the beast be flingin' did go an' finish the job. We no can catch the beast, not 'less we get the engines workin' right."

"Then how long will it take to fix them?"

"I no can be sure. The Lost be the ones what know the fixin's o' the machine, not I, but they be claimin' the work no be done for… a couple days? The machine no be a quick toy to be fixin', an' the dragon lightin' wreaked havoc on the inner bits."

"That's not good enough!"

"It's the best we can do, lad," Marcus replied sternly. "Don' be thinkin' I don' know the urgency o' all o' this, but we can do no better. We go without fixin' the engines, and we do be crawlin' through the skies like a crippled Peco. Tha' be little good as walkin'."

"We can't just hold still! Not right now! You have to do something! You can't just… you have to…"

Levin's words tumbled off, and the switch axe user faltered. One of his legs buckled under him, and the man toppled to his knees, taking Ellie with him as the pair fell to the ground. Ellie grunted in pain as she struck the stone street with the bruised side of her body and crumpled, unable to catch herself before finding herself lying on the ground, clutching her side in pain. Ellie heard Levin gasp a couple of times, before the switch axe user crumpled to the ground next to her, falling to the earth in a slump. There was a rush of footsteps around her, nearly drowned out by a dull throbbing sound in her ears. There were worried voices around them, and Ellie felt herself rolled gently onto her back to find Kerry looking down on her worriedly. Her friend's armor was badly damaged, and had numerous scrapes that left thin gaps in her armor, showing cut flesh beneath. Above it all, a sharp, angry voice became clear in her ears.

"…passed out," she heard Orson's voice say from nearby. "The strain was too much for him… this is not a short-term exhaustion either. What exactly have you all been doing?"

"Chasing the Alatreon," Kei replied. "We've been trying to hunt it down for almost three days now, hoping to take it out, but…"

"Damn hunters… you'll kill yourselves at this rate, the lot of you. And trying to… contact the Alatreon? I won't even pretend to understand what's going on, but that certainly can't be helping the situation." The doctor grumbled sourly, and though Ellie couldn't see Orson, she could practically feel the man's glare on her and the other hunters. "Hunt or no, Alatreon or no, you all need to slow down or you'll end up in the grave, and it won't be an elder dragon that kills you, but your own damn selves."

There were some uncomfortable murmurs around them, and Ellie tried to pull herself to a sitting position. "You keep her down!" Orson snapped, and Kerry pressed Ellie back into the dirt; though Kerry was much stronger than her, Ellie knew that she probably hadn't needed to try very hard to keep her down. "Bad as Marshall, all of you," Orson growled. "I don't know the situation… I won't even pretend to try, but I'll be damned if I let a single one of you try and leave this village anytime soon, not in this state!"

"He's right," Jino agreed with the doctor. Ellie could hear the sudden feeling of weariness in the hammer user's voice. "If we keep up at this rate, the strain will run us ragged. I've been a hunter long enough to have a feel for when it's time to slow down. If we don't rein it in a bit, the Alatreon will pick us apart, even in the wounded state it's in."

"I agree; it would also give us the time to repair our weapons and armor," Richard admitted, hefting the remains of his pauldron in his hand.

"You'll be lucky to be able to do that much before I'm done with you all," Orson replied sourly.

"Shouldn't we be getting after the Alatreon though?" Nox asked. "I mean, some time to recover would be nice, but we'll need to move quick if-"

"No!" Orson growled, cutting the hunter off. "You… you're one of the Lost, aren't you? I can tell. If you think I'm bound by some oath of kindness and compassion like the Lost doctors are subjected to, you are wrong. Let me make something clear to you, and to the rest of you hunters: you are not leaving this village until I say you can. Don't make the mistake of thinking that cannot or will not use whatever force I have to in order to make certain that you all remain within the walls of the village until I deem you worthy of leaving. I have spent the last eighteen years keeping Marshall, and more recently Levin and Ellie, from perpetuating this hunters' stupidity of leaving the hospital before they're ready. If any of you think you have a better chance of escaping me than Marshall, then you will quickly learn the dedication I adhere to. I am going to take all the time I can get to put you all back together, and if I have to use physical persuasion to do so, do not think it is beyond my ability to do so."

"If it's time you need, it looks as though you'll be getting it," Calvert told the doctor. He glanced over towards the airship with a worried expression. The sound of clanging could be heard coming from the Lost working on the ship, and a trail of smoke was drifting up from one of the massive metal machines. "The engines were fried by the Deviljho's dragon element flames. It may take a while to get them working again. Maybe two or three days… Probably more."

"Good! That will be enough, perhaps. Or at least it will give me time to make certain that those hunters who think that they can get out of receiving their full treatment will learn otherwise. Take your time with those engines then. I'll need as much time as I can get making sure these fools are ready for what's coming."

There was motion above Ellie, and Orson appeared over her, looking down worriedly at her an examining her injuries. Then he knelt, pulling a small bottle of a pale blue liquid to her lips. Ellie hesitated a short moment, looking at the man wearily, but realized that if there was something that Orson wanted her to do… she'd best do it. So she drank. Whatever it was, it had a soothing taste, but the second it touched her lips, she felt her consciousness being forced down as whatever she'd just consumed began to knock her out.

"Sleep, Ellie," the doctor told her. "You'll have plenty to do soon enough, but for now… sleep and recover. You'll need it for what's ahead."

* * *

**Author's Note: Please Review! Big thanks to Chibitiza for giving me some insight for this chapter.**

**Sorry if the locations of some of the characters are a little sporadic in this chapter. Keeping track of them all was a real trick… Like I said in the last chapter: eleven characters, never again. The next chapter will resolve that issue.**

**A lot of the battle that occurred between Marshall and Filcher and the Deviljho was heavily inspired by those players that I've met online or have seen in videos that have turned the game into a sort of science. It may seem rather unbelievable to you that something like this could happen, but I remember being incredibly impressed by a video I saw once of a group of players that were able to take down the Alatreon in Tri in about 45 seconds. They'd played together and fought the Alatreon enough times that they knew where to strike and how to strike and where the elder dragon's head would be, even before it got there. **

**Also… askdfjalskdjf Hoshi no Samidare is rumored to be getting an anime adaptation by Studio Trigger next year! Yes! One of my favorite mangas ever! I am so looking forward to this! Assuming it's more than just a rumor of course...**

**Reading: **_**Eragon**_** by Christopher Paolini, **_**Bonnouji**_** by Aki Eda  
Playing: MH3U, GTA V  
Listening: Crit Juice  
Watching: Outlaw Star, Bucket List, Up, Glove and Boots**


	49. Recovery

Recovery

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. Most of the characters in this story are mine. Many characters belong to others, as stated in previous chapters._

_Edited by: Hoenn Master96_

"So you're experienced at smithing, are you?"

"I wouldn't say that… My mother is an artisan over in Frost Town, and I've picked up some knowledge here and there during my life. I know my way around a workshop, but I'm certainly no professional. Mostly it's just enough to make sure my armor doesn't fall apart if I'm nowhere nearby a smith that knows how to fix my armor."

"It is rather… antique. I haven't seen one like it in a decade or so. I didn't think armorers made Rathalos armor like that anymore."

"They don't, unfortunately. A few of the old Wyvernian smiths can repair it, but most have moved on to more modern designs. I've considered changing to a new set myself, but this armor was inherited from my father, and I've become rather attached to it."

Levin's mind was hazy as he slipped back into consciousness. He felt groggy, and painfully tired. He could hear familiar voices talking near him, and he knew he should know who they belonged to, but in his current state, nothing seemed to register in his mind.

"You could get a design like mine."

"Your armor certainly is… unique. I recognize the belt; Deviljho material, clearly. I've seen enough of that beast's scales and hide to last a lifetime in the last couple of days. The vambraces are familiar too, Ceadeus, I think. But your jacket and pants…"

"Specially made by a member of the Lost."

"Really?"

"Indeed. I had some Deviljho hide with me a year or so ago when I was in Loc Lac… nothing as thick and sturdy as that corpse outside, but still Deviljho hide. Some Lost leatherworker caught sight of it and insisted on making something out of it. He seemed a bit… fidgety about it. Might have been the madness of his… But anyway, I didn't need the hide for anything, so I let him do what he wanted with them. Few days later, he comes back with these. Needless to say, I was surprised at his skill, and impressed with his craftsmanship. I've been wearing these ever since."

"And the sunglasses?"

"Heh, well… they have their perks, obviously. But they certainly look cool, don't they?"

"Hmm. I suppose they do."

Levin's mind swam as he opened his eyes a crack, looking up at the old wooden ceiling above him. It was familiar enough; he'd seen it countless times during his time living in Boma village as a hunting apprentice: Orson's medical hut. Slowly, Levin's memories began to filter back into his mind, and he remembered the battle with the Deviljho, following their chase of the Alatreon. They were still in Boma, despite the Alatreon having fled to the southwest. It didn't bother Levin as much as he'd thought it would, knowing that. He had thought he would be angry at not being able to chase the Alatreon yet, but… it didn't seem as dire a need as it had been before he'd lost consciousness.

But how long had he been sleeping, Levin wondered? He recalled that in the visions the Alatreon had unconsciously sent him, the beast had been forced to land and rest several times, and Levin vaguely recalled the movement of the sun and moon through the Alatreon's eyes, though the passing of time seemed to matter little to the elder dragon. If it had been very long… The feeling of urgency began to grow within Levin at the thought. Levin's eyes snapped wide open and he quickly sat up.

And then he promptly got dizzy and flopped onto his side, nearly falling off the bed.

"He's awake."

"So I see…"

Levin groaned as his vision wobbled in front of him, and he heard someone approaching him. Whoever it was, they were wearing casual clothing as opposed to hunting armor. He shook his head, forcing out the haziness in his head, before looking up and realizing that it was Jino in front of him. The older hunter was looking down on his with a thankful grin on his face. "Welcome back to the land of the living, lad. We were wondering when you'd wake up."

Levin nodded at the words, pushing himself back into an upright position, but he found himself having trouble steadying himself. He just felt so tired, and he could feel bandages wound tight around his arms and chest… As he let his vision settle, he looked around the room. He certainly wasn't the only person here. Most of the beds were filled with the injured, those that had been wounded during the World Eater's attack on the village. But a there were still some beds that were unfilled, which Levin found both stunning and relieving. The hunters had arrived at the village quickly enough to distract the beast and keep it from causing too much more damage outside of the buildings and huts it had destroyed.

Jino wasn't the only hunter there in the medical hut along with him. Richard was there as well, sitting nearby. Levin realized a moment later that he recognized the person in the bed next to him as well: it was Kerry. For a moment, Levin felt a spike of worry shoot through him, before realizing the huntress didn't appear injured in any way, and was sleeping peacefully next to him. The rest of the hunters were nowhere to be seen. They'd been alive when Levin had passed out… so where were they now?

"We're back from the docks," a familiar voice called from the entryway. Levin's eyes darted towards the door as Ellie walked into the infirmary. The huntress was wearing casual clothing like the others, and Levin could see white bandages wrapping around her torso just under her shirt. Harker was following behind her; the mad hunter had a noticeably weary look on his face. "Thanks for watching them while we were gone… The fishing boats finally managed to drag the Dragonator spear down from the south, and they've managed to beach it up by the northern bay. With all the rubble and debris in the area though, nobody's sure how we're supposed to get it-"

The huntress paused, her words cutting off as she realized Levin was sitting up. Then her eyes widened and she rushed over to the side of his bed, a look of immense relief on her face.

"Oh, thank goodness," she gasped, swinging her arms around him and pulling him into a tight hug. Levin grunted in pain from the ferocity of the sign of affection, and some of his wounds ached a bit from the force, but he ignored the pain for now, wrapping his own arms around her as well and holding her closely in return. "We were worried that trying to seek out the Alatreon in your condition had been too much for you…" the huntress muttered into his shoulder. "After you didn't wake up for so long, we thought you might have… You're a damn idiot, you know that?"

"I… what?"

Ellie pulled away and glared down at Levin angrily. "You need to stop throwing yourself into danger like this, Levin! Mercy, you've been doing this for as long as I've known you, thinking you can take more damage than you actually can get away with! I realize chasing the Alatreon might require us to take risks, but what's the point in figuring out where the Alatreon is if the attempt nearly puts you into a coma?"

"But… no, you're right. I'm sorry."

"You just act too aggressive when it comes to the Alatreon to… wait, what?" Ellie blinked in surprise at Levin's admission. "You're sorry? Really?"

Levin nodded slightly. "I'm calmer now… at least for or the moment. I don't know why, but every time I come in contact with the Alatreon through the bond, I can't think straight. I just get so… so…"

"Bloodthirsty, stubborn, and single-minded?" Ellie supplied, and Levin grimaced, but agreed. Ellie looked at him uncertainly, but soon enough her expression softened, and she smiled at him. "I suppose, considering everything the Alatreon's done to you, it's not surprising you react that way. As long as you're not going to try and force your way after the Alatreon again, that's enough. Though, you'd have to get past me first, and Orson too. Although, you'll have to be careful from now on, Levin. If we have to rely on this bond you have with the elder dragon to track it… you'll have to be careful, or you'll lose control again, or slip into unconsciousness again."

"It's an interesting effect, if you ask me," Harker noted, as the long sword user made his way to Kerry's side and sat in a chair next to her bed. Ellie shot him a withering glare and the hunter chuckled sheepishly. "Of course it's also completely detrimental and should be avoided at all costs unless absolutely necessary. Keep resting my friend, and keep the Alatreon from your thoughts for the moment. You've had plenty of sleep, but there is still some time needed for recovery."

"Speaking of which, how long have I been out of it anyway?" Levin croaked. He rubbed his throat painfully; his voice was dry and hoarse. Even talking as little as he had left him thirsty. Ellie looked at him worriedly, Harker frowned, and both Richard and Jino shared a concerned expression.

"Six days now," Ellie replied quietly. "It's evening, and tomorrow will be the seventh day since the World Eater was killed."

"Six… six days?" Levin gasped.

"You needed the rest," Jino told him. "We all did, but you were in one of the worst conditions, compared to everyone else. You were not the worst injured, compared to some, though the injuries you took during the Deviljho battle were nothing to scoff at, but compounded with your locating the Alatreon and those… _wounds _you have on your back…"

It took Levin a moment, before he remembered what Jino was talking about. The Dark Metal wounds, of course. Even just remembering the injuries make his back ache, and he reached an arm back to touch the injuries gingerly. It didn't hurt as much as it used to, which made Levin sigh in relief. The wounds he'd received in the Gullet finally seemed to be receding.

"That Orson fellow is a veritable miracle worker," Richard told him. "Any village or city would be lucky to have someone as skilled as him acting as the local doctor. Despite the wounds we all took during the fight, the man has managed to patch us up quite effectively for having such a small amount of time. Most of us are already in fighting condition already, shockingly enough. He's obviously displeased with our desire to heal quickly and get back after the Alatreon, but in the end he understands our reasons, and has done his best to get us back on our feet soon. What's more… it would seem he's moderately versed in the methods required to treat the aftereffects of Dark Metal contact."

"He is surprisingly eager to learn about Lost medicine as well," Harker said with a smirk. "I've given him what input I can offer, but he seems hesitant to fully invest in the knowledge I offer him for some reason. Perhaps once all this is over, I can return here and expand my medical knowledge by picking his brain… But he's a strange man, that doctor of yours, and coming from me, that's quite the admission."

"That he is," Levin agreed. It honestly didn't surprise him Orson knew his way around the effects of Dark Metal. Orson had always been a bit of a mystery to Levin, but the man had always been the best doctor he'd ever known, even compared to those that had treated him back in Loc Lac. "How bad were the others?" Levin asked. "I know we all looked bad, but after I passed out…"

"You weren't the only one," Jino replied. "You were simply the first to have your wounds overwhelm you, thanks to you seeking out the Alatreon. Tenebris, Kai, and Kerry all lost consciousness not long after you did, before Orson could drag us all here. The adrenaline of the battle and everything else was all that was keeping them standing upright. All of them had pushed themselves far beyond their limits, trying to keep themselves and others alive. Kai was back on his feet four days ago, but Tenebris didn't wake up until two nights ago. Nox has been helping her get back into fighting condition ever since."

"What about Kerry?" Levin asked worriedly, looking over at his friend in the next bed. "And Marshall… what about him? He almost got his arm bitten in half by the Deviljho!"

"She didn't suffer many wounds," Harker replied, looking down at the resting huntress, "at least not compared to the rest of the hunters, but she seems to have overexerted herself when she kept Kai from being crushed, putting her almost on par with your own weariness. I think the only thing that put you in worse condition than her was your effort to seek out the location of the Alatreon. She regained consciousness earlier this afternoon, and has been sliding back in and out of sleep ever since. Orson's pretty sure she's alright, and that she just needs to get some more sleep."

"That's a relief," Levin sighed.

"Indeed it is," Harker agreed with a small grin.

"As for Marshall…" Ellie said quietly. "He's been in the hospital as long as everyone else. Mel's taking care of Theo for him until he recovers, but… we haven't gotten any good word on his condition. After the World Eater died, he tried to argue that he needed to help oversee the recovery effort, but with what the Deviljho did to his arm… Orson's trying his best, but word from the nurses says he might need to have his arm amputated. At the least, even if it doesn't come to that, the arm will be crippled for the rest of his life. He probably won't be able to properly hunt ever again… But then again, this is Marshall we're talking about. The old man probably wouldn't give up hunting for real even if you made him a quadriplegic."

Levin smirked wryly at the joke, but still looked worriedly towards the far side of the room, where several tall curtains wrapped around one of the beds. He could barely see the edges of the Blue Coffin peeking out from the sides of the curtains, but the Carbalite casing that had been used to keep Marshall in check before was still, and the bars were solid and undented. It looked as though the old hammer user wasn't even trying to escape.

"The thought of losing the ability to hunt hits those that hunt rather hard," Jino said quietly. "It's hard to lose that feeling of strength, competence, and excitement so many hunters receive from years in the field, especially for men and women that have made a long career of it. To have the skill and power to challenge beasts ten times your size, and to have all that ability vanish in a single day… I've been hunting for many years, so I suppose I can relate to Marshall in some way, though he's been at it for longer than me. If I suddenly found myself in a condition like that… I'd likely be just as melancholy as him."

"He'll be alright. I'm sure of it," Ellie told him encouragingly. "He's been quiet these last few days… but this is Marshall, remember? Something like this wouldn't stop him."

Levin nodded solemnly, and then looked around. "Where is everyone else? After that battle, I don't imagine Orson would let any of us out of the medical hut."

"They're out preparing for when we resume our hunt of the Alatreon," Ellie replied, her voice grateful to change the subject. "You know how most hunters get: spend more than five days indoors and we get a bad case of cabin fever. Orson's done his best to keep everyone in line, but I guess having twelve hunters to look after was too much, even for him. He let the least injured of us out of the medical hut, provided they keep to the town square where they could have an eye kept on them. We've been helping out getting things ready to start the chase again; you know, gathering ammo, potions, materials, and things like that. We haven't been able to do much, since only Kei, Richard and Harker were let out of the hospital up until a couple days ago."

"We've all been doing what we can to prepare," Richard replied. "I'm one of the few hunters who won't seriously argue with doctors when I'm injured, it seems, so Orson's been willing to let me and some of the others help to gather materials off of the Deviljho, get all the potions and supplies we'll need, repair the airship and solidify the steel plating on its keel, and scavenge the village for the materials needed to fix up the engines. Since I have some mediocre skill in smithy work, I've been helping Silph and his apprentices patch and repair our armors as well."

"You fixed our armors?" Levin asked, surprised.

"Well… as best we could," Richard admitted sourly. "I'm no expert at smithing, so properly working with materials of the World Eater's caliber is well out of my skill range. I'm really only skilled with Rath materials and relatively common ores, since I do what I can to maintain my own inherited armor. Your local smith though, Silph, apparently has a small bit of knowledge on working with Deviljho materials."

"Really?" Levin asked, shocked. "_Silph_ knows how to work Deviljho materials? He hardly knows how to work with anything besides what we can get off local monsters…"

"He's no master smith with it, that's for certain," Richard replied, "but it's better than nothing. I'm not sure how he got the ability, but the man's been able to take some of the World Eater's hide and scales and fangs to at least work our weapons back to fighting shape. And he's also used what we've gathered to do some patchwork to our armor as well. All the tears and punctures and damage our armor received during the last few days have been sealed and smelted back together with Deviljho hide and scales. Well, almost all our armors. I don't know who made Ellie's Silver Los armor, but it's a work of _art_; it was hardly damaged at all, despite the punishment it took. If Silph or I even _tried_ to work with it, we'd just weaken it. Who made that armor for you, anyway?"

Ellie frowned and shook her head. "Um… I don't know. Tenebris had that armor made for me, so you'd have to ask her. She said she had to ask some hermit smith in the mountains to make it."

"Hmm… interesting…" Richard replied, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "Well, anyway, Kei got the most work out of anyone; that Bone armor of his just leaves too much exposed, so Silph made some makeshift mail from the scales. And we worked on your Rathian armor as well, of course."

The hammer wielder motioned to the corner of the room, and Levin realized his Rathian armor was there, propped up against the wall. The armor was still worn and beaten, but Levin could tell the green plated mail had been worked on. The punctures and dents had been smoothed out and reworked, making the armor whole and solid once more, for the most part. But the armor's right arm was a drastic change. No longer was the material made of green Rathian scales and inlaid with metal bracing, but the materials had been almost completely replaced by the dark black and green hide and scales, lined with jagged white spines that jutted out from the sides. Beside it sat Levin's switch axe. The weapon looked as though it had been almost completely re-forged, the edges were so sharp and fine-cut. Bits and pieces of Deviljho scale and talon and fang had been merged with the weapon as well, adding a rather fiendish look to the switch axe's appearance.

"Look menacing, don't they?" Jino asked with a smirk. "You'll be hard-pressed to find armor as sturdy as that, or a weapon as sharp."

"It's imperfect, however," Richard stated. "Silph did a good job for what he's capable of, but merging different materials like that takes a certain level of skill I'm almost certain nobody between here and Orage Dell possesses. Working the Deviljho materials into solid, complete armor would take time, perhaps weeks or more, longer for all eleven of us, and that's not time we have. The armor itself will hold well enough, and provide a level of protection few of our armors are capable of, and the weapon will be quite the blade against any monster… but it comes with a price."

"What kind of price?" Levin asked worriedly.

"It's a short-term fix. Most armors are built to last at least a year before needing any real maintenance, aside from working out the dings and dents and punctures you obviously receive during battle. Weapon's obviously need more than that, but are a quicker repair than armor. Silph's work will add protection and offense, certainly, but the armor and weapons will only remain solid and intact for a couple of weeks at the most, before the joints begin to detach and fall apart. The World Eater's materials are just in a class of their own. Mixing this Deviljho's materials with that of other monsters just doesn't work, not without the smithing skill of a real master artisan. And like I've said, we can't make brand new weapons or armor, not unless we stay in the village for a long time or journey up to Orage Dell and hope we can find someone there. We've done what we can, but like I said, Silph just doesn't have the skill, and neither does anyone else here. Patchwork is all we can do."

"Well, it's better than leaving an arm exposed," Levin replied. "Besides… a couple weeks might be enough if we get after the Alatreon soon."

"Don't rush yourself, Levin," Richard advised, pushing himself to his feet. "Trust me when I say the rest of us want to get after the Alatreon as much as you do, but we shouldn't leave until we're ready. Besides, I doubt Orson would let us leave if we tried. Honestly, that man should have been a hunter, or at least a combat medic. Tenebris told me she got cabin fever yesterday night and tried to go for a walk around the village… Orson dissuaded her of that. She didn't say what he did or said, but she didn't try to leave again after that until he let her this afternoon. Keep that in mind, my friend, and wait until Orson lets you go before planning when we leave. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm heading back to Silph's shop. He's supposed to begin working on Miller's armor and weapon today, and I want to see if I can do anything to help."

"I should probably head out as well," Jino told them. "I promised Marcus and Calvert I'd help the villagers drag the Dragonator lance up from the shoreline… though I'm not sure how we're going to do it. Well, we'll figure it out somehow, I'm sure. Rest up and get some food in your belly, lad. You'll need what strength you can muster when we head out again." With that, the two hunters made their way out of the hospital, heading out and leaving Ellie and Harker alone with Levin.

For a little while, the three hunters sat quietly, speaking to each other. Ellie went and found some food for Levin, which the switch axe user devoured ravenously; he hardly tasted it, he was just immensely hungry from the days he'd been unconscious. He asked about the village between bites, and both of the other hunters were willing to answer. The fires had been put out and the slow recovery had begun many days ago. Most of the dead or missing had been recovered or accounted for, and funeral pyres could be seen glowing near the body of the World Eater as the deceased were laid to rest. The final tally had been some twenty-five villagers killed during the attack or due to fatal wounds. It wasn't much, at least not compared to the numbers in could have been in a village of a couple hundred, but still the number ached painfully at Levin's mind. Ellie gave him reassuring words where she could, but he could tell she was just as distraught by it all as much as he was; some of the names she gave him were familiar to both of them. They'd both lost people they'd known in the village.

Filcher's body had yet to be dealt with though. The villagers seemed uncertain what to do with it, and seemed to be waiting for Marshall to recover and decide on how to deal with the corpse, but since Marshall was still in bad condition, there was unrest on whether to proceed without him or not. Some had even gotten word of Filcher's criminal activities from when he was still living, and that had only complicated matters, but the general consensus was still to wait for Marshall's word.

Mel had sent word to the Guild on what had happened, of course, on the fastest fishing ship the village still had available. But Orage Dell, despite being the nearest Guild hub, was many days away even using passenger ships, much less trawling vessels. It had been almost a week, and hope for aid or even a response wasn't expected or hoped for yet, not for a couple of days at least. Levin cringed to think of what might have happened if he and the other hunters hadn't decided to chase after the Alatreon, or if they hadn't managed to gain the aid of the fastest airship yet built, or if… There was just so much that had occurred to lead them to this point, and with even the slightest change in the way things had gone, Boma Village could have easily been wiped off the face of the planet before anything could have arrived to slow it down.

"What of your dreams, Levin?" Harker asked curiously, as he brushed a hand across Kerry's forehead as the huntress slept. The mad scientist had been talking to Levin constantly, but Levin could tell Harker's attention was primarily on Kerry. "You've made mention of the Alatreon pressing into your mind as you sleep before… did the beast do anything untoward while you were unconscious?"

"Well, yes, but it's nothing I haven't seen before. I don't think the beast even realized it's been contacting me through the bond," Levin replied with a rueful sigh. Some of the visions he'd seen through the bond came swimming through his memories to the surface. They were nothing special, just the creature flying or resting or cursing Levin and the other hunters that had so wounded it. But there was something… something small and nagging Levin could feel was there. It was something the Alatreon was thinking of in its moments of lucidity, when fear and anger weren't at the forefront of its mind… but what was it? Levin shook his head in frustration. "But I feel like the Alatreon is planning something."

Ellie and Harker's eyes widened fearfully, and they shared a concerned expression. "What do you mean?" Ellie asked worriedly.

"Well, I suppose planning something might be too strong a term…" Levin muttered. "But it has a… notion, an idea of some sort. Something small in the back of its mind, something like a last-ditch effort or something, some tactic it hasn't tried yet… I don't know all the details, but it seems to think it will be safe once it returns to its hiding place, and not just because nobody knows where its nest is, either."

"That… that is less than pleasant news, my friend, if you truly think it's true," Harker mumbled worriedly. "The Alatreon needs no more boons than it already possesses. If it truly has one last trick up its sleeve it can use against us… against humanity as it is, then that is certainly something that must be dealt with before the creature has the opportunity to use it against us."

"Do you know what kind of power it is it's going to try and use?" Ellie asked fearfully, but Levin shook his head once more.

"I couldn't say. The Alatreon can barely hold its own thoughts together right now, and I wasn't exactly trying to glean information from it…" Levin looked over at Ellie. "And I did promise not to take any unnecessary risks when it came to the elder dragon. I could try and find out for sure if you think it's worth it, but…"

"Don't!" Ellie said quickly, cutting him off. "Let's… let's wait hold off on that sort of thing for a while. You said you weren't certain about any of this, right? No sense in agitating yourself over something that could be nothing… And besides, you need your rest. Unless it's urgent, we shouldn't get overexcited."

"Miss Eleanor is right, but this is certainly not good, comrades," Harker muttered. "Even if it is but a suspicion, considering the circumstances, it is something we should be wary of… we'd best speak with the others about this and get their thoughts. Sitting on such information is no good, even if it is fallacy in the end. It could just be the effects of the Alatreon's growing madness, but it's still worth looking into. The others are out about the village… Perhaps we ought to-"

There was motion by the entry to the hut, and from the outside, Orson strode into the building. He seemed to be talking heatedly with a couple of young fishermen about something, and motioning poignantly to the bandages around one of their arms. But his eyes wandered for a moment, and his gaze passed over the hunters. It lingered on them for a moment, before narrowing into an angry glare. Immediately the two fishermen next to him paled and snapped their mouths shut. Without another word to the pair, Orson turned and stalked over towards them, before snapping to a halt directly in front of Levin and glowing down at the hunters.

"Don't even think about it. Any of you."

The hunters looked at each other worriedly, and Levin grinned awkwardly at the doctor. "What do you-"

"Don't start," Orson snapped, pointing accusingly at Levin. "You have that look… that _damn_ look hunters have when they think they're in good enough condition to leave a hospital without the permission of their doctors. I've seen it a hundred thousand times, and if you think I'm exaggerating, you'll find it's not so great a stretch as you might think. Perhaps you'd like to deeply reconsider your choices before you even _think_ of trying to get out of here without my permission. I'd like to think you know a little better than those other hunters how compelling I can be when it comes to keeping the infirmed where they belong, but I am not adverse to reminding you if you've forgotten."

"Um, well… actually we… I was just hoping I could…"

"Bargaining? That's rare. Perhaps you hunters aren't as foolish as I'd thought. You're actually learning, though irritatingly slowly. If only you could just follow your doctor's orders… What makes you think trying to convince me will change my mind?"

"I can try?" Levin asked in surprise, and Ellie seemed just as shocked by the information as he was. Orson scowled at their expressions.

"It's preferable to you simply leaving without my permission and inciting my ire," the doctor replied. "Of course, your chances of convincing me are abysmal, but I will not try and stop you. It's remarkably easy for me to tell you 'no'. In fact, I encourage it. I'm sure whatever contrived reasons you can come up with are immensely amusing, and I look forward to laughing at your arguments before shutting them down completely and keeping you retained here until you've fully recovered. As it should be. But please, try your hardest, if it so suits you," Orson told them, pulling a chair from nearby. "Who knows? There's a slim chance there's an argument you could come up with that might even make me contemplate letting you farther than five feet from your bed, though I wouldn't bet on it."

Orson smirked at the three hunters in amusement. "So try me. You aren't able to force your way out from under my watch. Let's see if you can talk your way out."

* * *

The evening sun was warm as Levin limped out of the medical hut. It was just starting to fade into night in the village, the sun starting to dip below the horizon, and lanterns and torches were being lit throughout the town. Levin was surprised to discover the village seemed a lot more peaceful than he could have thought it would be only six days after the near-destruction of Boma thanks to the World Eater. But the same village had been celebrating wildly only a few scant hours after the Lagiacrus he and Ellie had fought was killed almost a year ago, so he supposed it wasn't surprising. There had been no celebration this time though; Levin guessed there had just been too much damage for the villagers to feel like celebrating yet. Ellie was right there with him, making sure he wasn't overexerting himself as the pair made their way from the medical hut towards the village square. The blimp of the airship was easily visible from every corner of the village, moored in the center of Boma. Even from a distance, Levin could hear the sounds of metal clanging against metal as the repairs of the airship continued, and even the low rumbling of one of the engines revving could be heard as well, though it didn't sound nearly powerful enough to be both of the Lost-created machines.

It had taken a just under an hour of arguing and haggling with Orson to get the doctor to allow Levin to step foot out of his medical hut for a small amount of time. Or rather, it had taken about forty-five minutes of Levin and Ellie doing their best to convince Orson to let Levin out of the medical hut for a perpetually decreasing amount of time, with the doctor shooting them down every time, before Harker had stepped in to help. The next few minutes consisted of Harker and Orson arguing with each other at ever increasing speed, and much to Levin and Ellie's surprise, the long sword user actually had managed to start out-talking the doctor. Levin hadn't been sure whether or not Harker was actually winning the debate with Orson, or if he was just talking too quickly and wasn't giving Orson a chance to think of a rebuttal, and to be honest Levin completely lost track of what the two men were saying there near the end, but somehow, when Harker and Orson finished speaking, the doctor had a sour expression on his face, and Harker had somehow managed to wrangle Levin thirty minutes out in the village to 'get some fresh air and to stretch his legs' in simpler terms. Orson was clear-cut that Levin had _exactly_ thirty minutes, and not a second more; if he and Ellie were late in returning, Orson would make certain Levin wouldn't be able to use his legs to go for another walk until he'd fully recovered.

Harker had actually refrained from joining the pair as they ventured back out into Boma Village, though neither Levin nor Ellie faulted him for his decision. The long sword user seemed intent on staying close to Kerry as long as he could manage until the huntress had recovered, and that was reason enough for both of them. The bowgunner's sleep seemed to be growing less deep, so it seemed likely the huntress would awaken soon. She had even grasped hold of Harker's hand when he had place his own on hers as he sat next to her bed, so that was a good sign.

Levin wrinkled his nose a bit as they walked. A foul smell seemed to be rolling through the village, and not the regular salty smell of fish that usually worked its way through the streets and alleys thanks to all the fishing ships lining the shoreline. Ellie explained upon seeing Levin's face: apparently the smell was the bloated, rotting carcass of the World Eater, only pulled half out of the northern bay. The villagers and hunters had carved and skinned the beast for all it was worth and gathered what they could off the creature. Their haul had been impressive, but simultaneously disappointing. The creature's age and vicious nature had covered it in more wounds that any monster the hunters had ever seen, and though the creature's hide was thick and sturdy, there were actually a slim number of scales and parts that were in pristine condition on the beast's body compared to its size. And those villagers that specialized in picking apart monsters for resources, though they were working on dismantling the Deviljho around the clock, just couldn't do it fast enough. The World Eater was simply too large, and after four days half-submerged, the beast was starting to rot. The village was making one last push to get what they could from the body before they'd have to get rid of it. Word had it Mel had sent a request to the Guild in Orage to come and gather the body, but with the city being so far, if they didn't show soon, the body would simply have to be burned.

As Levin and Ellie arrived in the village square, they realized at least half of the village had to be there. Boma was larger than most villages along this part of the coast, but it still wasn't hard to fit a fair number of the villagers in the square, even with the massive hull of the airship hovering slightly, right in the center of the square. It was mostly children, older folks, and the shopkeepers that lingered about, however; it seemed most everyone else was out scouring the ruins of the north side of the village, or else simply continuing their work around the village as per usual.

Looking around, Levin managed to catch sight of most of the rest of the hunters he hadn't seen back in the medical hut, though it was a trick to spot them at first. He hadn't seen most of them without their armor, save for a scarce few, so it was easy for them to blend in with the rest of the villagers.

Kai and Kei stood out fairly well. The siblings were right next to each other, as per usual, and Levin managed to catch sight of them quickly thanks to Kai playing some music from his hunting horn in front of a crowd of children and other onlookers. The weapon's sound wasn't exactly the most gentle or soothing noise, and was easily heard over the grumbling of the airship engines as they sputtered and rolled, but those listening didn't seem to mind it. While the brother played, the sister, Kei, seemed to be passing the time telling those around her elaborate stories, earning a sour look from the corner of Kei's eyes occasionally, likely whenever the huntress told a particularly unflattering story about her sibling, pulling a laugh from the surrounding children.

Tenebris and Nox were close by, only half listening and occasionally adding to the stories Kei was so excitedly telling. Nox seemed to have taken it on himself to keep an eye on the huntress while she was recovering again, though considering the man had taken a fair beating himself, with his arms and upper chest wrapped in bandages, and judging by the amused smirk Tenebris had on her face, it could have just as easily have been the huntress that was keeping a watchful eye on the hunter. The pair was sitting in front of one of the shops, picking their way through several of the crates stacked out in front, while Nox spoke animatedly to the shopkeepers. It looked as though Tenebris was picking and choosing her way through boxes and boxes of bowgun ammunition while Nox was looking through other miscellaneous goods, like shock and pitfall traps. Guild rep Melanie was with them as well, flicking through filing and paperwork as she spoke with them, all while holding Theo, Marshall's grandson, in her arms and bobbing him about as he played with a stuffed toy.

Richard had made his way back over to Silph smithy, and was speaking with Miller out in front of the building. Both hunters, as well as Silph and his apprentices, were looking concernedly at a pile on the ground in front of them, consisting of Miller's armor and weapon. It seemed all of them were discussing the best way to repair the armor and weapon, considering only Miller knew anything about the monster which the materials had come from, and the great sword user didn't have any experience in smith work either.

Jino was standing with Captain Marcus and Calvert near the hull of the airship, looking up at the bow of the ship intently. Several other sailors were standing nearby, talking heatedly and pointing at the ship. Clearly they were trying to figure out the best way to get the Dragonator lance back to the ship, and more importantly, how to reattach the weapon to the sandship, if they could pull it off at all. They seemed to be having trouble figuring out how to do it though; there was nearly a mile of rubble and debris between the ship and the shore where the Dragonator lay waiting. Most of the rest of the crew was working on the engines across the side of the ship. One of them looked half-dismantled, as they worked on the small bits and bobs within the machine.

Silas stood aboard the deck of the ship, like some high watch preceding over the Lost crewmen. The man seemed… uncomfortable looking down on the villagers and people below. His personality and demeanor, while certainly potent in a village like Nastre where the Lost were looked down upon or feared, seemed to drastically lose their influence here, where the Lost were neither shunned nor viewed as lesser people, and were openly welcome by the villagers, especially those that had aided in the defeat of the World Eater. After all, Levin and Ellie were both well-known and respected members of Boma Village, and they were Lost. Silas' leadership over those following him had been built on his rallying them against the villagers, who looked down on them so much, but here there was nobody who hated or feared the Lost, and they were all looked upon with great respect, leaving Silas' speeches with far less impact than before.

Tenebris and Nox were the first to catch sight of Levin and Ellie, and the other bowgunner waved them over. Mel's face lit up at the sight of them, and by the time the pair made their way to the front of the shop, the Guild rep was positively glowing with excitement. "Oh, it's great to see the two of you together again! Thank goodness you're alright, Levin. I heard from Jino you had woken up, but I never imagined you'd be well enough already for Orson to let you leave the medical hut!" Levin chuckled awkwardly at the words, and Mel's eyes widened fearfully for a moment, before glaring accusingly at the pair of hunter. "You did get permission to leave didn't you? You can't just leave without permission like you did after the Lagi attack, got it?"

Ellie scoffed and pointed an accusing finger at Mel. "As I recall, it was you that convinced Levin and me to leave the infirmary in the first place, despite our injuries and despite it only having been a few hours after we'd managed to survive by the skin of our teeth, remember?"

The Guild rep blanched for a moment, before laughing sheepishly. "Erm… well, I suppose that's true…"

Levin grinned. "Don't worry, Mel. We did manage to get Orson's permission to leave. Well, sort of… as long as we're back in about twenty minutes or so."

"Twenty minutes or less," Ellie corrected nervously, looking around as though she fully expected Orson to appear out of thin air.

"What exactly are you doing?" Levin asked, motioning to the boxes and crates in front of the two hunters.

"We're gathering as much ammunition as we can," Tenebris replied, motioning to a small crate near the base of the airship. "I don't know what exactly we'll be running across once we're after the Alatreon again, so I just gathered up everything I could for myself, Ellie, and Kerry. This village had a lot more rounds than I would have given it credit for, I'll admit that much… Nastre is a bit bigger than Boma and I have to travel the next town over to stock up on ammunition."

"We're a fairly well-supplied village," Mel said with a proud smirk. "After all, a lot of the hunters that come from Orage Dell and other nearby cities to hunt in this area have to come through here to get inland, so we make sure we have everything they need. Besides, we didn't want Ellie to have to walk to the next town over to get ammunition when she was still acting as a hunter in our village."

"As for me, I'm gathering up everything else we might want," Nox told them. "Potions, bandages and splints, whetstones, antidotes, hot and cool drinks, things like that. We don't know where this wild chase of the Alatreon will take us, so I'm picking up everything I can grab that we might want or need. And traps. Lots of traps. Pitfall and shock, I'm taking as many as I can get my hands on, and making more, though those Felynes up at the farm are being stingy with their Saturnians. I thought traps would be useless at first, when this whole thing started… people always said that traps were useless to use against elder dragons, but if the Alatreon is really throwing whatever beasts and nasties that it can control at us, I'd like to be ready for them. I mean, they might not work too well if the elder dragon can summon something the same size as the World Eater, but anything else should be affected."

"How many traps have you found? Or made?" Levin asked.

"I'm up to twenty!"

"Can you even carry that many?" Ellie asked skeptically.

"Well, not all of them at once… but I can carry ten on my person if I get creative with my inventory space. I'll pass around whatever else I make to the rest of you."

"I thought that was you, Levin. What are you doing out of the hospital already?" Levin turned as Jino approached him and Ellie, followed closely behind by Calvert. "I wouldn't have thought Orson would let you out so early. Or have you snuck out when the man's back was turned? That's not such a grand idea, lad, not with a doctor like him."

Levin grimaced in irritation. "I got Orson's permission to leave the medical hut! Do I give off that sort of impression to everybody?"

"Not you in particular," Jino chuckled. "It's a failing of hunters in general, not just yourself. Few are willing to listen to their doctor's orders, even under such threats as Orson has offered us under his watch. It's always better to be sure when it comes to men and women in our particular line of work. But why bring yourself out into the village? Certainly you could wait for a day or two more before coming out into the open."

"I wanted… I wanted to see how everything was going for myself." He looked over at Calvert. "How are the repairs on the ship going?"

"We've got the engines fixed for the most part," the first mate replied with a shrug. "It certainly took far longer than we thought it would. The insides were all fried to hell and in a worse state than we'd thought, but they've been repaired to the best of our skill by now. We're still doing tests to make sure everything's in working order. Can't have the things cutting out as soon as we're airborne, now can we? The villagers here in Boma have been invaluable in helping us find and make the parts we need. It takes a lot of small but precise materials to get these things working right, and the villagers have been kind enough to gather up the metals and materials we needed, and Silph has been molding the metals into the shapes they need to be. Without their help, we'd likely be stuck here for another week. All that's left now is getting the Dragonator lance here from the shoreline, and hope we can find some way to fix it."

"What about everyone else? What's been happening since the battle?"

"Well, you can see what I've been up to," Jino replied, motioning to the airship. "I've been helping with the repair of the ship. I'm not exactly the greatest at such things, and the little bits and bobs that keep the engines running are beyond me, but I suppose the strength that comes with being a hunter has its boons when it comes to heavy labor like this. Richard's been helping Silph mold some new iron plating for the airship as well, and we've been using the extra World Eater materials to increase the defenses. At the very least we can use that Deviljho hide we collected to have some practical use, even if we can't make the best of armors from the stuff at the moment. Miller went up with the fishermen to help drag the Dragonator lance down the coastline, and has been helping the locals pick apart the World Eater's body… though who knows how much more they'll be able to get off of it before they need to burn the thing."

"That is quite the collection you've gathered," Levin admitted, looking over at the pile of scales and fangs that had been piled up near the smithy.

"Yes, enough to make a few solid weapons and armor sets, if only we had someone with the skill to make them for us," Jino replied. Then the hammer wielder shot an impish look over towards where Kai and Kei were telling stories and raised his voice a bit. "We'd have more, but a certain pair of twins kept breaking perfectly good scales and fangs with their roughshod carving techniques!"

"Shut it, old man!" Kei snapped back irritably from where she sat. Levin could tell that this had been a source of ribbing between the hunters for a while. "We don't all have a billion years of practice like you do! Besides, we were using the standard carving method the Guild endorses, so that should be good enough!"

"Yeah, yeah," Jino laughed in amusement. "True signs of a rookie hunter."

"What's wrong with the standard method of carving?" Nox asked worriedly. "That's the one I use, and it's served me well enough."

"Oh, there's nothing wrong with it," Jino admitted jovially, "but it's not meant for high-quality materials. The Guild has it written down in all their guidebooks for beginners, and it's a good way to carve for getting basic materials, but more often than not, it breaks or ruins the best, and often most sensitive, materials you find on monsters. But I suppose that's to be expected from self-taught hunters, who didn't have a hunting master to teach them a better method. But give them time; excellent carving comes from experience. How about you, Levin? Do you have any carving techniques of your own, or do you just use the standard method?"

Levin frowned concernedly. "Um, well… I just use the carving method Marshall taught me when I was his apprentice. That's the one I taught Ellie here when she started hunting too… I've never thought about comparing it with other people's techniques, really, but I haven't had too many carving issues."

"Hmm… Well, I suppose a man like Marshall would know what he was doing with his experience. But after all this is over, maybe we'll see how good you are at carving, and I'll see what sort of advice an old dog like me can impart on the younger hunters."

"I have to admit, though," Nox said quickly, aiming an amused grin in Jino's direction, "those two have quite the knack for spotting the rarer materials and getting hold of them. As I recall, a certain _hammer wielder_ completely glossed over a pair of gemstones and a few rather impressive scales along the World Eater's crown. What did you call them, 'Crooks'? And you completely missed them?"

Jino laughed sheepishly. "Ah, well, that's true enough, I suppose. Though, in my defense, those Gems were buried inside the Deviljho's belly, and that's a foulness I had no desire to explore, no matter what treasures you could find inside. And as for the head… well, considering the brutal way Filcher assaulted the creature's skull, I never expected there to be any smith-worthy scales there, or at least none that were still whole. I must admit, however, those two certainly do have an unrivaled eye for the more precious materials to be gathered."

"I suppose it's something to do with their personal lives," Tenebris noted. "We were talking to them yesterday, and they told us they send most of the money they make back home to help pay for their mother's medical expenses. I suppose they would have experience picking out the more valuable materials if they were trying to make money for such a thing. Monster materials can be quite profitable if you find the right buyer for them. Not that the Guild wouldn't buy them from you for a decent price, but if you can find a hunter that needs a particular monster carve for whatever reason…"

"I think we've all been there," Jino replied sourly. "Ah, but Levin, speaking of which… We're going to split up the spoils we manage to gather off of the Deviljho between us all, once we've gathered what we can from the beast's corpse and let the village take what they need to recover. But we've been thinking, perhaps, to give Kai and Kei the lion's share of carves and materials. Like Tenebris said, monster materials can be valuable to the right person, and if those two are in need of money like they've said, I certainly don't feel bad about parting with a good portion of my share. You don't have any problems with that, do you? We didn't want to assume-"

"No. Ah, I mean, no I don't have a problem with that," Levin replied. "Yes, they can take a larger share of the goods, if it will help them. I mean, I'll need to get some new armor eventually, considering the state of my Rathian armor, and Deviljho armor seems like a decent choice… but I can think about that kind of thing once the Alatreon's dead. Though I'm hoping to have myself some elder dragon armor when it's all said and done…"

That made Jino laugh. "Yes, I suppose you would, wouldn't you, lad? Well, I'm sure nobody would have any qualms about that, assuming there's enough left of the beast for you to get materials off of it once we're done with it. Anyway, I'm sure it shouldn't be too hard to find someone willing to purchase these Deviljho materials for a better price than the Guild. I've heard there's some weird… cultists or something that are willing to buy Deviljho materials for unsavory reasons, and they'll pay a small fortune for them."

Ellie wrinkled her nose at the words in disgust. "Where did you hear about that?"

"I've hunted more than my fair share of Deviljhos in my life, and sold a fair amount of excess goods to all sorts of folk," Jino explained with a shrug. "The Deviljho is not exactly the most revered beast in the world, and those that buy materials for reasons other than for armor and weapons usually don't do so for the most pristine reasons. I wouldn't sell them to anyone that could actually do anything sinister with the materials of course. There are no curses or dark magic in monster hide and gems; they're just getting a kick thinking they can call upon dark forces by chanting around a Deviljho Gem or something.

"But I suppose we've been getting a little off track from your original question, as to what we've been up to. Tenebris and Nox, as you can see, have been going through the village shops and picking up things we'll need for the journey and battle," Jino explained. "Tenebris, as she told you, has been gathering up ammunition for the bowgunners, and Nox has been scavenging for anything else we need."

"Yes, you hardly see the two of them apart," Mel stated poignantly. "Quite the camaraderie between the two of them. So much so that one might think there's something more between the two of them." Tenebris shot a dirty look at the Guild rep, and Nox chuckled sheepishly at the words, but Mel smirked and pretended to ignore them completely, focusing her attention on Theo.

"Oh, this is familiar," Ellie muttered sourly. "Glad I'm not on the receiving end of the Boma treatment for once…" Mel gave her a sickly sweet smile.

"Is there a way to get out of it?" Tenebris asked, frustration clear in her voice.

"If there is, I haven't figured it out. Good luck."

Jino chuckled at the conversation before continuing where he'd left off. "Thankfully the villagers have been generous in helping us out as well, gathering up whatever they can offer us for our journey, from the material these two have gathered to food and other sundries we'll need for the journey. Kai and Kei have been helping with the recovery efforts where their condition will allow them. Kai's been putting that hunting horn of his to good use; he's been playing a song to bolster strength while we work so we can move rubble out of the way easier. Kei's apparently got a bit of experience in tinkering with making flash bombs, smoke bombs and the like, so she's been helping Nox here, as well as Harker, make things the Guild and the village don't have available."

Levin sighed. "And here I've spent the entire time unconscious this whole time…"

"Don't beat yourself up about it," Tenebris told him encouragingly. "Jino might make it sound like we've all been working hard, but we've mostly been tagging behind the hard work of the villagers here in Boma. They're the ones that have been plugging along to get everything in shape again; we've just been filling the gaps that are left open. Honestly, I've spent so long in Loc Lac that I've forgotten how self-sufficient these villages really are."

"You hunters have your uses," Mel replied with a faux-pompous tone in her voice. "You're all certainly effective in getting rid of large monsters, but we villagers have long since learned that it's up to us to keep everything running smoothly, no matter what sort of disasters befall us. After all, you hunters aren't always around to chase off anything that tries to get into the village and raise some mayhem. Why do you think we went to so much trouble to dig out that tunnel under the farming village?"

"Point taken," Tenebris chuckled. "I wish the people back in Nastre were as friendly as the people here in Boma."

"Well, to be honest, a lot of people in the village are a bit… fidgety about the idea of you guys hunting the Alatreon," Mel admitted. She paused for a moment to adjust Theo in her arms; the little boy was starting to nod off, and the Guild rep leaned the boy against her so he could sleep. "I mean, you guys know all the stories about the elder dragon, I'm sure, and as a Guild rep I can recite the rules and punishments for even considering going after the Alatreon by heart, and the people here are just as fearful to calling down the ire of the elder dragon as any other village… But after hearing everything you all have gone through and everything the Alatreon's done, we all come to the silent agreement to help you all, come what may. Besides, if what Ellie's told us is correct, the Alatreon has sent not one, but two nasty creatures to destroy Boma. It's tried to kill us a couple times now, I figure we've earned the right to try and kill it right back, and damn the Guild's rules on the whole matter."

Nox smirked at the words. "Considering what the Alatreon did to Loc Lac, I imagine the Guild itself is feeling very much the same, despite them having written the rules in the first place. I'll wager money they're just as eager to get someone out there to finish the elder dragon off as we are."

"I wouldn't doubt it… But speaking of which," Levin spoke up, seeing an opportunity, "do you think we could gather everyone up? Some new information about our target has come to light, and I want to make sure everyone hears about it. It could have a prominent effect on how soon we leave Boma."

Jino frowned in concern at the words. "You're sure?" he asked, and Levin nodded in reply. The hammer wielder grimaced slightly, but accepted the words, before quickly turning to go off and gather up the other hunters in the town square. It didn't take long to gather all the hunters up. Richard and Miller were quick to ask Levin why he was about as Jino had, but Levin waved them off, choosing to wait until Kai and Kei were pulled away from their storytelling before explaining to them why he'd chosen to come out and find them. The other hunters and those nearby listened closely as Levin described what he'd felt through the bond with the Alatreon, their expressions growing clearly more and more worried with each sentence. There was unease in their eyes, as well as confusion, and Levin could tell that what he told them only left them feeling unsatisfied.

"A feeling? That's all?" Kai asked, as Levin finished speaking. "That's not much to go on."

"It's all I could get," Levin sighed. "I could get more, but I'd have to delve into the Alatreon's mind through the bond, but considering the state of the beast's mind right now, and what happened to me the last time I tried, I'm a bit… hesitant to attempt it again."

"That's fair," Tenebris replied. "But the question is: how do we respond to this information? If the Alatreon really has some last-ditch effort to escape its death it's been holding out on us, does that mean we need to move faster? We're not all in peak condition yet…"

"I think we don't have much time," Levin replied, "but we have some. That last blow with the Dragonator we struck the Alatreon with north of here has hampered its ability to fly properly, and its wounds are finally catching up with it. It's traveling much slower than before, and its injuries are forcing it to stop and rest regularly. I don't know how far it is away from wherever its nest is though, so I can't guess how much longer it will be before it reaches its final destination. It could be days or weeks… It could be hours."

"But you don't have any guesses as to what sort of power or plan the Alatreon has?" Richard asked worriedly. "Is it some hidden attack it has yet to wield against us, or… something else entirely?"

"I wish I knew," Levin replied, shaking his head. "Like I said, everything I saw was vague."

"So what do we do now that we know about it?" Kei asked. "I know we all agreed to not run off recklessly, and stick around to get some rest before chasing off after the elder dragon again, but if the Alatreon has some final concocted scheme it might use… If it's some truly dangerous ability, or worse, some power that will let it escape from us, can we afford sticking around here in Boma?"

"It's still too early to risk open battle with the Alatreon," Jino said sternly, motioning to the bandages wrapped around his body. "We're all still too battered and bruised to fight the elder dragon in our condition, no matter how much we've healed in the last six days. Even if the airship was made ready to fly in an hour and we set off immediately, the flight would only agitate our wounds, however far the Alatreon has traveled in this time."

"But can we wait for a full recovery?" Kai asked. "I mean, it could still be a couple of weeks before we're all at one hundred percent again. I know we said that elder dragons have a slow recovery time, but if the Alatreon does have something hidden away that could turn the tide in its favor, how much time can we spare, even to heal and get our strength back?"

A worried silence spread over the hunters as they paused in thought. It was a hard decision to make, choosing how to proceed with the information Levin had given them, and one that could go afoul either way, depending on the nature of whatever power the Alatreon was holding back.

"I agree with Jino," Richard said reluctantly, rubbing his chin. "We can't afford to overestimate ourselves, especially not in the condition we are in now. If we overplay our hand, so to speak, we'll be throwing our lives away. No, better to wait until we have our full strength back, I say. Though… How long that may be, I have no idea."

"I say we leave within the week, no later than seven more days," Miller said. "We've given the beast nearly a week already to run. It managed to fly from the desert to the ocean in but a few days after leaving Loc Lac. Even if it is wounded, if we give it two weeks to run away from us, we could be talking about a journey that takes us across countries or oceans, no matter the speed of the airship. And can the ship even carry us that far? And can we really ask Levin to track the Alatreon that far, especially considering how the attempts affect him?" There were some mutters of agreement around the circle of hunters, and those others like Richard and Jino seemed sour about the words, Miller's comment was hard to counter.

"Perhaps that kind of time frame is necessary," Tenebris admitted. "A week… that could be enough to recover as much as we'd need to take down the Alatreon. But I think you're forgetting we have another hurdle before that: if we want to leave, we have to get through Orson first. Do you really think that man will let us go so easily? Those of us that have tried to leave his care without permission… well, we've each only tried once, which should be enough of an example."

"Get out of the way! Where is he?" Levin winced at the sound of Orson's voice, the doctor forcing his way towards the collection of hunters.

"Speak of the devil…" Richard muttered as Orson shoved his way into the small circle of hunters. The man gave an untrusting look around the group, before pointing accusingly at Levin.

"Your time is up, Levin. You should have been back ten minutes ago," the doctor snapped sternly. "When I said thirty minutes, I meant it. I did not expect you to try and travel so far away from the medical hut, but I suppose I should have, considering the flippant nature you hunters possess. Don't expect to receive this privilege again, Levin. You're going to stay in the medical hut until I say otherwise, and no amount of quick talking from anyone is going to change that." Then the doctor seemed to notice the other hunters, or rather he seemed to realize they were all clustered together. Orson's eyes immediately narrowed untrustingly. "What's going on here? What are you all doing gathered up like this?"

"We've been having an important discussion about our hunt of the Alatreon," Richard replied cautiously. "It would seem the Alatreon… might possess some power or tactic it has not used until now, and we're worried about the implications of such a thing. We're discussing… how much longer we can afford to stay in Boma Village before we absolutely must leave and continue our chase."

Immediately Orson's eyes flared as the man scowled furiously around the collection of hunters. "Absolutely not! If you think you're going to leave this village before you have a chance to-"

"We know!" Ellie interrupted quickly, making the doctor's attention turn to her. "We know you don't want us to leave before we're ready. But if the Alatreon has some power that could give it an advantage, or worse, give it the opportunity to escape… then what's the point of everything we've done this far?"

"The point is your survival!" Orson replied. "I'm trying to keep you fools alive!"

"We know that too! But if we wait too long, the Alatreon will only come back fiercer and more deadly than before."

"We also understand we need to be in the best condition we possibly can be before we journey out after the elder dragon," Jino explained quickly. "We realize we still need to spend some time recovering before continuing our hunt for the Alatreon, and we plan to get whatever rest we need before pressing on. What we're trying to figure out is what the optimal amount of time we still need to recover without waiting too long and losing our opportunity to finish off the elder dragon. This is an opportunity we can't afford to waste. We need to heal, but we can't stick around so long that the Alatreon gets away or has time to recover its strength."

"And what makes you think I will allow you to run off after the Alatreon without my permission to leave?" Orson asked sourly. "Don't think I won't stop you from leaving this village if you try to take your leave before you're healed. When exactly were you hoping to leave my watch? Two weeks?"

The hunters looked about each other nervously. "Maybe a week at the latest?" Kei replied cautiously. "Less if we could?"

"A week? You're all mad," Orson scoffed. "I'd keep you all here for a month, if I had my way."

"And we'd accept that, had we the time," Miller replied. "But even in its state, the Alatreon is gathering distance from us with each passing day. We're afraid the Alatreon could be in an entirely different country if we wait much longer. Even the airship, as fast as it is with those Lost engines, couldn't catch the elder dragon in good time with such a lead."

"You're the doctor here, Orson. I guess if you don't want us to leave, we don't have much of a choice in the matter, do we?" Levin asked the doctor in resignation. "We'll have to leave it to you to decide when we'll be able to continue the hunt. So decide for us, Orson: when should we continue our hunt of the Alatreon?"

Orson opened his mouth, his expression irate, but he paused for a moment in thought. His expression grew conflicted, an expression Levin wasn't used to seeing on the doctor's face. Levin was honestly shocked Orson was even considering reducing the amount of time he thought they should remain in Boma. Levin had half-expected even the dire threat of the Alatreon not to faze the doctor.

Orson cursed vehemently under his breath, and glared angrily at Levin. "Five days. Five. More. Days. All of you are going to stay within the walls of this village for that long, if not within the walls of the medical hut. Five more days for me to do whatever it takes to make every single one of you battle ready for whatever's to come, and you absolutely must follow my every word so I can make sure you leave this village at the best condition I can make you. I'll let you leave six sunrises from now, and not a moment earlier, you understand?"

Levin blinked in surprise, his mouth half-open. He'd expected the need to try and argue Orson down time, but five days was completely unexpected. But even so, five days… that was far less than he'd thought they'd have to stay, but could they afford even that much time? The Alatreon could reach its safe haven by then, but it was still far, far less time than Levin had thought they would have to stay in Boma. Levin quickly nodded in agreement. "Fine. That's fine. Five days is fine."

Orson raised an eyebrow at Levin's abrupt submission. The other hunters were nodding in acquiescence at the doctor's decision as well, which only seemed to surprise Orson further. "Really? That was suspiciously easy. I would have thought you'd have argued with me to leave tomorrow."

"I said I'd leave it to you, and I'll do as I promised," Levin replied. "I'm just shocked you demanded less than a week…"

Orson shook his head. "I don't like it, let me make that clear. If I had my way, you'd be here for a month… but I do realize the urgency of the situation. Any other circumstances and you'd be here much longer than you will be. Any other creature than the Alatreon…"

"Thank you for understanding," Ellie told the man. The other hunters in the circle began to convey their thanks to the man as well, but Orson harrumphed and waved his hand at them.

"You won't be thanking me if you just get yourselves killed in your haste," the doctor replied. "Let me be clear: I'm going to have to use… uncommon methods of treatment for some of you if you're going to be leaving in just five days. We'll see how thankful you are after that." Orson redirected his attention to Levin. "As for you… Don't think I've forgotten your time limit. Back to the medical hut. Now."

Levin nodded quickly, pushing himself to his feet with a slight grimace, and saying his goodbyes to the other hunters before following Orson back across the village. The doctor quickly passed an order around the other hunters, demanding they return to the medical hut the next day for what he called 'extreme treatment' before dragging Levin away from the center of town. Ellie tagged along as well, slinging an arm around his waist to help him as they continued back to the hospital. Orson walked in front of them, scowling to himself and sparing the occasional glance back to make sure both of them were still following faithfully behind him.

"Thanks again for letting us go," Levin told the doctor as they walked. "I realize this isn't exactly what you want-"

"Don't think I don't know the severity of the situation," Orson said quietly as the three of them entered a quieter road away from the town square. "I realize the necessity of trying to kill the Alatreon, now that the opportunity has arisen to do so. I realize this is an opportunity that may not reappear for many generations, the beast weakened and fleeing. I realize the Alatreon has made humanity suffer, and it must be held accountable for its crimes. I realize the threat the beast will be now that it has been effectively challenged in battle, and now that it has been backed into a corner. I realize all of this; truly I do. However…" Orson's head dipped low towards the ground, and the doctor stared at the earth with a sad expression. "Over the many years I've been a doctor, treating hunters of all kinds, there is nothing worse than watching a hunter journey off on a hunt, to slay some dangerous beast they know will likely kill them, because they know the risk of losing their life is necessary, for the sake of sparing others."

The doctor sighed miserably. "Necessity is a disgusting word in my line of work Levin, and it pains me to hear it. Necessity turned lives into numbers and balances, and turns hunters like yourself into commodities, whose worth is calculated by how many of you it would take to kill a threat. Are the lives of eleven hunters worth the death of the Alatreon? Ask anyone in the world who's heard of the Alatreon, and they'll tell you yes, it would be worth it. They'd say it would be worth it if it was more than eleven: twenty hunters, or fifty, or even a hundred. But that's what happens when the hunters off fighting are a number, a statistic. A number doesn't have a face, a personality, or hopes and dreams. You can't be friends with a number. Saying eleven hunters is worth the death of the Alatreon is easy, until those eleven are more than just numbers to you, when they're friends and allies you've taken the time to know and care about. I'm a doctor, Levin. I try and make sure that, when a hunter returns successful from such strenuous, perilous work, I can return them to the life they had before. My line of work is meant to heal. I can't heal the dead, Levin, no matter how much I'd like to. The death of the Alatreon will mean a lot less if you and Ellie come back to Boma in coffins… if you even come back at all."

Levin kept his silence as they arrived back at the medical hut. He realized how Orson must feel, tending the wounds of hunters, only to know they'd be throwing themselves into great danger soon enough. Risking your life doing such dangerous work was one thing, but providing treatment to those that willingly risked their lives on a regular basis, just to know they'd do it again…

Before entering the medical hut, Orson turned to face the two hunters. "I won't ask you two anything foolish, like to promise you'll come back alive from all this. I know the risks, and though I am loathe admitting it, I know it truly is necessary for you two to go off on this suicide mission to slay the Alatreon. But I do ask you show the greatest caution, and try and come back alive." The man smiled sadly at them. "I expect the two of you to return to Boma with a fine story to tell, and plan to spend many more years yet getting angry at the pair of you for ignoring my orders to stay in your beds and get your rest."

Levin and Ellie looked at each other, and Ellie turned to look back at the doctor. "Well… we won't do anything foolish like promising to come back alive, but we'll do our best to make sure we return."

"And we'll give the Alatreon a hell of a fight if it thinks it can keep us from doing so," Levin added.

Orson smiled ruefully. "I would expect nothing less. Now Levin, you've exerted yourself far more than I ever should have allowed you to today, especially for only regaining consciousness a couple hours ago, not to mention I want to have a thorough look at those… wounds you have on your back. And Ellie, don't even think about helping the airship and fishing crews drag that steel monstrosity down from the northern bay. None of you hunters are to exert yourselves at all these next few days, whether it's repair work on that airship or smith work on your armors and weapons, and that's a direct order from me. The village can handle those things, and in the meantime, you're all going to spend every moment between now and when you leave recovering. Now get inside, both of you."

"Yes sir," the two hunters replied quickly, following Orson quickly into the medical hut.

* * *

**Author's Note: Please Review!**

**Oh man, oh man. Remember when I was asking about finding inspiration for a proper large monster battle for use in aiding my writing of the Alatreon fight? Turns out there's a battle with Smaug the dragon in the new Hobbit movie that's absolutely stunning, and a perfect example of what I'm looking for as inspiration for the final battle. Here's hoping I can find the scene online somewhere so I don't have to see the movie a dozen times or wait for it to come out on DVD, though I might see it two or three times in theaters anyway.**

**Also, did some heavy post-editing using a guide on the "8 words/phrases you should never use when writing." It says to be frugal with the words: suddenly, then, in order to, very/really, is/am/are, started, that, and like. I think it actually worked pretty well for me, but if any of you actually feel a difference in the writing, let me know.**

**Anyway, look forward to the next chapter! It's going to be exciting!**

**Reading: **_**Eragon**_** by Christopher Paolini  
Playing: Pokemon X, MH3U, GTA V, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, The Legend of Zelda: Windwaker HD  
Listening: Crit Juice, Welcome to Night Vale, The Sporkful, Mumford and Sons, Of Monsters and Men, Fun  
Watching: Kyokai no Kanata, The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug, Kill la Kill, Gatchaman Crowds**


	50. Sacred Land

Sacred Land

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. Most of the characters in this story are mine. Many characters belong to others, as stated in previous chapters._

_ Edited by: Hoenn Master96 _

So it was that, six mornings later, the collection of hunters finally set out again from Boma Village. The sun was just creeping over the horizon, poking over the tall trees and hills to the east as the hunters and crew made their final preparations to leave.

Levin had to admit, it had been a good idea to wait and recover. He felt far better now than he had upon wakening, and he could tell the other hunters were just as grateful for the time as well. While they all still wore bandages around their wounds under their armor, the injuries weren't bothering them like they had been before, and most were kept on simply for safety's sake. Kerry had been the last to recover fully, though it had just been the need to regain her stamina which had held her back. It had taken a couple more days of sleeping and a lot of food before the huntress was back on her feet, but after that she seemed spry and ready to go, and her considerable strength had been paramount in hauling the Dragonator lance across the village and its reinstallation into the front of the airship the previous day.

Orson hadn't lied when he'd said he would use unorthodox methods to heal the hunters in such a short time. The man had all but strapped every one of them down the day after their discussion in the village square, no matter how little they were injured. Levin hadn't paid too close of attention to what had been done to tend to them, but honestly he doubted he could've understood what Orson had done to them anyway. Herbs and medicines Levin had never seen or heard of were brought into use, concoctions he made on the fly using numerous flowers and other such things, needles and ointments… And while the while with a concerned expression, as though he only half-expected the medicines to work. Not to mention the side effects of the treatments, which often left Levin nauseated or in downright hallucinating incoherency at the worst of it. Apparently he'd gotten off easy, though, as some of the other hunters claimed to experience violent shoots of pain that left them completely depleted once they'd vanished. Their wounds were vanishing or at least mending at a remarkable rate, however, so they bore with the effects of the treatment and focused on the end goal of recovery in a few short days.

It kept Levin feeling uneasy the whole time, and hesitant to ask what the man was actually doing to them; the other hunters seemed to share his worry about everything, and the medical hut stayed in almost complete silence when Orson was doing his work. _Almost _being the key word: though the rest of the hunters kept their reticence to themselves, Harker was not so frugal with silence, and asked incessant questions about what Orson was doing and how he was doing it, and constantly cursing that he didn't have immediate access to one of his notebooks to write what he saw down. The only other person who spoke during those times was Kerry, after she'd recovered, who, despite her far more demure nature, seemed just as curious about the doctor's methods as Harker, though she was far less vocal about her interest.

They all had a couple pains which loitered at the end of it all, unfortunately, despite Orson doing his best; there simply had not been enough time for a truly full recovery. The only remaining wound on Levin's body that was truly still bothering him was the lingering aching of the Dark Metal scars on his back. The bleeding had stopped and the flesh had scabbed over before scarring horribly, but the skin on Levin's back was still in poor condition thanks to the life-draining effects of the ore. He didn't know exactly what the wound looked like, but from the look he saw on Orson and Ellie's faces when he'd received his treatments, it likely wasn't pleasant. Harker had told him though, that, while the skin had lost the blackened color, there were still black lines of frostbite spider-webbing from the center of his back. The wound wasn't debilitating, thankfully, but there was a dull throb which continued to pound along his spine.

But as long as it didn't impede his actions, Levin would carry on. The same could be said for the others. No matter what lingering pains and aches they had, they were setting out to hunt down the country's greatest threat: the elder dragon, the Alatreon.

The airship was ready as well, its engines repaired and primed and the stores filled with what goods and sundries the people of Boma Villager were able to offer. The hull had been well-fitted by the villagers with a fine new cover of steel plating created by Silph and his apprentices, and the bow of the ship was coated black, sheathed with black-and-deep-green hide of the World Eater left over from carving the mountainous beast. The Dragonator lance had been remounted into its barrel, and jutted out in front of the ship, gleaming menacingly from out of the prow.

The hunters' armors and weapons were all patched as well, to the best of the abilities of Silph and Richard. They weren't nearly so shiny and new as the iron plating lining the ship, and all of them had a darker tone to them than they'd once had, thanks to the scales and plates that had been used to stitch them together into fighting form. In all honesty, between the dark-lined armor and the weapons lined with fangs and talons from such a terrible beast, they made a menacing sort of motley crew. Of course, none of them were wearing the armors quite yet; it would take days of travel to catch the Alatreon, so the armor and weapons were stowed, and the hunters were dressed in comfortable traveling clothing the villagers had provided them.

The only weapon that was in poor condition, unfortunately, was Levin's switch axe. Oh, the blades were sharpened, yes, and the structure was as sound as Silph and Richard could get it. But the dragon phial was utterly unsalvageable. Neither of the smiths had any experience with the phials, how they managed to store energy, or whatever the glass tubes storing the volatile energies inside was made of. The phial hissed and surged wildly if activated now, and could not be controlled. But the switch axe itself would not work without the phial inside of it to move all the parts and piecing into their weapon forms. There was plenty of talk of trying to find a new weapon for Levin to use in the battle, but without a smith capable enough, and with nothing but World Eater materials about, it simply wasn't possible to create a weapon in time that could be used effectively against the elder dragon.

Levin cursed his luck for having been unable to recover his second phial from Malefica before the foul underground city had been obliterated. It seemed like it had been ages ago… Damn, but he should have grabbed a spare before leaving Loc Lac!

But, thankfully, the switch axe wasn't completely unusable. The backlash and discharge from the dragon phial only struck back at Levin or whoever was wielding the blade when the weapon was moved into sword mode. In axe mode, the phial sparked a bit as minimal energy was used to push the blades into attack position, but otherwise the tube was completely dormant, the dark energy churning inside the glass. Still there was some debate on whether Levin should risk taking the weapon into battle, even speculating whether they could have Levin use either Marshall or Filcher's hammer (that was shot down though, since Levin had no experience with using the hammer), but at the end of it, the switch axe had come with them as they prepared to leave, since they had no other options.

The villagers themselves were nearly all there to see them off, save for the injured back at the medical hut and a few children and elderly. There was no loud cheering or fare-thee-wells from anyone, and to Levin it seemed more like a military send-off, or maybe a funeral. There were quiet words, whispered wishes of good luck as the hunters passed through the square to board the ship. Up the ladder they went, onto the deck of the ship, under the eyes of the village as the engines on the ship roared to life. More well wishes and calls of luck came from the crowd as the crew prepared the airship to leave, with Marcus bellowing orders to them.

Both Levin and Ellie were shocked however, when, as the crew was revving up the engines, Marshall strode through the crowd to see them off. The old man looked far worse for the wear than Levin could have imagined, his face gaunt and pale with bags under his eyes. The retired hunter just seemed weary and weak, and was even clutching a cane in one hand to help him walk towards them. His wounded arm was bound tightly with bandages and gauze, and was pressed tight against his chest to keep him from using the appendage. Levin couldn't see the condition of the man's arm, though from what he'd heard, it might be better that way.

Orson was standing next to the old hunter, looking sour about Marshall being out of the medical hut. But he seemed to realize Marshall's need to be there, to see Levin and Ellie off. But the older hunter seemed to have trouble figuring out what to say. Marshall kept opening and closing his mouth, as though he was trying his best to force the words he wanted to say out, but they just wouldn't come to him. The engines were growing louder as they were brought to speed, and soon enough the hammer wielder's voice would be drowned out by the droning of the machines.

But the old man simply smiled, and he nodded approvingly at his two former apprentices. "I'm proud of you. Both of you! More than a hunting master ever could be!" he called out to them. "Good luck to the both of you! Come back to us with a grand story to tell!"

Both Levin and Ellie grinned at the words, and opened their mouths to reply, but at that moment, the engines reached their pitch, and whatever words they wished to say back were drowned out in the rumbling of the machines. Marshall chuckled as the pair struggled to shout over the din, but raised an arm to wave at them, a gesture soon copied by every villager in the square, shouting and waving at the hunters and crew as they prepared to leave. Levin felt his heart quaver in his chest at the sight. To have so many people rooting for them and relying on them…

At an order from Captain Marcus, the oil burners below the blimp blazed to life, filling the blimp with heat, and the hull began to groan as the ship slowly began to rise up from the earth. At first they were rising in inches, then by feet as more hot air filled the balloon above them. Soon the ship had risen over the tops of the huts, and the village was shrinking below them. Not long after they were higher than any of the trees and hills that surrounded them. Marcus spun the wheel at the helm, and the airship began to turn, until the Dragonator lance was aimed towards the southeast.

They were ready, at least as much as they could be. They had spent twelve days resting and recovering, and gathering everything they needed. They had their armors, solid once more, and their weapons, sharp and durable as they could get. They had items and food for whatever the Alatreon could throw at them. They had refurbished the airship, reinstalling the Dragonator lance, and coated the hull in armor. They had fixed the engines, and Calvert claimed the Lost machines were primed now, tested during the Alatreon chase, and now they would be able to chase the Alatreon far better than they had before.

Most importantly, they still had time. The short images coming through the bond from the Alatreon while Levin slept during recovery had revealed little to him, and Levin hadn't tried a full attempt at delving into the elder dragon's mind. But what he'd seen had been enough to guarantee that, wherever the beast was heading, it had yet to arrive at its final destination. It was getting closer, but its anticipation of arrival was growing slowly, giving Levin the suspicion they might be able to catch up before the beast could get there. The engines were back to full power and ready to run, and at the speed the Alatreon was flying, they'd be able to gain distance on it quickly.

Another bark from Marcus, and the engines roared into gear, and the airship leapt forward, launching itself through the sky. In a few moments they were well out from over Boma Village. A couple minutes after that, the ocean was fading over the horizon, and the trails of smoke from the village were disappearing out of sight. Not much later, and Boma was entirely out of sight, and all around them was forest and hills.

The final chase for the Alatreon had begun.

* * *

Of course, the chase took several days, as it had the first time.

Days and nights passed slowly for everyone aboard as time carried on. For the first couple days, they spent the entire time flying over the thick trees and hills of the western forests, slowly curving their way south and into the dense rainforests close to the Flooded Forest hunting grounds. The towering western mountain range rose out of the earth ahead to greet them, and the airship turned to follow the range down towards the southern coast. Levin still found it strange, looking down on the terrain as it passed by below them. He had gotten so used to traveling by foot or alongside wagon caravans, that having the mobility allowed by this airship seemed almost foreign to him now, despite his life as a Lost having given him those comforts back before the Alatreon put him into the blue crystal.

At least this time around the hunters and crew found better ways to amuse themselves, more than the journey from Loc Lac to Boma Village. Gone was the tension and fear which had lingered over their hearts when chasing the Alatreon the first time; they no longer had to worry over the fate of an entire village worth of people, fearing whether they'd be able to stop the destruction or even if they could arrive quickly enough to save them. There was still a need to move as quickly as they could this time of course, but it was more a feeling of determination driving them now, the desire to finish the beast once and for all, rather than the desperation to save innocent lives. There was more confidence in their tones than had been there before. This was a proper hunt, a group of hunters setting out to find and finish off a creature on the run.

There was certainly a determined anticipation and underlay of worry about their odds of survival amongst those aboard, but there was a lot more room for calm and humor than there had been. It was far easier for jokes to be told and good humor to cover the deck than before. They'd been pleasantly surprised when they'd discovered Richard and Miller had appropriated the practice weapons from the Guild booth in Boma village and brought said weapons with them on board, as well as a few new quickly-put-together blades which hadn't been available at the time. With those dull but sturdy weapons at their disposal, it wasn't uncommon for the hunters to have short sparring sessions on the deck of the ship, with the other hunters standing by and cheering or heckling, while the crewmen made wagers on who they thought would win out in the end. Soon, it wasn't uncommon to find scratches and cuts in the deck of the ship, or to find paint shot residue lingering about, thanks to the rounds of practice and training the hunters were giving themselves. Marcus and Calvert would bark at the hunters irately for slicing up the ship, but nobody really tried that hard to get the hunters to stop what they were doing. It helped keep the hunters sharp, not to mention helped them ease the cabin fever they'd all been feeling during the course of their infirm, and hadn't had time to work out of their bodies.

The only person who didn't seem to share in the sudden enthusiasm of the journey was Silas. Something about him had changed during their time in Boma Village. He'd become more silent than he had been before, and was less apt to giving out his Lost-superiority speeches like he had been. And even when he did, the crew of the ship seemed less inclined to listen. Levin didn't know what had made the man change like he had, or what was going through his mind, but perhaps his view of this world had changed, now that he had seen the kind of people there were in the world who weren't so fearful of the Lost like the people of Nastre. Levin could only guess though. It still seemed as though the man shot dirty looks at the backs of the hunters whenever he thought they weren't looking, but as long as he wasn't trying to encumber or hinder them, he could do whatever he wanted.

But though the journey was far more relaxed than the first, for Levin it was far more strenuous in certain ways. He joined in the joking and storytelling and sparring of course, but he had other duties to attend to which only he was capable of. Once every morning, early afternoon, and evening, Levin was called to the helm to perform his most important role for this hunt: seeking out the Alatreon's location like a divining rod. Though it only took maybe five minutes every time he did so, the attempts were strenuous and left Levin mentally depleted and, more often than not, extremely irate. Thankfully the others aboard the ship were generally patient with him, understanding why he experienced such extreme mood swings. The influence of the Alatreon, especially with the beast's growing madness, was only exacerbating things, however; more than once Levin nearly got into fights with the others for the most minute offenses, and would become enraged when Marcus refused his maddened orders to increase their speed, even at the risk of overheating and damaging the engines, and a couple times he had to actually be tied up and thrown into the hold until the effects of the elder dragon's influence faded.

At least the Alatreon's mental status didn't change too much during the journey, save for the beast's slow descent into full madness. Though the elder dragon had managed to gain such an incredible distance on them, carrying it countless miles away from the hunters, and despite leaving them behind with such a terrible beast as the World Eater to contend with, the elder dragon seemed paranoid the group of eleven were still coming for it. At the very least, its mind was in a state of panic, and every time Levin was forced to seek out the beast's location, the Alatreon was in no better state than before. Levin could only delve into the beast's thoughts sporadically, or risk being overwhelmed by the aftereffects of pressing into the elder dragon's mind.

But as time went on, Levin grew more and more certain the Alatreon was planning… something. Digging through the elder dragon's thoughts was too dangerous for Levin to dare risk, but Levin had been able to catch bits and pieces of the elder dragon's ideas, those the beast's sporadic mind would occasionally reveal to him. It wasn't very clear, but Levin was almost certain whatever the elder dragon was trying to do, it involved those blue crystals it had used to imprison the Lost. Levin still didn't have any precise details, but he was growing more worried with each passing hour. Nox had speculated the Alatreon might try and put them all to sleep in the blue crystals if it felt threatened, but if that was actually true, how could the hunters combat it? It had happened so suddenly to the Lost, could they even defend themselves from being enveloped in the blue stone? It was a discussion of much concern between the hunters when they tried to think up tactics to use against the elder dragon, but none knew how the blue crystals worked well enough to think of an appropriate tactic that would actually be effective, not even Harker.

It was the evening of the fourth day chasing the Alatreon, when Levin realized they were actually catching up to their prey. The feeling of the beast's connection with him was growing ever more powerful, with increasing clarity. And each attempt by Levin to glean the creature's location was growing riskier; the Alatreon was sure to sense his presence soon enough if he wasn't careful. But he was stunned at how quickly they had caught the beast. Certainly the airship was fast beyond compare to anything else built and had been flying non-stop since their departure from Boma, day and night, and the Alatreon had been wounded and was forced to stop constantly, but even so, Levin hadn't imagined they'd close in on the beast in less than a week. And just in time too, for a feeling of relief seemed to be growing in the Alatreon's mind. The creature had to be close to its nesting ground. Levin didn't hesitate to tell the others of his discovery, and the feeling of tension aboard the airship could be felt growing as word spread through the crew.

"So where exactly are we now?" Levin asked, looking over the edge of the ship. They were still trailing southeast along the western mountain range, and they'd long since left behind the western forests as the terrain below grew more rocky and uneven. Trees and foliage were scarce as they entered drier climes, and grasslands stretched to the south as far as the eye could see, unbroken save by the occasional pond or trickling stream. The sun was dipping low below the horizon behind them, painting the sky a deep red.

"We're close to the southern gulf," Calvert replied, pulling a map out and holding it down for those around to see. "Thankfully, the Alatreon's path led us around the southern archipelago, and north of the fortress. We have enough to worry about right now without having to fear being accosted by whatever nasty flying wyverns the Guild is keeping penned in that hellhole. But I fear Miller's assumption might prove true: We're getting close to passing into another country. If the Alatreon keeps going east for another hundred miles, we'll have followed it right into Gahiji."

"The last thing we need right now is an international incident," Richard grumbled. "If the Alatreon makes a mess there thanks to a fight we started, it may not go over well with the locals. Relations with the Hunter's Guild in that country are a bit… tricky, from what I've heard. I've only seen the border cities once or twice, myself."

"Are they truly so bad?" Ellie asked in confusion. She looked over at the other hunters, specifically Miller. "I mean, we have Miller with us… wouldn't things be fine?"

Both Miller and Richard shook their heads, though. "I'm not from Gahiji, I'm from the Schrade region," Miller explained. "I'm sure my countrymen would be ready and willing to aid in the battle, were we to chase the Alatreon that far… mercy knows hunters there have had to fight elder dragons of our own. But Schrade is far to the northeast, beyond the eastern strait, much too far away if the beast feels like it's getting close to its nest. We have good relations with this country, but…"

"Gahiji just has an altogether different culture," Richard told them. "The people there are friendly enough when you're just visiting their border towns, but they really don't like foreign hunters working within their territory. It's some… cultural difference in the ways each country's Guild works. They have strange rules about hunting, or at least, strange compared to ours. I can't say I know the details of their regulations, but if a hunter follows a monster into Gahiji and kills it within their borders, at least without giving their Guild proper notice, it always causes some political tension."

Ellie grimaced at the words. "And if we were to chase an _elder dragon _into the country and kill it…"

"Then killing the Alatreon wouldn't be the least of our problems," Richard replied. "They're watchful of people crossing their borders, and this airship isn't exactly subtle. And considering the state of Loc Lac, our Guild… might not be quick to call or ransom for our release if the Gahiji Guild decides to arrest us."

"We'll just have to overtake it or hope it lands before then," Nox said simply. "We don't need to drag anyone else into this battle if we don't have to, especially if it means inciting problems with another country. In its condition, if we do manage to overtake the creature before it gets to the border, do you think we could force it out of the air with a Dragonator strike, to fight it out on land? Or would bowgun fire be enough?"

"It's hard to tell," Tenebris replied. "Levin's been claiming the Alatreon is badly wounded and weary from running, but who knows what kind of power it still has under its belt even now? This is an elder dragon we're talking about, after all. I mean, if you get us close, we three bowgunners could pelt its wings with explosives and bring it down. Its wings aren't in the greatest condition."

"We absolutely have to go for the wings before anything else," Ellie said resolutely. "Even being as damaged as it is, the Alatreon can just move too quickly. The next time we meet up with it, we have to make sure we stop it from being able to fly."

"Agreed," Richard replied with a nod. "Above all else, we have to make sure we stop it from continuing to run from us. We need to have a final battle with it and _guarantee _it's our final battle with it. No more retreating for it or us, or distractions from the beast. We have to make sure we finish it off for good this time."

"Well, best do what you can to prepare for an aerial battle then," Calvert told them. "And best be ready for swimming as well: if we catch it before noon tomorrow, it looks as though we'll be meeting up with the beast over water. This airship is a fine machine in the sky, and was made from a sturdy sandship, but I doubt it will do so well in the water."

"I hate underwater fights," Kai muttered sourly.

"There are few hunters who truly enjoy hunting in the deeps," Jino chuckled. "I can count those I've met that do on two hands. There's a few villages along the coast where hunters specialize in it, but other than that, the numbers are slim. But if that's what this battle calls for, best prepare to get your ears wet, boy. Take pleasure in knowing the Alatreon will find itself in the same sour circumstances if that's how the cards fall, and I doubt the beast is built for swimming as well as we are."

"Yeah, but you don't have to try and play a hunting horn filled with water," Kai replied irritably. "It's hard enough getting these to work like you want them to with air filling the insides. Compound the water with needing to peel off your air philter before being able to play, and you got the biggest pain in the butt ever!"

"Hmm… I suppose you may have a point there," Jino admitted, obviously suppressing a chuckle at the thought.

"I've got a question…" Kei asked with a fearful note in her voice. "What happens… what do we do if, when we catch up to the Alatreon, the beast happens to be flying over a village or town?" A painful hush fell over the hunters at the implication. "I mean… Boma was lucky to have that bunker they'd dug out to hide in when the World Eater attacked, but do other villages have the same kind of preparations ready just in case?"

"Then we be doin' what need doin', aye?" Marcus said sternly. "We'll smash the Dragonator into the beastie and drag it 'cross the earth if it needs done to kill it 'fore it kills innocent folk. May splinter the ship to bits, o' course, hitting the thing so hard… But one smashed ship be worth the lives o' a village." Silas scowled irritably at the words, but couldn't open his mouth to dispute what the Captain was saying.

"And if it summons another monstrosity to distract us?" Kai asked. "Another… World Eater, or something just as big or nasty? Do we stop again to save the village, or do we keep chasing after the Alatreon? Are we going to have to stop and save every single village that comes under attack? I know it's the right thing to do, and our duty as hunters, but…"

There was another minute of silence before anyone spoke up again. They all realized the unspoken implications: either they'd do what they knew was right, and stop to help those who needed it, or they'd keep to their task and the greater good, and continue to chase the Alatreon. The group looked between each other uncomfortably; none of them wanted to have to make the hard decision for them.

"I suggest we get some sleep," Miller told the other hunters. The last glimmers of the sun were fading beyond the horizon to the west, and stars were beginning to flicker to life in the sky above them. "There's no sense in thinking things like this over any further than we already have, speculating and troubling ourselves over things that may or may not become an issue. Let us try to stay positive for now, and let us deal with the harshness of our situation when the time comes. It would seem tomorrow is the fated day we finally catch up to the Alatreon, whatever battleground that may be. Let's get what rest we can tonight; it may be the last decent rest we can get. There will be time enough to speculate our attack strategy in the morning, once we know better at what time we will catch the Alatreon."

"Agreed," Harker replied. "Poor rest is hardly constructive in battle. I realize that… _anticipation _of what is to come might make sleeping a challenge, it would be better to try than not."

"So be it," Richard agreed with a nod. "Get some rations from the lower deck, and let's all get some sleep. Tomorrow's looking to be the big day. We'd best be as ready for it as we can be."

It was a bit before anyone made any motion to leave, though. The nervousness they'd all been feeling seemed to weigh down on them in a moment, as they realized that, should things run foul, this could be the last sleep some of them would ever get. For several minutes, silence covered the deck of the ship, and only the rumbling of the engines, the creak of the hull, and the whistling of the wind could be heard. Kai and Kei were the first to move, wandering slowly towards the lower decks.

"Ah, I'm hardly tired at all," Jino suddenly grumbled, as the hunters began to break away, catching the attention of those nearby. "I could use a drink or two to help me sleep… Shame the Deviljho obliterated what beer and ales Boma had in its possession, though I'm sure the villagers could have used a drink more than us." Then the hammer turned a thoughtful eye towards Harker. "Hey there, lad… You're the one who likes to play around with chemicals and such, right? What are the odds of you brewing me up a drink in the next couple hours?"

Harker's frowned and scratched his head, contemplating. "Well, admittedly, alcohols are not beyond my expertise, but even had I the materials required, it would take at least five days to ferment something into beer, or at least something capable of inducing the same effects. I offer no guarantees on taste…" But his eyes gleamed excitedly, and an enthusiastic, mad grin split across his face. "However… I do have a couple phials of Deviljho saliva in my satchel down below, and have discovered the secretion has… interesting properties. I'm sure I could whip up something using it as a base, though I can't guarantee the results will have similar effects to alcohol. But if you'll agree to be a guinea pig for me to-"

The long sword user sputtered off as Kerry whapped him in the back of the head irritably. "_No_, Harker." Harker opened his mouth to argue, but a sharp look from the bowgunner cut him off, and the man chuckled sheepishly.

Jino smiled at the display, and sighed with false sorrow. "A shame I couldn't get that drink… well, can't blame a man for trying I suppose."

Harker perked up at the words. "Well, if you're still interested after all this is over-"

"I said no, Harker!" Kerry groaned, grabbing the long sword wielder's arm and dragging him towards the lower decks. "You're going to bed, before you get any other bright ideas that could end up burning a hole in the hull of the ship or worse…"

"Surely it wouldn't-"

"Oh, don't give me that! I studied the saliva too, remember, Harker? And more carefully than you, it seems!" Kerry huffed. "We both know a single drop of the stuff is volatile enough to sear a hole straight through the ship, wood and iron alike. Honestly… how'd you even manage to smuggle phials of it onto the ship without me knowing? And for that matter… how'd you even manage to find something that could hold it?"

"Ah, erm… I, ah, actually had to borrow some materials to…" The rest of the long sword user's words faded away, however, as Kerry dragged him below deck, much to the amusement of those around them. There was a silent sigh of relief around the deck of the ship, and it felt as though the tension they had been feeling had been eased somewhat.

The rest of the hunters didn't leave all at once; some weren't tired yet, some were still too edgy at the moment to feel like sleeping quite yet, some had other things they wanted to accomplish before resigning themselves to sleep quite yet. Ellie turned to make her way towards the lower decks, but stopped when she realized Levin wasn't following.

"You coming?" she asked worriedly.

"Soon enough," Levin replied with a reassuring smile. "You go on ahead. I'll be right down in a moment."

Ellie continued to stare at Levin for a moment, but eventually nodded, making her way below deck towards the cabins. Levin watched her go until she was out of sight, before turning towards the east and staring out in front of them. He could almost feel the Alatreon's presence pulling him. Tomorrow would be the day they caught the beast, and they would have to kill it, no matter where they met the beast in battle.

Now all they would need to do was survive, and that would be easier said than done…

* * *

The lower decks were dark as Levin worked his way down below to the berth, the pale light of the moon creeping through the portholes the only light available. The sun had gone down a couple hours ago, and the night crew had long since woken and come above up to take their places on deck as their journey east continued onwards. The hunters aboard the deck had stayed on deck for a good amount of time after that, but soon enough even they began to leave one by one, making their way below to get what sleep they could, before the impending battle which surely awaited them the next day.

Levin was the last to go down, his own tension and worries keeping him awake. But as the moon glowed brightly down onto the airship, he knew he'd need his sleep just as much as the others. He made only one last stop by the helm, to seek out the Alatreon through the bond and give Calvert one more path adjustment, before heading down below. He passed Silas on the way down, and the man nodded solemnly at him; the owner of the ship kept to himself for the most part during the journey, standing off to the side and speaking only when spoken to. He'd hardly seemed to sleep at all, even compared to the hunters, as on edge as they were. But Levin quickly forgot about the man, his own thoughts keeping him occupied as he entered the bunks below.

The sound of dull snoring could be heard coming from several directions, but it was drowned out by a dull humming reverberating through the hull, thanks to the Lost engines, filling the cabin with a low, hypnotic, thrumming tone that rattled anything small enough to be affected by the shivering of the ship. It was fairly snug down below; so much room below deck had been taken up thanks to the Dragonator lance and all the machinery surrounding it, not to mention the foodstuffs, sundries, ammunition and other hunting goods, the sleeping room was rather tight. All of the beds and hammocks were occupied by either the ship's day crew or the hunters, and several were even sleeping on the floor of the cabin, blankets wrapped around them as they wedged themselves up against the wooden hull.

Fortunately though, Levin had access to one of the bunks lining the walls of the cabin. He crept to the left, careful not to step on anyone, and did his best to avoid the armor pieces and knick-knacks that skittered around the floor as the airship leaned to and fro on the cradle of the wind. It didn't take him long to reach his bunk, even in the dark, and he quickly stripped down to his sleepwear, trying his best to avoid making noise.

The glow of the moon brightened the room for a moment as the moon passed out from behind a cloud, and the glow of the satellite filtered through the porthole. Levin caught sight of the next bed over, where Harker and Kerry shared a cot. The red-headed huntress had a veritable vice-grip around Harker's chest as she clung to him. Harker's arms were just as intertwined as Kerry's, and the long sword user had a peaceful, comfortable look on his face as he slept, an incredibly rare expression on such an excitable man. The sight made Levin smirk; if only there were more ways to keep his friend as calm as he was now…

He finished dressing down to his sleeping clothes and cautiously reached for his bunk, feeling around to make sure he wasn't about to throw himself onto the floor before crawling cautiously onto the thin mattress and grabbing hold of the woolen blanket he used. As he pulled the blanket over him, he could feel a pair of arms slide around his torso and pull him closer to the wall, holding him tight. Levin only took the time to finish adjusting the blanket before pulling his own arms around the smaller form he shared a bunk with.

"You're late," he heard Ellie's voice murmur quietly into his ear. "You need sleep, Levin. Especially at a time like this…"

"I know, I know," Levin sighed. "I just… couldn't seem to get tired."

The two of them had been sharing a bed since they'd left Boma Village, taking comfort next to each other at night. There had been some joking from the others of course, and pokes of fun, but it was something that didn't bother either of them, and they didn't apologize for it. The first night leaving Boma made them realize how long it had been since they'd been able to find relief in each other's presence during the night. Of course they had been separated during their time in Boma Village during their recovery, and even during the chase from Loc Lac to the coast, when Levin's Dark Metal wounds were too agitated for him to do anything but sleep by himself. But even before then, the last time they'd been able to share a bed like this had been when they'd been in Nastre, after the death of the Silver Rathalos. Since then they'd been forced into accompanying a caravan south, before getting captured, taken to, and escaping from Malefica, followed by Levin's time in the Gullet, and the Alatreon's assault of Loc Lac.

So, needless to say, when they'd been figuring out sleeping arrangements, the pair had immediately volunteered to share a bed. There had been a short bit false contesting on their reasoning, both of the hunters claiming it was primarily for the sake of saving space so not so many people would be on the floor. But they weren't really trying to be convincing, and nobody was fooled, and nobody really made a big deal out of it, save for some good-natured ribbing from some of the others. Harker had volunteered to 'save space' with Kerry as well at the time, and though Kerry had sputtered a bit at the words, the long sword user had not even bothered to try and give an excuse.

So every night, Levin would find himself in the darkness of the cabin, clutching tightly to the woman he loved, taking comfort in her warmth and the beating of her heart as the pair of them drifted off to sleep.

"Do you think we're ready?" Levin opened his eyes a crack at the question. He could just see Ellie's eyes glittering slightly in the dim light of the moon filtering into the ship. Her green eyes were filled with worry and fear. "Do you really think we're ready for this battle? Do you really think we can win?"

"A little late in the game to be thinking such unconfident thoughts, isn't it?" Levin asked, chuckling lightly with a sardonic smirk, and Ellie huffed slightly. But her expression grew despondent, and she buried her face into Levin's chest.

"Not all of us are as confident as we let on, Levin…"

"I know," Levin replied sadly. "We're all trying to present ourselves as courageous and indomitable, but…"

"We're afraid of what's coming," Ellie finished. "We're afraid we're not strong enough, or skilled enough, or even lucky enough to survive. We're afraid of what will happen to us… or worse, what we'll have to sacrifice." Her grip around him tightened. "I don't want anyone else to have to suffer for all of this. I don't want to lose anyone, Levin. I don't want to lose _you_. We've both gone through so much pain and struggle to get this far… it would just be too painful if there were losses so close to the end."

Levin sighed, sliding a hand through Ellie's hair as he held her. He'd been thinking similar thoughts the entire journey. It seemed like things were weighing in their favor now, with the Alatreon wounded and on the run, and them mostly recovered and ready to fight. But the other hunters, and hell, even Silas, had been right: there was nothing more dangerous than a cornered animal. The Alatreon's attack on Loc Lac had been an assault the beast had done laughing and toying around with its attacks. Only near the end, when they'd fought it in the Loc Lac square had it let loose on them, taking them seriously. How well would they fare when the beast came at them hard from the start? The thought some of them could die bit at Levin's mind.

"Sometimes… sometimes I wish you'd never met me," Levin muttered. He felt Ellie tense at the words, and sighed. "It's not that I don't want you around… no, not that, never that. It's just… if you hadn't met me… you wouldn't have to have gotten involved in all of this danger, in all of this Alatreon business. You wouldn't have gotten caught up everything that's happened to us… because of me. Malefica, Pugnax, getting into trouble with the Guild… And what happens after this all, even if we win? I broke the Guild laws and incited the Alatreon. People are dead because of me. You had to fake your death to get out of going to prison. All because of me… because of my actions and the choices I've made.

"But at the same time… Ellie, my life would be so much worse without you. I can't even pretend I could have come this far without you. If it hadn't been for you… if you hadn't been there, I would have gone mad long ago. You've saved me and pulled me out of darkness more times than I remember… Ha. You were the one who finished off the Lagiacrus, remember? The beast probably would've killed me back then, and none of the rest of it would have made a difference. You've done so much for me, and with me, more than I could've ever asked of you or anyone else.

"I don't want you to be in danger, Ellie, fighting the Alatreon with me. But at the same time I want you there, because I trust you and I know you deserve to fight and kill the elder dragon as much as the rest of us. I have no _right _to try and keep you from fighting, none at all." Levin buried his face into Ellie's shoulder as he pulled Ellie closer to him, feeling the warmth of his beloved lying next to him. "I want you to be able to fight, to do what you know and feel you have to, but at the same time I don't want you to be hurt. It's a contradiction, and I know it's completely absurd to think both will be possible. Maybe I'm just being selfish… Is that wrong of me?"

Ellie sighed. "No… not at all, Levin. I'm the same as you. All of us here are like that, selfish and greedy. We want to bear the burdens and pains of this fight on our own. We want to be able to carry out this hunt, and slay the Alatreon without risk to anyone else. I would do it. If I thought I could kill the Alatreon without anyone else, without you or Kerry or Harker or any of the others, I'd do it. I'd leave everyone behind and go off to fight it on my lonesome. I'd do it… and I'd do it for you, Levin. I want you free on the Alatreon. I want it to suffer and die for everything it's done, to me and to the world. I want to be able to get rid of it once and for all, and I don't want to put you or anyone else into the line of fire to do it. But we can't. We can't do it by ourselves Levin, not you or me or any of us. We all have to do this together. It's the only way we can win against a monster like this.

"You said your life would be much worse if I hadn't met you. Do you think it'd be any different for me? Don't you remember what I was like when we met? Angry, murderous, and stubborn… you had Marshall to pull you out of all of that, but if I hadn't met you… who's to say I wouldn't have become a poacher in the end, trying to kill all the monsters I could manage to? Who's to say… who's to say if I hadn't met you, I wouldn't have stayed in Loc Lac and been recruited by Moloch, off to kill all the monsters I could? If you hadn't helped me see that monsters didn't all deserve to die… a place like that might have appealed to me."

"You wouldn't-" Levin tried to argue, but Ellie put a finger to his lips and smiled ruefully.

"You can't be sure of that, Levin. Neither of us can be sure of anything. You say you would have descended into madness without me, so I could've just as easily fallen to crime. I wouldn't even have considered it criminal, killing all those monsters. I would have considered it a public service to the world, damn what the Guild rules were. I… would have been uncomfortable about the kidnapping and the murder, but if it meant I could kill all the monsters I was able to… Levin, I was a cold, callous person because of this madness we've been ingrained with. If I hadn't met you, I would still be that horrible person."

Levin sighed as Ellie wrapped her arms around him again. "The madness made horrible people of us, didn't it?"

"The _Alatreon _made horrible people of us," Ellie corrected. "It turned us… and all the Lost, into hateful, angry, desperate people, bent on revenge and finding a home that's no longer there for us. Our world is gone, Levin. But that doesn't mean we can't keep going. People may not like the Lost, but we can work around that. We can make things better for ourselves."

"That sounds surprisingly optimistic, considering everything that's happened to us in the last couple years."

"Maybe so… but maybe now that there's a chance for us to kill the Alatreon and get our lives back together, there's something out there to be optimistic about." Ellie sighed, leaning her head against Levin's chest. "We'll fight the Alatreon tomorrow, and we'll win. We'll do it together: you, me, Kerry, Harker, and everyone else. I know it. And after that…"

"After that?" Levin asked. He hadn't thought about what he would do with his life once the Alatreon was dead and gone. He could almost feel Ellie's lips curving into a smile in the dark.

"After that… after that, we make a new life for ourselves. One the Alatreon won't be able to take away from us ever again."

Levin grinned wistfully at the words. "I like the sound of that."

"I thought you might," Ellie replied, before nuzzling up closer to him and yawning tiredly. "Now let's get some sleep, Levin, while we still can."

"As you wish, Miss Ellie. As you wish."

* * *

Morning came too quickly, for everyone aboard. The sun was shining brightly on the horizon as the airship pressed east, as the night crew went to bed, and the day crew and hunters emerged once more on the deck. During the night, their path had carried the ship over the water of a wide bay of water which stretched to the south, and the glow of the sun shimmered brightly along the surface of the clear waters. Towering peaks and perilous cliffs rose up from the water to the north of them, and there was little sign of life or foliage anywhere, only jagged mountains.

This morning, Levin had no need to actively try to ascertain the direction the Alatreon was. The bond between him and the creature had grown even stronger during the night, showing how close they were to catching up with the beast, and even in his sleep Levin had been able to see the creature's path. The elder dragon had curved to the north east of here, someplace where the mountains dipped down and turned into dry flatlands, and was heading inland towards what Levin believed to be its final destination. Sure enough, as noon came, and the sun lingered high in the sky, the mountains abruptly cut off, dipping down into low, rocky lands covered in yellow grass and few trees. The airship turned north, and soon they were once again sailing over land.

"I know this land," Richard said in surprise, as the hunters looked over the side of the ship. "These flatlands are just to the south of Frost Town… and the Volcano hunting region. This in the southern trade route out of the country. I've done escort jobs for caravans through this area. Have we really traveled so far in such a short time?"

"Could the Alatreon be heading to the Volcano?" Kai asked. "Do you think that's where its nest is?"

"I suppose it's possible, but the Volcano hunting grounds are a popular hunting area, especially with higher-ranked hunters. But to do something like that would take an insurmountable amount of pride and ego to think you could get away with for so long."

"This is the Alatreon we're talking about," Kerry noted. "Pride and ego is something it seems to have in spades. And if that is its nest, then it really has gotten away with it for that long. But I don't see how it could have nested there without someone having learned of its existence sooner or later. Where would it even have been able to hide?"

Richard frowned worriedly at the words, contemplating something. But he didn't respond, and for a while, the ship carried on in silence.

On the horizon a dark tower began to grow on the horizon, the Volcano hunting ground seeming to rise out of the earth as the airship sailed towards it. It was the last of the peaks connected to the long mountain range the ship had been following since nearly the start of the journey, and towered into the sky like a jagged beacon, glowing red and yellow along its crest from the intense heat of the magma constantly pouring down its sides. Above the mountain, the menacing cloud of ash and smoke eternally hovering over the peak churned and boiled, glowing with an eerie red light from within, giving the mountain the appearance of a great tree of death, with the ash glowing with embers as dew on leaves. As the airship approached, the ship slowly began to pull to the east, preparing to circle around the side of the peak.

"Levin, lad!" Marcus called from the helm. "I do fear we be needin' your guidance, but once more. If the beastie be close as ye do fear, we'd best be learnin' its location proper, aye?"

Levin nodded quickly, making his way up to the helm. Ellie followed him, her worry clear on her face as he prepared to dive into the bond. He gave her an encouraging smile, before grabbing hold of a nearby railing and closing his eyes, allowing himself to connect with the Alatreon through the bond the elder dragon had created.

It was an odd feeling, to lurch his way into the Alatreon's mind. The feeling of the wind on his face vanished to be replaced by flashes of the beast's thoughts, fiery and enraged, its anger still burning hatefully despite it being over two weeks since the beast had fled from Boma Village to seek out its nest. Not only that, but Levin could feel an immense heat coating the Alatreon, wherever the beast was. There were flickers of light which slowly began to grow in Levin's mind, until they bloomed fully into a clear vision of what the Alatreon was seeing through its own eyes. This was rare; Levin had to be closing in on the beast for so pure of an image to come through the bond. It was hard to see where exactly the elder dragon was, but what caught Levin off guard was that the Alatreon was sweeping quickly to the ground. Levin had to hold down a gasp as the beast crashed into the earth, landing roughly on dark slab of rocky terrain. The beast dipped a bit, its feet nearly giving out from under it before it managed to push itself upright again.

Levin waited patiently, hoping the Alatreon would look around or give him some other way of knowing where it was. For some reason the beast looking around always helped Levin get a lock on the elder dragon's location. He could always get a basic direction, but Marcus seemed to like more accurate descriptions when Levin could manage it. But the beast didn't offer him that much, and simply allowed its head to droop wearily before beginning to walk forward, along some path that it knew was there.

But he caught a glimmer of the Alatreon's thoughts. An image of the blue crystals flickered through the elder dragon's thoughts for a moment. Without thinking, Levin leapt on the idea, eager to try and learn what the Alatreon was plotting. But he delved too deep, and the Alatreon's head snapped up as the connection brushed against the elder dragon's mind, and the beast's eyes darted around fearfully, uncertainty in the creature's mind. Levin cringed at the risk of being caught and severed the connection through the bond, flinging himself back to reality on the airship. But not before taking one last glance through the Alatreon's eyes…

Ellie was staring at him worriedly as he opened his eyes again. He gasped for air as the feeling of his own flesh and blood came back to him, and the last tethers of the bond began to fade. He could feel the Alatreon trying figure out what had happened, but the beast hadn't seemed to realize Levin had been able to seek it out through the connection. Levin could sense where the Alatreon was now, thanks to the last thing the elder dragon had seen before the connection was cut: a seemingly endless river of magma. The Alatreon's very existence pulled at him for a few moments, aiming directly towards the elder dragon, and Levin's eyes darted to the north.

"It's up there," he announced, pointing at the swirling clouds of smoke and ash spiraling around the peak of the mountain. "It's at the peak of the Volcano. That's where the Alatreon is, and that's where its nest is."

Marcus nodded, and a moment later the airship had turned to aim at the peak of the mountain, slowly gaining altitude as the engines carried it up towards the spiraling ash clouds spilling from the peak of the Volcano.

"This is bad…" Levin heard Richard mutter in resignation. "It figures we'd have to go up there…"

"What's up there?" Levin asked, and Richard gazed into the black ceiling of smoke and ash with a look of both fear and determination.

"It's called… it's called the Sacred Land. It's an old name, and nobody really remembers the origin of the title. When I realized how close we were to the Volcano, I thought the Alatreon might be heading there, but I was hoping it wouldn't. The hunting grounds technically cover the entire Volcano, but Guild rules for the area mandates that nobody is allowed to travel beyond the ash clouds. That's just high enough to get to the Agnaktor nest residing at one of the highest points, but beyond that… Some hunters are brave or curious enough to venture into the clouds in search of the Volcano's peak, but those who do, never return."

"Isn't that a little suspicious?" Kai asked.

"Of course it is," Richard replied seriously. "But like I said, anyone who enters doesn't come out. I've heard of hunters going through those clouds in small armies and never being heard from again. Some of the most accomplished hunters I've ever known, striding in and disappearing forever. Pilots of airships have even tried to fly high over the Volcano, in hopes of looking down on the terrain below to see what mysteries the smoke and ash hide, but every ship that had tried has met the same fate as the hunters who walked up through their own power did. For the longest time, it's been believed the land up there is a nesting ground for only the most powerful monsters, like the lands beyond the fortresses. Once every couple years, a powerful monster will come down from inside the ash; an Agnaktor or an Uragaan or the like. And every time a monster comes from the smoke, it's power is horrifying, on par with lesser elder dragons, and only hunters having earned a six-star ranking or higher are capable enough to challenge them."

"And with the Alatreon's ability to control monsters," Harker said thoughtfully, "it would seem we may have to contend with more than just the elder dragon once we get through those ash clouds. I doubt the elder dragon will not throw those beasts it can get hold of at us if it will keep us from chasing after it and finishing it off." The other hunters winced fearfully at the words, and looked nervously up towards the clouds above them.

"I suppose now that we know the Alatreon's nest is here, those 'disappearances' make all the more sense," Miller said solemnly, and Richard nodded in agreement.

"Yes, they certainly do. A creature like this, as ruthless and intelligent as it is, would do whatever it took to maintain the secrecy of its hiding place, no matter how many lives it cost."

"And we're flying straight into it, aren't we?" Kei asked.

"We are," Levin answered. "That's where the Alatreon is… that's where we have to go."

The long sword huntress frowned fearfully, before putting on an expectant grin. "Well, we've already done the impossible a few times already in the last couple weeks. What's once more to add to the list?"

"Well said, lass," Jino told the huntress with a smirk. "That's the kind of attitude we'll need to get through all this. You heard them, Marcus. Let's get up into those clouds."

Marcus nodded at the words, and barked an order to the crew. A moment later, the burners blazed to life, and hot air poured into the balloon. The airship shivered for a moment, and slowly began to rise, sliding up into the smoke and ash above them. The smog swelled around the blimp, and Levin winced as the black and grey smoke washed over him, enveloping the airship. He could hear some people around him coughing, but kept his eyes shut to keep the smoke out of them. It took several long seconds, then the air seemed to grow clean again, and Levin dared to open his eyes. He realized they'd somehow passed through the clouds of ash already.

He was amazed at what lay before them. Levin had been expecting them to have lifted above the clouds, placing them in the clear skies over the smoke of the volcano. But instead, they found themselves in darkness. The air was clear about them, though they'd passed through the ceiling of smoke and ash swirling below them; Levin could see the smoke churning below them. But at the same time, there was another layer of ash billowing above them, pouring out of the Volcano's peak. Levin realized they were inside an enormous, hollow sphere of ash and smoke, with the volcano continuing to pump out a constant stream of it skyward, where it split apart, spiraling outwards and sweeping down in a wide arc before looping around and swelling into the lower cloud, creating the ashen barriers the airship had just broken through. And in the center of it all, lighting up the darkness of the smoke orb, was the peak of the Volcano, glowing brightly from the tens of thousands of tons of magma spewing forth from the pinnacle, coating the entire sphere in a devilish red and yellow light.

"Fascinating," Harker whispered in awe. "Utterly and completely impossible, according to the laws of physics, but fascinating, nonetheless… How does such a thing like this happen?"

"They say elder dragons have powers which put them on the same level as forces of nature…" Tenebris said thoughtfully, looking around at the smoke orb blotting out the sky. "Jhen Mohran are said to kick up sandstorms in their wake. There's some… wind dragon off to the east that's supposed to be able to be able to kick up rain and thunderstorms, and even small tornados. Perhaps this is yet another ability the Alatreon possesses, some control over storms…"

"So it creates a massive wall of smoke and ash to keep people from seeing it up here, then kills anyone bold enough or curious enough to enter," Miller murmured. "Cold and calculated."

"Perhaps the creature isn't as confident in its strength as we thought it was," Kerry speculated. She earned some odd looks from some of the others, and she shrugged in embarrassment under the scrutiny. "Erm… well, I mean, it's going to such lengths to hide its nest. It always seemed so confident in itself and its power, even before we fought it in Loc Lac, and yet it goes to such great lengths to hide its nest, its resting place from the rest of the world? Why would it bother if it was so sure of itself? If it thought it was immortal, why would it care if humanity knew where it slept?"

"An interesting thought," Harker muttered. "Another idea is that, perhaps, it gives the beast some kind of tactical advantage."

"What kind of tactical advantage?" Ellie asked worriedly, and Harker motioned widely to the ash walls around them.

"This is a beast which can force changes on the weather to create a hideaway within the core of a Volcano! Were it I who had such power at my disposal, I would use such strength to retain control over the area I'd claimed as my own. A blinding wall of smoke and ash? Surely the Alatreon wouldn't simply go to such lengths to merely make itself a hiding place would it? Surely it would have something more dangerous at its disposal than that?"

"Then we'd best be careful," Richard said worriedly. "The Alatreon is wounded, but this is its home territory. The Volcano area is dangerous enough as it is, and there could be numerous powerful monsters on par with the World Eater about which it can call on; and if Harker is correct, the beast could have a few tricks up its sleeves we haven't even seen yet. We need to be ready for anything."

"Keep a weather eye out!" Calvert shouted from the helm. "We're only a couple hours behind the Alatreon, if Levin's searching is any indication, the creature is close by! Spread out and keep your eyes open! I want us to catch sight of the beast long before it catches sight of us!"

The hunters and crew nodded, spreading out along the deck and scanning over the edge of the ship in search of their prey. The airship swept low along the volcano, sweeping along the south side towards the western face. It was a challenge to see much of anything, due to the glow of the lava and clouds of ash swelling up from below, all while jets of flame and plumes of magma burst into the sky, practically licking the hull of the ship. Not that there was much to see; there was little more along the peak of the Volcano than the constant stream of lava perpetually pumping from the top of the mountain. Every now and then, a rocky protrusion pierced out, but it was rarely anything big enough to be the Alatreon's nest.

"There it is!" Kai shouted from the front of the ship. Immediately the hunters leapt to the side of the ship, following the hunting horn wielder's directions. Below them, a wide lava flow poured down the side of the volcano, before dropping down through the ash cloud. But along the western face of the mountain, a massive rock outcropping burst forth from the earth, forcing the magma to slide around it and creating a large blackened precipice that crept and wove up the side of the volcano a few miles, up towards the peak in a crooked path. The rocks hissed and steamed from the heat, but had yet to succumb to the overbearing inferno of the magma.

And there at the base of the rocky outcropping was the Alatreon. The elder dragon was walking slowly along the craggy path in front of it, its chest heaving as the beast gasped for breath. It looked in just as poor condition as Levin remembered the beast being, though the wounds and gashes that had lined the creature's body had since scabbed and scarred over, leaving sickly red and purple lines crawling across the beast. The Alatreon's wings were even more damaged than they had been before, thanks to the tears it had received from the Dragonator, as well as the additional strain it had put on its wings during the long flight it had taken just to get here. Both appendages were hanging limply, crumpled up and drooping low to the ground. Lightning and dragon element voltage still jumped across the creature's body as it made its way along the path, dragging itself up the rocks towards the top of the volcano.

However, the beast cocked its head as the airship soared towards it, its pointed ears picking up the sound of the airship's engines. Its serpentine neck twisted around as it searched around for the source of the noise, before its tired red eyes caught sight of the airship soaring through the air towards it. At first it didn't do anything at all, the beast appearing to have trouble even understanding what it seeing coming towards it. Then its eyes widened in horror, and lightning jumped across its horns as flames jumped from its mouth when the Alatreon reeled in shock. Levin felt the creature's bond reach out, pressing into the minds of the hunters; the connection was tenuous and unsteady, proving just how depleted the Alatreon really was.

**No! No! You cannot be here! You went to fight the ravenous one! She should have killed you! She should have devoured you all! Damn you! Damn you all! Why won't you just die, already?**

"Your World Eater is dead," Levin muttered quietly. His voice could barely be heard over the rumbling of the engines and the dull roar of the volcano, but through the bond, his words reached the Alatreon loud and clear, and the elder dragon reeled in horror. For good measure, he sent a frail image through the bond, his memory of the mountainous Deviljho in its death throes, before the colossal creature collapse. Of course he left out the information that Filcher and Marshall had been the ones to truly bring the World Eater down, but the Alatreon didn't need to have that knowledge. "It's just you now, dragon. Now stop running!"

**No! No, damn you! Do not think I will just lay down and let you assault me further!** The elder dragon seethed viciously, and the elements it controlled danced wildly along its body with no rhyme or reason. **This is my realm you have so precariously followed me into! This is my domain, and it is mine to control! If you will not fall to my power or to the fangs of those I control, then I will burn you alive in the fires of this mountain! **

The Alatreon screeched, and reared its head back. The dragon element surged about its body, and flames licked the edges of the beast's mouth. The beast squealed painfully as its elements roared out of control, but a moment later, the dark lightning and burning flames fizzled away to be replaced by frigid white mist in the back of the Alatreon's throat. Marcus began shouting at the crew to prepare to dodge out of the way of the elder dragon's ice spears, but the Alatreon did not fire on the ship. Instead, the beast unleashed a massive column of hissing white frigidity straight into the sky. The icy mist rocketed upward, twisting through the air like a pale twister, before piercing through the upper cloud layer and swelling into the churning ash clouds above them. For a moment, nothing happened, but the thick black clouds began to shimmer and glow from some inner light. Swaths of white haze began to spread through the ash and clouds like a twisted, writhing spider web.

"What is it doing?" Miller shouted, but none could answer him, and all aboard braced themselves, not knowing what to expect.

His answer came soon enough, however, when a massive white object streaked past the portside of the ship, making Kerry yelp in surprise as whatever it was nearly smashed into the ship only a couple feet away from her. Another seared past the ship near the helm, and Captain Marcus cursed harshly, spinning the wheel to pull the ship out of the way. But it was a pointless effort. As Levin looked around, he realized many more of the white objects were falling around the ship in a massive area surrounding the column of frigid air the Alatreon continued to pump into the clouds. They were ice spears, he realized, falling like hail from the sky one after the other and dropping to the earth, either shattering across the sparse rocky terrain or splashing into the lava river and hissing away in a burst of steam. And the white tendrils were spreading. More and more ice spears were falling in a wider and wider range. Soon the assault would cover the entire peak of the Volcano.

Marcus made the ship dance in the air, the engines roaring as the captain tried to keep the airship out from underneath the dropping ice spears. But there was no rhyme or reason to the falling shards, and each bob in the air was just as likely to swing them into the path of one as it was to pull them out of the way. The ship shuddered and shook as the jagged ice spears smashed and shattered against the side of the ship, making everything jolt wildly. And still the Alatreon continued to spray the white column of ice into the air.

The elder dragon's torrent of ice wasn't to last though, and with a screech from the beast, the ice leaping from its gullet suddenly sputtered away and died, to be replaced by a guttural roar as the ice was replaced by a jumping jet of fire which jolted and flickered sporadically as the Alatreon tried to pull its elemental powers under control. There was some relieved laughter across the deck for a moment; they'd managed to outlast the creature's attack.

But before the laughter could die away, a horrifying shredding sound ripped across the deck of the ship. There was a flash of white, and a one of the massive white ice spears tore through the blimp above them before dropping down and smashing into the bow of the ship, splintering apart a massive hole into the deck. Another was close behind it, shredding through the balloon and piercing into the middle of the deck, nearly impaling Jino where he stood, had the man been standing only a few feet to his right. The ship dipped, its nose aiming precariously toward the ground for a moment before bobbing back up, but a wave of hot air washed across the deck of the ship from above as the holes torn in the balloon stretched and ripping, shredding the cloth blimp apart up the side. Those aboard watched in horror as the balloon began to wrinkle and collapse as the precious hot air keeping them aloft quickly whooshed from inside.

The ship began to fall. A floating sensation filled Levin's chest as the nose of the ship once again dipped towards the earth, and the ship quickly began to lose altitude. The river of magma rose into view in front of them as the airship plummeted earthward, towards the rocky protrusion that sprouted up from the Volcano. "Brace yourselves!" Marcus roared, as the earth swept up to meet them.

With a jolt and a crunch, the bow of the airship smashed into the rocky earth, and all aboard were thrown off their feet to the deck. Levin tried to get up quickly, but before he could he was abruptly pressed back down as the bulky weight of the ship's cloth balloon fell over the deck, empty of its hot air and pushing him back down; cries of shock and frustration could be heard, muffled through the material, showing that the others on deck were caught up in the same mess. Below him, the hull of the ship screeched and groaned as timber splintered and metal tore and bent, while the Deviljho hide at the hull released sickly tearing sounds as the rocks and boulders tore into it. The ship bucked and rattled as the sandship ground against the terrain, slamming left and right with every rock and boulder that stood in their way and sent them bumping back and forth. Levin could feel the hull being dented and punctured with every jolt of the ship.

The grinding and sliding of the airship across the rocks seemed to last forever, and Levin's heart clenched with dread with each passing second. He could feel the heat of the volcano around them, the lava boiling and churning as it rolled slowly down the mountain, and he feared every moment that the next jostling of the ship would be the last push to send them careening over the edge of the rocky ledge and into the magma. Levin didn't know whether to be grateful or to curse the fact that the torn balloon draped over them, blocking their view completely of where they were and how far – or close – they were to the boiling magma.

Suddenly there was a loud cracking noise, a terrible shattering, and the airship jerked to an abrupt halt, sending Levin sliding across the deck and tangling up in the balloon cloth. The hull of the ship groaned and shivered, before settling to a full stop, the deck tilting slightly to the side.

Levin held his breath for a moment. They didn't seem to have fallen into the lava around them, and it didn't smell like anything was burning… yet. He could hear the sound of movement, dulled through the thick cloth of the blimp, and pushed himself back to his feet, eager to learn where they'd stopped, and in how bad of a situation they were in. It took some work and fumbling about, but Levin managed to find his way over to the starboard side of the ship and pull himself free from under the balloon, gasping for air. He winced immediately at the heat, covering his mouth and coughing from the scalding heat of the Volcano, before looking around to figure out their condition.

The boat was still on the rocky terrain, and not in the lava; that was a good start. The engines on the sides of the ship had stalled, and were sputtering uselessly at the moment, but still seemed to be in working order. The hull itself seemed to still be in one piece, but judging from the sounds he'd heard earlier, Levin was fearful to see what kind of damage there was to the ship's integrity once he got to the ground. As for the bow of the ship, Levin frowned at the sight awaiting him: they hadn't smashed into the rocks as much as he'd feared, but the Dragonator lance had pierced right into a tall rock wall which sprung up from the earth, and the thick metal spear seemed well and thoroughly wedged into the stone, keeping the ship from tilting over, as it were.

Other hunters and crewmen were emerging from under the cloth flaps, looking around to assess the damage for themselves. Many were coughing and hissing in pain from the immense heat around them, and Levin didn't blame them. His armor was the only thing making the intensity of the area even slightly bearable to him; they'd all have to dive into the supplies and gather up cool drinks if they didn't want to wither away under the intensity of this heat… assuming the bottles hadn't all shattered due to their rough landing.

But before any of them could do anything, a loud, cacophonous noise rolled over the deck of the ship, overpowering even the rumbling of the Volcano erupting. It was Kai's hunting horn, Levin realized, playing its strange music. In just a few moments, Levin could feel the heat of the Volcano beginning to fade away a little bit, becoming far more bearable than it had been before. As the song continued, the effect grew until it hardly felt as though there was any heat in the air at all, little worse thanthe temperate climate back in Boma Village. Several sighs of relief could be heard from the other hunters and the crew, glad they wouldn't have to suffer the heat until the Cool Drinks had been dug up from below deck.

But another sound, just barely heard over Kai's playing, caught Levin's attention: the rumbling galloping of a monster's feet. The Alatreon! He turned to look up the side of the mountain, bracing himself for the worst, but was surprised to find the elder dragon was not running towards the ship to finish the hunters, but rather away from it, up the path and towards the peak of the mountain. The beast wasn't even glancing back at them, and hurried through a wide rocky crevice leading through a towering stone cliff wall. The beast squealed as its frantic rush sent it clipping a wall, smashing the rock and sending a rain of stones and small boulders raining to the ground, but the beast didn't slow at all, gasping wildly with flames licking it's lips as it continued to flee, vanishing around a corner a moment later. Levin could still feel the remnants of the beast's emotions sifting through the bond just before the creature vanished: the Alatreon was afraid, more so now than it had even been before.

Some low grumbling and complaining could be heard, as well as a few moans of pain as those below deck came up to see what was going on, and those above began to scrounge about to determine the extent of the damage they had taken thanks to the crash. Silas appeared from below as well, scowling angrily about at the destruction which had befallen his airship. Meanwhile, the hunters leapt from the deck striding out onto the rock flat to get a better look at their surroundings. There was little more to discover from on the ground than what they'd been able to see from the sky. They stood on a lonely but massive buttress of stone, jettisoning out from the side of the Volcano, providing a relatively large chunk of land which they could walk on. It was about seventy yards wide, but stretched around and up the Volcano off into the distance. It seemed sturdy enough, thankfully, but was an island in a sea of magma. With the airship in the condition it was in, would they even be able to leave this place once they fought the Alatreon?

Levin watched as Harker strode away from the ship, towards where the shattered remains of one of the ice spears lay half-impaled in the earth. He reached out cautiously, pressing a finger against it, before hissing in pain and pulling back. "Cold!" he gasped.

"What did you expect?" Kei chuckled. "It's ice! It won't be lukewarm."

"Ha, maybe not," Harker replied. The long sword user looked skyward, towards the churning clouds above them. Despite the Alatreon having ceased its spray of ice and fled some time ago, there were still tendrils of white flitting through the clouds above them, slipping in and out of sight like some ghosts. They were slow to fade, but still there for the moment. "I suppose now we know what the Alatreon's tactical advantage to creating such a ridiculous hiding spot is now. A rain of ice spears! Who would have thought?"

"We should be grateful," Richard noted. "If the Alatreon was at full strength, imagine how much worse it could have been. It could have kept going for longer, or gotten more intense. We got off lightly. But let's not give it a chance to try again."

"That's a fair plan," Harker replied. He reached out to the ice spear again, more carefully this time, but paused at the sound of Captain Marcus and Calvert calling them back to the ship to give their review of the damage. Harker hesitated for a moment longer before joining the others in returning to the hull of the ship.

"The blimp is torn down the middle," Calvert muttered sourly once they'd gathered, motioning to the ripped material. "It's nothing that can't be repaired… the ship is not in such a shape we'll be left stranded on the peak of the Volcano, but it will take time to do it well and proper. At least an hour to patch, and a bit more to refill it again to fly."

"The hull be in no fightin' shape either, aye?" Marcus growled. "The balloon be fixable, but no the ship itself, no here. Only bit that be solid 'nuf be the bow; figures we be puttin' that Deviljho's hide all 'bout the bow to protect from beasts, an' it be savin' us from crashin'. The ship can no do battle in the air, I fear. We can no be smashin' our ship against beasties left and right in this foul state, no even to use that Dragonator lance. All that work gettin' the blasted thing reattached, and it be useless now! Damn it all!"

"Just worry about getting the airship back into the sky," Tenebris told the men. "Throwing a prototype ship like this one up against Alatreon – twice for that matter – is more than enough effort on you and your crew's part. Just focus on making sure we have a way to escape this hellhole, and that will be enough. I think we hunters can take care of the rest from here."

"She's right," Miller agreed. "We've asked enough of you men, even with that Dragonator on your ship. The Alatreon's on its last legs and it's not even trying to fly anymore. There's little land in this place, so the beast can't have gone too far. This rock flat can't be more than a couple miles long. Wherever it hides, we can get there walking."

"You sure about that?" Calvert asked. "It's dangerous territory up there, and you don't need to be a hunter to see it. We can at least fly you up there once the balloon is fixed up, surely."

"It's too dangerous," Richard replied sternly. "If the Alatreon has any sanity remaining at all, it will soon call upon the monsters that live in this area to fight us. If we stay here, even for only an hour or so, whatever monsters are in the immediate area will show up and attack us. The battle against the World Eater was destructive enough. If some creature of similar power shows up, there's no guaranteeing we'll be able to kill it, or even be able to defend the airship from whatever assails us. It's better if we walk. That way, whatever beasts the elder dragon might summon will come for us, away from the airship."

"And if the beast should think of sending one of its monsters to destroy this airship?" Silas asked. "There's no way off this part of the Volcano, save for the airship. Should the Alatreon destroy it before the blimp can be repaired, it won't matter whether or not any of us survive this; we'll have no way to escape this inferno at all. And nobody knows we're here, either. Is it wise to send _all _of the hunters off after the Alatreon?"

"The Alatreon isn't thinking straight right now," Levin replied. "It's hard to guess exactly what its next move will be. But right now, the hunters here are the greatest threat to it, and it will do whatever it takes to stop us from getting to it. If a hunter stays behind, the Alatreon will consider them a risk, and send something to remove the threat. I admit, it's a gamble, but I'm certain this is the best option to keep the ship and the crew safe."

"And should worse come to worst…" Kerry said quietly, "if we don't return before the ship is ready, get yourselves airborne. It will be safer in the air for you, and if you need to, you'll be in a position to run if you need to."

"These aren't words that inspire much confidence in your ability to slay the beast," Silas replied sourly.

"We can't promise anything," Kerry replied. "But if the Alatreon is going to be the end of us, we'll make sure to bring it down with us."

"Nonsense, my dear Lady Kerrigan!" Harker said enthusiastically, putting his arm around the bowgunner's shoulder encouragingly. "We'll come out on top, I'm certain! The beast is on the run, and we've come too far to fail now. Wait for our return, Marcus!"

"If that's how it be, go then!" Marcus barked with a laugh. "Get yerselves out there an' do what ya must, aye? We'll be waitin' once yer done, engines ready to carry all ya lads and lasses back to Loc Lac in well-deserved victory."

The hunters nodded at the words, taking only a few short minutes to make sure they had everything they needed packed away in their pouches, before making their way north up the path, following the road the Alatreon had fled through. There were a few calls of encouragement from the crew of the airship, but for the most part, the atmosphere was somber, anticipating the worst to come. After several minutes of scrambling around to get supplies from the ruined stocks, the hunters quickly made their final good-byes before leaving the ship behind.

The path was rocky and coarse as they tailed the elder dragon's path. There were no real roads or walkways they could easily take, no clear course that would help guide them once they'd reached a new area to traverse. There just wasn't enough living here to make a dedicated lane or even a migratory path they could follow. Not to mention they were forced to keep their eyes to the sky as they walked, as occasional, lingering chunks of ice would occasionally gather in the clouds and drop from the sky in brick-sized hail stones, falling to the earth and shattering on the rocky outcropping around them, before fracturing into small shards.

Their surroundings didn't change much as they traveled the sloped path further up the side of the Volcano. Everything was dead and black here; not even the smallest of weeds could be found sprouting up through the ashy soil in this barren waste. Not that there was much soil to be found in the first place. There was little more to see than rocks and boulders, cluttering up the earth and making traveling up the slope a challenge with all the uneven footings and crooked changes in elevation. Every once in a while, thankfully, the land leveled out and opened up, sparing them a truly claustrophobic experience the entire journey.

They were just over a mile away from where the airship had crashed when they came across one such open area, a wide, expansive flat that jutted out from the Volcano, like the massive blade of a sword had been thrust out from within the churning peak. The earth was uneven, however, all lumpy and bubbly from the countless lava flows that had coursed over the area before hardening to the solid black floor that it was now. To the right was a wall of magma, pooling together and pouring into the gap of a wide crevice that dropped into the earth going who-knew-where. To the left was a cliff, a precarious drop-off that plummeted several dozen yards with nothing but more lava below.

Levin paused as a sudden pinch of cold air brushed his face, and he reached up in surprise at the abrupt feeling. They were near the pinnacle of the Volcano! There was nothing that should chill them like this. It wasn't the effects of Kai's hunting horn, that was for certain, but then what… A flicker of white caught his eye, and he watched in shock as a small sliver of ice drifted through the air in front of him, darting around with the ebb and flow of the heat waves that rolled across the hot earth, somehow managing to survive the intense heat surrounding it. Or maybe it was just special ice, different from other types thanks to… whatever the Alatreon had done to make it. The shard continued to flutter in the air for a few moments longer, before sweeping away and making its way down the side of the mountain, still refusing to melt and floating over the lava waves as it followed the slope to the west.

Another fluttering flash of motion caught his eye, and Levin looked up. He realized that the air above and around the ship was filled with the glittering shards of ice, fractured remains of the rain of spears that the Alatreon had called down on them. They were fluttering through the air, almost like snow, but slightly off, more jagged and chunky. But countless numbers of the ice shards were wafting their way down the side of the mountain as well, the heat making them float just over the churning river of magma, but somehow not having the intensity required to make the ice melt.

"It's like it's snowing," he heard Kei gasp in awe, and Levin had to admit it really did. Despite the smoke and ash, the all-encompassing red glow from the lava, with so much white ice glittering in the air around them, it somehow felt like it was snowing, despite being at the peak of the Volcano.

Richard was staring around the area in awe. Levin recalled that the hunter hailed from Frost Town, the city at the base of the Volcano that had earned its name from the infrequent falls of snow that would occasionally coat the town, an almost impossible rarity to see so far to the south, and so close to such a volatile region. Levin had never seen the snow fall in Frost Town himself, but he realized, as the ice shard fluttered down the slope towards the west, dipping through the ash clouds and further down the mountain, that perhaps this was the source of the 'snow' that fell in the smithy town. Levin wasn't sure exactly where exactly Frost Town was from where he stood at that moment, but from the concerned expression covering Richard's face, it seemed clear similar thoughts had been going through the long sword user's mind as they had been through Levin's. He wondered how it must feel, coming to the conclusion that the name of your home came to be due to the power of the Alatreon's power…

A rumbling from the mountain pulled the hunters' attentions back to the present, however, as a rather spectacular blast from within the core of the Volcano send a spray of magma arcing into the sky, as well as a sizable plume of ash swelling into the air. There were hisses of pain and some muttered curses as large, steaming stones clattered to the earth around them, and splatters of magma splashed around them before flash cooling and hardening slightly, darkening to blend in with the surrounding obsidian.

"Watch your heads!" Kai called to the others. "The song from my hunting horn can negate the effects of the heat here, but it won't stop lava from cooking you if you get too close, or get any on you! So keep on your toes. Wouldn't want anyone to have to stop just because they got a bit fried thanks to careless-" Another groan from the mountain nearly drowned out the hunter's words, and a second blast of fire and smoke rose into the sky, creating a wave of ash that rolled across the earth, obscuring their vision slightly. But it wasn't the rumbling of the Volcano that made Kai's words die in his throat, but another sound, nearly masked by the roar of the mountain: a low, sinister growling, from something alive, rather than the groan of the Volcano.

Levin nearly missed it himself, but Jino froze immediately at the sound, his eyes darting around fearfully as his hand went to the hilt of his hammer. The rest of the hunters caught on quickly enough, and soon they had all either drawn their weapons, or had their hands on their hilts, ready to defend themselves from whatever was coming for them. The sound of whatever beast lurked nearby began to grow more prominent as time passed, and soon it could be clearly heard, even over the groaning of the Volcano.

"What do you think it is?" Tenebris whispered tensely, as she cocked her bowgun, filling the chamber with Pierce rounds.

"I'm afraid to guess," Jino muttered tersely, his eyes darting about in search of the source of the incoming creature. "It can be nothing small or easy to overcome, if Richard's words about this place are to be believed - and we have no reason to doubt him - but we must remain ready, no matter what appears. But I cannot shake the feeling I've heard growling like that before, though the sound is different…"

"Different how?" Tenebris asked in confusion. "What kind of monster do you think it could-"

From the smoky haze, a sinister light burst forth. It was a dark red and black orb of pure energy that leapt from the ash, searing across the earth and blazing towards the hunters, aimed directly at Tenebris. The huntress yelped in horror but was unable to move quick enough to dodge out of the way.

"Move!" Before the blow could be struck, Nox rushed in from the side, shoving Tenebris out of the orb's path. The man pulled up his blue shield at the last moment, and the dark orb slammed into the metal barrier. Nox cried out in pain as the orb burst apart, sending tendrils of red and black energy lancing in all directions. Most of the energy lashed backwards, shooting into the stone earth below or fizzling out harmlessly into the air, but a fair amount of the energy burst across Nox's shield, slamming the hunter backwards and sending him sliding back through the dirt, dark energy dancing across his shield and gauntlets. But he managed to keep himself upright, rubbing his arm in pain. The rest of the hunters pulled around him, readying themselves as the deep growling rolled through the smoke, and a massive shadow appeared through the haze of smoke.

Through the wall of smoke, a dark, sinister-looking beast strode towards the hunters. Deep black and grey scales covered a quadrupedal body, lined with sharp shoots of pale white fur. The creature had a thick upper body, and powerful forelegs tipped with sharp red claws and spines. A long, flat tail with two spikes protruding out the end swung lazily from side to side as the beast stalked confidently towards them. The creature's head was just as sharp as the rest of it, with dozens of jagged white fangs gleaming in its mouth, and two long spines jutted out from the beast's chin. A pair of straight, protruding horns pressed out from the monster's forehead, where a line of bright white fur grew wild, trailing down the beast's back between two lines of sharp spines that ran parallel to the creature's tail. And all along the beast's back, wicked black and red lightning danced through its fur: Dragon element.

"Jinouga," Jino hissed fearfully.

"A what?" Levin asked.

"It's a monster you see in the east, near the border of the country. I suppose they're referred to as Zinogre in Loc Lac… some lost-in-translation issues or something. Our Guild doesn't see them often. I've fought a few in my lifetime but… but I've never seen one like this. Zinogre are supposed to be green, and throw around lightning. I've never seen one capable of wielding the dragon element like this one!"

"A subspecies of some kind?" Miller asked worriedly.

"So it seems…" Jino growled. "Looks like the Alatreon's nest isn't the only mystery the beast's been hiding here."

The creature, the Zinogre, had stopped striding towards them, and was eyeing them critically. Its gait was confident, and the beast seemed content to let the hunters talk for a moment, certain of its power and strength. Small, glowing red orbs flitted through the fur on the beast's back and circled around the beast. They were insects, Levin realized; glowing red bugs sparked with the dark red energy that powered the beast. Every once in a while a cluster of them would swarm close to the fur lining the Zinogre's spine and a massive jolt of red energy would lance across the creature's body, but the monster took the power in stride. As the beast's power continued to grow, heavy bolts of energy began to smash into the obsidian ground around it, shattering the rocks and making the earth spark with the dragon element.

Jino stepped forward towards the beast, unslinging his gun-hammer and hoisting it in front of him. The Zinogre eyed him in amusement, baring its fangs and growling at the hunter, in a noise sounding eerily like laughter.

"Go on ahead!" the hammer wielder shouted to the others. "I've fought these beasts before; I'll hold it off while the rest of you go after the Alatreon!"

"Are you insane?!" Nox gasped. "You can't just take this thing on yourself!"

"These creatures are tenacious!" Jino replied. "We're here for the Alatreon, remember? If we get into a fight with it now, it will only distract us! The Alatreon needs to be killed, and this beast will only slow us down. You all keep going without me for now. Like I said, I've fought Zinogres before, so I'll be able to hold my own. I'll follow once I find a chance to get away from this beast or chase it away!"

The other hunters hesitated at the older hunter's words however, and Jino slowly approached the Zinogre, the beast baring its fangs at him in satisfaction. Tenebris and Nox shared a worried expression with each other, before their expressions hardened, and they stepped forward, hurrying to place themselves alongside Jino before the hunter could assault the Zinogre. Miller accompanied them as well, the great sword user unsheathing his massive blue blade and pointing the tip at the beast in front of them. The Zinogre seemed pleased at the boldness of the hunters, and the dragon energy jumping along its spine grew in intensity with its excitement.

"What are you doing?" Jino growled at the three other hunters. "The rest of you need to get after the Alatreon!"

"If you think we're just going to leave you behind to fight this thing on your own, you've got another thing coming, old man!" Tenebris shouted back at the hammer wielder, pulling her bowgun from its sling on her back and unfolding it into firing position.

"Besides, weren't you the one telling all of us to err on the side of caution back in Boma?" Nox added, pulling his Baggi sword from its sheath and twirling it in his hands. "Where's the caution in a single hunter going off on his own to duel with some unknown monster, even if he's fought others similar to it before?"

"Look at it logically," Miller told the man. "With four of us, our odds of survival greatly increase, and the time it will take to kill or chase off this fell creature drops as well. With all of us, we'll be able to return to the aid of the others far faster."

Jino harrumphed in frustration at the three younger hunters, and seemed ready to snap back at them for demanding to stay, but his expression softened a bit, and he grinned. "Ha, I suppose I should have expected as much from fellow hunters. Young, impetuous brats who won't listen to the advice from their elders… But I suppose I'm no better, am I? Wanting to fight a beast like this on my own? Fine then! Let's show this beast the mistake it's made, choosing to try and keep us from finishing off the Alatreon!"

"The rest of you: go on ahead!" Nox called to the other hunters. "We'll deal with this nasty thing, and be right behind you once it's dealt with!"

The remaining seven hunters looked at each other worriedly, fearful for the safety of their companions, but nodded to each other in agreement. They couldn't afford to keep chasing after the Alatreon, not if every monster they tried to run past only chased after them. And they couldn't afford to stop to fight off every beast the Alatreon sent after them either… Their only choice was to do as Nox had said, and to leave their friends behind for the moment, while the rest of them hurried on to finish off the Alatreon. With a few short calls of good luck and encouragement to the four staying behind, the other seven began to hurry off to continue their chase of the elder dragon.

The Zinogre eyed the four hunters in front of it, anticipation clear in the beast's eyes. The creature rolled its neck, preparing itself to fight, and tensed its muscles to charge towards the waiting hunters. But as it took its first step towards the hunters, the creature buckled and screeched in pain. Levin reeled in agony a moment later, stumbling to his knees as the terrible screeching sound reverberated through his skull, the Alatreon's compulsion flaring to life. The other Lost hunters around him groaned in pain as well, clutching their heads as the Zinogre wailed painfully where it stood.

**Stop them! Kill them! Keep them away from me! Don't let a single one pass! Kill them all!**

It felt like minutes, but a scant few moments later the mental noise vanished, leaving both the Lost and the Zinogre reeling in pain and gasping for air. The next moment, the dark creature's eyes darted up desperately, turning to glare directly at the remaining hunters trying to press on to where the Alatreon had run off. More specifically, the beast's eyes bored directly into Levin's. With a furious howl, the Zinogre turned and charged towards the rest of the hunters, the red and black energy spiking wildly along its back as the small glowing insects zipped around excitedly.

But before the Zinogre could reach the hunters, there was the sound of a bowgun firing, and a heavy round crashed into the earth a few yards in front of the charging creature. The beast howled in shock, skidding to a halt as the shot detonated, sending rocks and shrapnel pattering against its hide. The creature's head turned furiously towards the source, Tenebris, as the huntress was reloading her weapon, but before the creature could move again, there was a grunt of effort as Jino appeared beside the beast, leaping up at the creature and smashing his hammer down onto the Zinogre's skull. The firing pin of his weapon clicked, and there was a blast as the gun-hammer fired, coating the beast's skull in flames.

But as the smoke from the blast receded from the creature's face, the Zinogre's furious red eyes were glaring down at the hunter. The beast seemed almost entirely unfazed by the attack, and was pushing back against the metal hammer with its ash-coated horns. Sparks jumped from the jagged edges of the beast's horn as Jino tried to force the beast's head down, but the Zinogre pushed back with more than enough power to thrust the older hunter back. With a twist of its head, the Zinogre shoved Jino back, before lunging at the man with its powerful claws, swinging its forepaw down towards the man. Jino barely managed to slide out of the way, but as the Zinogre's claws smashed into the stone ground, dragon element surged through the beast, making the impact erupt with bolts of red lightning shooting skywards.

The Zinogre pulled back its other claw to assault Jino again, but before it could attack, Miller lunged at the beast from the side, swinging his great sword around and slamming the edge of the heavy blade down onto the creature's wide tail, making the beast yelp in pain before turning on the blue-armored hunter furiously.

"Go!" Jino bellowed at the other hunters. "We'll follow as soon as this beast is taken care of! Get after the Alatreon!"

The other seven hunters looked at each other uncertainly, no longer sure about choosing to leave their comrades behind. But as the Zinogre lunged at Miller, again the screeching noise ripped through Levin's skull, and the dark creature wailed in agony. Its head snapped about desperately, its attention once more on the fleeing hunters. It turned to assault Levin and the others again, but before it could, Nox dashed in and lashed out at the creature's legs with his Baggi-material blade, cutting close to the beast's tendons and making it stumble for a moment. The beast's eyes grew enraged, and it bellowed a cry of fury and frustration.

Richard, an expression of grim determination visible through his helmet, grabbed Levin's arm and began to haul him up the path, the others still looking torn. "We have to go! As much as it pains me to leave our comrades behind, we must go after the Alatreon!"

There was a howl of dismay from the Zinogre behind them, and once again, Levin stumbled as the Alatreon's compulsion slammed into the creature's mind, demanding it kill the hunters before they could escape. But the sound of Jino's gun-hammer firing echoed behind them, and the Zinogre wailed, its anger at the hunters attacking it conflicting with the Alatreon's pressing force on its mind. But the screeching in Levin's head pounded as the force grew stronger, and with a bellow of pain, the Zinogre lumbered after the escaping seven hunters.

"Keep going!" Kerry shouted to the others, as the seven rushed to the far side of the obsidian steppe. The Zinogre was fast, frightfully so, and Levin could feel the earth below his greaves shivering as the beast gained on them, despite the shouts from the four hunters behind them and the shots fired from Tenebris' bowgun. He could feel the air growing thick, and his hair stood on end as the dragon energy welling up in the beast closed in on them.

Ahead, a thin, jagged fissure split open in the side of a towering rock wall which rose up in front of them, just barely two yards wide. "In there!" Ellie cried, pointing towards it, and the seven hunters pushed themselves to make it before the Zinogre could catch them. But the Lost stumbled again as the Alatreon's compulsion flared to even greater force in their minds, the painful screeching noise in their heads furiously compelling the Zinogre to stop them at all costs. The creature howled in desperation and pain, and Levin could see the wall in front of them begin to glow red from the light of the dragon energy swelling from the creature tailing them.

The hunters nearly slammed into the wall as they reached the crevice, they were running so fast, but they somehow managed to slide through the gap with the Zinogre on their heels. Kai and Kei were first through the gap, unencumbered by anyone or anything. Harker and Kerry were close behind, Kerry having grabbed hold of Harker as he stumbled from the effects of the compulsion, nearly throwing him over her shoulder as she leapt through the gap in the wall. Ellie and Levin were next, Ellie struggling to help Levin along, since the side effects of the compulsion were affecting him the worst, though she was suffering as well. Kai and Kei hung back long enough to meet the pair at the entrance and pull them in before they could collapse under the strain of the Alatreon's power.

Richard was the last to make it to the fissure, clutching his own head painfully as he hurried to keep ahead of the Zinogre. Levin looked back when he was a few yards into the crevice, and realized the beast was a scant few yards behind the long sword user. But Richard kept running, even as the Zinogre lunged towards him, pulling its foreleg back and sending waves of red and black lightning along the spines lining the beast's claw. The creature's eyes were desperate as the clawed paw came down towards the head of the Rathalos-armored hunter.

Richard jumped and slid through the gap in the wall with the Zinogre's sharp claws coming down only a hair's breadth behind him, sparks of dark energy jumping and popping between the beast and the red plate armor, before the beast's powerful foreleg slammed into the earth just beyond the fissure, the impact erupting in a pillar of dragon element that lanced up the rock wall. The beast howled in fury and despair as the Alatreon's compulsion screeched to even greater intensity, and the beast lunged again, one claw reaching through the thin gap and trying to lash out at the hunters within. Kerry quickly grabbed hold of Richard's arm, pulling him just out of range as the Zinogre's charged claws slammed into the jagged walls, slashing out at the hunters. The beast howled and snapped at them, and the dragon element coating it began to grow in intensity, orbs of dark energy blooming from its back and shooting into the crevice.

"Move!" Richard shouted as dragon energy began to erupt around them as the dark red orbs smashed into the walls around them, sending stones and rubble crashing down around them. The man stumbled again as another powerful screech from the Alatreon's compulsion tore through their skulls, but he waved them on. "Keep going! Quickly!"

The Zinogre's bellowing grew louder as the hunters hurried through the gap, dodging falling rocks as the walls continued to crumble around them. The crevice quickly widened before it took a crooked turn to the side, allowing the hunters to duck out of the Zinogre's line of sight and line of fire, and the beast howled in despair behind them, it cry echoing through the fissure. But there was a loud blasting sound, one Levin recognized as Jino's gun-hammer firing, and the Zinogre whined in frustration and anger. There was the sound of Tenebris' bowgun firing as well, and the sound of harried shouting coming from all the hunters. The Zinogre roared in fury, the sheer force from its howl making the air quaver around them, and the deep red glow of the beast's dragon energy coming through the gap behind them grew in intensity even further.

There was a powerful eruption of sound, and as the hunters dared look back, the sky was glowing above them as a surging pillar of red and black lightning blasted into the sky, all the way up to the ash clouds above. There was a strangled cry in pain from one of the hunters, but Levin couldn't tell who it had been. The crevice groaned as dark bolts of energy blazed through the gap in the earth, and sparks of dragon element began to jump the gap in crackling snaps. The pillar of dragon lightning faded, and the Zinogre's tone changed from desperation and pain to one of unbridled fury. Sound of shouting from the hunters could be heard behind them, and the seven hunters could hear clearly the sound of the dark creature turning its attention to the four hunters left behind.

But they forced themselves to press on, listening painfully as the clamor of ferocious battle taunted them, echoing through the fissure. And still the screeching of the Alatreon's compulsions pounded into their skulls as the elder dragon raged at the Zinogre's failure to stop them.

* * *

The hunters ran for nearly a mile through the thin path, before the fissure finally opened up again into a wider path which rose steadily up the side of the Volcano. The hunters continued to climb up the slope for some time, before the path finally leveled out again into a small arête that hung over a short drop down into a half-solidified lake of magma. It was there the hunters were forced to stop, gasping and panting for air. Levin clutched his sides painfully, the ache from lack of oxygen forming a knot in his sides, and there was a dull throbbing along his spine where the Dark Metal wound grew agitated from the strain. The Alatreon's compulsion had begun to fade about fifteen minutes earlier, sparing them the pain of the screeching noise in their minds, but their heads were still throbbing painfully from the mental assault they'd suffered. Over the sound of the Volcano and their gasping breaths, the hunters could dimly hear the furious howling of the Zinogre in the distance behind them, and flickers of red and black light could be seen flashing over the tops of the rocky plateau they'd just run through.

"Damn it!" Kai cursed under his breath. "Why did we leave them behind with that… thing? We should have stayed to help!"

"That's what the Alatreon wants us to do," Ellie muttered sourly. "It's trying to stop us, delay us… It's trying to keep us from reaching it at all costs, by having any beast it can control appear to stop us."

"Or at the least it's trying to weaken us," Levin spoke up, rubbing his side in an attempt to work out the pain. "It's weak right now, and it has to know it can't kill all eleven of us at once if we're all in good condition, so it's trying to fracture us apart or soften us up with the monsters it can control. If we stopped to slay or chase off everything it sent after us, the beast would just mop us up once we caught up with it. We can't… we can't afford to slow down and fight every single thing the beast sends to fight us or we won't stand a chance against the elder dragon when we finally catch up to it."

"I don't like it," Kai muttered sourly.

"None of us do," Richard replied gently. "But with the circumstances being what they are, we don't have much choice in the matter. We'll have to make due with seven hunters instead of eleven, if we must."

"And what if something else attacks?" Kei asked. "Do we leave more of us behind to distract it, and send fewer of us off to fight the Alatreon by themselves?"

Richard was quiet for a long moment before replying, frustration and regret clear in his voice. "If we must…" The hunters were silent, keeping their worries and fears to themselves. They spent only a few more minutes recovering, before silently agreeing they'd spent long enough in one place, and needed to press on.

The terrain seemed to level out considerably for the next quarter mile or so, but the hunters found themselves weaving through terrain dotted with thick, towering rock formations rising from the earth like trees in a forest, thick pillars as wide as redwoods. The entire scene left the seven of them on edge, constantly tensing as they expected the Alatreon's compulsion to call down yet another monster down on them at any moment.

The rock pillars soon began to grow less frequent as they traveled higher up the side of the Volcano, but the path they followed abruptly dipped, diving low and actually passing into the side of the mountain. A wide cavern opened up before them, leading them into the glowing interior of the Volcano itself, as massive piles of boulders and cooled obsidian pushed the lava flows away from the gaping opening deep into the earth. The hunters looked between each other nervously, but pressed on a moment later, knowing they had no choice but to press on along the only path available to them.

The cave led through the interior of the mountain, surprisingly spacious and well-lit, glowing brightly from several pools and rivers of lava swelling through spindly paths dug out centuries ago. There was a clear air of nervousness among the seven hunters, however, as the floor, walls, and even the ceiling seemed glow from the heat of the magma around them. It felt to Levin as though a single misstep would be all it took for some long-strained weakness in the roof to fall apart and send tons of boiling lava down on their heads. But several hundred yards into the cavern, the group discovered the talon-clawed footprint of the Alatreon near the center of the path, clear sign the elder dragon had rushed through this area when it had fled them earlier. And if such a huge creature could run through this place without the ceiling falling down around it, they could press on through without danger… hopefully.

A breeze of fresh air was a comfort to feel as the hunters entered into an especially wide chamber. The left side of the cavern opened up to the outside, though passing through was utterly impossible: the hunters could see the sky, or at least the ash barrier the Alatreon had constructed, but a stream of lava was pouring over the opening from above, creating a glowing curtain which occasionally split open enough to let a breath of fresh air through. The other side of the chamber was similar; a wall of magma pouring through a crack in the ceiling, pouring down into a wide lake of lava which flowed into a river that swept away into a crack in the wall. Smoke and ash and walls of fire sprang up from the lava here, apparently highly volatile. But on the far side of the chamber, the path they followed led upwards again, and it seemed they'd soon be out from inside the mountain, and back on track to finding the Alatreon. The hunters picked up the pace, eager to get out from within the Volcano and back out in the open.

Levin froze as a strange noise twisted across the rocky area. It was an unfamiliar sound, some twisted mix between a vicious hiss and a crackling rattle. The rest of the hunters stopped behind him, looking around worriedly in search of the source of the noise. A low thumping sound be heard, the telltale sign of footsteps, coming from some unknown creature. Levin winced as the Alatreon's compulsion pressed into his head again, though it was far less powerful than it had been before, more of an subtle urging now than a demand.

"Be careful," Richard muttered quietly. "That Zinogre won't be the last thing the Alatreon will try to send after us… and it sounds like the next contender is here to stop us."

The sound of sinuous rattling continued to sift through the smoke around them, but none of the hunters could manage to get a solid fix on the beast's location. Periodically, a large shape could be seen just beyond the wall of magma to the right, sliding through the flames around them, and Levin caught sight of bright, glowing red eyes slipping just out of sight. Whatever it was, it was large and bulky, and moving far more nimbly than Levin would have thought possible for a creature of such size, considering the weight of the footsteps which continued to echo around them.

"I don't like this," Kei muttered worriedly, and her brother hissed to shush her as another low rattling rolled across the area. "We should get out of here! The exit's right over there!"

A notably different sound suddenly caught the hunters' ears, however, a sickly sound like slobbering or spitting. The hunters tensed as the noise was quickly followed by a staccato burst of footsteps, rushing towards them.

"There!" Kerry cried, pointing to the south, and not a moment too soon, and a massive, bulky shape burst towards them through the falling curtain of lava.

Levin had been expecting a monster of some sort to come charging through the walls of fire and smoke, sprinting headlong at them in a blind rush. What he hadn't been expecting was for whatever beast was hunting them to tense just beyond the fire, before leaping headlong through the air at them, using its momentum to lunge at them in a long arc, aiming to come crashing down on top of them.

"Move!" Harker cried, and the hunters dove out of the way just in time. Levin rolled out of the way, and felt the earth shiver as the beast smashed down into the earth behind him, shattering stone beneath it. But less than a heartbeat after the monster struck the earth, there was a massive, earth-shaking explosion that sent a shockwave slamming into Levin's back and throwing across the rock flat, skidding him against the hot stone ground before he slid to a halt almost twenty yards away. He groaned in pain, but pushed himself back to his feet, raising a hand to his switch axe's hilt and turning to face the beast that had come for them. The other hunters had recovered as well, turning to face the creature with their weapons at the ready.

For a few moments, the beast was hidden once more in the ashes and flames of the explosions it had caused, but as the fires from the explosions began to die away, a dark shape began to appear through the flames and the smoke. A large, bulky creature turned about to face the hunters, red eyes glowing and hissing at them threateningly. It was a brute wyvern, Levin could tell that much, bipedal with powerful hind legs and a long, serpentine tail trailing behind it, tipped with a horrifying jagged club which bobbed in the air menacingly. The creature was covered head to toe in thick, deep blue plating, making it appear like a walking azure tank. The creature's head had a long snout, with a wide maw lined with jagged blue fangs that seemed to merge with the heavy plating covering its body, and at the peak of its skull, a long, bulbous horn jutted out from the beast's head, protruding out even beyond the beast's snout. Below were two large, heavy-looking forelegs which looked more like clubs than arms. And all across the creature's deep blue body, a sinister green and yellow substance clung to the beast, dripping to the ground from the beast's arms and horn.

"What the hell is that?!" Levin heard Ellie gasp in shock. None of the hunters could provide her an answer, however, every one of them completely dumbfounded by this unknown beast before them. "Is this another subspecies like that Zinogre thing?"

"I don't think so," Richard replied. "I've never seen this sort of thing, even in any of the Guild's monster encyclopedias. This may be a completely undiscovered beast."

"It would seem the Alatreon is truly playing its hand in full," Harker noted. "It's throwing everything it has at us, even beasts which-"

"Watch out!" Kai cried. "Here it comes again!"

The creature hissed viciously at them, before rearing back and unleashing a powerful, rasping roar. The hunters winced from the sound, but were spared further pain thanks to the lingering effects of Kai's music. The greenish slime creeping along the beast's body seemed to flare up alongside the creature's own anger, and the substance morphed from a deep green to a bright, volatile yellow. The beast took a quick step away from the hunters, and brought its heavy pounders up to its mouth, and quickly swept a long, sinuous tongue over them. The slime on its arms swelled, spreading across its arms at the touch of its saliva, and the beast turned to glare at the hunters, before reaching an arm back and slamming it into the red-hot stone below it.

The earth below the beast, where the creature had struck it, abruptly detonated in a small but powerful explosion. The blue creature continued forward though, bringing its other arm around and smashing it into the stone, blasting the earth below it apart with another detonation. The beast pressed towards the hunters, bringing down its pounders again and again with each step, blowing apart the terrain in a continuous peal of explosions.

The hunters dove to the sides of the beast as the creature rushed past them, blasting apart the earth below it in its wake. Shards of obsidian and other stones rattled against the hunters' armors, as the beast slid to a halt several dozen yards past them before twisting around to face them again, hissing viciously as it raised its pounders to its maw once more and applied another coat of saliva to its arms. The green and yellow substance flared brightly, crawling back across the beast's arms as it somehow multiplied at the touch of the blue monster's tongue. Drops of the substance dripped from the creature's body, falling to the ground and clumping together, where it quickly changed colors from green to yellow to red, before popping in a small burst of fire and smoke.

"How does it do that?" Harker murmured, curiosity clear in the long sword user's voice. "To create such a volatile explosion using only some… slime substance and its saliva? What sort of chemicals does its physiology produce to induce such a-"

"Now's not the time, dear!" Kerry chided, and Harker's mouth snapped shut.

"We don't have time for this!" Levin hissed angrily. "We can't waste time on this thing, whatever it is!"

"Agreed," Richard replied. "We need to get after the Alatreon. But how do we get away from this creature? If we run, the beast will just chase us, and the Alatreon will use its compulsion to guide it. Short of having more of us stay behind to fight the creature…"

"We can't afford to leave anyone else behind," Ellie said adamantly. "We need everyone we can to try and kill the Alatreon!"

"I know! But we can't afford to waste time or energy on this creature either!"

"Perhaps this would work," Harker stated, pulling something out of his pouch. The other hunters winced at the sight of a flash bomb, but Harker quickly shook his head. "Don't worry, it's one of the bombs Kei made for us all, not one of mine."

"How is that supposed to help though?" Kei asked. "If the Alatreon's power can lead monsters to us, what good is blinding a monster for a few moments?"

"It's not much, but it might be enough for us to get out of this place," Kerry replied in Harker's place. "We need to find a place where we can get away from this thing, and we're not going to find it here! Do it, dear!"

"Of course!" Harker shouted. "Close your eyes, my comrades!"

The other hunters turned away as Harker pulled the pin on the flash bomb and hurled it into the air towards the blue beast. The creature hissed viciously, but watched curiously as the metal object flew towards it. The flash bomb detonated with a loud pop, and Levin winced as light flashed through his eyelids. The blue monster squealed in pain and fury as the light seared into its eyes, and Levin opened his own eyes to see the creature writhing around where it stood, trying to reach its stubby arms up to its eyes.

"Go now!" Richard shouted. "We need to get outside now, before it recovers!"

The hunters didn't need any further motivation, and the seven of them turned, and began to sprint desperately for the opening leading upwards on the far side of the chamber. The blue creature squealed and howled furiously behind them, stamping its feet and slamming its arms into the ground around it, blasting holes in the earth next to it.

"How long does that flash bomb last?" Levin asked, gasping between breaths as the group neared the exit of the cavern.

"Not as long as the ones Harker made!" Kei shouted back. "It depends on the monster, so it could wear off at any second, to tell the truth!"

As if on cue, there was a screech of fury from the blue-plated brute, and Levin could hear the beast tailing after them. The footsteps halted for a moment, however, and Levin spared a look back, just as the monster dipped its head forward, driving its glowing horn into the crust of the earth in front of it. For a heartbeat, nothing happened, but Levin saw the earth around where the beast had struck with its horn begin to crack and crumble, and a dangerous yellowish-red glow began to sprout up from below, and the monster's horn flared brightly. The beast ripped its horn from the earth, and a massive wave of explosions ripped up from below the rocks, blasting apart the stone and obsidian and tearing towards the hunters in a cacophony of devastation.

"Get out of the way!" Levin shouted desperately, leaping out of the way. The other hunters quickly dived to the side, just barely avoiding the destruction of the explosions the beast had thrown at them. But even so, Levin, Ellie, Harker and Kerry were thrown forward from the force of the explosions, and Richard, Kai, and Kei were knocked away, nearly sliding into the curtain of lava lining the left side of the chamber.

The explosions continued to rip through the earth as it passed them, however, continuing across the floor before slamming into the rock wall of the path leading up to the surface. The stone wall shattered, splintering apart and sending a rush of stone and boulders crashing to the ground. The entire archway began to give way though, as the cracks along the wall spread further up, spider-webbing up and across the ceiling. More and more stones and boulders began to break from the walls and roof, crashing down to the earth and shattering. Levin scrambled back to his feet, running to get out of the way as debris struck the earth around him.

He stumbled however, and was struck in back of the leg by a jagged rock which ricocheted against him, making him drop to one knee. He struggled to get back to his feet and press on, but upon looking up, his heart froze in his chest. A massive slab of stone had dislodged from its place in the ceiling of the cavern, and with a groan and a crack, came loose and began dropping down towards him. Levin found himself frozen in stark horror, his feet incapable of moving or throwing himself out of the way.

"Watch out!" Levin felt his shoulders being grabbed from behind, felt himself being thrown forward, slamming into the ground and skidding across the dirt. As the slight pain bit into his shoulder, he snapped back into reality, and his gaze darted over in fear towards whoever had pushed him. Kei was standing where Levin had been only a moment earlier, looking up fearfully at the boulder now bearing down on her instead. But before the stone slab could smash down on her, her brother Kai appeared from behind her, grabbing her collar and yanking her back just as the boulder came crashing down, and the sibling hunters vanished from sight.

Dismay swelled in Levin's chest for a moment, but the ceiling was still collapsing around him, and a stone shattering not but a couple feet from him snapped him back to reality, and he scrambled to his feet and hurried further up the path. Ellie, Harker, and Kerry were all there, battered and dusty, and slightly bloodied in Kerry's case. The bowgunner seemed to have caught a jagged rock in her left arm and was clutching the shallow wound painfully as she dodged out of the way of falling rocks.

"What about the others? We have to help them!" Ellie gasped, looking back. None of the other three were behind them, not a one. Stones were still falling from the ceiling, creating a wall of rubble and debris that almost completely blocked off the road from where they'd come, and only the ceiling of the chamber behind them was visible over the tops of the rocks. "Richard!" the huntress called. "Kai, Kei! Are any of you still there?!"

"Keep running!" Richard's voice bellowed from the far side of the rubble. "We're all fine back here! We'll follow as soon as we possibly can! Get after the Alatreon and stop it! Make sure you-"

But the man's words were cut off by the blue brute's infuriated screech rippling off the stones and boulders. The Alatreon's compulsion flared to life once more in the skulls of the Lost, and Levin, Ellie, and Harker winced and stumbled where they stood. The blue monster on the far side of the wall of rubble squealed painfully, before howling, and a symphony of explosions that rocked the walls around them could be heard. Still the four remaining hunters hesitated, wanting nothing more than to return and help their friends, but their wishes were dashed away as the ceiling above them began to splinter apart even further, and the rocks and boulders falling from the roof began to spread, crashing to the ground around them as the cracks spider-webbed up the path towards the exit.

"We can't stay here any longer!" Kerry shouted above the din of falling rocks. "We need to get out of here before we get buried!" None of the others could argue as more and more boulders came crashing down around them, and with painful regret, the four hunters turned to dash their way up the slope towards the exit, dodging falling rocks as they went. The sound of explosions and the screeching of the blue beast's roars tailed them as they ran, but they couldn't turn back, not with the path collapsing around them.

The hunters continued to run for almost two hundred yards, before the cavern finally opened up to outside air again, and the hunters emerged onto a thin ledge jutting out along a towering rock wall. They had to scurry away from the cavern entrance however, as more rocks continued to fall behind them. The collapsing of the tunnel was slowing down now, but as the hunters stopped and looked back from where they'd come, they found their path almost completely blocked off, with only a small gap over the tops of the piles of rocks, barely tall enough to get through if you crouched. But the hopes that perhaps their friends could follow them through were dashed by the persisting groaning sound that echoed through the path, a sure sign the stability of the tunnel wasn't sound.

Levin shared a fearful, worried look with the others. It was just them now. The four of them were on their own, the only hunters remaining to go and fight the Alatreon.

* * *

The earth grew jagged and harsh as the last of the hunters pressed on up the mountainside. As Levin and the others made their way towards the Alatreon's nest, they more and more often found themselves scaling their way across precarious ledges and thin paths hanging over the continuous, churning lava river that boiled and rolled below them. The four hunters found themselves keeping silent, focusing almost entirely on their footwork to keep from falling down into the magma below. It needn't be said how much they all wished the others who had come with them were still around.

But they were getting close. All of them could feel it, and see it. Less than a mile away, a wide, rocky flat was coming into view, jutting out from the mountain on the other side of a towering rock wall, and every step was bringing them closer to it. Loud footsteps could be heard echoing across the rocks, the sounds of the Alatreon's steps. And as they approached, they could also see something out of the ordinary growing from their destination; an eerie blue light was glowing brightly over the magma flows surrounding the rock flat they'd seen, and the intensity was increasing steadily. The hunters didn't need to wonder what the source of the light was, as they'd all had far too much experience with what was creating the light: the Alatreon was using its power to create the blue crystals it had used to lock the Lost away for countless years, though for what purpose, none of the hunters could guess.

The sound of the volcano erupting vibrated the earth below them, making the earth shiver and shake with every step they took, and sending pebbles and stones clattering down the cliff behind them and dropping into the lava below. But despite the rumbling, the faint sound of explosions could be heard over the noise of the mountain, and far down the rocky path they'd come from, they could just make out bolts of dark lightning lancing up into the air.

"I hope the others are alright…" Kerry whispered worriedly.

"I'm sure they'll be perfectly fine," Harker replied confidently. "We've faced the Alatreon in battle together, so a couple of the elder dragon's minions should prove to be no great challenge for them… probably."

"Probably?"

"I fear this far into such dangerous terrain, against such unknown beasts, nothing is truly certain… but our allies are strong and skillful, and I have great faith they will come out victorious."

"I think at a time like this, we might consider worrying about ourselves more," Levin said quietly. "I know it may sound selfish, but…"

"No, you're right," Kerry replied. "We need to prepare ourselves to meet the Alatreon. Our friends are good hunters. We can trust that they'll be able to survive their battles on their own. However, at this rate, that means we'll have to fight the Alatreon with only us four…"

"With it as weakened as it is, you'd think we'd have the advantage," Ellie sighed worriedly. "But even in the damaged condition it's in, with only four of us, I still don't know if we're going to be able to kill the creature without help…"

"We cannot help but try," Harker replied somberly. "If Levin's suspicions are correct, the Alatreon is plotting… something with which to escape the fate we'd bestow on it. Whatever that plot is, we can't let it follow through. Foul fortune has led us here without the assistance of those who came with us… so we will have to take on this challenge by ourselves. And we must do whatever it takes to see it through…"

The others nodded silently, and the four hunters pressed on, resuming their journey as they closed in on their prey. The rock flat they'd seen was getting closer by the step, and soon they'd be on top of it. Only a few more curves along the path they followed and they'd be there…

As the path came close to the towering rock wall separating them all from where they knew the Alatreon was, the thin ledge they followed finally widened, spreading out to stretch several dozen yards wide, with a large, jagged buttress of stone jutting out from the cliff face and stretching out over the lava flowing past below them. There, in the towering wall, was a massive crevice torn in the stone, just barely wide enough for a hunter to pass through in full armor. But the four hunters were shocked by what they found, lying on the ground near where the crevice cut into the wall. None of them had been certain what to expect upon reaching the heights of the Volcano, but a small campsite was certainly not high on the list.

It was not well-kept, and certainly not recently used, but it was a camp, nonetheless. There was a pathetic little fire pit dug near the center of the area, with a collection of large stones pulled close to act as seats. A small, ramshackle tent was propped up against the rock wall, worn and ragged from the unknown time it had been there. It must have been years… an unbelievable number of years. The tent was not cloth or leather, or any other type of material Levin had ever recalled seeing since arriving in this 'hunter's world'. Nor was the material one he recognized from even his life back in his own time. This was something… different.

Random goods and items were scattered around the area, strange things Levin couldn't guess at the use of, they were so oddly designed. Perhaps utensils, or weapons of some kind, Levin thought they were, though how they worked was a mystery. There were also the broken and bent remains of what he thought was some kind of armor, a strange silvery metal with dull colored gems adorning them. Perhaps the gems had once glowed brightly, but now they were hazy and dead-looking.

"A Meridian camp," Harker gasped, stunned. "It has to be!"

"You're joking," Ellie sputtered.

"I am doing no such thing," Harker replied. "It would seem… it would seem those people who created such long-lasting towers managed to discover the Alatreon's nest as we have. Though, considering the circumstances, it stands to reason they were… less than successful in using that knowledge to the fullest advantage."

"That's hardly encouraging," Levin muttered.

"I suppose we all knew the Meridians never managed to defeat the Alatreon. If they had become so advanced, why such a small camp? This could have held fewer soldiers… or hunters than we have in our group here. Perhaps they didn't discover the Alatreon's nest until the final hour, before the beast was able to wipe them out… as it did to the Lost. Perhaps this was a last-ditch effort by their warriors before the Alatreon finally, ah, brought about the same fate to them as the creature brought down upon us and our own culture…"

"That story sounds familiar," Levin muttered quietly, and Harker nodded.

"Indeed… Hopefully, we'll have greater fortune than our predecessors did, though. It cannot be said we haven't given our all into finishing the beast off."

"What's this?" Ellie asked, motioning to a large, obsidian slab close to the ruined camp. Levin realized the black stone had been polished and written on, or rather, a message had been chiseled away into the stone. Unfamiliar letters and symbols covered the side closest to the campsite, several lines of text scrolling down the flat rock.

"It's Meridian writing," Harker noted, walking over to the obsidian stone and brushing a hand across it. His hand went instinctively to his pouch to reach for his notepad, but the long sword user grimaced upon remembering he had not brought it with him. He returned his attention to the images, furrowing his brow in thought. "Nothing as elaborate as the writing we saw in the Meridian tower over by Nastre, just standard script. Fascinating… I've never seen the common script of their language before."

"What does it say?" Levin asked, and Harker shook his head.

"I can't be fully certain," he replied, scouring the chiseled writing. "I still haven't fully translated the high tongue, so their common tongue is beyond me, but… it looks to be a wish for luck, or a prayer of some sort. I think some of these symbols are names, perhaps that of the person who wrote it. There are many references to death and dying… I suppose whoever wrote this, whatever unfortunate soul found themselves on this precipice, were writing down their last words before… before pressing on to meet the Alatreon in battle. It would seem he was less than successful…" But the long sword user's eyes hardened a bit. "But then again, Lady Kerrigan speculated earlier that the Alatreon might have had doubts of its own strength, considering its decision to blot out the sky around its nest. Perhaps the Meridians were more successful than I've given them credit for. Perhaps they managed to give the Alatreon doubts, even if they were defeated in the end."

"We can't afford to just give the Alatreon doubts," Kerry said sternly. "The beast has committed too many crimes for us to fail. It's tormented our species for millennia, with such brutality that it's made people fear it like a demon… it's made people so terrified of it that they will not even fight it, for fear of it hurting others in its rage. To think I spent so long fearing the creature, even going so far to turn my back on all of you for the longest time, refusing to help you fight it…"

Harker nodded and smiled comfortingly at Kerry. "But there are still those who are able to push through the fear of the beast and stand up to fight it, my dear Lady Kerrigan, even among the locals of this country. Take pride in yourself, my dear: few others in this world, despite knowing the Alatreon's despicable nature and deeds, would rise up to challenge the creature. You've faced a fear like few others have, my dear, and though it may not mean much, I am immensely proud of you and everything you've done."

Kerry's face lit up at the words, and she smiled bashfully, red tint alighting on her cheeks. "It means more than you might think…"

A thunderous groaning sound shook the earth around them, coming through the crevice cutting through to the rock flat on the other side. It was followed soon after by the screeching roar of the Alatreon. The beast's voice was strained and frustrated, judging by the sound, and bolts of lightning shot into the sky over the tops of the rock wall, charging the ash clouds covering the peak of the Volcano with bright blue charge.

"It's time," Levin said quietly, looking at the others. The three hunters, the three people in the world he was closest to, all nodded in agreement. "We can't put this off any longer. We have to do this now… or not at all."

"We have everything we need to win," Harker stated positively. "Our blades are sharp, our senses are honed… and I may have prepared a few surprises to give the beast pause while we were in Boma."

Kerry grimaced at Harker's words, but smiled encouragingly as well. "The Alatreon made a mistake in allowing us time to get strong enough to challenge it. Now it will pay for its pride, and everything else it has done."

"The Alatreon will get what's coming to it," Ellie said solemnly, pushing confidence into her voice Levin wasn't sure any of them had. But he smirked at the words as she grinned enthusiastically. "We'll get through this, Levin. We promised, remember? We have lives to live after this, and I'm not going to let it be ruined by an egotistical abomination like the Alatreon."

"You're right," Levin said, nodding. "We'll get through this. The Alatreon's lived too long for its own good. Let's do it a favor and remedy that."

Through the last crevice, the sinister red glow of magma glowed brightly, accompanied by the eerie blue hue so familiar to them all. The rumbling of the volcano growled around them, making the earth shiver beneath their feet. The four hunters looked between each other worriedly one last time, before striding forward, off to face the Alatreon where it laid waiting for them.

* * *

**Author's Note: Please Review! Ho boy, here we go. It's finally here. Look forward to the next chapter.**

**Just a reminder to everyone that I actually did make a map for this story, and you can find it on my DA account. A lot of the flying bits and descriptions of land masses should make a bit more sense if you look at it. **

**So the original 'distraction monsters' that were supposed to appear in to pull away the rest of the hunters were intended to be an Uragaan and an Agnaktor, and maybe something else, like a Rathalos. But I decided to go with something a little more interesting for this fight, especially after 3U was released. That should show exactly how long I've been planning this ending.**

**I'm really looking forward to getting Bravely Default for the 3DS next month! I really enjoyed the demo, even though it was pretty damn hard. It's been a long time since I played a new JRPG, and I'm looking forward to seeing if Square Enix can bring back my faith in their games. Final Fantasy XIII (and its sequels) made me lose a lot of trust in them, so here's hoping they can bring it back. I always loved the job class system in RPGs, so it looks like I'm going to have fun. Reviews are saying that there's a lot of need to grind in the game but… come on, I play Monster Hunter, and have 600 hours of game time on 3U. Not many games more grinding than that. But man, my laundry list of 3DS games to play is just getting longer: Fire Emblem, A Link Between Worlds, maybe trying out a Phoenix Wright game for once… Between those and trying to fill out as much of the Pokedex as I can, at least I won't run out of amusements between now and MH4. **

**Playing: Pokemon X, Legend of Zelda: Windwaker HD, Bravely Default Demo, MH3U, The Stanley Parable, FEZ  
Listening: Mumford and Sons, Gatchaman OST, The Mountain Goats, Joshua Radin  
Watching: Kill la Kill, Gatchaman Crowds, Yozakura Quartet: Hana no Uta, Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! Ren**


	51. The Brilliant Darkness

The Brilliant Darkness

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. Most of the characters in this story are mine. Many characters belong to others, as stated in previous chapters._

_ Edited by: Hoenn Master96 _

* * *

"You said, 'It is the truth that gives you the proper despair, so you do not become conceited.' So just as you said, I will give you despair." – Truth, Fullmetal Alchemist

* * *

Beyond the thin crevice, the rocky terrain opened up. A wide rock flat awaited them as the sky opened up above the hunters once more, and in a moment Levin recognized where they were. He'd seen it plenty of times before, after all, when the Alatreon had sent nightmares into his dreams at night.

This was it, the elder dragon's nest.

It was a wide, flat area, surprisingly so considering the jagged terrain of the path the hunters had taken simply to reach this place, though several pools of churning lava dotted the terrain, glowing brightly from the heat, with thin stone walkways weaving between them. Walls of magma flowed freely down from the pinnacle of the volcano on both sides of their entryway, draining under the rocky platform they stood on. Mixed with several more protruding rock faces which burst up from the earth around them, they made a towering wall to the left and right that would be impossible to pass through. In stark contrast, the far side of the area was a near-sheer drop off, as the rocky precipice gave way once more to a wide river of magma that continued down the mountain. Levin could see why the Alatreon had never been found before; aside from the thin crevice they'd passed through, there was no way in or out of the Alatreon's hideaway, save for flying in directly.

The area was not completely empty and desolate. Scattered about the rock flat were the ruins of several dozen machines and weapons, ripped apart and devastated by time and the Alatreon's talons. Old broken things, varying in size and advancement in technology. Levin could recognize some machines which could only have been something the Lost had built in the prime of their civilization, before the Alatreon had wiped them out or put them away in the blue crystals. Other things around… Levin couldn't guess at their use or how they worked. They could only be the weapons the Meridians had tried to defeat the beast with, judging from the pale white material they were made from, as seemed to be preferred by the civilization. How effective had they been, Levin wondered?

The beast itself was standing on the far side of the area. It looked as bad as it had earlier, its wings torn and ragged, its scales and plates broken, and barely-healed scars covering whatever flesh and hide had been exposed to attack. It looked weary as well, beyond exhausted to the point of near collapse. Levin wasn't sure how often elder dragons needed to stop and eat, but the beast's belly seemed shallower than it had been, as though the beast had not even been able to eat since before its assault on Loc Lac. And the beast's elements… to say the Alatreon's ability to exert control over its powers was falling to pieces would be an understatement. Lightning, white, red, and black, danced along the elder dragon's body. Flames and icy mist steamed from the beast's mouth, and each jolt from one element to the next made the Alatreon flinch in frustration and weariness.

But what caught the hunters' attention was not just the beast, but what the Alatreon stood next to. Sprouting out from within the lava-falls off to the right side of the area, a massive, glimmering blue crystal was growing out of the earth, pushing through the churning magma and sprouting upwards like a blooming flower. It was not small, not in the slightest. The base itself was already thirty yards long, and it was spreading even wider the more it grew. The eerie blue light which swelled from within the structure blossomed powerful and bright from the stone, radiant in its hue, mixing with the fiery red and yellow lights from the lava surrounding it to create an unnatural blend of colors that speckled the Alatreon's nest. Bolts of dragon element occasionally lanced out from the Alatreon's horns, the energy surging over the crystals, encouraging the growth of the blue stones somehow, as each bolt made the crystals glow brightly.

The hunters looked between each other cautiously, uncertain how to approach. Did the beast know they were there? Was there still a chance at a surprise attack? But that plan was immediately denied as the Alatreon's gaze turned towards them slightly, its piercing red and yellow eye staring directly at them. The beast's expression was filled with anger and hatred, of course… but there was also an incalculable weariness in the creature's eyes, a tiredness it had not felt in countless years.

**So you're here. You're actually here… **The beast's deep voice rolled through their minds, the shaking of the earth inside their skulls. Even the beast's mental tone was worn. **The creatures I sent to stop you failed… I should have known. You managed to kill she who would consume all things, what hope did they have? **

**But then… you are not all here are you? **The Alatreon's tone became taunting and cruel. **You left your comrades behind… as what? A distraction? A roadblock? Do you think they can win against such beasts in so few numbers? The devourer was truly my greatest and most powerful asset, but do not think that all else which dwell upon this peak are merely shadows in comparison to her. The other humans will not walk away from their fighting unscathed… if they manage to walk away at all. Do you think the dark one will show mercy? Do you think the volatile one will hesitate to reduce a human to ashes? How many of your 'friends' have you sentenced to death, allowing them to challenge my most prized of puppets with only-**

"What is that for?" Levin shouted, interrupting the Alatreon and motioning to the blue crystal that continued to grow out of the ground. "What are you trying to accomplish with so much of the blue crystal?"

Now the Alatreon's gaze turned directly towards them, it's hateful red and yellow boring into the hunters in irritation at being cut off. The creature's voice was hissed venom in their minds. **You did this to me! I am wounded! I am scarred! My wings, so wide and powerful, are torn and shredded! This should not be! I am supposed to be invincible and indomitable! It was the will of fate! But now… now… now this! These wounds, these tears, these scars! It's an abomination, an aberration on destiny itself! And it's all because of you! **

**I can feel them now… the hunters are vying for my blood. Those on this mountain and those around the world. News of my weakened state is spreading, I know it. But I will not let them bring me down! I will not give them the satisfaction! I am weak and battered… but I will heal, and I will remind these pathetic humans who come for me what sort of creature they dare to challenge! I will seal myself away within this crystal, bury myself within the fires of this mountain, and recover from the wounds I have received from you! It may take months. It may take years. But time… you humans cower and quake at the flow of time, and the passing of days. But time! Time is of no concern to me! I am eternal! Be it years, decades, or centuries, I can wait for these imperfections you have wrought to vanish!**

**And when the time comes that by body has healed, and I have once again grown strong and powerful, I will wreak a vengeance unlike any before upon humanity! Your species will relearn what it means to fear me, even if I have to wipe humanity out to near extinction once more! **The massive blue crystal flared brightly at the Alatreon's words, its eerie glow swelling at the elder dragon's enthusiasm. **I have reduced you pathetic creatures to oblivion **_**four times **_**in the history of your species' existence, erasing all sign of your expansion and technology. What is a fifth time to watch you weak beings crawl upon the earth as insects?**

"I think the circumstances have changed since the last time you laid waste to this world, Alatreon!" Harker shouted, and the elder dragon's attention turned menacingly towards the long sword user. "Things have changed, have they not, dragon? Four times, you say you've reduced humanity to but a fraction of their former number? Tell me, during any of those times, have you found yourself running from those who would hunt you? How many times have you found yourself bloodied and battered in your final hiding spot? How many times have found yourself with your wings in tatters? How many times have you challenged humanity with your own power falling apart at the seams?"

The Alatreon growled angrily at the words, but didn't retort. Pale lightning sparked violently between the beast's twisted horns, and jolts danced along the creature's body. For a moment, the elder dragon strained itself, and the wild element faded a little. The beast returned its attention to Harker, seething for a moment, before directing its gaze concernedly back to the growing crystal. The blue stone was up to the Alatreon's belly, perhaps a third complete, but at the rate it was growing, it would be complete in perhaps an hour or so. Another bolt of dragon element leapt from the beast's horns, cascading across the surface of the crystal and making the blue stone flare brightly.

"Ask yourself, dragon! How many times have you challenged humanity, declaring yourself superior, when in your heart you know that you're just as painfully mortal as the rest of us? How many times have you challenged us with the fear of death?"

Dark dragon energy flared to life all across the Alatreon, dancing along the elder dragon's body as the beast hissed furiously, and the creature spun about, turning to face the humans. **Fools! Weak, pathetic humans! I am weakened, and I am wounded; this I will admit! But even in such a condition, do you really think just the four of you are enough to slay me? Do you think you have any hope of victory without that metal weapon on that flying machine of yours? I may be battered, but there is strength left in me to reduce the lot of you to ash! And make no mistake, when you are begging me for mercy, I will take the time to savor your deaths, each and every one! **

The Alatreon reared back, unleashing its head-splitting screech into the air. The hunters winced in pain from the intensity of the howl, and the earth below them shivered from the force of the creature's roar. The elder dragon smashed down into the earth again, splintering the rocky earth below it, and cracks spider-webbed across the arena, the shaking earth collapsing in several places. Gushes of lava burst up from below, spraying into the sky and splashing the earth around it with steaming magma.

"Get ready!" Kerry shouted, and the others nodded, bracing themselves.

The Alatreon growled viciously at them, its eyes narrowing furiously on the four of them as they drew their weapons. Lightning danced along its horns, and bursts of flame swelled around its fangs. Dark energy bloomed across the beast's body, spiraling around it, and the elder dragon lurched towards them, charging the hunters and screeching. The hunters dove out of the way as sparks of dragon energy jumped out from the Alatreon as it blazed past them.

Levin rolled to his feet as the elder dragon rushed past him, spinning about in preparation to charge the beast before it could attack them again. Harker was doing the same, sweeping around to take the black beast from the other side, and Levin could hear Ellie and Kerry cocking their bowguns, preparing to fire. But the Alatreon twisted its head around sharply, even before it had skidded to a halt, and flames bloomed in the back of the creature's throat. With a screech from the Alatreon, a massive fireball erupted from the beast's maw, tearing through the air towards him. Levin yelped in fear, leaping backwards as the fiery sphere bore down on him. The fireball smashed into the ground not ten feet in front of him, detonating in a fiery blast which sent a pillar of flames blazing into the sky. A shock wave and blast of heat smashed into his chest, throwing him back and pulling a cry of pain from the switch axe user as he crashed into the stone earth.

Harker continued to sweep around the beast, before darting in towards the creature, his long sword flashing brightly as he hurried to attack the elder dragon. But as quickly as the beast had attacked Levin, it struck out at Harker just as quickly, snapping about and launching a barrage of ice spears towards the long sword user. Harker yelped fearfully as the frigid spears pierced the earth around him, one getting close enough to scrape against his bracers, leaving a pale gash against the metal. Several more pale lances flew towards the man, and Harker was forced to dash away or risk being impaled.

The sound of bowgun fire roared over where the fireball had detonated, and the Alatreon hissed viciously as Dragon rounds and Pierce rounds punctured into its hide. Its eyes darted towards Ellie and Kerry, who had both spread out from each other, firing on the elder dragon from a distance. But the Alatreon howled furiously, and its horns became alight with pale blue electricity. The beast swung its head, and a cascade of lightning bolts dropped from the sky, ripping apart the earth around both of the bowgunners and sending them running for their lives, just barely managing to stay out from under the cascade of electricity it flung at them.

The beast looked down on the hunters as they struggled to get back into a position to attack, its eyes ablaze. Dragon element began to spiral around its body once more. **Do you see now? Have you realized the futility of your efforts? This is my power! This is the strength of an elder dragon! This is the destructive force that brought humanity low four times in the past! Do you think I am weak? Do you think I will simply fall to you because you have wounded me? I am master of the elements; they are mine to wield as I wish, and I will **_**force **_**them to heed me if I must! I am the blazing black dragon! I am the brilliant darkness! **

Again the creature reared, releasing another ear-splitting screech, and lightning danced along its horns. Dark dragon element lashed out from the beast, crashing down into the rocks around it and smashing apart the earth. **No more playing! No more toying with you feeble creatures! Come, humans! Come at me, blades brandished, as so many before you have, and meet the same miserable death you humans deserve!**

The sky above them churned as the clouds of smoke shifted at the cries of the elder dragon, and cracks of thunder rolled through the skies as lightning jumped just beyond their vision. Bolts of lightning came crashing down around the battlefield, and the creature charged again. And the hunters rushed to meet the black dragon, beginning the final battle in earnest.

* * *

The world was covered in a pale white haze, or at least it was as far as Jino was concerned. He could barely see ten yards away before the thick white smoke which surrounded him made anything beyond completely invisible to him. He stood low to the ground in a ready crouch, listening to his surroundings carefully and watching the shifting fog. Occasionally there was a flash of dark energy, a bolt of dragon element that shone through the thick haze around him, accompanied by the furious growling of the Zinogre and the stamping of the beast's claws and the creature charged around the area in search of the hunters.

It was Nox's work, the haze around him, and for it Jino was immensely thankful. The short sword user had dropped a smoke bomb not long ago. Jino wasn't sure if all smoke bombs produced this much haze - he scarcely used them himself - or if the Baggi-armored hunter had received some 'help' from Harker in his creation of the bomb. But either way, they were certainly effective.

Despite there being four of them battling the Zinogre, the creature was quickly overwhelming them. Though he had skill in fighting the creatures, none of the others shared his experience with the creatures, and even he was having trouble with the beast. The creature's dragon element was absolutely debilitating, far more dangerous than the lightning element other Zinogres wielded. And despite the beast's absolutely massive size compared to other Zinogres, the dark creature didn't seem to have lost any of its speed and dexterity in exchange, coming at them with devastating agility and mobility. And it certainly didn't help that the Alatreon's 'compulsion', or whatever Levin had called it, seemed to have driven the beast into a perpetual enraged state, and the Zinogre had been assaulting the four hunters with a ferocity that could have matched the rage of the World Eater they'd fought back in Boma Village…

They'd found themselves almost completely overwhelmed in a matter of minutes. Soon after the other seven hunters had escaped through the crevice in the stone wall, all four of them had been inflicted with dragonblight and were forced into defensive measures just to keep from being crushed under the creature's powerful blows. Every time they managed to get close enough to the beast to properly attack it, the beast almost immediately began calling down bolts of dragon element, akin to lightning strikes, which force them back. Tenebris had been the only one capable of taking a proper offense, having the range offered with her bowgun, but even that was proving not to be enough, especially with the Zinogre's strange ability to have those dragon element orbs it could make hone in on them and chase them down. At least the beast didn't have the ability to make the orbs turn once it had launched them… or at least it hadn't revealed that it could yet.

The smoke bomb had been set off a few minutes ago, when Nox had been nearly pinned against a rock wall by the beast. The short sword wielder had panicked as the ZInogre smashed against his shield with its powerful claws, sending cascades of dragon energy blasting over the shield and dancing through his armor, all while denting the shield more and more with each consecutive blow. The other hunters were trying to catch up with him to pull the beast's attention away, but they weren't moving quickly enough, and the Zinogre was too intent on its prey. But when the creature paused to gather its strength, preparing to crush the hunter with one powerful blow, Nox had scrambled to pull something, _anything_ out of his pouch he could use to save himself, a flash bomb or a trap or something, and had thrown down the first thing he'd gotten his hands of.

The smoke bomb had gone off with a sound like a gust of wind, and spread across the battleground just as quickly. Jino admitted he'd let out a yelp when the rush of white smoke had swept over him, blinding him temporarily from the sudden change of light. But the Zinogre had howled in surprise at the activation of the bomb, flailing a bit before growling angrily and resuming its attack on Nox. But the hunter had long since scampered away from the beast, putting distance between himself and the creature. The Zinogre had bellowed in rage at the loss of its prey, and charged off after him, blindly rushing around in search of the hunters.

But it had yet to find them so far, at least, not unless they'd let it. The smoke continued to linger, and was so thick that the beast couldn't find them at all, but at the same time they had trouble finding the beast as well. They caught sight of it sliding through the haze every now and then, and occasionally braved an attempt at ambushing the beast through the fog. Jino had seen burn marks and a couple new wounds on the beast the last time he'd tried, and had managed to break one of the spines which sprouted from the creature's wrist with his hammer. But he'd been forced to pull back and hide in the smoke again when the beast had retaliated, not giving him the time to do any real damage.

So that was where they found themselves now, playing a dangerous game, sliding through the lingering smoke, hoping they would be able to spot the Zinogre through the haze before it spotted them.

There was a clattering of stone behind him, and Jino cursed, spinning about and bringing his hammer to bear, expecting the worst. But it was only Tenebris, slinking through the fog with Nox trailing close behind. The huntress paused fearfully at the sight of the hunter preparing to draw his hammer on her, but Jino sighed in frustration, putting the weapon back where it came from. "You should be more careful! Damn near took a swing at you two when I heard you come up behind me."

"Well it's not like we knew we were sneaking up on you," Tenebris replied tersely. "We didn't even know you were there until we were right on top of you, thanks to this fog, and we've got to keep quiet so the Zinogre doesn't hear us."

Nox grimaced at the words, a guilty look on his face. "This smoke is more trouble than it's worth… We're just as likely to jump each other as we are the Zinogre. Damn it, I shouldn't have used it in the first place…"

"No, you did the right thing," Jino told him comfortingly. "Anything else and the beast might have made short work of you. We'll just need to try and use this smoke to our favor… it would be easier if we could track the beast through this haze, but we'll make due. All we need is one good chance to use this smoke to ambush the beast."

"Have either of you seen Miller recently?" Tenebris asked quietly.

"I think he tried to take off the Zinogre's tail earlier," Nox replied. "There's a nice chunk sliced out of it the last I saw of the creature, but I think it only pissed the thing off further. Pretty sure Miller ducked over to the rock wall once the Zinogre recovered, but…" The short sword wielder looked around uncertainly, though there was nothing to see but smoke. "I couldn't say where exactly that is relative to where we are now."

The hunters went quiet at the sound of heavy footsteps nearby, and they looked around tensely in search of the Zinogre. The beast's low growling rolled across the rocks, though none of them could get a clear direction where it was coming from. The sound seemed to come from everywhere around them…

There was a glimmer through the smoke, and the hunters braced themselves. But it wasn't the Zinogre that came through the fog, but several small, flitting spots of light. The three were still wary, however, as the lights glowed in the red and black color of dragon element. But they were just so small… However, they were slowly coming towards them, darting around through the air in random directions. The lights were almost on top of them when the hunters realized it was a small cluster of the bugs they'd seen flying around the Zinogre earlier. Nox gasped in recognition.

"Dracophage Bugs," he whispered, as the bugs fluttered through the air around them. "You see them every so often in the Tundra, but they're very rare. They eat the Dragonfell Berries you find up there, so they're able to generate dragon element. I guess that's where all the creature's power is coming from… it must have thousands crawling along its back. They sell for a lot, too… jeez, how much money would we make if we managed to collect all of the bugs that thing has on its back?"

"Now's not the time, Nox," Tenebris chided. "Let's focus on killing the Zinogre andthe Alatreon before anything else!"

The low growling of the Zinogre caught the hunters' attention again, far closer than before, and the bulky shape of the creature passed by, a shadow through the smoky haze. Bolts of dragon element lanced around the area where the creature walked. The hunters crouched lower to the ground, bracing themselves. Tenebris made a few quick hand signals to the others. There was no pre-determined meaning to her waving hands, but the other two understood well enough: this was a prime opportunity to surprise attack the beast, and they needed to capitalize on it. The three of them tensed, preparing themselves as the Zinogre's path brought it closer, little by little…

_ZZT__!_

"Ow! Dammit!" Nox hissed under his breath. The other hunters looked sharply at the sword and shield user, but the man was trying to wave off a Dracophage Bug darting around his head. "Get away from me you little-" The bug dipped close though, and a long spark of dragon element jumped from the insect, zapping Nox's Baggi-armor braces and sending tendrils of dark energy dancing along his armor.

A powerful roar thundered across the rock flat, and a massive collection of dragon orbs ripped through the smokescreen, flying directly towards Nox where he crouched. The hunter yelped in fright, diving out of the way as the energy spheres seared past him, some of them crashing into the ground around him and erupting in a burst of dark energy. A moment later, the Zinogre came barreling through the smoke, its eyes blazing with fury as jolts of dark energy lanced along its spine. It caught sight of Tenebris through the haze first, as the bowgunner had been closer to the beast than Nox had, and adjusted its course to charge towards the huntress. She scrambled to move out of the way in time, but the beast had the complete drop on them and was sprinting at her full speed, and would be on top of the huntress in a moment or two.

But there was a furious bellow from the side, and Miller dashed through the haze on the Zinogre's right, swinging his great sword down towards the creature. The Zinogre was so focused on Tenebris that the beast didn't even see the blade, and the dark blue great sword cleaved into the creature's shoulder. The beast howled in shock and agony as the blade shredded its flesh, and the force of the blow knocked the creature off of its feet, tumbling across the earth. But the Zinogre was upright in a flash, howling furiously at the wound it had been given, as dragon element flared wildly along its back.

"Run!" Jino shouted to the others. "We've lost our chance for now! Head into the fog and hide again!"

The hunters found themselves running away from the beast yet again, dodging and diving out of the way as dozens of dragon element orbs seared through the air after them, smashing into the rocks around them and blasting apart the terrain. The Zinogre howled furiously behind them, and Jino could hear the beast rushing through the fog, trying to run down the hunters. But Miller's blow on the creature's shoulder had hampered its speed, even if only slightly, and the hunters were quickly able to duck out of the Zinogre's sight, vanishing into the smoke again as the creature roared in frustration behind them. Jino found himself bunkered down behind a small boulder with Miller while the Zinogre rampaged somewhere nearby, thunderous bolts of dragon element smashing apart the earth around it. He didn't know where Tenebris and Nox had gotten to, but the Zinogre sounded furious and agitated, so it was likely it hadn't managed to catch any of them.

"Alright, we've lost it for the moment," Jino murmured, wiping his forehead of sweat. He could feel the lingering effects of Kai's heat-resistance song beginning to wear off, so he pulled a Cool Drink from his pack and downed it quickly. "Damn… how did it manage to find us so easily through the smoke? Its sense of smell shouldn't be that good, not with all the brimstone this Volcano's been pumping out… and these smoke bombs are supposed to dull our scents."

"It might have better senses than we think," Miller replied. "Or else it has some other way of tracking us."

"Like what?" Jino asked. "Its ears shouldn't be able to hear us well with the Volcano constantly erupting like it is, so what other way could it-" The hammer wielder was abruptly cut off, however, as another of the Dracophage Bugs flitted through the air between the two hunters. The bug hovered close to Miller, and the great sword user swatted at it irritably. But he missed, and a spark of dark energy jumped between them, and the blue-armored hunter winced painfully.

The Zinogre's roar bellowed across the area, and the beast footsteps thundered towards them. The dark creature erupted through the smoke, eyes glowing angrily as it bore down on them, and dragon element surging along its body as it prepared to assault them. The hunters dove out of the way as the beast lunged, and its talon-lined claw smashed into the earth between them, sending an eruption of dark energy skyward. Almost immediately it swept around, lunging towards Miller for a couple steps, before twisting into a spiral, sweeping its wide tail towards the great sword wielder. The hunter barely managed to swing his blade around, bracing himself in a defensive stance before the broad tail smashed into him, sending him skidding back across the obsidian floor. The Zinogre howled at the two hunters, dragon energy flaring across its back as the small insects which dwelled on it danced through the air.

"It's the bugs!" Miller hissed. For a moment Jino didn't understand, but he winced as one of the Dracophage Bugs flew close to him, and a spark of dragon element jumped between them, alighting across his shoulder. The Zinogre's pointed ears twitched at the sound, the beast's attention jumping from Miller back to the hammer user, and the creature growled menacingly. Then Jino understood what had happened.

"It's using the bugs!" he shouted across the rock flats, hoping the other two would hear and be warned. "It's using the Dracophage Bugs to track us! If they shock you, it will know where you are!"

But looking up, his heart sank. He had been so concerned with trying to hide from the Zinogre in the smokescreen, he hadn't been paying close enough attention to the skies above him: the air over them was positively filled with the red and black bugs. Hundreds of them were darting around the air above them, sparks of dragon element jumping between them when they got close. And they were diving down into the smoke where the hunters were hiding. Even now, Jino watched as a pair of the bugs dove down into the haze some thirty or so yards away, and a moment later, he spotted a spark of dark energy jump from the bug through the smoke, followed by the sound of Nox cursing. The Zinogre's head turned sharply towards the light, but it quickly returned its attention back to the hunter in front of it.

"Damn it all…" Jino muttered, unslinging his hammer. They'd lost their advantage over the creature. Now all they could do was hope they could somehow manage to survive the creature's strength with their own power and skill… and no small amount of luck.

* * *

A rattling hiss rolled across the rocky terrain, and Richard tensed. He couldn't tell exactly where the sound was coming from, not with all the echoing and the roar of the volcano dulling the sounds, but the beast was close, he could tell that much. The exact distance was uncertain, and he dared not risk looking around the corner, for fear the creature would catch sight of him. At least, not yet…

The long sword wielder stood with his back against a tall obsidian column, a twisted, bulbous shape which jutted up from the earth. There were dozens more around him however, like the skeletal remains of a forest turned to stone. He wasn't alone here though; he knew that, aside from himself and the mysterious blue beast which had ambushed them in the underground cavern, the twins Kai and Kei were somewhere nearby as well, hiding behind the obsidian pillars like he was.

They'd been forced to pull out of the underground chamber they'd initially met the beast in. It had been necessary to retreat: the beast was simply too dangerous a monster to battle directly, especially in a wide open space, and the creature's constant assault of explosive blasts had exacerbated the already failing integrity of the cavern. Rocks and boulders had begun to fall from the ceiling after only a few minutes of battle. The hunters had needed to scramble away when one of the dislodged slabs of stone unleashed a torrent of magma from above, right into the center of the chamber, after which they'd had no choice but to retreat. They just didn't have the resistance to lava the blue creature had, chasing after them straight through the river of magma it had unleashed, and though Richard's Rathalos armor was heat-resistant, the intensity of molten lava was simply too much.

They'd been forced to run from the beast as it continued to trail behind them, unleashing waves of devastation with its slime-coated arms and horn. They'd continued to run until they'd left the underground, finding themselves out in the open and running between the towering obsidian pillars the landscape had created. Thankfully they'd managed to leave the blue beast far enough behind that they'd had time to catch their breath and hide themselves in the pillars. But the beast had caught up with them quickly enough, and they'd been playing a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse ever since.

A deep footstep and a low, rattling growl caught Richard's attention, and this time it was close. He could hear the clattering of pebbles shifting around as the beast loped about… it had to be nearby, perhaps even on the other side of the pillar he stood up against. He took a deep breath and forced himself to stay calm: he'd have to attack soon, but he'd need to know the others were ready as well. He looked around, braving the side of the column as much as he could without risking being seen by the blue creature, wherever it was. A glint of dark-colored steel caught his attention some two dozen yards away, poking around the side of another of the columns. Kei's long sword, he assumed. The huntress was ready, now he only had to hope her brother was ready and waiting to do his part in this little scheme.

A dark shadow crept around the side of the column, and Richard froze, reaching for his long sword. The low rumbling of the blue beast could be heard clearly on the other side of the obsidian pillar now, and even the sniffs from the creature's snout could be heard as the beast searched for them. Above him, the glowing tip of the brute's slime-coated horn came into view, and the beast began growling in anticipation, sensing its prey was near.

But as the creature took a step forward, there was a sudden blaring sound from behind the beast. The creature yowled in fright, twisting its head around, anticipating an attack. But there was nothing there, or at least nothing close; several dozen yards away, the beast could see the end of Kai's hunting horn sticking out from around the corner of one of the columns. Richard swept around the side of the pillar, rushing the creature while it was distracted. He could feel the effects of the song Kai was playing washing over him, making him feel as though his strength was growing with every note. It made him feel like he could cut right through the monster's thick armor. He obviously couldn't, unfortunately. The blue beast's thick plating seemed almost impermeable, even with his blade being as sharp as it was and Kei's blade being bolstered by World Eater materials. But that was to be expected from a creature's whose primary method of attack was covering itself with explosive slime and throwing itself at its opponents in what would be a suicidal assault for a less-armored creature.

It didn't stop Richard from trying though. With the blaring cacophony Kai was unleashing, the blue beast didn't realize Richard was charging it until the last second, but by then the hunter was already lashing out with his long sword, releasing a battle cry heard even over Kai's tumultuous music. Sparks flew as his blade slashed against the creature's thick legs, and the beast squealed in surprise as anger as some of the blue scales shattered from the blows, tinkling to the ground in broken shards. The creature hissed angrily, swinging a glowing arm down towards Richard, but the hunter leapt back, pulling out of the blast range, though the force of the shock wave still made him stagger.

Before the creature could capitalize on Richard's stumbling, however, it yelped in pain and surprise again, a clash of steel signaling that Kei had rushed the beast from the rear, her own long sword slashing out against the back of the creature's knees, where the plating was weaker. A spray of blood splattered across the hot ground as the blade cut through scale and hide, steaming as it struck the earth, and the blue beast spun about again to attack the huntress. But by then Kei had already pushed away, and when the creature's pounder came down, it struck nothing but rock. Richard lunged at the beast again, trying to slash at it while it was distracted, but the creature heard him coming, and swung its tail around, trying to bludgeon the hunter with the jagged edges of the club at the end, forcing the hunter to step back again.

The two hunters continued to perform a deadly dance around the beast, lunging and attacking when its attention turned towards the other, cutting out at the scarce gaps in the monster's armor. It was a challenge, with threat of explosives from the creature's front, and risk of taking a hit from the deadly clubbed tail in the back. But with the obsidian pillars around them, the beast was having trouble moving around, considering its size, and kept bumping up against the pillars or catching its tail on a protrusion, giving the hunters ample time to attack.

Eventually, however, the creature grew enraged, and the slime across its body flared, shifting to its more volatile yellow coloring. With a screech of fury, the creature swung about, smashing its pounders into the earth, pushing the hunters back further and further away, before swinging its head down and piercing its horn into the earth. The rocks around the beast began to splinter and crack, shattering from below as an eerie yellow glow swelled up from under the surface.

"Run!" Kei shouted, and the two hunters turned and bolted as the fracturing of the earth began to spread. A moment later, the stone behind them, churning with the blue beast's slime, detonated. A massive wave of fire ripped through the rocky terrain, upturning stone and boulders and sending them flying through the air. The hunters cried out in pain as stones and boulders smashed into them from behind, and the wave of heat and smoke pressed against them, even as they ran. Diving to the side, the pair of them hid behind one of the obsidian pillars, as more stones and jets of flame roared past. Both hunters winced in pain as the roar of the explosions began to die away, the stones and fires they'd been struck with having left their marks on their armor and bodies.

They sat quietly for a moment, letting the noise settle. They heard the blue creature hiss angrily, howling and stamping its feet furiously. The creature began to move around, agitation clear in its cries as it searched for them. But the hunters kept quiet as the beast moved through the pillars, scouring the area, but incapable of finding them. The pair shifted around the side of the column as the beast came close, but it passed them by without catching wind of them, continuing on in its search.

"Damn it, are we even doing anything to it?" Kei grumbled irritably, a tone of fear in her voice. "We've ambushed it like this… what, three times now? And it feels like we're not doing anything!"

"We must be doing something," Richard reasoned, breathing hard but keeping quiet to avoid being heard. "We've succeeded in making it angry. If we weren't hurting it, I doubt it would be nearly as agitated as it is."

"That's not exactly comforting…" the huntress replied, rubbing her ribs where one of the upheaved rocks had caught her in the side. She reached reluctantly for a potion, but before she could open her pouch, the soft, soothing sound of a flute began to flutter between the rocks. The hunters heard the blue beast hiss and growl at the noise, but from the uncertain shuffling they heard, the beast couldn't seem to figure out where it was coming from. And with each note played, both hunters felt as though their wounds were healing, and their pain was fading.

"Health flutes…" Richard muttered, impressed. "Quite useful… not many people can play such things so effectively. Your brother really has a talent for musical weaponry."

"Don't get used to it," Kei replied. "Health flutes are nice and all, but they're not much better for you than potions. And they're terribly fragile; you play a single wrong note, and the integrity of the flute ruptures and it breaks. Kai's skilled at keeping that from happening, but even he can't always hit the notes right." The music cut off, and the blue creature howled angrily at the disappearance of the sound. Kei shifted uncomfortably where she stood. "We should hurry up and get back to fighting. It's going to find Kai soon if we don't get its attention."

"Agreed," Richard replied determinedly. "Those songs are the only thing giving us the strength to break that monster's armor. It would be easier if we'd been able to buy Demondrugs in Boma… shame they didn't have any for purchase or the materials to make any. We can't afford to lose the horn's power, and we certainly can't afford to lose your brother." The hunter glanced around the side of the pillar, and caught sight of the blue creature sliding between more about thirty yards away. "Think you can keep up the current plan, or do you want to switch places?"

"I'll loop around the back of the thing again," Kei hissed quietly. "I'll make a lot less noise than you in all that clanking armor!"

Richard snorted in amusement at the jab. "Fair enough, but be careful, and don't let it see you! If it hones in on you with this sort of plan, it'll be hard for us to come to your aid, even with your brother blaring distraction noise all over the place."

"Don't worry about me. I can be sneaky! Or at least, more so than you." With that, the huntress skittered off, dashing between the pillars, doing her best to keep out of the beast's sight or hearing. The huntress had been right: she was far quieter in her Jaggi armor than Richard could have been in his Rathalos plating, even with all the Deviljho hide and scales used to bolster her armor.

Richard closed the distance to the blue beast more cautiously, wincing every time his armor clanked against itself, pausing to make sure the creature hadn't heard him. The monster was getting agitated again, and was proving hard to keep up with, even if the beast had trouble moving through the obsidian pillars surrounding them.

But before the hunters could initiate another surprise attack on the blue creature, the beast howled in delight, and charged off in a direction opposite of where Richard was hiding. There was a yelp of fright, followed immediately by a sudden blast, one of the beast's explosions. From the side, the long sword user spotted Kai sprinting through the columns, diving between the towering structures as the blue beast chased after him, smashing apart the earth with powerful strikes from its pounders as it lunged after the hunting horn wielder. As the creature closed in on the hunter, Kai swung about, twisting his horn at the beast in a wide arc, smashing the bulk of the weapon against the side of the beast's face. The blue creature staggered, its eyes glazing for a moment, but they narrowed again on the hunter, and the monster screeched in rage, pulling back its arms and preparing to strike the hunter again.

"Get away from him!" The creature paused at the sound of Kei's voice behind it, just long enough for the huntress to rush up from behind the beast and lash out at its tail, gouging a long, bloody slice along the appendage. The blue beast hissed in pain, and smashed the club into the ground, kicking up a spray of stone shrapnel from the earth, making Kai wince as shards of obsidian clattered across her face. The beast snapped its tail to the side, trying to slam its jagged club against the huntress, but Kei backed away before the spiked appendage could wound her. There was a clattering of stone, and the blue beast's attention turned back to Kai, only to hiss in fury when it found the hunting horn wielder had used the chance to bolt, getting away from the explosive creature.

Richard took the chance to rush the beast as its rage again focused on Kei, the huntress pulling away from the creature to try and disappear behind the rocks. However, the blue creature caught sight of him before he could surprise it, and it faltered, glaring dangerously at the long sword user. The blue creature hissed venomously as its eyes darted between him and Kei, who had placed herself into a defensive stance. Richard could see the beast's eyes become cold, calculating. It was realizing its predicament; the hunters could move through the pillars far more easily than it could. They could outpace it and outlast it here in this place. Richard's eyes narrowed worriedly. He couldn't let the beast have the time to adapt to its situation! Inhaling sharply, the long sword user bellowed a roar of challenge at the blue brute, before sprinting directly towards the creature. The beast's eyes widened in surprise, caught off guard by the sudden assault, taking a stunned couple steps backwards. Richard closed the distance fast; he had to make sure the beast didn't have time to adjust its tactics! He just needed to make sure to avoid the beast's pounders if it had the cognizance to counter him, and Richard could-

But as he closed in on the monster, the beast's eyes narrowed menacingly. Richard was still a good dozen yards away when the creature swung its slime-coated arm back, far too early for it to strike out at the hunter. Richard had plenty of time to slide to a halt before the beast could bring its fist down. However, rather than dropping its fist to the ground as had been expected, the beast swept its arm to the side, smashing its pounder into one of the nearby columns. Richard winced as a small shockwave buffeted his armor as the slime detonated, and his Rathalos plating clinked as shrapnel bounced off him. The blue beast was still eyeing him expectantly, no longer stunned but anticipating. But why had the beast done what it had?

His answer came a moment later when the area echoed with a low, crumbling, groaning sound. Pops and crunches filled the air as the base of the column the beast had just struck began to splinter, and a moment later the entire base of the pillar cracked around the entire circumference, and the whole thing began to tilt and lean. The column was coming down! And it was coming down right where Richard was standing.

"Move!" he heard Kai yell from behind him. Richard was already moving, and leapt out of the way, only barely rolling out from under the massive pillar at it smashed into the earth behind him, fracturing the obsidian rocks. The twins hurried towards him as he coughed fitfully, the dust from the debris seeping into his armor.

"Are you alright?" Kei asked worriedly, and Richard nodded quickly.

"I'm fine!" he said, clearing his throat. "Now run! We have to get away, quickly! We need to spread out again! The monster is trying to-"

But he was cut off as a low rattling hiss emanated across the rocks, and the three hunters turned fearfully. The blue beast's head slid over the top of the fallen pillar as the beast leapt on top of it, its eyes burning red and its forearms coated in a fresh layer of saliva. With a howl the beast lunged at them, smashing its pounder down into the rocks next to them, blasting a hole into the earth and sending the three of them flying back. The hunters scrambled desperately back to their feet, rushing to pull out their weapons and spread out before the beast could attack them again. But before they could move, the beast pivoted on one of its arms, sweeping itself nimbly over to the bases of another pair of columns, and with two quick swings of its arms, detonated two more explosions. Both pillars of stone collapsed almost immediately, forcing the hunters to dive out of the way, or risk getting crushed beneath.

The earth shook as the two columns smashed into the earth below. As the dust settled, however, the hunters found themselves trapped. The pillars had both fallen nearly parallel to one another, and the trio were left in the center of an abruptly made narrow path, with at least thirty yards to the opening on one end, and the enraged blue monster on the other. The creature glared wickedly at them, and pulled its pounders up to its face, coating them in another fresh layer of saliva.

"Run!" Kai shouted, and the hunters turned to sprint the other direction, towards the painfully distant opening on the far end, as the beast screeched, swinging its arms down charging after them with a terrible drum beat of explosions.

* * *

Levin dove out of the way as the Alatreon's talons came down on him. The beast's claws sparked with surging electricity, and sent up shoots of lightning into the sky as they pierced the earth. The elder dragon's talons struck with so much force, they punctured the earth they battled on, tearing a searing hole into the stone from which a tall gush of magma leapt forth. Levin winced as drops of lava splashed against his armor, hissing venomously against the plating. He was glad the armor had been bolstered by the World Eater's scales and hide; he wasn't sure the Rathian materials alone would have been enough to ward off the blistering heat of the magma.

Levin wished he could counter the beast somehow, lashing out with his weapon, but the black dragon had shocked them all by showing it still had the strength and endurance to fly, and for the last ten minutes the elder dragon had been hovering several yards over the battleground. Even with the full length of his switch axe Levin could only hit the Alatreon's tail or the tips of the beast's hind legs, and the beast's tail was almost completely armored, untainted by dragon shots due to it being such a small target compared to the rest of the creature.

The Alatreon reeled as several rounds of Pellet shot pelted its face, forcing it to sweep back, lowering its head so the thick horns on its head would take the brunt of the damage instead of risking wounding its eyes. Levin and Harker rushed forwards at the opportunity, lunging for the black beast's dangling legs while the creature was distracted. But the beast was not to be so easily assaulted, and even with its eyes closed, pale mist swelled up in its mouth, before spraying out in a hissing white haze which coated the earth around it in a thick white barrier of jagged ice, forcing the blade wielding hunters to pull back or risk trying to leap over the dangerous frozen wall.

The hunters had been battling the elder dragon for nearly fifteen minutes now, and they'd been on the defensive almost the entire time. The creature hadn't been entirely inaccurate when it had said the four of them would not be enough to defeat it in battle. The beast had somehow reigned in its control over the elements it wielded, though the power was dampened compared to before. With only four of them, the creature was able to focus on all of them individually, even in its damaged state. It was slower than before, and had lost a lot of the sharpness in its attacks, but it was still pushing the hunters to their limits just trying to keep up.

The blasting of bowgun fire rang out, and rounds began to smash into the elder dragon from both sides. From the creature's right, Kerry was keeping her distance and assaulting the elder dragon with a constant spray of Dragon shots and Pellet shots, as well as the occasional explosive round. And from the creature's left, Ellie fired on the creature with her weapon's powerful Pierce rounds. The pair of bowgunners had been positively vital during the course of the battle, and not simply because Levin and Harker were having trouble fighting the beast with their limited melee attacks. The Alatreon's scales and plates had hardened and meshed back together since their battle in Loc Lac, and even when Levin and Harker managed to get close enough to attack the creature, the beast's body was completely impermeable, save for where their previous fighting with the elder dragon had already shattered or broken off the beast's plating.

The Alatreon howled furiously, turning its attention to Kerry as lightning danced along its horns, and with a sweep of its head, the creature sent a cascade of lightning ripping across the battleground, blasting apart the earth as it went. Kerry scrambled to dive out of the way, leaping to the side just as the assault ripped through the earth past her. Red-hot stones smashed against her armor, making the huntress cry out in pain, her armor not nearly as resistant to heat as Levin's. But still the bowgunner pressed on, refusing to hold still as the elder dragon flew towards her. As the Alatreon swept close to her, the beast swung its tail around towards the huntress, the appendage cracking like a whip as it snapped out at her. The jagged spines which lined the creature's tail ripped through the stones below it in a wide arc, and likely would have shredded terrible gashes through the thick Diablos armor the huntress wore now, had she not leapt back out of range, pulling her bowgun up to block the spray of shrapnel thrown at her.

White mist swelled in the Alatreon's maw as Kerry staggered, but before the creature could launch a spray of ice spears down onto the huntress, there was a clash of steel from behind the beast, and the elder dragon squealed in surprise. The beast turned to find Harker swinging his long sword at its tail, and though he wasn't getting much leverage against the appendage, with most of the scales still whole and undamaged, the Deviljho materials which bolstered the blade were giving him the ability to slice into the tail, even if it was a slow process. The Alatreon screeched furiously, twisting around and lashing its tail at the long sword user, but Harker was the fastest of the hunters, and was able to nimbly slide out of range before the spines could cut into him.

"We can't keep this up." Levin turned as Ellie approached him, wiping the sweat from her brow and reloading her bowgun. The huntress' armor was easily the best at withstanding the heat of the volcano, and she actually managed to stave off the Alatreon's fire blasts and dragon energy rather well. But the beast's lightning was positively devastating to her when it hit, as much as it was to Levin. Searing burn wounds lined the huntress' side, where she'd been hit while standing too close to one of the lightning strikes. The wound needed patching, but like the rest of the hunters she had to keep fighting, ignoring their injuries for now in favor for the numbing effects of potions. "It's like Loc Lac all over again; we just can't keep fighting the Alatreon if it's going to stay airborne like this! Kerry and I can't do this with just the two of us… we'll run out of ammo before we kill it at this rate."

"If you've got a way to get it earthbound again, I'd be happy to hear it," Levin muttered. "We don't exactly have a Dragonator to hit it with this time, and even if Harker has any more of those custom flash bombs of his, the Alatreon's gotten wise to that sort of thing."

Ellie frowned worriedly at the words. "Then what can we do? Wait until it gets tired again? It flew all the way here from Boma in the condition it's in, and now it's trying to kill us. I don't think we'll be able to wear it out or outlast it like we are."

"I don't know…" Levin shook his head. "Just… just keep shooting at its wings when you can. Maybe you two can do enough damage to throw it off or some-"

"Look out!" Harker called from across the battleground, and the pair looked up in shock to see the Alatreon spin around in the air, before sweeping low to the ground and rushing towards them like a missile across the rocks. The pair dove away from each other, and the elder dragon ripped through the air past them at such speeds that a blast of wind smashed into both of them, knocking the pair onto their backs. Both of them scrambled to get back to their feet, dashing away from the elder dragon in opposite directions just as the beast snapped its head around, spraying a blast of icy mist down at them. Jagged spikes of ice sprouted up from the earth like nails, unfettered by the heat of the Volcano and shining bright and deadly along the ground, another hindrance for the hunters to be wary of.

**Do not take your eyes off of me, humans! **The Alatreon's voice boomed, thunder in their skulls. **What do you think you can accomplish, huddled together like you are? Do you think you can concoct some tactic, some strategy to defeat me, to bring me low? There is nothing you can do to stop your ending, now! You have no grand weapon, no legion of hunters to call to your aid! There are only you four, facing me! So keep your eyes open, hunters! Keep them always on me, or else your deaths will come all the quicker, and I have time yet to make you suffer before I kill you all!**

The creature screeched again, its powerful roar ripping across the battlefield, and the hunters clutched their heads in pain at the piercing sound. The Alatreon reared back, then unleashed an assault of ice spears down onto the hunters, and the four of them only barely managed to shake themselves free from the pain of the creature's roar fast enough to dive out of the way as the frozen spears smashed into the earth, splintering the rocks apart. The Alatreon howled excitedly, freezing mist licking its lips, before it unleashed another torrent of frigid air down at the ground, flying in Harker's direction. The long sword wielder yelped in fear, turning about and sprinting away to avoid becoming enveloped in the freezing beam.

Levin found himself standing near to Kerry, the two of them needing to watch their steps. They'd ended up running near to one of the ruined piles of destroyed war machines the Alatreon had piled up, and shrapnel and ruined metal parts were scattered around below them, half buried in ash. The bowgunner continued to fire on the Alatreon, trying to pull the elder dragon's attention from Harker as the long sword wielder scrambled to keep from being blasted by the ice beam. Two heavy Pierce rounds smashed into the creature's jaw, making the beast's aim waver. The ice beam swept to the side, rushing over one of the lava pits which boiled up in the battlefield. There was an eruption of steam which blasted into the air, and the Alatreon howled in surprise as it was enveloped in a small white cloud of haze.

"Nice shot," Levin muttered, and Kerry nodded thankfully. "I don't suppose _you_ have a plan to get it out of the air once and for all, do you?"

"No," Kerry sighed regretfully. "I've been trying to hit its wings, but they're moving too much for me to get a solid shot. I can't risk using incendiaries; I only have so many heavy rounds to use. And any smaller rounds I have just aren't doing enough damage to have enough of an effect, especially considering it can't feel pain." The huntress grimaced fearfully. "I've calculated it out: at this rate, our only hope of victory will be if the Alatreon's body gives out under the stress it's been under before we do. But if it doesn't feel any pain, it's impossible to guess when, or even if that will happen before… before it overruns us."

Levin cursed sourly. "Damn it…" The bowgunner nodded at the silent disdain for their situation. Though Kerry was by far the most experienced hunter among the four of them, even she was not without damage. The Alatreon seemed to favor launching fireballs at her, thanks to the distance she kept from the beast, and her left arm in particular was coated in soot and burn marks. But she, like all of them, had no choice but to keep fighting and hope for the best. "Do you think we could-"

But before Levin could finish his thought, the Alatreon bellowed in rage, beating its wings in a flurry and sweeping out of the fog cloud. Levin yelped in fear as he realized the elder dragon was tearing through the air straight towards him and Kerry. The pair of hunters leapt back as the Alatreon unleashed a cluster of ice spears down on them, piercing the stone around them in a wide arc. There was a terrible screeching sound as one of the frigid lances tore across Kerry's bowgun, shearing a jagged line through the thick Agnaktor materials, before doing the same to the pale Barioth scales which made up the huntress' greaves. Kerry cried out in pain, dropping to her knees as a gush of blood poured from the gash cut into her armor, seeping over the coating of frost left behind by the spear.

Levin instinctively reached out to help her, but the Alatreon almost immediately unleashed another volley of ice spears towards him, and this time he wasn't quick enough to dodge out of the way. A sharp, frigid pain bit into his right shoulder as the frozen lance clipped his arm, and biting cold seeped into his body through the wound as frost blossomed across his arm. He stumbled back in pain as the rest of the ice spears crashed into the earth around him, splitting apart the rocks and rising out of the battleground like crystal teeth of some terrible beast.

His armor felt loose now, and looking at his shoulder, Levin realized the blow from the frozen lance had knocked off his pauldron completely, and the connections between his rerebraces and chest plate were coming unhinged. In the back of his mind, he remembered what Richard had told him: the armor would only remain intact for a couple weeks at the most before the joints of the makeshift armor would start to fall apart. Levin cursed; how long had it been since Silph and Richard had refurbished his armor with the World Eater materials? How much time did he have left?

Lightning sparked between the horns of the Alatreon as the beast howled at the pair of hunters, and Levin and Kerry backed away fearfully, tensing against their wounds, preparing to dodge out of the way of the beast's next attack. But before any of them could move, there was a deep groaning sound from the earth below them, and a shivering crumbling rolled across the battleground. Levin yelped in shock when the ground he stood on shifted below his feet, dipping slightly. Even the Alatreon seemed confused for a moment at what had happened.

But it became clear soon enough. Looking around, Levin realized the Alatreon's attacks had pushed him and Kerry back, uncomfortably close to the edge of the battleground, where the rock flat abruptly cut off , dropping several feet down and into a swirling river of magma. The splintering sound returned, and the earth below them shivered once more. Several of the ice spears began to shake where they stood, and some toppled over from the holes they'd pierced into the rocks. A wide, jagged crack ripped through the earth between the ice spears, tearing apart the rocks as it splintered between the frozen lances. Again, the rock flat under Levin and Kerry shifted, and the earth beneath them groaned as the crack split apart wider, spreading several inches apart and dipping a whole two inches lower than the rest of the battleground before the shifting stopped. Now the crack spread in a wide semicircle around Levin and Kerry, wrapping around a wide swath of the battlefield, from the edge of the rock flat around to the base of one of the ancient Meridian machines, half-buried in the rock.

The Alatreon growled low under its breath as it eyed the unstable ground beneath the hunters, and lightning danced along its horns. Levin's heart sank, as he realized what the elder dragon was planning, and both he and Kerry scrambled forward, desperate to get off of the loosened platform. But Kerry stumbled, hissing in pain due to the injury to her leg, and Levin instinctively stopped, turning to help her up. But the pause was long enough for the Alatreon to take action, and voltage blazed through the creature's talons, and the elder dragon swept down, smashing its claws into the crack. A blast of lightning ripped through the crack, and Levin nearly lost his footing as the rock slab tilted backwards, breaking loose from the battleground.

For a horrible second, Levin and Kerry were in freefall, their hearts floating up into their throats as the rock plummeted downwards, neither of them having the capacity to cry out or scream. But the fall was only a few scant feet, before the rock platform jolted to an abrupt halt and twisted to the side. Levin cried out in pain as his feet were twisted out from under him and he was slammed shoulder-first into the rocks. He found himself tumbling painfully, skidding along the obsidian as the platform tilted to a wildly crooked angle. He could hear Kerry struggling against the toppling earth like he was, and both of them struggled to stop themselves before they could fall off the side.

Through some stroke of luck, Levin managed to grasp hold of a stone jutting up from the earth, stopping himself from sliding even further. Kerry was forced to pull out her hunter's knife and slam it into the obsidian below them, nearly snapping the blade and denting it beyond repair, but she managed to keep herself from sliding any further. Both hunters struggled to pull themselves back to their feet, fighting against the steep terrain. Levin dared a look backwards, and shivered fearfully at the sight: the rock slab the Alatreon had loosed from the battleground was partially sunk into the lava, and Levin and Kerry had only managed to stop themselves from sliding into the magma flow a scant couple yards from where the rock dipped into the lava river.

Levin was shocked the slab hadn't simply fallen completely into the lava, and it wasn't until he looked up that he realized why they hadn't. The crack in the earth had broken off all the way over to one of the old machines the Alatreon kept as a trophy, half-buried in the stone. Some large chunk, perhaps a wing of one of the Meridian machines, had snapped off from the main body, and was embedded into the slab he and Kerry were stranded on. Cords and wires connected the two, straining against the weight of the slab but somehow holding out and keeping the platform from sliding completely into the lava.

A low growling rolled over the rocks, and the two hunters looked up fearfully to see the Alatreon looking down on them in frustration, clearly irate that the pair hadn't fallen completely into the lava as it had no doubt hoped. But the beast glanced over towards the broken remnants of the Meridian weapon, and lightning began to dance along its horns once more as it prepared to break them loose and finish the job once and for all. But before it could do so, the sound of bowgun fire erupted across the battlefield, and a heavy round smashed into the Alatreon's back before detonating in a wave of explosions across the creature's wings. Levin couldn't see over the ledge above him, but he could hear Ellie shouting furiously, spitting curses at the creature as more bowgun fire echoed over them. The beast howled in frustration, spinning around, and launching a searing fireball in the direction where the bowgun fire seemed to be coming from, and there was a powerful explosion from somewhere beyond, but more blasts kept coming, Pierce rounds and Flame rounds smashing against the beast's chest and neck. A few moments later, the Alatreon howled in frustration, before sweeping through the air towards its new target, leaving Levin and Kerry to their fates.

A groan from the Meridian machine pulled the two hunters' attention away from the leaving Alatreon, as the pale white weapon strained against the weight of the stone slab. Two of the wires keeping the slab from falling into the lava abruptly snapped, and the small platform jolted wildly, another few inches of obsidian sliding into the magma below.

"Run!" Levin cried, sweeping a hand under Kerry's shoulder and helping her limp up the side of the steep incline. The bowgunner gasped painfully with each step she took on her wounded leg, but kept pace with Levin, just as desperate to escape the lava as he was. The only way off of the platform was straight for the remains of the Meridian machine, and both hunters dashed up the incline towards it as quickly as they could. Every few feet, another of the wires snapped, and the slab dipped another few inches.

The two hunters just barely made it to the base of the Meridian object as the last of the wires snapped free, and the rock slab dropped, splashing into the lava river below and spraying a wave of molten magma up against the base of the machine. Levin and Kerry scrambled up the side of the pale object as the wave of lava crashed into the base of the machine under them. The magma hissed and boiled, and the machine groaned, shifting slightly as it slowly began to slide into the pool of lava as well. The hunters panicked for a moment, but a few seconds later the Meridian machine stopped sliding, settling into a sturdy position once more, and leaving Levin and Kerry gasping in relief.

"That was a little too close," the bowgunner sighed, toppling backwards into a sitting position. She winced for a moment, clutching her leg in pain. Levin quickly reached for his pouch, pulling out a roll of bandages as the huntress retrieved a potion bottle from her own pouch. Levin quickly wrapped the wound, and though his treatment was nowhere near as good as what Kerry could do, the two of them were both pressed for time, and had to move quickly to make do with what they could get away with.

A powerful detonation ripped across the battlefield, however, pulling the attention of the two hunters back to the elder dragon. The Alatreon was unleashing a volley of fireballs after Ellie and Harker, and enormous columns of flame were blazing into the sky. The hunters were managing to keep out of the elder dragon's attack range, but they were running out of space to run with more and more craters created by the Alatreon to dodge around.

"We need to get back there and help!" Kerry said sharply, rushing to leap off the side of the white machine and back to the fight.

But before either of the hunters could get off the Meridian machine and rejoin the battle, the white object they stood on hissed wildly, jets of pale steam hissing out from the sides of the machine. Kerry yelped in surprise as a panel on the side of the Meridian object was pushed inward as she stepped on it, and she scrambled off of it as the machine, somehow still functional, hissed to life. A hatch, completely invisible until it began to swing open, lifted up a couple feet away, and with a groan and screech of ancient cogs, a worn, slightly-blackened object lifted up from within the machine. There were several snapping sounds, followed by another release of steam as the object latched into place, and the Meridian object was silent once more, only now with a strange new weapon protruding from the top of the machine.

It was a ballistae launcher of some kind, like a massive stationary bowgun, Levin could tell that much. He'd seen similar designs on the hulls of the dragonships that sailed out into the sandsea, though this one… Levin couldn't tell whether the machine in front of him was more or less advanced than the ones which were used to hunt the Jhen Mohran. It was certainly made of the same pale white, mysterious materials the Meridians seemed to favor, but it didn't seem to fire ballistae like Levin would have thought. There was some massive steel spear protruding out from the front of the weapon, but it seemed bulky, and was covered in dozens of large, backwards-facing spikes along the side compared to the smaller ammunition other launchers fired. And to top it all off, there was a reel of thick wire or cords latched to the side of the weapon, though its purpose baffled Levin.

"What is this? Some kind of weapon?" he asked.

"I don't know," Kerry murmured uncertainly. "I mean… I suppose if it was attached to this Meridian thing, it was probably meant to be used against the Alatreon."

"Can we use it?" Levin asked hopefully, though Kerry's expression was doubtful.

"Maybe? I can't imagine how it would possibly work… do you think you could shoot it?"

"Don't look at me!" Levin said quickly. "I'm a terrible shot! I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn from the inside!"

Kerry frowned thoughtfully, looking down at the machine. "Harker's better with these sorts of things than I am… Maybe… maybe like this?" she muttered, twisting a handle on the side of the machine. There was a short hiss, and another blast of steam jetted from the side of the object. Kerry's eyes widened in surprise as the taut bowstrings groaned under the strain of their age.

"Look out!" Ellie's voice cried out from the other side of the battlefield, and the two hunters looked up. The Alatreon had caught sight of them, realizing what they were trying to accomplish on the old machines. Beating its wings, the creature swept low to the ground and seared through the air towards them, lightning jumping across its horns as it charged them.

Levin and Kerry yelped in fright, but the bowgunner rushed to the controls of the weapon, grabbing hold of the machine's trigger and swinging the thing about to point towards the approaching elder dragon. It took a precious couple seconds for the huntress to bring the weapon to bear, time enough for the Alatreon to get dangerously close. The beast screeched as it swept up on them, the intensity of the voltage in its horns flaring as it prepared to rip through them. Levin lurched forward, intent on delaying the beast long enough for Kerry to finish priming the weapon.

But before he could take two steps, there was a squeak of rusty metal and a loud hissing sound. Scarcely two feet to his right, a massive metal lance harpoon shot past him. Levin cried out in pain as a thick, coiling cord thicker than his thumb snapped against his back, cracking against his Rathian plating and throwing him to the ground. The cord, made of thickly wrapped metal strings, was tied rigidly to the end of the harpoon which had been fired, and twirled behind the soaring lance, lashing side to side as it rocketed through the air. Levin grimaced, keeping himself low to the ground as the whipping cord lashed over his head.

The sound of machinery activating could be heard coming from several other directions. Twisting his head to the side, Levin realized several of the other ancient Meridian machines had fired harpoons as well, somehow still sending signals to each other over the countless years. Several other machines had apparently been loaded with harpoons as well, hidden inside dark holes in the sides of the hulls, connected by heavy cords as the one Kerry had fired was. And all of them had somehow been able to coordinate with each other, aiming in the same direction as the harpoon Kerry had fired. The spears shot through the air towards the elder dragon, and the Alatreon had enough time to screech in surprise before the harpoons struck it. Levin didn't know how effective the ancient weapons would have been in their original state; some of them clanged harmlessly off the creature's thick scales, sailing off in random directions with their cords trailing behind them. But now the Alatreon was wounded, and countless scales and plates had been weakened and broken off, leaving swaths of exposed hide for the harpoons to pierce.

No less than five of the harpoons fired from the Meridian machines punctured the Alatreon's flesh, lodging themselves deep in the creature's hide. Three of them tore through the already-damaged remains of the elder dragon's wings, the heavy metal spears swinging around and lodging into the thicker part of the wings. The Alatreon screeched in fury and dismay, swooping to a halt in the air, hovering several yards above the ground, writhing around and trying to dislodge the harpoons from its body. The cords attached to the harpoons whipped around as the spears they were attached to swung about, and Levin winced as the thick ropes cracked against the ground around him, tearing through the earth and stone.

But there was more hissing from the machines from which the harpoons had been fired, and the cords began to be reeled in. In a second the lines were taut, and the elder dragon screeched in horror as its wings were dragged down, restrained by the cords. The beast hovered for only a moment more, trying to keep itself aloft, but could no longer continue to hover, and the Alatreon dropped out of the sky. With a tumultuous crash, the elder dragon struck the ground, its wings and legs collapsing underneath it.

**No! No! What is this! Release me! Now! **But the machines continued to hiss and groan, and the thick cords kept reeling in, straining against the Alatreon as the beast lashed around on the ground, but pulling the beast closer and closer, inch by inch.

As Levin struggled to push himself to his feet again, he spotted Ellie rushing towards the fallen elder dragon as it flailed on the ground, trying to get a foothold. But the thick cords stringing out from the ballistae held strong to the beast's body, tugging at the beast's wings and holding it down. But even with the Alatreon thrashing about, Ellie continued to press forward, getting as close as she dared before swinging her bowgun out and taking aim, directly at the elder dragon's tangled wings. There was a trio of blasts from the huntress' weapon, and three heavy rounds smashed into the Alatreon's wings. There was a pause as the fuses on the incendiaries hissed away, and then a cacophony of explosions ripped across the elder dragon's wings.

The Alatreon yowled in rage, and its thrashing began to grow even more frenzied. Ellie was forced to pull away from the enraged elder dragon as its flailing smashed apart the earth close to her. Kerry yelped in fright as the strength of the Alatreon made the remains of the machine she stood on begin to shiver and break free from the earth, the internal mechanisms straining and screaming. The Alatreon finally managed to find a foothold, and swung itself back to its feet. Its wings were twisted around and pulled low to the ground, with the harpoons still piercing their webbing. But the elder dragon screeched furiously, and pulled against the cords which bound it. The earth burying the Meridian machines fractured, and Kerry was forced to jump off of the ancient weapon when one of the Alatreon's lurches abruptly ripped the metal object from the earth, yanking it into the air and clattering towards it. With a screech of rage, the beast's talons glowed bright as the elder dragon brought them down on the machine, shredding through the pale metal and reducing the object to shreds in a matter of seconds. Then the beast began lashing out at the cords and lines which still swung wildly from the its wings, snapping about with each motion the elder dragon made. The Alatreon couldn't dislodge the harpoons imbedded in its flesh, but soon the cords had been sheared away until they were but short tassels which hung from the end of the hooks.

As the Alatreon finished its work, freeing itself from the binding of the ballistae, and cutting short the cords, the beast paused in its work to gather itself. The elder dragon looked positively devastated now. The ballistae stood out against the beast's dark hide and scales, gleaming brightly against the glow of the volcano as they grew coated in the creature's dark blood. Its wings, while they had been formerly damaged and torn, were now practically nonexistent, with only the phalanges of the wings remaining. The webbing was almost completely gone now, with rare lingering tatters of the hide remaining, thanks to the explosive rounds Ellie had detonated across them. The wings stretched and wiggled around, a disturbing sight, like gnarled, broken fingers trying to function properly.

The Alatreon didn't realize what had been done to it, however, and stretched its wings wide, beating them powerfully. It took a couple steps forward as it prepared to take off, but its wings could no longer carry it, and the Alatreon stumbled, yowling in surprise when it didn't go airborne as it thought it would and nearly toppling to the ground. The beast shook its head as it steadied itself, before looking over its shoulder in confusion. Its gaze froze when it looked upon the tatters of its wings, and the appendages twitched and waved awkwardly as the elder dragon moved them around.

**No… no! No! No! What have you done? What have you done to me?! My wings… my beautiful wings! **The elder dragon spun about where it stood, trying to get a better view of the appendages as the ruined wings twitched and flexed. The beast seemed to be in denial, as though it didn't believe what it saw was real, and was trying desperately to find its real wings, whole and undamaged. A crooked laughter rolled over the battleground, and the Alatreon's eyes darted around, before landing on Harker.

"Your wings are in ruins, dragon," Harker giggled madly. "All the centuries hiding yourself away in crystal won't fix that, I imagine. Just think: should we be defeated and you put yourself to sleep to recover, when you set out to destroy humanity like you claim, you'll have to do it walking."

The elder dragon gasped at the words, its breathing growing heavy and ragged. But it soon glared furiously at Harker, flames licking across the beast's fangs. **How dare you! How dare you do this to me! **The flames grew in intensity, and the elder dragon's head snapped out, launching a fireball towards the long sword wielder. Harker leapt back quickly, wincing and holding his arms up to block his face as the fireball detonated, erupting in a wave of fire and heat which sent him skidding backwards. With a screech, the Alatreon rushed towards him, stampeding through the flames.

But rather than running, the long sword user swept to the side, pulling his blade from its sheath and swinging it around, placing himself in a defensive stance and ready to strike at the beast as it came. The Alatreon lunged at Harker, lashing out blindly in its rage, its fangs and tusks glittering in the red light of the Volcano. Harker swept his blade up, swinging it into a thrusting motion at the elder dragon's face. There was a clash of steel as the flat side of his sword struck against the Alatreon's right tusk, and the elder dragon's maw opened wide as the beast prepared to sink its fangs into the long sword user's body. Levin heard Kerry cry out in horror as the elder dragon's jagged fangs bore down on Harker.

But as quickly as the Alatreon was going, the beast froze in mid-stride, skittering to a halt only a couple feet away from Harker. Icy mist hissed from the Alatreon's mouth with each breath, coating Harker's armor with a light layer of frost. The elder dragon was so close, but the beast wasn't attacking the hunter. Levin didn't understand; why had the Alatreon stopped? The elder dragon's eye opened wide in horror, and one of the beast's legs actually stepped back away from Harker. Levin hurried over to his friend, desperate to make sure Harker was alright, and to learn what he'd done to stop the Alatreon, freezing the beast in its tracks. But as he curved around to the other side of the elder dragon, Levin stopped in his own tracks.

Harker's blade had pierced the Alatreon's right eye. The elder dragon's red-and-yellow pupil had been cut clean in half, Harker's steel sword thrust directly through the center. The Alatreon's expression began to shift, a look of disbelief coating its expression.

**What… what is this? What's going on? What have you done to me?!**

"It doesn't hurt, does it?" Harker asked mockingly, and the Alatreon's breaths began to come in sharp gasps. Even with such an inhuman face, Levin could feel the horror crawling through the elder dragon's expression as the blade twisted deeper into the beast's eye socket, and dark red blood began to seep from the wound. "Your eye is gone forever. I have taken it from you. And you can't even feel it's gone, can you?"

Harker pressed closer to the elder dragon, his blade cutting further into the Alatreon's skull, making a spray of blood pour out from the wound. The elder dragon actually quailed as the blade dug further inside of its skull, and stepped back fearfully. But Harker followed the creature closely, making sure to keep the point of his blade inside the beast's eye socket.

"Some people call you a god, Alatreon. Most call you a demon. You are indeed powerful, but I know you are neither of those things. However, the people of this world are superstitious when it comes to creatures like you, and I doubt the mythos you've built for yourself will fade, even if we kill you. People will still fear you and speak your name in horror when they tell tales of your crimes. If nothing else, be proud of your legacy, dragon: you will be remembered forever as the monster which terrorized the world for eons. You will become immortal, in memory if not physically, and will be remembered as the demon you made yourself to be."

Harker smirked up at the creature, a twisted expression on the face of the mad hunter. Even the Alatreon shivered from the look it was receiving. "But then, if that is the case, I will be forever known as the man who blinded the world's most terrible demon! I would like to be remembered for my scientific research… but I suppose beggars can't be choosers. Now let's take that other eye, Alatreon!"

With a sharp motion, Harker yanked the tip of the blade from the Alatreon's right eye, and a dark spray of blood splashed across the hot rocks, hissing and steaming from the heat of the Volcano. The elder dragon reeled in dismay as its blood gushed from the wound and pooled down its face, seeping into its mouth and over its tongue. Its eyes darted back and forth wildly, as the beast tried desperately to see through the eye now sliced in two. The beast shook its head in horror, denial and disbelief in its expression, and the elder dragon forced its eyelid to close to keep from bleeding out more. But the beast's remaining eye shot back up as Harker's blade flashed in the light of the magma, the hunter swinging his sword around to thrust his blade into the elder dragon's other eye. The Alatreon screeched in horror as the point of the long sword shot forward, the steel tip of the blade curving around the beast's tusk towards the black dragon's remaining eye.

Had the beast remained still only a heartbeat more, Harker's blade would have sunk into the elder dragon's other eye, blinding it fully. But instinct took over for the beast, and the creature's head dipped lower and twisted to the side. With a clang and a loud screeching, Harker's blade clashed against the Alatreon's jagged horns, the spines of the protrusions scratching against the flat of the hunter's weapon. The beast's head snapped back upright, its wide horns catching the weapon between the spikes which lined them and wedging the blade between them. Harker yelped in shock as his long sword was yanked clean out of his hands.

The Alatreon shook its head wildly, screeching and howling as the blade clattered about between its horns. With a pronounced swing of its head, the Alatreon shook the blade loose, and Harker's blade was sent flying through the air, before falling back down towards the elder dragon. The beast's head dipped forward, and the creature's jagged fangs and tusks snapped down on the metal blade right in the middle. The weapon groaned agonizingly as the Alatreon's dire maw strained against the sword, and the curved blade slowly began to bend. Then the long sword shattered, the blade splitting apart, the hilt falling to the ground as the length of the weapon was flung away. It clattered a couple times along the earth below it, before the blade skittered off the side of the rocks and fell into a pool of lava. It hissed and steamed for a few moments before the heat of the magma overwhelmed it, and the integrity of the weapon vanished, melting into liquid steel and sweeping away with the lava.

Harker could only look on in horror as his weapon melted into nothingness, with only the hilt and half-foot of steel remaining intact, along with a few useless shards lying broken on the ground nearby. The Alatreon watched the blade long enough to know it was gone, before returning its attention to Harker. The long sword user took a fearful step backwards as the elder dragon's gaze bore down on him, seething hatred filling the beast's eyes at the loss on its eye. Fire blazed around the creature's maw as it hissed in rage, before lunging towards the hunter, its fangs opening wide.

Harker panicked, scrambling backwards, fumbling with his pouch and trying desperately to pull out something he could use to repel the beast. He managed to pull out some object, but never got the chance to use it. As the mad hunter pulled his arm back to throw whatever he'd retrieved, the Alatreon's fangs enveloped Harker's arm, before snapping down fiercely. There was a screeching sound as the dark dragon's fangs cut against the hunter's armor, and a spray of blood as the jagged tusks punctured through the scale plating. With a twisting motion, the Alatreon pulled Harker off of his feet and slammed the hunter into the ground. The iron cylinder Harker had been holding came loose from his hand, clattering uselessly to the ground and rolling into a nearby lava pool. The Alatreon ground its teeth against Harker's armor, gnashing them together. Blood poured down Harker's arm, coating the hunter's chest and face as his eyes widened in horror. Harker screamed in pain as the creature's fangs ripped into him, tearing through his arm.

Lightning began to surge through the Alatreon's body, collecting in the beast's talons, and the elder dragon brought up its foreleg, intent on smashing it into the pinned hunter.

* * *

"Get to the cavern! We can't take any more of this!"

Tenebris' voice echoed across the battlefield, easily heard by the others, even over the rumbling of the Volcano and the howling of the Zinogre. Jino grimaced at the words, but couldn't argue against them. His body was aching from the hits he'd taken during the battle, his armor sparking from the dragonblight he'd been inflicted with, and his hammer was showing the wear from his fighting with the creature. None of the other hunters were doing much better either; all of them were struggling against the dark Zinogre, and the beast itself was hardly slowing down at all, despite the gashes and wounds the hunters had managed to inflict on it.

The smoke bomb cloud had finally worn off not long ago, but little had changed about the fight. The clouds above them churned, the power of the Alatreon making the ash and smoke swirl dangerously over them. But now the clouds flashed with dark bolts of lightning, dancing across the sky over them. The Zinogre had been blazing with dragon energy so long that the sky had begun collecting the element, filling the air with charged power. Even the stones around them sparked with dark energy, lances of the dangerous element snapping between them, especially in the small craters where the Zinogre's charged talons had blasted apart the earth. The atmosphere around them was so thick with latent energy from the element that bolts of dragon element dropped from the sky around the Zinogre, even when the beast was doing nothing more than striding around, preparing to attack the hunters again.

The beast itself had only gotten more dangerous as time went on, or perhaps it just wasn't wearing out like the hunters were. The creature's fury seemed boundless, and such inscrutable rage only fueled it on, making it tireless and constantly attacking the hunters. The battlefield was pockmarked with countless craters from the Zinogre's deadly attacks, and not one of the hunters could say their armor was undamaged from the beast's powerful strikes. Jino's own potion supply was running low, and he knew if the creature didn't let up soon, there'd be nothing to stop it from completely crushing them all. But it was impossible to tell whether the creature was anywhere close to defeat, so despite everything they'd done, they had no choice but to try and escape, or be overrun by the fury of the dark Zinogre.

Miller and Nox were already pulling away from the creature at the sound of Tenebris' shout, trying to distance themselves from the Zinogre so they could make a break for it when the chance arose. They already had an escape route planned: the path the other seven hunters had escaped through was cut off now, but there were several other paths cutting into the rock wall they could use, ones the Zinogre was far too large to squeeze through after them. Miller had managed to scout out one of the caves when the Zinogre's attention had been off of him some time ago, and found one that was sure to lead further up the path to where the rest of the hunters had gone. The trouble was hoping they'd be able to make it through the cave without the Zinogre catching them, or worse, blocking off their escape completely. The beast's blasts of dragon element had not just devastated the battlefield, but tons upon tons of stone had been blasted off of the cliff face, piling up along the base.

The Zinogre seemed to sense their desires as the hunters tried to pull closer to their intended escape path, and eyed the four of them untrustingly. Feeling what they might be trying to accomplish, the dark beast began to circle around the four of them, bolts of black lightning falling from the sky around it as the Dracophage Bugs spiraled and twisted through the air. Jino cursed. They couldn't let the beast get between them and the cave!

But the sound of bowgun fire pulled the Zinogre's attention to Tenebris, and the beast tensed. But it wasn't fast enough to dodge out of the way before a pair of rounds smashed against its face. The dark beast yowled in surprised and anger as the rounds burst upon impact, shaking its head as a deep red fluid covered its snout and jaw. They were Tranq rounds, Jino realized. The shots wouldn't affect the beast as it was now, Jino knew; the Zinogre just wasn't weak enough. However, though the Tranq shots weren't enough to knock the creature out completely, they were certainly enough to make the beast stumble, shaking its head to try and wave off the noxious fumes the rounds had released upon impact.

"Now's our chance!" the bowgunner cried. "Run for it!"

The Zinogre bellowed angrily as the four hunters turned and sprinted for the cave entrance. It tried to lumber after them immediately, but the effects of the Tranq shots, though minimal, were enough to stagger the beast for a few moments, forcing the creature to pause long enough for the tranquilizing effects to wear off, which gave the hunters a few scant moments to put as much distance as they could between themselves and the beast. But it wasn't much over ten seconds before the Zinogre howled again, and the powerful strides of the beast could be heard behind them as the dark creature lurched after them, intent on running them down. But the hunters had gained enough ground by now that they were going to make it to the wall before the Zinogre could catch up to them. Miller was first through the narrow hole in the wall, vanishing into the darkness of the crevice. Tenebris and Jino were next through the gap in the wall, and the clanking of Nox's armor signaled that the short sword wielder was tailing them closely, and the Zinogre howled furiously behind them.

But not ten steps into the opening, the four hunters slid to a horrified halt. They'd entered the wrong cave! The cavern they'd run into was only thirty yards long, before the path was abruptly cut off by a sheer rock wall, completely blocking them off from passing through. The Zinogre's assault must have knocked loose rocks from the cliff face and blocked the path they'd intended to take! The hunters stood, dumbfounded, before realization kicked in and the four of them turned, desperate to get back out into the open. But a low, guttural rumbling and a monstrous shadow stopped them where they stood.

The Zinogre growled viciously as it strode through the gap into the thin crevice. Its wide shoulders scraped against the walls of the narrow area, and jolts of black and red lightning lanced from its back and crawled across the rocks. The creature bared its fangs wickedly, its intent clear. It knew it had them now, and there was no room for the hunters to escape it, and nowhere for them to hide. Dragon energy began to surge down the creature's arms, collecting in the talons and spines lining the beast's claws, and the beast's head dipped low to the ground as it prepared to lunge at them.

But there was a flash of metal, and a wide, disk-shaped object spun through the air before flying into the Zinogre's mouth. The beast's first instinct was to snap its mouth shut on the object, but a moment later the beast yelped in shock and pain as the object burst to life, and tens of thousands of volts of electricity began to surge through the object. A shock trap! Jino and Tenebris turned in surprise, and realized it was Noxramus who had thrown the object. Not only that, but the Baggi-armored hunter had another couple traps pulled out of his pouch, another shock trap and a bulkier pitfall trap.

"Get back from it!" he cried, twisting the activator dial on the pitfall trap and tossing it at the Zinogre. Both Jino and Tenebris pulled out of the way as the trap activated in the air, spindly rods and metal stakes twirling around as the internal mechanisms unraveled from within. The trap struck the beast in the chest, and the rods flailed wildly, trying to find dirt or earth to puncture, but failing and wrapping tightly around the Zinogre's body as the net began to unravel from within, twisting around the creature and snagging itself up on the beast's numerous spines and spikes.

"Now's your chance! Get it while it's down, all of you!" Nox shouted. "I'll keep throwing traps at it! Kill it before I run out!"

The other hunters leapt at the words as trap after trap flew over their heads, landing and activating on the Zinogre and keeping the beast in a perpetual state of forced immobility. Tenebris' hands flew as she loaded and reloaded every shot she could get her hands on into her bowgun short of incendiary rounds, firing upon the beast in a constant drumbeat of blasts, hitting the Zinogre with Pierce, Flaming, Pellet, and anything else she could shoot without bringing down the ceiling on top of them. Jino and Miller rushed the beast's claws, and with powerful blows, the two hunters smashed their weapons into the creature's legs and chest. The Zinogre howled in agony through the paralyzing effects of Nox's shock traps, but somehow managed to stay standing despite the onslaught of attacks it was receiving from three different hunters. The beast tried to break free of the effects of the traps, but soon the creature was positively covered in ropes and cords from the pitfall traps which had been tossed onto it.

"I'm out!" Nox cried a long minute later. Almost a dozen traps had been thrown at the beast, and the hunters had been assaulting the creature for just as long. But somehow the Zinogre was still standing. The charge from Nox's last shock trap fizzled and popped as the charge of the machine seeped away to nothing. Immediately the dragon energy along the Zinogre's spine blazed to life again, with even greater intensity than ever before, and the beast bellowed a furious roar which made the cavern shiver, pebbles clattering to the floor from the ceiling. But the wires and nets of the pitfall traps still wound tightly around the beast's body, binding it in one place, though the dragon energy roaring across the creature's spine was searing through the ropes quickly, and the nets were coming loose.

But on Miller's side of the creature, the great sword user growled in frustration, and pulled his blade back, gathering his strength. From behind, Tenebris turned her aim, firing a pair of Pierce rounds at the Zinogre's leg. The shots struck the beast just over its elbow, puncturing the scales and hide, and the dark creature winced in pain. With a roar of effort, Miller swung his sword over his head, smashing the heavy weapon down onto the Zinogre's paw. There was a loud cracking, and the creature's spines and talons splintered. The Zinogre screeched in pain, and its foreleg buckled, the creature toppling to the ground. The mechanisms of the pitfall traps whirred to life again, the nets wrapping around the fallen beast even tighter than before. The beast wailed in frustration, struggling against the nets, but fallen over as it was, it was having trouble getting leverage against its bindings.

It was an opportunity for Jino. The beast's head, too high above the ground for him to strike when the Zinogre was standing upright, was now low enough to the ground for the hammer wielder to assault. If he could only manage to knock out the creature… Without hesitating any longer the hunter rushed the beast's head, gathering his strength to attack the Zinogre. With a powerful yell, the older hunter swung his gun-hammer up and dropped it down onto the beast's skull with as much force as he could muster.

But as the hammer come down, the Zinogre twisted its head around, fighting against the nets wrapped around its head. It opened its muzzle as the hammer dropped down on it, and clamped its fangs down around the head of the weapon, stopping the hammer with only the power of its jaw. However, the beast couldn't stop the triggering of the gun-hammer, and the weapon fired, unloading one of its heavy rounds directly into the creature's mouth. The Zinogre squealed in agony as the fire round erupted, searing its tongue and blazing into its throat. But the beast refused to relinquish its grip on the weapon it bit down on, and its fangs screeched as they sliced against the steel of the weapon.

Jino cursed, pulling against the weapon, but the Zinogre had clamped down hard, refusing to release the hammer and biting down with even more strength, its fangs beginning to puncture into the steel. There was a wrenching groan, and the metal of the gun-hammer began to bend and warp under the power of the Zinogre's fangs, the revolver's barrels being crushed. Jino balked at the sight, and desperately reached forward, grasping the firing pin of the gun-hammer and pulling it back, before slamming it down again. The weapon fired, unleashing another blast of flame into the Zinogre's mouth, making the creature whine in pain, but still the beast refused to release the weapon.

The Zinogre's eyes bored into the hunter's, and the beast reared its head back, and the hammer was ripped from Jino's grip. The Zinogre immediately snapped its head down, and there was a terrible tearing sound as the beast's remaining horn tore into Jino's Deviljho-hide armor. There was a spray of blood as the horn punctured the skin, and the hammer wielder stumbled in pain. "I'm alright!" he shouted as the others rushed to his aid. The Deviljho materials had managed to keep the wound from being too much worse than superficial. It hurt like hell, but not enough that he couldn't pull away from the Zinogre before the beast could lash out at him again.

The dark beast growled viciously, before swinging its head to throw the hammer in its mouth away. But the weapon refused to move. The Zinogre seemed baffled, shaking its head wildly trying to dislodge the shredded metal object from its mouth, but its fangs had punctured deep into the massive hammer, and now were stuck, lodged deep into the steel weapon. The creature began to wail desperately, lashing around trying to get the heavy, metal revolver out of its mouth. The beast beat the weapon against the rock wall next to it, trying to smash it apart. And it was succeeding; the steel hammer was denting and bending further with each blow against the rock wall, pieces of it falling to the ground around the creature.

"Run!" Tenebris shouted, pointing to the exit of the cave. "Now's our chance to get out!" The Zinogre blocked a better portion of the entrance into the small crevice, but with the beast smashing Jino's hammer against the wall, a gap wide enough for the hunters to rush through had opened up on one side of the beast. Jino was first through, at the urging of the others, due to his injury and loss of weapon. It was close, but the older hunter was able to sweep around the side of the dark beast without getting caught by the creature's flailing.

However, as the hammer wielder dashed out of the cave and back into the open, the Zinogre's tail brushed against him. It wasn't enough to hurt Jino, but it caught the beast's attention, and the dark creature craned its head around, the battered remains of the hammer still dangling from its mouth. The beast's eyes widened in realization, and its struggling grew even more violent and desperate to break free from the nets trapping it. The other hunters hurried to try and slide past the beast before it could block off their means of escape. Nox and Tenebris were the next to try and cut through the gap and get through, but the Zinogre howled viciously, wrenching its uninjured foreleg out from the net and trying to smash it down on the pair, desperate to keep any of the other hunters from escaping.

But as the Zinogre twisted around, its free arm trying to smash down on Tenebris and Nox, Miller rushed around the back of the creature. With a grunt of effort, he swung his great sword around, pointing the blade down towards the ground. With a roar, the hunter drove the blade down, and the tip of the massive weapon punctured through the Zinogre's broad tail, piercing straight through the appendage and cutting through the other side. The blow had enough force that it kept dropping and cleaved the rocks below it, staking itself and the Zinogre's tail into the earth below.

The dark creature howled in agony, snapping its head around and trying to sink its fangs into the great sword user, but Miller was already moving away from the beast. The hunter leapt over the dark beast's staked tail, ducking out of the way of the Zinogre's fangs and rushing for the exit behind the other three. The creature bellowed in rage and lurched after them, pushing itself along with only one hind leg and foreleg. But the beast yelped in surprise as it was abruptly snapped to a halt, falling flat on its chest as its tail snagged against the jagged edges of the great sword staking it to the ground, and held firm, not letting the Zinogre move from where it stood.

The creature bayed in fury, and the dragon energy along its spine blazed in intensity. Massive orbs of the dark element burst forth from the beast's fur, blazing out of the cavern after the hunters, forcing them to dive out of the way of the oncoming assault. Miller, acting instinctively, reached for the hilt of his weapon to block with the wide blade, before remembering he no longer had the great sword with him. The hunter winced, raising his arms in hopes of protecting himself, but before one of the dragon orbs honing in on him could strike, Nox dove in front of the blue-armored hunter, blocking the blow with his shield, though the force of the impact slammed the short sword wielder back, knocking both hunters to the ground. The Zinogre continued to bellow, a barrage of the dark orbs searing from its body and roaring through the air towards the hunters. But with each sphere that shot out of the cavern, smashing apart the earth around them, just as many smashed into the roof of the hollow and blasted apart the rocks above the beast. Stones and rubble began to fall down onto the Zinogre from above, but the creature, so enveloped in its rage, failed to notice.

There was a loud, rupturing noise, and a massive fracture splintered up the side of the rock wall over the cave. A dull rumbling began to shake the earth around the hunters as the Zinogre's perpetual onslaught of dragon energy continued to tear apart the ceiling of the cavern it was pinned inside. Enormous boulders and slabs of stone began to break off from the towering wall, smashing apart on the obsidian rocks below. More and more began to break off with each detonation of dragon energy the Zinogre unleashed, both within and without the cave, but still the dark beast persisted in launching the black orbs, its fury overwhelming it and compelling it to persist until the hunters were dead.

Then a particularly large and jagged boulder was dislodged from the ceiling of the cave, plummeting down towards the raging creature. There was a sickening crunch, and a spray of blood coated the earth as the tip of the boulder hewed into the back of the Zinogre's neck, the jagged edge tearing through the beast's flesh and scales, an obsidian guillotine. The Zinogre's eyes popped open in agony, but its short scream of pain was cut short as the boulder severed its throat, and a spray of blood poured from the beast's mouth. The jagged edge didn't cut all the way through, however, lodging itself in the beast's spine and neck before tilting over and slamming against the wall.

Almost instantly, there was a flash of red light from across the creature's back, and the Dracophage Bugs living in the beast's fur scattered. A haze of black and red lights rushed from the cave in a wave of sparks and dragon energy, spiraling into the air and away from the battlefield. The Zinogre coughed once more, spraying blood against the hot rocks beneath it, and its eyes faded and closed. The creature was dead. As time passed, the groaning and crumbling of the rock wall slowly began to cease, and the stability of the rocks returned once more, leaving the body of the Zinogre beneath it half-buried in a pile of rubble, as the beast's blood coated the debris in a slick red sheet.

Jino sighed in relief, dropping to the ground to sit and catch his breath, his shoulder flaring as the pain from his injury blazed to life again. The other three shared his sentiment, kneeling down to rest and recover from their fight. But before the four hunters could begin treating themselves, a low rumbling sound rolled over the obsidian rock flat, even over the constant erupting of the Volcano. The noise was deep and dangerous sounding, and the hunters looked about fearfully.

"Now what? Another monster?" Miller muttered worriedly. The group wasn't ready for something else to assault them, not with Jino's hammer destroyed, and Miller's great sword buried under tons and tons of stone, staked into the Zinogre's tail. Nox was still wounded from the battle, and Tenebris' ammo pouch was definitely looking light… Nonetheless, whatever it was, it was getting closer, and fast, and the hunters braced themselves, preparing for the worst.

* * *

"Go… go! Keep running!" Kei shouted to the others. "It's still following us!"

The three hunters ran around the corner, their hearts seizing for a moment as they slid a little too close for comfort to the edge of the cliff. A rattling hiss followed them, accompanied by thumping footsteps and the crumbling of stones. Richard spared a glance back, catching sight of the blue beast lurching around the corner they had just passed, one of its feet stamping dangerously close to the edge of the cliff and breaking off a chunk of rock, sending the rubble careening over the side. The creature had even less space to maneuver than the hunters did on the narrow ledge, but still chased after them tenaciously.

The hunters had been forced to retreat again. The blue creature's rampaging had only gotten worse once it devised the tactic to try and drop the obsidian pillars on top of them, or at the very least using the fallen columns as barriers to pen them in. The beast was simply too fast and too aggressive for them to counter in their condition, at least so long as the creature was able to launch itself over the fallen pillars to escape their attacks. Had they a fourth hunter to aid them in the fight, perhaps the tides might have turned, but with only three of them against such an aggressive, volatile creature, they simply couldn't win as they were. A stroke of luck had granted them an opportunity to escape, when one of the blue beast's strikes blasted a hole through one of the fallen pillars, opening the path which led back to where they'd been attacked by the dark Zinogre. The hunters had little choice but to take it, hoping they could have a chance to recover.

But they'd underestimated the tenacity of the monster. The path was thin, barely a few yards wide, but the beast still tailed after them, its torso and shoulder grating against the rock wall as it lurched after them, and its toes wrapped over the edge of the cliff. Patches of green slime stuck to the walls as the monster's pounders rubbed against them, and small bangs and the clattering of shrapnel tailed behind them as the goop detonated, sending chunks of the rock wall falling over the edge into the lava below. The creature's determination to obliterate them was nearly suicidal; the drop over the edge of the cliff was nearly eighty yards straight down, and the only cushioning at the bottom was the slightly softer magma, which was hardly any better than the protrusions of jagged rocks. Neither hunter nor monster would survive the drop if any of them fell. So the hunters continued to run. The ledge they stood on gave barely enough room for the three of them to safely travel, much less space to effectively battle such an aggressive, devastating monster.

The three hunters scrambled around the next corner, this one far sharper than any of the ones before, and Kai yelped in fear as the hunting horn wielder nearly slid over the edge of the cliff. But Kei managed to grab hold of her brother's armor, yanking him back onto the path before he could topple over the side. But despite the close call, the hunters couldn't afford to pause their running to catch their breath, with the blue beast so close behind, and continued to run. The path curved sharply in towards the center of the mountain, a deep crag cutting into the side of the cliff and creating a shallow horseshoe shape in the path.

The hunters were halfway around the loop before the blue brute passed the corner behind them, hissing furiously as the edge of the path crumbled under its weight, and debris tore loose from the cliff as its shoulder grazed the wall and its swinging tail smashed against it behind the beast. The creature was moving slower now, finally realizing the precarious nature of the path it chased them along, but the beast still had yet to give up, and the glowing slime along its horn and pounders flared as the creature glared at them across the chasm hatefully.

"Don't look at it, just go!" Richard shouted to the twins, as the pair slowed down, bringing up his arms and pushing on their backs to try and compel them to keep up their pace. The looping path would swing them around, carrying them closer to the beast as it curved along the edge of the cliff. "It can't hit us with its explosions from across this gap, if what we've seen is the extent of its abilities." The twins looked at each other doubtfully, but pressed on, running along the path.

The creature's hissing grew louder as they approached the bend in the path. The beast had yet to move from the corner it had followed them around, continuing to eye the hunters from where it stood as they followed the thin path. They were getting closer to the bend in the path, where the gap across the crag was its narrowest, and the blue beast stood on the far side. But even then the creature was a good forty yards across from them, hissing angrily at them. The monster's hissing shifted to a low growl, and the beast cautiously took a few steps back, its head twisting around to look behind it as it backed itself up warily.

"It's retreating!" Kai gasped thankfully, as the blue brute worked its way backwards.

"Somehow I doubt that," Richard panted. "Monsters up here don't just give up, and this one is definitely one of the most tenacious I've ever come across."

But before any of the hunters could spare a moment to feel any relief, the creature's eyes abruptly snapped back to the hunters, and the blue beast hissed threateningly. With no other warning, the creature lurched forward, charging headfirst towards the ledge in front of it at top speed, ignoring the perilous cliff in front of it. However, before the creature could plummet over the side, the beast tensed, sliding to a near halt right at the edge, its talons twisting over the side as the monster crouched slightly, before launching itself through the air like a rocket. The hunters yelped in fear, skidding to a halt just before the blue brute slammed into the cliff wall not ten yards in front of them, its feet crashing into the path before them.

The creature twisted its body around, pulling its pounders from the wall where they had been impaled, and turned to face them, hissing venomously at the hunters as the slime along its horns flared to a volatile yellow color. The beast brought its pounders up to its mouth, snaking its sinuous tongue across them, and the slime swelled across them. The hunters backed away from the beast, their hands going to the hilts of their weapons. All the running they'd done, all the distance they'd put between themselves and the beast chasing them, all their effort was undone in an instant thanks to a loop in the path and the creature's obnoxious leaping ability.

The creature lurched towards them instantly, swinging one of its pounders down to attack the hunters and smashing it into the path below them. There was little for the three to do but leap back and out of the way of the strike as the blow erupted, blasting apart rock and stone. The hunters were barraged with debris and shrapnel forcing them all further back from the beast. How were they supposed to attack the creature like this? There was so little room along the path that, with the weapons they possessed, only one of them would be able to attack the beast at a time, and with the explosive attacks the creature wielded, a frontal assault by any of them would be near suicide, especially in such tight conditions.

The blue beast hissed excitedly as it closed in on them, but before it could swing its pounders at the hunters a second time, the creature paused as a low groaning caught its attention. From below the creature, a chunk of the path shifted. The blast zone, where the creature had struck with its explosive punch, abruptly broke off from the path, a whole chunk of the ledge breaking away from the cliff side and plummeting down to the jagged rocks and lava below. The creature hissed warily, clearly having not anticipated this sort of danger that it presented to itself.

Richard braced himself, pushing past the twins and preparing to lunge and attack the creature if the opportunity presented itself, but Kai beat him to the punch. Before the blue beast could finish contemplating the threat its explosions presented to the terrain, the hunting horn wielder bellowed a challenging roar, pressing past Richard and his sister and lunging straight towards the monster. The abrupt charge was so surprising, the blue brute hesitated in shock, stunned that the hunters had actually attacked it in a method other than a surprise attack, long enough for the hunter to close the distance and swing his hunting horn up towards the beast's head.

There was a loud crack as the base of the hunting horn smashed into the creature's jaw, and the blue beast staggered back in pain, shaking its head, half-stunned from the blow. Kai charged again, intent on smashing his weapon against the monster's skull a second time, but the beast recovered too quickly, and with a hiss of fury, the creature swung a pounder down, meeting the base of the hunting horn mid-air and slammed the weapon into the ground, nearly twisting Kai off of his feet at the abrupt change in momentum. Thankfully, the creature's pounders didn't create an explosion upon impact, but as the beast glared down at Kai, hissing venomously at the hunter, slime oozed down onto the weapon from the pounders, layering the hunting horn in a gooey sheen of sickly green.

"Get back!" Richard shouted, rushing the monster and swinging his long sword down towards the beast's head. The creature hissed angrily, but took several quick steps backwards and out of the weapons range as the blade came down. Kai pulled himself upright, nodding thankfully to Richard, but looked down fearfully at his hunting horn. The slime almost completely coated the base of the weapon, and already the substance was beginning to shift colors from green to yellow, growing increasingly volatile with every passing moment.

"Your weapon or your life!' Richard yelled as he pressed his attack.

"Get rid of it!" Kei shouted, rushing forward. "It's going to blow up! You can't-"

The huntress' words were cut short as the blue brute hissed angrily at them, before recoating its pounders with another fresh layer of saliva. Richard and Kei pushed forward, pulling out their blades and trying to intimidate the creature into pulling away even further, but the beast could no longer be incensed, and the monster lumbered towards them, already pulling its arm back in preparation to strike at them with its volatile explosions.

But as the blue brute pulled its arm backwards, Kai rushed the creature a second time, pushing past Richard and his sister. Kei screamed her brother's name in horror, but the hunting horn user swept up below the creature, even as the glob of slime on his hunting horn began to emit a terrible red color. He swung his weapon around, and smashed the core of his weapon into the monster's skull. The impact of the hunting horn struck right as the slime detonated. With a thunderous blast, the end of the weapon blasted apart, shattering the weapon completely and blowing Kai backwards, skidding across the stone path as his armor smoked from the heat of the explosion. Kei rushed to his side as he tried to struggle to his feet, dragging him back as the blasted remains of his weapon clattered across the path around them.

The blue beast, however, had its head slammed up against the rock wall from the force of the explosion, squealing in pain. It stumbled for a moment, struggling to regain its balance and nearly sliding over the side. But in its struggles, the beast pressed its pounders and glowing horn against the wall next to it and across the ledge under it, trailing thick lines of glowing slime across the cliff face and ledge. The creature shook its head, pushing off the effects of its rattled skull away, and returned its attention to the hunters, hissing viciously at them. But it failed to realize it had coated the wall and ledge with slime. The volatile goop steamed and hissed as its colors shifted, and the beast finally realized what it had done as the hunters retreated slightly and the slime turned its final, dangerous red.

The slime detonated, splintering rocks and stone, ripping apart the rock wall around the beast. The cliff face groaned dangerously as long cracks tore up the side, before the integrity of the stone gave out, and entire sheets of obsidian began to break loose from the wall. The creature screeched as the cliff face and ledge it stood on was blasted apart, tons upon tons of rock and obsidian cascading down on top of it as the path it stood on collapsed underneath it. The three hunters scrambled away as the breaking of the ledge began to spread, the path falling apart behind them. Both Kei and Richard were forced to grab hold of Kai and drag him along, the hunting horn wielder still injured and stunned from the explosion of his weapon.

But the creature screamed furiously, lurching towards them, desperate to get to the trio before everything it stood out gave out from underneath it. With each step, it was barraged with falling stones and boulders, and the precipice beneath it collapsed, but the creature was still able to gain ground on them, getting closer and closer to them and beginning to outrun the crumbling ledge.

But not fast enough. Before the beast could rush to safety, the cracking of the path splintered out, loosening a particularly wide slab of rock from the wall. The creature wailed as the last dozen yards of foothold dropped out beneath it, and the beast began to plummet towards the rugged rocks below. But the beast refused to die without a fight, and with one last lurch, launched itself through the air towards the path where the collapse had cut off. It was almost too short, and its chest slammed into the jagged edge of the path, and its feet scrambled to push itself back up while its small claws grappled with the stone ledge, trying to keep itself from falling.

"Knock it off!" Richard bellowed, sweeping his long sword from its sheath and lunging at the beast. Kai stumbled back against the wall, but Kei followed suit, unsheathing her own blade, and the two long sword wielders lashed out at the blue brute, clashing their swords against the creature's pounders, trying to dislodge the beast from the cliff face. The beast squealed in pain and frustration, swinging its horn at the pair and trying to knock them away from it as it struggled to pull itself up onto the ledge again. But it couldn't find a foothold below, and the weight of the beast was causing the ledge to give way. The beast wasn't managing to pull itself up, but neither was it falling quickly enough, and the creature's struggling was coating the ledge in more and more green slime, slowly changing colors. If it didn't fall soon, the slime or the beast's weight could bring down the entire ledge.

Richard swept his blade low, driving it under the creature's pounders. The sword screeched as it sliced against the rocks, but the tip of the blade pierced into the blue brute's talons underneath, and the creature squealed in pain as the weapon drove against its claws, cutting deep into the lightly armored digits and hissing as the freezing effect of the blade bit into its flesh. With a painful tearing sound, the beast's grip loosened, and the creature's arm ripped loose from the ledge, swinging backwards and under it. Now the beast was only holding on with a single arm and the precarious grip its legs could get on the wall below, and Richard turned towards the other pounder to help Kei remove the blue brute's last hold on the side of the cliff. But before he could swing his blade down under the creature's other pounder, the blue beast summoned the last vestiges of its strength and lurched forward towards him and Kerry. With a sweep of its arm, the creature slammed its pounder into Richard's side.

Through some stroke of luck, the beast's arm was nearly depleted of the slime which usually coated the appendage, but there was still some of the substance lingering at the tip of the pounder. There was a thunderous blast, and Richard felt pain rupture through him as his world jolted to the side. The blast sent him flying back from the ledge, before slamming into the cliff wall behind him and toppling to the ground, gasping in pain as his side burned painfully. His long sword clattered to the ground next to him as he struggled to push himself to his feet and regain his senses.

He heard Kei howl furiously from where she stood next to the beast, and there was a symphony of clashing steel as the huntress slashed into the blue beast's pounder with her long sword. Richard looked up blearily as the huntress assaulted the beast, as the creature clutched desperately to the side of the cliff, desperately trying to wave off the long sword wielder with its glowing horn. Kei's blade sent up sparks as the huntress assaulted the creature though, and the Jaggi-armored hunter lashed out at the beast's face as well as its pounder, making the creature hiss fearfully with every strike which clashed against the scales close to its eyes. But a shout from Kai sent the huntress' attention to the ground below her, where the creature's slime had coated the edge of the path where the blue brute clutched tightly, and the volatile substance was shifting colors, changing from a cautionary yellow to a dangerous red. With a yelp, the huntress leapt backwards, just as the slime detonated, ripping apart the rocks of the ledge, including the section of the path which the blue beast clung to.

There was a blood-curdling screech as the beast fell, howling in horror as it plummeted down to the rocks below. Then the screaming cut to an abrupt halt with a sickening crunch, followed by a nauseating hissing coming from below. The hunters looked at each other nervously for a long moment, waiting and listening. The beast had been so brutal and tough, so tenacious and stubborn, they were still half-convinced it wasn't dead yet. But Kei was bold enough to step forward, walking cautiously towards the ledge, with Kai and Richard close behind, clutching their injuries in grimacing pain. Richard was forced to use his sword as a crutch to keep himself from toppling over and Kai still clearly a bit dazed.

Looking over the side of the cliff, the fate of the beast was clear: the creature was dead. The blue-plated monster has struck hard against the rocks below, and its thick plating had been shattered upon impact, unable to beat the force of gravity. Its organs must have ruptured and its bones broken from the fall as well, as there was an unsettling amount of blood which poured through gaping wounds across the beast's body, trickling down the rocks and into the magma around it, where it hissed away into steam. The creature's tongue hung limply against the rocks under it, and the green slime coating its pounders and horn began to slide off the creature's body, mixing with the blood and fizzling away in the lava.

There was a collective sigh of relief from the three hunters, and the group pulled away from the edge of the cliff. A moment later though, Richard grimaced and stumbled where he stood, falling backwards as he clutched his side in pain, with his sword clattering to the ground beside him. He dropped to the ground, leaning against the cliff face. The blast wound he'd taken was festering badly, and despite his Rathalos armor's resistance to heat and fire, the explosion left a deep, blackened dent, and several cracks in his armor around it. Kei rushed over to him immediately, pulling out potions and bandages from her pouch. Kai leaned against the wall himself, the lingering stresses from the detonation of his hunting horn forcing him to pause and recover.

"Don't worry… I'm fine," Richard muttered, before looking up with a smirk at Kei. "Looks like my clanking mess of an armor set has its uses, eh?" he muttered, then began coughing wetly before beginning the process of removing his faulds and cuirass. Something underneath rubbed the wounded flesh below the wrong way, however, and he hissed in pain. "Perhaps… perhaps I'm worse than I thought. Just give me a moment and I'll be…" But another sharp bite of pain lanced through his side, and Richard felt his vision grow dark, and a moment later the hunter passed out.

* * *

"You stay away from him!"

The Alatreon's eye darted around in surprise at the sudden outburst, its lightning-imbued talons pausing in the air over Harker's pinned body. But the beast failed to realize the sound was coming from its right, where Kerry lunged towards the elder dragon. The huntress swung her bowgun around, and with a loud smack, smashed the butt of her weapon into the Alatreon's skull, right at the base of the creature's twisted horns. The huntress was positively seething, and her blow struck with such force, that a rough, ugly crack split across the side of the beast's right horn. The elder dragon reeled back in shock, screeching in rage, as Harker's arm slid loose from the beast's fangs. His vambraces were rent and torn, and blood was pouring from his arms. He scrambled back, his legs buckling under him as he clutched the wounded appendage and pushing himself away from the elder dragon.

The Alatreon shook its head as its remaining eye struggled to regain its focus from the force of the blow. It hissed viciously, turning to face the bowgunner, fire in its breath. But the motion was awkward, as the beast was still unaccustomed to the loss of its eye, and could barely see the huntress from its current stance. The elder dragon was forced to spin its entire body about to get a clear view of the huntress, and fire blazed from the depths of its gullet as it prepared to engulf Kerry in flames. But its eye widened in shock upon realizing Kerry had her bowgun pointed directly at the beast's face, and the tip of the weapon was glowing brightly, and was beginning to shiver from the intensity of the power it was gathering.

With a thunderous detonation, the bowgun fired, unleashing the full force of a Wyvernfire round into the Alatreon's face. A concussive blast ripped across the beast's face, and the beast howled as it reeled from the force of the round. There was a loud, cracking sound, and the Alatreon's horn splintered, breaking apart along the fracture it had received earlier, and the horn flew off the elder dragon's crown completely. The broken horn flew through the air, before clattering to the ground a dozen yards away.

The Alatreon reeled from the blast, staggering backwards and shaking its head to ward off the ash and flames which licked its skull. The beast howled furiously, turning its head back to glare at the bowgunner. Lightning began to jolt along the beast's remaining horn for a moment, as the elder dragon prepared to lash out at Kerry. But before the beast could launch a wave of lightning at the huntress, one of the bolts flew wild. The Alatreon screeched in shock as several lightning strikes crashed down into the ground only a few feet from it. Lightning still surged wildly along the elder dragon's remaining horn as more bolts fell from the sky, out of the Alatreon's control, and Levin finally realized what had happened: the elder dragon could not control the lightning element without both of its horns.

As the beast reeled in incomprehension, Kerry used the chance to rush to Harker's side and help the hunter to his feet. The long sword wielder was shakily trying to patch his wounds with bandages, and several empty potion bottles littered the ground next to him. But Kerry hurriedly dragged him away, desperate to get the hunter away from the beast before the Alatreon could recover its wits and come for them again.

But as the Alatreon's eyes darted around, trying to figure out what was happening, its gaze landed on the broken remains of its horn. The beast stared in stunned silence at the ruined remains, unable to comprehend the damage it had taken, just as it had upon seeing the damage which had been wreaked upon its wings. This time however, the beast recovered from its incredulity far faster than before, and an intense, seething rage covered the creature's expression. Flames blazed along its fangs as the beast reared, screeching furiously to the sky. The earth shivered below them from the force of the howl, and several weakened pockets of loose rock collapsed, dropping down into the lava river swirling under the battleground, sending small geysers of magma splashing into the air around the beast.

When the beast's roar cut off, it immediately slammed down to the ground, and dragon energy began to swirl around the creature's body, bolts of dark energy spiking out and ripping apart the ground around it. With a howl, the elder dragon charged, tearing across the battleground towards Kerry and Harker. Kerry shrieked in fear, nearly swinging Harker up in her arms before sprinting away from the oncoming beast, desperate to get herself and her beloved away from the elder dragon. The beast was enraged and unencumbered, however, and was quick to close the distance between itself and the hunters. Levin shouted at the beast, charging the creature, and he could hear Ellie firing her bowgun at the elder dragon, both of them desperately trying to save their friends.

But a flash of metal lit up in front of the Alatreon's face, a gleaming cylindrical tube which the Alatreon's eye darted to in surprise. Levin realized Harker's hand was extended, and his hunting pouch was opened, even as Kerry clutched his shoulders, dragging him away. The Alatreon's eye widened in fear, and the flash bomb went off. It wasn't one of Harker's personally-made flash bombs, thankfully, but so close to the Alatreon's eye, the elder dragon squealed as the eruption of light blazed into its skull, blinding the beast. The beast toppled backwards, reeling and shaking its head in fury as it thrashed about, trying to trample on the two hunters. Kerry desperately pulled Harker away, trying to get him away from the beast before the creature could recover from the temporary blindness.

Levin roared furiously as he charged the beast's legs, and the Alatreon paused, its head twisting around in search of the source of the noise. It gave Levin time to rush up to the beast, before swinging out with his weapon and smashing the axe against the elder dragon's legs. The creature howled furiously, its head swinging around, trying to find the source of what was attacking it, but without its ability to feel pain, all it knew was that its legs were being knocked around. The creature lashed out, sweeping its claws out and whipping its tail, but could not connect as Levin ducked under the beast. Ellie fired on the beast from afar as well, Pierce rounds puncturing into the elder dragon's hide along its torso and neck, shattering weakened scales and sending sprays of dark blood splattering across the hot stones.

But the Alatreon screeched, and a wave of dark energy churned through the dragon's body, swelling over the creature's hind and lancing out. A bolt of dragon element snapped out from the Alatreon's body, smashing into Levin's chest and making him cry out in pain as he was thrown across the ground, out from under the elder dragon. He slid to a halt several dozen yards away, clutching his chest in agony as sparks of the element jumped across his armor. He found himself being pulled to his feet and force-fed a potion by Ellie, who had worriedly rushed to his side. Meanwhile, the Alatreon was shaking its head, trying to stave off the lingering effects of the flash bomb. Its eye snapped open, and immediately the red and yellow orb darted over to Levin and Ellie as the huntress helped him to his feet. The temporary blindness was gone now. Flames blazed along the beast's fangs as the elder dragon growled viciously, and the beast tensed, preparing to charge them, but before it took a step, its eye widened in realization, and the black beast immediately began to search around.

**No! No, not you! Where are they?! Eye-taker! Horn-breaker! Where are they?! I will burn them! I will torment them! They will suffer like none have before for what they have done!** The elder dragon's eyes darted around, frantically searching, before its gaze landed on Kerry and Harker. Kerry had managed to drag Harker over to the growing blue crystal. She was actively trying to avoid touching the pale stone, and had attempted to carry the long sword user to the far side of the stone and out of sight. But she had simply not moved quickly enough, and the Alatreon's eyes bored in on them. With a screech, the elder dragon charged towards them, thundering across the battleground, its body surging with dragon element and icy mist swelling in its throat.

"No!" Ellie screamed, dashing towards the beast. Levin tailed close after, but wasn't sure what they could accomplish. They were on the far side of the beast, and the Alatreon was already curving around the towering blue crystal towards Harker and Kerry. Short of running fast enough to get under the creature, they'd never make it in time. But Ellie wasn't rushing directly towards the Alatreon; rather, she was charging intentionally towards the beast's hind legs and tail. The huntress suddenly dipped towards the earth, and for a moment, Levin thought she had tripped. But she swept upright again, and he realized she had dropped low to the ground to grab the shattered remains of Harker's long sword hilt, before leaping forward again and charging the Alatreon's tail.

The thick, scaled appendage was waving in anticipation as the elder dragon closed in on Harker and Kerry, swaying close to the base of the glowing blue crystal. Ellie leapt towards the swinging appendage, pulling the hilt of the blade back and slamming it down onto the black tail. There was a sickly puncturing sound and a spray of blood, and the jagged remains of the blade punctured into the flesh of the tail, piercing straight through it before bursting out the other side. Ellie's momentum kept her going, and she slammed against the side of the blue crystal, the hilt of the long sword jamming into her shoulder and knocking her flat on her back.

But there was a sharp cracking noise, and as Ellie toppled backwards, the hilt of the sword and the remnants of the blade attached to it remaining where they were. Levin was stunned; the broken blade had actually managed to pierce the shell of the blue crystal, and the Alatreon's tail was pinned to the side of the glowing gemstone. The crystal began to envelop the beast, crooked tendrils extending from the base and wrapping slowly around the appendage, trying to draw the beast in.

The Alatreon lunged at the two hunters ahead of it, fangs snapping hungrily, before jolting to a halt. A spray of the dragon's saliva splattered across Harker and Kerry's armors, the pair of them yelping in fear, and the beast howled in confusion and frustration as it snapped its fangs at them, trying to sink its teeth into the two. It was surprised that it was incapable of reaching either of the hunters for a moment, its talons scraping against the ground desperately, trying to drag itself towards them but unable to move at all.

Then it realized something was wrong, and its head spun about sharply. The beast howled furiously, yanking furiously on its tail, trying to pull it free from the grasp of the blue crystal. But the gemstone continued to cling to the beast, tendrils of the mysterious substance growing up and around the creature's tail, trying to pull the elder dragon in.

**No! No! Not now! Not yet! It's not ready yet! **The creature wailed, desperately trying to pull itself loose of the crystal but the glowing gemstone had already encompassed most of the tail's tip, covering the entire broken sword in a sheen of pale blue stone. The creature's struggling made the entire crystal shake where it stood, and the rocks around the glowing stone began to shift, as though any moment the beast would dislodge the crystal entirely.

Levin made sure Kerry had time to drag Harker away from the elder dragon before rushing towards the beast himself and swinging his weapon out. The Alatreon saw him approaching, however, and pale mist began to swell in the back of the beast's throat. But Levin heard the sound of Ellie reloading her bowgun, and before the elder dragon could fire its ice spears at him, a volley of Pierce rounds flew through the air, smashing into the Alatreon's face and neck, forcing the beast to flinch back, and giving Levin the ability to charge. The creature's legs were smashing the earth around them wildly, leaving Levin no opportunity to attack them, so the hunter leapt towards the elder dragon's tail.

The jagged spines of his switch axe cut shallow lines into the Alatreon's tail as he hacked into the beast's appendage. The elder dragon's tail had not suffered an assault from as many dragon rounds as the rest of the beast had, so many of the scales which lined it were still solid and tightly meshed together. But Levin's switch axe, though not releasing dragon energy in its axe form, was now lined with the jagged talons and fangs of the World Eater, which managed to rip into the cracks between the scales, peeling them off and shredding through the black hide beneath. The Alatreon howled in fury, trying to swing around to stop Levin from tearing into its tail, but was unable to turn at all. Desperately, the elder dragon began to tug wildly on the appendage, trying to forcibly pull its tail free from the crystal, harder and harder until the entire crystal was rocking back and forth, about to break loose from the earth.

Levin barely realized this at the moment, however. Something inside of his had come undone in his mind. With the Alatreon in front of him, the creature which had tormented him and countless others for so long, pinned down and open to attack, the hunter flew into his attacks with an unrelenting fervor. He lashed out with blow after blow, hacking into the Alatreon's tail over and over with his switch axe, shattering plates and scales and hewing into the beast's flesh. Dark blood sprayed out, splattering across the hot stones with every cut, all while the elder dragon struggled to pull itself free, yanking against the grasping tendrils of the blue crystal.

But the beast wasn't quick enough. With one final cleave against the Alatreon's tail, there was a terrible ripping sound. Hide and marrow tore apart, and the weapon hewed through the serpentine appendage, completely severing off several yards of the elder dragon's long tail. The Alatreon screeched in surprise as it toppled forwards, stumbling at the abrupt freedom it had gained and toppling to the ground in a heap a few dozen yards away. Meanwhile, the tail, now unattached, was slowly pulled in by the blue crystal, as though it was being consumed. In a few moments, the severed appendage was devoured by the glowing stone, vanishing into the hazy depths of the opaque material. The Alatreon squealed and reeled on the stone floor, trying to get back to its feet, but it didn't take too long for the creature to realize that something was amiss. The black beast wrenched its head around, and gaped in horror at the ragged remains of its tail. The beast screeched furiously, writhing around as it struggled to push itself back to its feet.

But Levin rushed the beast again, charging directly at the Alatreon's head as the beast tried to scramble back upright. The monster screeched furiously at him, trying to twist its head around to face him before he could reach it, flames growing in the back of the elder dragon's throat. But before the fire could blaze from the creature's mouth, a bowgun round smashed into the side of the Alatreon's head, bursting apart in a flash of black and red energy which surged across the elder dragon's head. The creature howled, its eyes darting over to glare at Kerry, where the huntress had propped Harker up against a nearby wall as she reloaded her bowgun, readying it to fire again. The flames blazed to life once more in the beast's mouth, this time aiming at Kerry and Harker. But again a bowgun round smashed into it, this time fired from Ellie, a powerful Pierce round which crashed into the elder dragon's other horn. There was a loud crack as the round connected, and the horn splintered, a wide crack cutting jaggedly up the side of the beast's proud horn.

Out of instinct, Levin activated the dragon phial on his switch axe. The weapon hissed as the internal mechanisms churned, transforming the blade from its axe form to its sword form. A lance of dark energy coursed through the weapon, and Levin choked down a cry of pain as it jolted into his gauntlets. But he was already in the motions of attacking and pressed forward. With a crack, Levin smashed the blade of his switch axe into the side of the Alatreon's skull, and a blast of dragon element blazed from the weapon, searing across the elder dragon's hide and scales. The Alatreon reeled from the blow, hissing furiously as scales loosened and shattered, clattering to the ground below it.

The dark element blazed through the weapon with every swing of the switch axe, bursting against the Alatreon's skull with every strike. However, jolts of the dragon energy lanced right back at Levin with each attack as well, the dark element searing into his armor and biting into his flesh, but Levin pressed on through the pain, continuing to assault the elder dragon, despite the dark bolts lashing back at him. Again and again he smashed his weapon into the Alatreon's face, shattering scales and fangs and cutting into the beast's hide. Then, with one exceptionally powerful swing, Levin's blade came down on the long, crooked crack which lined the Alatreon's remaining horn. With a pronounced splintering sound, the elder dragon's second horn shattered, splitting across the side at a crooked angle. A wide swath of the jagged protrusion broke off completely, clattering to the rocks below and skittering away, before sliding over the edge of the rocks and into one of the lava pools which boiled up from below.

The Alatreon howled furiously at this final insult, and a short gust of flame blazed from the creature's gullet. Levin grimaced, wincing back as the fire smacked against his chest and a wave of heat washed over him. The fire was gone in an instant, only a short burst. Though Levin's Rathian armor deflected a majority of the attack, it still made Levin stumble for an instant, long enough for the Alatreon to recover and push itself upright. With a howl, the elder dragon lunged at him, smashing the remains of its horn against Levin's chest and flinging him to the ground. Levin panicked, and swept his switch axe up to try and defend himself as the elder dragon leapt towards him, but the beast's talons came down, slamming into the weapon and pressing down its weight onto Levin, making the hunter gasp in pain from the pressure.

**No more of this!** The Alatreon's voice pounded into his skull, shrill and furious. **No more! I will suffer no more of this! My wings, ruined! My tail, severed! My beautiful, terrible horns, broken! Now you die!** Levin paled as dragon element began to swell around the elder dragon's body. He pushed against the Alatreon's claws, trying to break free, but the elder dragon had him thoroughly pinned.

The thundering of a bowgun firing erupted to the creature's right however, and Levin twisted his head, spotting Ellie charging the Alatreon from the side. The elder dragon twisted its eye in its socket, unable to see the huntress coming, but refused to face away from of Levin as the dragon element continued to swirl around its body, even as several heavy rounds smashed into its side, detonating in waves of fire across the beast's torso. One round clipped the elder dragon's neck, however, and the beast flinched, giving Levin slight reprieve from the weight of the beast pressing down on him. He was unable to pull himself free from the beast's weight, but he was able to yank his switch axe out from under the Alatreon's paw. The blade was still in its sword mode, dark energy churning along the length of the blade and hilt, but Levin pushed through the pain of the red voltage, swinging his blade awkwardly against the Alatreon's ankles. The beast hissed furiously, however, and before Levin could get over a few strikes into the creature, the Alatreon's head dipped low towards him, its fangs clamping down viciously over the base of the weapon, as well as over the hilt and most of Levin's arm.

Levin screamed in pain as the beast's fangs gnawed against his armor, puncturing the Rathian scales and World Eater reinforcement, and tearing at the armor. But the base of the switch axe was far thicker than Levin's arm, and the Alatreon's fangs were only able to cut shallow lines into Levin's flesh, painful though they were, as the other side of its jaw ground viciously against the core of the weapon. The elder dragon gnashed its teeth harshly against the crystalline blade, biting into the inner mechanisms, intent on ripping the weapon to shreds as it had done to Harker's, and Levin's arm along with it. But in its struggle to destroy the blade, one of its tusks struck hard against the cracked dragon phial at the core of the weapon.

There was a terrible screech which ripped across the battlefield, needles digging into the minds of the hunters and even the Alatreon, as the phial splintered, webs of cracks splitting across the container. A massive, powerful jolt of dragon element ripped through the weapon, smashing into the Alatreon's skull and physically blasting the elder dragon's head backwards. The beast was nearly knocked off of its feet from the force of the blow, stumbling backwards as sparks of dark energy coursed across its face. Levin was thrown backwards as well, his grip on the weapon's hilt yanking him across the rocky earth. He struggled to his feet painfully, holding tight to his switch axe's hilt as the blade's emergency mechanisms clicked to life, automatically snapping the weapon back to its axe form.

Levin looked down fearfully at his weapon's core, afraid of what he'd see. Somehow the dragon phial was still holding together, but the Alatreon's fangs had cracked the container to even worse condition than it had been before. Nearly half of the glass was cracked now, and the volatile energy that coursed at the core of the phial was churning wildly, sparks of energy jumping over the container, even as the weapon returned to its dormant axe form. Licks of black flames were flicking out through the cracks as well, small wicks of fire that came and went in an instant.

But another thing caught his eye a moment later, and his eyes widened in horror: the armor that had covered his arm was gone! His bare arm was littered in bite wounds from the Alatreon's fangs, trails of blood sliding down his arm and dripping to the ground. His gauntlet was still there, but all the armor from the shoulder down was completely gone, leaving nothing behind but ragged scraps of Rathian hide hanging from his pauldron. He realized the poor reinforcement from the World Eater materials had finally given out; a serrated line cut cleanly around his arm just below his shoulder, were several Deviljho scales dangled loosely, barely clinging to the Rathian hide they'd been knitted together with. His eyes darted around in search for the lost armor, before landing on the Alatreon. The elder dragon was still staggered from the blast of dragon element it had taken, shaking its head, and Levin spotted the torn remains of his armor dangling from the beast's fangs.

Ellie and Kerry were still firing on the beast however, striking the creature with Dragon and Pierce rounds from both sides. They were aiming for the Alatreon's neck and head where they could, and dark streaks of blood trailed down the elder dragon's face from the countless wounds in had taken from bowgun and blade alike. The beast's attention darted back and forth between the two, trying to decide which to go after, but in its maddened state, each blow it received from one huntress pulled its attention away from the other, forcing it into a state of perpetual indecisiveness.

But Ellie had pressed too close. The huntress had pushed forward, intent on firing upon the elder dragon from a shorter range in hopes of hitting the Alatreon's weak points with greater accuracy. But the black beast soon realized this, and the huntress kept the creature's attention, rather than losing it when Kerry next fired on it. Lightning surged along the elder dragon's horns, lashing wildly out of control, but the Alatreon managed to pull some small level of control over the element, and a surge of the energy coursed down the creature's body and into the beast's talons. With a quick turn, the Alatreon twisted around towards the huntress, swinging its talons out at her. There was a sickening crunch and a flash of lightning, and the elder dragon's talons smashed into the huntress' side. The charged talons tore into the silver plating, puncturing through the thick scales, before the electricity erupted, and the huntress was thrown to the ground, her eyes widening in agony as blood sprayed from the wound.

"No!" Levin wailed, rushing over to the downed huntress as Ellie struggled to stand, clutching her side painfully as blood gushed from the wound. Already her face was growing pale from the injury as she tried to push herself away from the Alatreon. The elder dragon took a few menacing steps towards the huntress, before its gaze landed on Levin, rushing to Ellie's aid. The beast growled viciously, and flames began to swell in the back of the elder dragon's mouth as the beast prepared to launch another fireball which would envelop them both.

But before the fireball could be unleashed, the sound of Kerry's bowgun firing could be heard, and a heavy round smashed into the side of the Alatreon's head, lodging itself just under where the dragon's horns met its skull. The fire continued to swell in the creature's gullet, however, the beast unfazed, until the round detonated. The Alatreon squealed as the flames enveloped its skull, and the blast sent the creature's serpentine head reeling, swinging towards the ground. The fireball was still growing inside the Alatreon's gullet, however, and as the beast's skull was forced down, the blazing orb was released, and it was a short path before the fireball struck the earth directly under the Alatreon, erupting in a pillar of fire which wrapped around the elder dragon.

As the Alatreon was howling in horror, however, Levin had reached Ellie, and was desperately trying to haul the huntress to her feet, wrapping a supporting arm around her waist to support her. Ellie winced painfully as his grip rubbed too close to her injury, and a slick layer of blood coated Levin's gauntlets as he was forced to do so anyway to keep the huntress from falling to her knees in agony. Ellie tried to give Levin an encouraging smile, attempting to show she was still in fighting shape, but her pained expression and struggle to keep standing belied her true condition, and Levin knew he had to get her out of this fight, and Harker too for that matter. Neither he nor Kerry could keep fighting if they had to support and defend their respective loved ones.

But as the Alatreon strode from the crater it had enveloped itself inside, there was something different and terrible in the creature's eye. Its madness and frustration had boiled over, and this last insult, Kerry's act of forcing the beast into essentially attacking itself, had driven it over the edge, and there seemed to be nothing left in but rage and the desire to destroy. The beast's voice thundered in the hunters' skulls, its eye darted between the four of them. Levin shivered at the beast's expression; there was clear madness in the elder dragon's eye. **Enough! I will suffer no more of this! I will destroy you all! I will destroy all of humanity! I will annihilate you pathetic creatures, even if I must reduce this entire mountain to rubble!**

White haze swarmed around the elder dragon's mouth, and with a sweep of its head the creature sprayed a wide swatch of ice towards the hunters, forcing them back as jagged frozen spikes shot up from the impact zone, forming a deadly semicircular barrier which cut the hunters off from approaching the Alatreon. The elder dragon tensed, gathering its strength, before rearing its head and howling furiously, unleashing a torrent of ice into the sky above them. The white beam pierced through the clouds above, and the swirling ash and smoke began to swirl with pale white mist, spiraling outwards and covering the battlefield around them. Levin tensed fearfully; this was the same attack the Alatreon had used to crash the airship!

Sure enough, a few moments later, white spears of ice began to plummet from the skies, crashing into the earth around them without rhyme or reason. Levin scrambled to pull Ellie away from the falling objects, but there was no predicting where or when the ice lances would fall, and he was forced to swing his head up and down, trying to keep an eye on the sky above him while watching his feet to make sure he wasn't about to charge headfirst into a pool of lava. Ellie tried to help him, attempting to keep moving under her own power, but every time she tried, she gasped, clutching her abdomen in agony. Kerry had managed to find a shallow alcove against one of the far walls, bracing herself and Harker fearfully against the rocks as the frozen lances smashed against the nearby ground and cliff wall above them.

One after another the ice spears fell, puncturing into the stone of the battleground and splintering the earth. Ellie and Kerry both tried to pull out their bowguns, desperate to fire on the beast and get the elder dragon to stop its onslaught, but Ellie was in too much pain, and Kerry was too focused on protecting Harker for either of them to accurately fire on the creature.

Levin was wearing out quickly. The alcove Kerry and Harker were occupying was too shallow for him to drag Ellie over to safely, and the rain of ice spears seemed almost endless as they continued to fall. Along with that, the earth around him was starting to fracture and break apart. Like the stone slab the Alatreon had broken apart when it had cornered him and Kerry earlier, the frozen spears were breaking through the obsidian rock flat, and wide, unstable cracks were spreading around the entire battlefield, turning the whole area into a dangerous spider web. Not only that, but the lava river flowing just below the surface of the battleground was shifting the separated rock slabs, tilting the surface of the Alatreon's nest and making it increasingly difficult for Levin to traverse as crooked ledges sprouted up from the ground around him. And with the ice spears continuing to fall, forcing him to dodge those as well, he was quickly running himself ragged trying to keep himself and Ellie safe.

But as before, the Alatreon's control of the falling ice twisted away. After what felt like an eternity, there was a fizzling sound which burst from the elder dragon's throat. The hissing ice mist shooting from the Alatreon's gullet abruptly snapped to a halt, replaced with a jet of flame which seared into the sky instead. The elder dragon howled in frustration, swinging its head down and shaking its skull, trying to rein in the power it was unleashing. Levin yelled in horror as a wave of flames bore down on him, and he threw himself and Ellie to the ground behind one of the jagged rocky crags the ice rain had unearthed. Ellie cried out in pain as the both of them slammed against the ground, but Levin pulled her close the rocks, wincing as the inferno the Alatreon was unleashing roared over their heads, searing heat washing over them.

Several seconds later, the Alatreon managed to rein in control over the flames, and the fire ceased blazing from the creature's mouth. With a shake of its head, the elder dragon scowled across the battlefield at the hunters. Its nest, once smooth and flat, though littered with the broken remains of its 'trophies', was now covered with hundreds of ice spears, which had left rending cracks spread around the area. Several slabs of rock were coming unhinged as well, huge chunks of stone slipping downwards into the lava river below. The Alatreon reared back, unleashing a powerful screech which seemed to split the skulls of the hunters. The earth below them shook and trembled, and the jagged cracks began to split apart even further beneath them as the earth rent apart from the force of the creature's howl. Levin stumbled as the slab he stood upon cracked in half, and he leapt back, yanking Ellie with him in fear as a gush of magma sprouted up through the gap, boiling rock spraying towards him.

The Alatreon dropped down again, slamming its talon-lined claws into the earth below it. The cracks in the rock flat around it abruptly fractured, and nearly the entire battlefield around them fell apart. The earth groaned, and shoots of magma burst into the air around them. Levin gasped as the stone beneath his feet abruptly tilted wildly, one side dipping downwards as lava gushed up from below, swallowing the slab of obsidian up. The switch axe user scrambled up the side, pulling Ellie desperately along with him, lava hissing at their feet as the chunk of rock dropped out from under them, and he dove, leaping from the edge of the rock slab just before the whole thing dipped under the magma.

Again the Alatreon reared, and smashed its talons down a second time. Levin heard Harker and Kerry yelping in fear as well. The entire battlefield around them was coming apart under them, collapsing from the force of the Alatreon's blows and being consumed in magma. And the elder dragon was still raging, smashing apart the land around it. The entire Sacred Land quaked from the force of the Alatreon's rage.

"We need to run!" Kerry cried, and Levin nodded, spinning about. The thin gap leading back to the Meridian camp they'd come from was a good fifty yards away over uneven, broken ground, and the terrain was getting worse by the second. Sparing only a moment to tighten his grip around Ellie's torso, Levin began sprinting towards the gap, as Kerry did the same with Harker several yards to his right.

The Alatreon, however, would not allow them to leave so easily. Upon seeing them attempting an escape, the elder dragon screeched in fury and charged after them, dragon element coursing across its body. Kerry yelped in horror as the beast began to curve in her and Harker's direction, and she swung about, awkwardly bringing her bowgun to bear, keeping one arm firmly wrapped around Harker. But before the huntress could fire on the beast, white mist swelled in the Alatreon's throat, and the creature fired an ice spear almost immediately at her. Kerry just barely managed to pull herself out of the way of the attack, keeping the frozen lance from piercing her through the chest, but she was not able to save her bowgun. There was a low crunching sound as the ice spear struck almost directly in the center of the bowgun, and the weapon splintered, fracturing into two and clattering to the ground, useless.

Even as Kerry stared at her ruined bowgun, dumbfounded, the Alatreon continued to charge, lumbering ever closer to her and Harker. But Harker, gathering some unknown strength despite his injuries, struggled to try and reach into his pouch to grab something, anything he could use to delay the Alatreon. But the elder dragon had seen enough of the long sword wielder's concocted devices, and howled viciously, lunging directly at the hunter. At the last moment, Kerry realized how close the elder dragon was, and pulled Harker back, trying to get him away from the Alatreon's oncoming fangs.

The Alatreon's lunge fell short, and the beast's fangs failed to clamp down on Harker. However, the elder dragon's jaw instead snapped shut around Harker's pouch, and when the creature pulled back, the satchel snapped loose from the hunter's belt. The beast chomped down on the pouch, aggressively ripping into it before realizing it had failed to grab hold of the hunter. The beast's eyes flared furiously, and fire began to swell up in the back of the creature's throat, as the Alatreon prepared to unleash another fireball at the hunters.

However, as the flames swept into the beast's maw, they struck Harker's pouch, which still rolled around on top of the Alatreon's tongue. The mad hunter must have had far more in the satchel than he'd been willing to use, because as soon as the flames swept over it, the pouch erupted, detonating in a flash of blinding light and smoke. The world seemed to vanish into nothing as whatever Harker had concocted and brought with him flared brightly, numerous blasts and bangs detonated as the Alatreon squealed in shock. Waves of predominantly green-colored smoke burst out from the elder dragon's mouth as well, washing over the battlefield and sweeping over the hunters as they continued to run. For a moment they were lost, the world vanishing around them in green haze, but Levin and Kerry pressed forward, refusing to stop, and soon enough the rock wall rose up before them, with the thin gap opening up, a dark cut through the wall.

Behind them, the detonations and bangs slowly began to die away. The hunters rushed into the thin gap as the earth began to shake once more, the furious screeching of the Alatreon blazing to life again as the beast raged, unable to find them and smashing the earth apart in its frustration.

* * *

The hunters scrambled through the thin gap, Levin dragging Ellie along just as Kerry carried Harker. The earth shivered and shook as the Alatreon rampaged behind them, stones beginning to dislodge from the walls on either side of them as they struggled through the thin opening, and a frightening groaning sound began to quake through the rocks. It felt like an eternity, with rocks pelting them from above and the ground shaking as though the earth would collapse in on itself below them. But somehow they managed to make it through, tumbling out of the gap and into the small Meridian camp. The small area was safe from the Alatreon's raging, for now at least, even though the thin gap behind them was still shaking and rocks continued to dislodge from the wall.

Both Ellie and Harker were in declining condition, each of them growing paler with each passing moment. Harker was by far the worse off of the two, the blood loss from his arm weakening him drastically, so much so it looked as though the long sword user had passed out during the course of their flight, though Ellie was getting bad as well, the thick talon wounds on her side seeping with blood. Levin and Kerry hurried to find a safe place to lay them down, before scurrying to treat their wounds.

Kerry may have had some skill in medicine, but Levin was not practiced at treating battlefield wounds, at least nothing to this extent. He struggled to get Ellie's chest piece off, first of all. The punctures in the armor, burned by lightning, were jagged and bent, and he needed to get it off. Though it was a slow process; he couldn't help but freeze every time his beloved gasped in pain when something rubbed the wounds the wrong way, looking down at her worriedly and pausing in his work. But eventually he managed to get the armor plating off of her, though he quailed at the sight of Ellie's injuries. The beast's talons had shredded through the armor as though it was nothing, and four wide talon wounds pierced into the huntress' side, bleeding profusely despite the terrible burns surrounding the wounds thanks to the lighting which had coated the Alatreon's claws when it had attacked.

To his credit, Levin did his best to patch and cover the injuries, using every scrap of gauze and bandages he still had available in his pouch. The work was messy, and though he managed to cover the wound, blood still seeped out from around the patching he'd done. Levin fumbled through his pouch desperately, searching for something, anything he could use to save Ellie, to stop the bleeding. But his potions were gone, used up during the battle or broken in the Alatreon's nest when they'd been forced to run from the Alatreon. All of Kerry's medical supplies were going to treat Harker, and everything Harker would have had went up in flames when the Alatreon had obliterated his pouch and everything in it. There was nothing! Not a single thing he could use to-

He caught sight of something, some small yellow glimmer in the bottom of his pouch. It was a vial of fluid, but for a moment he didn't recognize it, unable to recall what it was or why it was in his possession. Then he remembered: the foreign potion he'd stolen from Farren! The man that had helped him escape had forced the red potion down his throat, but Levin had kept the yellow one and forgotten about it completely. But he certainly hadn't forgotten what Farren had told him the potion was capable of. As quickly as he could, he pulled the vial from his pouch. He immediately realized the glass was cracked, and for a moment, he felt his heart freeze in his chest. But the small bottle wasn't leaking, not yet, and the fluid inside seemed to be unchanged. He supposed he would've been more shocked if the small bottle had managed to survive everything he'd gone through since escaping the Gullet without a scratch.

But now wasn't the time for thoughts like that, as carefully as he could manage, he uncorked the bottle, trying to do his best to avoid damaging the bottle at all. He leaned Ellie's head back, and slowly poured the yellow fluid down the huntress' throat. She coughed slightly, but reflex had her slowly swallowing the potions drop by drop, and a few moments later her expression became less pained, and the bleeding around her abdomen and leg began to peter out, the fluid's strange, mystic properties cinching the wounds closed somehow. He wanted to make her drink the whole thing. He wanted to be sure she'd be fine… but he knew Harker had suffered wounds just as bad, if not worse than hers, and Kerry wasn't looking so well off either…

"Take this," he gasped hoarsely, holding out the bottle to Kerry. The huntress looked up in confusion at the bottle, uncertain what it was, but Levin urged her on, pressing her to use it. In her desperation, the huntress snatched it out of his hands. Levin had intended for the bowgunner to split the remainder between herself and Harker, but without any hesitation, the huntress immediately poured the entirety of the vial into Harker's mouth, making sure every drop of it was swallowed by the long sword user. Harker grimaced and coughed as the fluid drained down his throat, and Kerry looked down at him worriedly, but the effects of the potion were almost immediate, and the hunter's gaunt face began to slowly recover its color, and the bleeding along his arm and shoulder began to recede.

"Ugh… Levin?" Levin's eyes darted back to Ellie as the huntress' eyes opened, looking for all the world as though she was on her deathbed. She looked around wearily, having trouble focusing, but soon realizing where they were. "The camp? When did we… the Alatreon… did we…"

"It's not dead yet," Levin told her miserably. "It started destroying its own nest. We had to run…"

"Oh…" Ellie nodded, and her eyebrows furrowed in frustration. She struggled to sit up, despite Levin's protests. "We can't stop though… We can't… We have to keep fighting."

Levin frowned miserably at the words, but nodded in agreement. "Yes… we do."

But what were they supposed to do? How were they supposed to stop the Alatreon? The beast had nearly prepared its crystal to hide itself away in, and they had no way of fighting against the creature! The other hunters were still off fighting the monsters they'd stayed back to fight, assuming they were still alive, and hoping they'd arrive in time was something they couldn't afford to do. Kerry's bowgun had been blasted in two, and Harker's long sword tossed away into the magma. Ellie's bowgun was still usable, but the huntress herself seemed liable to be overwhelmed and pass out from so much as a passing breeze, and was far from battle-ready. Levin was the only one whose weapon was still able to be used and had the capability to fight, though his armor was half-destroyed. But even then the Alatreon had cracked and shattered most of the bladed edges, and the sword mode of the blade was completely unusable, now that the integrity of the dragon phial had been devastated even further due to the Alatreon's fangs. Any more damage to the energy container would just as likely-

Levin paused, looking at the ruined remains of his switch axe as Ellie struggled sit upright. The sound of the Alatreon's raging could be heard behind them, but it was slowly subsiding. The groaning and cracking of the thin archway was growing ever louder, however. If they didn't do something soon, the opening would collapse, and they would be cut off from the Alatreon, and the beast could hide itself away inside of its massive blue crystal and sleep away the years until it was healed and ready to ravage the world with its rage-fueled power once more. They couldn't let that happen…

A cold, aching feeling welled up inside Levin's chest. He pulled his attention away from the broken remains of his weapon and back to Ellie. His beloved had managed to pull herself up against the rock wall now, and was taking ragged breaths and clutching her abdomen painfully. The effects of the yellow potion were startlingly powerful, but Ellie's wounds weren't healing quickly enough to get back into the fight in time. Nonetheless, the huntress was working to pull medical supplies from her pouch so she could patch her wounds a little bit better than Levin's slipshod attempt.

"We can't stop yet…" Ellie muttered, partially to herself, wrapping the gauze around her abdomen. "I still have ammo, and my bowgun's still in one piece. There's still a chance. There's still a chance for us to win. We just… we just need a plan of some kind. Maybe… maybe what we did to the Lagiacrus. Remember Levin? I shoved my ammo pouch into the Lagi's mouth and blew it up from the inside. Maybe that would work against the Alatreon too? It's got to… We can… we can do it, we just have to…"

"Ellie…" Levin whispered quietly. It was just barely audible over the rumbling of the Volcano, and the raging of the Alatreon behind them, but Ellie still heard him and looked up. Their eyes met as she frowned in confusion, clearly worried about the look on his face.

"Levin? What-"

Before she could say another word, however, Levin leaned forward and kissed her. It was soft, and quick, but to Levin, it was everything he could manage to convey in that short moment. He pulled away a second later, Ellie still looking at him in confusion, and he lowered his eyes sadly.

"I love you Ellie. More than anything in the world. I just… wanted you to know that. And… I'm sorry."

Ellie sat frozen, worry and confusion clear in her face. "Levin, what are you-" But before she could say another word, Levin leapt to his feet, quickly spinning about and rushing towards the thin gap leading back to the Alatreon's nest. Behind him, he could hear Ellie screaming in horror, realizing what he meant to do. "Levin, no! Stop! Please!"

But Levin pressed on, ignoring her pained cries and pushed into the gap in the wall. He heard Kerry begin to shout as well, and might have heard the redheaded bowgunner leap to her feet to try and stop him, but she was too late to do so. Rocks were still falling from the walls above, and several smashed against his shoulders and helmet as he rushed through, nearly stunning him, but he kept going. The rocks above him groaned and splintered, and the narrow path began to collapse in on itself. Levin struggled to get through before the gap was closed off completely, dodging falling rocks where he could and pressing through despite those that struck him. He could still hear Ellie's miserable cries behind him… but the gap was widening, opening up to the battleground before him, and he pressed on. He had already made his choice; whether it was right or wrong, he couldn't go back on it now.

* * *

The beast's nest was almost completely obliterated now. Most of the rocky terrain had been upheaved by the Alatreon's fit of fury and swept away, and only a hundred or so square yards of standing space now remained. The rest had been pulled into the lava flow and dragged under the magma or down the mountain. It seemed a miracle there was still enough land for Levin to even stand on.

The sound of clattering behind him drew his attention. Several rocks were still toppling down from above in the gap through the rocks behind him. The tremors causing the collapse had subsided for now, but not before the thin path had been nearly completely blocked off with stone and rubble. Levin had just barely made it through before an onslaught of stone had cascaded down from above, nearly burying him under its weight. He'd gotten through just in time, though he had his fair share of bruises and wounds from the effort. He had little doubt that a stray rock had cracked his shoulder during the journey. But he couldn't stop now. He had a job to do, and it was something he wouldn't lay on anyone's shoulders but his own.

The Alatreon was still where it had stood when Levin and the others had run away from it, but its rage had subsided, its tantrum finished. It was limping slowly over to the blue crystal it was building. But now… now the beast looked even worse than it had before. All four of the elements it wielded darted uncontrollably around it, control lost once more. Lightning sparked and popped along the shattered remains of its horns; each gasping breath the creature exhaled switched back and forth between fire and ice; dragon element surged along the beast's body. But there was no rhyme or reason to the elemental power. The creature, with all its wounds, and so close to madness itself, had lost control of the immense power it had once wielded freely. The elder dragon was growing increasingly unstable… Levin feared the creature's own strength would soon rip it apart at the seams.

But… there was a chance it wouldn't. There was a chance the Alatreon would recover, would be able to reign in its power and heal its wounds with time. The massive blue crystal the Alatreon was building for itself was still growing in the back of the creature's nest, and Levin could tell it was nearing completion; it was nearly big enough for the Alatreon to enter, and soon the elder dragon would be able to step inside and hide itself away until it was it fighting condition once more. And that was something Levin wouldn't allow. The creature had to die. It had to die now… and it had to die no matter what the cost.

**How?** The creature's voice was strained, uncomprehending and fearful. It knew Levin was there. It knew Levin was alone. **How did you do this to me, human? How have you managed to damage me so much? For millennia I have existed, unmatched and untouched! And then… then you! Then you came and ruined it all! What are you?**

"It wasn't just me," Levin replied, struggling as he strode towards the beast. The ground around him and the dragon was broken and unsteady, and the wounds along his leg made it a challenge to traverse the terrain. "It was all of us. Ellie… Harker and Kerry. Richard, Kai, Kei, Tenebris, Noxramus, Miller, and Jino. Marcus, Calvert, Joshua, and even Silas! Marshall, Orson, and even Filcher!

"Do you really think I could have done all this by myself? I didn't barrage you with Dragon Rounds! I couldn't protect the people of Loc Lac! I was last to join the battle in the Tower Square! I didn't build the flying dragonship! I didn't strike you with the Dragonator! I can't fly an airship! I couldn't do a thing against the World Eater! I did none of those things! It was my friends, my comrades, and all of the Lost and everyone else who fought back against you in Loc Lac! Countless others who have fought against you, now and over the centuries! We all fought against you, together! It wasn't just me! It was everyone you've wronged and threatened and hurt!

"And you… there's only just you! You're by yourself, nobody to rely on, not even the monsters you enslave and force to fight! Even the World Eater was just a tool to you! That's why you lost! It was you against everyone! Against all of humanity!"

**No… no, that can't be it!** The Alatreon's eyes snapped towards Levin, and the force of the elements dancing across it grew in intensity. **Humans… humans are weak and pathetic! They shouldn't be able to scratch me! I have fought armies, slain countless hunters seeking my blood! No, it has to be you! It has to be! I had control! I had power! This world was mine to reign over until you came! What are you?!**

"I'm… only human," Levin said quietly. "Some frail creature you decided to toy with and torment. That's all I ever was. But you never thought that was enough… not enough to beat you. But it's all I needed. It's all humanity ever needed to overcome you."

**No! No, there's something more! There has to be! You… you're something else, something greater! That's the only way you could have beaten me!** The Alatreon twisted towards Levin, fury and hatred in its eyes. Levin shook his head in dismay, but the elder dragon ignored it. **You have something! Some hidden power I didn't know about! That's the only explanation! That's the only way you could have won! I… I will have that power! I will take this strength you have! I will make it mine, and I will be greater! I will consume you, and your power will belong to me! I will eat you! I will devour you whole, human! And when I release myself from the crystal, I will bring endless suffering to all of humanity!** The Alatreon reared back, screeching a roar to the sky. Levin groaned in agony as the sound pierced his skull. The terrain shivered around him, and the rocky earth split and shattered as the Alatreon's howl fractured it, making geysers of magma puncture even more holes into the terrain.

Before Levin could even recover from the creature's howl, the Alatreon was charging towards him, its mouth gaping open, preparing to snap down on him and keep its promise to consume him. But the beast, even in its rage, was finally wearing down, its body beginning to fail it, and had lost much of the speed and dexterity it had possessed. Levin just barely managed to swing his switch axe around in time, smashing the blade of his weapon against the elder dragon's skull, knocking the beast's aim off just enough that only the creature's tusks managed to nick Levin, grazing against his shoulder as the beast rushed past him. But while the beast's fangs missed their mark, the rest of the Alatreon was still charging, hardly losing momentum even when the weapon struck it, and Levin cried out in pain as the elder dragon's foreleg clipped him, smashing the hunter backwards and driving him to the ground.

In a flash, the beast was on top of him, its fangs snapping viciously as the Alatreon tried to snap its jaw around the hunter. Flames and ice licked the lips of the elder dragon as the beast tried to devour Levin, completely out of the Alatreon's control, delirium twisting through the creature's eyes. Levin scrambled to push himself out from under the beast, but the Alatreon was too quick and deranged to be dissuaded. In his struggle to escape, Levin kicked out at the creature, slamming his greaves into the Alatreon's snout. But the elder dragon was unperturbed, and with a howl, the Alatreon twisted its head around and clamped its fangs down onto Levin's right leg. Levin screamed in agony as the beast's fangs tore through the Rathian scale plating, ripping into his flesh.

Before the elder dragon could fully rip Levin's leg from his body, however, Levin managed to pull his switch axe around, swinging an awkward blow at the Alatreon's skull. The strike was off-balanced and painfully inaccurate, hitting the beast against where its scales were still whole and sturdy. But the blow landed just above the Alatreon's tusk, clashing against the beast's scales and sending a spray of sparks up towards the elder dragon's eye. Immediately the black beast howled in horror, reeling backwards in fear of losing its only remaining eye and shaking its head to rid itself of the sparks.

Levin struggled to his feet, but nearly dropped to his knees again as the pain in his leg spiked. He cursed, looking down; blood poured from the bite wounds that wrapped around his leg, painting his greaves in red, but what worried him was that another segment of his armor had been torn away by the Alatreon's fangs. This time better part of the Rathian armor which had covered his right leg had been ripped apart, a clean line between where the Deviljho parts connected to each other severing around the side just over the knee, leaving only dangling scraps of Rathian hide waving in the hot wind around him. Damn it all, why hadn't Silph done a better job patching his armor?

But he glumly supposed it didn't matter, not with what he had planned. As the Alatreon continued to struggle, Levin rushed over to the stone wall behind him. He limped all the way, until he stood next to the blue crystal, which glowed brightly and continued to grow ever so slowly. Levin planted himself a few yards in front of the azure gem, preparing himself. If the Alatreon charged him now, the beast couldn't go full speed, not without running the risk of crashing headlong into the crystal, and at slower speeds, Levin could be more accurate. Admittedly, with the elder dragon as maddened as it was now, there was a chance the beast would still charge at him with no care of consequence… but that was a risk Levin had to take.

"You wanted to eat me, then come on!" Levin roared. "Eat me! I'm right here! Could you not stomach me once you'd gotten a taste? Are your eyes bigger than your stomach, dragon? Or should I say 'eye'?"

The elder dragon screeched furiously, its eye blazing with fury and madness. Again the Alatreon charged, and Levin braced himself; the beast was going slower than before, as he'd hoped, wary of smashing the crystal! He might actually get this to work! Levin swung his switch axe around, holding it in a thrusting position, and as the black beast grew close, he tripped the activation lever, and the dragon phial burst to life once more. Steam hissed from the weapon as the blade shifted to its sword mode, and dragon element jolted along the switch axe from the broken phial, making Levin wince in pain as the energy seared him. The Alatreon was still bearing down on him, however, and the beast's maw opened wide as it lunged. At that moment Levin thrust his blade forward, piercing its straight into the jaw of the elder dragon.

The Alatreon screeched, sliding to an abrupt halt as the jagged barbs of the switch axe's blade bit into the flesh of the beast's maw, shattering the creature's fangs, tearing flesh from the roof of its mouth, and gouging into its tongue. Levin twisted the blade, wrenching it even tighter into the elder dragon's maw and prying the beast's mouth open. The Alatreon snapped into head to the side, trying to free the blade from where it was lodged, and Levin was swung about along with it, smashing again and again across the glowing crystal the Alatreon had pressed him up against. The hunter cried out in pain, but refused to release the hilt of his weapon, even as the jagged edges of the blue stone tore against his armor and piercing his exposed flesh.

But Levin was smashed into the hot stone below him as the Alatreon's legs gave out from underneath it. He could feel the blue crystal behind him fluctuating, the growth of the stone trying to latch hold of his armor, but Levin pulled away quickly; he couldn't allow himself to get sucked into the crystal, not now. The elder dragon dropped to its knees painfully, groaning as its wounds overwhelmed it, its inability to feel pain no longer keeping it moving, and struggling gasps heaved from the creature's mouth, spraying a mist of the Alatreon's dark blood onto Levin. Levin was gasping himself; his whole body was in pain, battered and beaten from being tossed about by the creature, but somehow his palms still clutched the hilt of his switch axe.

The elder dragon heaved, tugging on the blade wedged in its mouth, trying to free itself, but it was to no avail. It couldn't even gather the strength to overpower Levin anymore, and the hunter's grip on the hilt of the blade kept the beast's head low. **No! Damn you! Release me! Release me now! The crystal… the crystal! I have to get inside! I can't die!**

But Levin ignored the creature's screams and pushed himself to his feet. The Alatreon was struggling to stand as well, but its body was no longer listening to its commands. Levin's left hand continued to grasp firmly to the hilt of his switch axe, and as he glared into the Alatreon's eye, as his right hand reached forward and pulled the release on the switch axe's dragon phial.

A terrible, penetrating screeching sound ripped through the battleground as the dragon phial activated its energy stores. The power seared through the glass tube, pulsing at the cracks as the volatile energy within surged through the shattered gaps, and pure dragon element jumped from the phial, lancing out and smashing into the earth around Levin and the Alatreon. The phial shook violently within its container as the deadly energy tried to break free of the container which held it, threatening to shatter the glass completely with every passing second. Levin screamed in pain as red and black bolts of energy shot through the hilt of the weapon, searing into his flesh and charring his armor.

But with as much of the dragon element streaking through the cracks in the phial and back through the hilt, so much more of the energy was roaring through the blade of the switch axe, erupting through the tubes and conduits and blasting out into the Alatreon's mouth. The very weapon itself was splintering apart from the sheer force of energy bursting forth from the phial, tearing through the elder dragon's flesh and bone and searing the elder dragon alive. A horrified scream ripped through Levin's mind as the dragon element coursed through the Alatreon's mouth and head.

**No! No! Stop! Stop this! What is this? What are you doing to me? What is this feeling? Is this pain? It hurts! Oh, mercy it hurts! Please! Please stop! I don't want this!**

But the safeties of the phial were gone, smashed to pieces by the World Eater and the fangs of the Alatreon, and the phial was continuing to pump out more and more of the energy. With every passing second, more of the dragon energy was pouring into the Alatreon's maw and skull. And the Alatreon's screams continued to grow more and more pained and desperate, until the creature's very screeches were little more than agonized howling from a creature that had not felt true pain in countless years.

But it wasn't enough. Not nearly enough. The dragon phial was bursting at the seams, tearing itself and the switch axe apart from the sheer force it was unleashing, but there wasn't enough being released. Not yet. The Alatreon could still survive this. Levin had to do more. And he already knew how. The dragon phial was supposed to be unbreakable by anything short of an elder dragon or something equivalent in power, but in the state the phial was in right now… Levin reached forward with his right hand, into the Alatreon's maw, and grasped hold of the phial.

The hunter had to bite off a scream as the searing dragon element blazed into his flesh through the cracks in the phial. He could feel his skin burning away with each passing second, and watched in horror as the black energy blackened his flesh and charred his fingers. Bolts of dragon element lanced out through the cracks in the phial, tearing jagged lines through the flesh on Levin's arm, and smashing against his armor. But he had to ignore the pain and press through it. He steeled himself, and squeezed down on the phial with his bare hands.

He had been right; he could feel the phial beginning to splinter even further, even under his own dwindling strength. The phial began to release even more energy than it had been before, and black jets of flame began to blaze from the cracks in the phial. Levin could feel the energy burning holes through his hand, and the pain was so intense he knew he was likely to pass out soon. But he had to press on! He was so close! He could feel the phial crumbling! He could hear the Alatreon screaming in agony!

**Argh! Please! Stop! It hurts so much! Please, I beg you! Spare me! I don't want to die! Please! Something! Anything! Save me, please!**

Levin winced as the Alatreon's mental bond burst to life in his mind as the elder dragon reached out desperately, trying to find some sort of monster that would be able to save its life. Rathalos, Agnaktor, Uragaan, and more. Even the smaller beasts, Rhenoplos and Uroktor, and even Bnahabra and Aptonoth. Levin watched as the Alatreon screeched desperately, trying to find some living creature that it could summon to its aid. But there were none close by, none that were anywhere near enough to help.

But Levin's attention went somewhere else. He realized the Alatreon's bond also let him see all of the humans who were in the Sacred Land as well. All the hunters and those aboard the airship… Levin could sense them all. Though wounded and weary, one and all, they were all still alive somehow… that was good to know. But his attention went to those who were closest to him, to those who were in the camp just below the Alatreon's nest.

Harker was slipping in and out of consciousness. Levin's closest friend, the tall, lanky hunter who was madder than any other person he'd met, lay wounded on the ground, gasping in pain. His arm was coated in countless layers of bandages and gauze, but still there were dots of red seeping through the wrappings. Under his short, messy blonde hair, his face was gaunt and pale, and the thin goggles he used to see had thin cracks cutting across them. Even in near unconsciousness though, the hunter looked as though he was muttering wearily, talkative to the last.

Kerry was kneeling nearby. The huntress, one of the most beautiful that Levin had ever met, looked weary beyond belief. She seemed the least damaged out of them all, but her soft grey eyes were haunted and sad, and her long red hair, braided tightly and trailing down her back, had been badly burned during the battle. She had always been one of the most compassionate and motherly people Levin had ever known, and seeing her friends, as well as the man she loved, in such broken condition had to be heartbreaking for such a caring person. Levin hoped she didn't blame herself for any of this; he knew how much the huntress feared her 'curse' and the damage she worried it would cause to those she loved.

Then Levin's attention focused on Ellie, the woman he loved. He could clearly see her through the bond. Her dark brown hair was matted with sweat, dirt, and thin trails of blood, and though once tied back, it had fallen loose during the fighting and now trailed against her shoulders. Her vibrant green eyes were now bloodshot, and tears poured from her eyes. The wound along her side was growing agitated, as the huntress was standing near the blocked off path leading to the Alatreon's nest, clawing at the stones and trying to force her way through, despite her chest plate lying on the ground several yards away. He could feel her emotions, the pain and fear, and the terrible, miserable sadness and desperation going through her. Levin regretted leaving her behind like that… but he couldn't let her die. He wouldn't allow it as long as he had the power to do so. At least she would live through all this.

On impulse he brushed his consciousness against hers, and suddenly they could see each other. Ellie's eyes widened in realization, and Levin knew she could see what he intended to do. He could feel her arguments, everything she would say to dissuade him, every argument she had to counter his decisions. But there was no turning back for him, not right now, no matter what Ellie tried to say. Even through the bond, Levin could feel his hand burning away, and it reminded him he still had to do what he had come there to do. He opened his mouth to speak to her, before the end…

But the bond cut off as the Alatreon's strength began to fade. The elder dragon was gasping and wheezing in pain from the dragon element burning into its skull. The creature's voice was gone; the beast didn't even have the strength to speak with Levin through the bond anymore, and could only send a feeling of fear and pleading. But Levin was growing weak as well. He would have to finish this before his strength gave out for good.

He looked up at the Alatreon's face, into the beast's remaining eye. There was so much emotion there, for a monster. Desperation, pain, fear, horror; and as the Alatreon stared back at Levin, there was an immense pleading in the beast's eyes, begging Levin to let it live, begging for its life to be spared. But the elder dragon would not survive this, not after everything it had done, not after everything it had promised to do. Levin closed his eyes for a moment, remembering the image he'd seen of Ellie, how beautiful she'd looked to him, even covered in blood and ash, and so fearful and pleading. It was a nice image to think about now, though he wished she could have been happy and calm. He opened his eyes again and looked the Alatreon in the eye one last time.

"Goodbye," he said quietly, before using the last of his strength and squeezing down on the dragon phial.

The phial shattered.

The dragon energy roared free of its container immediately, growing from a searing jet of flame blazing into the Alatreon's gullet into a tsunami of unrelenting fury, washing over the elder dragon in a massive blast of energy. The Alatreon screamed in agony, the bond opening up between them once more, a mind-rending shriek which ripped across the battleground, and perhaps even the entire mountain, as the dragon energy washed over it and through it.

The elder dragon's head and face were seared and charred by the element almost immediately, as the dragon element boiled and burned through the Alatreon's skull. Almost immediately, the dragon flames blazed through the elder dragon's eyes, reducing the red orbs to cinders instantly before black fire blazed from the creature's sockets, all while the creature continued to writhe in agony. The dragon energy surged down into the creature's gullet as well in a massive cascade of energy. The Alatreon's body began to glow as the deep energy coursed through its body, incinerating its innards and boiling it alive from the inside out. More of the dragon element gushed out of the creature's body through the beast's numerous wounds, burning the Alatreon's hide as jets of the energy blazed from the beast's body. Soon the creature's body was coated in its own layer of dragon element, as the World Eater had, though this one was searing the Alatreon alive.

But even now, the Alatreon refused to die, and continued to screech in pain as the dragon energy razed its body. However, its belly and chest began to expand from within it, even as the intensity of the flame jets bursting from the Alatreon's body grew more ferocious. Even through the pain the creature was already suffering, the elder dragon's cries and screams grew even more pained. There was a terrible, sickening ripping sound, and the Alatreon's chest and belly were torn apart, split down the middle like a cut piece of leather. An inferno of dragon element poured from the massive wound which had been ripped across the Alatreon's body, smashing into the earth below and washing over the rocks, charring the very stones from the heat and energy. There was no blood or innards that fell from the Alatreon's body; there was only the dragon element.

Finally, the Alatreon's screaming and howling faded, as dragon element continued to blaze from its pores. The beast's body stiffened for but a moment longer, and then the creature grew slack. The bond, that terrible connection Levin had with the elder dragon for so long, vanished like smoke in the wind. There was a feeling of emptiness that followed, and Levin realized the bond had been severed for good. The Alatreon's head drooped, the shattered horns of the beast scraping against Levin's armor, and the elder dragon collapsed, finally dead.

Then the dragon element lashed backwards. The mechanisms inside the switch axe had initially directed most of the raging inferno of dragon element into the Alatreon's body, but the weapon had suffered enough, and the crystalline structure of the weapon tore itself apart, allowing the power of the dragon phial to blaze free, ripping out of the Alatreon's mouth in a rush of pure black energy.

Time slowed down for Levin as he watched the massive wave of dragon energy crawl through the air towards him. There was no pain, just like Umbre had promised. It was almost… interesting to watch. His right hand was already burnt and blackened from the force of the dragon element, and his arm was in little better condition, but now the pure energy was literally tearing him apart. It was a slow process, almost relaxing in its arduous nature. As the black flames washed over him, Levin watched as it broke him apart, piece by piece, atom by atom. It was as though he was made of sand, falling apart as the flames touched him, into little grains which swirled away into the blackness of the dragon element, before the energy devoured even the specks into non-existence.

The black flames continued to eat away at his outstretched arm, devouring flesh and bone and incinerating it into nothingness. His hand was gone quickly, already blackened and charred from the burning earlier, but the flames continued to cover him, pushing on to consume his wrist, then his forearm, then his elbow, then his bicep. His arm had simply… vanished into the dark flames, dissolving away into nothingness.

Levin had seen enough. There was no point in watching the rest. He had known it would come to this from the second he reentered the battleground, and had accepted what would happen along with it. The dragon flames would destroy him in an instant, and it would all be over.

He closed his eyes, picturing Ellie's face in his mind, and let the dragon element wash over him.

* * *

"Damn it all, keep flying! I don't care if it's the fires of Hell itself below us, we have to get up there!"

"I do be knowin' that!" Captain Marcus snapped viciously as Silas glowered at him.

"This ship's hardly in any shape to fly right now," Calvert told the man. "There are more holes in the helm than I'd dream of flying with otherwise, and the blimp is held together with thread and hopeful wishing. Not to mention the heat and weather of the Sacred Land are not being gentle with us right now! We're going as fast as we can, so shut up and keep out of the way!"

"An' one o' ya get these damn fool injured hunters below deck!" Marcus bellowed, making several crewmen jump. Nobody made a move to do as they were ordered, however, and Marcus cursed viciously, before turning his attention back to his flying. Despite his orders, the seven hunters the airship had managed to recover so far refused to relocate themselves below deck, and none of the crewmen felt enthusiastic enough to try and make them at the moment, even those hunters who were exceptionally wounded.

The balloon had been repaired in fair time, though not nearly as quickly as anyone aboard had hoped it would, and the ship had taken off almost as soon as possible, taking only enough time to dislodge the Dragonator lance from the machinery which held it, before flying off in search of the hunters who had braved the dangers of the Sacred Land. The massive weapon had pierced a stone wall when they'd crashed, and there was simply no removing it, so they'd done the only thing they could: detached the weapon entirely and carried on without it. The entire crew had seen the flashes of black lightning and heard thunderous explosions on the horizon as they'd taken flight, but they had little choice but to charge after them, in hopes of providing some sort of aid to the hunters.

They recovered Jino, Tenebris, Noxramus, and Miller first, finding the hunters gathered together on a large rock flat, recovering next to a large rock slide. The crew had been horrified at the sight of the half-buried body of the creature, which Jino had called the 'Zinogre', and the condition of the hunters and how two of them were lacking their weapons, but that made little difference to the hunters. The beast was dead now, and the hunters enthusiastically encouraged the crew of the ship to hurry and press on so they could aid the rest of the hunters in the battle against the Alatreon. With little choice, they'd done just that, regaining altitude and pressing further up the mountain.

They'd nearly missed Richard, Kai and Kei. The three were huddled together on a narrow path overhanging a tall, harrowing drop. Likely they would never have found the trio at all if one of the crew hadn't caught sight of the bloody remains of some massive blue beast at the bottom of the cliff, broken and dead from the long fall. Kei had managed to catch the airship's attention by throwing several smoke bombs off the ledge, catching the crew's attention. It had taken some careful flying on Marcus' part to swing the airship close enough to the cliff to recover the hunters without tearing the blimp against the jagged stone, and they'd had to be extremely cautious in getting Richard aboard. The longsword user was barely conscious and badly wounded, and seemed to be heavily doped on potions to fight a massive blast wound which covered the right side of his body.

Few of the hunters were in fighting condition anymore. The crew had treated them to the best of their abilities, but there was little they could do for some of them without a real doctor on board. Richard was the worst off, having taken a direct hit from the explosive creature they'd described fighting and suffered several broken ribs from the attack.

Miller, Jino, and Kai had all lost their weapons, and both Jino and Kai were suffering from wounds they'd received fighting their respective monster opponents. Tenebris, Nox, and Kei were the only ones in fighting form anymore, though Nox seemed to be suffering rather badly from Dragonblight. He'd apparently acted as defender for most of the battle with the Zinogre, suffering numerous hits of dragon element with his shield to defend the others. Tenebris was battered, but was ready to go once she'd scavenged more ammunition from below deck, and Kei had been spared from much damage, though she was extremely exhausted from her battle and their attempt at fleeing from the beast.

But all of the seven hunters, battle-ready or not, refused to be taken below deck to recover. Every last one demanded to remain on deck as the airship pressed on, heading closer and closer to where the Alatreon's nest awaited. Already they could hear the raging of the beast in battle as they pressed further up the mountain. They'd been horrified when a blast of ice in the distance had coated the sky in white tendrils, as it had when the airship had been knocked out of the sky, but this time the effect of the ice storm seemed to have been centralized, and they could only watch in fear as the storm raged over the Alatreon's nest. The ice rain had ended not too long ago, perhaps only ten minutes, and the engines were roaring at full tilt, trying to get the ship there in time, but just didn't seem to be getting there quickly enough for any of them. They could hear the Alatreon raging, even from their distance, though that was hardly any comfort. But they were finally closing in now, getting close to the Alatreon's nest for certain. A pale blue glow was growing just over the next rock wall, and the airship was closing in on it.

"I can see a camp down there!" Tenebris called from the bow of the ship, pointing down just below the outcropping. "I think there are people there!"

"How many?" Richard rasped desperately, grunting from pain from the strain on his ribs. "Are they all there? All four of them?"

"I don't know," the huntress replied, squinting. "It's too far away… we have to get down there to try and-"

A deep, apocalyptic explosion abruptly ripped across the Sacred Land, and the world grew darker around them. A heavy shockwave smashed against the side of the ship, and almost everyone on deck was knocked off their feet, sent tumbling across the deck. Several of the crew members were nearly thrown off the side, down into the magma flows below them, had their lines not held or their fellow crewmen grabbed hold of them, keeping them aboard. Marcus was cursing, spinning the wheel frantically and trying to regain control of the ship. It was nearly a minute of stressful panic on the ship before Marcus managed to regain control of the airship, leveling out and turning the ship back towards the camp Tenebris had caught sight of. Those on deck pushed themselves back to their feet painfully, but were stunned to silence by what they saw on the horizon.

On the far side of the rock outcropping was a massive tower of deep black smoke and ash, rolling skyward in a terrible mushroom cloud. Deep red and black flames rolled through the smoke, and bolts of dark energy coursed throughout, sometimes lashing out and striking nearby rock formations. As the flames and ash climbed up over the very peak of the mountain, the dark cloud began to spread outwards, widening over the Sacred Land. Deep red flames continued to roll through the ash, giving the entire eruption a horrifying, demonic feel, as black and red bolts of lightning lanced down from the cloud, smashing apart stone and earth wherever they struck.

Marcus was the first to recover, shouting orders to the crew as terrible winds crashed against the side of the ship. Several of the hunters yelped in surprise as a sinister black mist spread over the deck. When the mist licked against their armor, dark energy jumped across their metal plating, making the hunters dodge away as clouds and swells of the mist washed across the deck.

"Dragon energy…" Jino murmured fearfully. "What the blazes was that?"

"I doubt the Alatreon could muster the power to concoct an explosion like that in the condition it was in…" Miller replied thoughtfully. "An enraged monster is a fearful thing, but something like that is far beyond what's to be expected. It's certainly never shown such power, even during its raid on Loc Lac…"

"Does that really matter right now?" Kei asked irately. "We need to get down there and help our friends! We can worry about whatever made that explosion later!"

"The lass be right!" Marcus shouted. "Any fool what be stayin' on deck, brace yerselves! We be headin' down there through hell or high water!"

The Captain spun the wheel, sweeping the ship into a downward arc, dropping towards the cliffs below in the direction of the camp Tenebris had spotted. Rough, devastating winds buffeted the ship as it swept lower, and the air grew hot and sickly. Dragon energy filled the air, churning around them like static, invisible but dangerous, and the hunters cursed occasionally as their armors sporadically sparked with the dark element. But Marcus pressed them on, down further towards the base of the rock outcropping, where the camp was slowly coming into view.

It was rough flying however, even worse now with the turbulence battering them from the explosion rising up into the sky so close to them. The airship weaved closer and closer to the outcropping, but with every few feet they got closer to the campsite, the rushing of winds and the turbulence around them only grew worse. And the dragon element, thick in the air, certainly wasn't improving things, making sparks of the dark element jump across any metal surface on the ship with increasing frequency the longer time went on. Marcus' cursing at the helm grew ever more frequent, and it appeared pulling the airship close to the camp would be impossible in these conditions.

But a chill wind suddenly pushed across the side of the airship, rippling the cloth of the blimp and making the hunters blink in surprise. Their eye lifted skyward, and they realized the barrier of ash and smoke which encircled the peak of the Volcano was churning and pulsing oddly. Currents of ash were twisting about in strange, unnatural patterns which didn't match the flow patterns it had been following previously. It fluctuated wildly, as though whatever power had been binding it together was wavering.

With a shiver akin to a sigh of relief, the ash barrier vanished. The clouds fell apart, the warm winds of the south pressing through the barrier and dissipating it. It a matter of seconds, the smoke was carried off, opening up the sky above them and clearing the view down the side of the mountain down into the flatlands below. There was a rush as the cool wind blowing in from the desert to the north which swept the remnants of the ash clouds across the peak on the mountain, making those aboard the ship blink painfully as several wisps swept over their eyes. But now the skies were clear, the stars above them glittering brightly alongside the glowing moon. Only the ash and smoke still billowing out from the peak of the mountain and the blast zone just beyond the rock wall in front of them continued to churn into the sky, but the southeastern wind carried it all away, safely away from the surrounding terrain.

In a short few moments, the air had become infinitely easier to fly through, and nearly all of the turbulence surrounding them vanished. With nothing more barring his way, Marcus swept the ship low, lowering down until the ship was hovering just over the tip of the rocky overhang of the campground. Shouts from the crew bounced off the rocks as those on deck leapt from the ship, hoisting hawsers and tying the ship down to sturdy rocks to keep the flying machine in place. The engines grew quieter as they were revved down, and there was a clattering of the gangplank as the wooden boards were swung quickly into place, allowing descent from the ship for the hunters. Tenebris, Nox, and Kei were the only hunters who left the ship, being the only ones healthy enough and armed enough for battle. The others were forced to stay behind, watching from the deck as the three trekked into the camp, with several wary crewmen following behind them.

It didn't take long for them to reach the hunters, after ascertaining the camp was relatively safe for now. They reached Harker first; the long sword wielder was unconscious, his face pale and one arm completely wrapped in bandages. His breathing was slightly strained, but he didn't seem to be on death's door as it had been feared.

Ellie and Kerry however… Ellie was on the far side of the campsite, kneeling on the ground near a pile of rubble, sobbing quietly in short gasps, as though she had no more breath in her to do anything more. She was wearing only her underclothes from the waist up, her Silver Rathalos chest plate strewn to the side. Winding bandages and gauze wrapped around her torso and waist, spotted with dark blood. Kerry was next to her, her arms wrapped tightly around the other huntress, though to those watching it seemed both an act of comfort and one of restraining. The reason became clear enough upon inspection: Ellie's fists were battered, blood pouring freely from the cuts and gashes that were torn into the skin on her hands. And in front of them, where a pile of rocks had completely closed off a thin gap in the rock wall, splatters and specks of blood were splashed across the stones, as well as covering numerous rocks littering the ground around the gap.

Kerry looked up wearily at the hunters and crew as they approached. Her own eyes were red and tear-stained, but she nodded to them as they approached, motioning to the huntress in her arms. No questions were asked of her, not yet, and without a word the crewmen who had come off the ship quickly gathered Ellie up. The huntress put up a minor fight, demanding they let go, saying she needed to get through the crevice, but she was utterly fatigued, and it proved little matter for several crewmen to gather her up and carry her up the gangplank and onto the ship. Kerry watched them take her for a moment, before standing up once more and walking over to Harker, where one of the crewmen was pouring several potions down the hunter's throat.

"Three," Nox muttered quietly, looking between the hunters. The word was simple, but painfully heavy. "Only three hunters here… Where's Levin? Where-"

"He went back in." The hunters turned at the rasping, weary voice. Kerry was looking up at them from beside Harker, her face tear-stained and blotchy with dried blood. She sniffled, rubbing her nose and looking back at them despairingly. "He went back in by himself to finish off the Alatreon. That explosion… the phial on his switch axe was damaged. He must… he must have intentionally broken it. He must have known what would happen… but he still…" The huntress went silent, and a cold quiet filled the campsite. The sound was only broken by the choked sobbing of Ellie as the huntress was carried below deck by the crew of the ship. Kerry looked bleakly towards the sound. "It's just… it's just like the Veggie Elder told her…"

"What do you mean?" Tenebris asked fearfully, and Kerry looked at the other huntress miserably.

"The Veggie Elder… he told her that Levin would leave her to die. And he did… but not in the way we thought. He left her… to die."

"And… and the Alatreon?" Tenebris asked, looking up at the towering smoke cloud which rose from just beyond the rock wall. But Kerry shook her head despairingly.

"I don't know," she whispered hoarsely. "I just… I don't…"

"Leave the poor girl alone," Calvert said sternly, striding down the plank. "They've been through enough. Just get them below deck for now. We've got… other things to accomplish for now. One last mission to finish."

The hunters and crew in the camp nodded solemnly at the words, and made to get Kerrigan and Harker onto the ship. In a couple short minutes, the hunters were carefully carried aboard, both of them taken below deck to have their injuries seen to and treated. But the rest of the crew had other concerns. Barking orders at the crew, Marcus cast them off, and the engines rolled to life. Though they flew cautiously, swinging wide and around the side of the rock wall, rather than over it. They dared not fly too high, not if there was a chance at the Alatreon still being alive.

"You sure you three are up for this?" Jino asked. Tenebris, Noxramus, and Kai all nodded solemnly at the query. Jino frowned and shook his head in frustration, grimacing and rubbing his shoulder as the injury flared. "Damn it all… young hunters like yourselves shouldn't be doing this all on your own… I'm the old dog here, if anyone's going to risk it all, it should be me. Damn, if I hadn't lost my weapon…"

"How do you think I feel?" Kai muttered worriedly. "My sister's going off to fight the Alatreon and all I can do is stand here uselessly…"

"We have to make certain it's dead," Tenebris replied sternly. "If there's even a chance the Alatreon's alive, we have to be sure of it." Those on deck looked at each other uncomfortably at the words. To think the Alatreon would still be alive after so much… but the elder dragon had been immortal to them up until a couple months ago. Imagining the beast dead was a challenge for almost all of them.

But Kei nodded enthusiastically at the words, and smiled encouragingly at her twin. "Don't worry Kai… I'm sure after everything we've done to the Alatreon, if it is still alive, it will just be cleanup for us three."

Nox nodded solemnly at the words. "And if the dragon is dead, then… at the very least, maybe there's a chance Levin is alive… Maybe, through some miracle… We have to at least try, don't we? We should at least check…"

"I'm going as well." The hunters turned in surprise at the voice, and Silas stepped forward, an adamant expression on his face. The man had a rookie's light bowgun strung across his back, and a satchel of ammunition around his waist, though he wore no armor. The hunters looked at each other in confusion, but before they could say a word, the man raised a hand. "I'm sick of sitting on the sidelines for all this, even if it means I have to take up one of these damnable hunters' weapons. I doubt I'll be much use in a fight… But if the Alatreon is dead, I'd like to see it with my own two eyes. And besides… if a Lost was the one to slay the beast once and for all, I wish to ensure his survival. Our people cannot afford to lose such a vital persona." Still the hunters were uncertain, but Silas scowled at them. "I'm not making a request! If you're going in, then I am as well."

The hunters looked at each other dubiously, but several of the crewmen were encouraged by the words. Silas seemed shocked as several of the crew slapped him on the back enthusiastically, rekindled respect in their eyes. Tenebris looked openly ready to argue, but with the crew shouting and cheering on their employer, she couldn't get a word in.

"Fine!" Tenebris groaned. "But don't get in our way if things go sour!"

"Oh, you needn't worry about that, _huntress_," Silas growled, and the pair glared irately at each other before Tenebris turned back to stare in the direction they flew.

It didn't take long for the airship to loop around the side of the rock wall, and the battleground on the other side came into view. There was little to see, however. As far as those on deck could tell, there was little to see, save for a thin strip of land which looped around the edge of the area, creating a wide crescent arc of obsidian. The far end of the Alatreon's nest was out of sight, however, as thick, rolling clouds churned into the sky in front of them, blocking their view completely of anything that lay beyond them. The ship slowed to a halt as close as it could to the edge of the battleground, setting down and throwing the gangplank over the side, at the very tip of the rock flat. Those heading down into the nest looked around nervously, before gathering their courage and setting off.

Tenebris and Nox were the first hunters off of the ship and out into the rock flat beyond, followed by Kei and Silas. There was little to see at first as they pressed deeper, looping wide around the lava pits and dancing cautiously around the unstable rocks under them; ash and dust coated the entire arena, lingering from the explosion, and there was hardly anywhere they could go which wasn't overrun with lava or broken away and swept down the mountain. Dark flames, lingering dragon element, licked up across the rocks around them, burning from some unknown fuel, and lingering sparks of black lightning jumped around the landscape, searing the rocks and stone. The hunters looked around fearfully, searching for some path they could take to figure out what had happened. But another light breeze kicked up, flowing across the rocks, pushing away the smoke.

Their hearts sank at the sight uncovered before them. A massive, smoking crater had been blasted into the side of the Volcano. Rock and stone had been uprooted, and magma thrown back from the force of the detonation. Now a wide, curved hole at least eighty yards wide sat against the far side of the arena, dropping several yards down into the earth. Rocks and boulders lined the crater, like wicked teeth of some sinister jaw, tightly bound together and keeping the flow of lava on the far side from pouring in. For a long minute, no one moved, too stunned by the sight to brave themselves any further. Kei was the first to continue, pressing towards the edge of the massive blast zone and looking in, and soon the others followed, emboldened enough to press on.

It was hard to see what lie in wait at the core of the hole. Despite the new wind brushing the side of the mountain, the center of the crater still smoked with the same intensity of the Volcano itself, sending ash clouds billowing up towards the peak. But whatever was down there was cooling off, starting to become visible. Only two things could be seen through the gaps in the smoke, however. The first was a wide, blue crystal, at least five yards tall, which appeared to be steaming slightly. The whole thing had been blasted to pieces by the force of the explosion, and only a few chunks of large size remained. There was barely any glow from within the gemstones, they all appeared faded and dead, and the entire thing was fracturing apart into pieces even as they watched, shards and fragments clattering to the earth around its base and piling up along the sides.

The second was the still-smoking body of the Alatreon. The beast was a horror to look at now, it's flesh cooking from the heat and steam rising from its twisted and misshapen form. Its boiled body was something few could bear to look at. But look they did, at the ruined remains of the elder dragon with had so haunted their species. And for so long, they couldn't bear to look away.

The only sign of anything else in the ruined remains was the smoking hilt of a weapon, jutting crookedly from the mouth of the Alatreon's corpse.

"What are you waiting for?" Silas asked harshly, snapping them out of their reverie. They looked at him, confused, and he growled angrily. "Levin, you fools! We're supposed to be searching for him! So get down there and find him!" Silas barked at the hunters. But the three of them hesitated, looking between themselves hopelessly.

"That blast was more powerful than anything I've seen before," Nox said solemnly, his voice low and emotionless. "It boiled the Alatreon alive. What chance did Le… what chance does a hunter have of surviving such a thing?"

Silence covered the group, broken only by the churning of the engines behind them and the roar of the Volcano. Looks of misery and hopelessness covered the faces of the hunters. Silas shook his head. "I don't care about that. Look for him anyway. Just in case. You owe him. This country owes him that much for what he's done! So go! At least look! And if you can't find him…" The man grew silent, looking between the hunters. "If you can't do that… at least find something for us to bury."

* * *

"Despair for the conceited… this is the end you wished for." - Truth, Fullmetal Alchemist

* * *

**Author's Note: Please Review! I hope some of you get the context for the quotes at the start and end of the chapter… Anyway, look forward to the next chapter.**

**Well, for those of you who haven't heard yet, MH4 is finally getting a western release! Capcom plans to release Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate in western countries sometime in early 2015. At the rate my writing is going, The Lost Civilization should be complete sometime in March or early April, so I'll have a good year to rest from writing before the next game comes out. If I ever get around to writing a sequel, it would likely occur after playing 4U and having time to develop a more cohesive story. Also, I've been watching a few videos of the MH Online Beta, and sweet mercy, those graphics are stunning. I hope that the console and handheld MH games will have graphics like that in the generation after 4.**

**Reading: **_**Horimiya**_** by Hero, **_**The Fault in Our Stars**_** by John Green, **_**Itou-san**_** by Aki Eda, **_**Ava's Demon**_** by Michelle Czajkowski, **_**Kyoukai Senjou no Rinbo**_** by Tottori Sakyuu, **_**Dogs: Bullets and Carnage**_** by Miwa Shirow, **_**Maoyuu Maou Yuusha**_** by Touno Mamare  
Playing: Pokemon X, Bravely Default  
Listening: Radical Face, Joshua Radin, Beirut, Blind Guardian, Revolutions Podcast, History of Rome Podcast, Mika, Relient K  
Watching: .hack/SIGN**


	52. Aftermath

Aftermath

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. Most of the characters in this story are mine. Many characters belong to others, as stated in previous chapters. Edgar belongs to A Jack Frost Guy, (you didn't think I forgot, did you?)._

_ Edited by: Hoenn Master96 _

* * *

Music and cheering filled the streets of Loc Lac as the moon rose full and bright over the desert city at night. Every main street in the city was lit brightly with high-burning oil lamps and bonfires, making the hunting city positively glow with a wonderful brightness which could be seen for miles outside the towering walls surrounding it.

It had been only two and a half short months since the Alatreon had attacked the city, and everywhere you looked, you could see lingering destruction. But nearly every soul, save a scarce few, was out in the streets, celebrating the death of the Alatreon, the fell creature which had tormented the country and every living being within it for as long as history could remember.

Even after such devastation and death from the creature's attack, there seemed to be no room in anyone's heart for anything but joy and mirth. Makeshift food stalls were erected over the remains of destroyed buildings, streamers and flags were hung from tilting structures, and torches lit the streets, even as rubble and debris were swept aside for people to pass through. Music filled the streets, as everyone who could play an instrument seemed to have taken them up. Even the most rookie musician was doing their best to bring joy to those who could hear them, and if they were not so good, there was nothing but kind words of encouragement from those listening.

Even with food being rationed as it was during the recovery, food stores had been opened up and offered to the public for use during the celebration. Everywhere you went, you were sure not to be too far from a stall selling sweets, or a bonfire over which a massive slab of meat was turning, the delicious smells wafting all over the city. And the alcohol was flowing freely to those who desired it. It wasn't uncommon for a raucous chorus of drunken songs to fill the air from a dozen different directions in a dozen different off-key tones.

The Alatreon itself, or rather its corpse, was presented for all to see in the Loc Lac square, placed up against the remains of the Tower and spread out on the earth for anyone to look at. It had spent the day being paraded around the city, through the streets and pathways with enough room for it to be carried through. The Guild had sent a collection of ships to recover the body and bring it back to the city as soon as news of the beast's demise had reached the ears of Loc Lac.

The creature's wings, while torn and ripped, were spread wide across the stone. The beast's torso was blown out from the force the detonating dragon phial had blasted through it, but there was no gore or blood on the beast's body; the pure heat and energy of the phial, as well as the heat of the volcano, had seared away all of that, leaving behind an emptied ribcage and outer body, along with the charred hide and scales which had been spared from the blast.

And the creature's head was the greatest sight of them all. Somehow or another, despite the beast's horns being broken, its eyes being burned away, and the rest of the torment the creature had suffered, the beast's head was nearly whole. The elder dragon's glittering scales shimmered in the light of the fires, and even the shattered remains of the beast's horns seemed to glow under the pale moon. But though the creature's head remained in good condition, there was a glaring sign of the battle it had fought: a twisted switch axe remained, wedged into the beast's mouth. The crystalline structure was shattered and destroyed, but the heat and energy released when the dragon phial had erupted had melted the material, and the jagged ore shards had been welded into the beast's upper and lower jaw, prying the creature's maw open.

People looked upon the remains of the black beast that they had so feared in awe and amazement. Some looked on also in disgust and revulsion as well. The elder dragon was not exactly a pretty sight to behold now, its flesh burned and distorted from the detonation of the dragon phial. And the clear view into its emptied-out ribcage was not a sight for weak stomachs. But nearly everyone in the city dared a thorough look at the beast which had so terrorized their lives and devastated their city. And none regretted seeing the beast, no matter how repulsive it may have been.

There were dozens of Guild guards and representatives surrounding the body of the Alatreon, of course, making sure nobody could get close to the creature. There were some shouts of disdain from the curious, but the greedy, hungry looks in the eyes of many hunters, and the way their hands instinctively reached for the carving knives at their belts, was reason enough to keep the beast's body out of reach. There was word going around the Guild was planning to dissect the remains sooner or later and make a thorough study of it, though many people wanted at least the elder dragon's head mounted somewhere they all could see it.

But that was speculation for another day. For now, it was time to celebrate the death of the creature so gaudily presented, and the end of the reign of terror it had on them.

Of course, the celebration would end, sooner or later. Everyone knew it, and everyone feared it. Soon enough, life would resume, and harsh issues, both old and new, would boil back up to the surface. There were dead to tend to and find amongst the rubble, wounds to heal from, and lives to rebuild. There were food stores to keep track of, and countless injured filled the hospitals and medical buildings in the city. There were hunters who would need reprimanded for cowering when the Alatreon had attacked, leaving the Lost and other civilians to fight back in their stead.

There was still disdain for the Lost within the hearts of those who felt wronged by them, and there was still disdain for the locals within the hearts of the Lost for how they had been treated. Through the partying and joy, the toasts and laughing, there were many who knew, when the celebrations died away, those who they sang and laughed with would be their enemy again as the sun rose.

But for now, all that was pushed aside. The Alatreon, the most dangerous monster the country of Theron had ever known, was dead, and that was all that mattered! They were finally free of the demon's threat! Until the sun rose, they would shout their joy to the heavens, and let all their other worries fly away into the wind.

* * *

A soft wind blew through the city of Loc Lac, one of gentle warmth, not the regular sweltering heat which tended to be felt in the hot desert city. It was as though a comforting hand was caressing the city itself, soothing the aching wounds remaining after the Alatreon attack.

The celebrations were over; now the city was focused on rebuilding itself again. Buildings, new and clean, were rising slowly up from the ashes of the destroyed ones, and those that could be saved were being patched up to the best of the builders' abilities. There were, of course, some things not able to be saved, no matter the skill of the artisans. The Loc Lac Tower, an enormous symbol of the city, remained toppled where it lay, its base the only remaining feature at the center of Loc Lac. Already, chunks of it were being dragged away from its long impact zone, off to wherever they could be used.

As the wind swept through the city, it passed last through the Northeast District. It was a scarcely used district, one less traveled than the rest for common use. But its importance to the city was unmatched compared to the others, for it was where Loc Lac's graveyard lay. There were some houses in the area, but very few, and mostly reserved for those who cared for the cemetery that lay sprawled across so many hills and mounds.

It was beautiful land, compared to the rest of Loc Lac. Those who cared for the earth and the gravestones took their jobs more seriously than any other worker in the city. Lush green grass coated the hills, a spectacle to see here in the middle of the dry desert, and even flowers of a thousand colors bloomed here among the bodies of the dead. The graves were kept pristine as well, from the large mausoleums to the smallest of headstones, a work of love by those who cared for the fallen and those who respected the work of the deceased.

Most of those who were buried in the cemetery were hunters. There were civilians with graves there as well, of course, those who had lived in Loc Lac all their lives, and called it their home, but for the most part the tombs were filled with the bodies of those who had worked for the Guild, and had fallen in the line of duty. Mostly it was those who had no home to return to or family to whom to return the remains. It was a common enough theme to hear when someone was buried here: a family slain by monsters and a life dedicated to their destruction, a mysterious wanderer who would not reveal his past, or someone who just had never had a family and no will or testament to say where they wanted to be buried. It was a common enough story among hunters for some reason. But the Guild was ready for such things. Those whose pasts could not be uncovered, or had no families to claim them, were buried here, along with thousands of others who had died just like them, and given all of the respect afforded for someone who had died in the line of duty. It was the least the Guild could do for them after having asked so much.

Unfortunately, the work of the gravediggers and landscapers had been at an all-time high in the last couple of months. There had been thousands killed in Loc Lac during the riots and subsequent Alatreon attacks, and countless new graves had been dug and filled in that time. Some families had even been required to dig the graves and carve the headstones themselves with how many needed to be laid to rest here, the gravediggers themselves being overworked to the point of exhaustion. But none complained at the work. The people of the city realized the struggle that must have been undergone in recent days.

As such, it wasn't uncommon to see small groups of people in the cemetery, walking somberly through the headstones in search of the grave of their loved ones, or walking away from those which had just been buried. So nobody looked twice at a pair of men standing near one of the farthest graves, one pressed up against the towering stone walls of Loc Lac. If someone had looked twice, they would have realized the men were an important pair: Farrell, the reinstated councilman of the East District, and Jonathan, the head of the Investigatory Squad.

The grave before them was nearly blank, unmarked with names or dates. It simply read, 'Be At Peace', with no flourish and no sign of special treatment. A chisel in Farrell's hand, as well as the dust and stone shards which clung to his pants, showed he had been the one to write the words himself. His hands were worn and injured, several bandages wrapping around them as he stared down at the headstone, but his face showed no signs of pain, just sorrow.

He glanced at the gravestones nearby. There were only two others placed this far into the cemetery, such a walk from the beaten path. More would spring up soon though, Farrell had no doubt, considering the number of bodies which still had yet to be recovered and buried. The graves were far more flowery and decorated than the one he had made, certainly, with intricate carvings sprawled across the stone. The first read simply, 'Here lies Aurora, beloved mother and wife.' The second… 'Here lies Salem, beloved son.'

Farrell shook his head and sighed, looking back at the unmarked grave before him, clutching the chisel in his hand. "Do you think this will be enough?"

Next to him, Jonathan nodded. "People won't find it. They won't suspect it's his. He was never a man to go on about his personal life anyway, and even if he was, knowing his personality and business dealings, anyone who comes looking for his grave will be searching for one far more impressive than this one. His body will be at rest, I'm sure of it."

"Good," Farrell murmured. "The man's suffered enough, I think. I imagine people will think him a monster as the years go by… but I hope he'll at least find peace in death."

Jonathan shifted where he stood. "Of course, it will be us who mark him as a monster."

Farrell nodded. "It is… necessary to do so. For the city to recover, the people of Loc Lac must know the full extent of what he did to incite the city against the Lost. The lies, the rumors, the criminal acts and underhanded deeds… We must reveal all. It will not completely repair the rift created between Loc Lac and the Lost, considering all the damage done by them during the riots, but it will encourage people to try… Are you sure you managed to get all of it?"

"As much as I could," Jonathan replied coolly. "Of course, much was destroyed during the riots. The Lost did their level best to burn his office to the ground, and the Alatreon's attack certainly did nothing to help the process. But if you could say anything of the man's habits, he was meticulous. He kept obsessive track of everything he did and everyone he hired for his activities. We found papers hidden away documenting almost everything he did. Every zenni he paid was recorded and counted, and even the less-than-savory men he hired were researched. He has the names and locations of everyone he hired to do his dirty work. If we even had half the information he kept, we could incriminate ninety percent of the men who worked for him, and his own crimes against the city and the Lost would be… innumerable."

Farrell frowned, concerned. "Everything? Why write down everything he'd done illegally if he thought he was doing the noble thing?"

"Perhaps he just wasn't a notably intelligent criminal," Jonathan mused. Farrell glared at him, and the I.S. leader sighed. "Or… perhaps… somewhere inside he knew what he was doing was wrong, and wanted to make sure that if he failed, the men who helped him were punished as well. But I try not to ascribe to such flowery thoughts. I take no pleasure in empathizing with criminals."

Farrell nodded, turning back to the headstone. "And our would-be assassins?"

Jonathan grinned. "There's more information on them than anyone else. It seems even _he_ had reservations about going to such lengths. It doesn't forgive that he did so, of course. But yes, the men will receive convictions without a doubt, under the full force of the law."

"And they're still alive to be punished, correct?"

"They're breathing, if that's what you're asking. That innkeeper wasn't gentle with them when she caught them, but they still live. I'm not sure how long they'll stay that way, however. A lot of Lost have heard about what they've done by now, and there's ample fear of some of them taking vigilante action on the men, giving them their alleged 'just desserts' for what they did. We don't have many guards to spare, but we'll try and keep them alive long enough to see conviction. After that… no promises."

"Well, that's enough for now. We must do our best to keep the law in order, especially now with everything as it is." The man paused for a moment, thinking deeply. "As for keeping order… how is the city doing in general? I've had my hands full with the recovery effort. Tell me… tell me how the Lost are faring. The barricade is gone now, but how are things between them and the rest of the city?"

Jonathan shrugged. "Tense, though not as terrible as before. The perception of the Lost is… distorted and confusing these days. People aren't sure how to view them. Of course, the Lost are helping in the rebuilding efforts, and they seem to be efficient designers when it comes to structures, but quite a few are adamantly refusing their services. Many are no less angry than they were before, and some are more so thanks to what was destroyed and the people killed during the riots, before the Alatreon arrived. At the same time, there is a… respect and appreciation for the Lost in the city as well. For every Lost who destroyed and killed during the riots, there was another around trying to rescue and save lives. It was the Lost who struck the first and final blow against the Alatreon here in Loc Lac after all. That much is hard to deny, with that dragon shot barrage from the Hive, and that Lost-designed airship which badly wounded the creature. And it was a Lost who slew the beast in the end…"

Farrell nodded in acceptance of the words. He'd heard the stories of what had happened during the Alatreon's attack, the rumors and hearsay, as well as the stories of heroism and sacrifice. The I.S. leader sighed behind him. "There is still a lot of uncertainty between the Therians and the Lost. I suppose it's something which can only be washed away with time and effort on both sides. Hopefully, this time there won't be people out to sabotage our efforts to create unity. But things are looking up, especially after this whole 'exodus' started."

"Exodus?" Farrell asked curiously.

"You haven't heard about that?" Jonathan asked, surprised. "You've been busier than I thought. How to explain this… From what I've been able to gather from the Lost, when the Alatreon died, or perhaps earlier, there was something - I don't know how to describe it - unchained inside of them, so they claim. Something holding them back was let loose. Something ignited within them. Before the riots, the Lost would cluster together, binding themselves to each other, but now… Now they're leaving. The Lost are leaving Loc Lac."

Farrell spun about, shocked. "Leaving? All of them?"

"Not all of them, and not all at once," Jonathan replied quickly, shaking his head. "But… at least a quarter of them have left the city already in the last couple of weeks, and over half of them are expected to be gone within the month. From what people are reporting, almost seventy-five percent of the Lost in Loc Lac are planning or contemplating leaving the city, branching out and going… somewhere. Everywhere. It's not a group effort or anything. The Lost just… want to go out into the world."

"So they're just… leaving?"

"Gathering up their belongings and hopping on the next sandship out of the city… in simpler terms. North, south, east, west. They're going in every direction in small groups. Some are rallying together into parties of fifty or so to band together as they journey for a new home, but it's the same idea. They just want out. I'm no politician, but I imagine the disdain for the Lost will drop in Loc Lac quickly enough once this 'exodus' has been seen through."

"Indeed," Farrell murmured thoughtfully. "The greatest issues with the Lost in Loc Lac have always been their madness and their numbers… The first was never something which could be dealt with, but the second… If the Lost begin to spread out, then indeed public opinion of them may rise. No longer a desperate mob, but a spread out collection of wayfarers… yes, that should improve the opinion of the Lost dramatically. And the number of Lost applying for becoming hunters' apprentices has skyrocketed as well… perhaps things might not be so bad after all. Times will be rough for a few years yet, but… I suppose there's still hope things will clear up."

"With luck," Jonathan replied. "I don't imagine it will go quite that smoothly."

"Neither do I," Farrell admitted.

"Well at least it looks as though our country won't be the only one which needs to worry about the Lost anymore."

"You mean Gahiji?" Farrell asked. Their neighboring country to the east had been reporting incidents similar to the Lost awakenings recently. Apparently Lost had been appearing in their forests as well, though these spoke a different language by the sound of things. "Perhaps we should send some advisors to them, give them some tips on how to deal with the Lost without incident."

"Then we'll need to send some to the Minegarde region as well," Jonathan replied. "They've been getting their fair share across the ocean. Again, they were speaking a different language than our own Lost, and people are having trouble interpreting. But a number of them appeared near Castle Schrade and needed to be evacuated."

"Damn," Farrell muttered, shaking his head. He'd heard horror stories about that area… "There's a mess I'm glad we don't need to deal with ourselves."

"There is one last matter that must be seen to," Jonathan told Farren. "There is little doubt numerous rumors have managed to leave Loc Lac and travel about the country. An official pronouncement of what occurred must be given."

"I'll trust your judgment in the matter of what information to offer the public," Farrell replied. "But… When reports of the occurrences here go out to the rest of the country, try… write it as an effort of cooperation which saved the city and slew the Alatreon. Make it known that the Lost ingenuity and courage were just as necessary as the strength and determination of our own. A Lost airship struck the great blow against the Alatreon, but the Captain and his first mates were Therian, and orchestrated the chasing down of the beast. The dragon shot barrage was done by the Lost, but it was led by a Therian hunter. It was both Lost and Therian hunters that dogged the Alatreon to its nest in the Sacred Land, and though the final blow came from one of the Lost, it couldn't have been done without the work of the people of Theron."

"As you like," Jonathan replied.

The two stood in silence over the gravestone for several more minutes. Then Farrell sighed, stepping away from the grave. "I suppose… I suppose there's too much to do these days spend time standing around like this, isn't there?"

"I couldn't say," Jonathan replied, looking over the cemetery grounds. There were a number of other groups in the area, standing around their own tombstones and speaking quietly to each other. "It seems that a lot of people in town think there is good reason to take time out of their days for such a purpose. Who's to say what the value of such a thing is, or how much time you should offer?"

"I suppose you're right. But there seems to be much to do, and so many people seeking answers for problems. And you can't solve all of them, but you have to do your best anyway."

"We can't make everyone happy."

"No, we can't…" Farrell replied sadly. "But we can try. That's why the council exists. Come on now, Jonathan. There is still much work to do."

As the two walked away, the warm wind curled around the tombstones in the cemetery for a moment longer, then swept upwards and over the walls of Loc Lac, off to carry on to other places and other lands.

* * *

Stergo winced as another stack of papers slammed down onto his desk. The Guild Master groaned miserably as he stared down yet another addition to the seemingly endless pile of paperwork which had been stacking up slowly but surely the last couple of weeks. When would it all end?

"More trade and pricing information for the wood and stone being imported for the reconstruction," his new assistant, Laura, informed him. "Also, it looks like we'll need to find other avenues of receiving food for the city. The southern sandsea ports have sent us nearly everything they possibly can without dipping into their own food stores."

"Of course… damn it all," Stergo muttered sourly. "Why am I doing this again? I'm supposed to be overseeing the hunters of the city, not the recovery. This kind of nonsense should be the council's job, not mine…"

"Well, if you hadn't been so quick to start throwing around orders after you were released from prison, you might not be in this position. Though admittedly, the council was flailing about quite a bit during the aftermath, so you really didn't have much choice… I'll see what I can do to get this foisted off of your back and onto theirs if I can, but considering public opinion of the council is still sketchy, I wouldn't get my hopes up if I were you."

Stergo sighed, rubbing his temples in frustration at the amount of work he'd have to do. How did he manage to get suckered back into working like this again?

If he was honest, the time he'd spent locked away in one of the Guild's prison cells had been almost relaxing for him, compared to the stress of dealing with all the messes which had been cropping up in recent months thanks to the Lost, the Alatreon… and everything else. 'Almost' being the key word there. Stergo had almost been resigned to his fate when the Guild soldiers burst through his door, demanding his arrest and charging him with conspiracy and abuse of power. He would welcome the chance to relieve himself of the duties that were his to deal with as the Guild Master for the country of Theron.

However, he couldn't escape his fears and worries. He knew everything would fall apart at the seams the moment he was tossed into jail. Everything he'd done to try and prevent chaos would be all for nothing, and Loc Lac would descend into havoc. Days and days passed as Stergo sat in his cell, slowly going mad from fear of what would happen if he wasn't around to assuage the damage. He didn't need to hear the whispering of the guards, the worried looks between the overseers, to know things were going down the drain in the city. But news didn't exactly travel to the jail in a timely fashion. The prison, wedged out on the exterior wall of the city, was almost completely unaware when the Lost rioted through Loc Lac, when the Alatreon attacked, and the subsequent fallout of the beast's assault. But the entire city felt it when the Loc Lac tower had fallen, shaking the earth with enough force to make every prisoner in the jail wonder if the city had actually been struck by an earthquake. Stergo was the only one to wager a guess at what had happened, though he was fearful to admit it.

It was almost two days later, when everyone in the prison, both guard and guarded alike, were near panic over what had happened, when a Guild sandship approached the dock of the jail. Now it was known for certain something bad had happened, as the sandship they'd sailed up in looked half-burned and held together with glue and hopeful wishes. A collection of despondent Guild men and women appeared, appealing for the release of Stergo, begging for help in getting the city back under control. The city was in ruins, and decent leadership was hard to come by. Stergo nearly chose to stay where he was out of spite, as several of those who came for him had been the same ones that had called for his imprisonment. But he knew how much they needed him, and he knew it was his responsibility to clean up this mess. After all, it was partially his fault such devastation had occurred in the first place…

And the city really was devastated when Stergo returned from the prison. The old Wyvernian almost didn't recognize it, the destruction was so critical. And the Loc Lac Tower: destroyed completely! Broken at the base and laying across the north side of the city! And hearing everything which had happened within the city while he had been imprisoned left Stergo feeling worn out before he'd even begun his work: The Loc Lac council had been released from wherever they had been kept during Zhanin's usurping, but were having trouble getting control over the situation, considering how people in the city viewed them.

But this was a hunting city, and Stergo was the Guild Master, in memory if not actuality. Even with the crimes he had committed and the accusations he had received, almost half the population were hunters or working for the Guild, and people flocked to him and followed his commands when he started giving them. It took days, but soon enough the anarchy of the city was fading, and the recovery effort was in full swing. People were being organized, food stores were being gathered up and rationed, search parties for survivors were being sent into the rubble, and medical treatment for the wounded was being sent around as quickly as possible. And people were regaining confidence in the Loc Lac council again. Say what you would about Stergo, his decisions and poor choices, but he did know how to take control of a situation, especially here in Loc Lac.

Along with the Stergo's work in making sure the city was recovering and not descending into anarchy as he'd feared, the man also spent countless hours trying to gather aid from the outlying villages and cities at edge of the desert. Getting into contact with them took effort, as the Alatreon had obliterated almost every sandship the city had available, so they were forced to send the slow airships they had available or wait for sandships which had left before the attack to return. But eventually, word on Loc Lac's condition spread, and aid began to come in from outside, much to the relief of everyone within the walls of the city.

It took a strenuous two weeks for the Guild Master to restore relative peace and civility in Loc Lac, and to make sure the city was stable and really beginning to recover. It took that long to get people living off the streets and into makeshift shelters, and organizing their food stores so nobody would starve, and soon enough people began to work their way back into regularity of daily life, though things were obviously not the same as they used to be. Of course, there was still tension between the Therians and the Lost which remained, but there seemed to be an unspoken agreement to refrain from acting uncivil until the city was back to normal. Either way, Stergo had other worries.

He needed to find out what had happened to the hunters who had gone and chased after the wounded Alatreon.

News trickled into the city over the next couple weeks after that, more rumor and hearsay than anything else, and nothing concrete or even slightly believable. But a ragged report arrived from Orage Dell, some unfathomable story received about an attack on a seaside village by a Deviljho of mountainous proportions. Stergo was still mulling over the report, trying to make sense of it, when, three and a half weeks after the Alatreon's attack, the airship which had warded off the beast with a mounted Dragonator lance returned, flying over the walls of the city towards the tower square. The ship looked battered and beaten and singed like nothing Stergo had seen before. It was in bad condition, and nearly crashed when it came to land in the square.

And when those aboard managed to disembark the ship…

"We've gotten more complaints from the hunters we've put a hunting ban on," Laura said, pulling Stergo's attention back to the present. The woman was an assistant who Jonathan had introduced him to during the mayhem of getting everything sorted the last few weeks. Stergo didn't know where the man had found her, or why they knew each other, but she was competent enough, and seemed to know a good bit about working through the city's bureaucracy, which was useful. And she made a good replacement for Stergo's previous assistant, who had been hospitalized during the Alatreon's attack. Laura pointed over to several boxes filled with papers off in the corner of the room. "A lot of hunters are asking for appeals on your decision to ban them from hunting for six months."

"Well they should'a thought of that before they decided hiding from the Alatreon was a better idea than fighting to protect their city!" Stergo snapped irritably. "Damn it all, an elder dragon lays siege to Theron's prime hunting city, and barely a handful of them even try to fight back against it! We had more _civilians_ battling the beast than hunters, even if most of them were Lost! Were it up to me, such shameful and cowardly behavior would warrant them a _permanent _ban from hunting!"

"And a lot of the city seems to agree with you, considering how many people lost their lives, homes, and well-being in the attack. However, considering the number of hunters such a ban would affect-"

"We'd likely have more riots on our hands if I did. I know, I know." Almost half of the hunters in the city - those who had survived the attack, at least - had been put on a mandatory leave of absence due to their refusal to fight the Alatreon. If Stergo put them out of a job for their actions, they were in enough numbers that they'd likely revolt against the decision. Even the six-month ban had been pushing things, but this kind of cowardice couldn't simply be let go. "Nonetheless, their requests are all denied. If you get any more paperwork from anyone on the issue, send them to the smithies and have them burned. We've been low on fuel for the forges during the reconstruction, and we can't spare any wood since it's all being used for housing, so we might as well use it for something good other than wasted effort."

"Very well, sir," Laura replied with a nod, before flipping through more papers. "Let's see, what else… we're going to need to send out more requests for hunting master volunteers."

Stergo grimaced at the words. "More Lost looking for work in the Guild?"

"Indeed. It was a Lost that finished off the Alatreon, after all, and a Lost airship which chased it out of the city. The rest of their people are… _inspired _to seek occupation in similar work as well. You should be happy; all these Lost are bolstering the numbers of hunters which were lost during the Alatreon's attack. We'll need all we can get, or else we'll need to ask for Gahin hunters for aid, and you know how hard that is."

"Yes, yes, I know…" Stergo grumbled. "Too bad they're all rookies and can't fight anything nastier than a Jaggi… But it's getting tricky finding people willing to teach them, especially with so many higher-ranked hunters being called on to fill the gaps left behind by the deceased. So how many is it today? Have the numbers dropped at all?"

"Not in the slightest," Laura replied. "There are sixty new requests for apprenticeship today, as opposed to yesterday's fifty-three. It looks as though any Lost who aren't heading out on this 'exodus' are going to be asking for an apprenticeship sooner or later."

"Ah, dammit all…" While there were a good number of hunters willing to take on apprentices in the city, especially after the death of the Alatreon and the improving outlook on the Lost, they were running short… He'd have to send requests to other hunting outposts and villages in hopes of finding people willing to take up the mantle. Maybe Tanzia? The port town was picking up in popularity in recent years. The Guild master there, a loud, obnoxious Wyvernian half Stergo's age, had been requesting recruits; how fresh of rookies could Stergo get away with sending to the port? "Send letters to Polgara in Orage Dell, O'aka in Tanzia Port, and Rosen in Frost Town. Tell them we're sending them more hunters to do with what they will, but we're sending apprentices for them to find masters for as well."

Laura grimaced. "That might not go over well. Polgara never seems to mind, but O'aka and Rosen might not like that. Especially Rosen… the Volcano area isn't exactly kind to rookies."

Stergo frowned. "Hmph. Wait, now, here's a thought. How about this: all those hunters out asking for me to repeal my ban on their hunting, we'll give them an ultimatum. If they want to hunt again, they have to relocate to one of the other cities or villages, and they must take on a Lost apprentice until they pass the hunter's exam or quit. And no running their apprentices ragged to force them into quitting!"

Laura paused in thought for a moment. "That… well, that will solve one problem, but I don't think the hunters will like it. I think they'll want to kill something more dangerous than Great Jaggis and Qurupecos…"

"Well that's the choice I'm giving them. They either teach a new hunter to fight weaker monsters, or they can sit on their butts for six months waiting for their bans to lift. That's a long time to not be getting paid in a town like this, especially during the recovery effort. Some of them might actually have to help with the rebuilding to pay for rent… ha! Two birds with one stone! That'll teach them to try and sit out an attack on the city while civilians go out and fight!"

"You're walking a short path to getting yourself thrown out of office again," Laura noted with a grin, and Stergo laughed.

"Bah, they'd be doing me a favor! I need to retire anyway."

"At a time like this?" Laura asked. "I think times are a little busy for you to even be _thinking_ about going into retirement. Besides, who would they replace you with? You've had this job for decades."

"There must be someone willing to put up with all of this nonsense… Hmm, well I'll have to start looking around for a replacement in my spare time." In truth, Stergo had been contemplating retirement for over a decade now, but the stress of this work was finally bearing down on him. At least he wouldn't have to worry about Alatreon watches or cutting off hunting areas because of the elder dragon, and entire villages and towns wouldn't be devastated by the creature anymore, with no opportunities for revenge. The Guild Master shook his head. No use thinking about that now; he had far too much to do to trust this work to anyone else.

"Anything else?" he asked sarcastically. "Some other form I need to sign in a thousand places?"

"Well there's this," Laura replied quickly, holding out another stack of papers. Stergo groaned miserably. "Oh, don't worry sir; I think you'll find this one quite important."

"What is it?" the Wyvernian snapped, snatching the papers away and looking at the first few pages.

"It's Jonathan's full report about this 'Gullet' place we were informed of. He's gathered all the information he could from his sources, and he thinks he has more than enough to begin a raid on the place, and arrest all those involved."

Stergo whistled, rifling through the papers. If there was one thing that had infuriated him most about the last month, it was discovering the existence of this 'Gullet'. So many terrible crimes done under the Guild's nose, and by members of the Guild! Just a glance at some of what was written made the Guild master seethe. The place couldn't be wiped out quickly enough. "Where do I sign, and how long before the I.S. can begin?"

"Sign at the bottom of the last page. Jonathan knows how much you dislike needless bureaucracy. As for when the raid starts…" Laura glanced out the window, taking note of the sun's location. "I'd say about an hour ago. So sign it quickly. We don't want any loose ends, now do we?"

Stergo smirked, scribbling his name on the last page. "No, we do not."

* * *

Near the remains of the Loc Lac tower, the sound of cursing and shouting could be heard rolling through the streets. Repairs of the devastation caused by the Alatreon had yet to reach this side of town, as most of the city's repair efforts were being focused on housing and making sure everyone was well-fed and participating in the recovery. So, most of the Guild buildings and warehouses were being ignored for the moment, save for when whatever was inside was being scavenged for use to fix up the city.

However, there was a commotion to be found, just to the west of the Tower base. A crowd had gathered around the half-destroyed remains of one of the Guild's older warehouses, where a large number of Guild soldiers had gathered. The civilians nearby were whispering to each other, trying to figure out what was going on as large numbers of the armed men continued to march in and out of the ruined structure. For each soldier who pressed through the debris into the shadowy remains of the building, one or two would emerge from the building, dragging along another person with them from who knew where. Rumors ran wild among the onlookers, trying to figure out what was going on. Who were these people the Guild was pulling from the wreckage, seemingly from nowhere? Where had they come from, and why were they being arrested? None of the Guild men and women were giving answers, so speculation swelled.

It was strange for the crowd to watch the vast differences between those who were pulled out into the sun by the guards. At first the Guild soldiers were only dragging out men and women who looked like scientists and researchers by their clothes, as well as (oddly enough) other armed men in different uniforms. There were signs that there had been scuffles between the Guild guards and those who had been dragged out, and most of the scientists and researchers were shouting all kinds of profanities and oaths, swearing they had no right to be arrested, and the soldiers would be punished for their actions. The guards who were brought out seemed to have resigned themselves to their fates, however.

But not long after a good number of researchers and guards had been dragged to the surface, a whole new collection of men and women began to be brought out into the sunlight, and these people were far different from those who had been brought out before them. These people seemed more like prisoners than anything else, and many of them cried out in pain under the light of the sun, like they hadn't seen the sky in who knew how long. At the sight of them, a whole new wave of whispers and rumors began to spread through the crowd nearby. Most of those who were being led out now bore countless wounds and injuries, and a majority of them appeared close to death, as the soldiers carrying them out rushed to see them treated. And most shocking of all, there were numerous Guild soldiers who were leaving the warehouse whose expressions were gaunt and horrified at whatever they'd seen inside, only adding fuel to the fire of the onlookers' curiosity.

Several dozen yards away from the entrance to the warehouse, two pairs of eyes watched the events unfolding from inside a small covered wagon, as the place known as the Gullet was quickly and efficiently overwhelmed and occupied by Guild soldiers.

"We're making excellent time," Jonathan noted. The man stood just outside the wagon, speaking quietly to the pair within the wagon. "If our estimates are correct, we've managed to clear out over seventy-five percent of the Gullet of its occupants by now. At this rate, we will have gathered up all those involved by sundown. It seems the information you've offered us was highly accurate, Miss Felicia."

"You're only gathering the researchers," the huntress grumbled sourly. "None of the ringleaders are in there!"

"We are aware of this," Jonathan replied curtly. "You are not the only informant we've managed to pull information from. At this moment, several small squads of soldiers are being deployed around the city to gather up the controllers of the Gullet from their homes and offices. Upon collecting them, they will be questioned on the names of their collaborators, and soon we will have rounded up all those involved. Or at least, all those who still live. It would seem at least three of the men and women you've named met an unfortunate end during the Alatreon's attack."

"Better than they deserve…" Felicia growled.

"Perhaps, but we must maintain control of the legal course, especially in times like this. Make no mistake; all those involved will face the full punishment of the law. Stergo is less than pleased such crimes have been conducted under his nose, and he will be showing little mercy towards those who made the Gullet what it is."

"What about the council members who were in on it?" Rowan asked bluntly.

Jonathan grumbled under his breath at the question. From the information he'd gathered, it seemed Zhanin had not been the only council member who'd had a hand in the work of the Gullet. At least two more had been active participants in the goings-on of that terrible place, much to Jonathan's chagrin, and there was still a chance more would be uncovered after their interrogations.

"They will be punished as well," Jonathan assured the two hunters. "It will be kept quiet, however, at least for a year or so. With three of the Loc Lac Council taking part in such a heinous organization, if news of it got out, public faith in the council would vanish, and we can't afford that in such a tumultuous time. They will be… quietly removed from public spotlight, to serve out their sentences somewhere they won't be seen or heard from. Not until everything settles down, at least."

The three sat in silence for some time, watching as the Guild guards continued their work in cleaning out the Gullet. It was an arduous process, and even Felicia seemed surprised at how many researchers and hired guards were being led out of the structure in shackles. Soon, however, the line of soldiers coming out of the Gullet accompanied by captives they'd taken within the walls began to dwindle, showing they were nearing the point of having completely cleaned out those who had taken part in the Gullet and all of its crimes. They likely hadn't caught everybody, not yet, but they had a lot of witnesses and people to interrogate. They'd mop up the rest eventually.

But across the street, Felicia caught sight of a familiar face. He was standing under a banister, which held high a wobbling wooden overhang in front of an old item shop. The shop was in poor condition, the back half of it mostly collapsed due to the Alatreon's attack, but the store owner was still trying to pass off his wares to pedestrians, and getting decent business all things considered. The man Felicia had spotted was looking over the goods casually, but Felicia could tell he couldn't care less about the knick-knacks in front of him; his real attention was on the ruined remains of the warehouse, and the Guild soldiers who were dragging away the scientists and researchers who had once been a part of everything within. He was a shorter man, built strong despite his stature, with a clean face and short blonde hair. He was trying to pull off a curious expression, like a passerby wondering what was going on, but he was failing horribly. His expression was dark and thunderous as he watched researchers being dragged away from the ruined warehouse one after the other.

She knew the man well. It was her father, Nero, the man who had kept the Gullet hidden since its creation so long ago. It had been several years since she'd last seen him, but little had changed of the man.

She reached forward in the wagon and tapped Jonathan on the shoulder through the flap. The man gave her a questioning look, and she pointed quickly to where her father stood. Jonathan nodded and motioned to a couple of the soldiers nearby, and the men quickly moved in on the man. Nero seemed shocked as the men approached him, and Felicia could hear the man growling angrily as he was grabbed and brought over to the wagon. The huntress pulled away from the opening, fearful. After all this time, she couldn't bring herself to face the man. Rowan wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close in an attempt to comfort her.

"What is the meaning of this?" they heard the man snapping angrily as the guards pulled him towards Jonathan. "Why are you doing this to me? I have done nothing wrong! I don't even know what's going on here!"

"So you claim," Jonathan replied, stepping away from the wagon. "However, we have received a testimony claiming you to be a high-standing participant in a particular organization which has conducted illegal actions within the city of Loc Lac. You are charged with a long list of crimes, but we can save those for later, I think. For now, you will accompany us-"

"Hold on!" Nero snapped, cutting the I.S. leader. "What do you mean 'testimony'? Who would claim I had _anything _to do with this? There is no proof of that!"

"There is proof enough."

"I demand to know who it was! I am a man of high standing in this city, a well-respected entrepreneur! I refuse to accept this nonsense without knowing what I've been accused of and by who!"

Nero and Jonathan continued to argue for some time, with the businessman demanding to know who had accused him and the I.S. leader adamantly refusing to give away the information. However, Felicia began to shiver with every word spat from Nero's mouth, every harsh, demanding order the man gave to Jonathan. Rowan looked down on her worriedly, but could do little to aid her or comfort her as Nero's words grew harsher and angrier with each passing moment.

But then something inside the huntress seemed to snap, and Felicia leapt to her feet, her eyes blazing furiously. "You want to know who testified against you?!" Felicia roared, pushing through the wagon flap and storming towards Jonathan and Nero. "I did, you disgusting, lying pile of filth!"

Nero eyes opened wide at the sight of Felicia approaching, his face switching from anger to one of supreme shock, his mouth hanging open limply. It was short lived, however, and soon his expression had reverted back to anger, a blazing fury erupting inside of him at the sight of her. "You? Felicia? Why? How could you do this to me?"

"Why do you think I did it?" Felicia snapped back. "It's disgusting and horrible, everything you've done! Did you really think, when you showed me your work, that I'd be just like you, that I'd see it as just some acceptable avenue to make money? Did you really think I'd be as sick and twisted as you are? Did you really think, just because you're my father, that I'd hide this forever? I kept all this secret for over five years, and that was five years too long! I had hoped you'd give up this disgusting work, but obviously I was wrong! That's why I told the Guild everything I knew about the Gullet, and everything you'd done to support it!"

"You useless, traitorous little bitch!" Nero barked furiously. "To think I ever thought of you as my daughter! I should have gotten rid of you after you burned down my warehouses! I don't care if I spend eternity in prison, I will find a way to make you pay for this! I hope you spent the rest of your life suffering, you worthless-"

The man's words were cut off abruptly as a massive fist smashed into the man's jaw. A splintering sound echoed off the walls as the man's jaw fractured, and the merchant lord dropped to the ground, wailing in pain, and spitting slurred curses as blood dripped from his mouth. Felicia looked up in shock as Rowan pulled back his fist, shaking his hand painfully.

"Ah… that kind of hurt. I'm not used to fighting with my fists…" Upon realizing Felicia was staring at him, he lowered his eyes sheepishly. "Sorry. He just… um, he was making me mad, so…"

Nero was pushing himself to his feet by now, and turned on the pair of hunters again, spitting curses through the blood trailing from his mouth. But his broken jaw made the man nearly incomprehensible, and both Felicia and Rowan stared at him blankly as the man continued to tirade pointlessly. Eventually, Jonathan sighed, motioning to the Guild guards.

"Take him and see him treated. We'll not be able to get any information out of him if he's talking like that the whole time." The men nodded and dragged Nero away, the man still raving and cursing unintelligibly. "It wasn't exactly necessary for you to break his jaw, you know… but I'll let it slide. A week or two being unable to talk might make him more outgoing with the information we want once he can form words again. Besides, I suppose one good punch is the least of the punishments he deserves, though I'm sure it won't be the worst he receives before everything's said and done."

The man looked markedly at Felicia. "You are aware your father will be rightly punished for his crimes, and I cannot guarantee we can save him from the vigilante rage which may arise due to them? While we are keeping quiet about the part played by the council members, your father will not have the same courtesy. Not many of those who were held captive in the Gullet had families or loved ones, but there are some, and they will not be pleased when they hear the full extent of the truth."

"I don't care," the huntress grumbled quietly. "He had his chances to repent for what he'd done… and it's obvious he's not sorry for his crimes, just angry he got caught. He should get what he deserves."

Jonathan nodded at the callous words. "As you say. We'll see to it he receives just that. We'll also make certain those threats he's made against you are not brought to fruition either. It would set a bad precedent…"

Several shouts from the Guild soldiers began to echo from the inside of the building, and it seemed the scouring of the Gullet was wrapping up. Jonathan nodded contentedly. "Now, I suppose we've gathered all the information we need from the both of you, but I'll ask you remain in Loc Lac for a few days more, in case we need to ask any more questions of you. Aside from that… you're free to go. You have been acquitted for the arson sentence you were tried with in exchange for your information, considering the circumstances. Thank you for your assistance in this case, as it has proven quite invaluable. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to finish tidying up this little scene. Farewell."

The two hunters watched as the leader of the Investigatory Squad strode away from them, off to do whatever it was which required his attention next. Both of them sighed in relief, glad this whole ordeal was done and over with, at least as far as they were concerned. But once they were alone, Rowan's head drooped low.

"Sorry," the large man muttered, and Felicia looked at him in confusion. "I hit your father, and I shouldn't have. At the least, if someone hit him, it should have been you, not me."

Felicia's jaw hung open for a moment in shock. Then she laughed quietly, and Rowan looked at her, frowning in confusion. "Jeez, you really are a soft-hearted idiot, you know that? You don't have to apologize for clocking my old man, Rowan. I admit… I would've enjoyed slugging him myself, but I think I prefer it this way. You can hit harder than me after all. It probably hurt him more, and mercy knows the bastard deserves a worse beating than I can dish out."

Rowan smiled at the words. "Then… I'm glad to be of help." His eyes grew thoughtful, however. "So… what are we going to do now? We've almost done all we can to help the Guild take down the Gullet and all that. What are we supposed to do next?"

"I don't… I don't really know," Felicia admitted. "I've spent years thinking about coming back here and confronting my father about… everything. I always thought… always hoped I would come back and he would be… I don't know, forgiving or repentant or something. That's what I'd always hoped… but I guess I always knew if I came back, he'd be like he was before: cruel and unforgiving."

The huntress sighed wearily, then leaned forward, resting her head against Rowan's chest. She got some small pleasure, feeling the large man tense at the contact, knowing she was doing something she would normally never do. But Rowan accepted it quickly enough, wrapping her arms around her comfortingly.

"It's better this way…" she murmured quietly. "I knew it would come to this, I think. I don't… I don't want anything else to do with that man anymore. I just… I just want to get away from all this. Do you think that's possible?"

"I'm sure we'll be fine," Rowan assured her gently. "We'll give the Guild everything they need, and we can be on our way. Then all we'll need to worry about is-"

"There y' are, y' lazy brats!"

"Oh, no…" Felicia groaned miserably at the familiar voice which lashed out at them, and Rowan visibly winced next to her. Both of them turned, expecting the worst.

* * *

A light rapping brought Marco's attention up from the pile of papers he had his lap. He blinked in surprise at the sight of his visitors, Lynn and her new adopted son Logan hovering behind her. Marco smiled at the pair, glad to see a couple of friendly faces for the first time in what felt like far too long.

"Vell, vell, look at hyu. Folk vould herdly tink hyu'd been near schtabbed to death, hyu look so healty, hey?"

Marco smirked wryly as the innkeeper pushed her way through the door, Logan trailing close behind. The woman was dressed like usual, adorned in practical work clothes and trousers, with numerous decorative bangles decorating her arms and adoring the long braid trailing down her back. But Logan, though accompanied by the stuffed Gobul toy he usually had, had a couple new additions. Hanging off the back of his pants, Logan had slung a rather large hunter's knife, large and heavy enough that the blade could have been a short sword for such a young boy. And while he kept a tight grip on his stuffed Gobul, under his other arm was a rather thick Guild book, a hunter's guide to monster by the looks of it. He'd seen its like before, under the arms of boys and girls Logan's age: a sure sign the child was determined to become a hunter once they were able.

"Go read you book sveetie," Lynn told the boy, patting him on the head. "Gimme zum time to talk to Marco, hokay?"

"Hokay mama," Logan said with a nod, before walking over to the other side of the room, his Gobul toy in tow, before planting himself in the corner and flipping through the book, looking at the pictures in the book, eyes wide with curiosity.

Marco raised an eyebrow at the words. "He's picking up your accent, I see."

Lynn sighed. "Hy guess so. He's been doink dat here und dere for de last few veeks. Hy don't know vedder to schtop it or chust let him do vat he vants, hey? Hy don't rilly kare eidder vay, but …"

"I'd let him be if I were you," Marco said with a smile. "It just means you've impressed yourself on him. I've never had children of my own, of course, but I don't see the harm in letting him endear himself to you by trying to talk like you. As far as I can see, it just means he really has acknowledged you as his mother now."

Lynn huffed noncommittally at the words. But Marco could see the innkeeper brighten a bit at the words. Despite Lynn's rugged and violent outward exterior, the woman seemed to enjoy the concept of being a mother to Logan. Marco smirked at the thought; he hoped Logan knew what he was getting himself into, becoming Lynn's adoptive son…

"I am surprised you brought him here, though," Marco noted. "Hospitals are not exactly the most exciting place for children to go. You could have left him back at the Oasis, couldn't you? There isn't a man or woman who frequents that place who doesn't know the wrath you'd bring down on them if he got hurt."

Lynn scoffed at the words. "He, leaf him vith doze drunks? Dat's de last tink Hy need right now, hey? Since doze kids keelled de Alatreon, hall de rest uf de hunters hef been doink iz drinkink demselves schtupeed, puffink der chests, braggink for hall dey're vorth und tryink to kompare demselves vith de boys und gurls vat vent after de elder dragon. Dey see de vuns vo killed it, de vuns braff enough to chase after de beast, und measure demselves up against dem. Schtart tinkink tings like, 'if dey kould do it, vy not me?', und talkink demselves up like dey vere de vuns vo killed de tink. Und de rest, de vuns vat got banned for kowerink durink de attack? Dey're even vorse, sittink around kursink de Guild und schtartink fights vith hennyone vat schtill hes de ability to go on hunts."

"Sounds like an eventful few weeks," Marco laughed.

"Ho, hyu don't even know. Hy've been knockink so mhenny heads left und right Hy'm surprised Hy hefn't vorn my fist down to a schtump yet. De Oasis vas schpared durink de attack, so Hy volunteered to take pipple in durink de recovery. Uf kourse, zum uf de more poncy hunters vere less ten pleased dey hed to shere rooms to make schpace for odder folk. Took zum beatinks dere to persuade dem… but Hy keep hevink to pull my punches."

"Pulling punches? That's not like you."

"Ja, vell… de hospitals are rilly full dese days. Not enough room in dem to fix de schtupeed pipple vat tick me uff, hey?"

"How… altruistic of you."

"Hy'll hef hyu know Hy'm de pinnacle uf kindness. Chust ask de folks vo drink at de Oasis. Dey'll tell hyu de same… or else." Lynn grinned viciously, and Marco couldn't help but laugh. "By de vay, Hy see hyu're not so schtuttery as before, are hyu? Kind uf veird hearink hyu talkink klean ven hyu're not angry or drunk."

"I attribute it to the lack of stress I've been feeling since I've been here," Marco replied, motioning dramatically around the bland hospital room. "It's not the most comfortable place to be, but people haven't been throwing their problems at me like they have been. Well, there's all this," he said, motioning to the papers littering his bed. "But that's nothing compared to before. I suppose if there's one good thing about being here, it's that I'm not expected to do too much work. Most of the other council members, and Stergo, are picking up the slack for the most part. The recovery is a city-wide issue, not just something delegated to one particular district. So I've had a bit of time to relax here, which seems to have at least pushed down my stutter a little. And most of all, though it may sound callous, I finally don't need to worry about Zhanin's schemes coming around to make a mess of things…"

Marco's words petered to a halt as Lynn's expression grew morose at the name of the late councilman. She seemed torn, somewhere between anger and a sort of solemn guilt. "You shouldn't blame yourself you know," he said quietly, but the innkeeper looked at him and grinned sadly.

"Kan't tink uf hennyone else to blame. Herd to say it's not my fault, ven Hy vas de vun vo schoved de knife into his chest, hey?"

"Has anyone… approached you about it?" Marco asked worriedly.

"Pipple know Hy deed it," Lynn replied. "Hy'm pretty sure de vole city knows… but pipple chust aren't talkink about it. Hy keep ekspectink Guild men to bust into de Oasis vun uf dese days und arrest me, but it chust never heppens."

"A lot of things which happened before and during the riots are being… overlooked these days," Marco told her, trying to sound comforting. "If you tried to arrest everyone who committed a crime during that time, you'd likely put half of the city behind bars, and that's not just including the Lost. And Zhanin… these days his reputation isn't exactly shining brightly, especially with those reports Farrell's been releasing to the public on his work against the Lost. Not to mention, stories about what happened at the Oasis have gotten around; people know well enough you acted defensively. They know you were trying to save Logan. I imagine… you certainly won't be lauded for what you done, but there won't be many people in Loc Lac who will accuse you for what happened."

Lynn sighed, shaking her head. "Hy didn't vant to kill him, hyu know…"

"I know you didn't. But it happened, and people don't blame you for it. Don't let yourself think you absolutely have to be punished for what you've done. You fought to protect someone you cared about. You're a good person, Lynn, and people know that… no matter how many times you've beaten them senseless and thrown them out of your bar."

Lynn snorted out a small laugh smiled, a look of amusement in her eyes. "He, look at dis. Hall dis time Hy've been komfortink hyu und givink hyu advice over hyu problems, und now hyu're doink de same for me? Tinks are hall topsy-turvy since de Alatreon kame trough."

"It's only fair, Lynn," Marco replied with a smirk, and the innkeeper laughed.

"He, maybe so. Hy do like to make sure pipple repay der debts to me, tough dat usually only applies to pipple vith bar tabs, hey?" Lynn chuckled at the thought. Marco was glad the innkeeper's mood had improved. Despite her loud and violent personality, Marco knew it had to have hit the woman just as hard at having killed a man as it would any other person, and it was good to see her slowly getting over it now. The woman looked around the small, empty room. "So… hyu gotten henny odder visitors besides me und Logan, or are de doctors de only vuns keepink hyu komphenny?"

"Oh, I've had visitors, certainly," Marco sighed. "People asking me to solve their problems by signing things that will get them out of obligations they no longer want to fulfil, considering the devastation of the city, or worse, people trying to trick me into signing something I shouldn't so they can capitalize on all the chaos of the recovery…"

"Hyu didn' sign hennyddink hyu schouldn' hef, deed hyu?" Lynn asked, but Marco shook his head.

"Oh, not at all. If there's one good thing Zhanin did for me, he made me very careful about signing things. Honestly, all these people trying to trick me with small print and hidden subcontracts… Zhanin was far more subtle about these things. Compared to the things he threw at me, it feels as though these people aren't trying at all."

Lynn chuckled. "Hyu're not eksactly de same man hyu vere ven de Lost schtarted poppink up, are hyu? Hyu're actually a respectable kind uf guy now, hey?" The innkeeper paused for a moment before continuing. "Hyu heard dey're gunna be electink a new kouncil member to replace hyu?" Lynn asked cautiously, and Marco laughed.

"Oh, yes, indeed I have. I tell you, I never thought being kicked out of office would come as good news, but after the last couple years of stress this office has given me, I'm glad to be rid of the pressure. I imagine I'll have to help ease in whatever unfortunate soul gets the 'privilege' of being the next South District representative, but at least they'll be making all the decisions, not me. After that, I'm taking the fastest ship back home to the north. It's quieter up there…"

Lynn sighed in relief. "He, dat's goot to hear, hey? Hy vas vorried dis vole time dat Hy'd hef to try und make hyu feel betta about de vole tink or zumddink… tell hyu schtuff like dey're vorried for you health or zum odder tink like dat. De Lost, dey tink hyu've done enough for dem. Hyu gaff you fair shere uf blood, sveat, und tears… heh, more blood ten odder kouncil members hef, hey? Hyu get to retire early because dey like hyu so much.."

"So who are they getting to do it? Do they know who they want yet?"

"De Lost vanted to vote in de nekst kouncil member," Lynn explained with a smirk. "Votink's alvays kind uf messy in dis town, but Hy'm sure dey'll make it vork, hey? De Kouncil didn' seem to mind too much ven de Lost suggested it… hope dey hain't tinkink dey'll get zumone to push around again. Hy don' envy de poor fool dey get to vork de job, tough. Dey might hef to force dem into de job, like how dey got hyu in de uffice, hey? Suckered into doink de job nobody else vanted."

"Yes, that particular process needs work," Marco muttered. "I didn't even want the job, and the next day I found I had it… it's amazing how easily they throw the job on people, whether they apply or not. Someone's going to have to change up the laws on that someday."

"Vell, it's not hyu job hennymore, hey?" Lynn smirked. "Leaff it to de nekst onlucky tvit vat gets de job, ja?"

"I imagine whoever it is will come running to you for help when they need it just as often as I did," Marco noted. "You were always better at figuring out what the best course of action was than me."

"It's easy to figure out vat de pipple uf a district really need ven hyu're gettink dem drunk. Lots uf kouncil members only help de pipple dat hef de most influence or de loudest voices in der districts, but hyu get to hear hall de real problems ven hyu're behind de bar uf a tavern. Und advice? He! Dat doesn't bodder me. Hy kan giff de poor fool advice chust as easily as Hy kan get him drunk to vash avay de schtress. Tough de latter von't be as free as de former, Hy ken tell hyu dat, hey?"

There was a light rapping on the door to the room, and a moment later it opened. A Guild representative, wearing the signature red attire, strode into the room, carrying a small stack of papers under his arm. Marco sighed in frustration, fearing another stack of work he'd need to do, and Lynn shot a glare in the man's direction, but through the Guild worker flinched at the look, he pressed on.

"Don't worry, sir," the man said reassuringly. "This isn't work for you. It's just a report on the South District's voting results. We thought you'd like to know."

"They're done already?" Marco asked, surprised. "I thought they only started tallying votes a few days ago."

"Yes, well, it was a quick process," the Guild man admitted. "A lot of people in the South District chose to refuse voting, considering many of them were planning on leaving the city soon. The whole 'exodus' thing, you know. As such, only about a quarter of the district showed up to vote, but they all seemed ready to go. As such, it took no more than a couple days for the votes to come in."

"Vell, dat's a relief, isn't it?" Lynn grinned. "De faster de nekst onlucky tvit gets pulled into de uffice, de qvicker hyu kan retire, hey? So who iz it, den? Who'd de Lost vote for in de end?"

"It was a ninety-four percent landslide, a city record," the man replied with a smirk. "Congratulations, Miss Lynn, on your election. We'll expect you in the office on Monday at sunrise, and look forward to seeing what you can do." And without another word, the man quickly tossed the pile of papers onto Lynn's lap and immediately bolted from the room.

The innkeeper blinked in stunned shock for several moments, staring down at the papers in her lap and slowly working over what the man had said. The silence was broken almost a minute later when Logan grinned up at his mother. "Congratulations, mama!"

"Vait… vait, vat? Vat? Vat! Hold on a minute! Come back here, hyu coward!" Lynn roared, leaping to her feet. "Dey can'… Hy don'… Hy'm not… Vat chust heppened?"

"Unlucky twit, indeed," Marco laughed from his bed, and Lynn shot the man a withering glare. Marco had little doubt if looks could kill, he'd have burst to flames on the spot, but even so he couldn't help but chuckle. "It would appear as though you've been voted to the prestigious position of Loc Lac Council member by the people of the South District. I'm sure the council didn't expect this when they allowed the Lost to vote in the next district representative. They'll never see this coming… ha! I wouldn't miss this for the world!"

"But… but Hy… Hy'm no politician! How de hell em Hy supposed to be a kouncil member? Hy'll do a terrible job!"

"As if I was any better?" Marco asked, and Lynn glowered at him, unable to argue back. "Don't worry too much. I'll be around to help, and I'm sure Stergo will be more than willing to assist you, too. There's sure to be some willing Lost you could hire as your aides. There's sure to be some in the business of politics, rather than wanting to become a hunter. Maybe I'll refrain from retiring back home for a year or two, if only to see what kind of havoc you raise as a council member. Oh, and may I be the first… well, third I suppose, to say congratulations on your election, Councilwoman Lynn."

"Oh, schut op." Lynn growled, slouching into her chair.

* * *

"Come on, now, dear. There's no need to fret so much over me. I'm recovering just fine, and I know my limits."

Monique scowled at her husband. "You say that, but how long do you think I've been married to you? I know how restless you hunters get, and I know what type of man you are, too. If I don't keep an eye on you, you'll go and do something foolish, thinking you're back to your old self again, when you're clearly not."

Richard Sr. winced at the words. "Now Monique, don't you think you're being a bit harsh?"

"I don't know," the woman replied. "Am I? You tell me, and be completely honest."

The old hunter chuckled sheepishly. "Perhaps you're right, my love." Then the smile faded from his face. "Then again… perhaps you're not."

An immense sense of worry washed over Monique at her husband's tone. Melancholy wasn't something she was used to hearing in her husband's tone. In fact, she hardly recalled the last time she'd heard it at all in the man's voice. "Richard, what's wrong?"

The man sighed, a painful sound to Monique's ears. "It's just… I don't… I fear that, perhaps… perhaps I can't hunt anymore."

"What are you talking about?" Monique asked fearfully. "You've been a hunter since as long as I've known you. You saved my life in the Flooded Forest all those years ago. Why would you give it up now? You're not… I thought the doctors said you'd fully recover after your time in… in that place."

The middle-aged hunter smiled sadly. "Perhaps physically, my dear, but…" He reached a hand up and tapped a finger to his temple. "Not mentally. While my body might be capable of battling monsters, I fear my mind will not allow me to do so anymore. And it's because of Malefica."

"I don't understand."

The man sighed. "When the Alatreon attacked, I was awake, remember? And I went for my sword. My hunter's instincts kicked in naturally, and I was ready to take up arms and fight the creature."

"Yes, it was a foolish move in your condition," Monique chastised kindly. "But your good sense got the better of you and you chose not to fight."

Richard shook his head at the words though. "No… not at all. The moment I touched the hilt of my weapon, I just… I remembered Malefica. I did… I did many terrible things… I never told you what I was forced to do in that place to stay alive, my love, and as long as I live, I hope to never have to. If I had been forced to fight only _monsters _in that sinister arena… But what happened to me there… I cannot say, but it haunts me what I did, with my own hands, holding a blade like that one. All those crimes, those terrible sins… they all came flooding back the moment I touched the hilt of my blade, and I… I just couldn't bring myself to hold it."

"It wasn't your fault," Monique told him sternly. "You can't… you shouldn't blame or punish yourself for what you were forced to do there!"

"Whether or not I should, my love… I do. I cannot help it. Hunting is… hunting _was _my life, since I was a boy, but… no more. Not again. The memories… the memories just hurt too much."

"What about your apprentices?" Monique asked worriedly. "You're their hunting master!"

"I used to be, but not anymore," Richard replied, shaking his head wearily. "What could I teach them after all that's happened to us? How am I supposed to be a teacher to them after everything we've suffered? I can hardly handle what's happened myself! I cannot even hold my own blade. Natalie… poor Natalie… She will never hunt again with her wounds. And Kimberly has changed so much. She may have a chance to recover from what happened to us. She's still young, and may come to terms with what's happened better than I. They were spared from the worst, being young and inexperienced, even with their popularity. But us older hunters were spared from nothing. The nightmares the most skilled of us were forced to undergo… There is nothing more I can do for them but hope they can find some happiness in life, despite everything they've gone through."

"You can't just give up. Not like this…"

"I'm not giving up, Monique. But I can't keep going like I used to. Perhaps I will be able to come to terms with what I went through somehow… someday. Perhaps I will even find it in me to wield a blade and hunt again. But it won't be easy, and it won't be soon."

Monique looked down on her husband, sighing dolefully. She sat down next to him, leaning close and wrapping an arm around him. "Don't worry dear. Just take your time. I'll be right here, helping you every step of the way until you're back to your old self."

Richard Sr. smiled. "Thank you, my love."

There was a loud, abrupt knocking at the door to the hotel room, an urgent, rough sound. The married couple pulled apart reluctantly, and Monique gave an irritated look at the door. There was the sound of harried arguing coming from behind the door, though the sounds were muffled and dull. Monique thought she could recognize one of the voices, though the loudest of them was certainly unfamiliar. The smith got to her feet to head over to the door, but before she could take a step, the door was shoved open, a trio of people pushing into the room.

Or rather, one person pushed into the room, with two people dragging along behind. The two following the first were none other than Felicia and Rowan, all armored up again and looking for the world like chastised pups. The first man to enter was an old Wyvernian. A very, _very _old Wyvernian, older than any Monique had ever seen before in her life, and that was coming from a woman who had spent a better portion of her life living in Frost Town, where a good quarter of the smiths were Wyvernian, and all of them far older than any human by several generations. His hair was white with age, though covered in a thin layer of soot. He wore thick leather clothing, materials made for working the forge, and looked for all the world like he'd just strode out from a smithy. But he moved quickly, far more spry than a being his age would be expected to. Without a word, he walked over to Monique, looking her up and down appraisingly, though from his expression, he didn't seem impressed.

"So you're her, huh? This Monique I asked these two fools to go bring to me? You don't look like much to me. Kind of disappointing." Monique heard her husband growl threateningly behind her, and both Felicia and Rowan looked nervous about it all. She heard her husband push himself to his feet, but before he could say anything, the Wyvernian spoke again. "Show me your hands, lass."

"Excuse me?" the smith asked, surprised. "I don't know what you want from me, but-"

"Just hold 'em out for me," the Wyvernian interrupted. "I ain't done figuring out whether you're worth my time or not."

"Now hold on a minute-!" her husband snapped irritably, but before he could say another word, the Wyvernian sighed, shaking his head, and quickly took a step forward, grabbing hold on Monique's hands and pulling them down to assess them. The room was silent for a long moment, Richard Sr. growling under his breath in anger at the Wyvernian's abrupt, rude actions, and Felicia and Rowan shifting nervously where they stood at the glares he was sending around the room. After about ten seconds, the Wyvernian grumbled to himself, nodding dubiously.

"Folks' hands say a lot about 'em," the Wyvernian explained, releasing Monique's hands. "The rest of it don't impress me. Short, tall, strong, weak, male, female… I don't give a damn about what a person looks like, and honestly it's a waste of time for me. And talking's no good either; whether the blather that comes out of your mouth makes you seem smart or stupid, whether you tell the truth or lie, it's not worth it to try and sift through all that business. Like I told you, you don't look like much, not to me. But your hands? Those are impressive enough. You're a fine enough smith, I can see that in them, and you might actually be worth all this effort I've gone through to get hold of you."

Monique blinked in surprise at the words, looking at her own hands curiously at the Wyvernian's appraisal. "Who… who exactly are you?"

The Wyvernian smirked at the question. "I've got a fair number of names, depending on who you ask, and most of them aren't complementary. I imagine your husband there is biting off a few choice ones, but I doubt they'd be anything I haven't heard before. But if you just want the one I prefer, my name is Shinra."

"The famous smith?" Monique gasped. She should have known; Felicia and Rowan stood behind the Wyvernian, and they'd both claimed to have been employed by the well-known artisan.

But at the same time, she grew wary. Both of the hunters, as well as the Guild representative who had interrogated them before the Alatreon attack, had declared Shinra was a man who cared very little about the rules of law, and often pushed the boundaries of what was legal. And he had given the two hunters the order to essentially kidnap her if she had refused to leave Frost Town with them… That certainly seemed to be at the forefront of her husband's mind at the moment, as her husband's irate growling seemed to grow more fierce at the Wyvernian's name. Shinra didn't seem to notice or care about the elder hunter's anger, however, and focused his attention on Monique.

"Famous, eh? I couldn't care less about that nonsense. Mercy knows a fair number of folk consider me more _infamous _than anything else. But it gets me the materials I need for my work, and keeps some of the busybodies out of my way, so I suppose it simplifies things."

"So… what exactly do you want with me?" Monique asked.

"Did these fool hunters of mine not tell you?" Shinra growled irritably, turning to glare at the pair behind him out of the corner of his eye. The two shivered under the Wyvernian's withering expression, and the old creature harrumphed in disdain, turning back to Monique. "I suppose I did tell them to keep quiet about it… bah. Well, I suppose it doesn't matter. I want you to help me design a weapon, and I'm willing to pay you well for the work."

"You… you want me to help you make a weapon? That's all?" Monique asked in confusion. Her husband's anger seemed to have faded a little as well at the request. The old Wyvernian, one of the most famous smiths ever, certainly the most renowned in the country, needed her help just to make a weapon?

"Why?" she asked abruptly, and Shinra raised an eyebrow. "I mean, what could I possibly help you with? If even _half _the stories the other smiths in Frost Town tell about you are true, what could I possibly contribute? I'm a fair smith, I'll admit that, and I specialize in refurbishing old artifacts… but what help could I be to _you_?"

Shinra grimaced and frowned. He looked irritated, though more at himself than anyone else. "A lot of people come to me when they want to mold the rarer materials they've gathered into something worthwhile, something other smiths just aren't skilled enough to work. Just recently, some lass sought me out, wanting me to make some Silver Rathalos armor for a friend of hers… there was some story behind it, but I didn't really listen. I'm being modest when I say I'm the best smith in this country. I can make the best weapons and armor out of the best materials, and damn it all if every decent smith and hunter worth their salt _knows _it.

"But what I take pride in more than anything else when it comes to my work is what I've done to introduce more weapon types to the hunters of the country. I was the one who perfected the design of the long swords you see so often in this country these days. Took me years to figure out how to make use of that 'Spirit power' or whatever it was called. And it was I who redesigned bowguns to allow the customization of the stock, frame, and barrel. Though… it seems a lot of hunters and smiths are doing away with that system in recent years, favoring a single-piece bowgun… lazy, unimaginative fools." Shinra puffed his chest proudly at the words. "That's what I'm trying to do now, girlie. I'm trying to bring the designs of foreign hunting weapons here to Theron. And right now, I'm working on recreating the hunting horn."

"Hunting horns?" Richard Sr. asked, his expression souring again. "Is that all? That doesn't sound like such a big issue that you'd need to essentially kidnap my wife to do it."

"Oh, really?" Shinra scoffed. "Hunting horns, while you certainly see them around here and there, are definitely not common in this country. Do you know how many smiths there are in Theron who can put together a working hunting horn? Four! Only four, and they're not even good at it! If you want a decent hunting horn made, you'd need to go to one of the cities on the Gahiji border, and if you want one made with exceptional materials, you'd need permission to go deep into Gahiji or sail all the way to Minegarde! And none of them are sharing their secrets on making the weapons, savoring their monopoly on the market! I've only seen maybe two dozen hunters hoisting those around in this country over course of my life. And I guarantee you, it's been a _very _long life.

"Like I said, I'm trying to introduce more weapons to the country for hunters to use! And I'm starting with the hunting horn, that damnable weapon the Gahiji smiths have held over our heads for so long. Once I've mastered that, made a few different types for reference, I'll spread the design instructions on how to create them to other smiths through the country, until there isn't a stranglehold on the design of them anymore, and hunters won't have to go abroad to get a decent one made."

"It sounds like you've got all of this planned out already," Richard Sr. noted. "Why exactly do you need my wife to accompany you and help you make these weapons?"

"I don't like asking for other folks' expertise, I'll say that much," Shinra admitted. "Too many cooks spoil the broth, they say, and _I _say two cooks is one cook to many for me. However, I am loathe to admit the finer details of my work are eluding me. I'm one of, if not the best weapon and armor smith in this country, but music… musical instruments confound me! I simply cannot make these damnable hunting horns work the way they're supposed to! The tuning and shaping of the instruments is something I can't get right, and the music unleashed when I test them is more likely to leave the hunter paralyzed on the ground as it will making them stronger!

"That's why I need you," the Wyvernian snapped, pointing sharply at Monique. "I've tried to pick the brains of some of the hunting horn smiths you find in the border towns, but they're a closed-mouth bunch of stubborn fools. Couldn't get a word out of them, so I had to do everything myself, studying the weapons I managed to collect for research. But it's not enough. The work's going too slowly. So as much as I hate to say it, I need someone to help me figure out what's wrong with my works."

"So… you only need me long enough to help you figure out how to… tune a hunting horn?" Monique asked.

"Yep. That's the short of it, girlie," Shinra replied, nodding fervently. "Then I'll pay you, and you can go."

"Once the design of the hunting horn is finished, I can leave? Just like that? After everything you've done to get me?"

"Of course! Hell, I'd toss you out the door myself. I told you, I don't like working with others; I like my solitary work." But the Wyvernian paused, putting on a thoughtful expression. "However… there are a few other weapons I've been tinkering with, trying to develop properly from what I've gleaned from foreign weapons I've collected. If you prove competent enough to help me finish my work developing the hunting horn, I might consider keeping you on for a while longer to get your thoughts on the rest as well. Don't get your hopes up though; chances are you'll just rile me up and I'll throw you out before it's all said and done. So what do you say, girlie? Yay or nay? Good pay, decent work, and it shouldn't take more than a couple months with good fortune. How about it?"

Monique frowned in thought, torn over the decision. On the one hand, she had to admit this was an opportunity few smiths would ever get the chance to take. Shinra was certainly the most skilled and respected smith in the country. To have the chance to see what sorts of skills one could learn from the old Wyvernian was something any smith would jump at immediately. His end goal was encouraging as well, promoting the spread of more hunting weapons through the country, not to mention Monique was intrigued at the thought of designing a hunting horn. And the pay… Shinra was easily offering about as much money as she earned in a year, and that was certainly nothing to scoff at. But on the other hand, the Wyvernian was sour, crude, and abrupt in everything he said and did, and had pretty much guaranteed he'd toss her out if she irritated him. He had also essentially given his underlings orders to kidnap her if she didn't come willingly. And aside from all of Shinra's personality flaws and bad decisions, Monique had her husband and son to worry about, and she couldn't just rush off on some personal desire to see a legendary smith at work.

She sighed, coming to a decision. She would have to turn Shinra down. She simply had too much to worry about now to afford the time to accept the Wyvernian's offer. But before she could speak, her husband spoke up.

"You should do it, my dear."

"What?" Monique gasped. "But-"

"I know what you're thinking. In your own words, how long do you think I've been married to you? I can tell you don't want to do this for… a myriad of reasons. But you don't need to worry about me, and you don't need to worry about our son. We can take care of ourselves. This is a big opportunity for you, and not one to be missed, no matter what may worry you… even if the old codger deserves a swift punch to the jaw."

"But still…"

"In fact, if you accept, I plan go with you," the older hunter continued, shooting an untrusting look in Shinra's direction. The Wyvernian met the look with an amused expression. "I still don't trust this bastard, no matter if he's some famous smith or whatever he claims to be. Considering what he's done, I'm not about to trust him a single whit to taking you off to wherever he's going. I may not be… quite as battle ready as I once was, but I want to be there in case this old fool tries something like he did before. I'm sure if he pushes me wrong, I'll be more than willing to knock some sense into him."

Shinra smirked at the words. "Ha, you can certainly try, lad. I may just be a smith, and an ancient one at that, but if you come at me, you'll find yourself in for a tougher fight than you think." The old Wyvernian looked back at Monique. "You can bring this brash lad along with you. I don't really care either way. But my rules apply to him, too. If either of you tick me off too much, or waste too much of my time, I'm kicking you both out."

Monique looked worriedly at her husband. "Are you sure about this, Richard? I mean, you are still recovering."

"I'm fine," Richard Sr. replied adamantly. "It's not as though I'm planning to go out hunting or anything, and I've been cooped up in this hospital for far too long. And besides, accompanying my lovely wife on some adventure, even a small one, is sure to help me get my mind off of… other things."

"I see… well, that's a good reason, isn't it?" Monique said, a faint blush dusting her cheeks as she smiled. She turned back to Shinra, who was tapping his foot impatiently by now. "Very well, Shinra. I'll accept your offer."

"Finally!" the old Wyvernian sighed. "I've spent far too long on this little journey, having to find you and pick up these two fools behind me," he said, motioning to Felicia and Rowan. "But that's enough time wasted! Come on, the two of you. We leave immediately. The next sandship out of town leaves in a few hours, and I want to be on it."

"Wait, what?" Richard Sr. gasped. "We're leaving so soon?"

"I'm sorry, but I need to find my baggage," Monique said quickly. "It got lost somewhere in the city during the riots and Alatreon attack. And my husband has no clothes or traveling goods either, so I'm afraid we can't just-"

"Nonsense!" Shinra snapped, interrupting her. "You don't have clothes? Buy some. Sundries? Same thing. I have no time to waste waiting for you two to toddle about in search of what you need for the journey, and certainly none to wait for you to go back to your hometowns. Buy what you need here in Loc Lac, and I'll foot the bill. I want you at my workshop as soon as feasibly possible!"

Monique and her husband shared a shocked look. "But sir," Richard Sr. said, "we couldn't possibly ask you to-"

"You ain't asking me, I'm telling you: I'm buying what you need and we're going," Shinra replied quickly. "Boy, I have more money than I know what to do with, and all the contacts in the world to get me the materials and goods I need for my work. I have a collection of faithful employees who are… _occasionally _competent, and all the reputation a man of my occupation could ask for. But look at me, the both of you. I'm old as dirt! Just ask these two fools here, they'll tell you the same. I'm a wealthy, powerful, respected man, but there's one thing in the world I don't have nearly enough of, and that's time! I absolutely despise the wasting of time! I've only got so many years left in these old bones of mine, and so much more I want to do with my work. So I don't give a damn about the cost of things, because for me, time is the most valuable commodity available to me right now. I've spent long enough traveling here, finding these two idiotic employees of mine, and searching you out. So I'm telling the two of you again: go get whatever you need, whatever the cost, and I'll pay for it so we can go already!"

"No, wait, our son is in town too," Monique replied. "We can't just leave without-"

"Bring him along, I don't care," Shinra said quickly. "Or send him off wherever he wants to go! Like I said, none of that matters to me, as long as we can leave on the next ship out of Loc Lac and back to my workshop."

The married couple looked at each other with concern, before Monique spoke up again. "Well… okay, fine. But above all else we absolutely cannot leave without telling our son first. Even if we miss the ship."

"Bah, fine," Shinra muttered. "Best hope he shows up soon."

"He should be back quickly enough," Richard Sr. replied. "He just went to speak with some friends of his, and should return shortly."

"The faster the better," Shinra muttered. Then he waved at the two hunters behind him. "Come on you two fools. Let's find some food while we wait. Hopefully there's still some decent food stalls open in this wreckage of a city…"

As the trio made their way out the door, Monique looked at her husband worriedly. "Are you really sure about this? What about Kimberly and Natalie?"

"They'll manage on their own well enough," Richard Sr. replied somberly. "I'll say my farewells to them before we go… But like I said, I can do nothing else for them, not as I am. They're wise enough to make their own decisions - and mistakes - and learn from them. They… they survived Malefica. I'm sure they will do well enough, whatever paths they choose for themselves."

* * *

"Here for another visit, Miss Natalie? Shouldn't you still be in your room? You're still recovering, after all."

Nat smiled at the doctor as she made her way down the hall. "I'm fine," she replied. "The wounds don't hurt anymore. And I can't sit still after all. I thought you'd be used to that, being a hunters' hospital."

"Not after wounds like you've taken," the doctor replied poignantly, glancing down at her. "That's… that's a convenient enough invention the Lost have provided us. So simple… you'd think we'd have thought it up before."

Nat nodded and looked down. She first saw her legs, of course, or what was left of them, at least. There was no recovering those. They were completely gone below the knees, like before, and there would be no returning them. The doctors had managed to stop the bleeding like the Coliseum doctors hadn't, stabilized her, and kept her from getting infected. Since then she'd spent time recovering and getting her strength back. The doctors thought she'd be depressed or in denial or one of those other 'stages' things. But she'd had her time to grieve her loss, and she'd used it helping to bring down Malefica, though her memory of it was vague…

That had left her plenty of time during her recovery for her to go absolutely stir-crazy. Thankfully, a couple of the Lost doctors had volunteered their help during the post-riot recovery, putting together something she could use to get around: a rather aptly-named contraption called a wheelchair. Honestly, it was a simple design, but it had just never occurred to any of the locals until the Lost offered up the idea. Now she and other paraplegics could positively fly around the hospital once they'd gotten used to the movement, provided they didn't run into any obstacles like stairs. It helped her have the ability to get around to other things that concerned her. With another smile at the doctor, she rolled into the room behind him.

"He's not doing much better than he was yesterday, if you're wondering," the doctor said, following her into the room. "His wounds are patching quickly enough, though his injury was certainly nothing to scoff at. He'll need some more time to recover."

"That's alright," Nat replied. "I can keep him company."

"Yes, well, that's a good thing," the doctor said. "Your presence seems to be good for him. Were you a friend of his before he was infirmed?"

Nat shook her head. "Not exactly. We were… acquaintances, though."

"Well, whatever you were, I hope you'll keep coming to see him. He'll be out of this place before you know it. And we could really use the room these days, I tell you… Anyway, I must be getting back to my rounds. Have a nice talk, Miss Natalie."

"Thank you," Nat replied, rolling towards the bed.

Lying, or rather, sitting in the bed was a blonde haired man, a couple inches taller than Nat used to be, staring out the window towards the sunlit city. He was about the same age as her, but… his eyes seemed to show far more years than what they should, though Nat imagined that people said the same about her these days. He was mostly uninjured, but many bandages wrapped around his chest and gut, covering a wound which once lay below.

Micah finally glanced over at Nat, and stared at her for a moment before smiling slightly. "You're here again."

"I am," Nat replied.

"Won't Kimberly be mad at you?" he asked, a fearful look filling his eyes.

"Probably. But I felt like coming anyway."

Micah nodded, accepting the answer and turning to look back out the window again. "They're really fixing Loc Lac quickly, aren't they?"

"The entire city is working to return it to its former glory, and make it even better," Nat replied, looking out the window with him. Several tall buildings were being constructing, towering structures Nat never imagined could be made by man. "The Loc Lac Tower will probably never be reconstructed… but I suppose people don't really care about that. But people are really coming together to rebuild. It's amazing, if you ask me. The Therians are in awe of how quickly the Lost were able to be able to turn around and fight the Alatreon, and the Lost… something inside of them was, I don't know, relieved from them when the Alatreon died."

"That's good to hear. It's nice to know things are getting better for people. I… I can't say I feel any different myself, though. I just feel… hollow."

Nat simply nodded and continued to stare out the window. The two sat in silence for a long time, saying nothing and just watching the day go by. Nat wasn't sure how much time had passed, but eventually Micah turned to look at her, a concerned look on his face.

"Can I ask you something, Natalie?"

"Yes, you can."

"Who am I?" Micah asked. Nat could see his hands beginning to shake, grip tightening on the blankets covering him. "To you, I mean. Who am I to you?"

Nat didn't answer quickly. "Nothing, really."

"There must be something," Micah replied. "Why else would you come and visit me?"

Nat turned and met his eyes. "You still don't remember anything?"

A miserable look crossed Micah's eyes. "Nothing. I don't remember anything. Who I am, where I'm from, how I got here to this… this… hunter's world. Nothing about this… 'Lost' thing, or any of the politics. I don't remember anything. I'm an empty shell. I just… am."

"Nothing at all?" Nat asked. "No new memories have popped up?"

"Nothing I can use," Micah replied, shaking his head. "Nothing that helps me, just small flashes. A face, a smell, a familiar feeling… something I fear, something I hate. Something that makes me happy or sad, occasional feelings of familiarity. But mostly… nothing."

Nat nodded in understanding. Micah had woken up a couple weeks ago. The wound Moloch had given him had left him unconscious for a long time, and when he had woken up, he was… empty. He had no memory of who he was or what he had done. The doctors said incredibly stressful situations could result in amnesia, which was what he seemed to have developed. Ellie had visited Nat a couple times and told her what had happened between Micah and Moloch, so Nat had little doubt where the stress had come from. Countless crimes committed in the name of a man you thought of as a father, only to be betrayed by him and find your life was a lie? That sounded stressful enough to Nat.

Nat didn't know why she'd asked Stephan to save him. She could've… _should've _left him to die in a pool of his own blood after all he'd done to her, to Kim, to Master Richard, to everyone who had fallen victim to the Crimson Coliseum. But… his last words to her, that he had nothing left, had struck something inside her. She'd asked Stephan to have his ugly red armor removed and him be brought along with the others escaping the prisons. She hadn't known how she'd react to him when he'd woken up, either. Would she accuse him? Did she want someone to have to place blame for their suffering upon? She didn't know.

What she hadn't expected was, when Micah had woken up, he had looked right at her and asked her who she was. Then he'd asked if she knew who _he_ was. Now she was… honestly, she didn't know what she was doing.

"You must know something," Micah said quietly.

"I must? Why is that?"

"The way you look at me. The… the way you act around me. The reason you visit me. No one else visits me."

Nat shrugged. "Maybe I just thought you were lonely."

"You told me my name!"

"Maybe you just told me it when we were coming to Loc Lac."

"And that's another thing!" Micah gasped, his voice raising. "Why was I at this… this Malefica? What was I doing there? Why was I injured? Why were you there with me?"

"I've told you why I was there."

"Yes, you were captured and made a… a twisted circus act. But why was I there too? I'm not a hunter! I mean, I don't think I am… What was I to you? Why are you coming to see me?"

"You're not anything to me right now."

"I'm not… I'm not anything to anybody," Micah said quietly. "Not… not right now. But… but I was something before, wasn't I? What was I to you? An acquaintance? A friend? An ally? A partner? A lover?"

Nat continued to stare at him flatly, not saying a word.

"Was I… an enemy?" Micah asked. "I've seen… I've seen the way Kimberly looks at me. She hates me, and I don't even know why. What did I do? Why did I do it?"

"Does it matter?"

Micah looked up at Nat's words. "I don't… I don't know. It should. But… but I don't know." Nat cocked her head a little as Micah continued. "I don't want to remember. If I was… if I caused so many people pain, I don't want to remember. But I don't know who I was. I want to know, but… if there's a chance I was someone I don't want to be…"

"You are who you are."

"But I don't know who that is," Micah whispered. "I don't… I don't know if I want to remember who I am or not."

"So be who you want to be, memories or not," Nat said. Micah blinked and looked at her. "That's what everyone else does."

Micah gazed at her, confusion and fear in his eyes. "I… I don't know…"

From out in the hall, there was a clattering sound, followed by angry cursing, and Micah cringed in fear. Nat sighed and grumbled in frustration. "That was a lot faster than I thought it would be."

"I don't… She still doesn't like me, does she?" Micah asked fearfully as Kim burst through the door and stormed into the room.

"Not really," Nat sighed as Kim stomped towards her. The redhead sent a withering glare at Micah, and the man recoiled in fear as though physically struck. She opened her mouth, ready to shout at him, and Micah braced himself as though she was going to actually attack him. But Kim hesitated, before closing her mouth irritably and looking towards the door. An attendant stood just outside, giving her a warning look. Nat rolled her eyes; the doctors and nurses had given her friend tongue-lashings several times now for raising a commotion in the hospital.

She continued to glare daggers at Micah, rolling curses across her tongue, just loud enough for the man to hear. With seething disdain, the huntress grabbed hold of the handles of Nat's wheelchair, spinning her around and pushing her to the far corner of the room, before spinning her about and scowling irritably at her friend.

"Why do you keep doing this?" Kim snapped, hissing angrily. Her tone was biting, but she kept her voice quiet enough so Micah couldn't overhear. "He was one of them! He deserves to spend the rest of his life rotting in prison! What do we owe him?"

"Our lives," Nat replied simply. "If it wasn't for him-"

"So he opened the doors for us," Kim cut her off. "Kerry would have gotten them all open eventually. He just saved us some time! That doesn't change the fact he didn't free us earlier. He captured other hunters besides us, and led them to that hell hole. He was killing other hunters, and probably civilians too! Guild workers have been asking around about what went on at the Coliseum, but you haven't said anything at all to them about this jackass! It would take all of ten seconds to call a guard and tell them about his involvement, and have him carted off to prison for the rest of his natural born life! Why are you dawdling, and worse, making me keep quiet too?"

"Because… well… I don't know why," Nat admitted, and Kim cursed in frustration.

It was true; Nat could've had Micah arrested at any time, memory loss or not. Several times during her recovery, Nat had been questioned by men the Guild had sent to investigate Moloch's organization. A word from her, and Micah would have been hauled off to prison, even before he was finished recovering. But Nat hadn't given him away. She'd even asked Kim and Stephan to keep their silence about Micah's identity as well. Stephan had been uncertain, but accepted the issue in the end.

Kim however… her friend was obviously having a hard time holding back from declaring Micah's past to the next person she passed in the hall. Even the slightest mention of Malefica set her off, though not without good reason. The huntress was in such poor standing with the orderlies here due to her having gone off on tirades at Micah several times, insulting him and talking down to him with a passionate fury unlike anything Nat had seen before. It explained why the former Malefica lieutenant showed such abject fear around her. But somehow she'd refrained from giving away any information about Micah's past to him or anyone else, caving to Nat's admittedly selfish request. There was speculation growing as to why Kim had such a foul disposition towards Micah, but so far none of them had landed too close to the truth. Nat had to admit, her favorite was the rumor claiming Kim was a jilted lover of Micah's. She found that one surprisingly amusing; needless to say, Kim did not.

It was lucky someone else hadn't found out about Micah at all, either. Hell, Master Richard's son had even visited her and Kim several times in the last couple weeks. He'd been captured and imprisoned in the Coliseum too, and would recognize the former Malefica hunter. He seemed level-headed and down to earth from what Nat had seen, but she remembered what he looked like when he was out for blood in the battle against the Malafica guards. If he'd caught sight of Micah, he likely would have summoned the guards immediately. But so far, Micah was safe.

And Nat still didn't know why she was protecting him.

"He's a _monster_," Kim growled, "just like the rest of those bastards who worked there. Why are you protecting him?"

"Yes, he was a monster," Nat agreed. "But… he was _made_ that way. Ever since I heard his story, about how he got caught up working for Moloch, I couldn't help but wonder... if I were under similar circumstances as him, would I have done the same? Would I have become a criminal to show loyalty to someone who had saved my life?

"Do you remember when we were young, when Master Richard saved our caravan? After that, we dedicated ourselves to becoming hunters, hoping to become his apprentices when we were old and strong enough? But… what if Master Richard hadn't been the kind, noble hunter he actually was? What if he'd been a poacher or something else? Would we still have followed him, feeling indebted to him as our savior and role model? How easy would it have been for us to fall into the same life of crime, if our teacher was one?"

Kim gaped in horror at the words, but seemed to have trouble figuring out how to respond. "It's not… it's not the same story. We wouldn't have-"

"I don't know that," Nat interjected. "I can't be certain. What about Stephan? He was hired to be a guard for the Coliseum, but didn't know what the job entailed when he signed on. Once he joined the organization though, he found himself in a place he couldn't escape, not without a plan, and not without consequences. He might have been killed if it that escape plan hadn't come through. Micah… I feel like he was trapped in the same way, but right from the start, when his mother was burned. The second Moloch entered his life, when he paid for his mother's recovery, Micah was trapped, but not by fear. He was trapped by his honor, his debt to Moloch."

Kim shook her head. "A pitiable past doesn't condone the crimes someone has committed. And it sure as hell doesn't absolve them!"

"I know!" Nat gasped, and Kim pulled away in surprise. "I know. I just… I know the crimes he committed must be paid for. But I don't think prison is the best way to do it. He's not… I'm just curious, I think. I want to see what kind of man he is without Moloch's influence on him. At the moment, he's just… an empty shell. A clean slate. There's nothing inside of him but who he originally was, before Moloch, before the Coliseum. I want to see what he does with himself. Call it… call it a curiosity I want to satisfy."

Kim crossed her arms and turned to glare at Micah again. Even across the room, the man withered under her gaze. "I don't like it. It's not… it's not enough. We were tormented. We had to… we had to _kill_ other hunters. You lost your legs! It's not enough!"

"I understand," Nat replied, and Kim frowned. "I thought… I want… I… I don't know what I want. I don't know what to do, or whether it's right or wrong, or if I'm being stupid and foolish. I just… I'm doing what I think I should do. I want to help him. I want to spare him. I want… I want to see what happens. But… if you don't think he's suffered enough for his crimes, if you think he should be sent to prison… go ahead and tell the guards outside about his involvement with the Coliseum. I won't argue, and I won't try to defend him. I'll leave it to you."

Kim's eyes widened excitedly at the prospect, and for a moment it looked as though the huntress would immediately dash off in search of a Guild soldier to rat out Micah. But before she took a step, she paused, her expression torn. She looked frantically back and forth between the door and Nat for almost a full minute, muttering to herself under her breath and shooting occasional cold glares in Micah's direction. Her expression grew increasingly conflicted and agonized, until finally the huntress cursed violently, loud enough that a doctor looked in on them, glaring at her in frustration. But Kim ignored the man, looking down at Nat with a defeated expression.

"Fine! Fine, I'll let him go, only for now. But you better know what you're doing," Kim growled, though Nat shook her head.

"Honestly, I really don't."

Kim groaned in dismay at the admission, but stalked out of the room, sending one last black look in Micah's direction, making the man flinch. Then she was gone, off to sulk no doubt, or try to think up another argument she could use against Micah's case. Nat sighed in relief though. Honestly, she had thought Kim was going to take her up on the offer to denounce Micah and expel his past to the world. But she hadn't, through some small miracle, choosing to accept Nat's choice. Hopefully it wouldn't be the wrong one…

"Sorry about that," Nat said, rolling herself back over to the edge of Micah's bed. The man nodded, his eyes still warily on the door, as though he expected Kim to come roaring back into the room and rant at him like she'd intended to.

"It's… it's fine. I just wish I knew what I'd done to make her so angry. I wish I knew what I could do to make it up to her."

Nat couldn't help but look down at the stubby remains of her legs for a moment, but was able to look up before Micah caught it. There was only one kind of repayment Kim would want, and it wasn't something easy to pay. "Don't worry about it," she told him. "Just leave her be for now, and she'll cool off. All she needs is some time, and maybe she'll come to like you."

"Do you really think that?" Micah asked wryly.

Nat shrugged uncertainly. "Well… maybe. It might take a few months. Or years. Or decades." Micah's head hung at the words, and Nat leaned forward, patting his shoulder encouragingly. "Like I said, just give it time. It's all you can really do."

"I suppose so…"

The two talked quietly to each other for some time as the sun began to dip lower to the horizon. There was no rhyme or reason to what they discussed; they simply said what came to mind, bits and pieces of small talk which continued to carry on through the day. Eventually though, the pair of them ran out of things to talk about, and they sat in silence, listening to the dwindling sound of construction through the window, as workers began to call it a day, returning to their homes.

"Have you ever been to Orage Dell?" Nat suddenly asked. Micah gave her a strange look before shaking his head.

"I can't say I have… Literally, I can't. I don't remember."

Nat smiled at him. "It's a nice place, a hunting town on the coast. Kind of rowdy, but I guess that's common for hunting towns. Nice and warm there, too. I think you'd like it." She leaned back in her wheelchair, an amused smirk crossing her face. "The old folks there, they have a saying: the ocean has no memory."

"How fitting… A warm place with no memory," Micah sighed, looking out the window. The two sat in silence for several moments more, then Micah looked back at Nat, a small smile ghosting the edge of his lips. "You make it sound like an invitation."

"Nothing of the sort," Nat replied quickly. "However, the city is my home, and I'm planning on going back there as soon as I'm recovered enough to travel. If you should choose to go there… well, at least you'll know somebody. Ah, two somebodies, I guess; Kim lives there too."

Micah winced at the huntress' name. "Can't have the sweet without the sour, huh?"

"I'm afraid not," Nat laughed gently. "Though I'd be careful saying that around Kim. I'm not sure which would make her angrier, you calling her 'sour' or you calling me 'sweet'."

"I'll keep that in mind," Micah muttered. "As for your suggestion, it certainly has its appeals… I'll think about it. Maybe going there will help me remember my past… remember who I am…"

Nat nodded, looking back out the window. "Or maybe going there will help you realize your past doesn't define who you are. Maybe you'll choose to let your actions from here on in define you, rather than anything else."

Micah looked at Nat, surprise in his eyes. He gazed at her intently, trying to determine what she was thinking, trying to figure out what she knew that he didn't. But Nat met his gaze unwaveringly, not letting herself give anything away, until eventually the man sighed in defeat, returning his gaze to the window. "Maybe you're right…"

"Don't rush yourself," Nat told him, leaning back and looking out the window as well. "You have all the time in the world to decide who you are, and in the end, it's nobody's decision but yours."

* * *

A raucous round of laughter filled the Dual Horn Oasis as Richard pushed his way into the bar of the inn. It was a nice sound to hear after so long.

He'd spent the last few days finally filling out all the paperwork and reports he'd had backed up; he'd needed to give his full story on everything which had happened with Malefica, and more recently, what had occurred in the Sacred Land during their chase of the Alatreon. He was supposed to have done it upon returning from Malefica in the first place, but with the temporary arrest of Stergo, the social unrest, and the Alatreon's attack, he had never quite gotten around to it. But now that was over, and he could finally get back to his personal life. His father was supposed to be released from the hospital soon enough, and he was looking forward to returning to his life back in Frost Town. He'd even received a letter from back home detailing a peculiar Rathian that used a different color fire than usual…

But first, he'd decided to catch up with his friends. He'd hardly seen any of them in the time since they'd returned, and he hoped to be able to catch up before life and duty pulled them apart again. Fortunately, it seemed he'd come at an opportune time; it seemed most of the hunters he'd traveled with were here. Kai, Kei, and Noxramus were up near the bar, wildly telling stories to the hunters and civilians sitting around them, likely another rendition of the battles they fought in the Sacred Land, and against the World Eater. Tenebris and Jino were there as well, but had receded from the center of attention and had placed themselves in a small booth off to the side. He knew the hunters who had fought the Alatreon in the Sacred Land were still recovering in the hospital, so the only hunter who wasn't there was Miller. With a shrug to himself, the long sword wielder made his way toward Jino and Tenebris, and the pair smiled to him as he approached.

"Well, well, look who it is. Where have you been this last month?" Tenebris asked. "We've hardly seen hide or hair of you since we got back from the Sacred Land."

Richard chuckled and shook his head. "The Guild has kept me busy since returning to Loc Lac. I've hardly even had enough time to even see my mother and father since coming back from the Sacred Land. I needed time to heal, as we all did, but even in the hospital Jonathan and Stergo had me filing reports and giving a full disclosure of what happened on that mountain, even though I wasn't involved in the final battle against the Alatreon. Then there was the mess with the World Eater in Boma Village… But it seems like I've finally gotten a chance for a break at last. I just thought I'd stop by really quickly and see how the rest of you were faring before heading back to the hospital."

"Well, I'm fine," Jino replied with a smirk. "I wasn't that badly hurt in the Sacred Land, though I'm out of a weapon now. Looks as though I won't be hunting for a while, either. Most of the smiths in town are too busy working on the recovery effort to waste time on making a hammer for a battered old hunter like me."

"Oh, please," Tenebris scoffed. "Considering our participation in the hunt of the Alatreon, we've all got notable reputations now; there isn't a person in this city who doesn't know our names. In my opinion, it's getting a little uncomfortable having people recognize me on the street. Let's face it, Jino, any smith you asked to make you a weapon would do it in a heartbeat if they knew who you were."

The older hunter chuckled sheepishly. "I suppose you caught me. Truth be told, I figure the smiths really do have better things to be doing now than catering to the desires of an old hunter, no matter how 'famous' he might be. Besides, I'm always telling folks I'm retired, I might as well act like it for once. For a little while at least…"

Richard grinned at the banter. Another round of laughter caught his attention from over by the bar, where Kai, Kei, and Nox were continuing their stories, obviously adding quite a bit more flair than their tales really had, to be able to pull such amusement from their audience. "I see those three are doing just fine."

"Oh, yes," Jino agreed. "Those three seem to thrive in this fame we seem to have garnered from our participation in the Alatreon hunt. This is likely the twentieth time today they've told their sides of the story to those who come in to hear them, and they haven't even gotten going yet. You should hear Kai and Kei when they really get going. Those two are quite the storytellers, and they're quite good at working with each other to weave a tale. If hunting doesn't work out for them, they've certainly got a future in storytelling."

"Their exaggerations are getting a little out of hand though," Tenebris muttered. "Last night, Nox got a little drunk, and was going on about how he personally shoved a dozen pitfall traps down the Zinogre's throat and made it… 'pop' from the inside."

"He also got a little _grabby _when he got a little drunk, as I recall," Jino replied with a smirk.

"He also got a little punched!" Tenebris growled, though her cheeks tinted pink at the words.

"I was wondering where that bruise on his face came from," Richard observed in amusement, and Tenebris grumbled to herself sourly. Then the long sword wielder looked around curiously. "Where's Miller? I haven't seen him since we returned to Loc Lac."

Tenebris sighed at the question. "He left the city a couple days ago. He never seemed comfortable with the crowds and the attention he was receiving, so he decided to head back to his home country. I guess he never really intended to stay in Theron forever… but he said he planned to return to make sure any Lost that popped up back home would be treated better than they were here."

"Too bad," Richard replied regretfully. "I would have liked to see him off. He was from Minegarde, wasn't he?"

"Seems right," Jino replied, taking another drink from his mug. "That armor of his… Shogun Ceanataur, I think, is certainly native to that region for the most part. It's likely he's from that part of the world. Never managed to get the full story out of him, though. He's was tight-lipped one, right to the end."

Their attention abruptly turned to the bar as a rather loud bang erupted from the crowd, and Kai and Noxramus were sent flying over the counter. There was a singe mark on the top of one of the countertops, and Tenebris groaned. Richard frowned in confusion at the sight and Tenebris explained.

"Kei still has a few phials of green goop the Guild collected from the Brach… dang it, I have a hard time pronouncing it. Brachydios? Why does the Guild feel the need to give monsters these weird names? Why can't they keep it simple, like Jaggis, Baggis, and Barroth? And why'd they get to name it anyway? You and the twins were the ones who killed it; that should give you three naming rights over it. I mean, at least 'Stygian Zinogre' kind of fits that monstrosity Jino and I fought."

"It doesn't really matter to me all that much," Richard shrugged. "If more of those things start coming out of the Sacred Land and claiming territory in the Volcano hunting grounds, all I'll be calling them is 'trouble'."

Tenebris chuckled at the words. "Fair enough. Anyway, Kei has some of that slime around and she keeps giving demonstrations of what it can do to hunters who ask to see. She's learned to keep away from it when it goes off, but clearly Kai and Nox haven't quite figured that out yet. At least the innkeeper isn't here to scold them… that woman's nasty when she's angry."

"How did they get away with keeping that? If even half of what Stergo and Jonathan told me is true, they've been jealously guarding whatever they managed to gather up of those monsters, trying to dissect them so they can figure out what exactly they are. Even a small bottle of that slime seems like something they wouldn't let go without letting their researchers tear into it."

"I'm not exactly sure," Jino admitted. "I'm quite certain they didn't have time to gather up a bottle of the stuff during the battle in the Sacred Land. Chances are, they managed to cajole one of the crewmen on Silas' airship to knick a bottle for them when the Guild sent them off to gather up the bodies of the monsters. The men aboard that ship have their own level of renown now, though certainly not as much as the man who employs them."

"I'm not pleased with how popular Silas is becoming," Tenebris muttered. "The man's a veritable jackass, but the people in the city love him."

"It can't be helped," Richard replied. "Despite his character flaws, he did coordinate the design and use of that flying dragonship of his, and it was thanks to that the Alatreon was defeated. The Dragonator managed to hit the elder dragon twice after all, and did incalculable damage to the creature. Not only that, but his ship, despite its damage, is getting food and supplies to Loc Lac from the outer ports at record speed, and with all the destruction the city's gone through, it's a real boon that Loc Lac needs. I read the reports: that ship of his is getting food and medicine to Loc Lac at twice the speed of any other ship."

"Doesn't make the man any more likable," Jino said with a shrug. "Every time I go check up on Joshua, the man's just basking in the praise people are giving him. He's going to try and use that to his own profit, I just know it, and it's not going to end well for those who have issues with him."

"With luck people will figure him out quick enough," Tenebris said. "His crew may have lost some of the adoration they have for him while they were in Boma, but he's got control of a lot of smart and inventive people back in Nastre. The only way he'll stop causing trouble is if someone pulls his influence over them out from under his feet."

"Think you could do it?" Jino asked, but Tenebris shook her head.

"No, the scientists and mechanics he's rounded up don't like me at all, thanks to him. They'd need to find someone who would be willing to give them orders, and someone they could respect more than even Silas, though I can't imagine who'd be able to pull that off. But not someone like Silas, or this mess would just continue."

"An alpha leader of some kind, you think?" Richard asked.

"Yeah… someone who commands even greater respect from those weirdoes than Silas does. They seem to cluster around enigmatic people out there." Tenebris shook her head. "I guess that's something to worry about later. Silas hasn't garnered too much popularity quite yet, so I'll just keep an eye on him for now. Hopefully his plan to create a fleet of Lost airships will take longer than he thinks, and he'll lose all this pull he's been gaining before he can get himself and the Lost in trouble. Besides, I'll be heading back to Nastre anyway here soon. The hunting business is picking up in the west again, with Loc Lac's Guild in a bit of a mess right now. A lot of hunt requests are going elsewhere, since people aren't sure whether Loc Lac can handle everything anymore."

Richard frowned. "You're right… I guess I've received a few letters from the Frost Town Guild master. With the Alatreon dead, there are a lot of nasty beasts making their way into the area from the Sacred Land. Not many, not yet, but without the elder dragon holding them back, they're sure to venture out in search of greater territories to claim as their own. It'll be a few years before Loc Lac returns to the hunting city it once was, if ever. It probably doesn't help a good chunk of the population is leaving, either."

"About that… what do you think about all this 'exodus' stuff?" Tenebris asked cautiously. "Aren't you one of the Lost yourself?"

Richard looked surprised at the inquiry. "How did you.. Never mind. Well, I suppose you could say that, in a sense of it. I never considered myself as such when I was younger, not until the Lost started appearing in large numbers here in Loc Lac. My mother is one of the Lost, and my father's a native of Theron, so I suppose I'd be mixed blood. Though, that didn't mean anything when my mother was the only Lost in Frost Town. Then there's the question of what makes a Lost one of the Lost. Is it blood? Heritage? Way of thinking? Do you have to be have lived in the era when the Lost conquered the world? I never slept in one of those glowing blue crystals I've heard about, so if that's the case, I'm not one of the Lost at all…" The long sword user shook his head. "I suppose lineage will probably be the deciding factor for most people, at least for a few generations, so I'll just say I'm one of them, then. Either way, whether I'm defined as a Lost or not, I'm on their side of things at the end of it all.

"As for the exodus… it's probably for the best. I've got a place I call home down south, and I'm happy there. Hunting life lets me travel around when I feel like it, but I don't have this sense of wanderlust the Lost seem to have suddenly garnered. But it'll be good to have the Lost spreading out. Having them all in one place was a strain, and things weren't handled well here in Loc Lac. Maybe they'll build towns for themselves, or just gather up in other cities rather than all here in the South District. I guess we'll just have to see."

"I'm sure things will turn out fine enough," Jino said contentedly, taking another drink from his mug. "The Lost are a sturdy group of people, despite what most Therians initially thought, and as long as nobody tries to rein them in like before, I'm sure things will turn out well enough. As for people like Silas… I suppose there are men like him no matter what your nationality or lineage is. People will get wise about him sooner or later."

Tenebris nodded in agreement. She supposed the man was right. Things would clear up sooner or later. With public view of the Lost improving like it was, the Lost would find it easier to adapt themselves to the world around them, rather than actively isolating themselves as a separate entity. If the Lost were going to survive in the world, so different than how it was where they came from, they were going to have to integrate themselves into society, rather than detaching themselves from it.

"Hey! Hey Mr. Jino!" The hunters turned at the sound, as a scrawny boy with messy blonde hair scampered up the side of their table, before stopping at the edge and looking up expectantly at Jino. "Can you tell me a hunting story? The one you told yesterday was really good. Do you have any more like that one?"

"Well, why don't you go listen to their story?" Jino replied with a smile, motioning to the three hunters gesturing wildly to the crowd over by the bar. But the boy frowned in frustration.

"I've heard them tell that story ten times already. They keep changing it every time they tell it too! It's getting boring, and I want to hear something different now. Don't you have any good stories to tell like you did yesterday?"

Jino chuckled at the words. "To think there would come a day when a little boy didn't want to hear a story about hunters felling an elder dragon, no matter how many times he'd heard it before! Well, sorry my boy, but I'm not quite up for storytelling right now. Maybe I'll feel up for it in another hour or so. Why don't you ask me again then, and we'll see whether I'm up for it?" The boy began to pout sullenly though, and Jino smirked at him. The old hammer wielder put on a thoughtful expression. "You know… I do happen to recall a rather dangerous battle against an Lagiacrus I fought a few years back… Why don't you give me a little time to recall all the exciting details while you go gather up your friends who want to hear it too? I'm sure I'll have a good story concocted by the time you get back."

Immediately the boy's eyes widened in excitement, and a wide grin spread across his face. Without another word, the boy turned and dashed away, rushing out of the bar in search of friends to bring back with him. Jino laughed at the sight, and the other two hunters smirked in amusement.

"Who's the boy?" Richard asked curiously.

"Edgar, a lad who's been asking for stories about hunting from me every day since we got back to Loc Lac," Jino replied with a smile. "I suppose I seem to be the one with the most tales to tell from all of us who hunted the elder dragon. And maybe he's right. I've somehow been able to think up a different hunt to tell him about almost every day for the last month now. He has the look of a child who will want to try and become a hunter himself one day. He certainly spends a lot of time around them, from what I've seen."

Tenebris grinned. "Maybe you could take him as an apprentice. You always say you're retired, maybe you could teach him how to be a hunter once he's a little older."

Jino chuckled. "Ha, maybe so… but I've still got a few years of 'retirement' left in me. Besides, I don't think I'm the type to be a hunting master. I've got too much wanderlust in me to settle in one place long enough to teach a newbie how to hunt properly. Hopefully he'll find someone else to teach him once he's matured a bit. Maybe one of you two will take him up on it."

"Don't look at me," Tenebris replied. "You think you've got wanderlust, I'm sure I'm just as bad as you, if not worse. Save for the stint I have in Nastre, I haven't stayed in the same place for longer than a couple months since I first became a hunter. Besides, Nox and I have decided to team up on a few hunts together up in the north. What about you, Richard?"

The long sword user leaned back in his seat thoughtfully. "Well… maybe. I've never really thought about that kind of thing before now. I suppose I don't really lean towards traveling around like most other hunters do, since I tend to stay around the Volcano hunting grounds for the most part with my work as a ranger, but that's not the safest place for a hunting apprenticeship. The Guild has me and the other permanent hunters in the area and myself running around a lot, considering the danger of the area, but I suppose I'd have the time to train an apprentice or two once I get a bit more experience, and I can't deny the benefits of having another hunter to help out…"

But admittedly, Richard had other things on his mind as well. He'd had the chance to meet his father's apprentices for the first time since escaping Malefica, and both were far different than Richard remembered. Nat was crippled of course, her legs gone below the knees; she seemed to have settled into a mild melancholia, but was trying to remain optimistic about her situation, which was relieving. Kim however… the huntress had been spared physical debilitation, but her personality had suffered a great blow from her time in Malefica. Richard had been surprisingly fond of her (perhaps even being a small crush he recalled his father teasing him over) when they'd met during the girls' apprenticeship, enjoying her vibrant and outgoing personality, but now Kim had become short-tempered and bitter, a drastic change from her former self.

Richard feared for her. Her emotions had become erratic from what he'd seen, and he was afraid the huntress was only a few missteps from losing control. He wasn't sure what would happen if she slipped, though. Becoming a true criminal seemed unlikely, considering her clear hatred for Malefica and everything it stood for. But there were stories of hunters taking vigilante action against poachers, and the forests of the west had more than their fair share; if Kim was to turn her frustrations on them… He'd need to discuss it further with his father, but he planned to visit them in Orage Dell when the chance arose and see what he could do to help her recover. Hopefully he would find that Nat's presence would be enough to calm the huntress, but…

"Well, don't hurry yourself," Jino told him, pulling Richard back to the present with a jolt. "Unlike some of us, you're still young. You've got plenty of life ahead of you to figure out what to do with yourself, and whether you want to try your hand at taking an apprentice."

The table was quiet for a moment as a raucous laugh came from over at the bar. Kai, Kei, and Nox seemed to be telling another rendition of their battles in the Sacred Land again, and those around them seemed perfectly content to hear a new version. Tenebris smirked in amusement as Nox went off on a clearly elaborate exaggeration of his own role in fighting the Stygian Zinogre. But her smile faded a moment later as a thoughtful expression crossed her face. Richard and Jino both caught the look and frowned as well.

"I've been busy…" Richard said quietly. "I haven't had much time in the last few weeks to visit the hospital except to see my mother and father, and my father's apprentices. Has there been any news?"

Tenebris sighed and shook her head. "All the hospitals have been packed since the Alatreon attack, so it's hard to get in there with so many people coming and going… but I managed to find the time to visit yesterday morning. Kerry's doing well enough, but her leg injury is recovering slower than the doctors thought it should. They think there might have been something special about the Alatreon's ice spears which make the healing process slow down. Harker's worse off than her; they nearly had to remove his arm thanks to those bite marks, and he's still having trouble breathing with all his broken ribs. But they should be able to recover soon enough." The huntress paused, sadness in her eyes. "Ellie's hands and abdomen are healing slowly… but she's been despondent since we returned. I couldn't get a single word out of her."

Richard frowned sadly. "And what about-" But Tenebris shook her head, and the long sword user sighed. "I guess not every story of heroes has a really happy ending, does it?"

Jino shook his head. "I've listened to countless tales during my life of hunters going up against impossible odds and coming out on top. I suppose it's far more encouraging when the tellers take out the parts of the story nobody wants to hear."

"Or at least, when they leave them in, they make it sound noble and encouraging," Tenebris agreed. "I guess you don't really think about how it feels to those close to those involved."

Richard looked out the nearby window, watching as several people rode by in wagons, hauling off lumber and stone off to use in the rebuilding effort. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, bristling the short beard he'd grown since the whole mess started. "Everything has a cost, I suppose. Taking down an elder dragon wouldn't come without a price."

"Some would say the price paid was worth the cost," Jino noted.

"That's true… but it certainly doesn't make me feel better," Richard replied. The man was quiet for a moment longer, and then he sighed and pushed himself to his feet. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go see my mother and father, and see how they're doing. I'll look in on Ellie if I can and see how she's doing for myself, if I can. I'll see you two around."

The other two hunters nodded as the long sword user walked away, heading out the door and into the street. He sighed again and began heading south towards the hospital. He hoped things would improve soon and wipe away the sinking feeling he and the others were feeling. But there was so little he could do on his own… all he could do was hope for the best. Maybe that would be enough…

* * *

**Hello?**

…_Who's there?_

**Ah, you're conscious. Or… you're subconscious. That's… well, that's something.**

_Who are you?_

**No one of importance. Not right now, at least. How do you feel?**

…_It hurts._

**What does?**

…_Everything._

**That's… vague. But I suppose that's just the way you are, from what little I've seen.**

_Your voice sounds familiar._

**We've met before. Once. I helped you out of a sticky situation.**

_Why?_

**Why did I help you? That's a good question. Just a feeling I guess. Something told me I should. Call it… intuition. Or call it a gamble. Either one works, really.**

_What… what situation did you save me from?_

**You don't remember?**

_I… I don't remember much of anything right now._

**Well, it's not important. What is important is this: what are you going to do now?**

_I don't… I don't know. I'm so… so tired. Everything hurts. I just want to rest… I want the pain to end._

**Are you sure?**

_Hmm?_

**Are you sure you want to… end?**

_I'm so tired…_

**You don't want to keep living? Isn't there anything out there to keep you going?**

_I don't… remember… Wait. The Alatreon is dead. It's gone… Isn't it?_

**Yes, it's dead. They paraded the corpse through town. Rather gaudy if you ask me, but I suppose I'm a biased opinion.**

_Good… good. I got it. I got my revenge. I saved… I saved…_

**Saved who?**

_Ellie… I saved her. She… the Alatreon won't… won't be able to hurt her. It won't be able to hurt any of the Lost. Not anymore…_

**That's what you care about?**

_Yes… she'll live. I've gotten my revenge. That's all I need._

**But is that all you **_**want**_**?**

_Huh?_

**Isn't there anything more you desire? 'Need' leaves room for very little. 'Want' can encompass quite a bit more. You said saving her life is all you need. But what do you **_**want**_**?**

_I want… I want to be with her. I don't… I want to stay with her. I want to have more time with her. I want to have a life with her, without all this danger and fear._

**So what's stopping you?**

_I'm just… I'm just so tired. So hurt. I just want to rest…_

**If you rest now, you will lose any time you could have with her.**

…

**I'm sure she'll be sad if you… end.**

_I don't want her to be sad. I want… I want her to be happy._

**With you?**

_With me._

**Would you like to get what you want?**

…_Yes?_

**Well that settles it then.**

_Settles what?_

**You can't rest yet.**

_Why not?_

**Haven't you been paying attention? If you rest now, you won't be able to be with her anymore. So… wake up, boy.**

…_Fine._

**It'd be nice to hear some enthusiasm, you know.**

_Why?_

**Well, it just doesn't instill much confidence if you don't-**

_Why are you telling me this? Why are you helping me?_

**Oh, that? Hmm. Well, I guess you won't really remember all this, so I suppose it's fine if I tell you. The truth is… I have a feeling about something. Another bit of intuition, another gamble. I think I need something from you, and I can't get it if you 'rest'.**

_What is it you want from me?_

**Not much, really.**

_What?_

**Oh, you're a curious one, aren't you? I suppose I can't fault you for that. Fine, I'll tell you. What I need from you is… well…**

_What?_

**Your blood.**

* * *

The light was blinding. For a moment or two, Levin couldn't see. He was in a hospital, clearly. Hospitals were the only places in the world with ceilings like that. The glare from the sun outside was glowing brightly off of the sterile white surfaces with a healthy yellow and orange glow, though it still hurt to look at, especially in his condition.

"Huh. I'm alive. That's… that's good."

He was surprised he was alive, that was certain. He was tired, and weak, but his memories of the battle with the Alatreon were coming back. He couldn't imagine how he'd managed to survive the breaking of the dragon phial. He was certain the explosion would kill him instantly; Umbre had pretty much promised him such when he'd first gotten his weapon. And the blast had obliterated the Alatreon, Levin remembered that much. So why was he still alive? He supposed it didn't matter. A stroke of luck, or the fates deeming him worthy of living, he didn't know what, but he guessed he shouldn't complain.

But even though he was still alive, he still could feel pain. Every bone and muscle in his body seemed to be aching terribly from his wounds. And he did have a lot of wounds. Despite somehow surviving the explosion of the dragon phial, he certainly hadn't gotten off scot-free. Even looking down a little bit, he could see most of his torso was covered in bandages and gauze, and he could feel even more of them wrapping around his neck and head. They seemed to be covering the majority of the right side of his body, though his left side certainly hadn't been spared injury. His flesh seemed to burn under the bandages, and it felt as though his body had been lit on fire and cooked.

It hurt to move much at all. Every breath ached, and even trying to look around hurt to attempt. But he'd forgotten how much bandages itched. And they were itching something fierce. If only he could… reach… damn it, he could hardly move his arm at all. Maybe he was tied down… he felt numb, so it was possible, and he just wasn't feeling them. He leaned his head forward a little and looked down. Maybe if he could see the knot, he could…

His arm was gone.

He stared, not really comprehending what he was seeing for a moment. His right arm should have been there, lying next to him, but it just… wasn't. But that… where was… His eyes looked up, searching. Finally he caught sight of bandages, wrapping tightly around his wound. It was just a stub, a small bump below his shoulder covered in white gauze. His shoulder was wiggling a little as his brain was still sending orders for his arm to itch the scratch. But the arm wasn't there. Levin's heart began to pound, and his eyes darted around wildly. That's when his eyes caught sight of more bandages. More.

His right leg wasn't there either. Bandages were wrapped tightly, wrapping around his leg. Halfway to his knee, the leg just ended. Levin tried to wiggle his foot, but the leg stump just sort of twitched and wiggled a bit. He realized how hard it was to see what he was doing. He had to strain himself to see his wounds. Gah, there were too many bandages covering his head, he couldn't even see out of one eye! He awkwardly raised his good arm, trying to push the gauze and bandages off of his face. But during the motion he pressed his fingers against the bandages. There was no pressure, no resistance from under them, and no feeling of pain or irritation from his right eye. The eye was gone. There was nothing under the bandages left he could see with.

An arm. A leg. An eye. He'd lost one of each. The blast from the shattering dragon phial had taken all three of them. His heart began to pound in his chest as horror crept through him. He began to struggle against the bindings holding him, trying to free himself, trying to do… something. This couldn't be true. He couldn't have lost all those parts of himself. He had to still be dreaming!

Pain bit into his body, all around his torso and neck, and he bit back a scream as his flesh began to burn painfully. Splotches of red began to soak through the thick gauze and bandages wrapping around his body, and he clutched painfully at his chest. The flesh below felt tender and bruised. He felt… burned. He remembered the fury of the dragon element from within the switch axe's phial bursting free and washing over him. He could remember how the pure energy had seared his flesh before he'd lost consciousness. How badly had the energy hurt him? How much of his body had been seared and boiled by the deadly element? How was he still alive? How could he continue to live under these conditions?

A soft whimper caught his ear, and Levin looked down. For the first time, he realized someone was there, leaning against the side of the bed. It was Ellie, battered and bruised with her own injuries, but sleeping quietly against the edge of his bed. Her hands lay beneath her head, serving as a makeshift pillow, but both were wrapped in slings and bandages. Her arms had several bandages wrapping around them as well, and Levin could make out more wrapping around her torso beneath the loose hospital gown she wore.

Levin felt his heartbeat slowing down as he looked at her. He reached forward, brushing a lock of hair out of his beloved's face so he could see her more clearly, and she sighed quietly in her sleep. Levin lowered his hand, grasping one of hers in his own, and smiled as her fingers squeezed against his palm. She was alive and… whole. She was safe. And he was… alive to see it. He felt tears welling up in his remaining eye as an unbelievable sense of relief began to overwhelm him. He had been so worried for her, in the Sacred Land, hoping against hope she would survive the reaction from the breaking dragon phial. But she was safe, and he was alive! The wounds… the wounds didn't seem to matter so much anymore.

He felt a quiet laugh well up from inside him, and he looked down again at his missing limbs, wiggling the stubs a little. Two limbs and an eye, and a body covered in burns for Ellie's safety, his life, and the death of the Alatreon? That seemed like a fair price, one he could… and would, live with.

A stifled yawn came from his right as Ellie began to stir. Levin looked back down at her as she began to wake up, her grip on Levin's hand tightening as her eyes open. She blinked a couple times, and squeezed Levin's hand, then sat up. She looked miserable for a moment, and then looked at his face. There was a moment where she had a blank look on her features, before realizing he was awake and looking at her. She gasped in surprise, and he grinned wearily.

"Good morning," he said in a gravelly voice. His voice hurt… but then, he hadn't used it in who knew how long. "Or is it afternoon? I really can't tell."

"Levin? You… are you really-?"

"So it seems…" He carefully reached up, brushing a hand across her face. "Ellie… I…"

"You… you idiot!" Ellie suddenly cried, punching Levin's chest. "You damn, stupid fool! What the hell were you trying to do, running off to die like that? Why would you throw your life away?" Levin groaned in pain with each successive blow from the huntress. He could feel his healing bones straining from the abuse, and his burn wounds screamed from the strikes. But he endured it. He knew he deserved every ounce of punishment his beloved could dish out at him for what he had done.

But the pain began to grow weaker over time, and Levin realized Ellie's blows were wilting in strength. Tears were streaming down her face as the huntress began to fall apart in front him, her cursing at him slowly devolving into pained sobs. Finally, the beating ceased, and Ellie's fingers instead clutched desperately to Levin's hand, squeezing tightly and holding on as though he would vanish into thin air if she didn't.

"Why did you leave?" she whispered weakly. "Why would you leave me behind like that? Why didn't you trust me enough to help you? Why… why did you have to do all of this by yourself?"

"I'm sorry…" Levin said quietly. "I knew… I thought I was walking to my death. I couldn't ask you to die with me. I couldn't… I wanted you to live, even if I… If you lived, then nothing else mattered to me. I believed that… I still believe that. I was selfish, and cowardly. I love you, Ellie, and I was afraid of you dying… and I couldn't let that happen if I could stop it, even if it meant leaving you behind. I'm so sorry, Ellie, but I…"

"You're a fool," the huntress moaned, lowering herself down and burying her face into his chest. "You're a damn fool…"

Levin nodded. "I know. I know. I'm sorry… Ellie, if there's anything I can do to make it up to you, I promise I-"

"No, Levin, you don't… I don't care anymore," Ellie said, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I mean… I'm not… I'm not angry, Levin, I just… I was so afraid Levin, when I thought you were dead. I was so angry and miserable and… When I learned they'd found you in the crater…" A smile bloomed under her tear-stained cheeks. She leaned forward, pressing her lips against his in a gentle, emotional kiss, before pulling away again. "I don't care, Levin. You've done plenty. You're alive! I don't… the rest of it doesn't matter. I love you, Levin. As long as you're alive, I don't need-"

"Well, well. It seems we've returned with wonderful timing."

Levin looked towards the door, as Harker and Kerry strode into the room. Or rather, Harker strode into the room, with Kerry slinging her arm gingerly over his shoulder. The huntress had a number of bandages wrapping around her leg, and was hopping along on one foot. At the same time, Harker had one arm in a full-sleeve cast, hung in a sling, and numerous bandages wrapping around his chest. But both were positively beaming in excitement at the sight of Levin alive and awake, and almost immediately the pair had dragged themselves over to the bed and were looking down on him excitedly.

"Ha! I knew you'd pull through my friend," Harker pronounced excitedly, though Levin could see that his friend was just barely holding back tears of his own. "The other doctors could say what they want, but I knew you come out in the end."

"Don't lie, dear," Kerry chided gently, before smiling at Levin. "Harker was worried sick for you… we all were, Ellie worst of all, of course. The doctors claimed you were getting worse… that you would die within the week after we brought you back. You managed to hold on… but you weren't getting better. We've been waiting two months already, and had started to think you might never wake up-"

"Two months… how am I alive?" Levin asked abruptly, then grimaced at what he'd said. "I don't… I mean, I can't say how happy I am I'm alive, but… how? The dragon phial… the explosion should have killed me. I was… I had accepted that, but now…" Ellie squeezed his hand tightly at the words.

"It was because of the Alatreon you managed to survive," Harker replied. Clearly Levin had a foul look on his face at the words, because the long sword user raised his hands, and Levin let the man continue. "This is mere conjecture, my friend, so I cannot guarantee the accuracy. But when you shattered your dragon phial, a good portion of the energy went into the Alatreon, as would be expected considering the beast was practically eating your switch axe. However, when the backlash of the energy release came back at you, the intensity of the energy should very well have killed you and left nothing behind… which is what I speculate happened to your arm and leg, and perhaps your eye as well."

"But the Alatreon's head was in the way of the blast," Kerry continued. "An elder dragon's body is incredibly durable, especially its skull. After all, most of its body is still being shown off over at the remains of the Loc Lac Tower. What we think happened, is when the Alatreon died, its head and horns fell between you and the core of the dragon phial, so most of the dragon element which would have hit you was absorbed by the beast's skull." The huntress looked sadly at the stubbed remains of his arm and leg, though. "But… I suppose if a body part was not in the path the Alatreon's skull obstructed, there wouldn't have been any reprieve from the full force of the explosion."

"But… I don't…" Levin sputtered weakly. "Even with all that… it shouldn't have been enough to save me…"

"That wasn't all though," Harker told him, smiling. "When Tenebris, Nox, and Kei went in the crater to look for you… or perhaps your corpse, they instead found you inside the crystal the Alatreon was growing. Or rather, the remains of it; the whole thing was breaking apart by the time they got there. Dragon element is what makes the crystals 'activate', remember? And a lot of it will make the crystals rather… ah, let's call it 'gluttonous', as we saw during our battle with the Silver Rathalos. When your phial detonated, the dragon energy must have charged the crystal, because it grabbed hold of you and swept you inside when you were pushed up against it. It kept you safe inside until the blast had subsided. The energy must have been too much for it, however, because it started to break down almost immediately. But it was long enough to pull you in and save you from the explosion.

"I find it rather entertaining, myself," Harker said with a smile. "The blue crystals, the bane of the Lost's existence and the source of much frustration and despair, were the very things which saved your life in the end. Even more, it was the crystal the Alatreon created to save its _own _life, which ended up saving yours instead. So, it could be said the Alatreon, despite its best efforts otherwise, ended up saving your life, Levin. And I find that endlessly amusing."

"A shame it wasn't faster though," Kerry noted, motioning to the bandages wrapping around Levin's body. "Most of the right side of your body was burned by the element before you were fully inside the crystal. I fear those are scars you'll retain forever, not to speak of the limbs you lost as well…"

Levin looked down at the stubby remains of his arm and leg, wiggling them a little bit. "I suppose this means my hunting career's over…" The others looked at him sadly, but he gave them a small smile. "No, it's alright. I'm grateful I got away with this much. Being alive is… more than I ever would have asked for. If it means I have to find something to do with myself which only requires one arm and leg… I can accept that. It's a fair trade… for everything."

"Well, I suppose I'm going to be joining you in the realm of the unemployed then," Harker stated. Levin looked at him in surprise, and his friend motioned his his right arm. "Though I had the fortune of retaining my arm, it would seem having an elder dragon gnawing on a limb is rather detrimental to your health. I may not have lost the limb in the end, but… well, the chances of me being able to use the arm again with any sort of decent strength is highly unlikely. From what the doctors have told me, it would seem I will be lucky to be able to _write _again with this arm within my natural lifetime, and hunting is completely out of the question. I gave it a look myself as well, of course… but it would seem my own prognosis was little better than theirs. It will take some time for me to recover basic strength through physical therapy, so I fear hunting will be out of my occupational range. Or, at least, hunting for _the Guild _will be out of my range…"

"Harker…" Kerry growled irritably.

"...By which I mean, _of course _I wouldn't dream of doing any illegal hunting without the Guild's approval to sate my curiosity!" Harker sputtered, backpedaling quickly as Kerry glared at him. "Actually, I had always hoped to join one of the scientific organizations in the city… When I first arrived in Loc Lac, my heritage as one of the Lost kept me from joining any of the research circles, but perhaps now that my name is particularly well-known, I might be able to use that to my advantage. I had hoped they would one day accept me due to my skill and dedication to the art, but…"

"Beggars can't be choosers?" Ellie asked, and Harker smirked.

"Indeed."

"At least you and Kerry can keep hunting," Levin said to Ellie, a wistful tone in his voice, and Ellie smiled sadly down at him.

"Actually…" Kerry said quietly. "I was thinking of retiring from hunting too."

Levin and Ellie both looked up in surprise, though Harker seemed nonplussed by the news, nodded expectantly at the words. "Really?" Ellie asked, stunned. "Why? I thought you'd been hunting your whole life? Why would you quit?"

"Well, I wouldn't really _quit…_" Kerry replied quietly. "I don't think I'd officially retire from the Guild, and I'd keep my license active just in case. But before I met you three, before I met Harker specifically… You remember the reputation I had before then, remember?"

Levin and Ellie nodded. "The 'Companion Killer', right?" Levin muttered, and Kerry nodded. "But that's a load of drivel, just some hokum conjured up by superstitious hunters, right? We're still alive and… okay, maybe now isn't the best example, but…"

Kerry shook her head. "Nonetheless, it's something which has haunted me my whole hunting career. And I know it's real… I still remember what I did, what I could do to people in Malefica, and the feeling of dread I had when I nearly lost Harker during the Alatreon attack. I can't… I can't subject myself to it any longer. Even if it's nothing, just superstition, it's real enough to me, and I want nothing more to do with it. I'll keep my license, in case the need to hunt arises, but unless it's absolutely necessary, I'm done.

"Besides," Kerry said, her voice softening as she smiled to the others, "even… even if the curse isn't real, just a string of bad luck, my only hunting experience outside my apprenticeship is either by myself, or with you three. I became a hunter to follow in my father's footsteps, but after my hunting master was wounded, I was almost always alone… until I met you three. And even despite all the trouble we went through, I can't think of a time in my life I've been happier, traveling around and experiencing life with all of you, none of you judging me for my reputation, and even when you did learn of the curse, none of you caring. I mean, I'm sure I'd love hunting, just Ellie and me… but if I can't have that same feeling, without Harker with me or without both of you, hunting would just feel… bland and dull.

"So from here on in, I'll stick with Harker. Maybe it doesn't look like it to either of you, but I've had a lot of fun being Harker's assistant in his experiments. Besides," Kerry said with a smirk, "someone needs to keep him in line, and I'm perfectly happy doing that with my life."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Harker replied with a grin of his own. "Though, my dear, you belittle yourself, continuing to call yourself my assistant. I've seen with my own eyes the brilliance in the tests you've conducted yourself. And they are far less inclined towards… ah, _ignition _than my own attempts. Though, considering my performance history, that may not mean much. Please, Lady Kerrigan, if you truly wish to remain by my side, consider yourself nothing less than my partner."

Kerry smiled brightly at the words, though Ellie giggled. "Geez, all that prim and proper speaking of yours makes it sound like a proposal."

Kerry paled slightly as the idea tumbled through her head, before a deep blush crossed her face, and the huntress began to sputter unintelligibly. Harker however blinked in surprise at the words, but grinned thoughtfully. "I suppose they do at that… In that case, I suppose I'll leave any meaning behind my words, hidden or otherwise, for the dear Lady Kerrigan to interpret for herself. I have little doubt that, however she chooses to decipher what I said, it will be the truth."

Kerry gasped at the words, her mouth hanging open in shock. Both Levin and Ellie looked on in stunned silence at the words as well, but Harker simply grinned, raising an eyebrow questioningly at Kerry. Then a wide, blissful smile split across the huntress' face, and Kerry practically leapt forward, pulling Harker into a fierce, passionate kiss, nearly toppling the pair to the floor.

"Jeez, get a room, you two," Levin chuckled as the embrace lingered. Kerry blushed slightly at the words, pulling away, but Harker smirked wickedly.

"Don't tempt me, my friend. My doctors have advised both of us against strenuous physical activity. But then… I have never been one to follow orders to the letter…" Kerry's face positively bloomed a deep crimson at the words, and Harker laughed, amused.

"Oh, stop," Ellie groaned with a smirk. "You're going to break the poor girl if you keep this up."

"I'm sure I could fix her if that happened. I've been dabbling in psychology a bit, and could always use a test subject-"

"Oh, no you don't!" Kerry growled, smiling as she lunged at the madman, and Harker laughed, pulling out of the way.

Levin chuckled at the sight, ignoring the throbbing in his chest from the laughter. He'd missed this: the simple banter between them, without worry of threats or danger. It wouldn't be like it used to, with everything which had changed, but he could live with that. He could live with the way things were, and enjoy it. He looked up at Ellie as the huntress scooted closer to him, and she looked down on him, a content smile gracing her lips as Harker and Kerry continued to laugh and bicker behind her.

"I love you, Levin," Ellie said quietly. "Don't ever leave me like that again."

Levin smiled, leaning forward and kissing his beloved. "I love you too, Ellie, and I promise I will stay with you as long as I live, no matter what."

* * *

In a small alley not far away, a strange pair of people stood next to each other, speaking quietly, unheard over the sounds of construction which continued to go through the city of Loc Lac. One was far shorter than the other, a shrunken, aged Wyvernian older than any other in known existence, carrying a pack larger than himself across his back. The other was a stout man wearing worn leather clothing, though several beautiful blue and purple gemstones adorned numerous bangles around his wrists and the necklace he wore.

"You're playing a dangerous game, interfering with things as you are," the Veggie Elder murmured softly, shaking his head with a worried expression. The stout man chuckled.

"That's hardly the case. I'm playing the same game you are, old timer. I'm merely playing it by different rules. And I'm playing it to win."

"There is no 'game'. There are no winners and losers when it comes to a person's fate," the old Wyvernian snapped. "And you can't change the rules. Nobody can escape fate; neither the frailest infant, nor the most powerful king, nor… the most powerful of dragons. All meet their intended destiny in the end, no matter how they try to avoid it. Fate is predetermined. Fate grasps us all quite tightly, and none can escape it."

The bearded man smirked wickedly. "Oh really, Elder? None can? Not even Levin? Not even… Harker?"

The Veggie Elder's face grew concerned and worried at the name. "Harker… that man… I don't… a person like that is a…"

"Was he not supposed to die? Was he not supposed to be killed during the attack on Loc Lac? You seemed so certain of it before, and yet he lives."

"I was so sure of it," the Wyvernian muttered. "That boy… he is cacophony in the song of fate. He is chaos incarnate. His presence throws the winds of fate into a frenzy, just by existing! And Levin… he was not supposed to reawaken from his coma, not nearly so soon. It should have been _years_, not a scant couple of months! And that's not even taking into account your interference in the Gullet…"

"You've lectured me numerous times about what I did in the Gullet, and it's been droll from the first. I'm well aware of what changed between what you were certain would happen and what actually occurred. Shall I list them? Had I not interfered and spoken with Levin, he would not have thought to lash out mentally against the Alatreon, and the Lost wouldn't have been riled up into counterattacking, and far more people would have died… You've told me many times that far more people survived this whole ordeal than they should have. But is that necessarily wrong? Perhaps fate isn't so clear cut as you seem to think, Wyvernian.

"For example… 'He will leave you _to die_'? That's a depressing thing to announce, no matter how you interpret it! Have you no sense of tact in you, Elder, giving such cold words to a young girl in love? And in the end, it ended up meaning, 'He will leave you _with the intent of dying_', with no guarantee on death! Even you were shocked to hear of his survival - Don't you deny it! - and I didn't even 'interfere' in the Sacred Land! That was entirely the hunters' work! And if that 'fate' you cling to can be twisted into something hopeful, perhaps _all_ the terrible fates you seem to see can be turned for the better."

The Veggie Elder sighed despairingly at the words. "Time will tell. There is still much in the future which has yet to unfold. I may have misunderstood their fates this time, but I will not be so brash in my assessments again. Though the hunters may have survived the slaying of the Alatreon, the future is still uncertain. And as for you," the Wyvernian muttered with a scowl at the stout man, "you will find your interferences will not always turn out positively like you always seem to think they will."

"Sounds like excuses to me," the bearded man laughed. "And is it wrong to hope for a happy ending to a story? And I'm not really interfering, Elder, I'm merely… nudging those involved in directions which better suit my tastes. And if my nudging changes their fate, even just a little… well, I suppose that says something about how binding your 'fate' truly is."

The Veggie Elder glared at the man. "Destiny should not be played with. This 'nudging' of yours could just as soon turn sour for us as it would act in our favor. It could doom us far more easily than it would save us!"

"Well then, at least the future will be surprising, won't it?" the man replied, pushing himself to his feet and stretching. "I don't like the idea of fate and predetermination shackling me. I prefer a sour end I never saw coming to an sweet end I'd known would come for years. Living is much more interesting that way."

"Whose side are you on?"

The bearded man smirked at the abrupt question and looked up at the bright window where he knew Levin, his lover, and his friends were. "Would you believe me if I said I was on theirs?"

"Not for a moment," the Wyvernian replied quickly, and the man laughed.

"Oh, good. I was hoping you weren't that stupid. Well, if you want to know what I'm up to, you'll just have to wait and see, now won't you? Perhaps you'll enjoy the ride as much as I do, seeing how far 'fate' can be pushed before unraveling completely."

"I highly doubt it…" the Veggie Elder replied sourly.

* * *

"Excuse me…"

Levin looked up from his book, some overly wordy thing Harker had loaned him, propped awkwardly against his remaining leg. It was night time now, and the moon had risen. Levin had spent hours being checked and examined by numerous doctors, now that he was conscious once more. But there'd been a bit of a commotion, once word began to spread that he was alive and awake once more. Apparently a good number of people had made attempts to get into the hospital to speak with him, and from his bed he had heard a large crowd gathering and talking excitedly with each other. It seemed they were all calling for him to make an appearance of some sort, to show himself as the 'hero of Loc Lac, slayer of dragons', or some nonsense. Levin didn't know how to feel about all of it; he'd received mild fame during his hunting career, and no small amount of infamy before the Lost riots. But to hear so many people outside shouting and cheering for him… it just felt uncomfortable.

Thankfully the doctors and orderlies had managed to keep the masses back, keeping his room empty save for those he let in. He'd been encouraged to get some sleep, but he'd been doing so for a weeks now. So he'd been trying to distract himself with a book, propped up awkwardly with his left hand. Even menial tasks seemed challenging now with only one hand… But he had been interrupted, and was surprised at who he saw at the door.

"Farren? What are you doing here?"

The Guild researcher shrugged, setting a large satchel on the ground next to him. "My part in the recovery. I am a doctor, after all, and with all the wounded, it's best that anyone who has the ability use it to help."

Levin nodded. The man looked… worn was the best word for it. He looked as though he had aged years over the course of the last couple months or so. His long hair had spots of gray in it, and his serious face had aging lines far beyond the years of a man his age. Levin glanced nervously at the door. Ellie was out trying to scavenge some sort of meal besides hospital food for the two of them, and said she'd try and visit Harker and Kerry if she could. There also didn't seem to be any Guild workers in the hallway either. Rather, the hallway seemed dead quiet at the moment.

The man caught his expression and shook his head. "I'm not here to… hurt you, if that's what you're worried about."

"Really?" Levin asked skeptically, and Farren nodded.

"I simply did not wish to be found out by someone who might recognize me, thus my… innocuous timing. I'm here… I'm here to make amends, before I head out to… to my former home. I've… since resigned from my position in the Guild. And I have also… informed certain people within the Guild of the things done within the Gullet."

Levin blinked in surprise. "You did? That's… that's good. I think."

"Secretly, of course. I can't let myself be captured by the town guards… not yet, at least," Farren grinned tiredly, but his expression sank, and he stared solemnly at the ground. "What you told me… it struck home a bit more than I thought it would. You were right. I doubt… I doubt my sister would approve of the work I have done, and I doubt she will forgive me when I tell her of it… assuming she still lives."

Levin nodded. "I'm sure she does. If your sister was half the hunter you remember her being, I'm sure she pulled through, one way or another."

Farren smiled gently at Levin's attempt at comforting him. "Once the recovery effort has quieted down a little, I plan to leave Loc Lac. I will… I will probably go visit my sister in our hometown, and confess my sins to her. After that… well. I suppose I'll just have to see. Likely I will need to seek penance in some way or another for what I've done. How I will manage that… I cannot guess."

Levin nodded as the man got to his feet. "I guess… I guess I wish you luck then."

"Thank you," Farren nodded. Then he looked down at the bag he had brought in and paused. His voice became low. "There is just one last thing I have to do here in Loc Lac. Something I must do, though it may… it may add to my sins."

Levin felt a shiver go up his spine. "What's that?" he asked.

Farren shook his head. "A couple days ago I met a woman here in the hospital… some Lost woman who was seeing to her husband's and son's recovery. Our discussion led to her work, and she told me she was a smith, among other things. In passing, she mentioned she had learned to work with certain rare materials few other smiths possessed the knowledge to work. I asked her of her secrets out of mild curiosity and a desire to keep the conversation going. She acknowledged that I was not a smith, and likely wouldn't understand most of what she told me, but she let me in on some knowledge which I actually did desire."

"Which was?" Levin asked, and Farren looked at him, a sad but determined look in his eye.

"She told me the secret to working Dark Metal." Levin felt his blood run cold at the words. "I see you remember my… study of it under the Loc Lac tower. Such a thing would be hard to forget, I wager… The time I spent with you down there, I always wondered why the sample we'd collected from Hearth acted so oddly around you. Now I know. The woman enlightened me on how the ore is tamed. There is a certain stipulation to molding Dark Metal which leads it to become pliable and reactive. The method has its faults though. The Dark Metal forms a sort of bond to its owner, and will react violently to those its owner does not approve of. Apparently the woman made a rather nasty blade of the material for her son. That is the… common desire of those who gather Dark Metal, so it's rare for the ore to be imagined in any other use.

"It's one of the faults of the smithing profession: for the most part they only see the offensive or defensive capabilities of the materials hunters collect out in the wilds. Besides, the smelting of the Dark Metal in the forge terribly damages its potential, though most smiths and artisans view that as a fair exchange for creating a weapon so dangerous. During my own experiments, I hoped to discover another use for the metal besides weaponizing it. Though the ore had already been tainted by its bond with you, I was able to make some discoveries I imagine few others, if any have found." The researcher's eyes lit up as he spoke, excitement at his research filling his expression. "I realized the Dark Metal is a material which reacts not to simply the will of the smith who molds it, but also the desires of the one with whom the bond had been formed! Though its consciousness is primitive and minimal, it understands the need of the one it connects to, and desires to fill their requests. It seeks to please them and aid them, to bond with them and form a symbiotic union with them, though such a bond can be… hazardous. It is an existence which strives to fulfill… necessity."

The man's words grew cold again at the final word, and he stared intently at Levin. "I imagine you've heard enough about necessity during your time in the Gullet, Levin. Though my methods were obviously terrible and cruel, the results have proven to be promising and hopeful. The process I have developed to mold the Dark Metal is risky, but not without its possible benefits."

"And what process is that?" Levin asked, trying to sit up a little straighter. Farren stared straight at him.

"Blood," he replied darkly. "The metal much be soaked in the blood of the one it will be used for. That is the secret the smith passed on to me. That is why it reacted so differently to you, why it shifted and molded at your touch. It has tasted of your blood. In the ice caves of the north, after mining it, you were wounded, and your blood fed the Dark Metal. Now it reacts to you, and only to you."

Farren stooped down, and Levin saw the man pull a pair of thick gloves from his pockets. The next moment, he had unzipped the bag, and reached inside. When he stood up again, he was holding it: the Dark Metal they had mined in the north. It was… different again, wiry and twisted. It seemed more… alive than before. Protruding spikes and strange shapes were emerging from the shape.

Immediately Levin began to struggle, but the latches across his chest and leg were still bound tight. All he had left was his arm, but that wasn't enough. "What are you going to do with it?" he asked, trying to break loose of his bindings.

Farren didn't seem concerned with his struggles. "I've worked the Metal a bit recently. I've been trying to… give it shape. It's tasted your blood, so it's somewhat malleable, but… it's not enough. Not nearly. It needs more. It craves it. It cannot take the shape it needs yet, not until more blood has been given."

"No! You can't!" Levin shouted, trying to tear loose of his binds. "Why are you doing this? I thought you said-"

"I may have been somewhat… premature, saying I didn't come to hurt you," Farren said. He slowly began to walk towards Levin, coming around to his right side. "I didn't want to, certainly. But… I must do this. I must complete my work, and doing so likely will hurt you. Forgive me, but… this process may kill you. I did not wish this to happen."

"You can stop! You don't have to add to your crimes! You can leave! You can just walk away!" Levin cried. He had stopped struggling. He couldn't break loose in time. He had to try and convince Farren…

"I can't stop, not now, not when the answer is so close," Farren replied. He was standing over Levin now, looking down at him with sadness and guilt in his eyes. "I have sought too long for this, since the day I left my home, and words cannot sway me. I hope this does not kill you, though I cannot be certain it won't. If you die… know my own death will likely not be far behind. This will be my last crime, no matter what the consequences are."

The mass of Dark Metal seemed to writhe and come to life in Farren's hands as he lowered it towards Levin. The former hunter watched in fear as the substance grew closer, reaching out, trying to latch onto him, desperate for the source of the blood it sought.

"We'll start here," Farren said, nodding to the stump of his right arm. "The wound is relatively fresh, and the Metal will be quick to find blood. And it will be more convenient for my end goal. Once again, I ask your forgiveness, though I don't expect to receive it."

"No, wait! Farren-"

Levin's words were cut off as Farren swung the Dark Metal down and touched it to the bandages around the remains of Levin's arm. Immediately a cold feeling swept through Levin's body. The Dark Metal suddenly swarmed to life as well, dancing black tendrils and thorns rising from the mass and twisting towards the wound, tearing through the gauze towards the raw flesh beneath. A moment later, the cold black substance ripped through skin and pierced into Levin's body.

Levin screamed in pain as the Metal tore into him, and his vision went black.

* * *

**Author's Note: Please Review! I'm a big fan of Karen Eiffel's way of thinking about writing… on certain issues.**

**Well then. Did you all think this would be the last chapter? Epilogue is done and will be released soon. See you then.**

**Playing: Pokemon X, Bravely Default  
Listening: Sevendust, Coal Chamber, Iron & Wine, New Found Glory, Destroyer, Groove Armada, Koufax, Crit Juice, Joshua Radin, Radical Face, Queen, History of Rome Podcast, Red Hot Chili Peppers  
Watching: Kill la Kill**


	53. Hope for the Future

Epilogue/Hope for the Future

_Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. Most of the characters in this story are mine. Many characters belong to others, as stated in previous chapters. York and Rose belong to Thomas A. Hawk._

_Edited by: Hoenn Master96_

* * *

"_It simply isn't an adventure worth telling if there aren't any dragons." – J.R.R. Tolkien_

* * *

"Sweet mercy, it's too hot here," Stephan muttered, wiping a trail of sweat from his brow. Next to him, his squad mate laughed. "I hate the Volcano area."

"I thought you were born near here?" his partner asked.

"I was!" Stephan muttered. "But I hated it! There's a reason I moved away, you know."

"Ah, well, shouldn't be too much longer," his squad mate said. "Not if the Guild's information is correct. Any moment now it'll start, we can gather them up, and get them back to Loc Lac."

Stephan nodded, and turned away, looking instead at their objective. There, in front of him, were over a hundred massive blue crystals: the crystals of the Lost. Only a couple weeks ago, this collection of stones had begun glowing not too far east of the Volcano hunting grounds. A passing hunter had caught sight of the light, and upon realizing what they were, immediately sent word to the Guild. This time, as opposed to the previous awakenings, the Guild had responded quickly, and with the proper personnel. They were mostly hunters, but some volunteers that had come to help. That was why Stephan was here, along with fifty other men and women, watching and waiting for the next 'awakening.'

They'd been here for just under a week, waiting patiently for the crystals to begin to 'melt,' like the Guild reports said they would. The timing for when that would happen wasn't clear, but their orders for once it did were: as soon as the Lost awakened, they were to be escorted to Frost Town, the nearest city large enough to care for them, helping them understand their situation, and from there, they could do with their lives what they wished. And the hunters that were there were to take every precaution to make certain that there were no casualties between now and then.

Stephan was glad he'd signed up for this. It made him feel like he was actually doing something useful and good, as opposed to his time in Loc Lac, when he was just standing around looking for work. And this was far better than his job working for Moloch had been…

Suddenly a shout rose from the other side of the cavern they were in. Stephan looked up in surprise and realized that the crystals were beginning to glow even brighter. For a moment the people around them stood in awe, and then they realized that bright blue droplets were beginning to fall to the floor of the cave. The crystals were melting, just like the Guild had said they would!

The next hour was one of the most hectic of Stephan's life. In minutes, the first of the Lost had been freed from the blue crystals, and had been hurried off to the side to keep him safe. After that, one after another were released from the blue stones, and it was a rush for everyone to keep the Lost calm, especially with their current surroundings being so strange and unfamiliar. But they managed, somehow, to keep the Lost from panicking, and all of them were safe and sound.

Stephan found himself looking after several of the newly awakened Lost in a corner of the cave some time later, waiting for the wagons to be prepared. The Lost's situation had been explained to them to the best of his abilities, as well as what they would do and where they were going. Most of the people in front of him were younger children, who had banded together to play together while they waited for wagons to finish readying and take them to Frost Town.

But there were two older folks near him as well, a married couple that had popped out of the crystals later in the 'awakening.' The pair of them had kept to themselves the whole time, uncertain what to do. On an impulse, Stephan decided to approach them to see if they were alright.

"Are you two okay?" he asked, stopping in front of them. The man, an older bearded gentleman with grayed hair, looked nervously at him for a moment before nodding.

"Yes, yes, we're… we're fine, just… we're trying to wrap our heads around this whole thing."

"It's a lot to take in, isn't it?"

"It really is," the man nodded, before looking at the crystals. "You said we were… frozen? In those?"

"Yes, you were," Stephan nodded. "Though I'm not sure 'frozen' is the right word. The truth of it is… a little stranger."

"Yes, that… that dragon thing," the woman next to him muttered, shaking her head in uncertainty. "So… so strange. And… we've been sleeping for… how long?"

"A long time," Stephan replied. "Honestly, nobody's really sure, but it's been many, many centuries at the least."

The woman nodded, a lost, fearful look in her eyes. Stephan could imagine what they were going through. Likely they were constantly wondering, trying to convince themselves that this was all just a dream. Stephan shook his head. He had to keep the conversation going. "So… what are your names?"

The pair blinked in surprise at the question, and the woman answered first. "My name is Mary. Mary Geisel. And this is my husband Daniel Geisel."

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you both. My name is Stephan. Now, is there anything I can help you two with at all? Are you hurt anywhere or anything?"

"No, no," Daniel replied, shaking his head. "I think we're fine. I…"

"Wait!" Mary suddenly gasped. "What about our daughter? Where's our little girl? Is she here? Was she frozen, too?"

"A daughter?" Stephan asked. From what he knew, only a small percentage of the Lost were put in the crystals by the Alatreon from what he'd been told, and most of the time, people never found their family members again. But he didn't want to ruin these two parents' hope… "What's her name? How old is she? The Guild put together list of all the Lost who have woken up that they've managed to gather. If she made it to a town or village, her name would have been recorded."

"Well, she's not _that_ young," Daniel said, earning a miffed look from his wife. "But I suppose she'll always be considered our little girl. She was twenty years old the last time we saw her. But that was before things got bad and… anyway, her name is Eleanor. Eleanor Geisel."

Stephan blinked in surprise at the name. "Eleanor, you say?" He raised his hand up to about the level of his eyes. "About this tall? Brown hair, green eyes… stubborn disposition?"

Both of the Lost grinned excitedly, and nodded. "You've seen her?" Mary asked. "Is she safe? Is she alright? She's not hurt, is she?"

"She's… well…" Stephan paused in thought for a moment, then smiled at the pair encouragingly. "You know what? That's actually a really interesting story to tell. She was headed out west last I heard. I'll tell you what I know, but just you wait until you get to Loc Lac. I'm sure you'll hear quite a bit more of her; she's made a bit of a name for herself recently. After that, we can send you right on your way to find her if you want."

The married couple looked at each other uncertainly at the words, but kept rapt attention on him as he began to tell them what he knew.

* * *

Desig stepped nervously off the Guild ship onto the docks of the village. He was glad to be on land again after so long traveling. Though, he had to admit as he stepped off the ship, he already missed the sea. He supposed that was the result of spending so long as a sailor. For a couple years he had ended up sailing on the sea under Captain Vin, and he had ended up enjoying the experience immensely. But… eventually the call to become a hunter had overcome him, and the next time they had come to port in a town preparing for a hunter's exam, he had taken the chance.

And what a difference it had been from the first time he had tried! This time the trial had actually seemed… easy! Well, compared to his first try at least. The first test had been a bit of a trick for him, but the battle test had actually been a lot less strenuous than he'd imagined. Several of the other examinees who had taken the test had put his attempt to shame with how good they were, though. Especially a young woman he had made friends with there, a shorter woman who had turned out to be surprisingly more skilled than she had appeared. And the strangest bit was that she had been one of the Lost…

But that was neither here nor there. He had managed to pass! After a couple years sailing the open seas, he'd finally achieved his dream of becoming a hunter! He had been surprised once he'd found out to discover Captain Vin, as well as the rest of his former crewmates, had stayed in town to watch his attempt, and all congratulated him with a celebration to commemorate his success.

It had been several months since then, and he had chosen to stay in Orage Dell during the start of his life as a hunter. That had proven to be a pretty intelligent move; a lot of the higher-ranked hunters living in Orage seemed to have been asked to leave the city not long after Desig had gotten his license. Apparently there were some nasty rumors which had come in from Loc Lac and some of the villages to the south. Nobody really knew what was happening or why. Gossip and hearsay abounded in Orage Dell for almost a month before everything was sorted out and Guild Master Polgara released an official release of what had happened.

And the report! That was a fantastical story of its own! Riots in Loc Lac, an organization of poachers and kidnappings, a sketchy underground arena, a four-story tall Deviljho, and to top it all off the Alatreon was slain? It was all people could talk about, everything that had happened in Loc Lac and all the fallout from everything which had gone on since then. It was all very interesting, but Desig didn't know what to make of it half the time. Every time he'd come back from a new hunt, there was always new information and rumors, speculating and guessing at what had really happened and why.

Eventually, curiosity had gotten the better of Desig. Rumor said two of the hunters who had been caught up in the whole issue had returned to a village south of Orage Dell. So he and his hunting partner had picked out a mission that way. She was the young woman he'd befriended during the hunting exam, a lovely, lively Lost girl named Erin. He hadn't known what to think of her at first, being a member of the Lost, but she'd pulled his butt out of the fire numerous times during their hunts, just as frequently as he'd pulled out hers. Though he wouldn't have believed it when he'd first met, the pair of them got along swimmingly, and had hunted together since they'd gotten their licenses. There was a Gobul causing trouble down south, a bit inland, where a road got too close to a river and into the beast's territory. They could travel down to Boma Village and… look around, to see if they could hear the tale from the hunters themselves.

"I heard this is where the two hunters lived," Desig said, looking around. "It's a lot smaller than I thought it would be, though. I would have thought such famous people would have come from a city or town, not a village like this."

"Well, where should they have come from?" Erin asked, amused.

"I don't know… somewhere more dangerous, I guess. From someone closer to the Tundra or Volcano hunting area or something. Not a peaceful place like this."

"Well, it was attacked by a Deviljho, a really big one, if the rumors are true," Erin replied. "So… maybe it's not as cheerful and pleasant as you seem to make it out to be."

"I guess you may be right…" Desig admitted.

"Well, no sense standing around the docks looking stupid," Erin laughed. "Let's look for the Guild booth in the town square and see if the Guild rep knows anything about these two who killed the Alatreon, right?"

Desig grinned at her enthusiasm. "Agreed."

The people of Boma Village were friendly enough, many of them smiling to the two hunters as they passed. They seemed used to seeing unfamiliar hunters passing through town as well. It didn't really surprise Desig. After all, this town was the main port in the area, used to get to some of the interior towns and villages further inland. Not to mention Desig and Erin weren't the only ones to have heard rumors the hunters who had killed the Alatreon were located here. He had little doubt they weren't the first to come to Boma in hopes of hearing the tale firsthand, and maybe getting some tips from them.

It looked like the town really had gone through an attack by a truly monstrous beast like the rumors said it had. While half of the town looked like most of the other villages Desig had passed through, there were a lot of huts and new buildings which looked as though they had been constructed recently, and a number of structures were still under construction by the locals, especially on the north side of the village. They seemed to be arguing and laughing with a couple people who certainly didn't look like villagers about how the huts should be built. Erin told Desig the pair were Lost, though how she knew, Desig couldn't guess. He could never tell the Lost apart from anyone else to be honest.

The market was bustling, despite the small size of the town. Several other hunters were loitering around, chatting with the locals, though a number of them seemed fresh into the occupation, even less experienced than Desig and Erin were. Perhaps the fame of the local celebrities had called some of the younger people into becoming hunters as well, or at least hunter apprentices. Which meant… were the two hunters taking apprentices? Desig was already past the stage of becoming an apprentice himself, but still…

The Guild booth seemed to be in good condition for such a small town, and a couple of younger hunters were standing around the front of it, talking to the person behind the counter. However, as Desig and Erin approached, the pair of hunters turned and scurried away, heading towards a couple of other hunters who seemed to be their partners. Desig wasn't sure why they were hurrying; it was getting later in the day and they weren't going to be getting out to their hunt unless it was pretty close to the village. Erin glanced uncertainly at him, but Desig shrugged it off and pressed on, heading over to the Guild booth.

"Ah, more hunters in town, then? We've been getting a lot of you passing through recently," the Guild representative said with a smile. Desig blinked in surprise; he hadn't seen many Guild reps like this one. He was a young man, maybe a year or two older than Desig, with messy brown hair hanging loosely over soft brown eyes. Or rather, 'eye'. He had a rather noticeable three-lined scar running across one side of his face, but the other side of his face had a painful-looking burn wound which spread from his forehead, down his neck, to below his Guild uniform. His right eye was also covered in a wide eye patch which covered most of the side of his face, concealing a majority of the burn. But he also seemed fairly well-built for a Guild rep. Maybe he was an injured hunter forced into retirement, if he was behind a Guild booth? He seemed rather young, and the burn did look rather nasty…

"Yes, actually," Erin replied cheerfully. "There seems to be a lot of hunters in this town, for such a small village near the coast."

The Guild rep chuckled. "Yeah, there are a lot of hunters going through Boma these days. Seems a lot of them think hunting in this area will train them to be great hunters. Turn them into legends, that kind of thing."

"It doesn't?" Desig asked, a bit disappointed. The Guild rep smiled at him encouragingly.

"Nope, sorry. All we have in this area are Great Jaggi, Qurupeco, and Royal Ludroth… Oh, and the occasional Gobul and Rathian, but other than that, nothing really special or interesting."

"I thought a Deviljho came through this area," Erin asked, and the Guild man shrugged. For the first time, Desig noticed the man's movements seemed… awkward. There was something odd about him. Desig realized the man's right arm was hanging limply at his side. Another injury?

"Ah. That," the Guild rep said sheepishly. "Well, that was an oddity, but it's really not much different than anywhere else. This area's only had a Deviljho attack… what, once every ten years? If you think that's what makes a good hunter, there are better places than this. I hear the Tundra is a popular place to hunt them these days. Besides, the man who killed the Jho was a very experienced hunter from… well, I don't actually know where he was from, but it wasn't here. Anyway, you don't exactly look like you're up for the challenge of a Jho, not quite yet at least."

"Ha, yeah, I guess not," Erin replied. "We're only a couple of two star hunters, after all. We're here to take care of a Gobul we heard was causing trouble in the area, actually. Oh, and also we were hoping to meet-"

"Gobul, huh?" the Guild rep asked, cutting Erin off, making her expression sour. "We don't have many Gobul hunts in the area… Must be that one down south causing trouble for caravans. Give me a second; I think I have that Guild request buried around here somewhere or another…"

Desig's eyes widened in surprise as the Guild worker reached over and picked up a couple papers. His right arm remained resting at his side as he reached with his left, but as he stretched, a gap appeared between his glove and his sleeves on his right arm, showing the flesh beneath. Or rather, the lack of flesh beneath. Rather than skin and bone, there was some dark, metallic material beneath, pulsing and shivering with unnatural life. At the center of it, right around the wrist, was a deep azure gemstone, glowing eerily with a strange energy.

"Ah, here we go," the Guild worker said, pulling out a paper, and looking it over with his good eye. "Wild Gobul… Well, this is weird."

"What's wrong?" Erin asked curiously. She hadn't noticed the man's arm yet, but as the man shifted in his seat, her eyes landed on his arm as well, and they widened in shock and apprehension.

"Looks like this one is reported as being a battle veteran among Gobul," the Guild rep explained. "Lots of scars and missing its lantern, and wary of great sword users and bowgunners… that's odd. Huh, sounds kind of familiar, actually… It wouldn't have come all the way back south, would it…? Oh, never mind, it's probably just a coincidence. You're in for a trek, I'm afraid. It looks like this was a request from Lily Village. That's about fifteen miles southeast of here. You've got a walk ahead of you, unless you can find a caravan heading that way. I'll ask around if you like. I'm sure there'll be a group going that way sometime soon. With all the hunters around, business in the area has really picked up recently."

Desig winced as the man turned back to him, and he realized he'd been staring at whatever lay underneath the man's sleeves. The Guild worker had noticed though, and quickly pulled on his sleeve, covering the dark material which lay beneath. "Anyway," he continued, "I think there's a caravan carrying fish heading inland tomorrow. I'll ask around for you, see if…"

"No!" Desig said quickly, cutting the man off. "I mean… no, I… I'll ask around myself, don't worry yourself…. We can find it ourselves, thanks."

Without another word, Desig grabbed hold of Erin's arm and dragged her hurriedly away from the Guild booth and across the town square, with the huntress sputtering indignantly the whole time. Once they were out of sight of the booth, Desig came to a halt, gasping for breath.

"Was that really necessary?" Erin asked in frustration.

"Didn't you see… whatever that was?" Desig replied, and Erin shifted uncomfortably.

"I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for it," she muttered, though she didn't sound convinced. "It's odd, I'll admit, but there has to be a reason for… whatever it was he had on his arm. We didn't need to run away…"

"Whatever it was, I'm fine not hearing about it," Desig said with a shiver. "There's been a lot of weird stuff happening recently, but I think I'm better off having some mysteries remain that way, thank you very much. Whatever it was, it gave me the creeps."

"Yeah… maybe you're right," Erin nodded with a fearful shiver. "Whatever was under his sleeves, I think I'm fine not knowing what it was. But it looks like we'll need to find a caravan to travel with on our own now…"

"That shouldn't be too much of a problem," Desig said with an encouraging smile. "After all, he did say the village was getting a lot of trade recently. Let's look around; we're sure to find someone we can tag along with."

"Well, at least you're still enthusiastic," Erin grinned. "Lead on then! If we can't find a caravan to tag along with, you're taking the blame for this little slip-up. And you'll start by paying for our room and board if we have to find an inn, got it?"

Desig winced, but tried to keep a confident face. "Erm, fair enough, I guess. Let's hurry off to the village gate. Wouldn't want to miss our ride, would we?"

"No, we wouldn't," Erin laughed, and the pair made their way off, ready to make their way to their next hunt.

* * *

Levin watched as the hunter walked away, and sighed in dissatisfaction. "I think I scared some more away."

He heard a chuckle come from the back room, and Ellie came around the corner carrying a stack of papers. "You can hardly blame them," she said. "That's not exactly the most… comforting looking thing to look at, even if it was just a prosthetic."

"If it was just a prosthetic, I could brush it off as my doctor having bad taste," Levin grumbled. "But this… this is something else."

Levin reached under the table with his left hand and pulled out a solid wooden cane from underneath. With a grunt of effort, he pushed himself to his feet. Standing awkwardly, he turned to walk towards the back room, careful not to put too much weight on his right leg. Ellie watched him as we went, making sure he didn't strain or hurt himself. Once in the back room, Levin plopped himself down on one of the chairs in the back, tossing his cane to the side. With some frustration, he pulled his right arm up and slipped off the red glove covering it, to look at what lay beneath.

It certainly was a frightful sight, Levin had to admit that much. What once was flesh and bone was now replaced by a terrible black material, pulsing with unnatural life. Dark Metal, taking the bastardized shape of an arm: five thorn-like fingers at the end of a twisted mass. To Levin, it looked more like a thick skeleton shape of the bones in an arm, but a little thicker, and a far darker, terrifying color. It throbbed a slow beat as well, pulsing in time with his own heartbeat. At the center of the wrist though, was something not made of Dark Metal. A deep azure gemstone was wedged into the center of the mass of metal, a glowing stone which the Dark Metal clung desperately to, draining its energy or feeding into it, Levin wasn't sure. He shifted where he sat, and felt the awkward motion of it. His right leg was much the same, a strange, horrifying recreation of the human leg, with another of the gemstones placed in the ankle.

This was the result of Farren's work, his last 'gift' to Levin. Levin wished the man would have at least told him what he was trying to accomplish when he'd begun his work on him, though he probably still wouldn't have approved. The process was something Levin barely remembered; he'd been in too much pain at the time to focus on what the man had done. What he did know was he'd gotten close to death again during the procedure, and had passed out from pain not long into it. When he'd woken up again, Ellie was enraged, screaming in fury that Farren was gone, nowhere to be found. She was desperate for blood for what the researcher had done. The entire hospital was in an uproar, searching for him, but apparently the researcher had disappeared the moment his work was done, likely leaving the city entirely the first chance he'd gotten, off to… off to find his sister no doubt, and face the consequence of his actions once that was done.

And he had left Levin with these… these dark limbs, as he'd grown to call them. Strange, twisted appendages made of Dark Metal, pulsing with some hidden power beneath. Doctors (and Harker) had appeared to examine the artificial limbs, and their diagnosis had been both astonished and fearful. Whatever the limbs were, however Farren had created them, they had somehow been fused into Levin's body. And they were still absorbing Levin's blood, though not at nearly so alarming a rate as they once had. Levin found his appetite had increased quite a bit since the attachment of the limbs, forcing him to make up for the blood the Metal consumed.

The gemstones which had been placed in each limb were a shock in themselves. Not long after the doctors had looked at the arms, several Guild workers had come to the hospital to look at them, and told Levin something he wasn't sure how to feel about. They were Dragongems, rare stones taken straight from the body of elder dragons. And these gems, called Azure Dragongems by the Guild, had been taken directly from the remains of the Alatreon itself. Whatever experiment Farren had conducted on Levin, he had used the power of the Alatreon to do it, making Levin more uncomfortable with the limbs than any other reason.

He had wanted them gone at first, but removing them would likely have taken as much effort as it would have been to remove actual arms, and likely just as dangerous.

Now that he'd had some time with them, Levin wasn't sure what to make of the dark limbs. He would've thought there would be a purpose behind Farren's efforts to attach the dark limbs to his body, but so far it was all pointless. They were worthless to him, black lumps of metal which hung where his arm and leg once did. They didn't move, didn't feel, didn't do much of anything. They were like prosthetics imbedded into him, but couldn't be removed safely. At least they no longer seemed to affect people in the way Dark Metal usually did; the doctors who studied them were able to touch the limbs without feeling anything other than a bit of a chill when doing so. And Ellie had brushed against them and held them numerous times since then, without any of the side effects. It was like the Metal was now… dormant or something.

But as time went on and he continued to recover, Levin had noticed something: every once in a while, when he wasn't really thinking about it, or when he tried really, really hard, he thought he could get the arms to move. The results were disappointing at best: just a wiggle, just a twitch, and barely enough to notice. But when he told that to Ellie, Harker, and Kerry, the retired long sword user launched another study. After some time, he discovered something even more fascinating about the limbs: they were reacting to Levin's nervous system. Somehow or another, the Dark Metal arm and leg were developing, slowly but surely, into a feasible, usable pair of limbs. One day, eventually, Levin might be able to use the dark limbs as near-perfect replacements for the arm and leg he had lost.

But that was merely in concept. Harker had told him it would take years, if not decades before the limbs could be used to such dexterity. The dark limbs' connection to Levin's nervous system seemed to be a immeasurably slow process. Farren's method was a first attempt, and was roughshod, as far as he could tell. Certainly, such a process would not be successful, not quickly, and not on the first attempt. No, as enticing the thought was that the arms could be used like normal arms one day, likely it would be a long, long time before they would be. And until then, they would be useless, motionless lumps to weigh him down.

But… even so, the thought that, one day, there could be a chance for Levin to be himself again, to be whole again, and maybe, just maybe even hunt again, had raised his spirits. He'd been in a better mood than before, even knowing it would take years of practice and training for him to even get close to getting back the strength he once had. It was something to look forward to, something to yearn for, and it gave him a reason to press on again. To think this had been Farren's goal all along…

Eventually, over half a year later, the day came when he had finally recovered from the wounds he'd received during the Alatreon battle, at least enough so to be released from the hospital and the doctors' prying eyes, to do whatever he wanted with himself. He and Ellie had long since decided what they would do from there on in: as soon as both of them were in fit enough shape to travel, they'd left Loc Lac, and went back to Boma Village, back to the place they called home. They'd left quietly, in the evening, not wanting to raise a fuss with the people of Loc Lac, only stopping long enough to say goodbye to their closest friends. Then they had left on the first sandship they could, heading back to the western coast. Boma had been glad to receive them again once they returned. Though Levin hadn't been able to hunt anymore, he was perfectly willing to have a job as a worker in the Guild booth alongside Mel, and Ellie was content to help him. The story of Boma's involvement in the Alatreon hunt had spread, and Mel found herself more than willing to receive help behind the desk as hunters and travelers came in great numbers to visit the port village.

Since then they'd heard news from their friends and allies from all over the place. Harker and Kerry were in Loc Lac still, trying to find someone to fund their mad research. On the one hand, they were both well-renowned in the city, but on the other, they were both legally considered walking disasters, and no scientific society wanted to risk the collateral damage which came along with them. Harker had mentioned in his last letter that maybe they were better off finding a new location to work, where they could conduct their experiments without risk of property damage.

Kim and Nat (and some acquaintance of theirs they'd met at the hospital) had traveled back to Orage Dell, where Kim was aiming to become a poaching enforcer and rogue hunter tracker. Nat had done something similar to Levin, with her legs gone, and decided to work for the Guild. Their letter claimed their friend was trying to become a doctor or something.

Richard, along with his father and mother, had traveled with some Wyvernian smith up into the mountains to work on learning how to develop some of the weapons popular in other countries. Apparently they'd been successful, because Levin had seen numerous new types of weapons on the hunters passing through Boma. After that, they'd returned to Frost Town, where Monique had returned to her smithy, though Richard claimed to be making plans to travel to Orage Dell to visit Kim and Nat on a semi-regular basis. However, his father had retired after his traumatic experience in the Coliseum, and was helping his wife in the forges.

Other letters from friends and acquaintances had been coming in as well. Everyone they knew had sent them news of how their own lives were progressing, now that the Alatreon was dead and the situation in Loc Lac had cooled down. Most of them seemed to be doing well, and the country seemed to be changing, now that the Lost were spreading out. Loc Lac itself seemed to be in a lingering state of difficulty, and with all the chaos which had gone on there, many other hunting cities were gaining popularity for gathering hunters, especially a port town to the north of Orage Dell called Tanzia.

Here in Boma, the wounds Marshall had taken during the World Eater battle sent the man into a final, permanent retirement from hunting. The body of Filcher, as well the Deviljho hammer which had once belonged to Hawke, had been burned along with the body of the World Eater. Marshall had been the one to suggest the idea, and had started the blaze himself. He'd done so quickly, so soon after Silas' airship had left for the Sacred Land, that the bodies were ashes long before the Guild men came to the village to study them.

In the meantime, with Marshall out of commission, Ellie had picked up the slack in local monster control, though they'd needed to hire a couple hunters from a nearby village to help keep an eye on the local monsters for a while, since Ellie preferred to stay close to Levin while he got used to his dark limbs. A couple of hunters from the nearby Moga Village had volunteered: a hunter and huntress calling themselves… York and Rose? Levin had really only met them once, and only in passing. But they'd gone back to their own home once Levin was better accustomed to taking care of himself, and Ellie could take up full-time defense of the village again. Of course, now there was talk going around the village of Marshall taking on a couple _more_ apprentices to aid Ellie, despite his wounds. There wasn't much doubt the man could pull it off; he was certainly still strong enough and stubborn enough…

Levin's hopes for the dark limbs had died out quite a bit over the last few months in Boma though. His greatest achievement with them so far, despite all the time he'd had, was gaining the ability to stand up without a cane, though even it didn't last long before the strength in his dark leg wavered and he fell over. His arm moved very little, even when he strained and focused as hard as he could. Even with the hope of hunting again, he soon became somewhat depressed, realizing how long the recovery really might take.

"Have you heard the news from down south?" Ellie asked suddenly, sitting down next to him. Levin looked at his beloved curiously at the tone. She seemed… wary, cautious, and uncertain. He wondered why. He turned around so he could get a clear look at her with his good eye.

"What news?" Levin asked.

"Ah. Well…" Ellie scratched her head nervously. "It seems... well, you remember how the peak of the volcano we fought the Alatreon on in the Sacred Land collapsed when it erupted, right?"

"I remember hearing about it. I never saw it happen myself."

"Right… I guess I didn't see it happen either. I was worried about more important things at the time to take note of it…" For a quick moment, the huntress' eyes lingered on Levin's dark arm, before she shook her head and met his eyes again with a smile. "Anyway, it was pretty dangerous in that area for a while after the Alatreon died. For almost a month, no hunters or airships were allowed to travel through the area for fear of injury and death, save for the airships they sent to collect the Alatreon's body and those of the monsters the others fought, and even then they lost a good number of them trying to recover the corpse."

"They could've just left it there…" Levin muttered quietly. "They didn't need to drag it all the way to Loc Lac, not if it cost more lives."

Ellie smiled comfortingly. "They wanted to make sure it was dead. Absolutely certain. Besides, they wanted something they could use to celebrate over, especially after the riots. Both the Lost and the Therians could get excited at the sight of them dragging the body through the streets. It was more of a symbol than anything else, I think, and it helped motivate the Lost to begin their exodus away from Loc Lac."

"Yeah, I know, I know… I would've been perfectly fine just letting the body dissolve in the lava, though."

"Anyway… once the volcano's eruption settled down a couple months ago, they sent some researchers to survey the damage. Harker wanted to go, according to Kerry, but he was still recovering from his wounds, and she wasn't letting him leave the hospital for any reason. She told me she had to use… very personal persuasive techniques to get his mind off the volcano."

"That would certainly work on me," Levin said with a smirk, and Ellie giggled and rolled her eyes.

"Well, it certainly worked with Harker… for a while, at least. Anyway, here's where the news gets… dangerous. A few weeks later, they came back to Frost Town in a hurry. Apparently the research group came across some more of the blue crystals deep in the volcano's core, once it was safe enough for them to travel into it. Big ones. They thought they'd come across an entire city's worth of Lost."

"That's bad!"

"Yeah, it would've been, but that's not what was inside the crystals."

"Monsters?" Now Levin really was worried. More beasts which had been alive as long as the Silver Rathalos they'd met on the tower north of Nastre? That was no good.

"Yes, but not just any monsters, either. This probably isn't something you want to hear, but… they found more Alatreons, about seven of them, all waking up at the same time in the center of the volcano."

Immediately, Levin was on his feet and the piles of Guild paperwork were thrown to the floor. Fear and anger welled up inside of him. More Alatreons? Seven of them? No! He couldn't… there couldn't be more of them! He had to… there had to be something he could… he realized suddenly Ellie had her arms around him and was holding him back from losing control. Abruptly his dark leg gave out from underneath him and he stumbled to the floor, unable to keep himself upright. Ellie was right there next to him, holding him tightly as he began to hyperventilate, panic beginning to set in.

"Levin, please listen. It's not nearly as bad as it sounds. And I know it sounds really, really bad."

"How… how could it not be-"

"Just listen. Please." Levin was still scared and angry, but slowly and surely his breathing and heart rate began to slow down a little. "Listen to me. When the Guild got word of so many Alatreons, they began to panic as well, worried what the elder dragons could do. They sent a group of hunters they could gather in Frost Town off to fight them, see if they could hold the beasts at bay or at least give them some time to plan. They only had four they considered strong enough to challenge the beast, but that was the best they could do. The Guild was in a panic for a good week or so, waiting for the elder dragons to come down on Frost Town, but… around that time, when they thought the worst, the hunting team actually came back!"

"What?" Levin gasped, gaping in shock. "They… what? They managed to beat all the Alatreons?"

"No, not at all," Ellie continued. "When they returned, they told what they'd found. At first they'd been attacked by one of the Alatreons, and they claimed it was an epic fight. They managed to kill it, though apparently it was one hard-fought battle, and they were all wounded in the fight. After that they couldn't directly attack the Alatreons, not without a battle plan, so they decided to observe them for a while to see if they could find a moment to strike while waiting for reinforcements.

"But as they watched, they noticed something odd. The Alatreons weren't hiding or running, and the hunters didn't hear any voices in their heads or anything. They were just… making nests and claiming territory, hunting for food and fighting each other for dominance and mates. One of the hunters was pretty well-versed in biology, and swore they were acting just like regular monsters. Well… like elder dragons, at least, however elder dragons are supposed to act. They just weren't acting like the boogeymen nightmares they thought the monsters would be.

"Anyway, what really got them was how several of the Alatreons actually caught sight of them during their reconnaissance, but no more of them really attacked. They were only really chased after when the hunters got too close to the nests."

"I don't… I don't understand," Levin muttered in shock. "Why… how?"

"The Guild sent more people to study them," Ellie replied. "They have… they have a few theories about it. They think… they suspect maybe, just maybe, the Alatreon we fought put the rest of its species into those crystals. From what the hunters who observed the Alatreons in the volcano said, they think the rest of them are naturally territorial. They think maybe the Alatreon… your Alatreon, may have discovered the ability to put creatures into the blue crystals in the past, and imprisoned the rest of his kind inside to remove competition."

"It imprisoned its entire species inside the blue crystals?" Levin asked, stunned.

"If its entire species only consisted of eight of its kind, then yes, that's what they think. They sent out more hunters once the first four returned, and the next group managed to take out yet another of the Alatreons, one which had been going after caravans to the south of the volcano. They think… they're pretty sure these Alatreons are all quite a bit weaker than the one we fought, and none of them seem to have the telepathic abilities it did. They're just… normal elder dragons. Or at least, as normal as an elder dragon can be… like the Jhen Mohran which swim through the sandsea. They're not the same as the Alatreon which destroyed our lives."

Levin was quiet for a moment. More Alatreons? So many of them? Fear and anger welled up in him for a moment, then… faded away. All he felt inside was a feeling of contentment. There were more Alatreons around, but… they were just another monster for hunters to deal with. For other hunters to deal with, that is.

He grinned wearily and sighed in relief. "Thank goodness."

Ellie blinked in surprise. "Really? That's it? You're not… angry? Vengeful?"

"Not really, actually," Levin admitted. "I thought I would be, but… freezing its own species, making it so he's the only one of his kind around, becoming the terror of humankind, pretending to be an all-power unique monster? That sounds like something it would do, doesn't it? I think… getting angry at these Alatreon wouldn't be much different than how the extremists used to treat the Lost. If what you told me is true, it was hardly their fault, and they want nothing more than to create new lives for themselves and go on living. I can't blame them for that, can I? I'm not angry at them. I don't hate them at all."

Ellie smiled, a truly thankful and joyful expression. She leaned forward and quickly gave him a gentle kiss. "Good. I'm glad to hear it."

"Come on, now," Levin said with a smirk. "You weren't worried I'd throw myself at those Alatreons in some foolish suicide mission, did you, my dear Miss Ellie? In the condition I'm in?"

"The thought had crossed my mind," Ellie replied wryly, and Levin snickered.

"What would you have done if I had decided to go off chasing elder dragons, anyway?"

"Tripped you," Ellie replied simply. Levin pouted at the words, and Ellie smirked wickedly. "You're not exactly the greatest challenge in the world to pin down right now, Mr. Levin. It wouldn't take me much effort to keep you in one place."

"Ah, rub it in, why don't you?" Levin grumbled. "Making fun of cripples now, are we, Eleanor?"

"Ah. Sorry, sorry," Ellie said sincerely. "But… the doctors said you'd be as strong as you once were soon enough, even with those weird dark metal arms. You've always been a little physically stronger than me, so I just thought I'd enjoy it while it lasted."

"They said it'd take years, if not over a decade before I was back to normal," Levin reminded her. Ellie smiled sadly, but leaned forward and kissed him softly again.

"I have faith in you, my dear Levin."

"Thank goodness someone does," Levin replied with a rueful smile. "So… you're going on a hunt tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Ellie nodded. "Marshall asked if I'd be willing to take down a Royal Ludroth that's been pestering caravans going along the river road to the south of town. Hearsay says it's a young alpha male trying to bolster its territory, so it shouldn't be much of a problem to deal with. Just lure it out of the water and it should be a quick fight."

"Sounds like a good time."

Ellie sighed, looking regretfully down at the floor. "Yeah, maybe, but… I guess I finally understand what Lynn was talking about."

"What do you mean?" Levin asked, and Ellie looked back up and smiled softly.

"It gets… lonely out there, all by myself," she said sadly. "I miss having you out there with me."

"I miss being out there with you," Levin replied. "I never thought I'd enjoy hunting so much that I missed it when I was done, but… well, here I am. Life seems… boring, not being able to go out on hunts."

"Well, keep practicing with that arm and leg of yours, then," Ellie said. "You'll be back in the wilds again in no time at all."

"Whatever you say, Miss Ellie," Levin nodded. Farren had attached these prosthetics to him with little knowledge of how or even if they'd work. Levin wasn't even sure the limbs would ever move any more than the occasional twitches anymore. Honestly, he was happy enough when the dark leg was stable enough to support his weight, though he still needed the cane to keep his balance most of the time. "You'd better be getting to bed, I suppose. There's a whole lot of road to the south of town, and it might take you a while to find the Royal's nest."

"No, no. I should help you clean up," Ellie argued. "I mean, there are still those weapons in the yard out back, and these papers need to be cleaned up…"

"It's nothing I can't do myself," Levin replied, pushing himself awkwardly to his feet. "Don't worry about me. I don't want you tired when you go toe to toe with that Royal tomorrow. You'll be on your own, after all." Still Ellie hesitated, though, and Levin smirked slyly. "If you're really adamant on not getting your rest, Miss Ellie, I can certainly think of more enjoyable acts to eat up your beauty sleep, though this may not be the best place for them…"

To Levin's great pleasure, Ellie flushed in embarrassment. It didn't happen as often anymore, so Levin enjoyed it when it did. Finally, the woman laughed and smiled at him. "Oh, fine. Obviously if you've got the energy for lewd jokes, you've got the energy to clean up this place. I'll go get some sleep. But don't push yourself, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am," Levin intoned, earning a playful smack on the head from Ellie. She quickly pecked him on the cheek, before turning and making her way out of the booth. She gave one last concerned look at him, before he motioned her away and she left, making her way back to their hut. Levin smiled to himself. He'd have to be quick. She likely wouldn't sleep until he'd returned, just to make sure he really was fine.

It was rather frustrating, being treated like glass by the woman he loved, but there really wasn't much he could do. He really had needed a lot of help when he'd finally been allowed to leave the hospital in Loc Lac, especially with two limbs which didn't always work, though he'd improved since then. She'd been getting better about it though, not asking him to lean on her for support every time they walked further than twenty yards together, or immediately rushing to his aid every time he lost his balance. It had helped when Marshall had pointed out that Levin was perfectly capable of taking care of himself when Ellie was out hunting whatever needed taken down or scared off. She'd gotten less protective after that. He hoped she wouldn't act that way the whole time he was getting used to these dark limbs.

As Levin stumbled out the back door of the Guild booth, his eyes wandered over to the wooden practice dummies lining the back wall of the lot. Odd, he thought wryly, that the dummies were human-shaped. Hunters were trained to hunt beasts of all kinds, yet they practiced on targets shaped like other humans. Though… considering the trouble he and his friends had gone through dealing with Moloch's Crimson Coliseum, he had to admit maybe it wasn't such a foolish idea after all. All the training in the world could prepare you for a monster, but a single human coming at you could catch you off guard.

The practice weapons really were scattered around the yard. The would-be-hunters which had been visiting the Guild booth from nearby villages recently had certainly been coming in droves. The weapons had seen ten times the use in the last few months than they had in years. Levin and Mel had been talking about getting entirely new set of iron weapons as replacements; the ones they had couldn't take much more, despite the care they'd received. Maybe they could get some cheap practice weapons of weapons they didn't have yet, too, like the long sword or the switch axe. Maybe they could even get some of the rare foreign weapons which had been going through the village recently, like the dual swords, or the hunting horn, or those lances you could load up to shoot wyvern fire out of (Levin thought those were weird, but then, Ellie hadn't thought too kindly of his love for switch axes either). Either way, they'd need to do something to replace the rubbish weapons they had now; if they waited too much longer they'd be better off using heavy sticks instead.

With a frown of vexation, he was forced to set his cane against the wooden wall of the Guild booth. He only had one good arm, and he couldn't hold himself upright with his dark arm, so he'd have to hope his leg held out long enough for him to clean up. He set off quickly, working his way around the yard and plucking up weapons from where they sat and bringing them back over to the big box which held them. The great sword gave him a bit of trouble, considering he only had one good hand and leg to drag it along with. The lance and shield took two trips, one for the lance and one for the shield. Levin was already getting tired. Work was a lot harder when you only had one of each limb.

Finally he made his way over to the test dummies, where a few of the weapons remained around. One of them had the old iron short sword wedged into the ground in front of it, with a shield propped up against a nearby tree. Levin hobbled over to the blade carefully, reaching down awkwardly with his left hand and tugging the blade free from the earth. Looking at the old sword, he twisted it around, toying with it a little.

His arm felt weak as he swung the blade awkwardly in his hand. Learning to write with his left hand had been challenging enough, and his handwriting was still sloppy. Swinging a blade effectively was near impossible at the moment. He felt a momentary wave of depression wash over him; as much as he wanted to hunt again with Ellie, he just couldn't imagine how he ever could. His dark arm and leg ached just thinking about it. He could barely get the damn things to move, much less react fast enough to hunt again.

He looked again at the training dummies, then again down at his dark arm. Awkwardly, he tried to move the arm, and it twitched slightly in reacting to his want, but not much. So he swung his left arm over to the dark arm, and held the short sword between the fingers. The limb twitched again, just slightly, but not nearly enough to grip the weapon, and certainly not enough to wield the blade properly.

Levin sighed, working his way over to the wide tree stump in the center of the area and sitting down. He looked again at the dark arm, and the azure gem glowing softly in the center of it. Maybe he was going about this all wrong. What did he really know about Dark Metal? It was a cold, deadly substance which could be unearthed in the Tundra. Despite that (or perhaps because of it), hunters would seek it out and use it as a weapon. Richard's long sword was made of Dark Metal, wasn't it? He recalled someone telling him that. It seemed to be the common use, turning the metal into a blade.

So what did he know about long swords? They had that… spirit combo maneuver, which honed the blade during battle, or something. Harker had attempted to explain the theory to him once, but the man had been rambling at the time, so Levin hadn't paid too close attention. He remembered the madman explaining that to call upon the power, a hunter had to treat the blade as an extension of their body. The long sword fed off of the hunter's spirit and willpower, _became _the hunter's spirit and willpower. The blade _was _the hunter, in all but form, their determination and strength and will to defeat their opponent. Or at least, that was how Harker had been taught to use the weapon. The madman was certain there had to be a more scientific explanation…

Was that where he was going wrong? Since Farren had done this to him, Levin had always pictured the dark limbs as prosthetics; horrible, sinister prosthetics. Not a part of him, but something attached to him without his permission. Was he supposed to treat them not as an add-on, but as an actual part of himself? As his actual flesh-and-blood arms? Such an idea was nearly impossible… the memories of his torment under the piercing cold of the Dark Metal were still so fresh, and the Azure Dragongem which pulsed in the center of the mass of black material certainly wasn't helping. The idea of treating a piece of the Alatreon as a part of him went against his very nature.

But still… it was an idea, and one he'd never used before. There wasn't any harm in trying, was there? Once again, he held the hilt of the short sword over the palm of the dark limb, and this time… what should he do? He'd been trying to force the limb closed by giving orders to the Dark Metal, or something to that effect. But if he just imagined the limb as a part of him… it was a challenge though; his mind rebelled against thinking of the metal as a part of him. It took a bit of struggle and focus to do it, but eventually the arm reacted slightly, and the fingers slowly closed on the hilt of the weapon. It was loose, and Levin feared the blade would drop out of his grip at any time, but it was a better reaction than he'd ever had before.

He stood again, turning cautiously towards the dummy and walking slowly over to the wooden target, careful not to let the blade slip from his fingers. Now how was he to do this? Just hack and slash, and see how he did? He didn't think he had the strength available to do that much… No, when you were practicing, you had to imagine an opponent in front of you, a threat of some kind. But what kind of threat? With the human shape of the dummies, a couple images immediately sprang to mind. First was the face of Moloch, and second the face of Pugnax. He felt his grip tighten for a moment, but a second later it loosened, and he shook his head, banishing the images.

He frowned in frustration. He couldn't bring himself to imagine a human in the dummy's place. He'd already taken the lives of a few people, and honestly, it was a few people too many. So he tried to imagine a monster there instead. But which one? The Alatreon came to mind, but he'd gotten his vengeance, and after seeing the beast's deformed head planted above the Guild hall in Loc Lac, he'd lost any negative thoughts he had of the beast. He was done with the elder dragon.

What did that leave him, though, to motivate him? There was the Barioth, but he'd made his peace with that beast too. Some other creature? He wasn't really incited by a lot of monsters anymore. He'd been a bit sore with Barroths for a while after Ellie was injured, but that was just a bit of bad luck, and besides, he'd managed to fight a kill a few after that. What did that leave?

He grunted in irritation, before laughing in amusement at himself. Who would've thought he, Levin, a well-renowned hunter among the Lost, would be acting like a naturalist? He couldn't even bring himself to be angry at the creature he'd hated for years anymore.

He wobbled the sword around in his dark hand for a moment longer before shrugging to himself. He needed a new creature to dislike, might as well start small for now. A few Jaggis had been sneaking through the damaged town walls at night recently and stealing food from the farms up on the hill. A couple weeks ago one of the little carnivores had gotten lost and actually ended up yipping nervously in the practice yard. Levin had been surprised to find it there the next morning, and had lost his balance and nearly gotten bitten; he would have been if Ellie had not been there, preparing to go on a hunt that day. She'd gotten paranoid for a couple days after that, not leaving his side at all until the town guard had informed her they'd found and repaired the hole in the village wall the beasts had been slipping through.

Levin shrugged as he stared at the dummy. He really didn't have much else to work with. But still… getting overpowered by a Jaggi! Levin glared at the wooden post, imagining one of the small, yipping ankle-biters standing in front of him. Such little creatures, but always so irritating, and in such numbers… and yet he couldn't take one down at all…

The image of the Jaggi yipping at him, leaping to bite him, flashed in his head in stark clarity. He moved instinctively, his body reacting naturally as he snapped the blade at the creature's face. He could see the blood spraying as the sword cut through flesh and shattered bone.

Then he snapped back to reality as his leg gave out underneath him and he toppled to the ground with a painful thump. He groaned in pain as he pushed himself into a sitting position, rubbing his bruised shoulder irritably. Levin looked down at his dark arm in frustration, glaring at the Azure Dragongem as in glowed faintly. It was limp and unresponsive once more, hanging loosely over his legs. Levin sighed; what had he really expected? He struggled to push himself to his feet, balancing gingerly on his dark leg as he got upright. He needed to get his cane… but first, he really needed to finish cleaning up the yard. He looked at the ground around him curiously, searching for the short sword he'd been using moments ago. Had he flung it when he'd fallen? He couldn't seem to spot it, and he really didn't want to spend a long time searching around in his condition.

But as he looked up at the dummy, a glimmer of worn steel caught his eye. His eye widened in shock; the edge of the blade was embedded in the side of the wooden target dummy's head. It was a shallow cut, something even the most rookie hunter could accomplish with little effort, just barely dug in enough for the edge to remain wedged into the wood. Even as he watched, the sword loosened from where it was, slipping free and dropping to the grass below. Levin stared in silence, his gaze on the shallow cut slicing along the side of the dummy's head.

He looked down at the dark limb again, so weak and unresponsive now. But strength had been there, control had been there, even if only a little, and even if only for a moment. The thumb on the limb twitch idly, worthlessly, but even so a smile spread slowly across Levin's face, and the man laughed excitedly.

"It's not much, but it's something," he said to himself. He turned and laughed quietly, making his way back to the Guild booth, picking up the short sword as he went, twirling it a little in his left hand. He felt better than he had in months, grinning happily, even as the blade tumbled from his hand and imbedded itself into the ground. This time he ignored it, continuing excitedly back into the Guild booth. He'd clean up the yard tomorrow.

"I'm not done. Not yet!" With that, he shut the door behind him.

In the lonely yard, in was quiet for a moment. A few seconds later, a tinny clattering sound filled the area, as Levin's walking cane, already forgotten, tilted over from its place against the wall and fell into the thin grass. And there it remained as happy, hopeful laughter fluttered out from the Guild booth.

* * *

In this world there are many stories.

Not every story ends with everything being alright. Not every loose end is tied up, and not every question is answered. Not everything makes sense in the end. Not every hero receives their rewards and comes out better than they were, living happily ever after. Not every villain meets their fate at the hands of justice and earns their punishment. Sometimes, it's hard to tell whether a hero is truly a hero, or if a villain is truly a villain.

Sometimes the villains die, and sometimes they live on. Sometimes the heroes are victorious and continue their life, and sometimes they are broken down. Stories never end as certainly as we think they will. For some, the endings aren't happy or clean. For some, the endings aren't gentle and kind. For some, the ending leaves more questions than answers. For some, they question whether the story was worth even ending at all.

That's the way it is sometimes. The stories end, no matter what we think of their closing. Perhaps the story's close was enjoyable, perhaps not. Perhaps the beast was slain, the villain defeated, the love won, the war over. But perhaps not. We cannot stop the story's close. We can only contemplate its meaning, ending where it did. Were we happy with the end of the story? Were we disappointed? Were we hoping for more, or less? Was the story even worth reading at all?

But whether the ending is happy or sad, whimsical or painful, we continue to read them, hoping that the next, or the next after that, will give us what we desire. We keep on searching for stories, looking for those that excite us, or motivate us, or entertain us, or frighten us, or encourage us. Whether the story we read satisfies us or not, it won't stop us from enjoying what is to come.

And who knows? Perhaps there is still more to tell. Perhaps the story you've read has more to it. Perhaps there are worlds unseen and battles unfought. Perhaps what we think is the end of the story is just the beginning of yet another. Perhaps there is more to see, to dream, to hope for.

After all, in this world there are many stories. And there are always more to tell.

* * *

**Author's Note: Please Review!**

**IT. IS. FINISHED. FINALLY! After almost 1.2 million words and 3.5 years, I have finally finished this story! I admit, I was never truly sure whether I'd keep the desire to continue writing that it took to finish this story, and always thought there was a chance that I may grow tired of it and stop writing, but somehow I plugged on, and by the time the Malefica arc rolled around, I knew I was in for the long haul. I'm glad I stuck around to the end! I kind of hoped to have this story done before the 10th, which was my birthday… but a complete story is complete, no matter when it's released!**

**I hope you all enjoyed that last scene in the previous chapter. It was fun to leave there. I enjoyed being an utter bastard to my readers, right to the end. Also, though it was quick, I managed to bring back my wandering Gobul for one more mention in the story, which pleases me greatly. **

**I apologize to everyone with OCs that I wasn't able to fit into the story. But as you can see, the last few chapters were hectic, and I didn't want to try and squeeze in someone new at the last minute. And besides… I'll be honest, some people really overdid it with the Mary-Sue in their characters, so I didn't want to put them in anyway. And to everyone who had well-made characters… I'm sorry, but there were far more OCs submitted than I'd ever imagined I'd receive, so I couldn't use them all.**

**On that note, I want to give a massive shout-out to Thomas A. Hawk, another Monster Hunter writer you may have seen or read before. I managed to squeeze his OCs into this story for a short cameo before the very end of it, which I'm rather happy about. Anyway, if you haven't read his story 'The Hunter's Oath', or its prequel 'Remembrance', you should give them a look! They're easily a couple of the best MH stories on this site. **

**As a final note to reviewers, I'd like you all, if you could, to write down as much of a review as you can about the story as a whole. What was your favorite scene? Favorite character (not including your own OC please)? Favorite location? Favorite fight scene? Least favorite of everything mentioned? What about my writing did you like? What do you think I could have improved on? Did I leave any plot holes? I appreciate any reviews and critiques you can offer!**

**Little known facts about TLC: **

**Nat was initially supposed to die during her time in the Coliseum, and her death would drive Kim to becoming a very determined, powerful hunter (after nearly shattering her psyche completely). However, this changed as the story progressed, when I realized that a lot of people liked the pair, even though they were only side characters. So, she lived, though she was no longer in any condition to hunt anymore. You might think crippling her was bad, but it was supposed to be worse. **

**Micah was initially supposed to lust after Ellie, and attempt to seduce her into joining Moloch's organization. The only reason this didn't happen was because of continuity issues that I accidentally created for myself. Also, the interactions between Micah and Nat began to push me more into aiming Micah's obsession to her and Kim instead. He was also supposed to die from Kim killing him, but that changed too. **

**Filcher was initially supposed to die a far less noble death in the Coliseum, like Lilith did, but considering he stole Hawke's Deviljho hammer, him dying to the World Eater slowly grew on me until I changed the story. **

**The initial story timeline changed dramatically after the Barioth hunt. Instead of the Alatreon attacking Loc Lac by himself, the initial outline had him sending several Diablos into the town. Levin and company take care of a Diablos that threatens some councilmembers, and the Alatreon is chased off. The four hunters are put on probation of sorts, and then are sent off to hunt a Rathalos. A red one, not a silver one. Like I said: drastic timeline changes. **

**Farren was originally just a cruel researcher working for the Guild at first, but I needed something to work with during the Echo Island arc, so he was given a story. The Dark Metal bit was also randomly decided as well, but proved to be a fine Chekov's Gun for me. **

**Speaking of the Dark Metal… Levin was only supposed to lose his arm in the final battle, and was to be given an iron prosthetic, which he'd use to carry a shield. He was to spend the rest of his hunting career only using the sword and shield, due to his lack of an arm. The Dark Metal bit was something that kind of came together after Hoenn (my editor) told me what he thought Dark Metal in a weapon did. I tweaked the idea in my story (clearly) and made it into something a little more twisted and weird. And gave Levin something to work for. And crippled him even worse than I'd initially planned.**

**Reading: **_**The Fellowship of the Ring**_** by J.R.R. Tolkien, **_**Guardians of the West**_** by David Eddings  
Playing: Black Mesa, MH3U, Pokemon X  
Listening: Les Miserables Soundtrack, Mika**


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